KIRAN PANDAY

Confused by the political wrangling and back-stabbing? Frustrated and cynical about the political leadership? Let's try to simplify it for you. The political forces in this country can be narrowed down to just two types: ones that believe in violence as a political tool, and the others that don't.

Using that criteria, it is pretty clear which side peace-loving Nepalis are on. In last month's regime change the party that believes in the supremacy of the gun was replaced by a coalition of civilian parties. The Maoist self-admitted strategy of grabbing the national army to complete their agenda of total state capture was foiled. Which is why they are again on the warpath.

They seem to have no qualms about stirring the hornet's nest of ethnic unrest, they have no misgivings about punishing the people with impromptu shutdowns like the one they throttled Kathmandu with on Monday.

A banda is terrorism pure and simple. It is invoked and implemented by instilling the fear of physical harm, by whoever calls for it. The streets of Kathmandu on Monday was a preview of the kind of society the Stalinists want in Nepal: blocking ambulances, forcing the sick to walk, detaining a cardiac surgeon and setting fire to his vehicle, deflating the tyres of bicyclists who dared pedal past their barricades and selectively attacking the independent media.

The great pity is that this needn't have been. With their convincing win in last year's elections the Maoists had the peoples' support to engage in non-violent civilian politics. But they chose to retain their militant avatar, their wartime use of threats, intimidation and killings. The call for integration of two armies leaves out the more important component of the guerrilla force: the YCL which roams the country sowing terror.

Unfortunately, the civilian parties are exhibiting the same greedy, selfish, short-sighted opportunism that they showed in the mid-1990s. It's been nearly a month, and the prime minister doesn't yet have a functioning government. They have shown no capacity to learn from mistakes and understand the gravity of what is at stake here. This has hurt efforts to democratise the Maoists, and has emboldened hardliners. If these are our guardians of civilian politics, they don't need enemies.

But the onus lies with the Maoists to prove their commitment to non-violent multi-party democracy by disbanding the YCL and all other militant groups, abide by the laws of the land. They must stop using deceit, stoking pseudo-nationalism and fanning the flames of ethnic conflict.