Mayday with the Maoists

We didn't go to Kathmandu this spring to investigate the Maoist rebellion or the birth pangs of a new republic, but to renew our Indian visas and spend a few days in the cool air of the Himalaya. We read the local English language newspapers (my favorite article was a sarcastic put-down of the US ambassador for characterizing GW Bush as one of the global giants of environmentalism) and the amount of Maoist activity they described was surprising, particularly the "bandhs", or strikes, that effectively closed the rest of the country off from Kathmandu. The lead article in the Kathmandu Post one day was an interview with the leader of the Maoists, now part of the interim government. He was clear in his demand - the interim government must declare Nepal a republic by May 15, or there would be consequences for Nepal's recent peaceful facade.

The next morning I noticed, in passing, that it was May 1st. Hmm. Mayday. Maoists. It could be interesting, I mentioned to Erin.

There have been problems in Nepal for several years. Erin and I first visited the mountain kingdom in 2001, just months after the entire royal family, with the exception of the King's brother, were gunned down in highly suspicious circumstances. The "official" story was that a love-sick prince had, at a large celebration, killed his parents, siblings, assembled relatives and then himself because he wasn't being allowed to marry the woman of his choice. The only member of the family not present at the celebration became the new King. Conspiracy theories spring from less, but the people of Nepal seemed willing to accept the official version.

Despite the palace intrigue, our visit in 2001 was amazingly free of difficulty. We toured and trekked and moved on after a month. The stories of the Maoist insurrection in the villages seemed very far away as we dined in Thamel (the tourist section of Kathmandu) and trekked part of the Annapurna circuit.

Within a couple of years the situation in Nepal worsened, with the King eventually acceeding to the Prime Minister's wishes and disbanding the legislature. Big mistake. This led to an alliance between the Maoists and the displaced forces of democracy, which in turn created enough unrest that the King backed down. It was approximately a year ago that the interim government, with a large representation by the Maoists, took power with the charter to plan for the birth of a republic.

Back to May. The talk in India this year has been the re-opening of Nepal, and it was confirmed by the crowds of rich westerners thronging the streets of Thamel. The shops were doing good business and the restaurants were full of steak-eating (in a Hindu country) trekkers. But everyday a new story in the paper... businessmen being assessed "special" taxes by armed Maoist youths, road closures (by the Maoists) on the way to Kathmandu to protest police actions elsewhere, beatings and even special license plates some of the Maoists were using on their vehicles. The government, and the people, seemed paralyzed by fear of the mostly young (and angry) "reds", and no one seemed willing or able to exert any control.

Mayday. During breakfast we saw a small group of slogan-chanting, red-flag-waving marchers skirt the edge of Thamel. I foolishly thought that was the end of it. We decided to go to Durbar Square for the day and were convinced by a bicycle-rickshaw driver to go with him - he wanted the business worse than the taxi driver, and even though it would cost us more to be conveyed by pedal power, while sitting in the hot sun on a slow journey, we couldn't resist his near pleading.

About 5 minutes out of Thamel we came upon a small group of red-flag-waving youths stopping and turning around traffic from the opposing direction. It was odd watching the hardened (and older) taxi drivers taking immediate instruction from the youths in rags. All vehicles turned around as soon as they were told, with no argument. Our rickshaw was passed through, as we seemed to be going in the direction they wanted us to go.

As we approached the first major intersection we could see quite a few men with red headbands and flags, and four of them came running up and stopped our rickshaw. They were angry and seemingly drunk with power. One of them did most of the talking (yelling, actually), all of it to the rickshaw man. None of the Maoists even looked at me and Erin (surprising but appreciated - we seemed like excellent targets for angry young Reds, being carried along like colonials by the labor of another - an issue any fair-minded person fights with in Asia. Is it better to be politically correct or feed the rickshaw driver's family? I waver).

After a few minutes watching from above, while the young Maoists refused to let the rickshaw either continue on or go back, Erin and I hopped down and started walking back toward our hotel. Before long we saw why the traffic was being diverted - thousands of red-flagged and headbanded marchers were coming our way on the narrow street. We pressed ourselves against the wall and watched them go by for about half and hour.

Most of the marchers were having a great time - many looked drunk. I spotted "Eminem" and "Fitty Cent" t-shirts along with many other examples of American cultural hegemony. Mixed into the mostly male crowd were a few women. Most of the crowd seemed benign - except the stick wielders. Every few yards there were men, usually young and usually angry looking, walking along with sticks they used to clear the way or nudge the marchers along. They were scary, actually. One of them looked at us with pure malevolence as he passed. I couldn't resist meeting his stare - I hoped my expression was loving and accepting. He held my gaze until he was well past us.

After waiting out the march we slowly walked back to Thamel. Along the way we saw some shopkeepers hanging royalist flags over the street - not so bravely done, coming 45 minutes after the march had passed. I tried asking some of the shopkeepers about the march and the Maoists in general but they all seemed very reluctant to say anything. "Too dangerous" is all I could get out of one of them.

We were out of the country before May 15, the date when the Maoists' leader had insisted upon the declaration of a republic "or else" (my translation, not his words). In general my sympathies are with the rural poor and trade unionists who make up the majority of the Maoist movement - the monarchy has not served the people of Nepal and what I'm witnessing are the results of generations of unfair treatment. I have no position on the economic policies being espoused by the Maoists in Nepal - I haven't done the research to know what they demand, other than the end of the monarchy, and I can certainly support that.

No matter what your politics you better keep an eye on the situation if you or anyone you know is planning a trip to Nepal in the near future. I'm not so sure it's as settled as the travel agents might have you believe.