Maoist rebels cut off Kathmandu

[dArKeR]

AFP , KATHMANDU
Thursday, Aug 19, 2004,Page 1

Maoist rebels yesterday cut off routes into the Nepalese capital Kathmandu in their first blockade of the city since they launched their insurgency to overthrow the constitutional monarchy eight years ago.

Normally congested roads into the ancient temple-studded city of around 1.5 million people were mostly empty. But the capital's airport was functioning normally and residents and tourists were moving around the city.

"No vehicle owners are prepared to put their vehicles into service because of fears of being attacked by the Maoists," said Hira Udas, chief of the Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs Federation. "Security forces may protect vehicles for one or two days but after some time the Maoists take punitive action for defying their orders."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2004/08/19/2003199291

[WMliberal]

1. and when they win, they'll install

Who? Mao's corpse?

[Pale_Rider]

2. Same yahoos ...

... that were giving 'captured' western tourists IOUs for extorted 'contributions'!

[Matilda]

3. It's far from clear who are the good guys and who are the bad

in Nepal.

The King, Gyanendra, took power after his nephew, Prince Dipendra,
supposedly shot and killed all the members of the Royal Family,
except Gyanendra and his son, Paras, in 2001. It was interesting that Gyanendra was out of town on the night, and that Paras was the
only family member present at that dinner who was unharmed.


Gyanendra is not popular with the Nepalese, and his son Paras,
supposedly a drunkard and a cocaine addict, is detested. Within
a short time of assuming the throne, Gyanendra suspended the
parliament and has ruled since without parliament. He is reported
to have ties with multinationals and foreign governments, in
particular China and the U.S. keen to bring Nepal under their
influence.

The Maoists are undoubtedly fairly tough, but they're not necessarily
any more terrorists than any other people who simply want their
country to be free of foreign exploitation.

I read some interesting articles at the time of the massacre, which
I'm trying to find, but so far I've only got this link:

http://www.pacificnews.org/content/pns/2001/june/0605murders.html

I'll keep looking and see what else I can come up with.

[Democat]

5. Didn't the rebels throw bombs at a tourist hotel last week?

Didn't they also murder at least one journalist recently?

That sounds like bad guys, no matter what their supposed cause.

Trying to kill tourists and journalists and trying to ruin the economy of the country for other citizens doesn't sound very good.

[David__77]

6. Their policy is to not harm tourists.

Many tourists recount friendly encounters with the Maoists. This is unlike their ideological brothers in the Shining Path. The Nepalese Maoists are quite "liberal" in their relations with foreigners who are not connected with the Nepalese government. However, it is of course true that sometimes journalists are more than meets the eye. I'm not aware of the specific incident to which you refer. A journalists who is also an operative of a political party or government institution is another matter entirely.

[Matilda]

4. A bit more info on Nepal ....

These links - trying to avoid too avidly pro-Marxist pages -
are useful.

http://www.lalkar.org/issues/contents/mar2004/nepal.html

http://www.sundayherald.com/41884

[Ghetto_Boy]

7. I thought that Sandinero Luminoso was the last Maoist organization

To quote Lennon:

"If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow"