Something is definitely rotten in the state of Nepal. Our erstwhile warriors of democracy have wasted 12 precious years quibbling about who gets to be on the top bunk, making people more and more disenchanted with this thing called democracy, feeding frustrations on which the Maoists have shrewdly cashed in with some classic grassroots mobilising and periodic senseless slaughter, and with a little bit of help from like-minded friends from the right the Maoists are on the verge of throwing parliamentary democracy into the dustbin of history. That is the story so far.
A year ago, this could have been termed alarmist, but not anymore. The country and people are in danger of regressing by a decade. Meanwhile, even when they are faced with the prospect of systemic erasure, our political parties haven't stopped playing games. There they go, bickering over power which will give them the opportunity to top up their war chests for next year's local elections. After the last bout of blood-letting in Rukumkot and Rumaule, you would have thought they would have learnt their lessons and agreed on some fundamentals. But no, it was too much to expect from these visionless, self-centered ostriches. The Nepali Congress has shown some signs of squirming out of its slumber, but dragged down by a year of lethargy, forward movement is slow. The majority party in Parliament has the stature and moral standing of a toothless lion.
The plot has thickened. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala brought the party into a huddle and announced a Plan. He put it to a cabinet meeting which the Army and Police chiefs also attended, and approved the Integrated Security and Development Plan (ISDP). He then took the whole group over to the royal palace to meet King Birendra. The broad outline about the rules of enagement for this army-supervised hearts-and-minds programme seemed to have been reached. But then a day later in Tokha, the C-in-C backtracks. Now, now, he says, let's not get carried away here. Addressing cadets in this former sanatorium, he lectured Nepal's civilian political bosses on the need for the unity. Without a political consensus, he said, the boys would stay in their barracks. There has been an uproar in the media and Prajwalla Rana says his remarks were exaggerated. You judge: we print choice excerpts of his speech on p. 15.
No one has any illusions: even if it finally gets off the ground, the ISDP is just a band-aid to stop a haemmorage. And so, here we are back at the fundamental question which is what has given the Maoists such an edge: Which darbar controls the army, Raj or Singha? The Constitution is no help, its framers have left it deliberately vague. The ambivalence also points to a larger clash between the forces of a discredited democratic leadership with a discredited autocratic leadership. The Maoists are waiting in the hills beyond the Valley rim to take on the victor, as their leadership made clear in Sindhupalchok this week.
Bit of unsolicited advice to the army: the present government may be lousy, but it was elected by the people and it foots your bills. So if the government says go, you go.
To the government and opposition: you fellows have not been able to inspire confidence in the army, which is the institution of last resort. So get to it.
To the Maoist leadership: Do you want to rule over a nation fragmented and ruined by war? If not, this is the time to join the mainstream and convert your bullets into ballots.
