From: "Magnus Bernhardsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:45:10 +0200 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Maoists force land-reform? PM freezes land sales ahead of radical reform measures Announcement could be challenged in Court Post Report KATHMANDU, Aug 16 � Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today brought a screeching halt to all land sales in the country by announcing a freeze in land transactions until the government introduces new land reform laws. Announcing the revolutionary measures in the House of Representatives today, which was aired live by state radio and television, the Prime Minister said the steps were being taken "to make land available to the land-less, the poor and the economically backward sections of the society." This step would help in the creation of an equitable society by utilizing the labour, skill and capital of the landlords in productive field, the Prime Minister said, adding that the government would soon introduce new legislation in parliament which would scale down the ceiling on land holdings so that excess land could be distributed to the poor. Soon after Deuba�s announcement, all land transactions throughout the country came to a halt today, and will continue to remain so until the promised legislation becomes law, which could take anywhere between a couple of months to a year. The main opposition party, CPN-UML, was quick to welcome the annoucement. UML Spokesman, Pradeep Nepal said in a press release issued late Thursday, "We welcome the annoucement, but it will be of no use and will not give any output if the government fails to implement it." The prevailing land ceiling in the Kingdom for agricultural and household purposes respectively are 50 ropanis and eight ropanis in Kathmandu Valley, 80 ropanis and 16 ropanis in the mountains and 25 bighas and 3 bighas in the Terai (the plains), according to the officials of the Ministry of Land Reforms. This is not the first time that Deuba has taken bold land reform measures. While Prime Minister from 1995-97, Deuba had also abolished the dual ownership system of agricultural land, giving away half of such land to "mohis." Such mohis until then had rights to only one quarter of the land they tilled, while the rest belonged to the landowner causing problems in productivity in agriculture. The Prime Minister�s new land reform initiative may have come about after much hard-thinking, but the rebel Maoists also have a role to play in it. According to reliable sources close to Deuba, the Maoist leadership was demanding that the prime minister institute radical land reform measures before expected negotiations as a show of his commitment to issues dear to the Maoists. Reforming the nation�s land holding system has been a battle cry of all communist parties. These parties and critics have always charged that most of Nepal�s prime agricultural land has been held by a handful minority of large land-owning families who form a powerful bloc within the governing Nepali Congress and the opposition Rastriya Prajatantra Party. The charges were partly proved true when Deuba�s abolition of the "dual ownership" system in the mid-1990s was challenged in the Supreme Court by groups aligned to the land-holding class in these parties. The Supreme Court however backed the reform measures. Some analysts say, the Prime Minister�s latest initiative could also attract a similar challenge in the Supreme Court. The right to hold, buy and sell property, including land, is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, and any attempt to curtail that activity could be argued as unconstitutional, they point out. "It (Deuba�s announcement), no doubt, is an infringement of the people�s right to hold property," says Surendra Bhandari, an advocate of the Supreme Court. "But since the constitution also inspires social reform, it also embodies that aspect. Both of these logic are equally forceful in Prime Minister Deuba�s announcement." Land reform in Nepal was first introduced by King Mahendra in 2021 B.S., four years after he jailed the country�s first democratically elected Prime Minister B. P. Koirala, who had also promised radical reforms. Koirala could not bring his thoughts into practice due to the royal takeover in 2017 B.S. "A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past." Fidel Castro "The Marxist-Leninist doctrine on class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat affirms the role of violence in revolution, makes a distinction between unjust, counter-revolutionary violence and just, revolutionary violence, between the violence of the exploiting classes, and that of the masses." General Vo Nguyen Giap "Without a Peoples Army the people have nothing" Mao Tse-Tung _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
