| Sajha.com Archives | |
| Username | Post |
| li_visit_nyc | Posted
on 15-Feb-03 08:47 PM
49 US military ‘advisors’ landed in Nepal last month, backed by a $17 million US military aid package. They are in Nepal to help the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) quell a popular insurgency. Nepal’s revolutionary people’s movement ‘now wields de facto control over most of Nepal’ [London Telegraph]. The stories of the rebels in Nepal and the radical transformations in the areas under revolutionary power have barely made it undistorted through the media campaign of censorship and disinformation – in Nepal and internationally. Who are the rebels, and what are they fighting for? On February 22nd, we invite you to hear first-hand accounts from someone who spent many months traveling with the rebels in the guerilla zones. Li Onesto, a journalist for the Revolutionary Worker newspaper in the US spent several months in Nepal in 1999, travelling and meeting peasants, women, students, people from different oppressed nationalities - all fighting to forge a different future for the people of Nepal. She brings alive these stories – who are the rebels, what are their life experiences, what are they fighting for – in a series of dispatches, and now in a slide show and presentation. Li Onesto’s slide show and presentation on The Current Situation: People’s War in Nepal Saturday, February 22nd; 2:30 PM The Auditorium, Brookdale Health Sciences Campus, (of Hunter College), 425 East 25th Street (between First Avenue and East River Drive) Directions: #6 TO 23RD Street (Subway); M23 to First Avenue (Bus) Website postings on ADDITIONAL contingency screenings if there is a massive anti-war mobilization on the 22nd, which we will support Visit: www.geocities.com/li_visit_nyc/details.html; or E-mail us (Ad-Hoc Nepal Solidarity Committee): li_visit_nyc@yahoo.com People know Nepal as the land of the Himalayas – a haven for adventurers seeking to conquer the tallest mountain in the world. But behind the veil of its scenic natural beauty the people of Nepal have been living under wretched poverty and stark feudal oppression for centuries. In the shadows of the Himalayas, in one of the poorest countries in the world, the people are rising up in the millions and joining a revolutionary struggle against an oppressive outdated feudal monarchy. The revolutionary movement, led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was initiated in 1996. According to the London Telegraph (September 21, 2001), the movement ‘now wields de facto control over most of Nepal…the insurgents have won dominance of the Himalayas and of the foothills,’ and the king’s rule is ‘now limited to Kathmandu, Nepal’s few towns and the southern lowlands of the Terai.’ Nepal’s popular insurgency is rocking the foundations of an outdated society and political structure, and giving birth to a new society in the crucible of the struggle. The leadership and mass participation of women in the uprising is striking and liberating, as feudal conditions in Nepal are extremely oppressive to women. The growing success of the revolutionary people’s movement has alarmed the US and other reactionary powers, which have stepped up military aid to the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) to help quell the insurgency. In the last month alone, the first shipment of guns, part of a US military aid package of $17 million, was delivered to the RNA, and 49 US military ‘advisors’ arrived in Nepal to train the RNA in counter-insurgency. Let’s not forget who the recipients of the US military aid are: the security forces of Nepal that have been responsible for massive human rights violations including rapes, tortures, disappearances and outright executions. The US-led ‘war on terror’ has turned its guns on the just liberation struggle of the people of Nepal. Supplementing the iron fist is a massive media campaign of censorship and disinformation, in Nepal and internationally. The stories of the rebels in Nepal and the radical transformations in the areas under revolutionary power have barely made it undistorted through the media. The gag order on the Nepali press imposed under the state of emergency declared by the government in November 2001 makes it virtually impossible to get reliable information. We are inviting you to hear first hand accounts from someone who spent several months traveling with the rebels in the guerilla zones. Li Onesto, a journalist for the Revolutionary Worker newspaper in the US, brings alive the stories of the rebels – who are the rebels, what are their life experiences, and what are they fighting for? – in a series of dispatches, and now in a slide show and presentation. She has interviewed senior leaders of the revolutionary movement, including Chariman Prachanda of the CPN(M). These interviews and dispatches are available on the Revolutionary Worker website www.rwor.org. Some brief excerpts are also available on our website www.geocities.com/li_visit_nyc/details.html. |
| ashu | Posted
on 15-Feb-03 09:14 PM
>>Li Onesto, a journalist for the Revolutionary Worker newspaper I think that introduction pretty much sums up what the video is all about: glorifying the Maoist revolution. Meantime, Maoists in Nepal have already started to gloat about their alleged victory, and have started to hold victory parades in the hinterland. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Poonte | Posted
on 15-Feb-03 09:17 PM
Thank you for the info...will be there on the 22nd. |
| OU812 | Posted
on 16-Feb-03 11:08 AM
Hello there, Poonte I attended this meeting maoist held here in london. I think it was Li Onesto herself here, if I am not mistaken. Since time is short, let me make a brief note. She failed to impress me. It was more of soft touch aimed for western audience. The info she presented was rather weak I though. The evening failed to capture the essence of maoist efforts. i.e WHY? How it relates to ordinary nepalese from all walkes of life and different classes. Just my opinion. Will write more if on the evening if anyone's interested. Cheers!!! |
| Padme | Posted
on 16-Feb-03 11:37 AM
Thank you for the info. I am curious about the details and their agenda going forward. Poonte Dai, please let us know the details about the presentation. |
| surya | Posted
on 16-Feb-03 01:29 PM
I hope Nepalis and real friends of Nepal who live in NY will make the time to go to Onesto's presentation to listen to what she has to say and also, if she is out there glorifying Maoism and saying how their violence and brutal tactics are justifiable, to let her know that she is spreading a lie and that her propoganda is dangerous and is costing lives and resrouces. Western supporters of Moaist need to be brought to task! Obvisously with the history of McCarthism and Onesto being a "journalist", American government is not going to touch this with a ten feet pole. It is up to expatriate Nepalis and friends of Nepal to do the important job of fighting this tyranny and supporting the efforts those in Nepal are making. |
| Padme | Posted
on 16-Feb-03 04:29 PM
On the same note, I do not consider Maobadis the friends of Nepal, or the well-wishers of Nepal. I have strong suspicion that Indian Intelligence is behind Maobad problem. Even though India openly denounces maobad movement there has been no cooperation from the Indian government for the capture of the top leaders. There were some "show case" arrests of some grass level maobadis but it did not go any further to higher level maobadi leaders. There were several attempts made by Nepal Guptachar Bhivag for the capture of the maobadi leaders hiding in India, cooperation from Indian government was ZERO. This makes me believe that there is “something else” in the Maobadi movement. Maobadis have successfully and at times forcefully recruited children, teenagers and others and were able to direct towards the be-heading, killing by skinning, cuttings arms and legs off and controlling by fear. They have also destroyed public property, roads, bridges, communication towers, looted banks and many activities to hurt the economy or the well-being of the society. It is foolishness to believe that Maobadis are fighting for the people i.e. democracy (which is already there). Who will be held responsible for the killings? Who will give account of all the looted money? Where is all the extorted money going? Do they have any accountability towards the amount of money they have robbed from institutions and people? |
| suva chintak | Posted
on 16-Feb-03 05:13 PM
Ah, so the beautiful Ms Ornesto is the lady with the velvet cut!! I was wondering why so many Nepali buddhi napalako tara bains chadeko tanneris were rushing into the jungle, headlong...because this sirens like this one becon! I think the Maoist strategists are borrwing a page from the capitalists markeeters when they deploy this lady to cover up their blood stains and repackage themselves as the people's messiahs. Pooji, ask this proletarian damsel why she should not be arrested and sent to Camp X-Ray in Cuba for directly aiding and abetting terrorism? How can she say the Maoists are fighting for the people when they buther ordinary peasants and workers in the villages in the most barbaric ways? Even the Talebans were much more civilized in this manner... a burst of AK-47 fire. How does she condone the Maoists terror tactics which have created over a million refugees in Nepal, who live miserable lives in India and Nepal now? And she has the gall to say that the Maoists are fighting to better the country by destroying airports, hospitals, schools, bridges, roads, factories, hydro power stations, telecommunication infrastructure, banks and tourism...the combined destruction has put Nepal at least 50 years. It is an not only a physical injury for Nepal, but also an insult to our basic intelligence to be told that this is all for our bright future. Is she some kind of dracula's lady who thrives in glorifying strife, killings, and terror? I have read many of her posisoned postings on Nepal who tells us to celebrate because one group of Nepalis is killing the other. Tell her to take her devil worship and dance of death elsewhere and spare Nepal and Nepalis from further terror and bloodshed. We have suffered. Why doesn't people like her take their revolutionary brand of 'journalism' to maybe Iraq or Palestine for a change and let us get a break? Pooji, I hope you will be there to expose the demonic trash that poses as 'journalism' to mislead the Western audience. For Peace and Justice! |
| ? | Posted
on 16-Feb-03 09:50 PM
Could the Mao leaders be charged for crime against humanity at ICJ? |
| _sage | Posted
on 17-Feb-03 04:58 AM
If Li Onesto came to Boston, how many folks of the GBNC might attend? Also, does anyone want to see "The Killing Terraces" (the film by Dhurba Basnet)? I am showing the film at the Lucy Parsons Center this Wednesday at 7pm. The Lucy Parsons Center is a bookstore in the South End of Boston, at 549 Columbus Avenue -- phone 617-267-6272. If you don't know the film, here's a review in the KTM Post: http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/oct/oct05/local.htm I think that Li Onesto may come to the bookstore on Monday February 22. This is not definite yet, and I have to clear it with both the bookstore folks and Li Onesto too. However, I thought it would be good to have as much dialogue as possible, for all the reasons people mentioned above -- because it is so easy to promote the Maoists when you're not directly affected by them -- and to ask questions and give experiences and comments. (Some people here might remember me from stirring up "trouble" on Sajha.com about a year ago, when I proposed that one doesn't have to support either the govt or the Maoists, but that the situation is complex, with both bad and good aspects of the Maoists and the government, as well as plenty of good coming from people who are not associated with either -- in other words, _real_ grassroots people power. Also, the website http://nepalsolidarity.net ...) In the interest of dialogue and peace, Sage |
| surya | Posted
on 17-Feb-03 10:09 AM
I checked out the website... After perusing the site I am still trying to decipher what viable alternative it proposes. I concluded that is all about rhetoric! Just rhetoric from people who want to be in the center of someone else's making. There is not even a "about us" section. What up with that? |
| Padme | Posted
on 17-Feb-03 10:20 AM
Surya, There are slew of people trying to "cash-in" into the situation in Nepal. That site is one of "them". |
| whine and chij | Posted
on 18-Feb-03 09:58 PM
onesto, li one stoli(chnaya brand vodka) cute alias for a communist just another velvet glove for the maobadi iron fist or a full metal jacket? |
| Poonte | Posted
on 24-Feb-03 11:18 AM
Hajur, pugen...jham jhami haatti-sudhe pani ma lad-dai, pad-dai pugen...I hope no one from the FBI, or the Griha Mantralaya was there to black list me! After a small donation, and a samosa, the guests were presented with a table full of communist magazines from around the world. Notably, almost all of the magazines had Nepal's Maoist insurgency on the covers--perhaps because Nepali Maoist movement is considered the most successful communist insurgency in the present world? I wondered. The prices were steep, so I just skimmed through some of them and politely put them back on the table. The show started about an hour ate--the explanation given was that many people still might have been coming in (late) due to the bad weather. When the light went out for the slide presentation, I supposed that there might have been about 200-250 people there, with only a handful of Nepalis--six that I knew of, to be precise, including one honorary Nepali (a foreigner who spoke Nepali extremely well and seemed to know more about Nepal than we did!). The presentation was, as expected, designed to glorify the Maoists. She talked about how brutal and inhumane had the government forces been in dealing with the Maoists, and how the "enemy" had tortured, maimed and killed many innocent civillians in the name of restoring peace and security. She almost seemed to gloat over the fact that Maoists had been able to present themselves as a powerful force through some successful raids over the army and the police. Perhaps because she was a female herself, one important issue that she elaborately discussed was the issue of gender equality in the Maoist movement: While the Nepali society at large still remained very much patriarchial, she argued, the Maoist movement had empowered the female agency by giving women an equal footing in recruitment, as well as in combat. She recalled how men in the platoons, while on a "tour," would search for fire wood, cook, and serve meal without any sign of hesitation even though some female cadres would be present in the group. She showed a picture of one of the widows of a fallen cadre, who herself is now an active Maoist cadre, in full red kurta, with a tika and red bangles--an act of defiance, Onesto asserted, to the society that condemns the widows to wear white and remain unmarried for the rest of their lives. A couple of anti-war/anti-imperialism songs by Mahina Movement were very meaningful and entertaining, and the program was concluded by a call upon the world community to help the Nepali Maoist movement in any way possible. This was made by a member of a little known group called Nepali Solidarity Movement (I got the impression that the group was formed of Latin American Communists). Since the program was organized by the Revolutionary Workers, and Li Onesto herself is a high profile member of it, it would have been naive of me had I not expected the one-sidedness of the presentation. As one friend of mine who also attended the program later noted, they are NOT social analysts (of whom one would expect some balanced approach), rather they are social ACTIVISTS. Social activists, by definition, are there to promote particular causes at any expense. Nevertheless, I personally didn't think Li Onesto fabricated any stories in her presentation--she just didnt tell the whole truth, which would have meant that she would have presented the "other" side as well. I would have liked to challenge her on many faults of he Maoists, of which there are obviously plenty, but due to time constraints (the show was 3 hrs long!), I sadly had to leave when it was time for Q & A. I did get to talk to her during intermission, though, and I listened carefully to her answer to a querry by an Indian-looking woman who questioned the validity of the public support for the Maoists in the rural areas in the face of the guns and violence. Onesto said that there are obviously many levels of support to the movement, and same can be said of the government. Nevertheless, she argued, even if the genuine (sans fear and other like factors) support for the Maoists was only 20% of the total support, it would account for hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, which, she said, is not a number that anyone can/should ignore. When all was said and done, I was left with the impression that in the name of helping the immensely poor peasants of Nepal, the organizers of the program were actually looking towards promoting their own global communist agenda. ____________________________________ Hey, I saw GURU last night--a must-see Hindi-type-of-English, absolutely hilllllllllllaaaaaaaarious movie! It is one of those silly movies, but is still very entertaining! |
| isolated freak | Posted
on 24-Feb-03 11:51 AM
Poonte, a great informatice piece. I liked your explanation of socialist activists and analysts. I personally think that linking the Maoist revolution (or is it more of a rebellion?) to international socialist/communist movements/revolutions is not quite fitting. But, Yuddha biram has broght with it SMILE back on people's faces in villages (btw, i will post some pics of my trip to a maoist hard hit district ko euta middle of nowhere gaun.."yuddha biram le lyayeko hanso"). While in that village, i got to meet and talk with some of our jungle-basi daju-bhai-didi-bahini and believe me it was one hell of an experience. |
| Poonte | Posted
on 24-Feb-03 12:03 PM
Thank you, IF jyu..herum na herum...taasbir haru...khulduli lagyo! |
| hum-ba-ba | Posted
on 24-Feb-03 03:31 PM
walked all the way to hunter college in the rain - hussled to get in, all drenched, 15 minutes later than the mentioned time, thinking that i might have missed something, only to find that it was no way near getting started. spent an hour drying my clothes standing on top of the radiator that was blowing hot air, and then inside the big auditorium that was a little better than empty and still nothing suggested that it was gonna start. at that point i put my jacket back on, and walked out.. was happy that at least the rain had subsided a bit... think i really hate people that waste others time.. |
| surya | Posted
on 24-Feb-03 03:33 PM
Thanks Poonte for the update! Again, not a big surprise that Li Onesto was there to speread propoganda! At least now we have someone who went there to tell it for what it is! PROPOGANDA!! The amazing thing is that the likes of her go around calling themselves 'journalists!" I guess I am simply outraged by the gall of these western lefty liberal communist types who take a jaunt to countries like Nepal (so big deal she spent several months in Nepal! I am sure she was getting paid to go collect stories to back up her communist agenda), become instant "ecperts" on all things Nepali, just to come back and promote the Maoists as if they were the victims! It must be awfully easy for the likes of Li Onesto and others who have the security of their various privledges to sit in New York or whatever other Western nation city it is she is doing her tour in, to villify and condemn the "enemy" - a struggling nascent democracy trying to come to terms with the challenges of a new world, and get accolades from an equally privledged audience (most at least I am sure) so ready to swallow the lie of imperialism and oppression in OUR COUNTRY without looking at THEIR culpabiliy in the violence and suffering Nepalis are undergoing at the hand of the Maoists and the injustices they are perpetuating all over the country! Li Onesto and the Revolutionary Worker are enablers and supporters of the Maoists! Their goodwill is not to Nepal or the Nepali people. They are simply there to promote their own agenda! |
| surya | Posted
on 24-Feb-03 03:34 PM
They SUCK! |