Bhupal Lamichhaney: Nepal History Repeated

Nepal declared a national holiday on Tuesday to celebrate the historic entry of Maoist guerrillas into the political mainstream following a decade of bloody war. Indeed, the news is very uncourageous and positive.

The move came after Maoists formally joined a new parliament late on Monday after a new temporary constitution was approved that strips the king of his status as head of state, including control of the army. The holiday was intended to celebrate the announcement “of the interim constitution and the formation of the interim legislature,” Industry Minister Hridayesh Tripathi told AFP.

Another news from Nepal is equally important as well as sensitive that at least two dozen activists of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) were arrested today from their sit-in organized in the capital to protest the 'flaws' in the interim constitution promulgated on Monday.

The MPRF activists including MP Amresh Kumar Singh and MPRF chairman Upendra Yadav were apprehended after they started burning the copies of interim constitution at Maitighar Mandala, Kathmandu. The protesters said the interim constitution failed to address the demands of Madhesi people.

The MPRF also called a daylong general strike today in Terai districts, closing down marketplaces, industries and transport services.

This promulgation of the interim constitution has reminded me the decade back events in Nepal when the recent past Constitution was promulgated. Many of the actors were same however the role was different.

Then the Maoists marked the historical day as the black day and called for black out in Kathmandu. Lighting the candles and burning fire crackers, Nepali congress observed the day.

Then the Maoists party was so tiny, nobody ever thought just to bring them to a national mainstream existing constitution had to be scraped. In course of their pursuit to replace Nepal to a communist republic unnecessarily so much blood shed. After all they compromised for Parliamentary Democracy leaving their claim to establish one party Communist rule.

Although, MPRF and JTMM (Jantrantric Terai Mukti Morcha) do not seem to be large enough to draw their dissatisfaction in the nation and the international arena at this moment, they can sustain their movement with the support of the people in the terai and can be a cause for uncertainty and instability.

JTMM is the product of the Maoists party and believes in the violent way to overthrow the government. Are we again prepared to throw out the constitution after a decade to accommodate the unhappy forces? Who knows the history might repeat in Nepal. Should not the government of Nepal give special care and interest to bring MPRF and JTMM in dialogue?

Perhaps, everyone in Nepal must have learned a lot from the Maoists insurgency. I am sure; the most important lessons must be learnt by the Maoists leaders themselves. In division it is easy to raise ambitions of the people. However, once people are divided it takes many years to heal the wound. Are not today’s MPRF and JTMM similar to the Maoists in size during 1991-92?

Bhupal Lamichhaney: working independently on nonviolence activism for human rights and democratic values and can be reached at bhupall @ yahoo.co.in . More on his ideas and views can be read in blogs: http://bhupall.blogspot.com http://npd.blogtoolkit.com

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