Nepal: Yadav suggests peasants seize more land!

This article appeared on eKantipur.com.

Matrika hails land seizure, suggests squatters to capture more

Kantipur Report

BARA, Sept 24 – Maoist leader Matrika Yadav on Wednesday suggested the landless squatters to seize land from what he called ‘tyrants’ and build homes and huts.

Speaking at a programme organised at Simara in Bara district today, Yadav said that he is ready to strike back those who try to get in the way of building huts in the captured land.

The firebrand Maoist leader, who resigned from the post of land reform minister over the land seizure controversy in Sarlahi following his party’s directive to publicly apologise, floated his plans to take over lands of ‘tyrants’ and former royalties and distribute it to landless people.

Prachanda at UN

Prachanda addressin the UN General Assembly

“As I stand here in front of the global leadership, I think of the long struggle that I and my party waged with single mindedness for the liberation of the common man from the clutches of the age-old suppression, deprivation, marginalization and outright negligence of the then existing polity. My fellow countrymen and women, toiling in the mountains and valleys, working day and night in the low lands and the urban areas and yet unable to ensure even the simple necessities of life for his or her family had a hope and expectation that one day they would lead a decent life with equal rights and opportunities and be recognized as respectful citizens of the country. We are at this significant turning point in the political history of Nepal.”

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Thanks to Dave Pugh and the Democracy and Class Struggle for enabling us to share this text.

Prachanda led a ten year long people’s war as the Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Supreme Commander of People’s Liberation Army. After deposing the King and establishing a revolutionary coalition government, he was recently elected to the post of Prime Minister.

The following is a transcript of Prachanda’s Sept. 26th address to the UN General Assembly.

Maoist Debate over Nepal Revolution: The Sarbedaran Critique

Fighters of the Peoples Liberation Army in Nepal

The following article is an explicit polemic by the Communist Party of Iran (MLM) — targeting the path taken by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

It has long been clear that there are sharp divisions between the Maoist political forces formerly gathered in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. It has been evidenced by the long sour silence of the Revolutionary Communist Party concerning the political developments in Nepal. A World to Win News Service published an article in February 2008 that embodied an elaborate set of criticisms and cautions concerning the Nepali revolution — but the critique was implicit, not open.

Now Kasama has received an English translation of this article from Haghighat , the central organ of the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist). The article share extensive passages from a previously unpublished letter of the CPI(MLM) Central Committee to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) sharply questioning their path.

This Iranian Maoist group CPI(MLM), known as the Sarbedaran, is one of the few organizations among Maoists internationally closely alligned with the RCP,USA.

This article expresses views that the CPNM have been criticizing as deeply dogmatic, rooted in schematic thinking, and opposed to analysis of specific concrete condition and the creative development of paths to revolutionary power.

The following is translated from the Farsi version, so some quotes from English language sources may have differences with their originals.

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Nepal Revolution: Great Victory or Great Danger!

Haghighat #40 — May 30, 2008

Recent victory of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in the Constituent Assembly election and announcement of the ending of the 240 year old Monarchy and the beginning of the “Federal Republic of Nepal”, in its first Constituent Assembly sitting (May 28th 2008), once again have turned eyes to developments in this country. Euphoria has taken over many revolutionaries and progressive forces of the world and many Left parties from around the world have sent messages of congratulations to the CPNM for this electoral victory.

At first glance, this euphoria is understandable. Many are happy that the name communism has been brought up once again in the new century as a power. They feel this victory of Maoists in Nepal, has once again, brought to minds Communism as an alternative. But the question is, how justified this euphoria is and what is its objective basis? And whether the future of the revolution in Nepal on this path, can be said to be bright?

Prachanda NYC Speech: A Maoist Vision for a New Nepal

Prachanda before the UN

Thanks to Hegemonik for making these recordings available. Nepal’s Prime Minister was in NYC to speak to the United Nations, and then the following day spoke at the New School to an overflowing crowd of interested people. This is a recording of his speech at the New School.

“A Maoist Vision for a New Nepal” – an MP3 recording of a talk by Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, presented by the India China Institute of New School University.

These MP3 recordings include remarks by Professor Andrew Arato, the Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor of Political and Social Theory at New School University; remarks by Kul Chandra Gautam, advisor to the Nepal Democracy and Development Initiative at the India China Institute; as well as a Q&A between PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the audience.

These MP3 audio clips are presented by Hegemonik. They have been edited for length. As the program was both in English and Nepali (without translation equipment), clips have had Nepali language conversation excised. An unedited version is available upon request to the author.

[Kasama has requested the full version, including the Nepali comments, and hope to post them soon.]

Speech by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (13:53)
 

Remarks by Professor Andrew Arato (12:10)
   

Remarks by Kul Chandra Gautam (4:48)
   

Question and Answer with the Prime Minister (50:16)
   

Prachanda Addresses Left Activists in NYC

Thanks to redguard for forwarding this report to Kasama. It originally appeared on his Absent Cause blog. First we will print the notes on Prachanda’s remarks, followed by the full text of redguard’s report.

Prime Minister Prachanda was greeted with a standing ovation and raised fists. He spoke to the gathering in English and afterwards answered questions from the audience. What follows are rough notes on some of the major points he covered.

Comrade Prachanda explained that the CPN(M) has tried to understand the lessons of the international communist movement, of the revolutions and counter-revolutions of the 20th Century.

He briefly reviewed the history of the peoples war, which began in 1996 after the Nepali government’s violent repression of mass demonstrations. Prachanda said that his party worked to explain to the people that they were not opposed to peaceful change, but that all avenues had been closed and armed struggle was necessary.

Nepal’s Revolutionary Leader Meets Bush in NYC

PTI reports Sept. 24, 2008:
“Nepal’s Prime Minister Prachanda, whose CPN-Maoist party remains on the US terrorist watch list, met American president George Bush in New York, where the former guerrilla leader is leading a delegation to the UN General Assembly. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is popularly known as Prachanda, met President Bush during a dinner reception hosted by the US government on Monday. Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is heading the coalition after it emerged as the single largest party in Nepal’s April 10 Constituent Assembly Election, continues to be on the United States terrorist watch list…. The meeting between the two leaders took place at a dinner reception hosted by the US first Lady Laura Bush to welcome the foreign dignitaries participating in the UN general assembly (UNGA) in New York. The Nepalese leader accompanied by his wife Sita, son Prakash and daughter Renu, is currently in the US, where he went shortly after returning from his first trip to India after becoming the Prime Minister of the Himalayan state. ”

Nepal has one of the highest rates of foreign aid and NGO contributions in the world — so there has been concern that the U.S. and similar capitalist powers might seek to destablize Nepal new revolutionary government by pulling out existing programs. The U.S. has a long history of repeatedly attempting to destabilize revolutionary and communist governments over the last hundred years.

One of the outcomes of this meeting was that Bush reportedly told Prachanda, “We will continue to support Nepal.” He also reportedly added: “We will always respect the decision of the Nepali people,” (which is obviously untrue, but at least suggests a favorable public stance at the moment.)

Janadisha Daily- a pro-Maoist newspaper reported, “Both the leaders also discussed the issue of removing the Maoists from the US terrorist list”.

Nepal: Breaking With Old Traditions

This article was published in the Red Star.

Breaking old traditions

With the Maoist leading government, there are so many expectations among the people. After the abolition of monarchy and the implementation of the Federal Democratic Republic, the progressive forces and the people are eager to see the Maoist government bring about radical changes, finishing off the obsolete traditions and the outdated status quo, to create new and better practices to replace the old.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Com. Prachanda) took the oath of office in the name of the People rather than in the name of God. Furthermore, he went to the Martyrs Park to pay homage to the martyrs rather than to Shahid Gate (Martyr gate), where a statue of King Tribhuvan stands above the four statues of martyrs. At the Presidential palace of Shital Niwas, during the oath taking programme, the Prime Minister Prachanda wore a suit and tie, and a Nepali cap or ‘Bhadgaunle topi’ rather than wear the traditional ‘formal dress’.

After the first phase of extending the council of ministers, the Prime Minister gave a historical speech in the name of people. In his speech, he said that the principle task of the government will be to carry the peace process to its logical end and to write the constitution in a fixed time. By fusing the process of ‘break-through in continuation and continuation with the break-through’, the changes in the political, social, economic and cultural spheres will be carried out in a new way.

Connect With Kasama: Prachanda Speaking in NYC

We urge all our readers and supporters to circulate this announcement widely. Be there! Contact Kasama for activities around this important event: kasamasite (at) yahoo.com

This event is being hosted by The New School.

A Maoist Vision for a New Nepal:

A Public Talk by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Prime Minister of Nepal

September 26, 2008
6:00-8:00pm (must be seated by 5:45)
Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th St.

*****

Nepal’s Prime Minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda (`The Fierce One’), came to power in August 2008 following his party’s success in the country’s first-ever Constituent Assembly elections.

Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and leader of its People’s Liberation Army, he led a decade-long People’s War (1996-2006) with the goals of ending Nepal’s monarchy and creating a new federal republic.

This year, Constituent Assembly elections held in April yielded a near majority for the Maoists. The Assembly’s first meeting ended a 240-year-old monarchy and began its main task: creating Nepal’s new
constitution. In addition to leading the Assembly in this historic monumental task, Prachanda now faces the challenges of managing a complex coalition government to address the long-neglected basic needs
of the people, while at the same time establishing security and peace in Nepal under the watchful gaze of an interested but skeptical international community.

Remarks by Professor Andrew Arato, Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor of Political and Social Theory, The New School. Q&A session moderated by Kul Chandra Gautum, Senior Fellow, India China Institute.

Admission is free and open to the public. Limited seating on a first come basis. Seating must be completed by 5:45 pm.

Nepal: The people oriented budget

This article was published in the Red Star. To read the entire budget plan click here.

People-oriented budget

On the 19th September, the Finance Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai unveiled the historic budget of Rs.236 billion for the Fiscal Year 2008/2009. This is the first budget from the Maoist led coalition government and the new Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

The Finance Minister proposed Rs.124.19 billion for development, and Rs. 111.82 million for general administration. Further, he has allocated Rs. 16.18 billion for the principal payment, Rs 91.31 billion for capital expenditure, and Rs 128.51 for recurrent expenditure. The size of the budget of the FDR is about 39.6% more than previous governments. The government has a strategy to build the budget from different sources. One of the sources for the budget is the revenue of about Rs129 billion; foreign assistance Rs 65 billion, foreign grants Rs. 47.09 billion, foreign loans Rs. 18.70 billion and Rs 41.11 million will be the deficit of the budget.

Friday: Al Jazeera interview with Comrade Guarev of the CPN(M)

We received this announcement from the Maoist Revolution list. The interview will take place on Al Jazeera live streams.

Exclusive Al Jazeera Interview with Comrade Gaurav, head of the International Command of the Communist Party Of Nepal (Maoist)

Comrade Gaurav is to be interviewed by Al Jazeera TV on Friday, 26th September 2008. The interview and the programme itself is first broadcast on Al Jazeera English at 8.00pm, friday London time, and it is repeated over the next 24 hours to catch all time zones across the world.

Nepal: Yadav resigns over land seizure controversy

This article was made available by the Maoist Revolution mailing list.

Minister Matrika Yadav resigns over land seizure controversy

KATHMANDU, Sept 19 – Minister for Land Reforms and Management Matrika Yadav resigned from his post, on Friday, refraining from the Maoist central secretariat’s directives to publicly apologise for his involvement in the Siraha land seizure.

Minister Yadav tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Prachanda, who is also the chairman of the CPN-Maoist, immediately after the meeting today.

In his resignation, Yadav accused the CPN-UML and the MPRF—other main partners of the Maoist-led coalition government— of being anti-people and claimed that the UML appointed an Indian national as minister. He further stated that the government took to suppression of the Dalits and landless squatters and demolished the huts they built in the land of former royalty Mohan Shahi.

Nepal: A matter of class interest!

This article was published in the Red Star.
A matter of class interest!

Red Star Reporter

Leaders of Nepali Congress (NC), as well as some leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) are talking against the latest comment of the Maoist Chairman and Prime Minister Prachanda about the goal of the party. Foreign Imperialist powers like the United States and Britain are backing them.

PM Prachanda clarified about ‘Parliamentary system’ while answering queries raised by Constituent Assembly members on the policies and programs of the government. He said in a clear remark that-”Since the country has been passing through a transitional phase, it can neither remain static by following the parliamentary system nor can it adopt socialism outright. All multi-party systems in the world are not parliamentary democracies.”

Furthermore, PM Prachanda during his visit in India said that Nepal is going to experiment with a new democratic system. He added-”We have not tried to practice formal parliamentary democracy or a one party communist dictatorship. We have tried to go ahead with a new democratic system in between the two systems.”

Nepal: Prachanda says India ready for a review of the 1950 treaty

This article was posted on Democracy and Class Struggle. The reworking of the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty has been one of the main  demands of the CPN(M) since the launch of the revolution. The treaty has been one of India’s main tools for economic domination of Nepal and it’s coming revision is quite an exciting development.

PM Prachanda says India ready for review of 1950 treaty

Prime Minister Prachanda’ has said that India is ready for review of Indo-Nepal 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty.

A joint taskforce will soon be formed by the two countries to study about the review of the treaty so that it becomes consistent with present times and is in interest of both countries.

This was revealed by PM Prachanda in his interaction with media, Tuesday morning, in New Delhi.

He said that such understanding was reached during his talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday.

Maoists of Turkey: Peoples of Nepal Should Be Given Strong International Support

Thanks to Maoist Revolution list for circulating this statement. The Maoist Communist Party is a member of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement.

“We openly declare that the results of this election must be viewed as the achievement of the People’s War which, under the leadership of Marxism-Leninism- Maoism, has tackled the particular contradictions of the country and is aimed at the goal of winning the genuine liberation of the peoples.”

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Long live the liberation struggle waged by the peoples of Nepal under
the leadership of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)!

Statement no. 62 by Maoist Communist Party (Turkey/North Kurdistan), Central Committee,

Political Bureau –

The elections in which the Maoists in Nepal have taken part have
revealed a very significant picture of the enormous support that they
have won from the peoples of Nepal. When we take into account the
various difficulties and limitations faced by the Maoists, including the
lack of newspapers and of broadcasting facilities, conditions for free
movement, economic opportunities and international support, we can see
that they faced serious disadvantages. To interpret this as a mere
ordinary success would be woefully inadequate. Likewise, to interpret
the outcome as a failure would constitute a grave injustice and an error
in judgement.

The struggle for liberation waged in that country has built up
confidence and trust among the masses. As a result, despite the
propaganda offensive of the imperialists and the reactionaries, the
CPN(M) has single-handedly won almost half of the Constituent Assembly
seats, which will be made up of more than 40 different parties. This
kind of success should not be underestimated. Clearly, the Maoists’
success in being able to muster the support of the overwhelmingly
majority of the masses cannot be explained purely on the basis of the
demands that they put forward during the elections. It is undeniable
that this success is owed to the Maoist-led people’s liberation
struggle which has cost the lives of thousands of communists and
revolutionaries in the fight against a 240-year old royal tyranny that
fed on reactionary traditions going back thousands of years.

Prachanda Leaves Nepal for U.S.

Prachanda (aka Pushpa Kamal Dahal)

originally from Nepal News

In his third foreign visit since he became prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ is set to leave for the United States on Saturday to attend the general assembly of the United Nations in New York.

“I am leaving for the US visit where I will address the general assembly. I have also just received an invitation to attend a reception to be hosted there by the US president George Bush,” PM Dahal said while addressing the Constituent Assembly on Friday night.

This will be a landmark visit for the prime minister who is the chairman of the CPN-Maoists that is labeled as a terrorist organisation by the American government.

It was only after his party won largest number of seats in the Constituent Assembly elections in April that the American officials finally started meeting with him.

In New York, PM Dahal will also attend programmes organised by The Asia Society and India China Institute, according to reports. nepalnews.com sd Sep 20 08