Maoists exposed again: Nexus of international terrorism
Media Communications Center
February 22, 2007
SHASHI P.B.B. MALLA
"But man, proud man,
Dress'd in a little authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep."
Shakespeare: Measure for Measure
In this space it has been written many times before that the Maoists cannot be trusted for various reasons. Even after they got involved in the peace process, they still seemed to have been following their own agenda.
Now it has been reported that Indian Army intelligence has exposed an Indo-Nepalese conspiracy and has been able to prove a close connection between the Nepalese Maoists and the Kashmiri terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT/ Army of the Pure).
The Lashkar-e-Toiba is one of the largest and most active Islamic terrorist outfits in South Asia. It was formed in 1990 in the Kunar province of Afghanistan and is the military wing of an Islamic fundamentalist organization. It participated in the Mujahideen conflict against the Najibullah regime in that country and thus developed deep linkages there. It has close contacts with the former Taliban regime and also with Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. Today, it is the largest jihadi organization operating in Indian Kashmir and also other parts of India. It rejects democracy and terms the notion of the sovereignty of the people as anti-Islamic. There is apparently ideological common ground with the Maoists, who are also in essence anti-democratic.
Both – for their own reasons -- are opposed to the idea of an 'opposition' -- it is well-known that without a strong political opposition, neither can there be a functioning parliamentary democracy, nor an open and accountable government. The LeT was involved in the December 13, 2001 attack on India's Parliament in New Delhi. Also, Indian police accused it of carrying out deadly explosions in the city of Mumbai in August 2003 that killed 55 people and injured 180. Its long term objective is the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of South Asia, Russia and China.
The arrest and subsequent interrogation of Maoist Pasang Lama on Indian territory has proven a link between the CPN-M (Maoists) and the LeT terrorist group. He and others have been posing as pashmina traders and paying huge amounts of money (undoubdtedly raised through the voluntary donations) to this terrorist outfit in the Kashmir Valley in order to purchase arms and ammunition to sustain what they call People's War.
Given its benign stance towards the current Nepalese government, consisting of the seven party alliance (SPA), operating with Maoist connivance, this apparently close link between the two outfits should be a major embarrassment to the Indian establishment. It should be noted that the Indian Army, unlike the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the intelligence agencies, has always been wary of the Maoists because of their nexus with Indian terrorist groups.
What makes the incident very worrisome from a Nepalese viewpoint is the fact that the arms deal was struck when a peace agreement with the Maoists was supposedly in place and they were to hand over their arms to the United Nations monitors. This makes the camps for the Maoist cadres and the alleged arms management arrangement look no more than Potemkinian villages. This incident must also be seen in the wake of US accusations that the Maoists were buying antiquated, home-made weapons in the northern Indian state of Bihar in order to hand them over to UN inspectors (however hiding their own weapons). Moreover, there are also reports in the local press that the Maoists have only returned looted arms. All things considered, it can no longer be claimed with a straight face, that it is the intention of the Maoists to join the political mainstream or that they are prepared to accept the results of any elections that can be termed free. These facts should, therefore, have a significant impact on their reputation in neighbouring countries and the USA specifically. Thus far, the silence of the Maoists (expectedly) and the UN and the internationally community (surprisingly in the case of the latter two) on the matter has been deafening.
In a remarkable development, Sujata Koirala, a member of the Nepali Congress executive committee and daughter of the incumbent prime minister, Girija Koirala, during her visit to New Delhi has categorically condemned the Maoists – now allies and comrades – as being "out of control" and being an impediment to the country's 'transition to a full-fledged democracy'. She continued that they were still threatening not only the common people, but also the police and even diplomats!
Ms. Koirala conceded that the law and order situation had become the biggest problem, and because of this and the perception that the interior minister was too close to the Maoists, he should better resign on moral grounds. In another eye-opening confession, she also accepted the fact that the recent conflagration in southern Nepal was a result of "Maoist provocation". All this realization is very well and good, but why is she unable to convince her august father to put on the brakes on the Maoist machinations?
In another significant statement, Ms. Koirala was of the opinion that a lot of homework had to be done before the elections to the Constituent Assembly could be held. This after June of this year has already been named for the said polls! Moreover, she also inferred that a "fear-free atmosphere" had not yet been induced. As is apparent to everyone, the seven party alliance and the Maoists have not laid the ground for many political decisions — like fools they have a habit of rushing in where angels fear to tread. It is, therefore, unbelievable and very naïve on the part of the European Commission's Asia Director, James Moran, who was in Kathmandu recently to claim that "seen from the South Asia perspective, Nepal is carrying the banner of hope for progress"!
Our Dear Chairman Prachanda , on the other hand, in a public rally to commemorate the 12th anniversary of their insurgency in which over 14,000 innocent Nepalese died in the killing terraces, warned that should the CA elections become impossible in the given time frame, then Nepal would be declared a 'democratic republic' (i.e. as democratic as the former German Democratic Republic) already in April. Had the arms purchases on the back of the LeT connection been public knowledge then, he could have added that a re-armed People's Liberation Army and fully equipped Maoist militias will assure that resistance will be futile.
What has been revealed is once again the plan -- to hoodwink the Nepalese people and reach a fait accompli. Constituent Assembly elections, plebiscites or any form of free exercise of the people's will of any sort have no place in this plot. Loktantra or 'total democracy' promised by both the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists has been exposed not only for what it is, but also what could become: It is now an autocratic rule of the eight parties and might become a totalitarian dictatorship in the classical Communist mould.
"But man, proud man,
Dress'd in a little authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep."
Shakespeare: Measure for Measure
In this space it has been written many times before that the Maoists cannot be trusted for various reasons. Even after they got involved in the peace process, they still seemed to have been following their own agenda.
Now it has been reported that Indian Army intelligence has exposed an Indo-Nepalese conspiracy and has been able to prove a close connection between the Nepalese Maoists and the Kashmiri terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT/ Army of the Pure).
The Lashkar-e-Toiba is one of the largest and most active Islamic terrorist outfits in South Asia. It was formed in 1990 in the Kunar province of Afghanistan and is the military wing of an Islamic fundamentalist organization. It participated in the Mujahideen conflict against the Najibullah regime in that country and thus developed deep linkages there. It has close contacts with the former Taliban regime and also with Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. Today, it is the largest jihadi organization operating in Indian Kashmir and also other parts of India. It rejects democracy and terms the notion of the sovereignty of the people as anti-Islamic. There is apparently ideological common ground with the Maoists, who are also in essence anti-democratic.
Both – for their own reasons -- are opposed to the idea of an 'opposition' -- it is well-known that without a strong political opposition, neither can there be a functioning parliamentary democracy, nor an open and accountable government. The LeT was involved in the December 13, 2001 attack on India's Parliament in New Delhi. Also, Indian police accused it of carrying out deadly explosions in the city of Mumbai in August 2003 that killed 55 people and injured 180. Its long term objective is the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of South Asia, Russia and China.
The arrest and subsequent interrogation of Maoist Pasang Lama on Indian territory has proven a link between the CPN-M (Maoists) and the LeT terrorist group. He and others have been posing as pashmina traders and paying huge amounts of money (undoubdtedly raised through the voluntary donations) to this terrorist outfit in the Kashmir Valley in order to purchase arms and ammunition to sustain what they call People's War.
Given its benign stance towards the current Nepalese government, consisting of the seven party alliance (SPA), operating with Maoist connivance, this apparently close link between the two outfits should be a major embarrassment to the Indian establishment. It should be noted that the Indian Army, unlike the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the intelligence agencies, has always been wary of the Maoists because of their nexus with Indian terrorist groups.
What makes the incident very worrisome from a Nepalese viewpoint is the fact that the arms deal was struck when a peace agreement with the Maoists was supposedly in place and they were to hand over their arms to the United Nations monitors. This makes the camps for the Maoist cadres and the alleged arms management arrangement look no more than Potemkinian villages. This incident must also be seen in the wake of US accusations that the Maoists were buying antiquated, home-made weapons in the northern Indian state of Bihar in order to hand them over to UN inspectors (however hiding their own weapons). Moreover, there are also reports in the local press that the Maoists have only returned looted arms. All things considered, it can no longer be claimed with a straight face, that it is the intention of the Maoists to join the political mainstream or that they are prepared to accept the results of any elections that can be termed free. These facts should, therefore, have a significant impact on their reputation in neighbouring countries and the USA specifically. Thus far, the silence of the Maoists (expectedly) and the UN and the internationally community (surprisingly in the case of the latter two) on the matter has been deafening.
In a remarkable development, Sujata Koirala, a member of the Nepali Congress executive committee and daughter of the incumbent prime minister, Girija Koirala, during her visit to New Delhi has categorically condemned the Maoists – now allies and comrades – as being "out of control" and being an impediment to the country's 'transition to a full-fledged democracy'. She continued that they were still threatening not only the common people, but also the police and even diplomats!
Ms. Koirala conceded that the law and order situation had become the biggest problem, and because of this and the perception that the interior minister was too close to the Maoists, he should better resign on moral grounds. In another eye-opening confession, she also accepted the fact that the recent conflagration in southern Nepal was a result of "Maoist provocation". All this realization is very well and good, but why is she unable to convince her august father to put on the brakes on the Maoist machinations?
In another significant statement, Ms. Koirala was of the opinion that a lot of homework had to be done before the elections to the Constituent Assembly could be held. This after June of this year has already been named for the said polls! Moreover, she also inferred that a "fear-free atmosphere" had not yet been induced. As is apparent to everyone, the seven party alliance and the Maoists have not laid the ground for many political decisions — like fools they have a habit of rushing in where angels fear to tread. It is, therefore, unbelievable and very naïve on the part of the European Commission's Asia Director, James Moran, who was in Kathmandu recently to claim that "seen from the South Asia perspective, Nepal is carrying the banner of hope for progress"!
Our Dear Chairman Prachanda , on the other hand, in a public rally to commemorate the 12th anniversary of their insurgency in which over 14,000 innocent Nepalese died in the killing terraces, warned that should the CA elections become impossible in the given time frame, then Nepal would be declared a 'democratic republic' (i.e. as democratic as the former German Democratic Republic) already in April. Had the arms purchases on the back of the LeT connection been public knowledge then, he could have added that a re-armed People's Liberation Army and fully equipped Maoist militias will assure that resistance will be futile.
What has been revealed is once again the plan -- to hoodwink the Nepalese people and reach a fait accompli. Constituent Assembly elections, plebiscites or any form of free exercise of the people's will of any sort have no place in this plot. Loktantra or 'total democracy' promised by both the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists has been exposed not only for what it is, but also what could become: It is now an autocratic rule of the eight parties and might become a totalitarian dictatorship in the classical Communist mould.
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