Alliance for Democracy & Human Rights in Nepal, USA; and
The South Asia Forum (The New School)
cordially invite you to a discussion:

Nepal at the Crossroads: A Year of Worsening Political Quagmire

Speakers and sub-topics

Kanak Mani Dixit
"Chairman Gyanendra vs. The People of Nepal"
Mr. Dixit is a prominent Kathmandu-based journalist who is the editor
of Himal Southasian and publisher of the newsmagazine Himal
Khabarpatrika. He is also a children's author and a cultural activist.

Rhoderick Chalmers
"Prospects for Peace: International Perspectives"
Dr. Chalmers is the Deputy South Asia Project Director at the
International Crisis Group.

The program will start with a 10-minute performance art by Ashmina
Ranjit, a prominent Nepali artist and activist, who is currently a
Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University.

Moderator: Professor Carol Breckenridge, Founder, The South Asia Forum

Wednesday, February 1st, 2006
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Lang Cafeteria (ground floor), The New School
Entrance on 66 West 12th Street
(between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Nearest Subways: F (6th Avenue Line) train to 14th Street Station; 1,
2, 3, 9 (7th avenue line) trains to 14th Street Station.

Free Admission!

February 1st marks the completion of the first year of King
Gyanendra's direct rule in Nepal. To many, this day is seen as a black
day since, in the name of the "war on terror," the King Gyanendra's
government has resorted to curbing civil liberties and cracking down
heavy-handedly on democratic forces in the country. The speakers will
highlight some of the key aspects of the political and human rights
situation in Nepal over the past year and discuss possible ways out of
the morass. Questions and answers will follow the presentations from
the speakers.

Questions?

Sanjay Parajuli: parajulis@hotmail.com, Ph. 917-602-2667
Anil J. Shahi: anil_shahi_et@hotmail.com, Ph. 917-670-1057

I thought this Anil character was heading home to start a revolution or something...that was more than a year ago....it seems he's still in NYC in the good ole US of A...playing second fiddle to Kanak, Nepe, Murari, et al.

Kanak Mani Dixit
"Chairman Gyanendra vs. The People of Nepal"

No matter how much of a credibility he may have as a senior journalist, all those credits are washed away when people like Kanak Dixit go on to discuss on such a topic as mentioned above.

Its not only the King vs The People of Nepal in the present context. The People of Nepal are also fighting against, in many ways, agains the Maoists, the 7 parties. In turn, the Maoists are also fighting agains the parties and the King and so on.

In such a complex scenario, where it is the King vs the 7 Parties vs the Maoists vs the People, all fighting with each other making the People of Nepal bear the brunt of the damage, it is very irresponsible, childish and idiotic thing for Kanak Dixit to do. If he as a responsible person had to speak at a discussion, he could have showed the negative relationship of Maoists and the 7 Parties as well in the equation.

Pats asks:

"So Ashu, does "the incentive is to play up the crisis; get more funding, attract more
attention, and so on and on, " apply to RNA as well?"


One-word answer: YES.

As shocking as this sounds, this has been a very profitable war in a resource-poor country for most DIRECTLY concerned people who themselves have very little to
lose either way.

It's the poor who do the dying . . . on all sides.

oohi
ashu