Maoist Leader Calls September 16 General Strike,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001373

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL
MANILA FOR OFDA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER ASEC CASC PINR NP
SUBJECT: Maoist Leader Calls September 16 General Strike,
Vows Revenge for Deaths

REF: Kathmandu 838


1. (SBU) In a press release dated July 11, Prachanda,
President of Nepal's Maoist Central Committee, called for
a nation-wide general strike September 16. It would be
the first such show of force since late April (Reftel).
The release also charges "feudal elements" backed by
"foreign imperialists and expansionists," with the murders
of Maoist leaders Rit Bahadur Khadka and Krishna Sen. In
the release Sen, an underground Maoist Central Committee
member and pamphleteer journalist whose death in detention
has been widely reported, is called "Commander." Speaking
for the Maoist party, Prachanda pledges "to take revenge
for the murders."


2. (SBU) The press release was faxed to selected news
outlets in Kathmandu, and is widely considered genuine.
Post's unofficial translation of the release follows.

Begin Text:

Murderous feudal elements, with the backing of foreign
imperialists and expansionists, have been making futile
attempts to rule the country in a barbaric, medieval
manner. They have been killing the best sons and
daughters of the Nepali people. The murder, terror and
looting committed by the Royal Army during the so-called
emergency have not only ridiculed the achievements of the
1990 People's Movement, but also all the values of human
civilization. The murder of political activists, writers,
poets, artists, journalists and every Nepali committed to
the liberation and progress of the country has become the
feudal palace's everyday routine. In this series of
cowardly murders, member of our Central Committee and
popular youth leader Comrade Rit Bahadur Khadka has been
brutally killed. Following this, after the news came out
that Krishna Sen, a responsible member of our party and an
energetic and established poet and journalist of the
Nepali Progressive Cultural Movement, died in custody
after inhumane torture, Nepali journalists, human rights
activists and intellectuals pressured the [government].
The government's intrigue- and conspiracy-laden statements
in response to the pressure have made it almost clear
[that Sen was killed]. We express solidarity with the
initiatives and movement launched by the journalists,
human rights activists and intellectuals calling for the
clarification of Commander Krishna Sen's whereabouts and
punishment of the criminals.

Our party pays tribute with high honor to all martyrs,
including Commanders Rit Bahadur Khadka and Krishna Sen,
and vows to take revenge for the murders.

Today, the Nepalese society is on the brink of either
progress or regression. The feudal elements have closed
all doors for a peaceful political exit. And they are
nakedly surrendering to foreigners for support for the
murder of Nepali people. In this situation, Nepalis have
no other choice but to create a huge counter-movement for
the independence and sovereignty of the country and for
their children's rights to live. No power in the world
can save the self-surrendering feudal murderers from the
people's united movement. Our party has decided to appeal
for a "Nepal Bandh" [general strike] on September 16 to
protest the murders of the best of the Nepali people's
sons and daughters, including Commanders Rit Bahadur
Khadka and Krishna Sen, and for a positive way out of the
present crisis. The United Front Organization and United
Revolutionary People's Council at the central level and
various ethnic and regional fronts will announce the
outline of the programs for this bandh. We heartily
request all pro-people groups and the public to make the
Nepal bandh program successful in order to take the
people's opposition and unity against feudal murderers to
a new height.

July 11, 2002

Prachanda, (President),Central Committee, N.C.P. (Maoist)

End Text.

MALINOWSKI