The CPN (Maoist) is being remade in the image of the CPN (UML). That is why the Maoist rebels are talking about a 'people's democracy for the 21st century'-exactly the same way the UML advocated a multiparty people's democracy in the past. The Maoists used to talk about a new democratic model that would unite the Nepali Congress, the UML and the king. When the UML did the same thing and joined hands with the king and India, we said the party had betrayed the country. Now the Maoists have taken up a similar role. They have expressed their soft corner for the monarch and are getting closer to India by criticising US imperialism. They are smart enough to know which side their bread is buttered. The Maoists have not even raised a voice against matters like the WTO, privatisation and liberalism. They know that protesting all these would pit them against the king. They have also dumped their earlier manifesto and are now pulling all kinds of strings to reach an agreement with the king. This is sheer opportunism.

One thing that we have said time and again is that the pro-monarchists have always wanted to keep the Maoists' war going. This is not to say that the two sides are hand-in-glove. It benefits the royal palace to sustain the Maoist insurgency because it renders null-and-void the achievements of the 1990s movement, including the new constitution and parliamentary democracy. The Maoists, for their part, never targeted pro-monarchy individuals and organisations while targetting political activists and the general public.

On the other hand, India has also used the Maoists to weaken the Nepali state, including the army and police. They probably think this will force us to seek their help, eventually turning our independent status into something more like Sikkim or Bhutan.