05-09-2006, 09:06 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Maoist boss secretly met Left in Delhi
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New Delhi, May 8: On April 6 at 4 pm there was a knock on the door of Nationalist Congress Party leader D.P. Tripathi, who was waiting inside with the CPI(M)âs Sitaram Yechury with some anticipation for this meeting. A middle-aged, bearded man in trousers and shirt was standing outside, having just got off the pillion of a bicycle on which he had ridden through New Delhiâs streets to reach the political leaderâs residence. <b>It was the Nepal Maoistsâ legendary leader Prachanda, rarely seen in public, a man deemed to be a terrorist by the United States but who has a mass following in Nepal, and known to be a stickler for keeping his word</b>.
The two-hour meeting, the first between Mr Yechury and Mr Prachanda and the second for Mr Tripathi, was very successful. The Maoist leader placed a three-point agenda for future interactions on the table. He made it clear that he was for multi-party democracy and would not go back on this if the 12-point formula was followed in letter and spirit; that his cadres would not resort to violence provided there was no repression against them; and three, there should be no interference from India and it should be left to the Nepalese people to determine their destiny.
<b>Mr Tripathi, when contacted on Monday, said that âa significant indication of the sagacity of the Maoists had come when they kept to their word of keeping the democratic struggle completely peaceful, and when they took the first step of declaring a unilateral ceasefire for three months.â</b> He said that despite the attack on the protesters by the security forces acting under instructions from King Gyanendra, the Maoist cadres operated under strict instructions not to retaliate. He said that he had been communicating with Mr Prachanda through an intermediary since their last meeting on the Nepal-Bihar border several months ago.
Nepalâs political parties, civil society groups and the Maoists are currently involved in a debate centring around the crucial question: what to do with the monarchy. Mr Tripathi held the view that the people of Nepal would not agree to anything more than a ceremonial role for the King, if at all.
A constitutional monarchy mechanism, with some powers vested in the King, which New Delhi had been working on, would be completely unacceptable to the Nepalese people, he said. Interestingly, the choice of monarch has also become an issue for debate, with a wide section of opinion in the Himalayan kingdom totally opposed to allowing either King Gyanendra or his son and heir Paras retaining control of whatever limited monarchical functions finally emerges from the present churning in the country.
One option, sources said, is to make them âfacelessâ â such as the King of Sweden, who exists without most ordinary citizens being even aware of his presence. The other two options, however, are particularly significant. One is to crown the granddaughter of late King Birendra, a seven-year-old child, as the ceremonial Queen, with a regent handling affairs until she comes of age.
<b>She was the only surviving member of the royal family assassinated in the palace in the summer of 2001. The other option, the sources said, was to crown the minor son of Paras as King with his grandmother as regent. Mr Tripathi, when asked about this, said the second option might not be acceptable to those who wanted to see the last of King Gyanendra and his immediate family.</b>
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his meeting with Mr Yechury and Mr Tripathi, reportedly indicated that the government would raise no objections if the Maoists joined the political process after giving up guns and violence. This is what the Americans have been maintaining as well, with US state department official Richard Boucher making it apparent during a recent visit to Kathmandu that the Bush administration expected the Maoists to lay down their arms before joining the political process.
Mr Yechury had earlier told this reporter that this would be impossible unless corresponding measures to transfer the command of the Royal Nepal Army from the King to a democratically-elected government were undertaken.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
 link
New Delhi, May 8: On April 6 at 4 pm there was a knock on the door of Nationalist Congress Party leader D.P. Tripathi, who was waiting inside with the CPI(M)âs Sitaram Yechury with some anticipation for this meeting. A middle-aged, bearded man in trousers and shirt was standing outside, having just got off the pillion of a bicycle on which he had ridden through New Delhiâs streets to reach the political leaderâs residence. <b>It was the Nepal Maoistsâ legendary leader Prachanda, rarely seen in public, a man deemed to be a terrorist by the United States but who has a mass following in Nepal, and known to be a stickler for keeping his word</b>.
The two-hour meeting, the first between Mr Yechury and Mr Prachanda and the second for Mr Tripathi, was very successful. The Maoist leader placed a three-point agenda for future interactions on the table. He made it clear that he was for multi-party democracy and would not go back on this if the 12-point formula was followed in letter and spirit; that his cadres would not resort to violence provided there was no repression against them; and three, there should be no interference from India and it should be left to the Nepalese people to determine their destiny.
<b>Mr Tripathi, when contacted on Monday, said that âa significant indication of the sagacity of the Maoists had come when they kept to their word of keeping the democratic struggle completely peaceful, and when they took the first step of declaring a unilateral ceasefire for three months.â</b> He said that despite the attack on the protesters by the security forces acting under instructions from King Gyanendra, the Maoist cadres operated under strict instructions not to retaliate. He said that he had been communicating with Mr Prachanda through an intermediary since their last meeting on the Nepal-Bihar border several months ago.
Nepalâs political parties, civil society groups and the Maoists are currently involved in a debate centring around the crucial question: what to do with the monarchy. Mr Tripathi held the view that the people of Nepal would not agree to anything more than a ceremonial role for the King, if at all.
A constitutional monarchy mechanism, with some powers vested in the King, which New Delhi had been working on, would be completely unacceptable to the Nepalese people, he said. Interestingly, the choice of monarch has also become an issue for debate, with a wide section of opinion in the Himalayan kingdom totally opposed to allowing either King Gyanendra or his son and heir Paras retaining control of whatever limited monarchical functions finally emerges from the present churning in the country.
One option, sources said, is to make them âfacelessâ â such as the King of Sweden, who exists without most ordinary citizens being even aware of his presence. The other two options, however, are particularly significant. One is to crown the granddaughter of late King Birendra, a seven-year-old child, as the ceremonial Queen, with a regent handling affairs until she comes of age.
<b>She was the only surviving member of the royal family assassinated in the palace in the summer of 2001. The other option, the sources said, was to crown the minor son of Paras as King with his grandmother as regent. Mr Tripathi, when asked about this, said the second option might not be acceptable to those who wanted to see the last of King Gyanendra and his immediate family.</b>
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his meeting with Mr Yechury and Mr Tripathi, reportedly indicated that the government would raise no objections if the Maoists joined the political process after giving up guns and violence. This is what the Americans have been maintaining as well, with US state department official Richard Boucher making it apparent during a recent visit to Kathmandu that the Bush administration expected the Maoists to lay down their arms before joining the political process.
Mr Yechury had earlier told this reporter that this would be impossible unless corresponding measures to transfer the command of the Royal Nepal Army from the King to a democratically-elected government were undertaken.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->