US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU1532

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001532 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
MANILA FOR OFDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, ASEC, CASC, PINR, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: Maoist Students Bomb Kathmandu School, Injuring 
Six 
 
REFS: A) Kathmandu 1315, B) Kathmandu 481 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  Students shouting Maoist slogans set 
off a bomb at a private business college in Kathmandu 
August 8, injuring six.  The school occupies a building 
owned by the King's Press Secretary, who lives next door 
and was not harmed.  The motive for the attack is unclear 
as no large-scale Maoist strikes or actions have been 
announced for the coming days.  End Summary. 
 
Bomb at Business College Injures Six 
------------------------------------ 
 
2. (U) A bomb exploded at a private school in the 
Maitidevi area of central Kathmandu early on August 8, 
police sources confirmed.  Six people were injured, 
including three passers-by, and one victim remains in 
critical condition.  Between 6:45 and 7:00 a.m., a group 
of six youths chanting Maoist slogans entered the "College 
of Applied Business," told everyone to leave, and set off 
a bomb outside the door to the principal's office.  [Note: 
No/no American students are enrolled at the school, which 
is located about five kilometers southeast of the Embassy. 
No/no Embassy residences are located nearby.  End Note.] 
 
Similar to Last Blast 
--------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Witnesses told Embassy staff that the explosion 
was similar in effect to a July 5 blast at Prime Minister 
Sher Bahadur Deuba's party office (Ref A).  After an 
investigation that tied the July 5 explosion to Maoist 
insurgents, police reportedly arrested one man and 
confiscated explosive materials from his residence. 
 
Students Object to Fees, Sanskrit 
--------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Another school in Kathmandu's Maitidevi 
neighborhood was attacked March 1, when gangs of students 
raided two different schools in the capital, dousing 
equipment with kerosene and setting fires.  These attacks 
were intended to terrorize the public into following a 
"school strike" they had called for March 4-5 (Ref B).  In 
recent years, Maoist-affiliated student groups have 
attacked and vandalized schools throughout the country. 
In addition, they have issued calls protesting "fees" 
charged to public school students and demanding reductions 
in tuition.  The Maoists also have also made known their 
opposition to the teaching of Sanskrit, which they 
identify with reactionary Hinduism. 
 
Building Owned by Palace Official 
--------------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) The building bombed on August 8 is owned by the 
Press Secretary at Nepal's Royal Palace, Mohan Bahadur 
Pandey, who leases it to the school.  Pandey's own 
residence is adjacent to the affected building.  He was 
reportedly at home at the time of the blast, but was 
unharmed.  In conversations with us, both journalists and 
police officers voiced speculation that the Maoists 
intentionally attacked property owned by a palace official 
to make a "symbolic" gesture. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6. (SBU) Initial reports suggest that the August 8 
explosion was the work of the same people who bombed the 
PM's party office July 5.  It also fits a pattern of 
agitation by student groups either affiliated with or 
sympathetic to the Maoist insurgents.  However, unlike the 
March 1 incidents, which were meant to enforce a school 
strike, the August 8 attack does not seem connected to any 
impending Maoist action.  A general strike called for 
September 16 is still more than five weeks away.  Given 
the pattern of previous attacks against schools in the 
neighborhood, Post judges that the palace official's 
ownership of the property was merely coincidental. 
 
BOGGS