05-09-2006, 10:03 PM
Nepal Maoist boss secretly met Left in Delhi
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->On April 6 at 4 pm there was a knock on the door of <b>Nationalist Congress Party leader D.P. Tripathi</b>, who was waiting inside with the <b>CPI(M)âs Sitaram Yechury </b>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. It was the Nepal Maoistsâ legendary leader Prachanda, rarely seen in public, <b>a man deemed to be a terrorist by the United States </b>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.</b> 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.
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 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.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->On April 6 at 4 pm there was a knock on the door of <b>Nationalist Congress Party leader D.P. Tripathi</b>, who was waiting inside with the <b>CPI(M)âs Sitaram Yechury </b>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. It was the Nepal Maoistsâ legendary leader Prachanda, rarely seen in public, <b>a man deemed to be a terrorist by the United States </b>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.</b> 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.
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 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.
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