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undhati Roy. Photograph: Sarah Lee
By:Stephen Moss
Arundhati Roy: 'They are trying to keep me destabilised. Anybody who says anything is in danger'
This is not an ideal beginning. I bump into Arundhati Roy as we are both heading for the loo in the foyer of the large building that houses her publisher Penguin's offices. There are some authors, V S Naipaul say, with whom this could be awkward. But not Roy, who makes me feel instantly at ease. A few minutes later, her publicist settles us in a small, bare room. As we take our positions on either side of a narrow desk I liken it to an interrogation suite. But she says that in India, interrogation rooms are a good deal less salubrious than this.
Roy, who is 50 this year, is best known for her 1997 Booker prize-winning novel The God of Small Things, but for the past decade has been an increasingly vocal critic of the Indian state, attacking its policy towards Kashmir, the environmental destruction wrought by rapid development, the country's nuclear weapons programme and corruption. As a prominent opponent of everything connected with globalisation, she is seeking to construct a "new modernity" based on sustainability and a defence of traditional ways of life.
Her new book, Broken Republic, brings together three essays about the Maoist guerrilla movement in the forests of central India that is resisting the government's attempts to develop and mine land on which tribal people live. The central essay, Walking with the Comrades, is a brilliant piece of reportage, recounting three weeks she spent with the guerrillas in the forest. She must, I suggest, have been in great personal danger. "Everybody's in great danger there, so you can't go round feeling you are specially in danger," she says in her pleasant, high-pitched voice. In any case, she says, the violence of bullets and torture are no greater than the violence of hunger and malnutrition, of vulnerable people feeling they're under siege.
Her time with the guerrillas made a profound impression. She describes spending nights sleeping on the forest floor in a "thousand-star hotel", applauds "the ferocity and grandeur of these poor people fighting back", and says "being in the forest made me feel like there was enough space in my body for all my organs". She detests glitzy, corporate, growth-obsessed modern Indian, and there in the forest she found a brief peace.
There is intense anger in the book, I say, implying that if she toned it down she might find a readier audience. "The anger is calibrated," she insists. "It's less than I actually feel." But even so, her critics call her shrill. "That word 'shrill' is reserved for any expression of feeling. It's all right for the establishment to be as shrill as it likes about annihilating people."
Is her political engagement derived from her mother, Mary Roy, who set up a school for girls in Kerala and has a reputation as a women's rights activist? "She's not an activist," says Roy. "I don't know why people keep saying that. My mother is like a character who escaped from the set of a Fellini film." She laughs at her own description. "She's a whole performing universe of her own. Activists would run a mile from her because they could not deal with what she is."
I want to talk more about Mary Roy – and eventually we do – but there's one important point to clear up first. Guerrillas use violence, generally directed against the police and army, but sometimes causing injury and death to civilians caught in the crossfire. Does she condemn that violence? "I don't condemn it any more," she says. "If you're an adivasi [tribal Indian] living in a forest village and 800 CRP [Central Reserve Police] come and surround your village and start burning it, what are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to go on hunger strike? Can the hungry go on a hunger strike? Non-violence is a piece of theatre. You need an audience. What can you do when you have no audience? People have the right to resist annihilation."
Her critics label her a Maoist sympathizer. Is she? "I am a Maoist sympathiser," she says. "I'm not a Maoist ideologue, because the communist movements in history have been just as destructive as capitalism. But right now, when the assault is on, I feel they are very much part of the resistance that I support."
Roy talks about the resistance as an "insurrection"; she makes India sound as if it's ripe for a Chinese or Russian-style revolution. So how come we in the west don't hear about these mini-wars? "I have been told quite openly by several correspondents of international newspapers," she says, "that they have instructions – 'No negative news from India' – because it's an investment destination. So you don't hear about it. But there is an insurrection, and it's not just a Maoist insurrection. Everywhere in the country, people are fighting." I find the suggestion that such an injunction exists – or that self-respecting journalists would accept it – ridiculous. Foreign reporting of India might well be lazy or myopic, but I don't believe it's corrupt.
She sounds like a member of a religious sect, I say, as if she has seen the light. "It's a way of life, a way of thinking," she replies without taking offence. "I know people in India, even the modern young people, understand that here is something that's alive." So why not give up the plush home in Delhi and the media appearances, and return to the forest? "I'd be more than happy to if I had to, but I would be a liability to them in the forest. The battles have to be fought in different ways. The military side is just one part of it. What I do is another part of the battle.(more at link )undhati Roy. Photograph: Sarah Lee
By:Stephen Moss
Arundhati Roy: 'They are... more
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urnimaya Lama's husband, Arjun Lama, was taken by the Maoists on 19th April 2005. Witnesses say he was held for 2 months and killed. Despite Purnimaya's campaign for justice, the police have failed to arrest anyone for Arjun's killing.
During the 10 year war in Nepal over 1,300 people disappeared at the hands of the army, police and Maoists. Not one person has been prosecuted for the grave human rights abuses that took place between 1996 - 2006 in Nepal.
This film was made in Nepal to coincide with the International Day of the Disappeared 2010. The film features one woman's story of her loved one who was kidnapped.
Video and Photography by NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati. Produced by Kari Collins.urnimaya Lama's husband, Arjun Lama, was taken by the Maoists on 19th April 2005.... more
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Are we really currently witnessing a slow but sure forward movement by the World-Peace?
[1]. THE INTRODUCTION:
It is indeed heartening to see the unmistakable signs of the promotion of the World-Peace despite numerous human and non-human disasters happening in the world.
[2]. THE DISCUSSION:
Who would have expected that a recalcitrant Israeli government would agree to a UN probe into the flotilla raid? But, it has pleasantly happened, causing the progress of the peace in the West Asia. Already, the Israeli government has eased to some extent its Gaza blockade in the aftermath of the international outcry, resulting from this flotilla-fiasco, over the violation of the human-rights of the common Palestinians!
The international inquiry into the unfortunate deadly 31st May attack on a Gaza [Hamas-ruled]-bound Turkish-owned aid flotilla by the Israeli commandos killing 8 Turks and 1 Turkish-American said to have been resisting violently, shall be done by a four-person UNO panel led by the former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer as chairperson and the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as vice chairperson with 1 Turk and 1 Israeli as its members, with the mandate to submit its report by the mid-September, 2010.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President said, “We are ready to sit down with Mr Obama face-to-face and put the global issues on the table, man-to-man, freely and in front of the media and see whose solutions are better.”
This statement reflects clearly the desire of the ruling establishment to come out of the current impasse with the USA. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President is said to be a populist leader who is unpopular with both the Hardliners and the Reformists. This is only to be expected because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to be actually trying to make Iran a modern nation-State, but without appearing to have been sold out to the Reformists, in an approach of trying to retain the support of the Hardliners.
Naturally, he cannot reform Iran 100% because then he would be chucked out by the Hardliners. This approach is seen as him playing into the hands of the Hardliners by the Reformists. This makes him unpopular with the Reformists. The Hardliners, on the other hand seem to be peeved at his Reformist zeal and so they too seem to be dead against him.
It’s only the majority-constituting ordinary Iranians who seem to be happy with him because of the populist measures put in place by him.
His above-quoted statement is a positive chance for the White House to seize the opportunity. Obama would be prudent enough to open up a constructive dialogue, if not an outright debate-challenge, immediately with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President. Such peace-opportunities crop up rarely. The Wise statespersons do take advantage of such peace-building breaks in the interests of the world-peace.
One more unmistakable sign of the promotion of the world-peace can be seen in the USA’s decision to send an envoy on 6th of August, 2010 to commemorate the Uranium-bombing of the Japanese city Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, any such first and the only Atomic attacks on human population anywhere in the world. This noble gesture by the USA can certainly be seen as the Healing Touch for Japanese people after a period of 65 years by the USA.
It would be enriching to know a bit about these two incidents. The USA air force detonated the Uranium-bomb called ‘the Little Boy’ 1,890 feet above the city of Hiroshima at 8:15 am on the 6th of August, 1945 through the gun-barrel method. The explosion affected the area within a radius of 2.5 km and caused 90,000 deaths immediately followed by 1,40,000 more deaths within few coming months. The harmful radiation from the Little Boy proved more devastating, as it could spread easily all around in view of the presence of a flat terrain.
The USA plane detonated the Plutonium-bomb called ‘the Fat Man’ 1,800 feet above the city of Nagasaki at 11:02 am on the 9th of August, 1945 through the Implosion-method. The Fat Man hit the area within a radius of 2 km worst, caused the death of 40,000 people instantly followed by the death of 70,000 more people within months. Here, the casualties were minimized due to the presence of the hilly terrain which prevented the spreading of the resultant harmful radiation over a larger swath of geographical area.
The hard line Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, perceived to be behind the current J & K turmoil, has been released from the Jail by Omar Abdullah, the J & K Chief Minister. Notwithstanding his long-held hard line position on getting the plebiscite done for the entire Kashmiri population to decide whether to join India or Pakistan in terms of the 1948 United Nations Security Council Resolutions, has now mercifully and peacefully issued an appeal to the people of the J & K to eschew violence that has already resulted into the death of 49 civilians in the last 3 months.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani said, “People should hold peaceful demonstrations and if they are stopped by the police, they should sit down on the roads, raise their hands and ask the police to shoot them. It will be far more effective.”
Fair enough for the cause of the peace in this part of the world. A peaceful demonstration would ensure no damage to the public property or the loss of lives of the security personnel.
Also, Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s this peaceful approach ensures that the security personnel aren’t left with any motivation or incentive to kill the protesting civilians. Already, indications are that his release from the prison and his consequent peace-appeal has reduced the incidents of stone-pelting in the state and minimized the human casualties.
We do sense a sense of the peace on the Indian government-Maoist front, also. Of late, there have been no big casualties on this front. The Indian government seems to have been spared by the opposition which was hell-bent upon blocking the parliamentary proceedings as usual, on the price-issue. This seems to have brought some peace on this front, too.
Additionally, the dirty political game of the allegations-counter allegations over the Common Wealth Games Corruption scandal has for the time being buried till these games are over in New Delhi. The warring leaders have decided to open up their shrill mouths only after the end of these games. The Indian government seems to have got some peace on this count till then.
[3].The Conclusion:
It seems fairly enough that prayers of all those who are meditating and praying collectively or individually for the world-peace are being answered by the Almighty. Now, it is high time that the politically powerful ones on the globe ensured this peace process was kept going on the positive higher side.Are we really currently witnessing a slow but sure forward movement by the... more
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Blast derails 13 coaches of Gyaneshwari Express, casualties feared
PTI, May 28, 2010, 04.00am IST
The Times of India
KOLKATA: Heavy casualties were feared when 13 coaches of a Mumbai-bound express train derailed after a blast on the railway lines and fell on the down line where it was hit by a goods train in the early hours today in West Midnapore district.
The blast took place at around 1.30 am when the Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express was between Khemasoli and Sardiya stations of the Maoist-hit district, South Eastern Railway sources said.
Among the 13 bogies were 10 sleeper coaches and one unreserved coach, besides a pantry car and a luggage van, the sources said.
The Railways have set up two helplines at Kharagpur - (033) 22255751, (033) 22255735 and one at Howrah (033) 26382217. There is also a toll free number 10722.
Though the Railways could not give the figure for casualty, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee who was rushing to the spot, announced Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of each of the dead and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.
A team of 12 doctors and 20 paramedics have also left from Kharagpur, as also two doctors from the Kalaikunda airbase in the district, the sources said.Blast derails 13 coaches of Gyaneshwari Express, casualties feared
PTI, May 28, 2010,... more
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Maoist guerrillas continue to kill dogs in rural Bihar, ignoring the appeal of animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), police said Tuesday.
Link: http://www.bombaynews.net/story/612567Maoist guerrillas continue to kill dogs in rural Bihar, ignoring the appeal of animal... more
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For 400 years Nepal was a Hindu kingdom, ruled by successive monarchs. However in 2006 there was a massive uprising, millions of people took to the streets calling for democracy and freedom. As a result, King Gyanendra stepped down and a democracy was introduced. Tasi Lama and the head of the People’s Liberation Army Commander Anant give accounts of the uprising and talk about their vision for the transformation of Nepal, currently one of the poorest nations on earth.For 400 years Nepal was a Hindu kingdom, ruled by successive monarchs. However in 2006... more
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New Delhi: Nepal’s Foreign Minister has blamed his Maoist allies for the removal of Indian priests at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu and accused Prime Minister Prachanda of not punishing the people who stormed the shrine on Thursday.
Workers of the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), on Thursday defied court orders and appointed their own priests at the temple in place of Indian priests who claim they have been conducting rituals at the shrine for 300 years.
“The Prime Minister and his cadres YCL are responsible for this. This is against Hinduism and this is against Hindu sentiment,” Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav told CNN-IBN from Kathmandu.
“This is an anti-religious move. They are trying to capture the Pashupatinath temple and disturb religious activities.” Yadav accused the Maoists of bringing politics into a “religious matters”.
“We condemn and criticise this. Protests are going on against Maoist activities,” he said.New Delhi: Nepal’s Foreign Minister has blamed his Maoist allies for the removal... more
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You can't really blame him. I wouldn't want to serve there either.
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A serving police officer in India's eastern state of West Bengal has refused to command a camp in a jungle region dominated by Maoist guerrillas.
He is reported to have told colleagues he would rather resign than risk his life in the Lalgarh region, one of the most dangerous parts of the state.
Sisir Das was posted to the area 10 days ago during a Maoist attack.
His posting came as the rebels set off a landmine, targeting the convoy of the Indian steel minister.
The minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, was travelling at the time with West Bengal's Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya .
Mr Das was posted to the area to beef up combing operations against Maoist rebels.
He was earlier posted in a relatively peaceful district north of Calcutta.
"He has gone on leave and has now said that he will resign if pushed to take charge of that camp," a police spokesman in West Midnapore told the BBC.
Lalgarh has been hit by huge protests by Santhal tribesmen, who have dug up roads or cut down trees to block traffic .
They allege police atrocities in the wake of the ambush on Mr Paswan's and Mr Bhattacharya's convoy on 2 November when the pair went to Salboni to lay the foundation stone of a huge steel plant being set up by India's Jindal Group.
Five policemen were seriously injured in the ambush.
A tribal party, Jharkhand Disom, organised a strike on Sunday in protest over the police abuse issue.
The strike paralysed life in three Maoist-dominated districts of West Bengal - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.
Several policemen have died in Maoist attacks in these three districts in recent years.
But this is the first time a state policeman has refused to do duty in an area dominated by the Maoists.
Sisir Das is reported to have told colleagues his family had pressed him to resign rather than risk his life in Lalgarh. But Mr Das was not directly available for comment.
Ten years ago, a West Bengal armed police platoon, deployed for election time duty in the hilly north-eastern state of Tripura, refused to go on a long route patrol because of the risk of being ambushed by tribal militants.
The police service in West Bengal is highly unionised and critics say that is at the root of such gross acts of indiscipline.
It is not yet clear what action the West Bengal government is contemplating against Sisir Das for his refusal to work in Lalgarh.You can't really blame him. I wouldn't want to serve there either.
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There are 600,000 villages in India. Nearly three-quarters of India's population of 1.2 billion people live in its vast rural expanses. Yet today, Indian villagers are struggling to find their place in their country's growing economic prosperity. As India rises, its villages are in danger of being left behind. This video explores this issue and its implications for India's rise.
This is part of a larger Stanley Foundation project titled Rising Powers. This project explores how countries, like India, are changing the global order. The 21st century will be marked by many competing sources of global power. Across politics, economics, culture, military strength, and more, a new group of countries has growing influence over the future of the world.
Find out more by visiting us on the Web at http://www.risingpowers.org.
There are 600,000 villages in India. Nearly three-quarters of India's population... more
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Nepal's new Maoist government has declared war on sleaze in the capital Kathmandu, saying the increasing numbers of massage parlours and nude dance bars are driving up crime and immorality.
The ultra-leftists pledged radical change in the impoverished nation after they won landmark polls in April which placed their former warlord leader as prime minister of the world's newest republic.
For Bamdev Gautam, Nepal's new home minister, that means battling Kathmandu's mushrooming adult entertainment sector, which he describes as a "breeding ground for depravity" and "at the heart" of an urban crime problem.
"This is a movement against social evils. We've seen the growth of vicious immorality among Nepali youth because of these late-night restaurants and dance bars," home ministry spokesman Modraj Dottel explained.
The rise in sex-related businesses has also created more human trafficking, sexual exploitation of young girls and a rise in HIV infections, activists say.
Bar and restaurant owners say they are worried the crackdown is discouraging foreign tourism -- a vital income-earner for Nepal -- by lumping legitimate nightlife businesses in with those offering sex.
Prabin Rayamajhi, who owns "De La Soul," a cosy bar in the heart of Thamel that offers alcoholic beverages but no floor shows or sex, said the forced early closing hours were killing business.
"I'm gradually letting my staff go as I can't afford their pay," he said, adding that otherwise he supported the need to control a boom of bars with names like "Pussy Cat Bar" and "Krazy Girl."
"If this crackdown continues, many legitimate businesses like mine will go under, throwing thousands out of work," he said.
Dance bars, the main target of the crackdown, are really feeling the pinch of the ultra-leftist government.
"I really don't know what I'll do if this place shuts down," said 23-year-old waiter Dev Bahadur Pulami in the deserted "Ice Dance Bar", as 12 women danced half-heartedly to an empty room.
Nepal's new Maoist government has declared war on sleaze in the capital... more
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BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Suspected Maoists killed a senior Hindu leader and four others in a remote eastern Indian village, an attack that police said may be linked to a controversy over religious conversions in the area.
Armed men raided a Hindu school in Orissa's rural Kandhamal district on Saturday and killed five people, including an octogenarian leader linked to India's main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The remote, forested region is a hotbed of religious tensions between hardline Hindus who accuse Christian priests of bribing poor tribespeople and low-caste Hindus to change their faith.
Christian groups say lower-caste Hindus who convert do so willingly to escape the highly stratified and oppressive Hindu caste system.
Tensions came to a head on Christmas Eve last year when fights broke out in which one person was killed and churches and temples were damaged.
The region is a stronghold of Maoist rebels and police say they have evidence to link the guerrillas to Saturday's attack.BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Suspected Maoists killed a senior Hindu leader and four... more
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KATMANDU, Nepal — The leader of the decade-long Maoist rebellion in Nepal was elected prime minister on Friday after four months of political wrangling. His victory sets the stage for the former rebels’ toughest challenge: how to uplift the lives of 27 million people in one of the poorest countries in the world at a time of soaring food and fuel prices.
The Maoist leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal — who goes by the nom de guerre Prachanda, “the fierce one” in Nepali — won more than two-thirds of 577 votes cast in the Constituent Assembly on Friday evening.
His election had been expected since April, when the Maoists won a majority in a special assembly elected both to draft a new constitution and to form a government.
For four months, however, Nepali Congress, the nation’s oldest party, which has a long list of grievances against the Maoists, blocked their bid to lead a government of national consensus.
The election of the prime minister opens the way to the establishment of a democratic government in Nepal. That would be a milestone in resolving issues remaining after the decade-long civil war, a conflict that claimed the lives of an estimated 13,000 people before it ended with a peace accord in 2006.
The Maoists have already achieved their main goal, ending 239 years of Hindu monarchy. At its first session, in May, a Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a federal republic. The former king, Gyanendra, the world’s last Hindu monarch, was forced to vacate the main palace here and live as a commoner.
On Friday, Prachanda, 54, won with the support of three of the four biggest parties in the 601-member assembly. Nepali Congress still refused to support his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), accusing its youth force of brutality. It also said that the Maoists had not returned private property seized from political opponents during the war.
Prachanda defeated Sher Bahadur Deuba, a three-time former prime minister from Nepali Congress, though not without making significant concessions. A senior Maoist leader, Baburam Bhattarai, said Maoist party officials would no longer hold positions in the party’s armed wing, the People’s Liberation Army. He also pledged that the party would return seized property to its owners.
Since shedding his fatigues and transforming himself into a politician, Prachanda has sought to cast his organization as a political party that merits the trust of the Nepalese people and foreign donors.
As they form a government, the Maoists face their biggest challenge ever. Fuel is in short supply in the cities and hunger looms in the countryside. The Maoists will also press to integrate their former fighters into Nepal’s army, a demand that the army is likely to resist vigorously.
The Maoists remain on the United States’ list of banned terrorist organizations, although American officials have established contact with their political leaders, including Prachanda. “We hope that election of the prime minister removes the last barrier to speedy formation of a government, constructive action on key issues facing Nepal and a start on the difficult but necessary task of drafting Nepal’s new constitution,” the American Embassy said Friday in a statement.
KATMANDU, Nepal — The leader of the decade-long Maoist rebellion in Nepal was... more
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Maoist pressure and threats from female activists has forced the indefinite postponement of Nepal's biggest beauty pageant, officials and media reports said Thursday.
The Dabur Batika Miss Nepal 2008 pageant was scheduled to start Thursday but was put off indefinitely, said Girendra Man Rajbanshi, managing director of Hidden Treasure, an event organizer that puts on the show each year.
Rajbanshi said opposition from Maoist members in the government's constituent assembly as well as threats against participants and organizers forced the postponement.
‘We are currently holding talks with Maoist lawmakers and women activists to reschedule the event at some other time,’ Rajbanshi said.
The Maoist have opposed the beauty pageant, calling it ‘anti-women activities inspired by capitalist elements.’
The Maoists tried to stop the event last year as well but were unable to do so after police stopped activists from entering the hall were the show was held.
‘Such contests send wrong messages to the society as they emphasize physical beauty rather than intellectual ability,’ the Kathmandu Post newspaper quoted an unnamed Maoist lawmaker as saying.
The annual Miss Nepal contest began in 1994 with the winner representing Nepal at the annual Miss World contest.
Maoist pressure and threats from female activists has forced the indefinite... more
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ng's opulent palace into a museum and unfurled the national flag on Sunday as a symbolic move to signify the end of monarchy.
The national flag is fluttering in the hands of the people in the royal palace now," said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at a ceremony at the former palace Sunday.
Ex-King Gyanendra, 60, left Narayanhiti Royal Palace on Wednesday. He will live as a civilian in a summer palace on a forested hilltop outside the capital.
Gyanendra's departure came following the declaration of the former Himalayan kingdom as a republic last month.
The monarchy's end after 239 years of rule was the culmination of a two-year peace process in which Maoist insurgents in Nepal gave up their armed struggle, joined mainstream politics and won the most seats in April's election for the Constituent Assembly.
ng's opulent palace into a museum and unfurled the national flag on Sunday as a... more
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Forensic teams have exhumed 60 bodies from what is thought to be the largest mass grave from the Peruvian government's bloody war against the Maoist.
Several children were among about 140 peasants massacred by the military in the Andes Mountains of southern Peru in 1984. Fifteen of 60 bodies recovered so far were those of children.
Excavators are comparing DNA extracted from the remains with living relatives who believe they lost loved ones in the incident.
The burial site in Putis is believed to be the largest mass grave related to the Peruvian military's fight against the Shining Path, a Maoist group that fought in the 1980s and '90s to replace Peru's government with a revolutionary regime.
Forensic teams have exhumed 60 bodies from what is thought to be the largest mass... more
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Nepalese demonstrators demanding King Gyanendra immediately quits the royal palace clashed with police in the capital, Kathmandu, a day after lawmakers declared the country a republic and abolished the 240-year-old Shah dynasty.
At least 10 people were injured when police wielding bamboo sticks beat stone-throwing protesters trying to break a security cordon around Narayanhiti palace yesterday. The government said it will notify the king that he has 15 days to move out.
Nepal's newly elected parliament voted May 28 to scrap the monarchy, the key demand of the former rebel CPN (Maoist) group which staged a 10-year insurgency that ended with a peace accord in 2006. The Maoists won most seats in last month's general elections.
The king, who hasn't publicly commented on his plans, will receive a letter from Cabinet's political committee today notifying him of the Constituent Assembly's decision to declare Nepal a federal democratic republic and the deadline for his departure.Nepalese demonstrators demanding King Gyanendra immediately quits the royal palace... more
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Having won a majority in parliament in the recent democratic elections in Nepal, the Maoist communists have put an end to monarchy in Nepal, thus cutting short the Shah dynasty.Having won a majority in parliament in the recent democratic elections in Nepal, the... more
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"The Maoist party of former rebels in Nepal has for the first time explicitly claimed victory in the country's national elections, held nine days ago.
The Maoists' leader, Prachanda, said he would head a new government, with the monarchy abolished.
Votes are still being counted - the Maoists are certain to have the most seats but not an overall majority.
The two other big parties have been badly beaten but the Maoists want to include them in a coalition government.""The Maoist party of former rebels in Nepal has for the first time explicitly... more
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