US on Nepal's Case (National Endowment for Democracy)

[Dover]

US on Nepal's case
By Ramtanu Maitra

Chill in the Himalayas
Following its regime-changing activities in Kyrgyzstan, the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy has set its sights on Nepal, which sends shivers down the spines of not only the government there, but also India and China, writes Ramtanu Maitra. King Gyanendra, despite promises of reintroducing democracy, is doing nothing of the sort, reports Dhruba Adhikary.


Fresh from its perceived success in Kyrgyzstan, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an American non-governmental organization, has a new mission in Nepal, where King Gyanendra has assumed autocratic powers.

According to reports from South Asia, this was disclosed to Nepalese politicians by US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca during her recent visit to Nepal. Although the entry of the Washington-based NED is officially to help stabilize and promote democracy in Nepal, its past record makes some in India wonder what the consequences will be for India's turbulent northeast and for India's relations with China.

Beijing has even more reason to concern itself with the NED's presence in Nepal, next door to sensitive Tibet. The NED makes no bones of its concerns about Uighur Chinese, and is known to have earlier funded anti-China forces in Tibet.

India is by no means wholly ill-disposed toward the NED. In fact, the American outfit has some strong promoters there. During the 2000 visit to India by president Bill Clinton, a proposal was made to jointly set up an Asian center for democracy. The Asian Center for Democratic Governance is to be based in New Delhi, and jointly set up by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the NED...cont'd

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GG23Df04.html
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Jul 23, 2005



Monarchy stands firm
By Dhruba Adhikary

KATHMANDU - People of Nepal, numbering nearly 25 million, continue to be trapped in a crossfire between the forces representing a feudal monarchy on the one hand and a 10-year-old Maoist rebellion on the other. Over 13, 000 lives have been lost in the process; agony of widows and orphaned children in indescribable. The economy, based on subsistence farming, would have already collapsed if the remittances sent by Nepalis working mainly as unskilled labor in the Gulf countries had not kept it floating.

But it is uncertain how long these Nepalis will find it wise to send money to a place where security of life and property is under constant threat. Media reports filtering into the capital city from outlying districts tell a message of a reign of terror in rural Nepal. The Kathmandu valley, which houses three of the country's 75 districts, is a kind of island...cont'd

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GG23Df05.html