India’s “Often Forgotten but Strategic” Neighbor!

Crisis in Nepal: The Maoist Double-Cross....
So the Chairman of Nepal's Maoist radicals’ brags that he and his fellow-travelers tricked United Nations officials and admits that the 2006 peace deal was a sham - and gets caught on videotape doing it. The video of the recently resigned Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, was shot in January 2008 and just surfaced.
Revealingly, he instructs his fellow communists not to be fooled by the compromises struck with Nepal's democratic government. Seizing total power, he makes clear, remains the communist goal.
The latest crisis in Nepal is a useful case study in communist duplicity and instructive for those who believe that the path to peace with guerillas is cutting deals with them. The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) joined Nepal's government after a decade-long insurgency that left more than 12,000 dead. Under terms of the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Maoists agreed, among other things, to cut the size of their force in half, place their weapons under U.N. supervision and participate peacefully in the political process. In the 2008 elections, the Maoists emerged as the largest party in parliament with 30 percent of the vote, and Prachanda was named Prime Minister.
But the communists didn't consider the war really ended. The Maoists steadily maneuvered to increase their power with a view toward implementing their revolutionary agenda.
The latest step was an attempt to remove Nepal Army Chief Gen. Rookmangud Katawal, who had resisted Maoist demands to integrate their guerrilla army into the national force. He maintained that the "former" guerrillas are brainwashed fanatics seeking to seize control of the army. He's got a point.
Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav blocked Prachanda's move to sack Gen. Katawal. Prachandra resigned in protest. Nepal's Supreme Court now has the case.
Prachanda says it is a question of civilian control of the military. That's rich. Meanwhile communist thugs are taking to the streets in coordinated demonstrations calling for further intervention from the U.N.
The video of a relaxed Prachanda addressing his party faithful exposed the Maoists' cynical manipulation of the political system. In true communist spirit, Prachanda said that the compromises struck with the government were only tactical expediencies, and that the "bidroha," or rebellion, was still on. He joked about how they duped the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) into thinking they had 35,000 fighters when in fact they only had 7,000 to 8,000, which allowed them to swell their ranks to 20,000 while claiming to be demilitarizing. And he confirmed Gen. Katawal's suspicions by saying it would take only a small number of his guerrillas to establish "complete Maoist control" of the Nepal Army.
He added that they had not turned over their weapons as required and that relief money earmarked for the victims of the civil war would be diverted to party coffers. "You and I know the truth," he slyly told his comrades, "but why should we tell it to others?"
In an unguarded moment, Prachanda revealed he is still a terrorist at heart and those who make deals with him are dupes. "Why would we abide by [the peace deal] after we win?" he said on the tape. "Why would we follow it when we have the upper hand?"
The situation in Nepal and Pakistan's Swat Valley illustrate the risks in bargaining with extremists, who do not change their goals, only their methods. The lesson is important when contrasted to Sri Lanka and Colombia, where we have seen the value of taking the fight to insurgents. U.S. deal makers should understand that there is more than one way to lose a guerrilla war. Sometimes it happens with the stroke of a pen.
(Adapted from various sources and appropriately modified).

An Opinion from Nepal:
“The US government relied on India for its policy regarding Nepal. The coalition Indian government was so busy negotiating a nuclear deal with the US that they gave the responsibility of Nepal to the Communist Party of India. These guys, who have not been able to bring the "revolution" to their land, saw the opportunity in Nepal. So did all other international communist organizations such as Revolutionary International Movement (RIM) who saw the Nepal Maoists as their best hope. The Maoists were armed and protected and the politics and media of this land was carefully groomed to target the easiest target--the monarchy of Nepal. Blind followers of "democracy" the world over were quick to support the cause. The King fell, the Maoists won the elections (as evident now by deceit and intimidation) and are now the majority. But deep down, they are Maoists, they are rebels, they believe that power comes from the barrel of the gun, and they are still after a "dictatorship of the proletariat." Nepal has become a playing field for everyone, and in the process, has given jobs to many -UN peacekeepers, civil society activists, politicians, diplomats and the media. War creates jobs after all! This again encourages "increased UN intervention". No thank you! It was the UN intervention which put these guys on the throne to begin with. We don't any more UNMIN folks touring the Himalayas in helicopters & drinking margaritas in the sun in the name of peacekeeping! What we need is support to end this game once and for all. What we need is a ceremonial, powerless iconic King who can give an identity to the hundreds of ethnic groups that live in this mountainous state, who, without a King, have no common identity as a "Nepali". What we need is for the international community to understand that Nepal is a unique country and a one-shoe-fits-all strategy does not work. And what we need is for the international community to deal with Nepal on Nepal”!
By R. Devkota