Suspected Maoists kill top Hindu leader in Nepal (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(Do the people who do stuff like this actually think this is going to help the situation?)

Suspected Maoists kill top Hindu leader in Nepal

Fri May 6, 2005 9:49 AM ET

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Suspected Maoist rebels shot dead one of Nepal's top Hindu priests as he conducted a ceremony in a temple on Friday, the military said. It was the first time a religious leader has been targeted in the Maoist insurgency in the world's only Hindu nation.

The army said assailants gunned down Narayan Pokharel, chief of the Nepal wing of the World Hindu Federation and a well known religious scholar, in the western town of Butwal soon after dawn. There has been no claim of responsibility from the Maoists or from anyone else. "The terrorists shot him nine times and killed him instantly. One of his aides was injured and has been lifted in a helicopter to Kathmandu for treatment," the statement said. The military uses the term "terrorists" to refer to the Maoists.

Butwal, about 300 km (190 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, is part of the stronghold of the Maoist rebels, who have been fighting for the past nine years to overthrow the monarchy and establish a communist state. At least 11,000 people have been killed in the rebellion. "This shows the barbaric attitude of the terrorists and how they terrorise the general population," the statement said. The latest attack comes after King Gyanendra lifted a state of emergency last weekend.

Gyanendra had imposed the emergency on Feb 1., sacking the government, jailing political leaders and suspending civil rights. He said the moves were essential to end the Maoist insurgency. Although the emergency has been lifted, political parties say hundreds of political and human rights activists remain in detention. Gyanendra continues to hold the sweeping powers he seized on Feb. 1.

Continued
(for some reason, the link to page two keeps going to page one, so you'll have to click continue here and at the Reuters page to read page 2)

[Chicago Democrat]

1. This is Bullshit! The US needs to help the King! These Maoists are

THUGS AND KILLERS.

[htuttle]

3. I don't think the US should be in the business of supporting kings

[Chicago Democrat]

5. Ok, How about being AGAINST murdering Maoists?

The King is the legal gov't! And has suffered greatly.

[htuttle]

6. The King is rumored to have had the last king and his family killed

And he dissolved parliament.

If he wants help from the US, he should move toward a democracy. Then again, some would say that would be giving into the Maoists, since a democracy is what the Maoists say they want.

In any case, I'm against supporting monarchies as a matter of principle.

[Chicago Democrat]

7. I have studied this and that is a LIE. This was about a bratty prince

who went crazy. I don't blame the king one bit for imposing martial law. The entire royal family was killed by a looney wastrel and the present king is trying to save the country.

I can respect being anti-monarchy, but in this case, the world needs to help Nepal.

[American in Asia]

29. ROFLMAO!!!!

Maoists want a democracy??? Sheesh!!! Holding my sides on that one. That's why they torture and slaughter anyone who disagrees with them (and have even "detained" the brains of their operation for suggesting peace talks). They are soooooo democratic!

[David__77]

10. Hitler was Germany's legal government.

...

[bennywhale]

25. Legal in the sense that

he is monarch by birthright rather than popular choice, and i wouldn't deny the maoists are nasty bastards but the king is also a nasty peice of work when it comes to oppressing his own people

[K-W]

20. Helping a particular king isnt supporting kings.

Now we can only help victims if they are morally pure in our eyes?

I dont know that we should be helping them or not, I am not well enough informed, but your logic is not sound.

[bennywhale]

26. You're right

we should help people not just those ideologically compatible with us. But unfortunately thats what we've been doing for years Reagan was a dab hand at that. And today we help governments in central asia who boil their political opponents to death (Uzbeckistan) cos they claim to be on our side in the war on terror. This 'War on Terror' is leading to the death of thousands of innocents worldwide who are being killed as islamic terrorists when in reality they are just political opponents.

Any way the US won't help the communist fight is an old fight, the king should have got himself some religious insurgents like the phillipines we would have been straight in then.

[David__77]

9. US must mind its own business.

Nepal must choose its own fate, free from interference by US, India, China or anyone else.

[hippiechick]

12. Agreed.

It's that darn 'spreading freedom and democracy' thing that we keep thinking is our mission in the world, that continues to fuck everything, everywhere, up.

[KamaAina]

24. The Nepalese have unveiled their last-ditch peace plan.

They're drilling for oil. :-)

Unless they find some, I'm guessing PNAC/Bush**co won't be invading, er, um, I mean liberating Nepal any time soon. :(

[schultzee]

2. This is really terrible

It seems the entire world is crazy. Why can't people just be tolerant of other peoples beliefs.

[Chicago Democrat]

4. Maoists suck....

I like Federal programs but Mao was out of his mind.

[David__77]

8. So-called council "Vishwa Hindu Parishad" supports castism and fascism.

VHP--so-called "Hindu Council" is a radical Hindu-supremacist group. They attack Muslims, low-caste people and minority nationalities.

Moreover, VHP has supported the fascist "king's" coup to restore absolute control. Research for yourself. VHP is a global group, and in India is allied to radical Hindu supramacists who agitate for genocide against other religious groups and lead pogroms.

http://www.kurakani.tk/Article444.phtml

It is clear that VHP is a fascist group and deserves whatever it gets.

More and more Nepalese support the rebellion against the feudal "king" because it is the only road to a Republic of Nepal, free from caste oppression and feudalism.

[AP]

28. OK. Fascists and monarchs. Pretty much #1 and #2 on my "I'm against" list.

Not seeing much reason to intervene here.

[American in Asia]

30. So sending hit squads to assassinate them is ok?

I mean, is that your point? That's a great way to stir up religious violence that Nepal, unlike India and Pakistan, hasn't had, isn't it? Wonderful. Very helpful.

[AP]

32. So, fascism is worth defending and protecting?

[American in Asia]

33. I don't think that's at all what I said, or implied.

While I may not agree with this organization, or its aims, the man who was killed was a respected religious leader, whose death is being mourned by many Nepalis (and I think you'll find that the Indian version of "fascist" nationalistic Hinduism is not popular in Nepal).

But that's not even relevant to my point. I simply do not agree with the implication that because someone was of an organization we may not support that we should cheer a group of terrorists gunning him down on the street.

[Strawman]

11. It's a very sad situation in Nepal

My wife and I used to sponsor two children in Nepal until the charity had to pull out because it wasn't safe anymore.

[David__77]

13. Nepalese struggle for freedom for monarchy.

[David__77]

14. Face of evil in Nepal.

He want to keep power for the few to enslave the many. It's little wonder that the poor people of Nepal have taken history into their own hands.

[Chicago Democrat]

15. Who has he killed lately? The story is about Maoists who killed a

Hindu. The King has killed noone.


Also what's wrong with the head of the Nepal military wearing a uniform and being unhappy?

[Chicago Democrat]

16. See the brainwashed Maoists.. coerced into their 'military'

Insane ideology, anti-democratic, anti-intellectual, Maoists enslave 'recruits' with heroin so their vacant conciences allow them to commit atrocities such as the killing that is reported.


Didn't anyone ever tell you that if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you aint gonna make it with anyone anyhow?

[Chicago Democrat]

18. See the child soldiers high on heroin....

disgusting

[David__77]

23. Why not reason with facts?

The poor people fighting for freedom in Nepal are not drug addicts. And speaking of Maoism, only with the them coming to power in China in 1949 was drug addiction successfully dealt with.

Nepal's poor join the new army because they want to fight for their own freedom:



Women are breaking their chains:



People of Katmandu welcome rebel leaders during peace talks:



The streets were filled:



It's clear that the old state is falling is a new one emerging, with the support of the poor majority.

Now people are rising up, and as a song goes in the countryside of Nepal:

Those who fatten on others’ labor have fled the villages
Those who rule with arrogance have run away
The people’s governments are organized in villages
The redness of victory is arising among the people
A custom of working together is established
Nepotism and injustice are eliminated in villages
Caste and untouchability are eradicated
Let us create a new culture and a new society

[Chicago Democrat]

27. OK Facts are great,

Why are you defending these murdering Maoists?

The force conscription: That's a fact.

They murder anyone who is not a Maoist: That's a fact.

Maoist Ideology is Insane: That's a fact.

They violate every norm of human decency: Including maiming or murdering those who want NO PART of their idiotic and bloody civil war.


So why is the king bad? Haven't seen one single credible allegation why he should be deposed. The parliament was dismissed because it was incompetant. The king is acting within historic norms. Sorry you hate that fact, change it legally or at least non-violently.

These Maoists needed to be dealt with decisively. That means WIPED OUT. Their leaders should stand trial for murder of people like the Hindu Cleric. Because they are killers with child soldiers .All the parliament was doing was dithering. Meanwhile the capital is cut off.

[American in Asia]

31. Maybe you need to broaden your reading list

and not just rely on the Maoist propaganda website. I'm sure Pol Pot had some good excuses too. We don't need to be supporting a Khmer Rouge like organization. Maybe you should go visit. Talk to some porters, some taxi drivers, some farmers. I think your view of their support for these thugs is woefully off-base. But that's what happens when you read propaganda.

[suneel112]

17. Re

These are no freedom fighters. They are fighting a proxy war by China, and their only goal is the annexation of Nepal for China. This is also not a struggle of freedom, but a plan to replace the Nepalese government with the Chinese government. If Nepal falls, India will be surrounded by two aggressive nuclear powers, China and Pakistan. Then India and all of the eastern religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianizm, Jainism, and Sikkhism will slowly cease to exist. Maoists, like Islamic Fundamentalists, are a threat to peaceful cultures and religions and must be dealt with harshly.

[Chicago Democrat]

19. THANK YOU! Welcome to DU

:)

[htuttle]

21. Wrong: China is supporting the King, not the rebels

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2004/040714-nepal-rebels.htm

NEPAL: Beijing pledges to help suppress Maoist rebels

Following a mid-June visit to Beijing, Nepal’s chief of army staff General Pyar Jung Thapa revealed to state radio and television that China would step up “security cooperation” with Nepal. This will improve Katmandu’s ability to militarily counter the anti-monarchy insurgency that was started in 1996.

Leading that offensive is the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The CPN(M) describes its armed struggle as a “people’s war” that has extended to most parts of Nepal.

While in Beijing for a week, Thapa held talks with top military officials such as China’s defence minister General Cao Gangchuan, and General Liang Guanglie, chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army. Neither side has revealed the extent of China’s military assistance to Nepal.

However, on June 16, the official Xinhua News Agency reported: “ Liang spoke highly of the bilateral ties between China and Nepal and their armies… relations between the two armed forces also witnessed continuous development…”

(more at link)

Your geopolitics is about two decades out of date. China hasn't officially supported Maoism for a long, long time.

As far as anyone can tell, the only source of outside support for the Nepalese Maoists are various Maoist groups in India (Naxalites, etc...).

[Nostradamus]

22. the revolution is not a tea party

Mao Tse Tung