Is Dr Baburam Bhattarai wishing a long reign to His Majesty? His latest writing posted on Krishna Sen Online quotes 'Le dix-huit Brumaire de Louis Bonaparte' with the same ridiculous repetition of a historical event has taken place in Nepal. 'The First February of the Nepali history seems to be a carbon copy of the Eighteenth Brumaire of French history," writes Bhattarai. For anyone who has read some texts after Karl Marx's pamphlet about this period, the comparison sounds rather funny since Bonaparte's coup and title of emperor were both approved by plebiscite by a very large majority 7,800,000 of 'yes' and 2,500,000 of 'no', leading to his long and prosperous reign as Napoleon III. He remained on the throne for 18 years, whereas his uncle's reign lasted only 10 years.

Marie Lecomte-Tilouine,
CNRS, Paris