Face-off, Nepal - Nepali Times

From The Nepali Press
Face-off, Nepal
Chudamani Bhattarai, 16 July

FROM ISSUE #562 (15 JULY 2011 - 21 JULY 2011) | TABLE OF CONTENTS

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"Which side are you on exactly? It would be easier for us if this was clear."

"I am Prachanda, the chairman of this party. The Chairman is the leader and party's line is the leader's line."
That was the exchance between Maoist Chairman Prachanda and Mohan Baidya when the latter asked him to choose between him and Baburam Bhattarai in the party's central committee meeting held on 24 June.

"Our destination is People's Federal Republic and harping on a revolt will not take us there," a central committee member quoted Prachanda as saying. When Prachanda said that the party's line was the leader's line, Baidya accused Prachanda of "decadence". In response, Prachanda said that the party has been following his line since 1990 when he assumed leadership. "How come you, who has been operating under the leadership's policies, is a revolutionary and I a traitor," Prachanda asked.

The Baidya faction has been blaming Prachanda of defeatism on issues of peace, constitution and combatant integration. Prachanda attacked Baidya by raking up issues from the past. "What is the preparation you are talking about? He asked. "If it is the preparation for a guerilla war then guerilla war is not possible in these times anymore. If it is rebellion you are talking about, we have done that already with the People's War. And if you mean insurrection, we are at that stage currently. But guerilla war will not take us where we want to go. The only way is by taking the route of peace, constitution and government."

1. Kabulekanchho
Timely death of Prachanda Path is on the cards and no one is going to shed tears for Lotus Flower's exit from the centre stage of Gaijatraland's politics. Those who are bringing about this demise of the "path" should also understand that they are next in line to be consigned to the dustbin of history if they still cling to Maoism and any such similar now totally irrelevant ideology. We should not be surprised if this marriage of convenience between a self-confessed Dengist and a hardcore Stalinist falls apart even before the course of natural justice start on them (to flush them down the Tukucha Khola). I hope Prachande survives long to see his and his henchmen's political end end one by one.

Posted on: 22 JULY 2011 | 9:01 AM NST