Reading Cluster: Women and Revolution in South Asia

Women and Revolution

International Women’s Day: Women’s Role in Nepal’s Revolution
Interview: Women’s Liberation in India
Hisila Yami :Women Leaders as a Catalyst Agent for Communism
Women’s Liberation Theory from Nepal Revolutionaries

The Lives of Women

One More Reason for Revolution: Sex Trade in South Asia
Life in the Maoist PLGA: Men Cook, Women Patrol
India: The Story of a Rebel’s Birth
WPRM Interview: On Women’s Liberation in Nepal

More Kasama Reading Clusters can be found here.

Must Study: How Feds Target International Connections

Imperialist Agent

The following originally appeared on Kasama.

Each of us needs to understand the implications and dangers of these developments.

First that we need to expose and help defeat attempts to criminalize internationalism.

Second, while important solidarity work remains legal and urgent –  such efforts should not be “coordinated with” international groups. I.e.Specific international connections and coordination are being made legally “radioactive” and internationalist work within needs to be carefully independent (in planning, conception and finances) from people outside the country — no casual communications, no back and forth flow of suggestions, no appearance of mutual consultation on plans, no exchange of seemingly innocent help (

skills, money, etc.) Any international communications by solidarity participants should be limited and careful scrutinized with these legal constraints in mind. Anyone who is approached by someone claiming to be from a proscribed group who claims to have suggestions (however innocent) should report the incident and not pursue the conversation — entrapment is a real tactic of sinister forces.

Thanks to  Ka Frank for sending this.

* * * * * *

Basanta: The Volcano of Revolution in South Asia Today

The Maoist revolution has made a major forward leap — after the initiation of people’s war in Nepal in 1996 and the merger of two major revolutionary streams to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist), in 2004.

The Nepalese people’s revolution has now reached to the threshold of seizing central political power.

In the present era, the proletarian revolution does not remain a phenomenon merely of a single country.

South Asia is becoming a front of collision between two fronts: one formed of the proletariat and their class allies national and international and other alliance formed of the imperialists and their lackeys from the individual countries. A new world in South Asia is now gestating in the womb of this contradiction.

The victory of revolution in South Asia will have a far-reaching implication and become a harbinger to spread the flames of revolution all across the world.

On the other, its defeat will result in a complete demoralisation of the people not only of this region but those all across the globe. In this situation, a strong solidarity to the revolution in South Asia is the need of the day.

The following talk was given on July 2, in Istanbul, during the European Social Forum’s seminar on South Asia’s revolutions.

By Basanta (Indra Mohan Sigdel)
member, Politburo of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

Dear comrades and delegates, revolutionary greetings!

I would like to take this opportunity to extend our revolutionary salutation on behalf of our party, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), to the organiser, the European Social Forum, who invited our party to attend this august programme in Istanbul, Turkey.

In addition, I would like to extend our revolutionary greetings to the entire delegates participating in this seminar. I feel honoured to be here with all the delegates from around the world.

But, more than that I would like to utilise this opportunity to share experiences that the working class all across the world has gathered through their valiant struggles against imperialism and its anti-people and neo-colonial policies like privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation, and as well the ruling classes subservient to it.

Biplap on Differences Among Nepali Maoists

This article originally appeared in The Red Star

The differences of opinion within our party

By Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplap’ (central committee member of CPN (Maoist).

We should say honestly that there is a difference of opinion on how to accomplish the Nepalese Revolution. Mainly, the difference of opinion is about the party line, political program and tactics in our party. This clearly justifies that a serious u-turn has occurred before the Nepalese Revolution. The responsibility of carrying the revolution ahead successfully has fallen upon the shoulders of the revolutionary communists of Nepal and the revolutionary communists of the world. We all should direct our attention to it.

1) The difference of opinion on political program:

The main bone of contention is whether the party should advance ahead for People’s Republic or stay in the stage of democratic republic. In our central committee meeting held from 4 to 6 October 2008, Party Chairman, Comrade Prachanda put forward a program to remain in the Democratic Republic. His spoken proposal pointed out the necessity of the tactics of democratic republic; there is no favorable situation to advance into the People’s Republic. On the contrary, he pointed out the need to synthesize the ideology based on the achievements gained up until democratic republic. After the proposal of Com. Prachanda, Com. Kiran disagreed with the program of democratic republic, and put forward a written proposal for a People’s Republic. Com. Kiran proposed that the appropriateness of the democratic republic is over and the party should advance ahead towards the People’s Republic.

We must understand some of the aspects that the declared and authentic political program of our party was from the beginning a new People’s Democracy. According to the validity of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the central question of the People’s War is to achieve people’s state power and that is the new people’s power. This objective has not changed until now. An interesting aspect is that the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Unified Marxist and Leninist (UML) are more active in the operation of the state than during the period of the monarchy, when the PW began. The Parliamentarians carried out barbaric repressions against us. Viewed from this aspect, the People’s War was against even the multiparty parliamentary system. Our slogan was, “Let’s not remain under the illusion of parliamentary system! Let’s prepare for a new people’s democratic revolution!”

Nepal’s Bastola: On Election Tactics and Ongoing Class War

 World Peoples Resistance Movement (Britain) interviewd  Bastola, a  member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) central committee. June 2008. This interview was published on the Maoist Revolution e-list.

“Now if the Maoist Party gives up these three: the army, land reform, economic restructuring, the other parties have no problem to let the Maoists form a government taking the posts of the President, the Prime Minister and even ministries of the entire. So, this is a very serious and dangerous phase of class struggle, class war basically. “

“…at this stage, the revolution has not achieved its goals yet, though there had been ten years of People’s War. Within the process of the People’s War here had been ten years of armed struggle and now this process has been interrupted. Yesterday there was a process of armed struggle, today there is a process of dialogue. The latter is more dangerous than the former.”

Interview on recent events with Prachanda by Vijay Chalise

This important interview expounds the CPN(M)’s views of many of the burning controversies of late, such as the presidential elections, Koirala’s participation in the SAARC conference, and the Maoists participation in the new government. Many thanks to Democracy and Class struggle for making this available.

Vijay Chalise, editor of Gorkhapatra interviews Chairman Prachanda:

The last question which the Indian journalists had asked CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda went like this, “Some Indian journalists wrote in their articles that your personality stands out when you are referred to as “Prachanda” instead of “Pushpa Kamal Dahal”, what do you personally feel?

Responding to this last question, he said that he liked being called “Prachanda.” But Prachanda also gave the reasons for his answer. “The name Prachanda encompasses the entire Nepal, all classes, castes, regions and gender. Some aura of tradition comes from the name `Pushpa Kamal Dahal’ like it comes form Girija Prasad Koirala and Madhav Kumar Nepal.

Hence I like the name `Prachanda’ not because of its established meaning but because I wish to move towards progress. Some people these days have stopped using my nom de guere `Prachanda’ and I feel that this is very reactionary, but I do not know its underlying meaning, why are they doing so? The following is the excerpts of the interview taken by Vijay Chalise, editor of Gorkhapatra with Prachanda:

Understanding Federalism P1: Work toward Federalism in Nepal Appears More Complex than the Peace Accord and Constituent Assembly

This article was written by the Conflict Study Center and was edited by Neil Horning.

Federalism is an incredibly important subject in Nepal. The old Nepal was officially a Hindu state and for a long time there was an “official” nationality (Nepali) and an “official” language (Nepali). But in fact this country is extremely complex and multicultural with over 40 ethnic groups and nationalities. A large part of the excitement over the revolution is finally overthrowing the old feudal oppression of the many groups, and negotiating a new revolutionary arrangement based on equality and liberation. And that is what the word “federalism” means in Nepal — that the government is not in the name of one nationality, and the new society will incorporate and respect the living complexity of the Nepali people.

Work toward Federalism in Nepal Appears More Complex than the Peace Accord and Constituent Assembly
Federalism in present Nepal has become a topic of great contention. Nepal has been a witness of several armed and unarmed struggles conducted by the Gurung, Tamang, Lama, Dalits and so forth. They have struggled against injustice, inequality, repression, absolutism, and for their freedom and livelihood. However, such movements could not attract much of the general population due to lack of strong organization, competent leadership, enough preparation, and strategical skills. The popular movement I of 1990 made the people conscious of their rights and duties. They were also made conscious by the world’s politics. Namely, the cultural, regional, and ethnic-based dimensions that emerged in the 21st century after the US tried to impose free market and human rights policy on the communist regimes of the 20th century. The zeal of the multi-caste, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-regional Nepali people was finally fueled when the Communist Party of Nepal – or CPN (Maoist) – initiated the armed conflict termed the “People’s War” on February 13, 1996. The issues of federalism, national-regional and cultural autonomy, secularism, and the right to self-determination became prominent along with the intensifying of the People’s War. Federation with autonomy has now become the prime agenda of all ethnic, regional, lingual, and cultural based groups in Nepal.

There are several different titles for a federation of states: (i) Federal republic – Brazil, Germany, Nepal, and Nigeria; (ii) Federation – Russia, Saint Kitts, and Nevis; (iii) Republic – Argentina, Austria, India (Indian Union), Iraq, and Sudan; (iv) Confederation – Switzerland; (v) Commonwealth – Australia; (vi) Bolivarian republic – Venezuela, (vi) Federal democratic republic – Ethiopia; (viii) Federal states – Micronesia; (ix) Federative republic – Brazil, (x) Kingdom – Belgium and the Netherlands; (xi) Union – Comoros and India; and (xii) United Mexican state – Mexico. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malaysia, Canada, United Arab States, and United States of America have none.

Basanta: The present deadlock and our task

This article appeared in issue #11 of the Red Star (July 4-15),

“…the bourgeois republic can in no way be a political system for the oppressed classes, nations, and regions of Nepal. The slogan of a “New Nepal”, so rampantly used during the Constituent Assembly election, can be achieved only by smashing feudalism and imperialism from the soil of Nepal. No other form of state power other than the joint dictatorship of the democratic and patriotic forces under the leadership of the party of the proletariat can turn the present Nepal into a New Nepal. It cannot be anything other than New Democracy.”

Present deadlock and our task

– Basanta

The New Democratic Revolution in Nepal has been attaining new heights, one after another. The heroic Nepalese people, under the leadership of our party, the CPN (Maoist), have demolished the a 240-year old feudal institution, the monarchy at the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly, on May 28, 2008, This has laid the foundation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. No one is unaware of the fact that this political change has been possible only because of the dynamic leadership of our party and the strength of its scientific ideology, Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and Prachanda Path. It is clear to all that had there been no 10 years of People’s War to politicise the masses against feudalism and imperialism in every corner of the country, the mass uprising in April 2006 could not have happened. In the same manner, the establishment of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal would still be a long way off had there been no mass uprising in April 2006. What is apparent here is that only the proper fusion of two models, applied in the 20th century proletarian revolutions, the insurrection and the protracted people’s war, has elevated to this height the development of proletarian revolution in Nepal.

Nepal is a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country. Feudalism and imperialism, predominantly Indian expansionism in our case, have been barriers to radical transformation of social, economic and cultural relations and the consolidation of national integrity and people’s sovereignty. After the establishment of Federal Democratic Republic, the feudalist institution of the monarchy has been demolished. Without doubt, feudalism has weakened considerably in the political sense. But the struggle to get rid of feudalism is not over. Furthermore, the democratic republic that has been established in Nepal is a political system connected with the imperialist world order. So the bourgeois republic can in no way be a political system for the oppressed classes, nations, and regions of Nepal.

Seeking truth about Nepal from facts

This information originally appeared in the CIA World Factbook

Background

In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, gained traction and threatened to bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003. In 2001, the crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, and then took his own life. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for “incompetence” after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. While stopping short of reestablishing parliament, the king in June 2004 reinstated the most recently elected prime minister who formed a four-party coalition government. Citing dissatisfaction with the government’s lack of progress in addressing the Maoist insurgency and corruption, the king in February 2005 dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency, imprisoned party leaders, and assumed power. The king’s government subsequently released party leaders and officially ended the state of emergency in May 2005, but the monarch retained absolute power until April 2006. After nearly three weeks of mass protests organized by the seven-party opposition and the Maoists, the king allowed parliament to reconvene in April 2006. Following a November 2006 peace accord between the government and the Maoists, an interim constitution was promulgated and the Maoists were allowed to enter parliament in January 2007. The peace accord calls for the creation of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. The Constituent Assembly elections, twice delayed, were held 10 April 2008. The Assembly will meet for the first time on 28 May 2008.

Location:
Southern Asia, between China and India
Geographic coordinates:
28 00 N, 84 00 E

Map references:
Asia

Area:
total: 147,181 sq km
land: 143,181 sq km
water: 4,000 sq km

4 Reasons Nepal’s Revolution Matters (in Indonesian)

This Indonesian translation of our original piece (pdf english) was made available by Pokja Lilin, via Maoist Revolution. Kasama has not independently verified the accuracy of this translation.

MATA TERTUJU PADA MAOBADI : 4 ALASAN BERKAITAN DENGAN REVOLUSI NEPAL

oleh Mike Ely

Suatu kejadian luar biasa sedang berlangsung. Satu generasi rakyat secara menyeluruh belum pernah menyaksikan sebuah kebangkitan gerakan rakyat yang radikal, sekuler dan revolusioner. Namun, ini lah yang terjadi pada saat ini di Nepal.

Blazing the way forward, a battle on the cultural front

This article originally appeared in the Red Star and contains important information on the Maoists immediate steps in creating a new Nepal, revolutionary culture, and appreciation of Maoism.

Redefining the tasks of the revolutionary cultural movement

– Florentino A. Iniego, JR

At this historic moment, the Nepali people should be greatly proud of themselves rejoicing the end of monarchy and the birth of the New People’s Democratic Republic of Nepal under the leadership of the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist. Democratic and patriotic organizations, national liberation and communist movements all over the world were in red salute hailing the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist offensive and looking forward for the establishment of a socialist state in South Asia.

The victory of the CPN-M was laid down by the mandate as expressed in a decade of people’s war, its leadership in the nineteen days Jana Andolan, its commitment to the peace process and the result of the Constituent Assembly election. Still the revolution is not yet finished, and as Comrade Kiran, Senior Party Member confirmed that “…the struggle must move ahead to the direction of socialism and communism.” (Red Star, February 16-29, 2008)

Urgently, the CPN-M under the coalition government shall carry on basic democratic reforms on the ailing economy, draft a popular and democratic constitution, proceed with the integration of the PLA and Nepali Army, implement land reform as the main substance of the democratic revolution, and put forward a national industrialization program. It shall also create an independent, peace-loving and development oriented-foreign policy while maintaining an anti-imperialist, anti-expansionist, and anti-globalization stand.

Interview with India’s Azad: Critical but Supportive on Nepal

Interview with Comrade Azad, spokesperson of the CC, CPI(Maoist) on the present developments in Nepal

Q: The results in the April 10 elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal have been overwhelmingly in favour of the Maoists, a development least anticipated by even the keenest observers. How does your Party in India, the CPI(Maoist), look at the election results in Nepal?

Azad: As mentioned in my press release on behalf of my Party’s central committee last week, the election results in Nepal have demonstrated the overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist’ s bullying and domination of Nepal, against US domination and oppression, against comprador-feudal parties which allowed this to continue and betrayed the masses for too long. The results are a reflection of the growing aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian intervention in Nepal. The royalists could not win even in a single constituency out of the 240 constituencies where direct elections were held. And leaders of the so-called mainstream such as Madhav Nepali, Sujata Koirala were rejected outright which came as a great shock to the ruling classes.

Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all, abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses enthusiastically veered towards the Maoists. To put it in a word, the people of Nepal had come out resolutely against constitutional monarchy, Indian expansionism and US imperialism; the results reflect the growing aspirations of the Nepalese masses for land, livelihood and democracy.

Teach-in: Building a New Revolutionary Type of State

This article appeared in the issue 9 of “The Worker” (February 2004), the CPN’s (Maoist) theoretical journal. It outlines the their basic stances on theoretical issues involving the creation of a new Socialist state in Nepal.

The Question of Building a New Type of State

by Baburam Bhattarai

“The basic question of every revolution is that of state power. Unless this question is understood there can be no intelligent participation in the revolution, not to speak of guidance of the revolution.”

– V.I. Lenin, (1917b: 34)

The question of state power has now become the central question for the New Democratic revolution in Nepal, which is marching forward to capturing central state power after building revolutionary base areas and local power in the vast rural areas. The question has assumed significance and may be discussed primarily from two angles. Firstly, in the universal context; and secondly, in the concrete national context. Firstly in the universal or general sense, the proletarian (i.e. New Democratic or Socialist) state power is of a ‘new type’ as compared to all the state powers of minority exploiter classes in history. Further-more, after the downfall of all People’s Democratic or Socialist state powers including those in Russia, China and others in the past, the proletarian state powers arising in a new setting in the 21st century have to be of a further newer type. Secondly, in the concrete semi-feudal and semi-colonial national context of Nepal, where even the old bourgeois revolution and state has not been accomplished, the prospective proletarian state would naturally be, and have to be, of a ‘new’ type. Hence, we would first make a general review of the historical experiences on the question of state and strive to analyse the fundamental characteristics of a new type of state.

Teach In: The Hindu Interview With Prachanda

This is a complete verbatim transcript of Nepali Maoist leader Prachanda’s interview with Siddharth Varadarajan of The Hindu, conducted at an undisclosed location in the first week of February 2006.

Varadarajan: Your party has waged a “people’s war” in Nepal for 10 years and the anniversary is now coming up. There are some who say that this war – and the Royal Nepal Army’s counter-insurgency campaign – has cost the country dearly in terms of the violence and bloodshed that has accompanied it. In your estimation, what has been the main accomplishment of these 10 years?

Prachanda: For 250 years, our peoples have been exploited under the oppression of feudal lords. The people’s war has helped crush the feudal structure in the rural areas. We think this is the main achievement. Also, in the overall sense we feel that in Nepal there is going to be a great leap forward in the socio-economic condition because we are going to lead the country to a democratic republican structure. A political situation has been developed through this process, and we feel this is also a very big achievement of the people’s war.

Teach In: Politico-Economic Rationale of People’s War in Nepal

Tikapur, Nepal, photo: TMG

Politico-Economic Rationale of People’s War in Nepal

– Com. Baburam Bhattarai

“At a certain stage of their development, the material productive forces of society come in conflict with the existing relations of production, or – what is but a legal expression for the same thing – with the property relations within which they have been at work hitherto. From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an epoch of social revolution.” – Karl Marx

1.0 Context and Theoretical Premises

An armed People’s War has been initiated in Nepal from February 13, 1996 under the leadership of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) with the proclaimed aim of establishing a New Democratic socio-economic system and state by overthrowing the present socio-economic system and state. This should be understood under the background that Nepal has slided to the status of the second poorest country in the world in terms of physical and cultural developments; 71% of its population fall below absolute poverty level; 46.5% of national income is in the hands of 10% of the richest people; more than 60% of its total population is illiterate, more than 90% of its total population live in rural areas and 81% of the labour force is engaged in the backward agricultural occupation; 10% are fully unemployed and 60% are under-employed or in disguised employment. Similarly the growth rate of food grain production, the most important national production, has shown decline in the last 30 years; foreign debt constitutes more than 60% of the gross domestic product and its intensity is increasing as years pass. It is thus but natural for everybody to be eager to know how the People’s War and New Democratic Revolution is going to solve the above formidable problems. It is no secret that the present reactionary state for the last 50 years has been harping on various attractive slogans along with eight Five Years Plans in the name of solving these problems, but after each plan or campaign these problems have been further aggravated and the socio-economic position of the country has further slided down compared to other countries. In this context it is necessary to find out the root cause or the causative factor of this condition and provide a scientific solution, instead of merely looking at the outer symptoms of problem and solving it in a partial or isolated manner. For this, it is necessary to find out the solution by analyzing the problem with a historical materialist method, or the concept of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist political economy; and today in Nepal the Maoist People’s War is trying just that.