Stop wasting time - Nepali Times

Editorial
Stop wasting time

FROM ISSUE #535 (07 JAN 2011 - 13 JAN 2011) | TABLE OF CONTENTS

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KIRAN PANDAY

By now it must be clear to most Nepalis that UNMIN's mission in Nepal is a done deal. Even the Maoists are only really pretending that with India on the Security Council, there is any possibility of another extension. So why bother?

The fuss they are kicking up has nothing to do with a concern for the larger peace process. By calling for UNMIN to stay, which they well know is impossible in the current configuration, they are hoping that they will at least be granted a residual mini-UNMIN, or at any rate a UN-related committee to take on some of UNMIN's mandate. Whatever form this body takes, the Maoists will hope to use it as cover for their actions, and to buffer their ex-combatants from direct dealings with the Special Committee and its secretariat. At the very least, their dire predictions now will allow for 'told you so' pontifications later, and justifications for situations that the Maoists themselves will play a part in creating in the months to come. To wit, they are creating room to manouevre.

The inability or refusal of the Maoists to take the difficult decisions that would eventuate in their 'losing' their military capability reflects a deep insecurity about their ability to retain power in a democratic set-up. This is not surprising, given their ideological make-up, and the past and current reluctance to support radical change of Nepal's mainstream political parties and the elite. But their continued reliance on the PLA is now a liability for both Maoists and non-Maoists.

If the intention was never to wean themselves off the PLA and associated militias, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Co. may have imagined they were pulling one over the Nepali public and the international community when they signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord. But if they still believe that they can capture the state and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat, they've pulled the wool over their own eyes.

On the other hand, if they are sincere about becoming a democratic party that relies only on the ballot, and not the bullet, then they had bloody well get on with it. We're all getting old waiting, never mind those wasted lives in the cantonments.

READ ALSO:
Big Madhesi politics, PRASHANT JHA
Post-UNMIN tasks, DAMAKANT JAYSHI

1. K. K. Sharma

They are not wasting time. They are buying time. They need time, in a war of attrition, till others just become too tired to resist. Given the situation this is the best the Maoist bajes can do..... wait for an opportune moment to arrive.

Lets fools keep beliving that Communists can become Democrats, this will facilitate the extension of time needed.

Posted on: 07 JAN 2011 | 4:15 PM NST

2. Arthur
My response to this editorial has already been posted as comment #2 in reply to the similar article on Post-UNMIN tasks.

Some additional point:

1. The editorial openly relies on India's desire to be recognized as the "great power" responsible for Nepal as the basis for removing UNMIN. This mentality will also continue to look to India to "restore order" as the results of Indian interference continue to prevent agreement on a constitution for a new Nepal. This is playing with fire.

2. The "deep insecurity" of Maoists without the PLA is identical to the deep insecurity of anti-Maoists without the NA. The peace agreement provides for eliminating both insecurities by integrating the two armies into one army subordinate to civilian control. The editorial dreams of just eliminating the PLA while preserving the unreformed NA. That could only have happened if the NA had won the civil war. Dreaming that it could still happen without winning a civil war is just silly.

3. The "democratic parties" and NT rely on the unreformed NA and India. This is because they know they cannot rely on the ballot as they represent a shrinking minority while the majority do not want to continue living on less than $2 per day.

If they really were "democratic" they would accept that losing elections means the Maoists will control the government until they are able to defeat it in elections and that consequently a majority government will be able to make changes that the minority don't want. This elementary feature of democracy seems beyond the comprehension of Nepali Times who prefer shouting that "pluralism" means the minority continues to block the majority.

4. Evading the issue and posing as democrats may work for a few months. But by the end of May you either have to support holding elections despite knowing that the Maoists will win or you have to openly call for military ("Presidential") rule and Indian intervention to prevent elections. Doing that in the name of "democracy" will be rather difficult.

Posted on: 07 JAN 2011 | 6:53 PM NST

3. Slarti

January 15th 2011 and thereafter will be no different from April 26th 2006 and thereafter. This country will continue to be the slave of liars and murderous opportunists.

In understanding present events and projecting the future course of action that key stakeholders would take it is important to look at the antecedents of the deal made in Novï¿½2005 and the signatories.

Congress and UML kleptocrats knew that if they let events take their course, a new democratic leadership would emerge, who would not follow the dictats of their tired old leadership. On the other hand, the Maoists were on the backfoot and their murder campaign would likely end shortly. A bankrupt and corrupt elite and a terrorist organization decided to come together to ensure each othersï¿½ survival.

Events which followed the agreement confirm this view. The parties and the Maoists could not, and still cannot, agree over anything other than minor banalities, once they were done with the ridding of Monarchy and Hinduism.

The extension on the 28th May this year, and the inevitable extension on 28th May next, further bear witness to the fact that none of the parties are interested in any sort of settlement towards peace. All they want is to ensure their hold on power post the settling of matters, whenever they are settled.

The exit of UNMIN, the constitution, federalism and secularism are all just words that each of them are employing to stay in the game, to keep people busy, they hold no meaning.

The job of analysts and the media is to expose the truth behind all of this nonsense, instead of making banal comments about what the parties and the Maoists should or should not do.

Posted on: 08 JAN 2011 | 2:30 PM NST

4. Slarti
"What's to hope for in 2011 for Nepal? Most Nepali wishlists would have: a national constitution, general elections, and a fresh start for a newly elected government."

But the incident reveals a deeper problem in the Nepali countryside. There has been no elected, accountable local government in Nepal's 3,915 VDCs and 58 towns since 2002, when Sher Bahadur Deuba dissolved all local governments. In the intervening years, the space for local governance has been usurped by the local branches of national political parties, which are often rabidly partisan.

The villagers dare not speak out publicly because of security reasons or because, in most cases, many of the young people who could have spoken up have left for jobs in the Gulf or Malaysia. Since there are no local elections to hold them accountable, most local politicians thus have an incentive to lord it over villages and towns with a degree of unaccountable power, which has, no surprise, corrupting influences."

The modus operandi of the Peoples Movement II was quite simple. The people were tired of the insurgency, socialist criminals were all over the press, the same drivel that dominates newspapers and magazines today dominated it at the time and, as an aside, would continue to dominate in the future.

Once the party cronies at the local level were assured that the Maoist murderers were on their side they were all over the place forcing people to participate in their marches and strikes.

The level of their dominance and operating method could also be seen in operation when different student organisations strike. The options for the people are simple, stand in the way and we will smash your head. Similarly, at the time of the PM-II good people knew that if they dared stand in the way, they would be murdered.

The outrage that the socialist and communist criminals in the media showed over the death of 22 persons, some of whom had been murdered by their own comrade, was hollow and was indicative of the fraudulent tactics that leftist crooks apply even now. The subsequent Madhes andolan cost more than 50 lives within a few days and all these people were murdered by the party cadres or when the police fired in self-defense.

The aftermath of the peoples movement has been used by parties to amass more wealth. The Maoist continue to charge doctors, teachers and businessmen a levy even now, and on top of that they charge a feudal royalty for their dormant army, threatening to unleash it. Their opposition to UNMIN exit is a direct result of the fact that they fear losing the rent that they collect on behalf of their combatants. It has nothing to do with their desire for peace.

Posted on: 08 JAN 2011 | 4:17 PM NST

5. Satyajeet Nepali

Slarti #3,

Absolutely right!

Nepal's so-called 'peace process' is nothing but the Bastard Child of Opportunism (parties) and Terrorism (Maoists) delivered by the midwifery of Foreign Intrigue (India)!

And the media and 'intelligentsia's' deathly silence, no, even deliberate suffocation, of this Truth tells loads about their intelligence (their ability to understand reality and accurately report it). Worse, it even raises questions about their honesty, integrity and morality if they are ï¿½deliberately suffocatingï¿½ the Truth ï¿½ as I do believe some of them are. Now if those who like to strut about as the nation's "elite" are Dumb, Deluded and/or Deceitful (or "bankrupt and corrupt", as you say) where can you expect the rest of society to get to???

'Naya Nepal', 'naya sambhidhan', "democracy", human rights and peace - my foot! All that was a decoy ï¿½ by the politicians and India ï¿½ to take the public's eyes off the real Truth mentioned above. The aim was simply survival (of those who shouldn't have survived) and removal of the monarchy, the oldest and most stable institution in our country. Our media, the pundits - the so-called 'fourth estate', the 'watchdogs' of society ï¿½ have been caught napping, if not hand-in-glove, vis-ï¿½-vis the Conspirators that got us here.

And hence the reason for their continued silence regarding the true nature and intent of the 12-point and all consequent "Peace Agreements". You tell one lie, you need speak a thousand more to keep hiding it, isn't it? That's what's going on... lies, lies and more lies. Give it enough time, ppl are never gonna be interested in where/what the Original Lie was all about. It's not just the Maoists playing the 'waiting game'. All the conspirators of 'naya nepal' are! They're all waiting till the people are too confused and too apathetic to care to untangle anything anymore.

ï¿½Then they can blame each other, the sun, moon and stars without holding anyone Accountable and all come away scot-free! Only the people suffer.

Posted on: 10 JAN 2011 | 1:22 AM NST