KATHMANDU: UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ today claimed that his party had people’s support to lead the movement for national independence to a logical conclusion.

“Former king Birendra had no public support and Madan Bhandari had adopted a different strategy so they failed in their fight for national independence,” he said, addressing an interaction on national independence, organised by Newa State Committee of the party here.

“If someone is thinking of aborting this movement by murdering me, it’s wrong

since there are thousands of people to lead the movement,” he said, adding that his party was based on the sacrifice of thousands of people.

He also claimed that the Maoists had strategically adopted federalism, and not out of an impulse, to counter the foreign powers’ ‘buying’ all the leaders in the centralised Nepal.

“With this strategy, the states will be more powerful and the influence of foreign forces can be weakened,” he said, stressing that empowering local people could strengthen national independence.

Prachanda claimed that former king Birendra had sent a message through his brother to the erstwhile CPN-Maoist while the party also wanted to urge him to become the first president of a Republican Nepal. “He was killed before the meeting took place,” he said, arguing that the king was killed because he had proposed Nepal as a Zone of Peace and had tried to form an alliance with the Maoists.

He said the issues raised by intellectuals would be taken seriously and adopted when necessary. A broader front of nationalist, progressive and leftist forces would be formed to fight for national independence. “It’s high time to decide for everyone in the Nepali Army and Police forces, besides the public, whether to stand for national independence or betray the nation,” he said.

“While conceptualising the issues of civilian supremacy and national independence,

we hoped to prepare a base for

a broader joint alliance. This

programme has become the stepping stone for a new

ideological front,” he said. “Nobody can stop the formation of the front.”

He revealed that one intellectual personality today warned him of serious consequences, recalling the contexts when former king Birendra and UML general secretary Madan Bhandari were killed.

Citing that many Nepalis had contributed to freeing India from the British rule, he said Nepali people did not want anything from India besides freedom. “Now we want relationships with both of our neighbours on the basis of equality,” he said.

Maoist vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya ‘Kiran’ and central committee member Shashi Shrestha as well as women’s rights activist Renu Rajbhandary, Dr Sundar Mani Dixit, Nawaraj Subedi of CPN-Unified, Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, Phanindra Nepal, former governor Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry, Yuvaraj Lama and Dr Surendra KC were also present on the occasion.

Prachanda, Bhattarai allay rift reports

BIRATNAGAR: UCPN-Maoist president Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and the party’s vice-president Dr Baburam Bhattarai today said there was no rivalry between them.

Speaking at a training program for Kochila state-level activists, the two Maoist leaders said they were aware of conspiracies being hatched to bring about a rift in the party.

At a time when the media have been publishing news reports on the two leaders’ ‘strained’ relations, the two leaders clarified to activists that they was no enmity between them. At the program where only state committee members were allowed in, Prachanda accused the media of spreading “illusions” by reporting that there has been a rift between him and Dr Bhattarai on the basis of Prachanda’s speech at a training program in Khanna Garment.

Saying that only some parts of his speech were reported while the rest was ignored, he claimed that foreigners were trying to be active by raising the issue of who the candidate for the premiership from the party should be.

Prachanda also said that the party took a cautious decision and defied international intervention after the issue that some representatives of foreign countries spoke for him as the prime minister while some others named Bhattarai.Stating that the party has unitedly been taking its agitation ahead on national autonomy and civilian supremacy, Prachanda claimed that oppositions have become helpless.

He also urged activists not to misinterpret internal strife in the party and added that the UCPN-M always got an impetus from such conflict within the party. Addressing the program, Dr Bhattarai said that Prachanda’s speech at the program at Khanna Garment has already been discussed and matters settled in the central committee. Stating that there was no rift whatsoever between him and Prachanda, he urged activists not to be carried away by news reports. He urged them to be united for the ongoing agitation.