Maoist Students Bomb Kathmandu School, Injuring

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001532

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 Students Bomb Kathmandu School, Injuring
Six

REFS: A) Kathmandu 1315, B) Kathmandu 481


1. (SBU) Summary. Students shouting Maoist slogans set
off a bomb at a private business college in Kathmandu
August 8, injuring six. The school occupies a building
owned by the King's Press Secretary, who lives next door
and was not harmed. The motive for the attack is unclear
as no large-scale Maoist strikes or actions have been
announced for the coming days. End Summary.

Bomb at Business College Injures Six
--------------


2. (U) A bomb exploded at a private school in the
Maitidevi area of central Kathmandu early on August 8,
police sources confirmed. Six people were injured,
including three passers-by, and one victim remains in
critical condition. Between 6:45 and 7:00 a.m., a group
of six youths chanting Maoist slogans entered the "College
of Applied Business," told everyone to leave, and set off
a bomb outside the door to the principal's office. [Note:
No/no American students are enrolled at the school, which
is located about five kilometers southeast of the Embassy.
No/no Embassy residences are located nearby. End Note.]

Similar to Last Blast
--------------


3. (SBU) Witnesses told Embassy staff that the explosion
was similar in effect to a July 5 blast at Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba's party office (Ref A). After an
investigation that tied the July 5 explosion to Maoist
insurgents, police reportedly arrested one man and
confiscated explosive materials from his residence.

Students Object to Fees, Sanskrit
--------------


4. (SBU) Another school in Kathmandu's Maitidevi
neighborhood was attacked March 1, when gangs of students
raided two different schools in the capital, dousing
equipment with kerosene and setting fires. These attacks
were intended to terrorize the public into following a
"school strike" they had called for March 4-5 (Ref B). In
recent years, Maoist-affiliated student groups have
attacked and vandalized schools throughout the country.
In addition, they have issued calls protesting "fees"
charged to public school students and demanding reductions
in tuition. The Maoists also have also made known their
opposition to the teaching of Sanskrit, which they
identify with reactionary Hinduism.

Building Owned by Palace Official
--------------


5. (SBU) The building bombed on August 8 is owned by the
Press Secretary at Nepal's Royal Palace, Mohan Bahadur
Pandey, who leases it to the school. Pandey's own
residence is adjacent to the affected building. He was
reportedly at home at the time of the blast, but was
unharmed. In conversations with us, both journalists and
police officers voiced speculation that the Maoists
intentionally attacked property owned by a palace official
to make a "symbolic" gesture.

Comment
--------------


6. (SBU) Initial reports suggest that the August 8
explosion was the work of the same people who bombed the
PM's party office July 5. It also fits a pattern of
agitation by student groups either affiliated with or
sympathetic to the Maoist insurgents. However, unlike the
March 1 incidents, which were meant to enforce a school
strike, the August 8 attack does not seem connected to any
impending Maoist action. A general strike called for
September 16 is still more than five weeks away. Given
the pattern of previous attacks against schools in the
neighborhood, Post judges that the palace official's
ownership of the property was merely coincidental.

BOGGS