UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000933

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER ASEC CASC PHUM NP
SUBJECT: Maoists Attack Remote University

REFERENCE: Kathmandu 925

Maoists Storm Sanskrit School
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1. (U) Approximately 300 Maoist insurgents attacked a
university in the remote southwestern district of Dang
late on May 11, according to the Chief District Officer
(CDO) for the area. The insurgents set fire to offices at
Mahendra Sanskrit University, approximately 300 kilometers
west of Kathmandu, destroying furniture, office equipment
and books. No casualties have been reported. Press
reports claim most of the attackers were women. Prior to
the action, Maoists felled trees across the road in order
to prevent security forces from reaching the scene.

Phone Line Down
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2. (U) Because another Maoist attack had knocked out
telephone service to the area earlier in the week,
authorities in the district headquarters only learned of
the incident May 12, and additional information was not
available.

Out with the Olds
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3. (SBU) Sanskrit is the hieratic language of the Hindu
religion, which until recently could only be taught to the
Brahmin priestly caste. Maoists have condemned
traditional Sanskrit education as feudal and reactionary.
In Nepal, Mahendra Sanskrit University is the only
institution offering tertiary-level Sanskrit education.
The school was established in 1986 and is headquartered in
Dang, with twelve affiliated campuses throughout the
country. On May 29, 2001, a socket bomb went off in the
vice-chancellor's office at the main campus. No injuries
resulted. In the past the Maoists have carried out
attacks on secondary schools - and even individual
teachers - for providing instruction in Sanskrit.

Maoists Continue to Pressure Schools
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4. (SBU) Maoist attacks on educational institutions have
increased dramatically in recent months. On May 12
Maoists torched two school buses at a private school in
Chitwan district, south-central Nepal. The students were
in their classrooms at the time. Last September Maoists
called an "education strike" that closed down schools
throughout the country. General strikes regularly shut
down classes for days at a stretch.

Comment
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5. (SBU) As related Reftel, the Maoist insurgency has had
a detrimental effect on many aspects of the lives of
children throughout Nepal. Economic indicators have begun
to fall as a result of the insurgency, and human
development indicators cannot be far behind. Without
continued gains in education, Nepal will face grim
prospects for long-term economic development. The Maoists
seem unconcerned, however, and Maoists leaders have sent
their children abroad, to India or the U.K., to be
educated.

MALINOWSKI