[Marxism] [GreenLeft_discussion] Ben Peterson: To My Dearest Detractors

Thu May 7 01:50:10 MDT 2009

"I've seen Nepal, so I've all the right to lie, errr ... to cook up
creative truth"!

Here are two reports on Prachanda's "leaked speech".

The Maoist obsession about capturing the Army is evidently not too
reassuring to others. Particularly if it is kept in mind that in
certain areas the CPN(UML) and NC cadres have already been served
notice to leave. Prachanda has of course duly condemned such move.
This has happened when he has resigned and acting as the Acting Prime
Minister. So much about the "coup"!
And also they swear by Maoism and openly appreciate the Shining Path of Peru.

Sukla

I/II.
http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=4670

PLA's real strength 7-8K: Dahal
'Will capture state by all means'	

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, May 5: The real strength of the Maoist People´s Liberation
Army (PLA) was between 7,000 and 8,000 and not 35,000 as reported by
Maoists.
Video footage a conspiracy to derail peace process: Maoists
YCL leave Image Channel main gate
This startling revelation comes from none other than Maoist chairman
Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He said this while addressing PLA commanders and
combatants at Shatikhor cantonment in Chitwan* on January 2, 2008, a
video of the meeting -- in possession of Image Channel TV -- shows.

Dahal said contrary to popular belief that the number of PLA had been
reduced by the verification by UNMIN (United Nations Mission in
Nepal), the strength was actually up. "We all know what the real
strength of the PLA is: it is between 7,000 and 8,000," he said. Had
we given the real figure, the number would have come down to about
4,000. But, added the chairman, the party said the number of the PLA
was 35,000 and that resulted in around 20,000 verified PLA.

"Did the number increase or decrease?" asked a smiling Dahal, evoking
laughter around him.

***He also said that even a small number of PLA combatants´ entry into
the Nepal Army was enough to establish total Maoists control over the
army. Our soldiers are politically awakened and they will easily
dominate who just parade, referring to NA soldiers. He also said that
army chief Rookmangud Katawal was thus against entry of PLA into the
army.*** (Emphasis added.)

This address was two months before the Constituent Assembly elections,
on April 10, which had looked uncertain then due to sharp differences
between the Maoist and non-Maoist parties over percentage allocation
between first-past-the-post (directly elected by people) and
proportional representation electoral systems.

Dahal also said the party had not forsaken the ultimate goal of
bidroha (revolt) and asked his men not to be swayed by compromises
struck by the Maoist party with other political parties.

He said party workers may be thinking that their leaders are having
tea with enemies, forgetting their revolutionary agenda. But the
reality is the leaders are still working for a revolution, he said.

The Maoist chairman said that money that the "martyrs" in villages
throughout the country and the PLA in cantonment receive will help
them move ahead in their goal of total victory. The money that will go
to the "martyrs´ family" will help repair the party´s deteriorating
relations with the common people. "We will tell them this is just a
relief (of Rs 100,000) and you need to support us to get the remaining
Rs 900,000," Dahal revealed his strategy of winning the CA elections.
Each martyr family has been provided Rs 1,000,000.

He had also said that the Maoists were not keeon on an election that
they would lose. "We will not allow election that we might lose."

He added that one third of the Rs 600,000,000 that was agreed to be
given to the PLA cantonments would be used to further the goal of
Maoists´ control of the state.

II.
http://www.zeenews.com/news529729.html

'Videotape scandal a ploy against Nepal peace process'

Kathmandu, May 07: Some Maoist combatants have been taken in custody
as per the directives of the party headquarters after a controversial
video of outgoing Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ''Prachanda''
addressing a training session in Shaktikhor became public.

According to Nepalnews, the party has detained members of the video
unit and some suspected combatants dubbing the entry of ''enemies'' in
its army.

The Maoist army is on to prevent similar activities in other divisions
and cantonments.

Meanwhile, Prachanda has dubbed videotape scandal a ploy against peace process.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday over a videotape of
his lecture to PLA commanders some 16 months ago, which has caused
quite an uproar in the political circle, Prachanda said his party had
three tiers of armed forces - central and regional as regular armed
forces and militia that numbered well over 100,000.

He said what he mentioned in the tape that real strength of the PLA
was 7,000 to 8,000 was only the number of the ''central regular armed
force''.

He argued that the broadcasting of the videotape, containing his
speech in a different political situation, is a reactionary ploy to
cover up the unconstitutional move of President Ram Baran Yadav and to
jeopardise the peace process.

He also reiterated his commitment to the peace process and
constitution-drafting which will transform the country into a federal
republic.

Claiming that some elements have been trying to push them again
towards war, Prachanda said under no circumstances would they end the
peace deal to start violence again.

However, Prachanda met the envoys of the United States, the United
Kingdom, France, Finland, Germany, Denmark and the European Commission
and representatives of the Netherlands for 45 minutes at their
request.

He told the envoys that the current political crisis created by the
unconstitutional step of President Yadav, if corrected, could be
utilized to forge a "higher level understanding between political
parties and form a national consensus government."

The envoys expressed worry about the warning that the Maoist cadres
had issued to supporters from other parties in the districts and
clashes between Maoist protesters and police.

At a press meet organised following the meeting with diplomats,
Prachanda expressed the party's commitment to uphold democratic
principles and said directives had been issued to party cadres not to
use any type of force.

ANI
On 5/7/09, Stuart Munckton <stuartmunckton at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://southasiarev.wordpress.com/2009/05/06/ben-peterson-to-my-dearest-detractors/
>
> *On this site, a number of comments went up from opponents of the Maoist
> revolution who  questioned Ben Peterson’s
> reports<http://www.maobadiwatch.blogspot.com/>,
> insights and objectivity concerning events in Nepal.*
>
> To my dearest detractors.
>
> Some would say that this is a lopsided view. And many would say that my
> “journalistic integrity” is compromised. I confess these things openly. But
> i only say this because if to have “journalistic integrity” means i need to
> echo the lies and propaganda that is printed every day in the medias
> mainstream then i want no part of it. I set out to find and tell the stories
> of the real Nepalis, the Nepalis who live in poverty, the Nepalis who are
> discriminated against just because of their sex, caste, nationality or
> profession. I pledge now to always be lopsided- i will always carry a bias-
> but the bias i carry will always be towards the toiling people of the World,
> and to give those without a voice a chance to tell their stories- the real
> stories of Nepal.
>
> I have traveled widely in Nepal, I have been to Rolpa, Chitwan,
> Sindhapulchowk, Dang and of course Kathmandu. I have talked to people of all
> walks of life, from farmers, to workers, politicians and the unemployed. Men
> and women, Dalits, Cheteris and Bramins. I have seen the real Nepal. The
> real Nepal is one that is starving for change. That is why they SUPPORT the
> Maoists. Not because of intimidation, but because the Maoists, and only the
> Maoists, have gone to the people with a dream, a vision and a plan for
> creating a Nepal that is free from exploitation and poverty.
>
> I have looked- but could not find- the people in fear of the Maoists cadre.
> I have looked for but have not found the intimidation that is daily
> described in the Media. What i have found, without even having to look are
> simple people that are willing to fight for a better life. I found people
> increasingly angry because the old elite and the political opposition delay
> and derail every single attempt by the government to bring relief to the
> people. I have found the people who have been beaten, raped and had their
> families killed by the (royal) Nepal Army. (which was described as the
> “National Savior” above)
>
> This is the real Nepal. The real Nepal will not be found in the pages of the
> Himalayan times. The Real Nepal will not be found in the tourist quarter or
> the cocktail circuits of Kathmandu. The real Nepal is a elegant beast that
> has been shackled into a system that everyday exploits, brutalizes and
> violates it even more. The Nepali people have had enough of this and now
> refuse to take it any more. The chains that restrict them are bucking under
> the strain of an entire people rising for something better.
>
> To those who cant see this, especially those from within the proud people of
> Nepal, i can only beg of you to open your eyes. You need only look as far as
> the women who will now look you in the eye, the dalits who can now be active
> in their communities and the workers with a new sense of pride in what they
> do, to see that the New Nepal- which is being built despite all the
> opposition tries to do- can be something more beautiful than we could
> possibly imagine.
>
> Thank you- and for your own sake- wake up to the reality you are living in.
> Ben Peterson
>
>
> --
> "The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
> dummy?" — Jarvis Cocker
>
> "The basis of optimism is sheer terror" — Oscar Wilde
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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