I believe that when Susan Ulbaek refers to 'revival of democracy and restoration of civil liberties' she does not mean Maoist democracy and liberties for the Maoists to organise and destroy the establishment. ('Democratisation through peace', #242) There are only three groups in Nepal which are not happy with the efforts of the monarch to eliminate terrorism and ensure peace and the rule of law: the Maoists, Indian intelligence and the corrupt politicians. While the first two are intertwined in their efforts to destabilise Nepal, the third one is worried about its own well-being in the system of the rule of law being revived. The rest of the people in Nepal are with the king and they expect that the king will handover the executive power that he seized to the legitimate government elected after cleaning up the corrupt politicians and destroying the Maoist war against the parliamentary system.

Civil liberties are of course important but they can be progressively protected only after everybody who has stake in democracy cooperates with the government. Do you think that they will be protected just by issuing press releases the way the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal and communist NGOs nurtured by the west are doing? Are they ready to team up with the army and work with them to check violations? You can hire dozens of foreign human rights advisers, issue press statements against the government, call for international rapporteurs to check it, you cannot change the situation on the ground, until you build a relationship of trust with the machinery of the government and develop a working relationship. None of them want to do it because they are ill-motivated and their real agenda is different.

Susan Ulbaek and many others who are concerned must learn why the ICRC and WFP in Nepal have more human rights achievements than these fly-by-night human rights groups.

Sriram Chaudhary,
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. Thanks for the Scandinavian rub in the Susan Ulbaek's opinion. I am glad that despite the efforts of India to demoralise Nepal by creating a strong anti-Nepal syndicate of western countries, the poorly informed human rights organisations, and revengeful and dirty media propaganda, Nepal is still making breakthroughs in its efforts to contain terrorism, clean up corruption and restore the rule of law.

The king has shown that Nepal is not a failed state, its arms are still muscular and our destiny as a nation need not be hostage to the conspiracy of foreign security interests. The ability of the Royal Nepali Army to enforce human rights has increased significantly since the king has taken charge of the nation. The army has shown that it is moving, and fighting for values that are basic for the survival of a nation. The increasing number of people in detention centres show that the special courts dealing with the Maoists will be active very soon, which the so-called democratic parties had never been able to do. The king knows he can't sideline democracy and the constitution against the currents of history. He has been trying his best to make things right. He also needs active support of party leaders like GP Koirala and Madhab Kumar Nepal in this fight which he is waging alone. Peace is the precondition for democracy. Had the politicians been sincere to this country, this situation would never have come. They still have time to cooperate with the king. I am glad Ulbaek is not completely carried away by the Indian propaganda that the king is leading his people towards hell.

Kishor Karki,
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. Reading your editorial ('2062', #242) I got the feeling that if peace is indeed as easy as you make it sound and if the reward to anyone who restores peace is so great then it is difficult to understand why they aren't doing it. The answer, which you hint at, is that this is a power struggle between the monarchy and the Maoists. And both sides regard this as a win-lose situation: if you win you win everything, if you lose you lose everything. As long as that attitude persists we will never have peace, no matter how many editorials you write. It is only when the two armed factions (the unarmed political parties on the streets are just a sideshow to all this) decide that they have to go for a win-win compromise will we have a glimmer of hope. But history is a cruel reminder of the greed and lust of power of rulers and revolutionaries. We Nepalis better be prepared for a long, hard war as these two fight to the bitter end. Not such a positive thought to begin the new year with, but a much more realistic one than your feel-good leader.

Niren Singh,
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