Prachanda warns of 4th movement and indefinite General Strike from January 24th

Nepal's Maoists promise there is more to come and a fourth movement will start
soon with general strike to follow. Prachanda expresses disgust with New Deli's
interference in the internal affairs of Nepal.

From "Democracy and Class Struggle"

Prachanda warns of 4th movement and indefinite General Strike from January 24th

KATHMANDU: Wrapping up a three-day nationwide general strike at a victory rally
in the capital Tuesday, Nepal's Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Prachanda warned it was also the announcement of a fourth protest movement
against the government that would culminate in an indefinite general strike from
Jan 24.

In the past, the Maoists had enforced a 15-day blockade during the 10-year
"People's War" and a 19-day peaceful general shutdown in 2006 as part of the
pro-democracy movement against King Gyanendra's attempt to rule the country with
the help of the army. Prachanda said the new protests would start from Christmas
Day as a mass awareness campaign to open people's eyes to the presence of
"foreign agents" in their midst. He also said the campaign would expose the
corrupt indicted in the Rayamajhi Commission that was formed after the fall of
the royal regime. Though the commission was formed to punish the perpetrators of
the anti-people coup, including the king, its report was never made public.

The nearly two-hour rally in Naya Baneshwor - that was the site of violent
clashes between protesters and security forces Sunday - saw Prachanda, for the
first time throwing a direct challenge to India, accusing it of naked
intervention in Nepal's internal matters. "I held talks with the Nepali Congress
(NC) leaders but they produced no result," the former revolutionary said with
biting sarcasm. "I held talks with the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist
Leninist (UML), the Prime Minister... But none produced results. Now I have to
go to Delhi for talks."

Prachanda reminded his audience that in the years after 2002, when King
Gyanendra had sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and propped up three
successive governments of his own choosing, the then governments had asked the
underground Maoists to declare a ceasefire and start dialogue. "But we had
refused, saying we will not negotiate with the servants," he said. "We said we
will talk only with the master. It is now time to say the same thing."

The Maoist chief alleged that New Delhi had propped up Nepal's coalition
government, which was a "puppet" and a "robot" in its hands. When Nepali Prime
Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal returned from the UN climate summit in Copenhagen,
Prachanda said the government did not project Nepal's interests abroad but only
tried to project that Indian premier Manmohan Singh had expressed his support
for it as well as the Chinese government. "The Maoists are not NC or UML," he
said. "Treat the Maoists as Maoists."

The new Maoist anger with New Delhi was stoked afresh last week after Nepal's
army chief Gen Chhatraman Singh Gurung went to India at the invitation of the
Indian Army chief, Gen Deepak Kapoor, to receive the traditional honour of being
declared general of the Indian Army by Indian President Pratibha Patil.

During the visit, at a banquet hosted by the Nepali general, Gen Kapoor was
reported as saying that he opposed the merger of the Maoists' People's
Liberation Army with the Nepal Army as that would lead to the politicisation of
the latter. "The comprehensive peace agreement (that ended the Maoist insurgency
in 2006) promises the integration," Prachanda said. "Kapoor's statement was a
naked intervention in Nepal's internal matters and yet the corrupt ministers of
the current government remained silent."

Prachanda said that at a time his party was striving to restore civilian
supremacy in Nepal by campaigning against the President, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, who
had resurrected the possibility of another military coup by preventing his
government from sacking the insubordinate army chief, it was clear that civilian
supremacy was actually murdered in New Delhi.

The Maoists have laid down a five-point agenda for their talks with India. They
have also announced a month-long campaign from Dec 25, after which, they have
warned of an indefinite nationwide general strike from Jan 24.

Maoist agenda for talks with India

- All unequal treaties should be scrapped, including the 1950 Peace and
Friendship Treaty; all secret treaties have to be revealed

- All border disputes have to be resolved; India has to recall troops from
Nepal's Kalapani area

- Trade deficit with India has to be corrected

- India should enact prompt strategy to make Nepal gain from being sandwiched
between the world's two fastest growing economies

- India has to accept Nepal as an equal state.

Source: Times of India