I wonder why our Nepalese journalists could not report the facts about Maoists' showdown of power and the extortions that went with it hand in hand. Are our journalists afraid of Maoists? I think so.
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http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/maoists-defy-nepal-pact-with-extortion/2006/06/04/1149359605950.html Maoists defy Nepal pact with extortion Connie Levett, Kathmandu June 5, 2006
MAOISTS have used a huge rally in Kathmandu to demonstrate their political power and peaceful intentions, but it has also highlighted a more controversial revolutionary trait — their tradition of extortion.
The bad news for Nepal is that despite the Maoists' promises to stop seeking "donations", the practice goes on unchecked.
Ahead of Friday's rally, several multinational corporations in Kathmandu received letters asking for a 30 million Nepalese rupee ($A590,000) donation. Small businesses were asked for 500,000 rupees.
For years, the Maoists, who declared a "People's War" against the Government in 1996, have extracted "new government" taxes, often using extortion and intimidation from rural areas where they controlled up to 80 per cent of the country. But in the first round of peace talks last month, the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance (of political parties) signed a breakthrough agreement, the so-called 12-point code of conduct.
Under the code, both sides agreed that no party would forcibly collect "donations" from the people. At the rally, the Maoists' chief peace negotiator, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, told the 100,000-strong crowd of the faithful, co-opted and curious that they had agreed on a code of conduct and asked their political cadres to abide by it. "There is 100 per cent compliance," he said.
Even as he spoke, Maoists within the crowd said the policy was impractical.
Ram Bahadur Ghatane, 56, a 10-year party veteran, had come in from Narayanghat, 100 kilometres west of Kathmandu.
"If we accept only what is given voluntarily, we will not be able to feed the cadres," he said. His comments reflect the reality on the ground.
Anyone who drives through rural Nepal will soon meet the roadside Maoist tax collectors, many no more than teenagers.
Officially it costs 1200 rupees in road tax to drive a truck from eastern Nepal to the capital, but you must allow for up to 6000 rupees at sporadic Maoist checkpoints.
Of greater concern is the systematic targeting of businesses. The current issue of Himal news magazine cites a laundry list of extortion breaches of the code of conduct, with finance institutions, garment factories and transport being hit hard.
It also wrote of a new Maoist letter-writing campaign demanding "economic assistance" from large businesses.
The recent letter-writing campaign for donations has caused such concern that the new Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, rang the Maoist leader, Prachandra, asking him to intervene.
He assured the Prime Minister that he would tell the rank and file not to collect donations forcefully. Clearly, the cadres did not get the memo.
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