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Hindu groups in the southern
industrial city Birgunj protested
violently against the reinstated
Parliament’s decision to
clip the King Gnanendra’s powers
and making Nepal a secular state. They
stopped traffic leading to the airport
and vandalized a few vehicles but no
group took ownership for these
actions.
The World Hindu Federation run by a
former Army commander is suspected to
be organizing a major show of strength
against the move by the Parliament.
Apparently, many Nepalis still want
the King although they disapprove his
meddling with the democracy of the
nation. They also fear the Maoist
terrorist because of their propensity
to inflict inhuman retribution on
those who oppose their policies. This
fear perhaps explains why no group
took responsibility for the incident.
Meanwhile, the Nepal Government
appointed two Ministers as negotiators
with the terrorists. Former Indian
Foreign Minister and Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh’s special envoy to
Nepal Dr. Karan Singh said that India
erred by delaying what it did too
much. He also urged Indian communists,
who seem to have a lot of influence
over the terrorists in Nepal, to use
their influence to coach those groups
to give up arms and join the
democracy.
It is very unlikely that Indian
communists will have the vision to
contribute positively to the situation
and also be unable to influence the
behavior of the terrorists. The
Maoists have very clearly listed their
demands and following the Shinning
Path methodology means destroying
existing systems to create another
that they can control. Even if the
Nepal Parliament were to abdicate in
favor of the Maoists, they would not
stop till they get complete control of
all the offices of the nation.
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