Nepal : China cuts down India's Influence

India calls back envoy to Nepal for emergency briefing


Kathmandu, April 23 (IANS) New Delhi has called back its ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood for an emergency briefing Thursday after the drama over the potential sacking of Nepal’s army chief by the Maoist-led government spilled over onto the streets with the former guerrillas making public threats of capturing the army headquarters.

Sood cancelled his appointment with the Nepali Minister for Water Resources Bishnu Poudel, whom he was to have handed over Indian assistance worth over 100 million, at the last minute Thursday to catch an afternoon flight to New Delhi.

Before he left, the ambassador, along with seven other foreign envoys, who together form Nepal’s biggest bloc of donors, met Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to express their collective concern over the growing dissent in Nepal’s major political parties and the effect it would have on the ongoing peace process.

Besides India, the ambassadors of Britain, US, China, Japan, Finland, Norway and Germany formed Thursday’s diplomatic corps meeting Prachanda.

Prachanda’s media advisor Om Sharma told IANS that India was urging the major parties to work together and had reiterated support for the peace process.

The PM, Sharma said, had assured the ambassadorial delegation that the Maoist party was committed to democracy, human rights, the freedom of the press and an independent judiciary.

Defending the Maoists’ attempt to fire army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal just four months before he is due to retire, Prachanda said it was done to strengthen democracy and ascertain civil supremacy over the military.

The Maoist supremo, whose government had earlier sought to retire eight brigadier-generals, denied that his party was trying to capture power by bringing the army under its control.

Thursday’s meeting makes it the third one in less than a week that Sood met Prachanda after the furore erupted.

On Wednesday, the top Maoist leaders, who had earlier been urging the government to dismiss the army chief, asked it to go slow, attributing the decision to “pressure by India and the US”.

Subsequently, the cabinet, which was to have decided beleaguered Katawal’s fate, decided to put off its verdict.

The chief of the UN agency that is involved in the peace process also met Prachanda Thursday, indicating the mounting world concern at the new developments in the Himalayan republic.

Karin Landgren, chief of the UN Mission in Nepal that has been supervising the arms and combatants of the Maoist army since the guerrillas signed a peace pact in 2006, reportedly asked about the proposed merger of the guerrilla People’s Liberation Army with the Nepal Army, which is a key step in the peace process.

Though Prachanda has publicly pledged the thorny task will be completed by July 15, the fresh spat with the army raises new doubts about his promise.

Despite their repeated promise to the UN to discharge all child soldiers and other disqualified PLA combatants, the Maoists are yet to do so.

India calls back envoy to Nepal for emergency briefing

Nepal Army chief issue snowballs

Kathmandu: The Maoist-led government is again caught up in a controversy. And this time, the rift between the Defence Ministry headed by a Maoist Minister and Chief of Nepal Army, appointed during monarchy, is exposed wide and clear.

The government’s move to seek clarification from the Chief of the Army Staff, General Rookmangud Katawal, who is retiring in three months, has not just concerned parties of the Constituent Assembly but also the international community.

Seventeen political parties have already concluded that the move to oust General Katawal by seeking a clarification is unjustified. The Nepali Congress has maintained that it will continue to obstruct the House proceedings until the government withdrew its move. Ambassadors of India, United States and six other countries have told Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) that the issue should be resolved through consensus to respect civil supremacy. President Ram Baran Yadav, who is the Supreme Commander in Chief of the Nepal Army, has told Mr. Prachanda the same.

Meanwhile, some Maoist leaders claim that it is due to “foreign intervention” that the clarification issue got hyped up. Ambassador Rakesh Sood, who met Mr. Prachanda twice to discuss the Army Chief’s issue, suddenly left for India on Thursday. .

Though the government was supposed to take a decision on the day General Katawal submitted clarification, a Cabinet meeting felt that the clarification should be studied first by all the Ministers before taking a decision. As per the laws of Nepal Army, the government can suspend the Army Chief but for this a clarification should be sought from him. In his clarification, the General has said the government “cannot dismiss” him using the Army Act.

The Hindu : International : Nepal Army chief issue snowballs

BBC reports that Nepalese Army General is fired by the Nepalese Prime Minister .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8031302.stm



Nepalese army general fired by PM
A Nepalese soldier during fighting with Maoists rebels in 2005
The Nepalese army fought Maoists rebels for more than a decade

Nepal's army chief has been fired by the ruling Maoists in a row about the integration of their former fighters into the armed forces.

General Rookmangud Katawal was forced out during a special Cabinet meeting, the information minister said.

He was accused of defying government orders to stop hiring new recruits and to get rid of eight generals.

The government wants to integrate former Maoist rebel fighters into the army - a move opposed by generals.

Correspondents say the row could undermine the peace process which ended the civil war in 2006.

The Maoists fought the army for more than a decade before giving up their armed revolt, and the relationship between the two sides has been tense since the former rebels came into power last year.

Thirteen-thousand people died in the conflict.

Information and Communications Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said Gen Katawal was fired because "he failed to give satisfactory explanation on why the government orders were ignored".

The Maoists accused Gen Katawal of hiring 2,800 new recruits and reinstating the generals, dismissed by the defence ministry, without consulting the government, Reuters said.

The army chief has been refusing to integrate former Maoist fighters that he views as politically indoctrinated.

In March, the Nepalese Supreme Court ordered the defence ministry to put on hold its decision to retire the eight generals from the army.

Cabinet walk-out

Several representatives walked out of the Cabinet meeting in protest, but a vote went ahead.

"We have been insisting that the decision on the army chief should be taken through consensus among all political parties but the prime minister decided to ignore us," said Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam, according to Associated Press news agency.

Gen Katawal was due to retire in four months.

The army's second-in-command, Kul Bahadur Khadka, has been appointed acting army chief, the deputy PM said.

Asked in a BBC interview last year about suspicions that Gen Katawal would be sacked, Prime Minister Prachanda said: "That will not happen.

"As long as everyone including the army, the police and the other officials remain committed to the people's mandate on democracy, peace and change, no-one needs to feel insecure."

Another report of ZEE News, about Nepalese Army planning coup against the Govt.

http://www.zeenews.com/South-Asia/20...26405news.html



Home » South Asia
Army
planned coup in Nepal: Report

Kathmandu, April 24: Amid a stand off between the ruling Maoists and the Nepal Army, a media report on Friday said the military had contemplated a coup against the unstable Prachanda-led government, a charge denied by the Army.

The Kathmandu Post today reported that the military was contemplating a “soft coup” against the eight-month-old coalition government in response to the move to sack Army Chief General Rukmangad Katawal on allegations that he had disobeyed the government’s order.

The Army denied the report, saying such reports were baseless, fabricated and part of conspiracy to create rift between the Army and the government.

The news story, citing senior Army officials, reported that some 25 Generals held a secret consultation after the Prime Minister sought clarification from Katawal last week.

The report, headlined 'What put Maoists on backfoot', quoted army sources as saying that General Katawal came close to staging a "soft coup" against Lt Gen KB Khadka, who was the Maoists’ choice to replace the present chief.

As per the coup plan, ex-King would be put in Nagarjun forest lodge in "line arrest", Prime Minister Prachanda, Nepali Congress President GP Koirala and a number of other leaders would be cut off from the public and Singhdurbar Secretariat, premier's residence Baluwatar, Ministers’ quarters and Maoist offices would be put under siege.

Bureau Report

BBC reports that communist UML party quit the Govt. in protest of sacking of Nepal Army Chief.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8031622.stm



Nepal communists quit in protest
An anti-government protester in Kathmandu after the PM sacked the army chief
Anti-government protests were staged after the general's sacking

A key ally of Nepal's Maoist-led government has withdrawn from the governing coalition in protest at the dismissal of the army chief.

The Communist UML party withdrew after Gen Rookmangud Katawal was sacked for defying government orders to integrate former rebel fighters into the army.

He was sacked during a special cabinet meeting which saw other parties protest by walking out.

The withdrawal leaves the Maoists with only a slender parliamentary majority.

Correspondents say the row could undermine the peace process which ended the civil war in 2006.

Communist UML general secretary Ishwar Pokharel said: "The party has decided to leave the coalition and withdraw support to the Maoists."

The government wants to integrate former Maoist rebel fighters into the army, and accused Gen Katawal of defying government orders to stop hiring new recruits and to get rid of eight generals.

The army chief has been refusing to integrate former Maoist fighters that he views as politically indoctrinated.

The Maoists fought the army for more than a decade before giving up their armed revolt, and the relationship between the two sides has been tense since the former rebels came into power last year.

Thirteen-thousand people died in the conflict.

A Nepalese soldier during fighting with Maoists rebels in 2005
The Nepalese army fought Maoists rebels for more than a decade

In March, the Nepalese Supreme Court ordered the defence ministry to put on hold its decision to retire the eight generals from the army.

Several coalition representatives walked out of the cabinet meeting in protest at the proposed sacking, but a vote went ahead.

"We have been insisting that the decision on the army chief should be taken through consensus among all political parties but the prime minister decided to ignore us," said Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Gen Katawal was due to retire in four months.

The army's second-in-command, Kul Bahadur Khadka, has been appointed acting army chief, the deputy PM said.

Another reports from The Times of India on the same.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/W...ow/4479105.cms

Maoists win hara-kiri battle against army chief
3 May 2009, 1820 hrs IST, TNN


KATHMANDU: Fourteen years after Nepal’s army
saw its first chief resign over corruption charges, a second chief was sacked on Sunday by the
ruling Maoist party who won their battle but could be losing the war with diplomatic ties waning and its own coalition partners threatening to quit.

Gen Rookmangud Katawal, a graduate of the Indian National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, was appointed head of the army during the turbulent days of 2006 after King Gyanendra’s military-backed government fell. A commoner who broke the tradition of the aristocracy occupying the position of the army chief, the general however had a stormy tenure after he refused to fall in with the Maoist plan to induct their guerrilla fighters en masse into the army.

The animosity came to a head this year after Katawal turned a deaf ear to the government’s orders to halt military recruitment and reinstated eight brigadier-generals retired by the defence ministry. The last straw came after the army decided to boycott the 5th National Games to protest against the Maoist fighters’ participation.

“The cabinet (today) decided to retire the army chief since he could not provide satisfactory explanations,” Maoist Information and Communications Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said. “The cabinet has also decided to appoint Lt-Gen Kul Bahadur Khadka as the acting army chief.”

The decision came after increasing pressure by the hawks in the Maoist party who accused Katawal of going against “people’s sovereignty” and being supported by “foreign powers”, especially India.

However, it could be a pyrrhic victory with the Maoists’ four coalition partners – the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, Sadbhavana Party and Communist Party of Nepal (United) – distancing themselves from the decision and saying they had asked for consensus.

Within hours, the UML, the third largest party in parliament, had called an emergency meeting of its standing committee and decided to withdraw from the government. Though the Maoists, suspecting a UML desertion, began seeking the support of the minor parties, most of the parliamentary parties have united under the opposition, former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s Nepali Congress (NC), and asked President Ram Baran Yadav, the constitutional head of government, to reject the cabinet order.

Yadav himself has also come down strongly on the Maoist move, saying it was “against the constitution, law and consensus”. Nepal’s interim parliament decrees that any decision regarding the army has to be endorsed by not just the ruling parties but 20 other parliamentary parties as well. It is likely that the president will send the cabinet order to the interim parliament, where it would be put to vote and in all probability, be defeated.

While the fate of Nepal’s first Maoist government lies in jeopardy, there is the fear of renewed violence with the former guerrillas amassing thousands of cadres in Kathmandu to keep up a show of strength. With the NC also bringing out rallies condemning the general’s dismissal, the two sides clashed in several parts of the capital, resurrecting the turbulence Nepal had undergone during the royal regime.

India could have the last laugh. Once the mentor who brought the Maoists and the main parties together, it became the former rebels’ arch enemy since they joined the government. Now, New Delhi could once again have a key role to play as mediator and defuse the new crisis.

The Associated Press reports that there are protest in Nepal

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...piBfwD97URDFG0

Protests erupt after Nepal PM fires army chief

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA – 1 hour ago

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal's prime minister fired the army chief on Sunday after accusing him of defying government orders, prompting a key party to quit the coalition government and plunging the Himalayan country into a political crisis that could endanger its peace process.

Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of the capital to demonstrate both for and against the decision by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former Maoist rebel leader.

Tensions have risen for months as Dahal's ruling Maoists have struggled with the army over its refusal to integrate former rebel units into its ranks as required by a U.N.-brokered peace agreement. The dismissal of army chief Rookmangud Katawal on Sunday is likely to further enflame those tensions and could unravel the coalition government.

The second-largest party in the coalition, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), said it was quitting the government because Dahal had not obtained the coalition partners' approval before sacking Katawal.

"We decided to withdraw our support to protest the prime minister's unilateral decision," party general secretary Ishwar Pokhrel said. The Communist Party has traditionally been part of the political mainstream, while the Maoists until 2006 were a rebel group fighting government troops.

Other parties in the coalition were still deciding whether to remain in the government. Most, however, walked out of the Cabinet meeting Sunday at which the prime minister announced the dismissal.

The main opposition party, Nepali Congress, condemned the sacking and organized street protests.

Police were put on high alert as flag-waving, tire-burning demonstrators took to the streets of the capital. There were no immediate reports of clashes.

"We will protest the government decision both on the streets and in parliament," said Prakash Sharan Mahat, a Nepali Congress lawmaker.

Thousands of Maoist supporters thronged other parts of Katmandu, waving their signature red flags. They called the army chief's sacking a "victory for people's rule."

Home Ministry spokesman Navin Ghimire said the police were put on high alert to prevent any trouble.

Dahal has accused Katawal of ignoring government orders by refusing to stop recruiting soldiers and allowing eight senior army generals whose tenures were not extended by the government to continue working.

Information Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said the army chief "failed to give a satisfactory explanation on why the government orders were ignored."

The army's second-in-command, Kul Bahadur Khadka, has been appointed acting army chief, he said.

It was unclear whether Dahal has the legal authority to fire the military chief.

The army — which was controlled by Nepal's king before the monarchy was abolished last year at the Maoists' behest — is officially under the command of the president, who is a member of the Nepali Congress party.

But legal procedures for removing the head of the army are unclear because Nepal's constitution is still being rewritten.

The Maoists gave up their 10-year armed rebellion in 2006 and joined a peace process. They confined their fighters in U.N.-monitored camps and locked up their weapons. They joined elections last year and emerged as Nepal's largest political party.

Disagreements between the Maoists and other parties have triggered several crises which delayed formation of the lawmaking Constituent Assembly and the writing of a new constitution.

Good that the Nepal Army Chief is exerting himself.

Can't have a pro China regime up north or a naxal govt that run to our Andhra Pradesh through what is known as the "Red Corridor" or in other words, a Naxal Corridor.

yes i think the situation is going in india's favor,if we continue to let the maoist government get strong then they will also start backing the insurgents and maoists in our territory

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamla Dahal Prachanda has resigned following a major row over the sacking of the army chief on Sunday. Prachanda, Nepal's PM Prachanda announces his resignation during a nationwide broadcast in Kathmandu.

Nepal's first Maoist prime minister, announced his resignation in a televised address to the nation, blaming Nepal's political parties and foreign powers for hindering his government.

On Sunday, Prachanda had sacked army chief General Katawal accusing him of defying the government's orders by reinstating eight Generals retired by the Maoist administration, the president told the army chief to remain in the post.

The crisis follows months of tussle between the prime minister and the army chief over the induction of former Maoist rebels into the army.

A nearly two-month battle between the Maoists and army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal had come to a head Sunday with the ruling party announcing the dismissal of Katawal.

But the announcement triggered widespread protests with two of the government's own partners, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) and Sadbhavana Party deciding to quit.

A second blow came from President Ram Baran Yadav who in a late Sunday night order to the beleaguered army chief asked him to continue with his job.

Yadav, who is the constitutional head of the government as well as the supreme commander of the Nepal Army, called the dismissal order "unconstitutional, illegal and without consensus".

Will this mean that Nepal will get back to the days of Maoist insurgency? They have no reason as the main aim of the insurgency was its opposition to the Royalty. Dont think Prachanda will find any support now if he wants to go back to taking up arms.

what will be the implications now??will the king be reinstated??

Kings gone for good. The King wasnt removed because the Maoists won. He was because he was not popular and the people did not want the royalty.
With the royals gone, the Maoists did not have any reason to continue with its insurgency and thought it was wise to form a government instead.
Prachanda has been used to ordering and when his orders were not obeyed he got petrified. But in the view of intense pressure from India and also seeing that the Armed forces were with the sacked General, he had to back off.

Its good for India that he is gone as he had been eying China to counter Indian influence. Its good that the Nepalese army chief is Indian trained and expect him to be favorable towards India.
India now has to ensure a favorable government over there.

Blame game started and see the bluff:

Nepal govt blames India for debacle - South Asia - World - The Times of India

Its not blame game. The Maoists were always anti India and India was always wary of them. Its good that they have gone as they definitely had a tilt towards the Chinese. Infact Pranchanda was scheduled to travel to China to sign a treaty of friendship (read screw India).