Politics of Dissent

Women wait on the temple steps for the living goddess Kumari to appear at Indra Jatra.

Meanwhile, on the final day of the festival, the King, who had been prevented from attending on the first day, appeared in the crowd to visit Kumari, and receive a tika (blessing mark on the forehead) and prasad (blessed food) from the deity. Kumari is believed to possess a divine power to protect the nation which she transfers to the head of state during Indra Jatra. In the past this has always been represented by the King, but as noted in an earlier blog, this year the Prime Minister received the divine empowerment. Hence the King's sudden, and unforeseen appearance before Kumari could be viewed as an attempt to undermine this changing of the guard, and has led to immediate objections from Nepal's Prime Minister.

In addition to palace intrigue, the country continues to be beset with political drama. Police have arrested members of the Terai Army (a group demanding rights for the marginalised Madeshis in the Terai region), who were responsible for the September 2nd bombings in Sundhara, Tripureshwor and Balaju in Kathmandu. The Nepali Congress factions led by present and past P.M.s Koirala and Deuba, which had split in 2002, have reunited to fight the elections in November. The CPN-UML and the Maoists consider a united front also. The Tharu Rastriya Mukti Morcha (Tharu National Liberation Front), a breakaway indigenous front from the Maoists, have threatened an armed struggle unless their demands for an autonomous Tharu federation is met.

The Maoists continue with their disruptions of the lead-up to the elections as they persist in their demand for proportional representation in all of the seats to be contested in the elections (rather than the current 50 percent of the seats to be contested). The have recently gheraoed (surrounded) the administrative offices of all districts in Nepal, obstructing the work of the offices. They have also obstructed poll awareness programmes in the countryside, and yesterday members of the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) vanadalised the Kantipur printing press which prints the Kantipur and the Kathmandu Post. Meanwhile, Maoist- organised bandhs (strikes) continue across Nepal.