Red Star Opinion: On Revolutionary Students Transforming Education

This article is from The Red Star (Vol-2, No-6, March. 16 – 31, 2009).  It is posted at Banned Thought.

Lekhnath Neupane (chairperson of the ANNISU(R)–pictured right) was interviewed about the Free Student Elections along with the chairpersons of the other major student unions by myrepublica.com.  Click on the image to read these interviews.

Opinion: ANNISU & Restruturing of Eductional Sector

by Lekhnath Neupane

The election of the students’ Union has both the positive and negative aspects. We, the revolutionary students Union, are progressive and follow the Marxist opinion as our guideline. Therefore, we try to see and follow the positive aspects and fight against negatives learning from the history and our own experiences. This is the first election of the Independent Students’ Union (ISU) after the declaration of Republic of Nepal.

Red Star Report: Revolutionary Student Union in Election-War

This article is from The Red Star (Vol-2, No-6, March. 16 – 31, 2009).  It is posted at Banned Thought.

Several student unions have young woman leaders, who work in the face of resistance. Pictured far right: Manushi Yami Bhattarai is a district leader in the Maoist affiliated ANNISU(R).

Report: Revolutionary Student’s Union in election-war

The educated youth are now contesting election in the higher studies institutions. It is periodical election for Independent Students’ Union (ISU). ISU is the umbrella union of all the students’ union in Nepal. The students unions affiliated to different political parties and their different ideologies are in the field of competition.

First election in changed situation

This is the first contest among the students’ unions after the declaration of republic of Nepal. The students’ union of the different political parties are actively involved in the election field. However, the three main students’ union are in intense and a tough competition, they are: All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (Revolutionary) ANNISU (R), All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (ANNISU) and Nepal Students’ Union (NSU). Other students union are also in the field of election. However, the intense competition will be among the three big students’ organizations.

Bhattarai: On a Legal System That Backs Reactionary Generals

This article was posted on Democracy and Class Struggle.

Senior leader of the Unified CPN (Maoist) and Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has warned failure to democratise judiciary and the army could jeopardize the republic set up of Nepal.

Speaking at a programme organised by his party in Parvat Saturday, Bhattarai said many senior army officials still have a soft corner for monarchy. We tried to relieve unscrupulous royalist generals, but they got themselves reinstated by taking the judiciary in their hands, Annapurna Post quoted him as saying.

The judiciary is rolling back all our decisions, which shows there is politics involved even in Judiciary, Bhattarai added. There is nobody above the people in democracy. Army and judiciary should be democratised so that people have control over them, he said.

Revolutionary Songs from Nepal

“The guerrillas have arrived with their kukuri knives,

Bringing happiness to the villages, fields and mountain trails!”

Video: Prachanda Path Jindabad

Ben Peterson: Eyewitness Report from Maoist Army Camp

Maoist women fighters with their weapons. Click for full picture

Ben Petersen, a friend of the Kasama site from Australia, has traveled to Nepal to report directly about the revolutionary events there. He has made a special point of interviewing a wide range of people — to give a real sense of the impact of the Maoist revolution, and also the intense contradictions at this particular moment.

Ben’s pieces will appear on Kasama’s South Asian Revolution site, and also on his ownblog Lal Salam. (Earlier reports: first impressions and interview with gay activist.)

Most recently, Ben went to one of the so-called “cantonments” — bases where the Peoples Liberation Army fighters are gathered. Ben recently wrote:

“I just spent a week with the PLA… i can guarantee you that … they are still very much the political force they were a few years ago. I can say from the experience of being there that there was no sell out.”

Here is Ben’s report:

* * * * *

Pictures & Thoughts From the PLA

By Ben Peterson

For the last week I have been with the JanaMukti Sena, the Peoples Liberation Army. Mostly with the 3rd Division, Kalyan/Anish Memorial brigade.

click for full picture

This is the Peoples/Military hospital. Set up by the peoples army, it now serves both them and the public. It has many facilities, including a pharmacy, operating room for minor surgeries, a pre and post natal care facility and a female ward. It was built by the PLA, and runs at next to no cost for the people of the area. ( i also fell ill at the camp, and it cost me 10 rupees, about 20 Australian cents, which included my medication)

Sharp polemics between Nepal’s Maoists and RCP,USA

 

Kasama is publishing  three key documents of the line struggle that has intensified between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. They have been circulating within the international Maoist movement, but until today had not been made public by one of the parties involved. Now that they have been released in this way, we are free to publish them ourselves.

We have posted on the Kasama site two RCP letters (Nov. 2008 and Oct. 2005) and the single response from the CPN(M) (June 2006).

Also: Print our new Kasama pamphlet (“Two Lines, Five Letters”) with the main documents of this  line struggle. This single PDF file contains the response from the Nepali Maoists, and four criticisms  by the RCP.

Ben Peterson: First Impressions and Adventures in Nepal

Maoist graffiti in a village in Myagdi district. From United We Blog for a Democratic Nepal

Ben Peterson, of Melbourne, Australia, is currently traveling in Nepal.  He is writing reports of what he finds and learns about the revolutionary movement and the people of Nepal on his blog, Lal Salam – Revolution in the Himalayas.   We will be posting his reports in installments, as they come.  Posting them on Kasama does not mean we endorse his analysis.

by Ben Peterson

[March 6, 2009] And here I am. After too long speculating from the sidelines (and sidelines 10,000 km away) I have finally arrived in the land of Mountains and Maoists. On Tuesday Night at about 10 pm I landed in Kathmandu to see with my own eyes the processes unfolding here.

This is less of an in depth analysis and more of a account of my personal experiences so far, which have been really intense.

I was met at the airport by a political comrade of mine, Narendra Jung Peter. He has been an amazing help so far, and amongst many other things has helped arrange a room to stay, a SIM card and introductions to already a mind-boggling amount of people.

Interview: Subash Pokharel, a Leading Gay Activist in Nepal

Sunil B. Pant of the Blue Diamond Society and the first openly gay elected official in Nepal

Ben Peterson, of Australia, is currently traveling in Nepal, writing reports of what he learns about the revolutionary movement and the people of Nepal on his blog, Lal Salam – Revolution in the Himalayas. We will be sharing some of his reports. Posting them on Kasama does not mean we endorse his analysis. We do applaud the revolutionary enthusiasm that shines through his decision to dive right into Nepal’s revolutionary turmoil![Kasama has made minor editorial changes for clarity — mainly fixing typos and few missing words.]

Interview with Subash Pokharel, coordinator of the Blue Diamond Society

[March 17, 2009] Interview with Subash Pokharel, co-ordinator of the Blue Diamond Society conducted by Ben Peterson Lal Salam blog interviewed Subash Pokharel of the Blue Diamond Society last week. The Blue Diamond Society is the largest LGBTI (lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and intergender people- I think that’s the correct terminology- apologies if it isn’t) rights organisation in Nepal and were good enough to speak with us about the situation in their community.

Stabbing the People in the Back: Indian Police Try Bribes

This article was originally published on The Indian under the title: Winning over jungle residents: Chhattisgarh police try a new tack.

Winning over jungle residents: Chhattisgarh police try a new tack
February 11th, 2009 – 11:42 am ICT by IANS – Send to a friend:

That wasn’t all. The Gond tribal, a resident of the thickly forested Pushwara village in the restive Bastar region, was then told that another cop would knock on a co-villager’s door the next morning with some more surprise gifts!

While villagers are wondering what has caused this change of heart among the authorities, police say it’s an exercise to win over forested people in order to break the decade-old intelligence network of Maoist rebels.

Sapan Chaudhary, the policeman who visited Watti, for instance, is station-incharge of Dhamtari and is doing a six-week training along with 587 cops at Maoist-infested Kanker district’s Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College (CTJWC).

The PLA Continues Recruitment

This article was published on Nepal News.

PLA decides to bulldoze through SC interim order against new recruitment

Flouting Supreme Court’s interim order to stop its recruitment process, People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the military wing of the ruling Unified CPN (Maoist), has decided to go ahead with its earlier decision to fill up the position that had, according to it, become vacant after the verification team of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) disqualified many of its combatants mostly because they were underage.

A “General Staff” meeting of the PLA held in Kathmandu Saturday decided to go about the decision on the basis of the applications for “vacant positions” it received before the SC issued an interim order against PLA recruitment saying it goes against the Comprehensive Peace Accord.

Likewise, both the government led by the Maoists and the Army Integration Special Committee (AISC) under whose jurisdiction the PLA comes have already ordered immediate halt to the PLA recruitment process.

“Naxals Will Rise Again Like the Phoenix”

This interview originally appeared on Tehelka Current Affairs.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 7, Dated Feb 21, 2009

Varavara Rao, 68, has been a key Naxal ideologue since the 1960s. A diehard believer that armed rebellion will bring ‘liberation’ to India like Mao Tse-tung in Communist China, Rao warns of a Naxal upsurge. Rao had led the Naxals in their disastrous dialogue with the Andhra Pradesh Government in 2004, after which the police had decimated the state’s Naxal leadership. Rao has just published his 50th collection of “anti-imperialist” poetry. AJIT SAHI met him at his home in Hyderabad when Rao spoke of the Naxals’ latest campaigns. Excerpts:

What is your information about the killings of policemen by Naxals in Gadhchiroli district in Maharashtra?
Initially, it was shown as an encounter and it was claimed that the CPI (Maoist) [the Naxals’ party] had suffered heavy losses. But it was revealed later that a landmine had killed 17 policemen and the Naxals hadn’t suffered any losses. Such lies are spoken only to maintain police morale.

Maoists Unveil New Proposed Constitution for Nepal

This article was originally found at Nepal News.  The draft constitution can be found (in Nepali) here.

Maoists unveil their proposed constitution for federal Nepal

Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who heads a committee formed by his party, Unified CPN (Maoist), for determining the party’s vision on democracy has unveiled the party’s draft proposal through his personal website.

The Maoists’ draft maintains liberal stance on fundamental rights of the people such as freedom of expression, right to form political parties, right to assembly, among others. The draft divided into 21 parts and 145 articles authorises the state governments to form paramilitary force or militia but the national army would be formed after integration between the People’s Liberation Army and Nepal Army.

The party has proposed an Audit Commission as the highest auditing body of the country in place of the Office of the Auditor General. The Women’s Commission and Dalit Commission as the constitutional bodies of the country have been removed and three new commissions have been proposed – inclusion commission, development commission and inter-state relation commission.

The party has proposed a three-tier judiciary- Supreme Court, State Court and local courts. Besides, a separate constitutional court has been proposed to look into disputes on constitutional issues.

Tharu-led Strike Ends With Proposed Legal Changes

This was originally found at xinhuanet.com.

Nepali gov’t, agitating ethnic groups ink deal

KATHMANDU, March 15 (Xinhua) — Agitating Tharus and other indigenous organizations have withdrawn their protest programs following a six-point agreement with the government signed late Saturday.

The two sides agreed to amend the constitutional and legal provisions which “overshadowed” the independent identities of indigenous nationalities, including Tharus, Madhesis, Dalits (people belonging to lower caste), Muslims and other minorities, local newspaper The Rising Nepal reported Sunday.

“We have withdrawn all the protest programs with this agreement, but we will wait and see whether the government will be sincere in its implementation,” president of the Tharuhat Joint Struggle Committee Laxman Tharu told journalists after signing the deal.

Indian Parliament Schedules Elections

This article originally appeared on Daily Times.  Lok Sabha is the Indian Parliament. Currently the center-left UPA alliance runs the federal government, with the Congress Party at the head of that alliance. The other two groupings contending are the center-right alliance led by the BJP, and then the leftist alliance of various communist parties.

Lok Sabha Polls From April 16 to May 13

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: The Indian Election Commission announced on Monday that Lok Sabha elections will be held next month – with a record electorate of 714 million in the world’s costliest Rs 100,000-million 15th polls staggered from April 16 to May 13. With vote counting scheduled for May 16, the state assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim will also go to polls. As many as 15 states and seven union territories will have single-day polling, and these include Chhattisgarh (April 16), Goa (April 23), Gujarat (April 30), Rajasthan (May 7) and Delhi (May 7). The last round of polling on May 13 has been scheduled for Punjab (two rounds on May 7 and 13) and West Bengal (three rounds on April 30, May 7 and 13), in addition to India-held Kashmir (IHK) and Uttar Pradesh, which have polls in all five phases.