Since the big changes occurred in Nepal this past summer (see SM posts here, here, and here), the longstanding conflict there between Maoist insurgents and the government has ceased, as a “Comprehensive Peace Agreement” (CPA) has been signed. The Maoists have agreed to lay down arms and stay in camps where they will be monitored by international observers. The system they’ve come up to ensure both parties abide by the agreement seems a little far-fetched, but perhaps workable:
Under a novel agreement with the government and the United Nations, they are to deposit their weapons in padlocked containers at each of the cantonments like this one. They will hold the keys, but their gun closets will be closely watched. Floodlights will shine each night. Surveillance cameras and burglar alarms will be installed.
For the sake of at least symbolic reciprocity, the Nepalese Army has promised to keep an equal number of its soldiers in their barracks.
An initial team of 35 United Nations monitors is expected to trickle in by the end of the year to oversee the Maoist and the army barracks alike, followed by an assessment team to determine the final size of the United Nations mission. (link)
This seems like an awfully fragile system. Though Nepal’s 10 year old conflict is a little different from civil conflicts in other parts of the world — as I understand it, it’s not rooted in ethnic differences, so it may be easier to heal — it seems hard to imagine this method working for very long. Will the symbolic deposition of the King and the advent of a permanent democratic government be enough of a change to bring the country back together after 10 years of civil war?
In the short run, ironically, the Maoists have lots of new recruits hanging around at the new camps. But it’s unclear whether the new kids are there because they support the ideology, or because they hope the newly legitimized Maoists might have work for them:
Up the road in the village, among the old men sitting and soaking in the last of the dayÂ’s sun, the question of new recruits inspired churlish laughter. Of course these are new recruits, they said, and you can easily tell them from the old-timers. The new ones know nothing, one old man said. The new ones cannot tell the difference between where to defecate and where to bathe, another said. That inspired howls of laughter.
The troops who have gathered here for now rely on the hospitality of the local people. The old man, Ananda Gyawali, introduced one 19-year-old, Krishna Acharya, as a distant relative. The young man is illiterate and came a couple of weeks ago from a village far away to throw his lot in with the Maoists. He claimed to have joined the rebels a year ago.
The boy came only because he thought the Maoists would give him a job, he said, adding, “Poverty is to blame for this.” (link)
Meanwhile, many Royalists loyal to King Gyanendra have begun buying property in places like India and Singapore. A major garment factory in Kathmandu has shut down for reasons that seem linked to the changes. And there have even been some protests against the Maoists in the Kathmandu Valley, who seem more powerful than ever at this point.
“The King is dead. Long live the King”.
How long before we see the emergence of a “Dear Leader” in the backyard of India? Has Prachanda – a product of the mighty JNU – the final hope of the underpriviledged in this world, reached the level of the status of the “Dear Leader”?
Of course, the “Dear Leader” will fight for the poor and the glory of Nepal. Imagine, watching the modified secular Hindu ceremonies being performed in synchronized unison by the citizens of Nepal with a smile on their face – priceless! The force of the people should be together and pointed in one direction – for the glory of Nepal and collective good of the poor people. Later on, banks will be nationalized, agriculture will be collectivized, universities will be reformed, political opposition destroyed, and the rascal capitalists beaten into submission under the guidance of the benevolent “Dear Leader”.
Fifty years down the line, a violent shake-up will overthrow the dynasty of the “Dear Leader” and Nepal will try to make a re-entry into the uncivilized world. The cycle of bloodshed will start again. The only thing that will remain constant in this journey through time – the poor people.
Regards,
There was definitely something lost in translation here
Anindo, I have to say that it doesn’t look exactly like all that’s going to happen. Prachanda seems a little tamer in person than might have been expected, and there are noises about multi-party democracy, a willingness to work with America, etc.
Of course, Maoist movements in other places (India included) have turned out to be maddeningly inflexible when it comes to working with people they disagree with. If there is a national referendum on the monarchy and they lose in their bid to have the king completely stripped of all state support (and possibly exiled), I wonder what they’ll do. My suspicion is, they’re done fighting.
a recent panel found that king gyanendra and others should be punished for deaths and injuries and human rights abuses during the crackdown of protestors. are they also planning to subject the maoist leader to the same investigation? unequal meting out of justice is not going to help heal the deep wounds.
I think the point of the fragile setup of the CPA is that it is an incentive for the parties to work together, and that no one ends up with the upper hand, which would have meant declaring a victor. The Maoists have managed to conquer most of the countryside, which was still under the old feudal arrangement, but would never have managed to take over Kathmandu. Likewise, the government would have had a very hard time taking the countryside again, if ever. Granted, the Maoists seem to have the most to gain from the arrangement, but the longer the peace subsists, the harder it will be to take up arms again. If everyone is willing to work for the benefit of the population (…), the situation could turn for the better. If one party becomes intransigeant, they will all go back to square one.
I agree, Amardeep. I was just venting. Hopefully, Nepalis will preserve democracy and Communists will learn to be gracious in their electoral defeats.
From an Indian point of view, we have a strategic nightmare around us – Pakistan (ther is nothing left to say baout this relationship), Bangladesh (the less said, the better), China (praise the Lord!), Nepal (Maoist), Burma (dictatorship), and Sri Lanka (civil war). Only Bhutan seems to be riding along with us. I have not even started discussing the movements within the borders of India.
Regards,
Also, a correction :Prachanda did NOT go to JNU but Bhattarai did.
racism: not cool. Unless the word has a meaning I don’t know of.
I am not so sanguine about this peace deal. After the elections they (maoists & the political parties) still have to make democracy work. Nepal’s track record on that is not too good. It is difficult to see all these parties putting aside their differences to work for a democratic and prosperous Nepal. When things will not go to the Maoists liking, and there will be such instances, what will keep them from breaking away from the peace deal and taking up arms?
I just hope that the powers that be in New Delhi have contingency plans to deal with these problems when they crop up. But then again, it is the indian polity and bureaucracy we are talking about so am not holding my breath.
What is chapptas?
I just hope that the powers that be in New Delhi have contingency plans to deal with these problems when they crop up.>>
upa does have a plan. it’s called handing over nepal bureau to Yechury and CPI. Fox guarding the henhouse.
‘Chaptaa’: Literally means ‘flat’. Derogatory term casually used by desis for all mongoloid-looking peoples, including those from within India or Nepal. Ugly.
On a completely non-relevant note, I was on a train in Bengal recently, and passed by Barrackpore railway station. As some of you might know, this was the place where our friend Sepoy Mangal Pandey started the original SM. I have a decent picture, but no access/inclination to Photoshop. Anybody willing to make a banner out of my pic, email me and I’ll send it to ya.
The comment with a racially insulting term has been deleted.
for that one word, you deleted the whole commebnt 🙁
for whats its worth – no offese meant by using ‘chappta’ – didnt mean it to be a racial insult whatsoever
This is a very important point. Western media often focuses on Indo-Pak or Indo-Sino tensions when discussing instability in Asia. The fact is, there are many governments in the region that are weak. Given the population of the region, a government’s collapse in any one nation could lead to streams of refugees that might lead to a scary domino effect.
“On a completely non-relevant note, I was on a train in Bengal recently, and passed by Barrackpore railway station. As some of you might know, this was the place where our friend Sepoy Mangal Pandey started the original SM.”
Sepoy Mangal Pandey helped launch the first Indian war of Independence, not the first Mutiny.
i had absolutely no idea people would be offended by chappta – i mean to me, terms such as mallu or madrasi are even more offensive and that term is thrown around in this blog in almost every other comment
i could care less about what some people mis-construed my using of the word chappta – whats annoying is that comments get deleted presumably by so called “moderators” who have no idea what the word meant or the context in which it was used (heck i dont even think the dude understands hindi) – all this while they allow some other terms like mallu and madrasi being used all the time in the blog – sad state of affairs really
I have a few Nepali friends, and talking to them I know they strongly resent the term. Many of them see it as symbolic of some snotty-nosed attitude Indians have towards their neighbors. This is a time when India certainly needs friends in Nepal 😉 .
You could always post your comment without the word.
Sena X – sadly, your self confessed ignorance of the ugly connotations of words like “chapta”, etc is becoming mainstream in india. this malaise is particularly prevalent amongst the angrezi speaking elite back home.
my friend, a calcutta resident of chinese origin, whose family arrived there four generations ago, told me that some of the most racist taunts, always by well meaning people like yourself, are uttered by some of the most educated “bongs”.
The word is used extensively amongst Indians (grad students) on every college campus that I have friends in (UPenn, GTech, UT(A), USC, Duke, Stanford). It is not considered a racial slur by those who use it. Not that that’s an excuse.
We use a lot of (derogatory?) terms for our fellow Indians. Gujjus , Maadus (marwaris), Paapads(Sindhis), Surdies (Sardars)or Panjus , madrasis, mallus, gultis(Andhraites), bongs, bhaiyyas (From UP/MP/Bihar). I was called a “ghaati”( from the Ghaats or the interior of Maharashtra) by the folks in Mumbai! And we spoke the same language too. So, yes, we are the most non PC folks back home. However , I think that should nt be carried over beyond the shores.
I’m surprised I’ve never heard the term used before — I’m actually a Nepali-American. Perhaps it is because, as someone mentioned, used commonly among Indians in India (or those who’ve grown up there)? Anyway, not that it matters… Seems the difference between this word and the others, such as ‘gujju’, ‘mallus’, etc, is that this refers to the physical appearance of the person (correct me if I’m wrong) — now, if that is not derogatory, then I don’t know what is. I’m not saying that the others are not, just saying that it seems this is in a whole other category of wrong.
I also want to add that yes, many Indians do tend to discriminate pretty blatantly (as shown in their actions) against Nepalis and others with “Mongoloid” features (man, I hate using that term). I have seen in time and time again…just as we see it with the darker skinned. What other facial or physical characteristics are made fun of in our culture besides these two? Not to offend anyone because I’m curious about this. How about hairiness? — is that made fun of in the same way as dark skin is? I wonder if say South Indians make fun of North Indians on this basis?
Browniepie, Cool name. Jimmy Carter is supposed to be a fan of Kathmandu apple pies.
Nothing to correct. Chappta —> Flat —> Flat Nose
How about those it is used for? I had foreign ‘guest’ students from Nepal and Bhutan at my college in India, and it was well-known that you do not use this word to their face, unless you are proactively looking for trouble.
which is why i could never bear to hang around pakistanis* in grad school because they were this boorish kind who used this term in talking among themselves. not only did i think it vile, but was very disrespectful of my best friend who was taiwanese and of two girls i hung out with, one a singaporean and the other an tw-american.
*not being racist. that’s just how it was.
kxb posted a link to a fascinating artilce in the news tab. Interesting discussion on the hard politics among nations and its relevance to the usa.
i realize now, that sounds nasty. to explain – i had a favorite cafe – the regulars were a motley crew, some more clique-ish than others – such as the ethiopians, the iranians, the palestinians, the pakistanis – hence my reference to “pakistanis”. i had this group in mind in that cafe on that street.
Ymmm…never heard of Kathmandu apple pies, but sound tasty to me.
Ooh.. I’m a Nepali American as well, but have great memories of visiting Nepal and feasting on apple pies from the various German bakeries around Kathmandu…
Mmmm, Pie.
Back to original thread.
forget peace when will they control trafficking of children?
First of all not all Nepalis are flat nosed and mongoloid looking. But I can tell you, they have their own prejudices: madhesi (desi is the degoratory word for Indian) is the work for Indian and it has the connotation of dark, ugly and from the South of the country which resembles the god forsaken parts of India due to uncontrolled immigration from Bihar and Bengal. I would like to add that the population of Nepal has doubled due to uncontrolled Indian immigration-and one thing beggars in Nepal are imported from India these days. Moreover, in the eighties there were no massive slums or beggars in Nepal. People lead a harsh life but they were poor in a rural way. Never the shocking stuff you see in India.Tourists used to say what a relief it was to come to Nepal from India. But due to a corrupt monarchy things have changed in the last fifteen years. And considering more than a third of the population of Nepal consists of very recent Indian immigrants from Indian states-all Nepalese are not Chinese looking in answer to your derogatory comments about Nepalis. And I can tell you, despite the Chinese looks, the Mongolian peoples of Nepal are at least sweet and cuter than these people. Moreover, there are pure Brahmin families that are very fair and have pure bloodlines and have distinct sharp features. So Nepal has many groups living together. So although I am not Chinese looking in any way at all, do not make fun of my countrymen for looking Chinese-any tourists will tell you that these people have great hearts and the Mongolian mountain people of Nepal are the friendliest in the world. I just thought to tell you the Nepali side of the story. And Nepalese are good looking-especially the pure types from the mountains. Which is why an average looking Brahmin girl like Manish Koirala became such a hit in India. And I am tired of people telling me I do not look like I am from Nepal. Nepal has a mix of ethnic groups just like India. Just as all Indians do not look like from Bihar, there are different looking Nepalis.
And as for traffiking of children most people in Nepal saw Indians as shady people who steal innocent girls from the mountains and make then end up in Brothels in Bombay. Because the only Indians who come to Nepal are those from Bihar(I am not against them-they are poor people looking for a better life), Marwaris (despised Indian businessmen who are nasty in every way) and people who steal girls. A bit more decent are the Sikh truck drivers. But these are the Indians you mostly see in Nepal.I am sure some corrupt Nepalis are also involved but it is the Indians stealing the girls. With a prostitute population of six million there-that is more than a third of Nepal Indians should address the problem in their country. Recently you have started to see prostitutes in public in Nepal-a very recent phenomenon sadly.
Also, speaking of negative stereotypical views I just tried to state some Nepali prejudices- there are always two sides of the story.