Phone call from Nepal. More bad news.

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Messages
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Phone rang at 4:30 this AM. Couldn't get it together to answer the call. Garbled message in Nepali. Rings again at about 6AM. I'm ready since early AM calls generally end the night's sleep for me.

It's Pala. The five day strike "bhanda" by Maoists is beginning so essentially everybody will be confined to quarters for the next week. Fear, frustration and anger factors are running exceedingly high. This means kamis and sarkis along with everybody else will be without work and pay for a week. Tourists, if there are any crazy enough to come at all, will be stranded at Tribuvan since there will be few (or none at all) taxis available. The old woman who sells peanuts and fruit on the street will have to stay inside. The "sisi manche", the guy who collects empty bottles and resells them for his rice will be without work or income. Even the beggars will be unable to ply their trade. As usual, the poorest will suffer most.

Just getting from one place to another is becoming increasingly difficult. Pala tells me to get the khukuris from BirGorkha to UPS for shipping requires passing through four checkpoints now and khukuris are "taxed" at each checkpoint. Getting basic supplies means taking your life in your hands to get to the supplier, purchase the supplies, and get them back. This means that special orders which require special materials are going to take longer or perhaps become unavailable. PGAs are going to become scarce. It is not good news.

I KNOW things are bad right now because Pala said, "DON'T send any money until further notice." Too dangerous to carry it on the streets. This is the first time in 15 years he has said don't send money.

Stay tuned, bear with us, a couple of prayers wouldn't hurt, and it ain't over 'till it's over.
 
Fear, frustration and anger factors are running exceedingly high.
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Hopefully, nobody snaps before the five days are over. The maoists seem to benefit from chaos and are trying to create more. If they manage to pit the army/police against ordinary people suffering under the maoist-imposed strike , they will have won a battle.
 
puke.gif
:)
 
The five day strike "bhanda" by Maoists is beginning so essentially everybody will be confined to quarters for the next week.
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I sounds like a disaster in the making; but, I am not sure how this works. Who is confining the people to their homes? or, are they allowed to walk around but prohibited from doing work? A 24hour x7 day curfew sounds damn stupid. I would rather take my chances with the police, military, and terrorist; then just sit around watching the family starve, or suffer from the lack of medical attention.

n2s
 
That makes me heartsick. How can you decide to go or stay?

If it's stay and use the money to build in Nepal, then need to leave for Darjeeling how do you get more money? It sounds like things are getting overtaken by events over there. Oh, ****, say it straight out - they're going to hell in a handbasket faster and faster. Or are they?

The bottom line is the people, and you can't afford to be wrong. How do you make up your mind with so much at stake, and with so much invested in your home and family, and not wanting to believe it's ending.

I'm sorry for you and Yangdu, Uncle. It must be nerve wracking. My thoughts are with you both, and also with Pala.
 
Generally, it's just too dangerous to go out during a bhanda. Usually violence in the street -- Maoists like to set cars on fire, throw rocks, rob banks and police and Army are shooting, maybe Maoists are shooting back and tossing a few bombs here and there. It is not condusive to shopping and/or working.

Back when things were much, much better than they are today when the Communist mob started marching down the street waving khukuris and shouting, "We don't want the Yankee dollar. We don't want the Indian Rupia. Nepal for Nepalis!" I wisely stepped into some pasal or tea shop until the passed by. And often was advised to do so by the cops if I was running a little late.

It ain't easy.

Pala mentioned for the first time the possibility of "liquidating all assets and moving family and crew." To where he did not say.
 
It looks like it's time for a good old American intervention in the name of Democracy . If we can send forces all over the world for everything else , this definatly sounds like a just cause .
 
The Maoists couldn't do this without some popular support. And a lot of popular fear.

This is an example of something you would not have believed possible, a silly idea, taking over an entire country.

like PC in America...

munk
 
Sorry to hear what's happening in Nepal. But who are these Maoist anyway? Is the chinese government doing this or is it some high ranking officials abusing their power, or chinese soldiers behaving badly? etc? And what do they want with a place a nepal? I haven't been in the catina for long and sure didn't hear anything about this in the new.
Hope the kamis have enough food and supplies stashed:(
 
Originally posted by Abear
Sorry to hear what's happening in Nepal. But who are these Maoist anyway? Is the chinese government doing this or is it some high ranking officials abusing their power, or chinese soldiers behaving badly? etc? And what do they want with a place a nepal? I haven't been in the catina for long and sure didn't hear anything about this in the new.
Hope the kamis have enough food and supplies stashed:(
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THe Nepali Maoist undoubtably have support from Chinese elements in Nepal (as well as support from 'Maoist' groups in India, who themselves no doubt are supported from China to some extent). I don't think China wants Nepal itself, but right now Nepal is a 'buffer' between China & India - and India China does want.

--B.
 
Old time Maoists and folks who called themselves "Marxist-Leninists" were recruited and supported by China and Russia respectively. The Russians gave more money, the Chinese more indoctrination and propaganda. Chinese were more effective. US and other Western countries were about 5 or 10% effective based on money and labor outlay.

As sainted Uncle Lou used to say, "I told them so but they wouldn't listen."
 
Marxist-Leninists tend to actually be idealists - and have good ideas (taken in moderation, just like capitalism). When people turn into 'Stalinists' and 'Maoists' it seems to me that they lost any ideals they might have had (if any) and are purely interested in making a bid for power..
 
Marxist-Leninists tend to actually be idealists - and have good ideas (taken in moderation, just like capitalism). Beoram

The Manisfesto is a wonderful dream, hardly written out of evil. Though we've never seen a pure communist state, most economists doubt one could work. With Capitalism, I guess it depends upon how you define moderation. The US does not have a 'free market'. Moderating capitalism is not capitalism.

At any rate, wanting better conditions for working people is never bad. As you say, when ideals are taken to extreme they are no longer ideal. But it is not democracy rearing its head in Nepal. It appears to be the usual blind hatred.

munk
 
Originally posted by munk
Marxist-Leninists tend to actually be idealists - and have good ideas (taken in moderation, just like capitalism). Beoram

The Manisfesto is a wonderful dream, hardly written out of evil. Though we've never seen a pure communist state, most economists doubt one could work. With Capitalism, I guess it depends upon how you define moderation. The US does not have a 'free market'. Moderating capitalism is not capitalism.

At any rate, wanting better conditions for working people is never bad. As you say, when ideals are taken to extreme they are no longer ideal. But it is not democracy rearing its head in Nepal. It appears to be the usual blind hatred.

munk
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'Moderating capitalism is not capitalism', neither is 'moderating socialism', but both are better than the pure forms perhaps.

I actually think a mixed capitalist-socialist system (which many modern countries actually have, to varying degrees) with a parliamentary constitutional monarchy is the optimal. Parliamentary system (in theory) keeps any one person from having too much power; and an unelected figurehead is 99% of the time better at 'representing' the people than an elected president. Whatever you think of George Jr.'s politics, can anyone honestly say he's the ideal 'representative figurehead'?

But let's hope the rightful government of Nepal perhaps with some help from USA, UK, India (the largest democracy in the world) - will prevail.

--B.
 
:( I am very sorry to hear about everything happening to the fine people of Nepal. I think intervention by at least some third country intelligence ;) is definitely in order.

So given everything going on now, high season is approaching for scaling Everest. What effect are the recent developments having on this year's missions?
 
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