TOTAL CONTROL
Everyone knows that the NC has been wolfing down ultra leftists who don't commune to their ideas of nationalism and patriotism. This left an ideological vacuum, which was filled by an ultra-leftist force inclined to fascist nature. Ironically, Narayan Khadka ('Total control,' #335) never asks for intra-party democracy. There are always those in Nepal who are trying to define freedom of speech according to what suits them. In the west, students of political science would enjoy reading Khadka but in Nepal, where people suffer moral and political oppressions and extreme poverty, his opinions regarding communists make no sense, except for few anti-communists and neo-liberals with rightist tendencies.

Nepali Times may be proud of him but for the masses it's hard to digest that instead of building confidence amongst all, one could prefer the politics of fear and reactionaries. Lastly, the educated and sensitive international community should not align with outfits whose commitments and efforts to social justice and equity have proven to be inefficient. The Maoists may not be prepared to govern and their base appears to be extremely violent but the NC and the UML were failures. This is the truth that all Nepalis know.

Nirmal Ghimire,
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* You can disagree about what Khadka wrote about Mao, Lenin, and Marx but his analysis of Maoist policies are spot on. Unfortunately, the Maoists are not hiding their intentions either. Their aim is total control of the Nepali media.

These media attacks are attacks on democracy. Newspapers that supported the Maoists cause are the ones who are getting this latest whipping. It is unfortunate that they refused to listen to their well wishers who warned them of these consequences. Khadka is right about the Scandinavian countries still supporting the Maoists. One can only hope that they will wake up and see the true totalitarian intentions of the Maoists.

Kamal Kishor,
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FOUL CRY
* There is no point in human rights activist Krishna Pahadi crying foul now ('My heart breaks to see the country's state,' #435). When we were saying that the Maoists can't be trusted, people like him branded us royalists. They derived a lot of benefit from the international community for appearing to be ultra-liberal and promoting the Maoist agenda. I blame people like Pahadi for the state our country is in today.

Bhuwan Sharma,
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