No end to crises, conflicts
Media Communications Center
March 29, 2007
No end to crises, conflicts
BY SHASHI P.B.B. MALLA & CHANDRA BAHADUR PARBATE
The present government of the Seven Party Alliance has shown no tendency to solve the country’s ills. It has been terribly weakened by the relentless attacks of the Maoists — on paper, their comrade-in-arms — from within and without the seat of power. Even to the casual observer, the government adopts an ostrich-like attitude to the criticism of the erstwhile terrorists. That the government is muddling through is to put it very mildly.
Real or imagined, the Maoists see the enemies of the revolution and loktantra (‘total democracy’) everywhere. So much so that their leaders have developed a paranoid attitude to domestic developments and accuse Royalists of involvement in all and sundry. On Saturday, their deputy leader in the ‘interim parliament’, Dev Gurung in a demonstration of one-upmanship bluntly demanded the resignation of PM Girija Prasad Koirala. In a blanket accusation, Gurung stated that Koirala had the backing of the Palace, the Indian government, the Hindu extremists (fundamentalists) and other national and international reactionary forces!
Just a few weeks ago, Koirala went back on his word of giving the King ‘political space’ and publicly demanded his abdication. That India and other nations, as well as, international bodies have voiced their support to the peace process and have stated so on various occasions should not be news to the good comrade. What may have been news to him is that comments from international observers (take for example the German ambassador to Nepal or the European Union delegation) have indicated that the Maoists themselves and their antics are an obstacle to peace. All in all, Gurung’s statement in its Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist-Maoist honchospeak is baseless
That the Maoists themselves are one of the biggest impediment to peace seems to have been realized by a fair portion of the populace. Last week, the Maoists (and the government parties) received a taste of their own medicine when industrialists and businessmen called an indefinite general strike in protest against the continuing Maoist atrocities and the government’s failure to provide security. Indeed, the Seven Party Alliance had failed miserably to call their Maoist partners to order and in sustaining law and order. Therefore, the bandh — unlike similar ones previously -- had the wholehearted support of the general public.
However, it seems that the business leaders were afraid of their own shadows and failed to recognize the primacy of politics. In their speeches at Basantapur, the heart of the old city of Kathmandu, they made the concession that they had no quarrel with the ‘political’ road map of the Seven Parties and the Maoists (SPA+M). All they wanted was to carry out their industries and businesses without let or hindrance. Unfortunately for them – and the Nepalese people — they failed to comprehend that it is not possible to compartmentalize the political, economic and financial and social spheres. They are all mutually interdependent. To quote the high priest of democracy, Robert A. Dahl: "What the Greek statesman Pericles said of Athenian democracy in 431 B.C.E. applies equally to modern democracy: ‘the freedom we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.’ "The lack of civil courage and their ineptitude in comprehending the equations and dynamics of power led to their attitude of appeasement. Politics is the art of the possible, and it affects us every day in every possible way. The public will not be so supportive the next time around. And they have no one to blame but themselves when the Maoists –and the Seven Parties — soon come around for renewed ‘donations’. And this is none other than to create a coercive state in order to secure their own domination.
The recent violent clashes in Rautahat district headquarters Gaur leading to whole-scale massacre were provoked by both Maoists and the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) as both were adamant in holding mass meetings at the same place simultaneously. That people are losing life and limb due to an issue that should be resolved by political discourse is a tragedy in itself.
Unfortunately, resorting to violent means in order to assert political position has become commonplace and this is in most parts due to the Maoists and their way to subdue political competition. As such, the only new thing about the events in Rautahat is the scale of the violence inflicted and the fact that Maoists supporters came out worse. Massive outside interference cannot be ruled out as Gaur sits right on the Nepalese-Indian border and many assailants are said to have fled south. Still after the Gaur incident, the Maoists were quick to seize the initiative. By bringing the dead Maoists to Kathmandu, holding an impressive demonstration and dirge in Basantapur and cremating the martyrs in Pashupatinath, they successfully posed as victims.
Dev Gurung also made the unbelievable statement that if their demands were not previously met (that is, the illegal and unconstitutional declaration of a People’s Republic without the people’s mandate, constitutional assembly or referendum), the Maoists would not be part of the ‘interim government’. This would, of course, not stop them to throw spanners into the wheels of any interim government that excludes them. The Maoists are, after all so-close to grabbing power with the semblance of legality after having failed miserably to do so by armed revolution.
They seems to have fallen out with their erstwhile official/semi-official Indian masters and controllers, and at the same time the Maoist leadership is rapidly losing authority and control over the cadres. The latter, after a year of soft living are in no mood to return to the jungle and the killing fields, and have also not given up their bad habits of continuing atrocities — of extortion and intimidation. In addition, the Maoists have completely lost their allies and support base in the southern Terai.
Thus, in an unlikely twist of fate, the Maoists have been forced to take on a nationalist attitude. But all indications point to a tactical necessity in order to survive. In a telling indictment, the Maoists have accused their political partners of complacency with regard to the noxious developments in the Terai.
BY SHASHI P.B.B. MALLA & CHANDRA BAHADUR PARBATE
The present government of the Seven Party Alliance has shown no tendency to solve the country’s ills. It has been terribly weakened by the relentless attacks of the Maoists — on paper, their comrade-in-arms — from within and without the seat of power. Even to the casual observer, the government adopts an ostrich-like attitude to the criticism of the erstwhile terrorists. That the government is muddling through is to put it very mildly.
Real or imagined, the Maoists see the enemies of the revolution and loktantra (‘total democracy’) everywhere. So much so that their leaders have developed a paranoid attitude to domestic developments and accuse Royalists of involvement in all and sundry. On Saturday, their deputy leader in the ‘interim parliament’, Dev Gurung in a demonstration of one-upmanship bluntly demanded the resignation of PM Girija Prasad Koirala. In a blanket accusation, Gurung stated that Koirala had the backing of the Palace, the Indian government, the Hindu extremists (fundamentalists) and other national and international reactionary forces!
Just a few weeks ago, Koirala went back on his word of giving the King ‘political space’ and publicly demanded his abdication. That India and other nations, as well as, international bodies have voiced their support to the peace process and have stated so on various occasions should not be news to the good comrade. What may have been news to him is that comments from international observers (take for example the German ambassador to Nepal or the European Union delegation) have indicated that the Maoists themselves and their antics are an obstacle to peace. All in all, Gurung’s statement in its Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist-Maoist honchospeak is baseless
That the Maoists themselves are one of the biggest impediment to peace seems to have been realized by a fair portion of the populace. Last week, the Maoists (and the government parties) received a taste of their own medicine when industrialists and businessmen called an indefinite general strike in protest against the continuing Maoist atrocities and the government’s failure to provide security. Indeed, the Seven Party Alliance had failed miserably to call their Maoist partners to order and in sustaining law and order. Therefore, the bandh — unlike similar ones previously -- had the wholehearted support of the general public.
However, it seems that the business leaders were afraid of their own shadows and failed to recognize the primacy of politics. In their speeches at Basantapur, the heart of the old city of Kathmandu, they made the concession that they had no quarrel with the ‘political’ road map of the Seven Parties and the Maoists (SPA+M). All they wanted was to carry out their industries and businesses without let or hindrance. Unfortunately for them – and the Nepalese people — they failed to comprehend that it is not possible to compartmentalize the political, economic and financial and social spheres. They are all mutually interdependent. To quote the high priest of democracy, Robert A. Dahl: "What the Greek statesman Pericles said of Athenian democracy in 431 B.C.E. applies equally to modern democracy: ‘the freedom we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.’ "The lack of civil courage and their ineptitude in comprehending the equations and dynamics of power led to their attitude of appeasement. Politics is the art of the possible, and it affects us every day in every possible way. The public will not be so supportive the next time around. And they have no one to blame but themselves when the Maoists –and the Seven Parties — soon come around for renewed ‘donations’. And this is none other than to create a coercive state in order to secure their own domination.
The recent violent clashes in Rautahat district headquarters Gaur leading to whole-scale massacre were provoked by both Maoists and the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) as both were adamant in holding mass meetings at the same place simultaneously. That people are losing life and limb due to an issue that should be resolved by political discourse is a tragedy in itself.
Unfortunately, resorting to violent means in order to assert political position has become commonplace and this is in most parts due to the Maoists and their way to subdue political competition. As such, the only new thing about the events in Rautahat is the scale of the violence inflicted and the fact that Maoists supporters came out worse. Massive outside interference cannot be ruled out as Gaur sits right on the Nepalese-Indian border and many assailants are said to have fled south. Still after the Gaur incident, the Maoists were quick to seize the initiative. By bringing the dead Maoists to Kathmandu, holding an impressive demonstration and dirge in Basantapur and cremating the martyrs in Pashupatinath, they successfully posed as victims.
Dev Gurung also made the unbelievable statement that if their demands were not previously met (that is, the illegal and unconstitutional declaration of a People’s Republic without the people’s mandate, constitutional assembly or referendum), the Maoists would not be part of the ‘interim government’. This would, of course, not stop them to throw spanners into the wheels of any interim government that excludes them. The Maoists are, after all so-close to grabbing power with the semblance of legality after having failed miserably to do so by armed revolution.
They seems to have fallen out with their erstwhile official/semi-official Indian masters and controllers, and at the same time the Maoist leadership is rapidly losing authority and control over the cadres. The latter, after a year of soft living are in no mood to return to the jungle and the killing fields, and have also not given up their bad habits of continuing atrocities — of extortion and intimidation. In addition, the Maoists have completely lost their allies and support base in the southern Terai.
Thus, in an unlikely twist of fate, the Maoists have been forced to take on a nationalist attitude. But all indications point to a tactical necessity in order to survive. In a telling indictment, the Maoists have accused their political partners of complacency with regard to the noxious developments in the Terai.
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