Nepal News & Discussion

09-28-2007, 09:47 AM

All blame goes to current King, Paras, Sonia and Commies of India.

Husky · (This post was last modified: 10-09-2007, 07:50 PM by Husky.)

Reuters via http://satyameva-jayate.org/2007/07/03/sig...-times-to-come/
July 3, 2007
QUOTENepal Muslims demand seats in national election

ââ¦A leading Muslim group in Nepal said on Saturday it would organise street protests if the government does not meet its demand to set aside seats for its community in November elections.

â¦Mohammed Nizamuddin, president of the Muslim group Awam Sahara Nepal, said âIf the government does not address our demand weâll be forced to come to the street and protest for itââ¦

â¦The election, the first national vote in more than eight years, will cap a peace process with the Maoists ending a decade-long civil war which killed more than 13,000 people.

Muslims comprise about 4 percent of the population. Ijaharul Hak Mikrani, president of another Muslim group, the Intellectual Muslim Association of Nepal, demanded at least 50 seats for the Muslims in the 497-member assembly.â

01-18-2008, 12:03 AM

Nepal PM reveals involvement in currency racket, hijacking planQUOTEÂ
Nepal PM reveals involvement in currency racket, hijacking planÂ
Kathmandu, Jan 17: Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has revealed that he was involved in printing counterfeit Indian currency notes and masterminded the hijacking of a passenger plane during his political exile in India in the 1970s. 

Prime Minister Koirala surprised many viewers of the privately-run Kantipur Television by revealing secrets of his life in exile way back in 1970s.

Koirala revealed that he was involved in printing counterfeit Indian currency notes during his political exile in India in 1970s for funding party activities.

The 84-year-old leader, who has been Nepal's Prime Minister five times, said he had hired experts to manufacture the notes, and even deposited them in a bank. 

During his days in exile, Koirala assisted his elder brother B P Koirala, the legendary charismatic leader who became the first elected Prime Minister of Nepal.
...........

India should take strict action against him, his party and family. They should deny him and his family entry into country, till he pays back.

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 02-01-2008, 01:46 PM by Bodhi.)

dhu · 02-09-2008, 12:41 PM

QUOTEA Maoist dictatorship in Nepal
By Sandhya Jain

The Maoists have raked the integration issue at a time when preparations for the Constituent Assembly elections are underway in order to have an excuse to boycott the poll process once their cadres are paid under an understanding reached with the ruling alliance on December 23, 2007.

In India, the year 2008 opened with an attack upon a CRPF camp at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, in the sleepy hours of the morning. Initial investigations revealed the attack was probably an inside job, and the finger of suspicion pointed to âsurrenderedâ Kashmiri jehadis who were absorbed in the police force under an erroneous amnesty scheme. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has now assured an eternal bonanza to terrorist families by promising a lifelong pension for every jehadi slain by security personnel in the attempt to save India for citizens like us.

A similar disaster awaits Nepal with the increased pressure on the Koirala regime to induct the goon squads of Maoist leader Prachanda into the Nepal Army. Nepalâs forced transition from a monarchy to a republic, under US machinations disguised as advice from the Carter Centre, has already ruptured Nepali society and polity.

It may be recalled that in November 2007, former American President Jimmy Carter visited Nepal to mediate between the Interim Government and the Maoists who had quit office to blackmail the regime. Shri Carter, a well known evangelist, grabbed the opportunity to promote the Maoist agenda, urging that the Interim Parliament be allowed to declare Nepal a Republic in advance of elections to the Constituent Assembly. He insisted on reform of the Nepal Army before Maoist goons returned civiliansâ lands seized during the insurgency, and demanded integration and rehabilitation of Maoist fighters in the regular army.

Prachanda is now insisting this unreasonable demand be met. The Army is naturally appalled; Chief of Army Staff R. Katawal demurred that the Nepal Army should be kept above âismsâ and that politically motivated and indoctrinated cadres should find no place in it. The United Nations Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) estimates there are almost 20,000 ârecognised combatantsâ in the Maoist army. Many so-called soldiers have been loaned to the Young Communist League, which has seized valuable private lands and is a law unto itself.

As far as the Nepali interim Constitution is concerned, it only says âintegrationâ will take place as per recommendations of a special cabinet committee after Constituent Assembly elections. Nowhere does the Interim Constitution promise to absorb Maoist cadres into the Nepal Army. Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, who holds the Defence portfolio, has maintained a public silence on the issue, but is reported to have privately endorsed the views of the Nepal Army with officers and of the Maoists with the comrades! Two senior Ministers, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Khadga Oli, have warned Prachanda and Koirala not to politicise the army by inducting Maoist cadres. Shri Govindaraj Joshi, central committee member of the Nepali Congress, also opposes ruining the Army.

Analysts feel the Maoists have raked the integration issue at a time when preparations for the Constituent Assembly elections are underway in order to have an excuse to boycott the poll process once their cadres are paid under an understanding reached with the ruling alliance on December 23, 2007. Under this deal, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) will receive nearly Rs two billion from the state exchequer by mid-February, to ensure the Maoists do not backtrack from the poll process due in April.

In an astonishing move, on January 18, Prachanda called a press conference and claimed that Nepal could witness some political assassinations, which the army may use as an excuse to come to the ârescue of democracyâ. Observers feel such provocations are unwise as Nepal already suffers a government unable to bring stability to the country and unable to secure legitimacy through elections. The truth may be that the âboysâ are unwilling to test their popularity at the hustings.

Prachanda of course, tries to pretend he has the mandate of heaven. In a move that has completely foxed observers, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has announced it will celebrate the birthday of North Korean despot, Kim Jong-II, on February 16. The reclusive North Korean leader is accused of having ordered the 1983 bombing in Rangoon, which killed 17 visiting South Korean officials, and the 1987 blast on Korean Air Flight 858 that killed all 115 people aboard.

As the effete GP Koirala regime stands by helplessly, the Maoist-held Information and Communication Ministry has announced that Nepal will observe the 66th birthday of the North Korean President on February 16; the birth anniversary of his father Kim Il-Sung on April 15, and the founding of the Democratic Peopleâs Republic of North Korea on September 9. Information and Communication Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara is heading the committee supervising the celebrations. He told the media that Nepal was celebrating the three occasions as a symbol of anti-imperialism.

February is also the birth anniversary month of Nepalâs founder King Prithvi Narayan Shah. Shamefully, under Maoist pressure, the regime will cease to honour the great monarch. In Nepali history, Prithvi Narayan Shah is reputed as the unifier of the country that till then was split between feuding principalities. This legacy endures among the common people who have increasingly become critical of the Maoists and their slights against the monarchy, which many hold to be the symbol of Nepali unity. Shri GP Koiralaâs daughter, Sujata Koirala, a Minister without portfolio, has in fact defended the monarchy as a symbol of the Himalayan stateâs very identity. But given her fatherâs years of weak-kneed pusillanimity, this may be too little, too soon.

02-10-2008, 07:02 PM

Cross-posting

United Tele sends SOS to its Indian promoters

8 Feb, 2008

KATHMANDU: Indian joint venture United Telecom Ltd (UTL), the first private operator in Nepalâs telecom sector, has sent an SOS to its Indian promoters after its appeal to the Nepal government and police failed to avert the indefinite strike called by a trade union.

Major Indian public sector undertakings Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Videsh Sanchar Nigam and Telecommunications Consultants India, who are the main promoters of UTL along with a Nepali partner, Nepal Venture, have been asked to take up the case with Indiaâs communications ministry and draw the government of Indiaâs attention to the plight of a major Indian venture in Nepal.

After three weeks of protests, staffers, contract workers hired by a third-party contracting firm for UTL, stopped work on Tuesday, demanding permanent employment. Things worsened on Wednesday when the protesters padlocked eight UTL centres in Kathmandu valley, preventing staff from entering or leaving the offices, and began a sit-in.

Police, alerted by UTL authorities, intervened in only one centre, forcing the padlock open. However, they remained idle spectators at the other centres, apparently for fear of triggering a clash with the protesters. About 180 unskilled workers who were hired by a third-party contractor, Nepali company J&T Associates, have called the strike, demanding permanent employment by UTL.

Calling themselves the UTL Workersâ Union, the strikers are affiliated to the trade union loyal to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koiralaâs ruling Nepali Congress party. They are demanding permanent employment for workers who have worked for over 240 days, insurance, medical facilities and education for their children.

UTL says it is an unjust demand since the men were not hired by it but by the contracting firm that was used to outsource unskilled labour, following the custom worldwide. The strike comes at a time the beleaguered Indian venture began a new scheme for prepaid telephone lines that would have boosted business.

UTL, that currently runs over 115,000 phone lines in Kathmandu valley and five major towns, faces the new trouble after being targeted by King Gyanendraâs government in 2005, when it was shut down six times.

The UTL strike should create serious concern for the Indian government and Indian investors, being the latest in a series of attacks against Indian ventures in Nepal. Last month, Maoists shut down Sipradi Trading, the sole dealer for Tata vehicles in Nepal as well as Bharat Petroleum Corpâs Mak lubricant for cars, Exide Battery, and Indian Lucas Electricals that supplies electrical equipment for vehicles.

Two more Indian ventures are currently under siege in Nepal. The tobacco factory of Surya Nepal, ITCâs joint venture, and Nepal Lever, Hindustan Leverâs subsidiary, have also been closed down for over a week by strikers making similar demands.

03-13-2008, 08:35 PM

India grants Rs 48.21 million to Nepal

03/13/2008

Kathmandu, Mar 13 (UNI) India has granted Rs 48.21 million under the Indo-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme, for the campus building in Surkhet and Dailekh District in mid-western Nepal.

On behalf of Ambassador of India, Counsellor, Economic Cooperation of Embassy of India Pranay Verma inaugurated the new classroom and library blocks of Surkhet Campus at Birendranagar in Surkhet and laid foundation stone for the new building of Narayan Campus at Rampur in District Dailekh, Indian embassy said in a press release issued here today.

At separate public functions held on March 11 and 12, Mr Verma reiterated India's commitment to extend all possible assistance to Nepal in its determination for peace and development.

He said that Nepalese people and their leaders at present were directed towards holding the CA elections in free and fair manner.

''To enable the people of Nepal to decide their own destiny, the task of developing and providing a better life for the people of Nepal must go side by side, and in this endeavor, India will walk with Nepal at every step'', he said.

Of the total grant, Surkhet Campus has been disbursed Rs 29.11 million and Rs 19.10 million has been allocated for Narayan Campus at Rampur in Dailekh District, the press statement of the Embassy said.

dhu · 04-05-2008, 02:04 PM

QUOTEA decade, at the helm
By Sandhya Jain
..
Even worse is Indiaâs handling of the Nepal crisis, where rent-a-crowd Comrades and foreign-funded NGOs were allowed to run amok, bring the illegitimate Maoists into the interim Parliament and dethrone the king. India abandoned the king because western missionaries have a major evangelical programme in the Himalayan kingdom. In recent times, King Gyanendra has told visiting Indian dignitaries that when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Kathmandu with his wife when King Birendra was on the throne, Ms. Sonia Gandhi pounced on him and demanded the release of 90 foreign missionaries who had been arrested for conversion activities in the country.

Bodhi · 04-11-2008, 04:17 PM

Results have started coming in. Congress takes lead in the early results from urban seats while the rural numbers will keep coming through the weekend. Maoist Prachanda fellow is leading in his Kathmandu constituency. Let us hope Congress can come back to power this time on its own with a clear majority if not absolute, and leftist terrorist despots are routed.

Bodhi · 04-12-2008, 02:18 PM

Looks like we now have another hostile state in the making at the borders as the Maoists are leading in Nepal. almost certainly Congress looks to be losing. This is surely a surprise.

QUOTEKATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist rebels took a surprising early lead on Saturday in an election aimed at cementing a peace deal that ended a decade-long civil war.

Of seven results declared till Saturday morning the Maoists won five seats. They were leading in more than half of 102 constituencies where counting was on, election officials said.

The final result of the polls, Nepal's first in nine years, could take around 10 days.

A running tally of votes showed Maoist chief Prachanda and other senior Maoist leaders were ahead of their rivals. Some prominent leaders from other political parties were trailing.

"They have surprised themselves," an Asian diplomat said of the Maoists, whose victories so far have come from areas not known to be their stronghold.

"Even they had not expected this and every one thought that Maoists will be third. Nobody understands," he said.

"They have very intelligently chosen their candidates from different marginalized and ethnic groups."

Trends of results from the country's southern plains, home to nearly half of Nepal's total population, have yet to come. The Maoists are thought to be weak here.

Maoists say people had voted for a change and for a "new vision."

Some of their political rivals agreed.

"I think people want to give the Maoists a chance and test," Bhagwan Karki, a Communist UML party worker, said.

"Maoists spring a surprise, take initial lead," said a banner headline in the Himalayan Times.

Nepal went to the polls on Thursday to choose a 601-member special assembly tasked with mapping the impoverished nation's political future and formally ending the 240-year-old monarchy.

The elections were the main demand of the Maoists during their deadly civil war, which killed more than 13,000 people.

In 2006, they signed a peace deal with the government and entered electoral politics.

Analysts and diplomats said it is still too early to say if the Maoists will clinch a majority.

(Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Bill Tarrant)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080412/wl_nm/..._elections_dc_1


QUOTEMaoists expect clear majority
NC worried; unexpected for UML

BY THIRA L BHUSAL

KATHMANDU, April 12 - Two of the major ruling parties, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, have expressed their worry over the trend shown by early results for the constituent assembly (CA) polls received as of Friday night, whereas another major ruling party, Maoist, is upbeat and claiming it will obtain a clear majority.
Maoist second-in-command Dr Baburam Bhattarai said the trend clearly indicated that the Maoists will be the largest party, with a clear majority, something that they had already sensed.

âPeople were longing for new thinking and new leadership and they wanted the Maoists for the implementation,â he said, adding that the peopleâs verdict has shown this.

He claimed that attempts were made from âother quartersâ to deceive the people by trying to establish that the agenda of federal republic and constituent assembly was that of the other parties as well. âHowever, the people did not believe this and they wanted Maoist leadership for the implementation, which in fact is the need of the hour,â he added.

Bhattarai claimed that the preliminary results are just an indication of a nationwide wave in favor of the Maoists and of the peopleâs mood.

However, from the UMLâs point of view the result was unexpected mainly in terms of the outcome in Kathmandu Valley and some other places. âThe preliminary results in Kathmandu and some other places are not as per our expectations and do not reflect our strength at the grassroots,â said senior UML leader Amrit Kumar Bohara, adding, âHowever, we are not perturbed by this.â

He was of the view that no one should be discouraged or become overly excited just by some changes in the results. It happens to parties that face the people in periodic polls, he said.

âThe most significant message of the people is that they are in favor of transformation and a republic and against of any form of violence,â he said, pointing out the positive message of the election so far.

However, he claimed that the Maoists had created circumstances under which people were psychologically as well as physically forced to vote Maoist. Threats from Maoist leaders to capture power within minutes and intimidation to people at the grassroots by their local cadres were some of the reasons, according to him.Â

Bohara claimed that though the election seemed on the surface to be held in a peaceful manner, people were consistently under psychological terror. âThis trend remains a serious challenge for the future,â he said.Â Likewise, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, general secretary of the Nepali Congress (NC), stated that early poll results have the democratic forces worried.

âIf we look at the trend of the initial reports, it shows we failed to inform the people what the CA poll was really for,â Yadav said. âWe are worried that the peopleâs desire for lasting peace through an end to the culture of violence will receive a setback if the democratic forces fail to win an influential position in the constituent assembly,â he added.

http://www.ekantipur.com/

Bodhi · 04-18-2008, 11:47 AM

QUOTEIndia must speak out
Tarun Vijay | 17 Apr 2008

Ian Martin is a favourite cultural czar of the strong western Christian lobby who considered it prudent to station him during the tumultuous period when a new Christian dominated country like East Timor was being carved out of Indonesia. He was secretary general of Amnesty International and has also served in Bosnia-Hercegovina. His best known book is Self-determination in East Timor.

As was in vogue during the liberation theology days in Maharashtra's Talasari area where Marxists and the Jesuits carried out a joint programme authored by the World Council of Churches, Martin is dividing Nepal into smaller identities. He is also working with the Maoists to ensure they stay in power and their aides are fully integrated into Nepal's Army, Armed Police Force and the Nepal Police. There is great resentment against this move among the loyal Nepalese forces which are disciplined and well-groomed and have recruited members after rigorous tests, interviews and verification of antecedents.

On the contrary, the new entrants to these forces â the Maoists â are simple rogues who were inducted into the Maoist PLA either through compulsion or by selling them false dreams. Their induction into the regular Nepalese army will not only seriously affect the morale of the patriotic forces but give an immense boost to the terror outfit of Maoists to retain their hold on the governance and administration through newly-inducted Maoist soldiers in the state force.

Martin has been issuing statements and giving interviews each day like an extra-constitutional head or the correctionist interceptor. And instead of limiting himself to the monitoring of elections, he is becoming a self-appointed initiator of 'security reforms' and 'inclusion of marginalised sections'. The Maoists have compromised with the pride and self-esteem of the nation by demanding in their 23-point Comprehensive Peace Agreement that elections be held under UN supervision. This implies that the Nepalese people are not capable of holding elections to their own constituent assembly.

The UN Security Council established the United Nation's Mission In Nepal (UNMIN) under Resolution 1740 (2007) for one year with a clear mandate to monitor the Maoist ceasefire and assist elections to the Constituent Assembly. But under Martin, UNMIN has made people wonder about its real motives. Martin began direct talks with the rebel Madhesi groups, gave special interviews and issued press statements about including âmarginalizedâ groups like Dalits and Janajatis (tribals) even as UNMIN staff shut their eyes to the vandalism of the Maoist youth wing â the Young Communist League.

Even before the process of verifying Maoist âsoldiersâ could be completed, Martin said he would ensure that all Maoists were confined to their respective cantonments. He also said those who killed Maoist workers in Terai would be punished though he had nothing to say about the murder and mayhem the Maoists indulged in. Martin has been accused of advocating press censorship in Nepal, prompting a journalist to ask him why UNMIN is raising the issue of press âethicsâ and appealing to âexercise press freedom in accordance with professionalismâ. He was defensive rather evasive in his answer.

He said in his briefing to the Security Council that ''... most important for the completion of UNMIN's arms monitoring mandate (is) that there is progress towards decisions about the future of those Maoist combatants whose status is verified within the framework of decisions about the future of Nepal's security sectorâ. Martin admits in the next paragraph that âviews and expectations about the future of the security sector differ greatly and it would be unrealistic to expect quick and easy decisionsâ. Working on this âline of thoughtâ, he builds up a case for extending his tenure and said at a press conference on November 6 last year that UNMIN was expected to assist on issues regarding Nepalâs security, including a managed transition of the Maoist army from temporary cantonments and restriction of the Nepal army inside barracks.

He not only equates the regular Nepal army with the rogue band of the Maoists but emphasises a greater role for himself through providing âassistanceâ in the security sector and âgreater advisory support for promoting public securityâ. Back in July 2007, Martin had said âonly Nepalese actors can rise to these challengesâ, but in January this year, he began lobbying for an extension by praising the political groups â ostensibly the Maoists â who have been violating every single UN guideline for transparent conduct of the elections. In fact Maoists have left no one in doubt by issuing at least two public statements implying that the UNMIN is working at their behest. Baburam Bhattarai, second-in-command at the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), has also issued a veiled threat to send UNMIN packing if it âdoesn't behaveâ.

Under these circumstances the security scene in Nepal remains uncertain.

Nepal turned red and the peoples' verdict should be respected. Who else knows it better than the Indians who have learnt to accept such major turnarounds with an unmatched grace and an Ã©lan that is rare in this part of the world. So Nepal's new rulers have nothing to fear from Delhi. But do we have the same confidence in Kathmandu's new rulers?

The driving philosophy of the Maoists in Nepal was born in deep hate and intolerance. They hated those who were not on their side and physically eliminated their opponents. So far the tally says 15,000 were killed by the so-called Peoples' Liberation Army formed on the pattern of China's PLA by the Maoists. They are such dedicated followers of the dreadful legacy of Mao Tse Tung that they are ashamed to have any relation with their own motherland's culture, religion and civilisational traditions and would rather call themselves proud inheritors of an alien legacy which is being revisited by the younger generation in China. Maoâs biographies have been either deleted or shortened in Chinese text books and the entire Cultural Revolution period has finally been recognized as a gross mistake.

But in this part of the underdeveloped, illiterate or semi-literate, corruption-laden land of weak and spineless politicians, Marx, Mao and Stalin are still gods of a leftist extremism, a fossilised cult of the bygone era. Like old moth-eaten files suddenly being dusted in a sleepy Naxalbari, communally hardcore, Maoist targets continue to be Hindus, Sanskrit schools and Nepalese Brahmins. None of the non-Hindus have been found to be anti-revolutionary. Clearly Capitol Hill and the House of the Saudis work better for their flock than the gestures of large-hearted, pot-bellied Delhi. Since India has remained mired in the same secular talibanism of the Left and the left-out variety and there are hardly any credible protests from nationalists against such gross human rights violations, the barbarism of Maoists continued for 10 years. The leader of the gang, Prachanda, became a hero for Delhi's glitterati, invited to address special media events as a red revolutionary.

Now he is the new monarch in Kathmandu with special absolute powers. As was announced by his party, Nepal may soon have a presidential form of government. India was prepared to face this eventuality, which is a culmination of collective sins on part of all the parties who say they care for Indian interests. The last 10 years were the most crucial for India-Nepal relations as well as Nepal's domestic politics. India either bullied Nepal or simply ignored its plight. The Nepal watchers and big mouth friends were more interested in writing long reports and giving speeches in their backyard than forming any effective strategy to bail Nepal out from its crisis. Indian Marxists helped their ideological comrades quite openly and since the UPA government came to power with CPM help, their actions made it clear that they will be happy to see Maoists ruling Kathmandu.

It just happened.

Now South Block thinks it is prudent to engage Maoists and have them included in the mainline political flow rather than keep them at bay and invite further animosity. Prachanda will soon be officially invited to India and our new envoy-designate Rakesh Sood, fresh from his Afghanistan stint, shall be able to manage equations with the new palace owners who don't find any dichotomy in raising slogans about a proletariat revolution with a Rolex shining on their wrist.

What are the threats that loom large on our radar if Prachanda chooses to show that he means Maoist business? Communists have never shown that power makes them sober and appreciative of a different view point. From Kannur to Singur and the blood-stained 'red corridor', the story is that power whets their appetite to be more lethal and spiteful.

Nepal should not become a hotbed of superpower rivalry. This time China has gained clearly and with Tibet already in its control, it has reached the borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Besides, Martin would be helping the âharvesting agenciesâ of the proselytisers. India can't afford to be a mute spectator to the growing threats in her immediate neighbourhood. Martin should be sent back immediately and Maoists need to be engaged and monitored closely. So far Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee has acted well though belatedly. If one goes by his patriotic speeches in the Asia Society, we may have reasons to trust his diplomacy.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion...how/2960238.cms


and bad-ominous accident during Seto Machhindranath festival:

QUOTEKATHMANDU (AFP) - A religious adviser to Nepal's King Gyanendra has revealed that the already embattled monarch has been struck by yet more misfortune.Â Not only is the king facing the rapid rise of ultra-republican Maoists who want to sack him, he has also been hit by a terrible omen: a 20-metre (66-foot) pole falling off a wooden chariot.Â The incident, which left eight people injured, occurred on Sunday during Seto Machhindranath, one of the Hindu festivals widely observed in Nepal.

It may sound trivial to some, but Madhab Bhattarai -- a Hindu priest, guru and close aide to the king since 2002 -- said the tumbling pole was being taken very seriously behind the walls of the royal palace.

"This is a bad omen for those who run the nation. It signals that there will be some kind of big accident.

The royal guru said he was now deeply worried for the future of Nepal and the Hindu faith, practised by 80 percent of the country's people.

Nepal is home to several important Hindu pilgrimage sites, and the Himalayas that form the country's border with Chinese-controlled Tibet are believed to be the abodes of dozens of Hindu gods and goddesses.

"There is only one Hindu king in the world and he is an important symbol as the protector of Hindu religion," said Bhattarai, who was speaking at his modest Kathmandu office.

"There is a belief that many gods and goddesses live in the physical body of the king. If the king is no longer there, the Hindu religion could be threatened," he warned.

And the king must share some of the blame, his spiritual advisor admitted.

"Earlier kings used to take care of old temples and construct new ones, but the present king didn't give much importance to such things," said Bhattarai.

"His weakness was that he didn't do enough for Hinduism and he was too involved in politics."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080416/wl_st...on_080416051703

dhu · 04-19-2008, 09:45 AM

QUOTEBJP welcomes Nepalâs shift to democracy
Neena Vyas

Hopes that the new dispensation there âwill not be anti-Hindu and anti-Indiaâ

NEW DELHI: Breaking its silence on the recent developments in Nepal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Friday expressed the hope that the new âsecularâ Nepal âwill not be anti-Hindu and anti-India.â

At an expanded meeting of the partyâs central office-bearers, a political resolution was adopted. It covered inflation, the developments in Nepal and the Tibetan protests.

With a tinge of anguish, the party resolution stated: âTill recently, Nepal was a Hindu nation and because it was a Hindu nation, it dealt equitably with its citizens belonging to other faiths. Now, Nepal is being declared a secular state. We hope that under the new dispensation, Nepal will not become anti-Hindu and anti-India.â

At the same time, the party âwelcomedâ the change in Nepal from monarchy to democracy.

The BJP further said it hoped Nepalâs new democracy would mean true freedom where people would be able to express different points of view, and that âit will not be a copy of the democratic model seen in North Korea or under the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.â

Finally, the BJPâs view was that India should keep a watch on developments in Nepal; it should make renewed efforts to strengthen bilateral ties; and take constructive and timely steps.

On the Tibetan protest issue, the BJP resolution found fault with the Government for cancelling a scheduled trip by the Vice-President to meet the Dalai Lama and for not criticising âthe merciless manner in which China had dealt with protesters in Tibet.â

After the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak chief, K.S. Sudarshan, issued a strong statement on Tibet, the BJP has moved in line with the Sangh to attack China stridently.

Bodhi · 04-21-2008, 05:24 PM

QUOTEK for clueless
The Pioneer Edit Desk

Kathmandu to Kabul, MEA is napping

Just hours before the results of the Nepal election began coming out, a Secretary-level officer in the Ministry of External Affairs conducted a briefing of Foreign Office beat correspondents in New Delhi. He confidently announced that a variant of the Seven-Party Alliance would continue in Kathmandu following an unclear mandate. Implicit in this assessment was the argument that there was limited popular support for the Maoists. Now, in the week following Nepal's election of a Maoist regime, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon have gone out of their way to tell the media that India was not surprised. This is plain disingenuous, given that, for months the Indian establishment has been fairly categorical that it saw no danger of a Maoist takeover and apprehended no danger to India's strategic influence in its near neighbourhood. No contingency plans were drawn up in terms of what could and what couldn't be re-negotiated in the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty, the severe alteration (if not effacement) of which is a key Maoist demand. No efforts were made to safeguard Indian capital - from hydropower to consumer goods factories, Indian business has substantial investments in Nepal - in case the Maoists emerged strong enough.

The point here is not so much to discuss India's options in Nepal as to focus on the Government's unerring ability to get its intelligence wrong. When the turbulence began in Nepal two years ago, external powers looked to India for inputs and guidance. The MEA was paralysed, the political leadership confused. It encouraged and legitimised the Maoists, believing the CPI(M) had some hold over them - it doesn't, as is increasingly clear - and then, having weakened mainstream forces, began talking of the inviolable triad of the King, the Army and the political parties. In short, India's Nepal strategy soon became a joke, with nobody clear what it wanted in that country, let alone if it could influence events anyway. India's predicament vis-Ã -vis Pakistan is scarcely better. Till late 2007, the National Security Adviser was giving interviews saying Gen Pervez Musharraf was a safe bet for India and that there was no danger to his authority. Today, between an admittedly shaky civilian coalition and an Army under a new leadership, Gen Musharraf finds himself isolated. Once again, India got it completely wrong. The next big security challenge is Afghanistan. It is obvious that a resurgent Taliban has been much more lethal this spring than at this time in 2007. Indian economic interests are being specifically targeted. Aside from hoping the Americans will never leave, the MEA does not seem to have a back-up blueprint. Already, fellow traveller foreign policy intellectuals - who have leverage within the CPI(M) - are talking of a Taliban struggle for Afghanistan's "perceived national liberation" and cautioning India to stay away. Will the UPA Government repeat Kathmandu in Kabul?

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 04-21-2008, 09:04 PM by Bodhi.)

dhu · 04-22-2008, 04:00 AM

Stephen Hadley? freudian slip or taunt??

dhu · (This post was last modified: 04-22-2008, 12:54 PM by dhu.)

Why is this UN getting agitated? Has there been any indication that the verdict will not be followed? Ian Martin is same fellow from East Timor mentioned by Tarun Vijay.

Nepal's Political Parties Must Respect Election Result, UN Says
By Paul Tighe

April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Nepal's political parties must respect the result of the country's first multiparty elections since 1991, the United Nations Security Council said, as the communist former rebels look set to win most seats in parliament.

Parties must ``respect the will of the people and the rule of law in the coming weeks as the results are being counted,'' the Security Council said in a statement in New York yesterday.

..

Peace Process

``The peace process is not yet complete by any means,'' Ian Martin, the UN's special representative in Nepal, said yesterday. ``Rather than inviting political conflict, this is an opportunity to develop an inclusive and participatory process for making key decisions about the future of Nepal.''

All political parties have indicated they accept the results of the election and the formation of a new government while the National Assembly drafts a new constitution, the UN cited Martin as saying in remarks to Nepal's national daily Gorkhapatra newspaper.

Bodhi · 04-22-2008, 04:37 PM

QUOTEOpp flays UPA against "supporting" Nepal Maoists
PTI | New Delhi Posted online: April 21, 2008

The Opposition on Monday warned the UPA Government that Maoists' victory in Nepal polls could lead to the growth of the Naxal menace in the country, causing serious internal security problems.

Initiating discussion on the demands for grants of the Home Ministry, Yogi Adityanath (BJP) spoke of the growing "red danger" in the country following the former rebels' win in the Constituent Assembly election and the likely abolition of monarchy in the Himalayan country.

"If Indian Government could declare Indian Maoists and Naxalites as terrorists, why Maoists in Nepal are not declared a terrorist outfit?," he wondered, adding that naxals had spread their network dramatically during the past four years.

From some six to seven States covering 56 districts, naxalites have now extended their sway to half of the country by expanding to 175 districts, Adityanath said.

The firebrand BJP MP said that the Central Government, which was favouring Maoists in Nepal, should not forget that they are aiming for "'Maoist Land', which included large parts of India".

He said that while the Government hailed the outcome of elections in Nepal, it was also a "celebration time" for the naxalites in the country who have stepped up their operations.

Referring to a recent population census in Bangladesh, Adityanath claimed, "it has revealed that three crore Bangladeshis are missing from the country," and added that most of them have migrated to India and many were involved in terrorist activities as well.

While supporting the demand for grants amounting to about Rs 30,000 crore by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the BJP member alleged that Government was hiding the fact that a CRPF personnel recruited in J-K was involved in a recent attack on CRPF campus in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=1

dhu · (This post was last modified: 04-26-2008, 11:05 PM by dhu.)

pre-election article:

Rebirth of Nepal
Tarun Vijay

Indians must be ready to welcome a new secular republic in her neighbourhood this month. Nepal, India's best friend and so far her closest civilisational ally, is set to reborn as a different nation.

Nepal finally goes to the polls on April 10 to elect 601 representatives to the constituent assembly.

Of these, 240 would be elected through first past the poll system while 335 would reach parliament through proportional representation and the rest 26 would be nominated by the cabinet formed after the results.

Nepal has witnessed a revolutionary change in its electoral system with special quotas for women (one-third), dalits and oppressed classes, with a provision for Muslims too under the head of 'others'.

Though 74 parties have been registered with the election commission, of which more than 13 owe their allegiance to some shade of Marxism-Leninism, the main contestants remain Nepali Congress Party, Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist, Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Rashtriya Janshakti Party (RJP), Nepal Sadbhavna Party-Anandi Devi (NSP-A), People's Front Nepal, United Left Front, and Madheshi Janadhikar Forum.

Thousand of international observers have arrived in Kathmandu to monitor the most significant democratic exercise in this tiny Himalayan nation, which was once the only constitutionally declared Hindu nation on earth with a 240 year-old tradition of Hindu monarchy.

If Americans are there in a large number and former president Carter has arrived with a team of 60 members from 20 countries, countries like Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Finland and Norway too have sent their official teams to observe the elections with United Nation's special monitoring team making its presence felt through public interviews of its representative.

The change was imminent since the royal massacre took place June 1, 2001, killing mysteriously the entire family of King Birendra, the citizen king Nepal has ever witnessed after the legendary Prithvi Narayan Shah, King of Gorkha (the word Gorkha or Gurkha is derived from Sanskrit word 'go-raksha' meaning the protector of holy cow), unified the territory in 1766 after winning the Kathmandu Valley.

Birendra was a beloved ruler of the masses and I had the privilege to know him personally. He wrote a special signed message for my book on Kailas (royals were supposed to send their special messages unsigned only under the seal of their office) and whenever he visited India, we were invited to see him with family.

He was quite unassuming in his talks, would offer to make tea for his guests and once also introduced his daughter Princess Shruti, who was then studying in Mayo College, Ajmer.

Shrouded in uncomfortable questions, his brother Gyanendra rose to the throne but fell in public esteem as many believed he had a hand in the royal killings.

Next seven years saw a turbulent period with more than 12,000 innocent Nepalese losing their lives at the hands of blood-thirsty Maoists who wanted to bring in an era of 'red revolution'.

None of the democratically-elected Prime Minister could rise to the occasion and save Nepal from getting into a pit of anarchy and despondency.

The writing on the wall was clear-an uncomfortable nation was yearning for a change which would see a new regime of rulers through a different mode.

Weak economically and having a poor leadership, Nepal became a hotbed of various international players and strategic craftsmen from European proselytisers active under the garb of NGOs and various peace missions to the Chinese influences reflected in Maoists routed often through the Indian Communist outfits who were more than willing to see a 'red revolution' fructifying in the neighbourhood.

After King Gyanendra failed to gauge the nation's mood and became a stumbling block in the way of change, a seven-party coalition shook hands with the terrorist Maoist group and brought them into political mainstream by inviting them to be their eighth partner in governance.

The Maoist leader, Prachanda (real name Pushpa Kamal Dahal), became the de-facto 'monarch' and acquired fame by showing off his expensive Rolex wrist watch while sermonising on the necessity to have a proletariat government.

His Young Communist League (YCL) became a notorious gang of lawbreakers forcing the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to dub them publicly as Young Criminals' League!

He had to take back his words later under Maoist pressure though.

In a bit complicated electoral procedure this time for Nepalese people (literacy rate-male 45%, female 35 %), the voters would be asked to use two ballot papers to mark their choice, one for the direct election of their representative and the other for the party, so that the proportional representation of 335 seats can be made by the party out of the 'closed lists' submitted of their probable candidates.

Even much before the Indian parliament could approve the one-third quota for women, Nepal has gone ahead with it without much fuss.

Though abolition of monarchy is almost a foregone conclusion after the elections, the main question being asked is whether the Maoists, who have tasted the power after a bloody 12-year militancy, accept the verdict of people?

In case they do not get the majority and are voted less than the number they can use to influence the next government, what will be the fate of a nascent democratic secular experiment?

Though one of the main leaders, Prachanda, has gone on record to say they would abide by the verdict, another leader Babu Ram Bhattarai has publicly threatened to begin another 'revolution' in case of an outcome against Maoists.

The verdict of the people of Nepal should be supreme and needs to be supported.

India's interests lie in ensuring that Nepal remains in the hands of Nepalese patriotic people and doesn't fall prey to the western powers or the Chinese influences that would de-Nepalise the Himalayan nation to serve their strategic goals.

The Chinese obviously do not like the growing US presence and Nepal is fast becoming a playground of the two powers in their war of influence in south Asia.

For whatever reasons, India has lost Nepal and also the esteem and trust of her people.

Nepalese politicos and media of the secular variety love to hate India and it pay politically to bash India in election speeches.

Though till now, the relations with Nepal have remained more than the 'most favoured nation' status with no passport and visa required to travel into each other's territory, (just an official I-card would suffice, such closeness marks are fast changing.

Very soon visa would be required and may be the number of Gurkhas in Indian army would dwindle to a trickle for obvious reasons.

Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Nepal and an octogenarian politician of repute, once lamented to me in an interview that the slow death of traditional ties with India by the western oriented generation would change Nepal forever.

So far every Nepali politician had his education and political training in India. Hindus of India find their religious pilgrimage circuit incomplete without visiting Pashupatinath in Kathmandu and so an average Nepali Hindu would necessarily visit Hardwar and Rameshwaram.

Gradually with the weakening of Hindu centric politics in India and growing secular talibanism that thrives on hate-Hindu element, Nepal too found a feel of 'modernism' in distancing from her Hindu character and getting closer to western countries and influences.

Though Nepal still officially observes Vikaram Samvat as the state calendar and the language is written in Devanagari script, things may change even in this area.

Till now the state coat of arms has the famous Sanskrit lines from Ramayana - Janani Janmabhumishca Swargadapi Gariyasi - (originally Lord Rama says in Ramayana - O Laxman, the mother and the motherland are greater than the kingdom of <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svarga> heaven.).

Nepalese of Rajasthani origin control most of the business and industry and they feel threatened by the Maoists. Now any Nepali who can afford sends his children to UK and USA for studies and not to Varanasi or Kolkata as it used to be in the past.

It's quite natural too, seeing the global trend and centers of excellence situated more in the western hemisphere than in India.

The other loss has been in the reduced numbers of Nepalese students in the traditional Sanskrit schools, which India had in all the religious places where Hindu sanyasins provided free education to the needy students. Nepalese students were traditionally coming to such ashram type schools in large numbers.

Now as the Sanskrit teaching has been looked down by the state powers in India under a false secular dispensation, Nepal too has started looking in a different direction.

With India losing space, Nepal has been targeted by Jihadis and became an easy preparation ground of ISI (Pakistan's intelligence agency) against India. It may soon become another 'NGO country' like Bangladesh if immediate steps are not taken to check and control the immense funds being pumped into Nepal by European Christian funding agencies aiming to convert Nepal's innocent Hindus.

With China, Church and Islamists gaining ground in Kathmandu, it's a challenge for India's nationalists and Nepal's genuine well wishers to rethink their Nepal policy and channelise support to the democratic and cultural forces in a manner that Himalayan Hindu land doesn't lose her fragrance.

With Pakistan and Bangladesh bleeding India on both sides and a threatening China on the North, we can ill afford to have a new pain in the form of a Nepal turned 'red' under a Maoist dispensation.

Hopefully, Nepalese Congress and Communist Party of Nepal -United Marxist Leninist under the suave and India friendly leadership of Madhav Nepal may emerge as the final engines to the Nepalese democracy.

Let's pray to Pashupati Nath to ensure that.

The author is the Director, Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.

04-27-2008, 05:01 PM

VALID REASONS FOR A MILITARY TAKE-OVER IN NEPAL
By B.Raman

"Ultimately, we will have to fight with the Indian army. That is the situation. Therefore, we have to take into account the Indian army. When the Indian army comes in with thousands and thousands of soldiers, it will be a very big thing. But we are not afraid of the Indian Army because, in one way, it will be a very good thing. They will give us lots of guns. And lots of people will fight them. This will be a national war. And it will be a very big thing. They will have many difficulties intervening. It will not be so easy for them. But if they stupidly dare...they will dare, they will be compelled. They will do that stupidity. We have to prepare for that. And for that reason we are saying we will also need a particular international situation. And for us this has to do mainly with India, Indian expansionism. When there is an unstable situation in India and a strong mass base there in support of People's War in Nepal and there are contradictions within the Indian ruling class-at that point we can seize, we can establish and declare that we have base areas, that we have a government." ----Prachanda, the Nepalese Maoist leader in an interview to a Latin American journalist. Please see my article titled "THE MAOISTS OF NEPAL: Three perspectives" dated July 13,2001, at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers3/paper277.html

-------------------------------------------------------------

As a successful democracy, India cannot support a military coup in any country.

2. But sometimes, in our national interest, we may have to close our eyes to a military take-over or to the evils of a military rule in a neighbouring country.

3.As we have been doing in the case of Myanmar for over a decade now.

4. As we did in Bangladesh last year when chronic political instability seemed to be pushing the country into the hands of jihadi terrorists of various hues and various vintages.

5. We may be well-advised to do so if the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) decides to prevent the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) led by Prachanda, which has emerged as the leading party in the recent elections, from using its position as the leader of the Government to convert the RNA with its glorious traditions into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Nepal patterned after the PLA of China and North Korea and after the Cuban Army.

6. In his statements and interviews before the elections, Prachanda has given clear indications of their priorities if the Maoists came to power. First, have the monarchy abolished and proclaim Nepal as a Republic with a Presidential style of Government. Second, himself assume office as the President of Nepal. Third,abrogate all existing agreements with India and re-negotiate those of them, which are considered to be in Nepal's interests. And four, merge the armed cadres of the Maoists into the RNA to convert a royalist army into a people's army.

7.After Mao Zedong's PLA captured power in China in 1949 and proclaimed the People's Republic of China, the PLA became the army of the State. The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party proclaimed China as the "rear base" for all communist movements in Asia. It assisted North Korea in its war with the US-led coalition, North Vietnam in its war initially against the French and subsequently against the Americans and the South Vietnamese Army and the communist insurgencies in Malaysia, Northern Thailand and Myanmar and helped the Indonesian communists in a big way till the military coup staged by the Indonesian Army under President Suharto saved the country from falling into the hands of the communists. The Burmese Army under Gen.Ne Win similarly captured power in the early 1960s to prevent their country from falling into the hands of the communists and other ethnic insurgent groups. In 1979, after 30 years of trying to export Maoism, Deng Xiaoping changed this policy and stopped exporting the revolution to other countries.

8. After capturing power in Cuba in the early 1960s, Fidel Castro converted his armed guerillas into the army of the state and embarked on a policy of exporting the Cuban revolution to other Latin American countries, with Cuba serving as the rear base. The death of Che Guavera, who was asked to have this policy executed, allegedly at the hands of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) put an end to Cuba's communist dreams in Latin America, but till today, the Cuban Government and Communist Party continue with their attempts at political subversion in the Latin American countries.

9.Only Vietnam proved a refreshing contrast. After they defeated the Americans and the South Vietnamese Army in 1975 and re-united their country, they concentrated on developing the country and avoided all ideological adventures abroad.

10. Which model Prachanda and his Maoist followers will follow---the Chinese, the Cuban or the Vietnamese? If one goes by his past statements and interviews, he is likely to follow a mix of the Chinese and Cuban models and not the Vietnamese. He has always been attracted by the idea of Nepal serving as a rear base for exporting the Maoist revolution to India. He has also viewed a destabilised India preoccupied with internal security as in the long-term interests of Nepal. We should not allow his present charm offensive towards India make us forget his past.

11.Till now, our military planners have been worried over the dangers of India being confronted one day with a two-front war----with Pakistan and China.We now have to think seriously about the dangers of a three-front war with Pakistan, China and Nepal.

12. Once the communists accede to power---through an armed revolution or through the ballot box---- they try to see that nobody else can dislodge them. There have been exceptions, of course. Nicaragua, for example. But, there the communists were prevented from entrenching themselves through strong US support for non-communist elements.

13. It is neither in the interests of Nepal nor of India for the Maoists to entrench themselves in power and convert the RNA into the PLA of Nepal and turn Nepal into a rear base to help the Maoists in India. The plans of the Maoists for a presidential style of Government in Nepal with all powers concentrated in the hands of Prachanda and with the RNA replaced by the PLAN should be thwarted. All genuinely democratic forces in Nepal and the military leadership should join hands to prevent the communists from carrying out their long-term designs.The communists will fight back ferociously all attempts to deny them the fruits of power. The fear of a possibly bloody riposte by the communists should not deter those worried over the implications of the Maoists' plan from acting before it is too late.

04-27-2008, 05:10 PM

Nepal Maoists want comrades released from Bihar jails
QUOTEhttp://in.news.yahoo.com/indiaabroad/20080...ed-b9e311f.html

Apr 27 2008,Patna

Two senior Nepalese Maoist leaders have sought the release of dozens of their comrades lodged in Bihar's jails and met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in this regard.

It is for the first time that such a move has been made formally by the Nepalese Maoists.

Senior Nepalese Maoist leader Hisila Yami and C.P. Gajurel, currently here to attend a two-day seminar that began Saturday, had initiated talks with Nitish Kumar on this issue.

Yami is leading a 45-member delegation from Nepal for the seminar on 'Emerging Trends in India-Nepal Relations'.

'We sought an early release of dozens of Nepalese Maoists lodged in Bihar's jails during our meeting with Nitish Kumar,' Yami, minister for physical planning and works in the outgoing interim government, told IANS here Sunday.

Yami is the first senior Maoist leader from Nepal to visit India after the former guerrillas emerged victorious in the April 10 constituent assembly polls.

She said Nitish Kumar assured them he would consider their request for release of Nepalese Maoists lodged in state jails. 'Our discussion was positive and cordial on this issue,' said Yami, a politburo member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and wife of senior Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai.

Gajurel, also a senior CPN (Maoist) politburo member, said the Nepalese Maoists lodged in Bihar's jails are activists of the party. 'We have requested Nitish Kumar to arrange their early release. He responded well,' he said.

Bihar shares nearly 700 km of a porous international border with Nepal.

Official sources in the chief minister's office said Yami and Gajurel spent about one-and-a-half hours with Nitish Kumar.

According to official sources in the state prison department, at least three dozen Nepalese Maoists are lodged in different jails in Bihar.

Nepal Maoists need to convince opposition for power
QUOTEhttp://in.news.yahoo.com/reuters_ids_new/2...os-223dd93.html

Apr 27 2008, KATHMANDU

Nepal's Maoists, who emerged the single largest party in this month's historic election, now face the hard task of convincing the opposition of their commitment to democracy if they want to forge a coalition government.

The election saw voters dumping traditional parties, giving the Maoists a strong mandate for change, such as sweeping land reform to help farmers in one of the world's poorest nations.

But the Maoists still command a rebel army, have refused to renounce violence and speak of a "people revolt" if they are stopped from taking power, posturing that has unnerved opposition parties about their commitment to democratic ideals.

The Maoists, who have shunned most of their radical communist ideologies for capitalist policies, also say they want both head of the state and government posts.

"The first challenge for the Maoists is to legitimize their move to democracy through their behaviour," said Yubaraj Ghimire, an editor and a political analyst. "The other political parties are scared and are in doubt. They have to be convinced."

As the single largest party, the Maoists, who won 220 seats in a 601-member special assembly are the strongest claimant to lead a coalition.

But the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), the second and third largest parties respectively and both centrist parties, want to strike a balance of power.

They want the rebel army and Maoist youth wing disbanded, an easier constitutional provision to remove the head of government to preclude authoritarian rule and an equal share of power.

"The Maoists should not behave as if they have got a two-thirds majority," said Ameet Dhakal of the Kathmandu Post daily. "They are a minority, but the largest party; and they should be ready to share power."

PARTY BICKERING

The parties also bicker over whether Nepal should have a presidential executive or a prime ministerial form of government. The Maoists project their chief known as Prachanda as the country's first president. In that case, the prime minister should be from another party, the opposition says.

The Nepali Congress has even said a change of government was unnecessary because this was not a general election but an election to form a special assembly to write a new constitution.

"Why change the government?" said Man Bahadur Bishwakarma, a Nepali Congress politician. "The prime minister is not obliged to resign. The Maoists don't even have a simple majority."

Nepal's interim constitution does not offer much help on transformation of power. The Maoists cannot remove the present prime minister without a two-thirds majority..

The Maoists counter by saying the opposition was trying to subvert the people's verdict.

"The people's mandate is for us. If we are prevented then people will revolt and give a fresh mandate," said Rama Bahadur Thapa, a senior Maoist leader.

Analysts say that there is strong evidence Nepalis want change and the Maoists have that mandate.

"When people -- mainly the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised -- voted, they had change, not constitution, on their minds," said Dhakal. "They voted with a hope that the Maoists would bring about meaningful change in their lives."

Nonetheless, all parties are under pressure to form a consensus government because failing to do so would be seen as endangering a hard-won peace deal that brought Maoist rebels back into electoral politics.

"All of them are aware people are watching," said Ghimire. "They can not ignore the pressure of people's expectations."

Despite the problems, Maoist leaders say Nepal would have its new government within one month.

"Within three weeks to a month we should be able to form the government," Baburam Bhattarai, top Maoist leader and a prospective prime minister, told Reuters this month.

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