INDEPENDENT NEWS

R Taylor: My Solidarity To Nepal and Its People

Published: Tue 30 Aug 2005 10:26 AM
My Solidarity To Nepal and Its People
My Solidarity To Nepal and Its People
Dr. Ralph Taylor
The situation in Nepal is not simple, and is being made more confusing by on-going propaganda war. Facts, disinformation, contorted facts, and arguments/opinions and counter arguments / opinions are floating around within and it seems more so in the international media.
At the present moment, opinions base on beliefs and suspicion are being floated. Logically all such opinions can or cannot be true..it would require time to authenticate such opinions based on assumptions and attribution of intents of one or the other actors in the political game. Yet, many intelligent people in Nepal and in the West have tended to go along with such opinion, which only future events can prove or disprove.
Here, people who are actually suffering and those who are apprehensive of their future are more interested in what is actually to transpire rather than what "should be" or "what should not be". A comedy of sort is that those without capacity seem to be most vocal in such wishful engagements. The voices of those living safely (within and outside of this country) seem to be the loudest. Such people are also not explicit as to their own responsible intent at operational level or have not shown by concrete action their own respective responsibilities and capacities.
Agreement with or disagreement with any opinion is academic. Possibilities and feasibilities are what will prevail. And of course, attempt to understand or explain things in " and / or" , "This or that", "right or wrong" or even "good or bad", mode of thinking may be misleading. Reality of the complex situation in Nepal is not that simple...New global politics, regional geopolitics as well as actual situations in Nepal and of course the relative capacities of contenders of power do make-up for complexity..
The book entitled "Democratic Innovation in Nepal" by Leo Rose and Jossy with reference to the fifties and compare with events ( not opinions or judgments on those events) as they have occurred in the Nineties and beyond. As for the Maoists, better understanding may be obtained, if the objectives of RIM ( Revolutionary International Movement) and of the South Asian Maoist Organization,(CCOMPOSA) in both of which the Nepali Maoists are a component were to be studied. As for what verbal stand and statements being forwarded by the Nepali Maoists in the last 4 years or so, you will find many parallels with what Mao of China used to say since 1936 till he gained absolute power.
And then of course, what he said before turned out to be tactical. Ideology alone does not necessarily motivate all, extortion is attractive to the unemployed with little or no qualification to ever get a decent job. But them as I said before things are not black or white in reality.
Using religious tag to anyone or any organizations may not be quite proper or accurate. Evil people as well as good people are found among all religious communities. Klu Klux Klan can easily be labeled as Christians, Or the IRA as Catholics, can they not ? Would this be justified? Would it not be lumping the good people of a religion with the evil people within that particular religion?
Is such labeling morally just or academically sound?
Muslims in Nepal are the seventh largest population, and as predicted will exceed 100,000 by the time of our next census. They are not as a unit political and some of them belong to all parties in the polity of Nepal. So far they have never been radical here. In fact, when they were attacked and their holy Mosques vandalized, last year, they exercised restraint.
Some articles and statements coming out of India, have attempted to associate our Muslims with Pakistan either for propaganda purpose or for a prior preparation to justify her direct intervention in Nepal... or there may be some truth in it. In any case, your query seem to be exploring the observation of USA that weak, or fragile or failed States are fertile ground for Terrorists, as was the case in Afghanistan, which of course is possible ( where else can such organizations stay and operate if not in a weak States?) But such shelters for any anti-US group can equally be obtained among any or all over and under-ground communists, as RIM does not accept that the cold war has been lost.. They, including Nepali Maoist and over-ground communists in Nepal, say Communism has not been defeated only they have met with reversal and it is their mission to assert communism and to defeat the Capitalists.
Geopolitics of this sub-continent, especially India's relation with all of her neighbors, need to be studied also, to understand India's interests and intentions. As out political parties have gone to Siliguri, Lucknow and Delhi in India to talk with the Maoists in a number of occasion, it seems proper analysis require that India's official and unofficial role need to be considered as a major factor to the Maoist problem in Nepal, in spite of the fact the Indian Maoist exist and operate in India also.
I love Nepal and it's people.
ENDS

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