In depth Analysis

Posturising prominent in pre Tihar politics

Kathmandu: Preparations for the January party convention of the congress has consumed the post Dashain occupation of the government. Appearances at compromise have not, however, satiated the anti-Girija lobby who are aware that the pro-Girija faction have wreaked havoc in their ranks despite the further inclusion of sacked active members who compose the electorate for the convention. It is for nothing that pressures abound on the matter of constitutional changes and change in the central committee. One digression appears to have been made as strategy from the Koirala lobby in the announcement of Shailaja Acharya’s prospective candidacy. But the general consensus is that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s candidacy, as party chairman will be made to appear as inevitable on account of cadre demand.

It will therefore be Deuba versus Girija regardless of the Shailaja strategy to divert the "second generation" vote from Deuba. Girija babu of course, has the clout of a sitting ministry to his advantage. He also has the support of other ‘second generation’ influential such as Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel and the recently sacked Girija insider Govind Raj Joshi. Shailaja will of course follow Girija babu’s heels when it comes to the crunch. But the realization nevertheless is that precedence dictates a change in the congress leadership at the preference of southern neighbor’s and rumor is that a very influential diplomat has been expressing support for Girija Prasad Koirala.

Outside the congress, the recent price hike triggered by rise in fossil fuel prices has caused to muster workers in the streets by the Left. The UML and the minor nine Left parties have been agitating on this account. This, however, is unlikely either to woo cadre away from the Maoists’ movement or to deter Maoists’ activity that continues to impose popular attention.

Curiously then the UML standpoint appears close to the congress’ Deuba lobby in demanding talks to which the pro-Girija lobby remains paying mere lip service. Several gestures on part of the Maoists’ including the demands for government responding to its queries on the whereabouts of particular leaders and cadre have yet to find an official response from the Koirala establishment. The Maoists program appears not to have abated throughout the festive season. Moreover, there are reports at attempts to garner popular support with a relaxation of the prohibition of Alcohol and gambling for the festivities in Maoists’ controlled areas.

These indications suggest a new phase in both government and Maoists’ strategies having deliberately disseminated reports of the movement of Army troops in connection with the Maoists’ movement. Government is now tackling the actual issues regarding its involvement. The Maoists’ on the other hand, would want to have the locals on their side to project the political aspect of the otherwise violent insurgency.

‘We are sincere in developing eastern part of Germany’

- German foreign ministry official in Berlin

Kathmandu: " Even the State security forces of Federal Republic of Germany were not informed about the German unification scheme a decade back and every thing came so suddenly that it was a kind of surprise for us all", said a Foreign ministry diplomat at the German foreign ministry who is at the moment looking after the Asia desk in Berlin-the seat of the Federal Government.

The German diplomat was briefing the visiting media men gathered from practically all parts of the globe, Nepal included, at the conclusion of a six day trip to Germany beginning October this month.

The lunch table included members of the media from Jordan, South Korea, Taiwan, Egypt, Pakistan and Nepal. The lunch had been arranged in honor of the visiting journalists by the press department of the Federal Government’s foreign ministry on 4th October in Berlin.

To a query of the Telegraph, the foreign ministry diplomat admitted that the reunification process though had brought the Germans together, however, the visible difference in the living standards of the two Germans, east and the west, is causing pains both to the Federal government and the people of the former German Democratic Republic or otherwise the GDR.

"However, there is nothing to panic as heavy monetary investments are being carried out in the eastern part of the nation and only in a matter of years the economies of both the parts will attain the same height", assured the diplomat. "After all development process is slow. What is needed is the sincerity. And we do possess sincerity for the rapid development of our own Germany in the eastern part", continued the diplomat.

As per the German official’s assertion, any body visiting former eastern Berlin could watch for himself that billions and billions of Doetche Mark, the German currency, is being invested to give a new outlook to the eastern Berlin in terms of both uplifting its almost dead economy and bringing at par this part with that of the western part that was under the FRG then that is prior to the unification ten years back.

"Voices of uneasiness that come often from the Germans of the former eastern Germany is simply natural. They have been thinking that even after ten years of reunification, why has not there been any visible change in their life styles vis a vis the people belonging to western parts", added the German diplomat. However, only patience and hard work by them, read the east Germans, will bring about a radical change in their life styles as well, assured the diplomat.

By time the German diplomat was briefing the media men from the Asian countries at the lunch table, the news that a bomb blast at a Dusseldorf (a German town) synagogue had already come to the open.

The bomb blast was supposedly carried out by dissatisfied East German lots in protest to what they apparently preferred to call "negligence by the Federal government for the upliftment of the former East Germany.

Reacting to this, the German diplomat told that "why should we neglect them, as they too have become a part of our nation, Germany. All that they should do now is to work hard and share the fate of the nation together. There is no option left for both of us than to live together in peace and harmony. There is no question of negligence by the state. The FRG is more than committed to see the both parts in the same standards.

To yet another query of the Telegraph, the German diplomat divulged that his government of late had been convincing their businessmen to invest their money in South Asia , Nepal included.

The diplomat advised the Korean journalists to go in for a similar sort of reunification process as they had accomplished in Germany. The Korean journalist, however, said that his country would have to wait till the German example produced tangible results.

The city Berlin is definitely being given a new face-lift by the Federal government. The huge construction works going round the clock speaks of the truth lying in the diplomat’s assertion. In a year or two hopefully, the old city of Berlin, more so belonging to the former GDR, will definitely catch the momentum and will stand tall amidst the western part of the same city that has become one after the fall of the (in) famous Wall a decade back or so.

Germany not to tolerate xenophobia and attacks by right-wing extremists

-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Hanover

Kathmandu/ Dresden (Germany): On October 3, 2000, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Schroder appreciated the efforts of all those who contributed to the unification of the two Germany a decade back by saying that " without the confidence of our allies and friends in Europe and across the Atlantic, German unity would indeed probably not have been achieved so quickly and with the agreement of all of our neighbors".

Chancellor Schroder made this statement on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of German unification in Dresden amidst the presence of top European dignitaries including the French President Jacques Chirac.

The German leader also thanked all those present at the special ceremony for their support during the German unification and said, " the confidence you showed at that time now gives us an incentive to pursue a policy of a peaceable balancing of interests, of human rights and the promotion of European unification and that the 2+4 process and its successful conclusion in the Treaty on the final Settlement with respect to Germany laid a solid foundation for such a policy which facilitated the regaining of the German sovereignty and its borders confirmed.

The visiting media men watched the main ceremony being seated close to the Semper Opera House in Dresden.

The same evening in Hanover, at the site of the Expo-2000, Chancellor Schroder arranged a huge reception for all representatives of the countries having their stalls in the exhibition plus for the media men attending the anniversary of the German unification. During the reception, the German Chancellor opined that since the unification process has already been achieved, it shall remain a central task of the German foreign and security policy to overcome the division of our continent and to foster the European unification process.

Serving a sort of warning to the elements who wish to harass the incoming foreigners in Germany, Chancellor Schroder in a tone marked by firm determination said that, " we will not tolerate xenophobia and attacks by right-wing extremists in our country. Precisely because Germany is a dynamic country open to the world, we are using all legal and political means at our disposal to combat such tendencies rigorously".

The Chancellor, however, asserted that the Federal government’s basic aim of rapidly narrowing differences in the standards of living between eastern and western Germany proved impossible to achieve everywhere as we would have wanted".

The Chancellor’s extempore speech made at the Expo 2000 venue apparently touched the hearts of the east Germans who possess still a feeling that they have been neglected by the center as regards the development of their former eastern part of Germany vis a vis the western sector.

Millions of Pounds pour into LTTE coffers

Kathmandu : The LTTE terrorists have reportedly registered several front organizations as charities in
Britain and are using them to fund and sustain their terrorist activities in Sri Lanka to the tune of several million pounds sterling, tax free.

In an exclusive report from London, The Island newspaper in Colombo on 4th October said the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), which has been identified as a terrorist fund raising front by the Canadian Senate Committee for Security and Intelligence, is a registered charity in the UK raising millions of pounds and transferring them to the LTTE. The report added the newspaper that the TRO has
raised approximately 3 million pounds sterling since 1995, without incurring any staff costs.

According to a UK based security specialist, these are funds raised by the LTTE collection gangs. The LTTE maintains a huge database of Tamil expatriates and businesses in the United Kingdom.

The report added that, "boys" as they are known, have been allocated their areas in London and they go about collecting money, by knocking on peoples' doors.
"Collection gangs" operate outside areas where they live, so that the victims can never identify the "collectors." Further, the report states that the TRO has declared to the British authorities that since 1995
approximately 2.5 million pounds have gone from Britain to LTTE control, tax free, via the charity under the guise of "rehabilitation work." The report further said "the TRO is being used as a conduit to transfer funds out of the UK, legitimately and tax free to purchase arms," and the other two charities - Tamil Refugee Training and Education Centre (TRAG) and Tamil Eelam Economic Development Organisation (TEEDOR), as well as the Housing Association acts as "employment banks" to provide employment and housing to known LTTE activists, including their official spokesman Ramalingam Vallipuram Ramachandran alias Anton Rajah.

The report added "it is a 'jobs and housing for the boys scheme' courtesy of the British taxpayer". The
report further said, in January last year, a special Canadian Senate Committee issued a report on security and intelligence that identified charitable fund-raising in Canada by international terrorist groups as a
problem and recommended changes to the Income Tax Act in Canada. A consultant to this committee, Don Gracey who was interviewed in Ottawa has stated "the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) was one group identified by the committee that in fact raised money for guns and material used by
the Tamil Tigers". The report also said, leading activists in the UK, writing in a pro-LTTE magazine has admitted that the TRO and several other "charities" are the "brain child" of the LTTE leader V Prabakaran, who is wanted in India for the assassination of India's former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The report also added that Charles Somasundrum who works as a volunteer several days a week at Eelam House in London has stated in the July 1997 issue of "Hot Spring" that "Chencholai" (an organization for the care of war orphans), TEEDOR and the TRO are organizations established by Prabakaran.

Qatar to fly Kathmandu-Paris sector

Kathmandu: The Qatar airways, one of the fastest growing airliner in the world held a wonderful dazzling function in Kathmandu on 20 October 2000 to honor top passenger and cargo agents who did outstanding sales performance during 1999-2000.

The event was organized at the Radisson Hotel.

Apart from leading passenger, cargo and manpower agencies, diplomats, travel agents, media men, businessmen participated in the ceremony and others as well who one way or the other were associated with the travel and tourism world in Nepal.

Former Tourism Secretary of the HMG/N, Dipendra Purush Dhakal, who is at the moment the Governor of the Nepal’s State Bank inaugurated the function and also gave away lucrative awards to top ten passengers and top ten cargo agents.

Addressing the gathering Chief guest Mr. Dhakal congratulated the Qatar airliner in having achieved miraculous success in a very short span of time and hoped that the airliner will grow more in the future to the satisfaction of the passengers. He also assured the management of the Qatar airways here of his continued support should the need arise.

The regional manager of the Qatar airways, Arjun K. Gang clad in Nepal’s national dress delivered his welcome address. " Qatar airways considers its appointed agents as extended team and partners in endeavors to provide air services of the highest order to passengers and cargo exports from Nepal", said Arjun Gang. The regional manager also announced that by end of 2001, Qatar proposes to operate two daily flights from Kathmandu provided the HMG/N approved and that was likely to tremendous boost to tourist arrivals in the Kingdom before the advent of yet another Destination Nepal year scheduled for the year 2002.

The GSA for the Qatar airways in Nepal, Mr. Joy Dewan appreciated the efforts of all those who contributed in the promotion of the airliners activities in Nepal.

" We will continue to serve our clients more sincerely in the future", said a beaming Dewan.

At the beginning of the ceremony a cake was cut by the dignitaries announcing the beginning of the Kathmandu-Doha-Paris flight with effect from 29th October this month.

French Ambassador designate, Claude Ambrosini, graced the occasion.

What these events in series mean?

Kathmandu: A number of significant events that happened in quick succession around the Dashain festival days hint at the fact that not all was well in the Kingdom.

Consider the abrupt forced "long leave" granted to the then Inspector General of Police, Achyut Kharel; add to this the summary dismissal of home minister Govind Raj Joshi who is still considered to be a very close insider of the Premier Koirala and connect both of these two previous events with the summary replacement of the then home secretary with a new one.

All these put together emerges a scenario that clearly projects the scheme of political things going in and around the home ministry and its affiliate organs, for example, the police administration.

Interestingly enough, all these summary replacements followed in succession when the men involved in the key security posts of the country in one way or the other talked things which apparently were disliked by the nation’s armed forces-the Royal Nepali Army.

Rumors have it that IGP Kharel had to be removed because of his excessive inclination for the NC politics and his hard posture maintained against the Maoists insurgency. Some even talk that Kharel’s tenure in the police force will be ever remembered for his partisanised political preference to the ruling party that is the Nepali Congress.

However, Kharel’s promotion to the post of Royal Nepali Ambassador in Myanmar perhaps bespeaks of his political preference as rumored by common men.

A weeping home minister, G.R.Joshi talking to the press prior to his dismissal dared to hint that the Dunai incident occurred only because the military did not come to their rescue.

An annoyed Royal Nepal army perhaps could not digest this blunt allegation and issued a statement the same day of the minister’s dismissal that clearly refuted the outgoing minister’s allegation.

The home secretary, Padma Pokhrel, too had to lose his post for his alleged private connections with the ruling party and more so for his Himalayan failure in averting the ghastly incident in Dunai in which several police men sacrificed their precious lives while countering the Maoists insurgents some two weeks back. Sources claimed that the home ministry knew in advance that on that particular date the insurgents would attack the police post in Dunai.

With the process of the replacements at the three important places being over, politics now has suddenly centered on the Maoists who prefer now talks and were exhibiting more flexibility never experienced before. The Maoists of late have been sending signals that they were ready for talks provided the government listens to their proposal for effecting a change in the constitution now in force. This they have done through their trusted friends in the ML, the UML and even convinced P.R.Tuladhar, a left wing personality. Prachanda is rumored to have had talks with Madhav Nepal, Bam Dev Gautam and P.R.Tuladhar in the recent days. Prachanda has gone to the extent that he proposed a working alliance with the ML to which Bamdev reportedly denied. Strange happenings perhaps hint at the pace of political developments in the Capital district which have a direct bearing on the people and the system as well.

While on the one hand the government’s stoic silence in this regard is simply intriguing, equally mind boggling is the Maoists’ repeated call and preference for talks with the establishment. To recall, the insurgents have forwarded their demand for talks after the government sent military forces to some of the Maoists’ affected districts. This is meaningful.

Now that the Deuba committee is no more in the scene, who else will take up the mantle for talks with the insurgents is still premature to predict.

With Tihar festival round the corner and the congress active membership issue shelved for a few days, to expect that some tangible effort will come forth regarding the talks with the insurgents in the meantime appears simply remote.

However, what is for sure is that Nepal’s conspiratorial politics will in no way cease to work in dark chambers even during the Tihar festival days.

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