Nepal's Struggles Continue

Constituent Assembly dissolved: May 27, 2012.  New elections set for November.  Why did Bhattarai dissolve the Assembly?  There may be a bigger game afoot as the Maoists split.

Read more here.

Nepal History Timeline (From BBC)

A chronology of key events:

The world's highest mountain - Mount Everest, known in Nepal as "Sagarmatha"

1768 - Gurkha ruler Prithvi Narayan Shah conquers Kathmandu and lays foundations for unified kingdom.

1792 - Nepalese expansion halted by defeat at hands of Chinese in Tibet.

1814-16 - Anglo-Nepalese War; culminates in treaty which establishes Nepal's current boundaries.

1846 - Nepal falls under sway of hereditary chief ministers known as Ranas, who dominate the monarchy and cut off country from outside world.

1923 - Treaty with Britain affirms Nepal's sovereignty.

Absolute monarchy

1950 - Anti-Rana forces based in India form alliance with monarch.

1951 - End of Rana rule. Sovereignty of crown restored and anti-Rana rebels in Nepalese Congress Party form government.

1953 New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepal's Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1955 - Nepal joins the United Nations.

First to the top of Everest: Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary

1955 - King Tribhuwan dies, King Mahendra ascends throne.

1959 - Multi-party constitution adopted.

1960 - King Mahendra seizes control and suspends parliament, constitution and party politics after Nepali Congress Party (NCP) wins elections with B. P. Koirala as premier.

1962 - New constitution provides for non-party system of councils known as "panchayat" under which king exercises sole power. First elections to Rastrya Panchayat held in 1963.

1972 - King Mahendra dies, succeeded by Birendra.

Multi-party politics

1980 - Constitutional referendum follows agitation for reform. Small majority favours keeping existing panchayat system. King agrees to allow direct elections to national assembly - but on a non-party basis.

A Nepalese woman spins a prayer wheel, in a country where religion plays a major role

1985 - NCP begins civil disobedience campaign for restoration of multi-party system.

1986 - New elections boycotted by NCP.

1989 - Trade and transit dispute with India leads to border blockade by Delhi resulting in worsening economic situation.

1990 - Pro-democracy agitation co-ordinated by NCP and leftist groups. Street protests suppressed by security forces resulting in deaths and mass arrests. King Birendra eventually bows to pressure and agrees to new democratic constitution.

1991 - Nepali Congress Party wins first democratic elections. Girija Prasad Koirala becomes prime minister.

Political instability

1994 - Koirala's government defeated in no-confidence motion. New elections lead to formation of Communist government.

1995 - Communist government dissolved.

Maoists waged a bloody war against the monarchy

1995 - Start of Maoist revolt which drags on for more than a decade and kills thousands. The rebels want the monarchy to be abolished.

1997 - Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba loses no-confidence vote, ushering in period of increased political instability, with frequent changes of prime minister.

2000 - GP Koirala returns as prime minister, heading the ninth government in 10 years.

Palace killings

2001 1 June - King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and other close relatives killed in shooting spree by drunken Crown Prince Dipendra, who then shoots himself.

Nepalese mourn the royal family slain in a shooting spree

2001 - Prince Gyanendra crowned King.

2001 July - Maoist rebels step up campaign of violence. Prime Minister GP Koirala quits over the violence; succeeded by Sher Bahadur Deuba.

2001 November - Maoists end four-month old truce with government, declare peace talks with government failed. Launch coordinated attacks on army and police posts.

Emergency

2001 November - State of emergency declared after more than 100 people are killed in four days of violence. King Gyanendra orders army to crush the Maoist rebels. Many hundreds are killed in rebel and government operations in the following months.

2002 May - Parliament dissolved, fresh elections called amid political confrontation over extending the state of emergency. Sher Bahadur Deuba heads interim government, renews emergency.

2002 October - King Gyanendra dismisses Deuba and indefinitely puts off elections set for November.

2003 January - Rebels, government declare ceasefire.

End of truce

2003 August - Rebels pull out of peace talks with government and end seven-month truce. The following months see resurgence of violence and frequent clashes between students/activists and police.

2004 April - Nepal joins the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

2004 May - Street protests by opposition groups demanding a return to democracy. Royalist Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa quits.

Direct royal rule

2005 February - King Gyanendra assumes direct control and dismisses the government. He declares a state of emergency, citing the need to defeat Maoist rebels.

2005 April - King lifts the state of emergency amid international pressure.

2005 November - Maoist rebels and main opposition parties agree on a programme intended to restore democracy.

2006 April - King Gyanendra agrees to reinstate parliament following weeks of violent strikes and protests against direct royal rule. Maoist rebels call a three-month ceasefire.

2006 May - Parliament votes unanimously to curtail the king's political powers.

The government and Maoist rebels begin peace talks, the first in nearly three years.

Peace deal

2006 November - Government and Maoists sign a peace accord - the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) - declaring a formal end to a 10-year rebel insurgency.

2007 January - Maoist leaders enter parliament under the terms of a temporary constitution.

Maoists join government

2007 April - Maoists join interim government, a move that takes them into the political mainstream.

2007 September - Three bombs hit Kathmandu in the first attack in the capital since the end of the Maoist insurgency.

Maoists quit interim government to press demand for monarchy to be scrapped. This forces the postponement of November's constituent assembly elections.

End of monarchy

2007 December - Parliament approves abolition of monarchy as part of peace deal with Maoists, who agree to re-join government.

From bullets to the ballot box: Former rebels take part in landmark elections in April 2008

2008 January - A series of bomb blasts kill and injure dozens in the southern Terai plains, where activists have been demanding regional autonomy.

2008 April - Former Maoist rebels win the largest bloc of seats in elections to the new constituent assembly, but fail to achieve an outright majority.

2008 May - Nepal becomes a republic.

2008 June - Maoist ministers resign from the cabinet in a row over who should be the next head of state.

2008 July - Ram Baran Yadav becomes Nepal's first president.

2008 August - Maoist leader Prachanda forms coalition government, with Nepali Congress going into opposition.

Maoists leave government

2009 May - Prime Minister Prachanda resigns in a row with President Yadav. Maoists leave government after other parties oppose integration of former rebel fighters into national army.

Veteran Communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal named new prime minister.

Gurkha veterans with at least four years' service in the British army are given permission to settle in the UK.

2009 December - Four people are killed during clashes triggered by Maoist-led land grab in far west of country, giving rise to fears over future of peace process.

2010 May - Governing coalition and Maoist opposition agree to extend deadline for drafting of new constitution to May 2011.

2010 June - PM Madhav Kumar Nepal quits under Maoist pressure.

2010 December - WikiLeaks website publishes US diplomatic cables alleging that police were bribed by Chinese authorities into handing over Tibetan refugees trying to flee China. They deny the charges.

2011 January - UN peace monitoring mission ends.

2011 February - Jhalnath Khanal elected premier, ending a seven-month stalemate during which Nepal had no effective government.

Secret Powers of Time

Past Oriented - 1. past positive - focus on the 'good old times' 2. past negative - focus on regret/failure
Present Oriented - 1. Hedonistic - live for pleasure avoid pain.  2. My life is fated (by religion, poverty) Fatalism
Future Oriented - 1. We've learned to work rather than play, and avoid temptation.  2. Life begins after the death of the mortal body.

shared time perspectives characterize nations ---  culture too?

The Geography of Time - Robert Levine
Pace of Life - Time Perspective - How people divide their experiences into partitions
Time Duration - are you bored?  are you excited?

Different cultures have a different pace of life.

Education? Purpose of school is to make present-oriented beasts into future oriented adults (some cultures make them past-oriented).


Kids need to be in a situation where they feel like they are controling something (video games...)
all of our educational systems are designed toward future-oriented kids, yet, they already know the cultural time perspectives - future-oriented kids succeed in school as we have it set up.  How to teach present-oriented kids?

Kids are totally different than we were - revolution of time.

"Many of life's puzzles can be solved simply by understanding our own time perspective, and the time perspective of others.  Conflict we have with other people is simply conflict we have with each other's time perspectives.  Once we're aware of that, we stop making negative attributions like 'you're dumb' or 'you're childish' or 'you're pig-headed' or 'you're authoritarian'.  It's really the most simple idea in the world."

Ex King Speaks

Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Nepal's most recent king, finally spoke out about his being ousted two years ago.  The articles focus on the king living as an ordinary tax-paying citizen.  Gyanendra drops hints that he was betrayed by the political parties jockeying for power.  This betrayal ended his reign, also ending the 239-year Hindu monarchy rule of Nepal. 

Here's a Reuters article

Here's Sudeshna Sarkar's take from the blogosphere.

Looks like Facebook is a way the ex-king passes his time, in addition to walking his dog. 

Image from rednepal.com

Record Year for Everest Summits

It's the time of year for Everest summits - this month (and April, sometimes) is the best time for teams to try for a summit.  If teams go earlier, the weather is too cold and unpredictable.  The snow is too thick to cross the crevasses in the winter.  If they go later, the monsoon is an issue creating mudslides and more unpredictable weather.  

Times of India article talks about this seasons's summiters in this article. This year, a 13-year-old from the US broke the youngest person record. 

"However, while climbers continued to try to overcome human limitations on Mt Everest and make the impossible happen, in Nepal, the gateway to the magic mountain, its wizardry failed to make any impact on the greedy politicians who continued to push the country on the brink of disaster."- TOI


The article concludes with this and another paragraph addressing the political situation in Nepal these days.  It's not a pretty picture.

Buddhist-Muslim Relations in Ladakh

(click the title for the articles)

Something I have always been intrigued by, yet is so difficult to talk with anyone about.  Many deny there is any conflict. .

China Response to Border Bullying

China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang says she has not read any reports of border encroachment around the Lines of Control in Ladakh.  In fact, she says, "China has always strictly honored its commitments."

Indian Defense Minister, AK Antony, also denies the recent claims that China is subversively grabbing land along the border. 

Both of these articles - from Times of India and Press Trust of India - are quite short and without many details.  The TOI article reports Antony saying, "There is only a difference in perception," about the border encroachment.  One wonders about pressure to post some information from an Indian source denying the recent claims...

What is the difference?  How should it be explained?  What are the different perceptions - that China IS harassing nomads along the high mountain plateau border, but India shouldn't perceive it like that?   His words certainly imply that something is going on. 

China and India are in their final rounds of talks to "safeguard peace and tranquility along the border."

200 Former Child Soldiers released

200 plus former child soldiers held since 2006 when the conflict officially ended have been released.  They are the first wave to be released from camps monitored by UNMIN and UNICEF.  They were given civilian clothes (no longer wearing their blue Maoist uniforms) and NRs. 10K and sent on their way.  Read about it here.

Maoist Fourth Phase - Border Agression

Maoist leaders and their latest crusade: Take the land BACK from India!  Chalo!  The focus is a 75 sq. km. patch of land in western Nepal that has been under occupation since Indo-China war in 1962.  Kalapani in the far west and Susta in Lumbini area - check out International Boundary Consultants on this issue.

Let's watch and see.

Here's an interesting piece from the Chennai Center for Chinese studies about the border issues.  The article well-documents the recent events and decisions of the Maoists in their fourth phase of 'action.'

China bullies the other side?

While talks seem to be moving forward between India and Pakistan regarding the Kashmir issue, is China using the distraction to agress toward nomads in high mountain areas of Ladakh to lay claim on land? 

This is just an editorial, but...

People better watch their backs.

Many Voices and Concerns on Kashmir Solution

Peace conference called by two separatist leaders of J & K at the Indian International Center seem to speak about the 'real' issues here.  Ethnic group rights in the process need to be heard - many people are greatly affected by the stalemate in the northern areas.  Neither is willing to give an inch to the other and the 'dialogue' process is at a standstill because credibility of this technique has been lost through eruptions of violence in the past 15 years. 

One of the leaders, Sajjad Lone, proposes trade as a means to build trust and build the economy of the region.  Through this, the region can be unburdened by "the monotony of sovereignty."  He released a document called "Achievable Nationhood," the first of its kind since violence in 1989, at the beginning of Jan 2010.  Is this just the type of leadership that the region is needing to emerge from protracted conflict?

The paper calls for tax-free movement of goods between a united J & K. "Lone's peace formula comes a month after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Islamabad would abandon its claim to Kashmir if India agreed to give the territory autonomy under joint supervision by both countries," says Reuters. 

Definitions

Balkanization according to wikipedia (including a super cool map that rotates through the years of what the Balkans look like geopolitically since the Ottoman Empire!) 

(Take a moment to support the support of visual learners!)

Gilgit-Baltistan

Historically (? Source) a part of Kashmir (State language is Urdu but linguistics in Baltistan suggest strong connection to Tibeto-Burmese languages as opposed to Persian/Arabic What is the persian/arabic family of languages called?) folks in Gilgit-Baltistan have been under Pakistani rule since 1949. 

India recently made a public claim for the region.  This article verbalizes India's claim that Pakistan is illegally occupying the land there, despite claims from the newly elected Chief Minister Mehdi Shah that the region has no connection to Kashmir.  Elections in November were successfuly administered and CM Shah's win made G/B officially the fifth province in Pakistan. 

India is calling out Pakistan for not addressing human rights violations that have occured in the past few years as the seperatist movement is gaining momentum. 

Watch this region - another example of contracted ethnic conflict where struggle for human rights against oppressive nationalist government is compounded by the fact that many eyes are on the strategic region.  Issues are Karakoram Highway (KKH) for trade with China, Taliban presence in areas north and west of Balitistan, other seperatist movements as a result of central Pakistani government not paying much attention to folks up there - including human rights issues of food and resource accessability, health needs, and education. Read this one about that.

India and Pakistan - Maps, resources , and glacier melt

Northern Border Conflict or Siachen Conflict refers to the elusive boundary issues in India's northernmost state Jammu & Kashmir.  Eruptions of war, armed conflict, ethnic aggression plague the region as China, India, and Pakistan figure out their stakes.  Other stakeholders are Gilit/Baltisani, Afghani and Tajik peoples living in and on the borders of the Karakoram.

Siachen Glacier
The highest battlefield in the world at 21,000 ft is the glacier set in the Saltoro range (northeast of the Ladakh range) in the Nubra Valley of Ladakh.

I always wonder about the impact of the military presence in Ladakh - benefits and drawbacks for the people, but also the landscape I read this interesting article the other day about environmental impact on this glacier given the melt caused by the military presence there.