DATE=5/13/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43390
TITLE=NEPAL MAOISTS PART 1
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELH
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FOR THE PAST THREE-YEARS THE HIMALAYAN KINGDOM OF NEPAL
HAS SEEN AN UPSURGE IN VIOLENCE AS MAOIST GUERRILLAS HAVE SOUGHT
TO EXPAND THEIR INFLUENCE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE GUERRILLAS WHO
CALL THEMSELVES NEPAL'S "RED ARMY" ARE SOME OF THE LAST COMMUNIST
INSURGENTS IN ASIA AND SOUTH ASIA STILL FIGHTING A CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT. CORRESPONDENT JIM TEEPLE REPORTS NEPAL'S MAOIST
GUERRILLAS ALSO SEEM TO BE GAINING STRENGTH AS THEY WAGE THEIR
"PEOPLE'S WAR."
// INSERT SOUND OF MARKET SOUNDS //
TEXT: THE CHAUTARA BAZAAR IS A BUSY MEETING PLACE WHERE
VILLAGERS AND FARMERS GATHER IN THE HIMALAYAN FOOTHILLS ABOUT
50-KILOMETERS SOUTH OF THE TIBET BORDER.
WHILE CHAUTARA IS BUSY DURING THE DAY, ITS STREETS ARE DESERTED
AFTER DARK. PEOPLE ARE AFRAID IN CHAUTARA -- AFRAID OF MAOIST
GUERRILLAS WHO HAVE BEEN ACTIVE RECENTLY IN THE HILLS WHICH
SURROUND THE VILLAGE. MAOISTS HAVE KILLED FIVE VILLAGERS IN
CHAUTARA IN RECENT MONTHS.
POLICE INSPECTOR BHIM DHAKAL SAYS THERE ARE ONLY ABOUT 30 MAOIST
GUERRILLAS IN HIS DISTRICT, BUT THEY HAVE MANY MORE SYMPATHIZERS.
HE SAYS THE MAOISTS ARE ALSO CAREFUL ABOUT WHERE AND WHEN TO
ATTACK.
// INSERT DHAKAL ACTUALITY //
THEY ARE VERY ACTIVE, TACTICALLY. WHEN THEY FEEL WE ARE
VERY WEAK THEN THEY HIT.
// END ACTUALITY //
POLICE SAY THERE ARE UP TO TWO-THOUSAND MAOIST GUERRILLAS ACTIVE
IN 12 OF NEPAL'S 75 ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS. THEY BEGAN THEIR
ARMED REBELLION IN FEBRUARY 1996, DECLARING A "PEOPLE'S WAR"
AGAINST THE NEPALESE STATE.
NEPALESE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST KARPIL SHRESTHRA CLOSELY MONITORS
THE MAOISTS. HE SAYS THE SO-CALLED "PEOPLE'S WAR" IS DIRECTED AT
LOWER-LEVEL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE, SUCH AS SCHOOLTEACHERS
AND VILLAGE OFFICIALS.
// INSERT SHRESTHRA ACTUALITY //
THEY HAVE BEEN TARGETING SCHOOLTEACHERS AND EDUCATED
PEOPLE IN GENERAL. THEY THINK THAT ONCE THESE EDUCATED
PEOPLE ARE ELIMINATED OR INTIMIDATED INTO SILENCE THEY
WILL BE ABLE TO INFLUENCE OTHER, MAINLY ILLITERATE
PEOPLE.
// END ACTUALITY //
MR. SHRESTHRA SAYS THE GUERRILLAS USE PARTICULARLY BRUTAL TACTICS
AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES. HE SAYS THOSE THEY DO NOT KILL ARE OFTEN
CRIPPLED BY HAVING THEIR LEGS BROKEN WITH HEAVY BOULDERS.
HUMAN RIGHTS OBSERVERS SAY NEPAL'S POLICE HAVE ALSO COMMITTED
ABUSES AGAINST CIVILIANS IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST THE MAOISTS.
POLICE HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF USING TORTURE TO EXTRACT CONFESSIONS
-- AND OF KILLING CIVILIANS DURING OPERATIONS AGAINST THE
MAOISTS. NEPAL'S GOVERNMENT RARELY COMMENTS PUBLICLY ON
OPERATIONS AGAINST THE MAOISTS, BUT THE COUNTRY'S INTERIOR
MINISTER RECENTLY DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS, SAYING POLICE HAVE NOT
COMMITTED INTENTIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES.
THE MAOISTS HAVE PAID A HEAVY PRICE, LOSING ABOUT 600 OF THEIR
FIGHTERS IN CLASHES. MORE THAN 40 POLICE HAVE BEEN KILLED, AND
HUMAN RIGHTS OBSERVERS SAY ABOUT 200 CIVILIANS HAVE ALSO DIED.
NEPAL'S MAOISTS BEAR A STRIKING SIMILARITY TO PERU'S "SHINING
PATH" MOVEMENT WHICH ALSO FOUGHT A VICIOUS WAR IN RURAL AREAS OF
PERU IN THE 1980'S AND EARLY 1990'S. LIKE THEIR "SHINING PATH"
COMRADES, NEPAL'S MAOISTS ARE LED BY CHARISMATIC INTELLECTUALS
WHO TAUGHT AT PROVINCIAL UNIVERSITIES. THEY HAVE SEIZED ON
PUBLIC DISCONTENT WITH A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT SEEM TO
DELIVER BENEFITS TO IMPOVERISHED RURAL AREAS.
ONE OF NEPAL'S LEADING LAWYERS, SINDHU NATH PYAKUREL, HAS ARGUED
MANY COURT CASES ON BEHALF OF IMPRISONED MAOISTS. HE IS NOT SHY
ABOUT HIS MAOIST SYMPATHIES AND SAYS THE LEADERS OF NEPAL'S
MAOIST INSURGENCY SHOULD BE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY.
// INSERT PYAKUREL ACTUALITY //
MANY OF THE LEADERS OF THE MAOIST MOVEMENT, THEY ARE
REAL BRILLIANT PEOPLE. THEY HAVE GOT VERY GOOD
EDUCATIONS AND VERY SOUND ACADEMIC BACKGROUNDS. THEY
HAVE A VERY SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
AND INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY AND ALL THAT YOU SEE. I
DOUBT IF ANY OTHER PARTY HAS A CORE LEADERSHIP WHICH CAN
COMPETE WITH THE MAOISTS.
// END ACTUALITY //
THAT LEADERSHIP SAYS SINDHU NATH PYAKURAL IS PREPARED FOR A LONG
STRUGGLE. THE KATHMANDU LAWYER SAYS NEPAL'S MAOISTS ARE PREPARED
TO FIGHT FOR A DECADE OR MORE -- SLOWLY TRYING TO GAIN CONTROL OF
NEPAL'S COUNTRYSIDE, WHERE STEP-BY-STEP THEY INTEND TO MAKE THEIR
VISION OF A MAOIST UTOPIA A REALITY. (SIGNED)
NEB/JLT/RAE
13-May-99 8:35 AM EDT (1235 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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