MAOIST INFORMATION BULLETIN-5
[ Occasional News Bulletin of Communist Party of Nepal ( Maoist ) ]
No.5.
September 28, 2003
Keeping into consideration emotional sensitivity of the masses and widespread demand of different social organizations, political parties and prominent personalities, the CPN (Maoist) has declared temporary suspension of all offensive military actions during the main festival of Dashain i.e from October 2 to October 10. This was announced by Chairman of the Party and Supreme Commander of the People’s Liberation Army(PLA), Com.Prachanda, through a press statement on September 26.
However, defensive actions against the treacherous attacks of the royal
mercenery RNA will continue throughout. As against the speculation in certain
quarters that there would be a month-long cease-fire covering the whole festival
season of Dasain, Tihar and Chhat, the Party has declared suspension of
offensive actions for 9 days covering the main festival period. It is quite
ironic that a revolutionary movement aimed at bringing about total political,
economic, social and cultural transformation of society has to take due
consideration of the feeling of the masses, as some of the traditional
festivals would take a long time to fade out of the consciousness of the
masses.
Nevertheless, the Party has cautioned all to remain alert throughout against the betrayal of the genocidal RNA which knows no ethics and common minimum morality .
“Keeping
into serious consideration the feeling of the masses and the appeal of
different political and human rights organizations and the civil society, our
Party has decided to suspend all offensive actions on our part for nine days
from October 2 to October 10, i.e. from Saptami to Purnima, in
the context of the Dashain festival. The Central Head quarter has
directed the whole Party, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and all the organs
of the new state power to remain in the state of active defense for effective
retaliation in case the so-called security apparatus of the old state attacks
the masses or any unit of the PLA during this period of unilateral suspension
announced by our Party.
“ Today,
the regressive old feudal state playing in the hands of foreign power centers,
particularly US imperialism, has falsely and deliberately charged us as having
broken away from the ceasefire and peace talks and is trying to use it as a license
to massacre the people. This tirade of such elements, who closed all doors to a
political way-out by the time of third round of talks, who denied the masses of
the people their sovereign rights to determine their own destiny and future themselves and who compelled our Party and the masses to
go for resistance by openly violating the ceasefire since the beginning,
indulging in increased massacre and terror and perpetrating the most cowardly
and barbarous massacre in Doramba while the negotiation was in progress, is as
ridiculous as an attempt to block the sun with the palm. The success of the
3-days Nepal bandh (general shut-down) and countrywide resistance has
amply proved that the general Nepalese masses are quite aware of the big
conspiracy of the old state, isolated from the masses, trying to use ceasefire
and negotiations to prolong its regressive feudal rule. The leaders of the
so-called royal army, scared out of their wits from the initial resistance as
per the new strategy of our Party, have, on the one hand, taken recourse to
totally false propaganda to hide their all-round defeat, and on the other, have
been issuing false statements of encounters by massacring the innocent and
unarmed rural masses engaged in their daily chores. This is amply verified by
the black vomit of one ringleader of the so-called royal army struck to death
by our new strategy but not able to grasp its essence in Nepalgunj; by the
howling of encounter deaths of many Maoists after the cold-blood murder of
ordinary peasants engaged in collection of firewood and fodder in Udaipur and
petty traders in Achham; and by false propagandization of some dacoits as
Maoists in Sarlahi. The activities of the mercenary soldiers of the old state,
trying to trample upon the self-respect of Nepal and the Nepalese on the
strength of a few new weapons given by the foreign reactionaries including the
Americans, are nothing more than that. The old state and its army has now
become a mere synonym for national betrayal, genocide, terror and rape and this
reality has made rebellion and resistance an inevitability.
“Certainly we are quite sensitive about
the replunging of the country into civil war. We want genuine ceasefire, peace
and progress in the country. As the sons and daughters of the masses devoted to
the independence and progress of the countr. our historic commitment to fight
till the end against trampling upon the dignity of Nepal and the Nepalese with
the support and instigation of the foreign reactionaries, is the highest
manifestation of this sensitivity. We are committed to lead the rebellion till the
great Nepalese people of the twenty-first century get the sovereign right to
decide their own future themselves. In the past the old state has betrayed ours
and the masses’ optimism, sense of duty and flexibility to seek a peaceful
way-out through ceasefire and negotiations. This has adequately proved that the
problem cannot be solved through ceasefire and its observance only by us.
Because of the criminal activities of the old state and the so-called royal
army, to declare a unilateral ceasefire during the traditional festivals of the
Nepalese people with different nationalities, languages and cultural heritage,
even if we so desire, would in essence be to provide them (i.e. the old state )
undue opportunity. Hence, we sincerely call upon all the democratic political
forces, human right organizations, civil society and the general masses of the
people in the country to focus pressure on the old state which brutalizing the
Nepalese people by riding on the back of foreign reactionary forces. We are
ready to announce a permanent ceasefire when the old state agrees to genuinely
respect the sovereign rights of the people. Otherwise we would like to reassert
our commitment to fight till the old state is completely wiped out.” +
The 3-day Nepal bandh (general shut-down) jointly called by the Party, PLA and the People’s Council against the royal military dictatorship on September 18, 19 and 20 has been a complete success. As has been widely reported in the national and international media, such a total closure of all activities for continuous 72 hours throughout every nook and corner of the country was never seen earlier in the whole history of Nepal. Such a complete political strike at the call of the revolutionary forces definitely marks a turning point in the revolutionary movement of the country.
The Party has assessed this unprecedented success of
the strike as a massive public endorsement of the immediate political agenda
put forth by the Party, namely a round-table conference, interim government and
election to a constituent assembly, and a severe blow to the treacherous acts
of the military dictatorship. Even though the royal spin doctors have tended to
minimize this spontaneous show of public support to the revolutionary forces as
mere result of coercion and fear, that is just a lame excuse for their
defeatist mentality. Certainly a minor section of the reactionary classes would
have been cowed down, which is natural in a class-divided society, but that is
besides the point.
Public Thanks
Com.
Prachanda, Chairman of the Party and Supreme Commander of the PLA, and Com.
Baburam Bhattarai, Convener of the URPC, have issued a joint statement on
September 20 thanking one and all for the cooperation in the Nepal bandh.
The full text of
the statement is as follows:
“The 3-day Nepal bandh (general shut-down) programme, organized against
the old state foolishly trying to perpetuate feudal regresses and ‘royal
military’ terror after nullifying the relevance of ceasefire and negotiations
through denial of all forward-looking and peaceful way-out, both politically
and militarily, has been a complete success. From the state capital to all the
nooks and corners of the country, the masses of the people have resisted and
defeated the ‘royal military’ terror and false and motivated propaganda of the
old state and made this bandh (shut-down) a success. Contrary to the false claims
of the old feudal state and its apologists, this success is the result of the
resistance against (state) terror. With this overwhelming success of the 3-day
bandh (shut-down) the minimum agenda of a progressive way-out proposed by us,
namely a round-table conference, interim government and election to a
constituent assembly, has been once again widely endorsed. In this context, we
pay solemn homage to the immortal martyrs killed during the heroic resistance
of the royal military terror and thank with warm salute all the revolutionary
and general masses of the people who have contributed to make this bandh
(shut-down) a success.
“Subsequent events have proved beyond doubt that the old feudal state working against the national
sovereignty and people’s well-being and aspirations for change by riding on the
back of foreign imperialism, particularly American imperialism, has been
totally isolated from the masses. Daily routine of the so-called royal army,
degenerated into a mercenary army dependent on the crumbs of bread and order
from imperialism, has been to indulge in cowardly massacre of gallant fighters
devoted to the well-being of the country and the people. In this sensitive hour
of history, it is imperative to defeat the royal military terror for the sake
of security, liberation, peace and progress of the country and the people, and
there is no alternative to People’s War for this. The People’s War would go on
unwaveringly till the sovereign right of the people to determine their own destiny
and future is firmly established.
“The great People’s
War is the historic rebellion of the Nepalese people ,with the exercise of
their right to self-determination, against feudalism and imperialism. Like all
the great rebellions and revolutions in history it is marching forward amidst
certain mistakes, weaknesses and accidents. It is certain that the
revolutionary force would get more mature along with its development and
victory. We appeal to all leftist, progressive, patriotic and democratic forces
and the general masses to get united for building a new Nepal by queuing up more firmly in this historic rebellion”. +
Com. Gajurel Still in Indian Custody
Com.C.P.Gajurel(Gaurav), senior Politbureau Member of CPN (Maoist), who
was captured by the Indian security forces from Chennai airport on August 19
last, is still in the custody of the Indian security forces. He was produced in
a Chennai court on September 18 and again handed back to the security forces ostensibly
for 15 days more.
It is understood that he has been
charged with traveling on a fake document, which is not very serious by Indian
legal standard. It is, however, quite intriguing why he is taken into repeated
police custody on such flimsy charges. This has naturally fuelled deep
suspicion that there is still danger to the life of Com. Gajurel whether he is
kept in confinement in India or extradited to the monarchist regime in Nepal.
Meanwhile Com. Gajurel has provided written statement to the Indian
authorities about his travel details from Nepal to India and his intended
purpose of visit to Europe. According to the statement he traveled from eastern
Nepal to Chennai via Calcutta and he was heading towards Europe to propagate
Party policy and programme among emigrant Nepalese and general anti-imperialist
forces there.
This has effectively countered the canard propagandized by the royal
military dictatorship that Com. Gajurel was sheltered in India. Similarly, the
statement has cleared the doubt among a section of Indian ruling classes that
Com. Gajurel was heading towards London to meet the King then on a private
visit there. Such contradictory allegations of the ruling classes of Nepal and
India against the revolutionary forces are so baseless and ridiculous that they
are just not worth refuting.
In the meantime the clamor for the safety of life and freedom of Com. Gajurel is ever more mounting throughout the world. We again demand the immediate freedom of Com. Gajurel from the custody of Indian security forces. +
Because of the known national capitulationist character of the ‘new’ feudal-comprador monarchy, the country is fast turning into a hotbed of international intrigue and conspiracy. The recent hectic activities of the ambassadors of some powerful countries and their open interference in the internal affairs of Nepal has proved this beyond doubt.
The naked interference of US imperialism has been the most conspicuous in this respect. The US ambassador, Michael E. Malinowski , has not only been meeting various leaders of the parliamentary parties and dictating them to ‘cooperate with the king to isolate the Maoists’, but he has been openly launching malicious tirade against the revolutionary forces through public speeches and interviews to the media. [ See, “Open Letter to the US Ambassador” by Com. Baburam Bhattarai, at http://cpnm.org/English]
Meanwhile a report in Time-Asia (September 15, 2003 ), among others, has confirmed large scale military involvement of US imperialism in Nepal. According to the report, “Up to 50 US special-forces trainers are now pushing 20 battalions of 700-800 men each-a quarter of entire army-through a 12-week counterinsurgency programme. …..Washington has also supplied the RNA with 5000 M-16s, with 5000 due; Belgium sold Nepal 5500 machine guns, and Britain and India have lent military advisors.”
The US President, George W. Bush, is understood to have specially patted
his stooge from Nepal, Bhek B. Thapa, Ambassador- at- large, during a recent
gathering in New York in honor of the visiting Heads of the Delegations to the
UN General Assembly. On the occasion, Christina Rocca, Assistant Secretary of
State for South Asia, is reported to have pledged all assistance and support to
the royalist regime “to fight the Maoist terrorists”.
Scared of its own shadow of criminal misdeeds and conspiracies the US government, on September 24, has warned its citizens either not to visit Nepal at all or exercise extreme caution once there. The CPN(Maoist), however, has clarified time and again that there is no danger to the life of any foreigner, including the US nationals, in Nepal and the tourists from any country are most welcome to visit and travel. Contrary to the widespread false propaganda by the reactionary ruling classes that foreign tourists are subjected to extortions by the Maoists, a host of tourists from different countries have refuted the baseless charge in recent times. [ See, for example, a report in Nepali Times, September 19-26, 2003]
In the mean time, Special British Envoy to Nepal, Sir Jeoffry James, has
made his third visit in six months to Nepal , and as usual lobbied hard to
unite the so-called ‘constitutional forces’ (read the king and parliamentary
parties ) against the Maoists. He is, however, reported to have acknowledged at
last that ‘there is no military solution to the Maoist problem.’
The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and UN Acting High Commissioner
for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan , on the other hand, seem to have done their
best to maintain a neutral stand in the current conflict in Nepal and offered
their help to solve the problem in the country.
The Party, as ever, requests all foreign
powers to keep off from Nepal and let the Nepalese people determine their own
future themselves. +
Daring
Military Actions Shake the RNA
Fake
Encounters and White Lies Galore
The gallant fighters of the PLA continued to
shake the whole country with their dare-devil military actions throughout the
second half of September, too. Shaken out of its wits, the royal mercenary RNA
intensified massacre of the innocent and unarmed masses and political cadres in
fake encounters and continued to churn out white lies of malicious propaganda
to hoodwink the world public opinion.
One of the most daring, and perhaps the biggest
and most successful in the whole period of seven and half years of PW, military
action in the form of road ambush with
mining took place at Sahajpur in Kailali dictrict ( far western Terai region ).
The brave PLA fighters ambushed three truckloads of RNA convoy at Faltude of
Sahajpur at around 12:30 mid-day and attacked with rocket-launchers and other
weapons. Forty-one RNA mercenaries were killed, more than two dozens wounded and
two military trucks were blown-up. On the
PLA side, Platoon Commander
Com.Sagarmatha was martyred and a few injured. This devastating military blow
to the royal genocidal regime was almost totally blacked out from the media.
Stung hard by this PLA blow, the RNA mercenaries
made a futile attempt to invade the main revolutionary base area in Rolpa on
September 17, encircling the Bhawang-Jankot area from four sides with
additional troops from Rukum, Sallyan and Dang. A fierce battle took place and
the royal mercenaries were ultimately beaten back to district and regional
headquarters. In the process five mercenaries were killed on the spot, 2 more
succumbed to death later and more than 25 were wounded. On the PLA side, seven
heroic fighters including a woman Company Commander attained martyrdom and
fifteen were wounded. The royal spin doctors, however, made totally baseless
claims through their monopoly media that fifty-seven PLA fighters had died,
which they could never substantiate with concrete evidence. Chairman Prachanda
in a press statement on September 19 put the record straight before the outside
world.
Similarly, hundreds of small and medium military
actions in the form of raids/commando attacks, ambush/mining, high sabotages
and selected annihilations were carried out throughout the country.
Raids/commando attacks took place in Rautahat ( September 16), Kapilvastu
(September 19), Dadeldhura (September 26), Udaipur (September 27), among
others. Successful ambushes and mining were carried out in Kathmandu (September
13), Chitwan (September 15), Dhading (September 18), Mahottarai (September 20),
Gorkha (September 27) and others.
Selected annihilations of royal butchers, informers and incorrigible criminals
were carried out in Banke, Surkhet, Kailali, Baitadi, Kathmandu, Biratnagar,
Syangja and elsewhere. And a number of high-profile sabotages including those
against the current Prime Minister, four of his Ministers, the chief of the
Royal Advisory Council, a former chief of the Election Commission and others
sent chills down the spine of the reactionary classes.
As usual the royal butchers have retaliated by
massacring dozens of unarmed masses and political activists in daily fake
encounters. The fact that they would kill twenty or thirty persons and claim to
have captured a few, ‘socket bombs’ or just ‘guns’ or ‘a lot of logistics’ in
vague terms , easily exposes their genocidal actions and white lies. For, any
person with a common sense or basic knowledge of the ABC of war and weapons,
would know that weapons like socket-bombs are just defensive tools and nobody
would go to attack the RNA with them to invite a real encounter. For example, subsequent investigations have proved
that ordinary peasants collecting firewood and fodder in the jungle were gunned
down by the RNA in Udaipur on September 22 and petty traders transporting their
goods were the target of RNA fury in Achham on September 18, both of which
incidents were propagandized as ‘encounter killings’ by the state media.
Similarly, the case of two dacoits lynched by the irate masses in Sarlahi on
September 22 was very prominently reported and circulated by the royalist media
as an instance of ‘public fury and resistance against the Maoists’.
However,
the general masses who rely more on practice than on newspapers and radios are
by now quite conversant with the way of false propaganda of the old state. The
urban intelligentsia and foreign observers, on the other hand, would do well to
check concrete facts first and apply a
bit of logic before they accepted the monarchical state propaganda as it is.+
Document
Letter to
International Crisis Group.
To,
John Norris,
Special Adviser to the President of the International
Crisis Group.
Dear Friend,
First of all we would like to thank the International
Crisis Group for its sincere efforts to understand the real nature of the
ongoing political and military conflict in Nepal.
Here is, in short, the reply to
your queries:
1)
Would
the CPN(M) leadership be willing to accept a constituent assembly with
precondition that multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy be
guaranteed ?
-
In history and universally, the concept of constituent assembly is
accepted as the ‘highest’ form of democracy. The whole idea behind it is to
effectively transfer ‘sovereignty’ and ‘state authority’ traditionally claimed
and exercised by the monarchy to the real sovereign people. In the particular
case of Nepal, though the constitution of 1990 formally talked of the people as
the ‘source of sovereignty’, because of the faulty and inadequate mechanism of
writing and promulgating the constitution (which was written by the nominated
representatives of the king and several political parties and promulgated by
the king invoking his traditional ‘state authority’) and ambiguity and duality
between ‘sovereignty’ and ‘state authority’ deliberately left behind in the
constitution, the monarchy very craftily subverted the constitution October 4 last
and re-centralized all power into itself. Hence any idea of ‘partial
sovereignty’ to the people is fraught with immense loopholes and danger to
democracy. Attaching any ‘precondition’ to constituent assembly does precisely
that. Our Party is, therefore, opposed to the idea of attaching any
precondition to the constituent assembly. Of course, different political
parties and the king, for that matter, can go to the people with their own
agenda during the election. Also, if the particular historical condition and
the prevailing balance of forces so demand, there can be common understanding
on certain issues during and after the election, but not certainly in the very
beginning or right now and on fundamental questions of democracy. On our part,
we are committed to multi-party democracy and other prerequisites of basic
political, economic, social and cultural transformation, which we have outlined
in the political agenda submitted during the recent peace negotiations.
-
2)
Is the party concerned that increasing reliance on
urban assassination and a move away from attacks on RNA and police bases make
CPN(M) less popular with the public ?
- Militarily we firmly uphold the
basic tactics and strategy of the revolutionary People’s War (PW). Therefore
there is no question of our People’s Liberation Army (PLA) moving away from
attacks on RNA and police bases or relying increasingly on ‘urban
assassinations’. Naturally along with the development of PW, the area and
target of military activity/action can change and the focus may shift from
rural to urban areas. Since our Party and Chairman Prachanda have always
stressed on pursuing a correct mass line and never alienating the masses, the
PLA and Party cadres are quite cautious to implement the general mass line. Some isolated incidents of unintended death
of civilians in legitimate sabotage actions or capital punishment to certain
individuals in recent weeks have been highly exaggerated by the genocidal
monarchical state and a section of the media, but this does not reflect any
fundamental change in the military strategy of the Party.
3)
Does the latest round of fighting signal that the
party has moved to a strategic offensive ?
-No. The Party’s
official assessment is that the PW is still at the stage of strategic
equilibrium. If there is no peaceful forward-looking political way-out, which
our Party has sincerely proposed during the recent rounds of negotiation with
the old monarchical state, then the revolution is bound to pursue the next military
stage of strategic offensive. That way we are right now at the preparatory
stage of transition from strategic equilibrium to strategic offensive.
4)
Is it possible to reach a peace deal with the government before an all-party
government is put in place ?
-Since all power is now centralized
in the king through his traditional hold over the RNA and the 1990 constitution
is virtually dead after the royal take-over October 4 last, the present
one-party government or the future all-party government would be just different
masks for the royal military dictatorship. That way any cosmetic change in the
form of government within the present dispensation won’t make any material
difference for the prospects of the peace talks. As long as the king, the royal
mercenary RNA and certain foreign powers backing them, particularly US
imperialism, do not want any peaceful democratic political solution there is no
prospect or relevance of any peace deal with anybody.
4)
Does the party feel that the international community
better understands its position after its discussions with embassy officials in
Kathmandu ?
-Yes, definitely. Despite the
malicious propaganda of the royalist regime and their foreign benefactors
against us, the international community at large understands our position and
sympathizes and supports the democratic agenda put forward by us. Though there
may still be some misgivings and doubts on certain questions, they understand
that we are right now fighting for completion of a democratic revolution of
essentially a bourgeois (capitalist) nature and we are quite sincere about a
peaceful solution to the problem. At least everybody is now damn sure we are no
‘terrorist’, but serious and genuine democratic fighters with a clear political
objective, good organizational and military strength and a tremendous mass
support. Of course, we need to communicate better with each other and remove
certain nagging doubts through practice.
6)
Is the
CPN(M) willing to spell out how the mechanics of a constituent essembly would
work in greater detail given that different groups seem to have different
understandings of how this process would work ?
-Before coming to the question of the
constituent assembly, we have to start with two other interrelated and
inalienable questions, namely, a round-table conference of all political forces
and an interim government. As there is no constitution in the country after the
royal take-over October 4 last, it is just futile to seek a ‘legal’ or
‘constitutional’ solution to the present problem, as the major parliamentary
parties are now demanding. It has to be a political solution and a new legality
or constitutionality has to be created commensurate with the new balance of
political forces and new demands of the time. The only valid and viable way and
the point of start for this would be the convening of a round-table conference
of major political forces, including the King, the parliamentary parties and
the Maoist revolutionaries, and representatives of oppressed nationalities,
regions, women, dalits and others. As to the question of who would convene this
round-table conference, this can be settled by the prior understanding of the
king, parliamentary parties and the revolutionary forces.
This round-table conference should work-out
an interim constitution, form an interim government and decide on all relevant
issues necessary for a free and fair election to the constituent assembly,
including the interim security mechanism. And finally, the interim government
should hold a free and fair election to the constituent assembly within a
stipulated time, preferably six months. To ensure correct representation of all
oppressed classes, nationalities, regions, women, dalits and other strata of
the population electoral constituencies should be accordingly re-delineated and
special rights guaranteed to the oppressed. Thus constituted constituent
assembly should adopt a new democratic constitution, which would guarantee the
sovereignty of the people and ensure full political, economic, social and
cultural democracy in the country. Of course, different political forces would
be free to put forward their separate agenda on varied questions like the fate
of the monarchy, but should abide by the decision of the constituent assembly.
This was, in brief, our minimum political agenda
proposed at the recent peace negotiations, which was rejected by the royalist
regime leading to the ultimate breakdown of negotiations and ceasefire.
7)
When
do you anticipate a return to peace talks ? -It depends on the attitude of the king, the
RNA and their foreign benefactors. As our Party Chairman, Prachanda, has amply
clarified in the press statement issued at the time of breakdown of
negotiations on August 27, if the reactionary royal regime is prepared to
accept the democratic decision of the people through a constituent assembly we
are ready to sit down for talks anytime. But as the saying in Nepali goes, Laat
ko bhoot baat le mandaina, which approximately translates to, ‘the
devil of force won’t listen to persuasion’, time may still not be ripe for a
negotiated political settlement.
-Baburam Bhattarai
-September 26,
2003
In-charge, International Department,
C.P.N.(Maoist)
A Correction
The organization from Norway which
issued a public statement for the safety of life and freedom of Com.C.P.Gajurel
was ‘Workers Communist Party of Norway’ and not ‘Communist Party of
Norway’ as reported in the Bulletin No.4. We regret the error. -Ed
Published by the
International Department, CPN (Maoist);
E-Mail address: inf_bulletin@yahoo.com,
inf_bulletin@hotmail.com