KATMANDU, Nepal - For a man who spends much of his time holed up in rundown apartment on the outskirts of Katmandu, Biraj is supremely confident his vision of a communist Nepal will soon become reality.
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Emboldened by a string of setbacks to the Himalayan nation's absolute king, Maoist rebels like Biraj are striking deep into urban areas and working with major political parties to topple the monarchy. Many, including the U.S. ambassador, see a Maoist takeover as a possibility.
Biraj described himself Thursday as a low level political officer in the rebel movement, one of those responsible for recruiting followers and enforcing ideology.
While he refused to discuss specifics of his work, he insisted he goes about his job with a soft touch. "We speak with people, they are convinced by our message," he said.
The rebels, however, have a history of threatening — and even killing — those who don't obey.
"This country is going to go our way. The king will soon find himself dead," said Biraj, who would give only his first name for fear of arrest.
King Gyanendra tossed out an interim government last February, saying he needed to bring order to a chaotic and corrupt political scene that had alienated many of Nepal's 27 million people. He promised to quell the rebellion, which has claimed nearly 13,000 lives in the past decade.
The result has been the opposite: Rebels attacks have intensified, the economy has nose-dived and the populace's disenchantment with politics has spread to the king.
U.S. Ambassador Dan Moriarty warned this week that "the Maoists will ultimately seize power" unless Gyanendra and the political elite settle their differences.
Diplomats and analysts say the Maoist movement is the only group that can influence large numbers of Nepalis, such as the nationwide strike the rebels ordered during municipal elections Feb. 8.
Such support isn't always for ideological reasons — many people fear for their safety if they cross the rebels.
Still, the Maoists' communist vision — such as abolishing private property — resonates deeply in Nepal, where per capita income is $25 a month and many people toil as farmers for feudal landlords.
Despite the retreat of communism elsewhere, including in Mao Zedong's homeland of China, rebel leaders are drawn to Mao's model of a rural peasant uprising. They consider it better suited to Nepal than the kind of urban workers' revolt preached by the Marxists of the former Soviet Union.
The Maoists shy from detailing what comes after the revolution, however. They speak of equality for all in a Hindu country where caste still matters, of promoting economic growth and of puritanical measures like banning alcohol and "vulgar" films from India that show too much skin.
New fighting took place Thursday when hundreds of soldiers backed by helicopters swept through mountainous districts in southwestern Nepal, part of the one-third of the country controlled by the rebels. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
A U.N. official said "full-scale conflict has now resumed."
"Clashes occurred in highly populated areas, placing the civilian population in grave danger," said Ian Martin, representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Since seizing power, Gyanendra has jailed hundreds of opponents and muzzled the press. That prompted major political parties to cut a deal with the rebels in November, agreeing that the politicians would use peaceful means and the rebels violence to restore democracy.
The partnership's first success was undermining last week's elections — turnout was only 20 percent — saying the vote was an attempt to legitimize the king's rule.
The nationwide strike and poor turnout on election day "were a great victory," Biraj said.
Nepalis in Katmandu familiar with the Maoist movement arranged the meeting with the 26-year-old, who sat down for an interview in a dimly lit teahouse, talking about his work as a rebel in a near whisper to avoid being overheard.
There was no way to verify Biraj's claims to being a low level political officer, but government officials and Western diplomats say insurgents operate in and around the capital.
Like many rebels, Biraj comes from a poor village in the insurgency's western heartland. Fighting was more attractive than eking out a living as a peasant tilling the land of a wealthy landlord, he said.
Biraj said his enthusiasm made him an ideal member of the group's political wing — the people responsible for collecting donations, recruiting members and punishing dissenters.
Human rights groups and diplomats say much of the rebels' support is based on fear, with rural Nepalis who openly criticize the rebels often facing death. The rebels are also widely said to steal what they need from villagers and press young men and women into service.
The Maoists dispute those descriptions, saying the accusations come from their opponents.
"They are our class enemies. They are the ones whose paradise of plunder will be smashed by the people," Suresh Ale Magar, a senior rebel official, said in a jailhouse interview Sunday.
To speak with Maoists like Magar and Biraj is to step back 30 or 40 years, when the world was split between those who feared and those who welcomed the prospect of a global communist revolution.
The rhetoric is constant, but both men said the Maoists are ready to share power with mainstream politicians if the king falls.
"We recognize the need to engage our class enemies on the political level," said Magar, a paunchy 48-year-old who smiles easily and talks freely, despite an eavesdropping prison guard.
"We won't immediately resort to renewing our armed struggle," said the former English literature professor, who was arrested two years ago in India.
Of course, he said, "we may have to at some point in the future ... We are not flexible to the point that we are political and ideologically finished."
It is that kind of comment that worries people like the U.S. ambassador, Moriarty.
He said Wednesday that if the joint effort by politicians and rebels topples the king, it would leave "the parties, and the people, defenseless against ideological 'partners' long used to settling arguments with a gun."
Despite his talk of compromise, Magar suggested as much.
The 20th century's communist regimes "failed because the bourgeois forces had not been completely eliminated," he said. "We have learned from their mistakes."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216...ZvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--Z
I think if the Maoists do take over, I think there will be a ton of killing and the U.N will have to go in, or maybe India.
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Emboldened by a string of setbacks to the Himalayan nation's absolute king, Maoist rebels like Biraj are striking deep into urban areas and working with major political parties to topple the monarchy. Many, including the U.S. ambassador, see a Maoist takeover as a possibility.
Biraj described himself Thursday as a low level political officer in the rebel movement, one of those responsible for recruiting followers and enforcing ideology.
While he refused to discuss specifics of his work, he insisted he goes about his job with a soft touch. "We speak with people, they are convinced by our message," he said.
The rebels, however, have a history of threatening — and even killing — those who don't obey.
"This country is going to go our way. The king will soon find himself dead," said Biraj, who would give only his first name for fear of arrest.
King Gyanendra tossed out an interim government last February, saying he needed to bring order to a chaotic and corrupt political scene that had alienated many of Nepal's 27 million people. He promised to quell the rebellion, which has claimed nearly 13,000 lives in the past decade.
The result has been the opposite: Rebels attacks have intensified, the economy has nose-dived and the populace's disenchantment with politics has spread to the king.
U.S. Ambassador Dan Moriarty warned this week that "the Maoists will ultimately seize power" unless Gyanendra and the political elite settle their differences.
Diplomats and analysts say the Maoist movement is the only group that can influence large numbers of Nepalis, such as the nationwide strike the rebels ordered during municipal elections Feb. 8.
Such support isn't always for ideological reasons — many people fear for their safety if they cross the rebels.
Still, the Maoists' communist vision — such as abolishing private property — resonates deeply in Nepal, where per capita income is $25 a month and many people toil as farmers for feudal landlords.
Despite the retreat of communism elsewhere, including in Mao Zedong's homeland of China, rebel leaders are drawn to Mao's model of a rural peasant uprising. They consider it better suited to Nepal than the kind of urban workers' revolt preached by the Marxists of the former Soviet Union.
The Maoists shy from detailing what comes after the revolution, however. They speak of equality for all in a Hindu country where caste still matters, of promoting economic growth and of puritanical measures like banning alcohol and "vulgar" films from India that show too much skin.
New fighting took place Thursday when hundreds of soldiers backed by helicopters swept through mountainous districts in southwestern Nepal, part of the one-third of the country controlled by the rebels. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
A U.N. official said "full-scale conflict has now resumed."
"Clashes occurred in highly populated areas, placing the civilian population in grave danger," said Ian Martin, representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Since seizing power, Gyanendra has jailed hundreds of opponents and muzzled the press. That prompted major political parties to cut a deal with the rebels in November, agreeing that the politicians would use peaceful means and the rebels violence to restore democracy.
The partnership's first success was undermining last week's elections — turnout was only 20 percent — saying the vote was an attempt to legitimize the king's rule.
The nationwide strike and poor turnout on election day "were a great victory," Biraj said.
Nepalis in Katmandu familiar with the Maoist movement arranged the meeting with the 26-year-old, who sat down for an interview in a dimly lit teahouse, talking about his work as a rebel in a near whisper to avoid being overheard.
There was no way to verify Biraj's claims to being a low level political officer, but government officials and Western diplomats say insurgents operate in and around the capital.
Like many rebels, Biraj comes from a poor village in the insurgency's western heartland. Fighting was more attractive than eking out a living as a peasant tilling the land of a wealthy landlord, he said.
Biraj said his enthusiasm made him an ideal member of the group's political wing — the people responsible for collecting donations, recruiting members and punishing dissenters.
Human rights groups and diplomats say much of the rebels' support is based on fear, with rural Nepalis who openly criticize the rebels often facing death. The rebels are also widely said to steal what they need from villagers and press young men and women into service.
The Maoists dispute those descriptions, saying the accusations come from their opponents.
"They are our class enemies. They are the ones whose paradise of plunder will be smashed by the people," Suresh Ale Magar, a senior rebel official, said in a jailhouse interview Sunday.
To speak with Maoists like Magar and Biraj is to step back 30 or 40 years, when the world was split between those who feared and those who welcomed the prospect of a global communist revolution.
The rhetoric is constant, but both men said the Maoists are ready to share power with mainstream politicians if the king falls.
"We recognize the need to engage our class enemies on the political level," said Magar, a paunchy 48-year-old who smiles easily and talks freely, despite an eavesdropping prison guard.
"We won't immediately resort to renewing our armed struggle," said the former English literature professor, who was arrested two years ago in India.
Of course, he said, "we may have to at some point in the future ... We are not flexible to the point that we are political and ideologically finished."
It is that kind of comment that worries people like the U.S. ambassador, Moriarty.
He said Wednesday that if the joint effort by politicians and rebels topples the king, it would leave "the parties, and the people, defenseless against ideological 'partners' long used to settling arguments with a gun."
Despite his talk of compromise, Magar suggested as much.
The 20th century's communist regimes "failed because the bourgeois forces had not been completely eliminated," he said. "We have learned from their mistakes."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216...ZvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--Z
I think if the Maoists do take over, I think there will be a ton of killing and the U.N will have to go in, or maybe India.
