Nepal: Maoists suffer prachanda defeat; withdraw from contest

Arabinda Ghose

Maoists of Nepal led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, who fought the elections for the second Constituent Assembly on November 19 with the surest conviction that they would win these polls almost effortlessly, suffered the most humiliating defeat with their leader ‘Prachanda’ obtaining the third place in the Kathmandu 10 constituency after the Nepali Congress and another candidate.

Prachanda’s this defeat made him to withdraw from the contest lock stock and barrel, despite his victory in another constituency Siraha in the Terai region with a margin of less than a thousand votes.

This revolutionary, who had the firm conviction that his  party  would win elections on his Maoist philosophy, was so upset due to an ordinary Nepali Congress  worker from Kathmandu 10 defeating him, that he announced his and his party’s withdrawal from the contest altogether. Results of the poll showed that the Nepali Congress had won 9,89,625 votes and the UML 6,92,936 votes. The Maoists registered only 6,92,936 votes.

The poll process is not over yet as more results and nominations for the Constituent Assembly will come later. The trend showed that the people of Nepal have put faith in Parliamentary Democracy and not in dictatorship. The Nepali Congress Party was launched in April 1949 in Kolkata and won democracy for the people in 1950 through an armed struggle against the dictatorial Rana regime. This party is not affiliated to the Indian National Congress. It has links with the Socialist International based at Berlin.

Who stands where?

No. Party                                  Contested       Won

1      Nepali Congress                     240                105

2.     Nepal Communist Party (AML)240                91

3.     Joint Nepal Communist Party

        (Maoist)                              240                26

4      Madheshi Janadhikar Forum,

        Nepal (Democratic)              176                4

5.     Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party115                4

6.     Rashtriya Prajatantra Party        235                3

7.     Madheshi Janadhikar Forum

        (Nepal)                                     128                2

8      Independent                              1115              2

9      Nepal Mazdoor Kisan Party        127                1

10   Sadbhavana Party                       133                1

11   Tarai Madhesh Sadbhawana

       Party Nepal                                  74           1

Vijay P Nair

Sleeping Nepal, where no Sun rises,

No Moon smiles at and Stars glittering

Nowhere on the sky to regale a seeker. 

It is futile roaming across the land

To see atleast a candle light to delight.

I can see the darkness down deep into the sea

Of the eyes and soul of the land. 

I can see the sadness down deep into the sea

Of the heart and mind of the lad.

No God Almighty, the creator alive here

To hear the lamenting of the lad. 

No saffron, the sainthood alive here

To bear the burden of the lad.

But, still both the God and Saffron

Lay claim on this barren land,

Which itself longing like a whore

For a broken virginity to make its womb a blessed glen

Where the seeker see the blossom of glee. 

Who cares the craving of the creature?

Who shares the gliding of the glory?

And, who can make them awake

With the mind set of ‘life is a celebration’

When the whole land and lord sleeping

Deep down on the bed of ignorance?

Sleeping Nepal is a cradle

Between two super powers,

Where the creator and creature lulling

Without lullaby as an essence of nothingness.

No Lama can sanctify this land

If no vision with a mission,

Which Santiago, an Andalusian Shepherd boy

Has abundant, in the novel Alchemist. 

No lordship can change the destiny of the lad,

Who always starving without a sandwich,

While the Lordship dreaming of goldash to eat at the dusk. 

Then, who can make them awake from the dark?

Only a noble leader can make them awake

Sleeping Nepal awaiting a noble leader

Like Swamy Vivekananda not like Sleeping Buddha.

Hereafter, I dream of this land

Governed by a noble leader

I dream of a system where the work of a layman

Not laid on lazy but on passion

To put focus on specific missions

Driven by goals relevant to lad.

How is it possible?

Since, there is no way other than India

Indulge in inviting the Sun God on this land

To light up a lamp on the life of the lad.

And, then it would be declared

That there is anymore Sabbath day!

Angola bans Islam, destroys mosques

LUANDA: According to several Angolan newspapers, Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims by demolishing mosques in the country.

“The process of legalisation of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice,” Rosa Cruz e Silva, the Angolan Minister of Culture, was quoted by Agence Ecofin.

She asserted that the decision was the latest in a series of efforts to ban ‘illegal’ religious sects. According to the minister, the action was necessary to fight relentlessly against the emergence of congregations whose worshipping is contradicting with the customs of the Angolan culture. Same as Islam, other faiths which were not legalised will face closure of their houses of worship.

Recurrent

The anti-Islam comments were not the first by Angolan officials. “This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country,” President José Eduardo dos Santos was quoted by a newspaper Osun Defender.

The provincial governor of Luanda, Bento Bento, has also said on the airwaves of a local radio that “radical Muslims are not welcome in Angola and the Angolan Government is not ready for the legalisation of mosques.” He added that Muslims were not welcome in Angola and that the government would not legalise the presence of mosques in the country.

 —Bureau Report