| |
|
This is definitely scary, scary news. One of my best friends is over there now, volunteering with a Nepali organization that is building an orphanage. I'm quite sure he is OK at the present (he's in the Kathmandu valley, relatively safe compared to the rest of the nation) but this isn't a good omen. I was over there last summer for five weeks and was pretty horrified by the massive corruption, rampant murder and disappearances, and general oppression of a place that at the time I had really no knowledge of other than the same mystical/exotic bullshit we're fed through Cat Steven's songs. But make no mistake, this is one of the worst places for human rights in the world right now. However, it's important to note- there isn't in any oil or resources for the West to give a flying fuck about helping the place. The US gave some money to the king's government, presumably for aid, in the 90s, but it was used exclusively to buy weapons to fight the Maoists (obviously the Maoists weren't/aren't too happy about that). At this point, the US (as well as most European countries) has broken off almost all contact with Nepal. When I was over there, there was almost no information about anything getting out. The US had a "do not travel" warning posted for all tourists who were thinking of going there. I believe it's only gotten worse.
I really don't see King Gyanendra being "ousted" at any point in the future. I could possibly see an assination similar to the one he perpetrated against the previous king, his brother Birendra. The story Gyanendra is sticking to (but few are buying) is that Birendra's son, Crown Prince Dipendra, went nuts and killed most of his family, including Birendra and then killed himself in 2001 during a private royal get together. Most Nepalis have ruled this out as completely ridiculous for many reasons, some of the most damning being: there were no witnesses, Gyanendra was mysteriously missing while the rest of his family was killed, and Dipendra supposedly shot himself that night through THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. Unfortunately there is no way to prove that Gyanendra was responsible at this point due to there was absolutely no independent investigation allowed at the time of the massacre and the King's stranglehold over the gov't and media at present is pretty much total. The last I heard there was no independent press in Nepal and not even a shadow of an efficient, much less just justice system (not to mention a functioning "government," he dumped it in Feb. of 2005 and assumed completed executive power).
I think the only way this could possibly get better at this point is if Western governments started to look at Nepal other than a tourist destination for trekkers and hippies and began to realize that this is the place of one of the biggest human rights abuses of the last century. But again, there's no money to be made there. Traveling there was one of the most intense, beautiful and depressing things I have ever done. The people are wonderful, kind and amazing. It breaks my heart to see this happening. But, yeah, what am I doing about it? Urgh. |
|
|
