MAOISTS TRANSFER NEPALESE MONEY FROM INDIA TO SWITZERLAND

[ To night, we post below an uncorroborated news report, not recent however,  published in New Blaze from California by a Swiss reporter who writes, "The leaders of the Maoist Party including ministers of the present Nepal Government, namely, Prachanda (Pushpa K. Dahal), Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Krishna Mahara, Hishila Yami and others were here to transfer a huge amount of money from Indian Banks to major Swiss Banks."  This story sounds very unlikely primarily because  the Maoists have not been that long at the helm in Kathmandu. Also they have been able to 'flash an uncorrupt image' todate to the people as they tell  'proletariats' themselves. Could Nepalese Maoists have transferred 'hundreds of millions of euros' to Swiss banks ? How much millions, billions, trillions of euros does Nepal have by itself ? But who knows ? The banks won't tell. Now, the Maoists must tell the truth behind this four years old story as they run the government today. - Editor] 

By Halshi Bash

Union Bank of Switzerland

I am a Swiss national and practice Buddhism. I have been to Lumbini, Nepal, the birth place of Siddharta Gautama and other places like Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lukla, Gorkha and several Himalayan regions, many times. I love Nepal the way Nepalese do.

The reason I have so much affection towards Nepal may be because my professor and mentor, the late Tony Hagen, renowned economist and very popular with Nepalese people, loved Nepal more than his own country, Switzerland. He never tired of talking about Nepal.

Though I am a native of Zurich, the German speaking city of Switzerland, I am currently residing in Rue de Rhone (Rhone lane or avenue) of Geneva, the French speaking part of the Swiss confederation. I have been here three years because of my employment contract with the Swiss Bank, "Credit Suisse". All of Switzerland's major banks are located within walking distance.

It is the reason most of the employees of different banks come to a very popular eatery, "cafe de Geneve" to have their breakfast and lunch. At these times, we always try to outsmart our colleagues and friends of different banks by initiating a very hot or new item of talk. Swiss tradition is that whoever has a new or very hot topic is considered to be a smarter than the others. But the topic should be genuine and authentic. Anyone can lose his or her image for a whole lifetime if he or she tells an unreliable story. So, the Swiss people have a habit of speaking based on authenticity.

Very recently, we were all outsmarted by our friends at another bank. I was particularly shocked because the topic was related to Nepal, my dream country and by faith my mother country because Buddhism was born in Nepal.

The very hot item of talk was so shocking that if the people of Nepal listened to it, they would have a million watt electric shock. The leaders of the Maoist Party including ministers of the present Nepal Government, namely, Prachanda (Pushpa K. Dahal), Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Krishna Mahara, Hishila Yami and others were here to transfer a huge amount of money from Indian Banks to major Swiss Banks. The amount of that money is even more shocking because it is in the hundreds of million Euros. If the people of Nepal ask the Swiss Government, it can influence the Swiss Banks for the disclosure of the amounts and the account holders.

For my part, as a person having deep affection towards Nepal, I will do my best to find things in details but the Nepali people should understand my limitations as an Assistant Manager. The Nepali people should ask the Swiss Government to freeze the money as soon as possible otherwise the Swiss politicians could be bribed by the Banks to keep the Bank's secrecy.

It has also been said that some European Union members are helping the Maoists to transfer money to Swiss Banks. Why are the capitalist western countries helping extremist radical Maoists is beyond my understanding which could be a good subject of research for the people of Nepal.

@ Newsblaze

IN INDIA, A MOVEMENT FRAYED BY SELF-INTEREST 

[In April, an old man called Anna Hazare acquired several whisperers, after he arrived in Delhi in his traditional whites, sat in the heart of the capital and declared that he would starve himself to death if the government did not create an autonomous institution with extraordinary powers to investigate corruption charges against politicians and officials. What ensued was a string of death fasts and festive demonstrations widely known here as the anti-corruption movement.]

By Manu Joseph

NEW DELHI — Public meetings in India, especially political gatherings, usually have the central figure seated in a red velvet chair that is the largest chair on the dais, or even in the district. On occasion, say, if he is on a death fast, this figure is on a thin white mattress. But there is always a small group of people who keep appearing on the dais to bend reverentially and whisper something extremely important into the ear of the Leader, who then nods. There is usually no dialogue.

From Gandhi’s grainy sepia time until this day, the whisperers can be seen in the background, saying things that cannot wait for the meeting to finish. Because of their frequent appearances on the dais, the whisperers acquire a level of importance in the eyes of the audience.

And through their whispers, these lieutenants, who are usually in competition with each other, show everyone that they have special access to the chief. They have his ear. In time, one of them becomes the Leader and others come to whisper.

In April, an old man called Anna Hazare acquired several whisperers, after he arrived in Delhi in his traditional whites, sat in the heart of the capital and declared that he would starve himself to death if the government did not create an autonomous institution with extraordinary powers to investigate corruption charges against politicians and officials. What ensued was a string of death fasts and festive demonstrations widely known here as the anti-corruption movement.

Television anchors called it a “revolution,” even an “Indian Spring.”

Mr. Hazare and half a dozen key whisperers came to be called Team Anna, and they became the central characters in the sudden and hugely entertaining middle-class-sponsored movement against politicians, who are elected by the Other People. At the heart of the movement was India’s favorite hypothesis — that it is Indian politicians who have created a corrupt society, not the other way around. It is a hypothesis that would be proved wrong, ironically, by Team Anna itself.

One of the most important people who has Mr. Hazare’s ancient ear is Kiran Bedi, a serious woman with short hair combed sideways and clever eyes full of meaning. She not only whispers to Mr. Hazare; she also usually sits beside him when he is on television. In August, as Mr. Hazare fasted on the dais, she threw a towel over her face and playacted to show that politicians cannot be trusted because they wear masks.

For many years, Ms. Bedi was the most famous police officer in India. Even children knew her name. In 1978, she was given the President’s Gallantry Award for caning a group of demonstrators, including a man who had charged at her with a sword. The award came with a useful benefit — discounted airfares.

Days ago, her own little scam was exposed. It turns out that Ms. Bedi has been using the Gallantry Award to buy discounted air tickets and charging her hosts — public function organizers and the like — full business-class fares.

Ms. Bedi does not deny this. She says that she fudged the bills to feed her organization, which provides social services that includes spreading literacy and improving the condition of impoverished women.

In a tradition of Team Anna, which tends to resort to hyperbole when logical statements are sought, she said, “Hang some of us if that helps.” In a similar vein, Mr. Hazare frequently says when faced with adversity, “I am ready to face the bullets.”

All this when nobody has shown any interest in hanging Ms. Bedi or shooting Mr. Hazare.

Some of Ms. Bedi’s own colleagues in Team Anna have accepted that her defense is weak. Mr. Hazare, meanwhile, has taken a vow of silence and so, naturally, does not speak to the news media these days. His written statements on the Bedi affair have been ambiguous. The episode is a huge blow to the moral dignity of his movement, and it has dimmed the Team’s halo.

A few weeks ago, another important member of the Team, Prashant Bhushan, was kicked and punched by rightist thugs in his office because he had said that Kashmiris should be allowed to decide through a plebiscite whether they want to be a part of India.

Mr. Hazare, while expressing sympathy for the colleague who was beaten up, said that as far as he was concerned, Kashmir was part of India, and that fact should not be put into question by a plebiscite. (A few months before, Mr. Hazare had advocated a referendum to reach out directly to Indians and ask them whether they wanted his version of an anti-corruption institution, also known as Jan Lokpal. He asked the government why it was afraid of a direct vote of its people.) The episode is believed to have strained the relationship between him and Mr. Bhushan. This is part of other serious tensions within Team Anna.

One of Mr. Hazare’s estranged dais-whisperers, Agnivesh, who is always in saffron robes, has accused Mr. Hazare’s most important deputy, Arvind Kejriwal, of misappropriating 8 million rupees, or about $150,000, that the public had donated to Team Anna. Mr. Kejriwal has denied any wrongdoing, and Mr. Agnivesh has not provided any clinching evidence.

But righteousness is a perception game. Team Anna’s initial success was securing the general perception that here were some people, finally, who were incorruptible. That perception is now changing. A few days ago, a man threw his slipper at Mr. Kenjriwal, unthinkable just a few months ago.

There are simple reasons why it is hard to sustain an anti-corruption movement in India. Corruption here is a team effort. Almost everyone is complicit, not just politicians. Indians are hard-wired to be believe that a system of order is an adversary, that they must be street-smart to survive, that there is always a backdoor channel. That is why you cannot draw white lines on the road in India, call them lanes and expect people to follow a Western principle called lane discipline.

That is why Ms. Bedi fudged her bills — she was only being street-smart. That is why there is so much bribery, tax evasion and illicit money in India.

The eventual self-destruction of the anti-corruption movement would not be such a calamitous development. Corruption is not the most serious problem in India, as the middle class makes it out to be. For one thing, it has killed fewer Indians than conflicts over religion and associated ideologies.

Manu Joseph is editor of the Indian newsweekly Open and author of the novel “Serious Men.”


@ The New York Times