The violent legacy of Comrade Mao continues to reign.

In their biggest strike against civilians since the start of insurgency 10 years ago, Nepal Maoists today set off a landmine which ripped apart a packed bus, killing at least 37 people and leaving 17 seriously wounded.

The explosion took place in Mudhekhola in Chitwan district, some 170 km south west of Kathmandu.

The Red Soldiers have made their bosses proud indeed. The said bosses are in New Delhi, engaging in dialogue to end the “crisis the King has wrought” upon Nepal.

The attack comes at a time when Maoists, branded as terrorists by the governments of Nepal and India, are believed to be in Delhi, exploring possible dialogue with Nepal’s mainstream political party leaders on how to broadbase the opposition to the King.

Warms your heart, doesn’t it? The terrorists-on-ground kill innocent people while their leaders cozy up with members of a duly elected government. In turn, these duly elected worthies deny that no such meeting happened.

Am I letting a conspiracy theory loose or is there a genuine connection between Karat’s Stealth Meet and the present tragedy? The timing makes me think so: the interval between the two incidents is barely two weeks. Too close for coincidence.

The Maoists have their own version:

Communist rebels today said that Nepal’s royal government may have had a hand in a landmine explosion that killed 38 people and wounded 71 others on a bus, and vowed to conduct their own investigation into the attack. [...]“We also have suspicion that this could be a conspiracy to disrupt the integrated movement against the royal government,” the rebel statement said without elaborating.

Which is the lesser evil? Whatever his faults, Gyanendra has acted decisively, effectively blocking a potential Communist takeover. The Maoists who on the outside maintain a pretence of supporting democracy are actually subverting the country from within. Their posturing gives all of it away: on the ground, they’ve carved out small and large pockets where they are the Law–disobedience is death; their string-pullers aka leaders, famously strut around in democratic gaits.

Gyanendra’s sudden quirk has made them angry–their plans have gone (temporarily?) askew, and victory, which was in near sight has to wait again. As I see it, the consequences are mainly two-pronged: stepping up terror within Nepal, and running for help to brother-terrorist supporters like Karat.