Endemic Mystery of Nepalese Politics

Political pundits have already begun to warn that Nepal is most likely to slide into a chaotic and violent civil war. Presumably as a prelude to this presentiment, major political forces seem to have consciously chosen to remain oblivious to what are known as the fundamental premises of a democratic dispensation. They have effectively eschewed their responsibilities and duties as the major players of national politics. They are no longer abiding by any norms, conventions, and practices that tend to define rule of law. In other words, there is a fierce competition going on among different political organizations to capture power through any means, fair or foul.

There is no doubt that the current decadence is direct fallout of Nepali Congress leader Girija Koirala’s conspiratorial decision to shake hands with Maoist terrorists against the institution of monarchy. In what is taken as a classic example of knavishness, it has been widely publicized that Girija had chosen to engage Maoist terrorists with the sane objective of incorporating the latter into the democratic mainstream. But the reality is something quite different and absolutely devious. In the aftermath of Sher Bahadur Deuba’s ignominious ouster Girija had umpteen times prostrated before King Gyanendra to be blessed with the most covetous position of prime minister. When the King turned a deaf ear to his obsequious entreaties, Girija resorted to pressure tactics involving the mobilization of party cadres ostensibly with the objective of restoring the dissolved House of Representatives. The King, having realized that his support base even within his own party was sharply eroding, visibly gave him a short shrift. As if to further irk the octogenarian nuisance, the King conferred the prime ministerial position on Sher Bahadur Deuba, Koirala’s arch rival who had demonstrated the guts of challenging the NC president’s authoritarian handling of the party.

Girija, as has earned a notoriety of being an egregiously destructive element when is comes to destroying the interests of others, decided to avenge the ‘humiliation’ supposedly meted out by the King to him. Added to this was the India factor that was in fervent need of a workable ruse for creating total destabilization in the Himilayan kingdom. All this gave a sinister background to what is known as the November agreement signed in the Indian capital of New Delhi between the Koirala-led so-called Democratic Alliance and the terrorist Maoist outfit. Thus, Koirala’s bizarre predisposition towards vengeance facilitated the entry of murderous Maoists as a legitimate force into the mainstream national politics of Nepal. While furthering his nefarious mission, it seems to have never occurred to the octogenarian demagogue that the Maoist nihilists, obviously at the behest of some extra territorial enemies, would, one day, preside over the demise of a democratic order and the onset of a Fascist regime.

During the entire dystopic exercise leading to the almost unparalleled predominance of Maoist desperadoes in national politics, the Nepalese institution of monarchy under the leadership of King Gyanendra played an overtly indignant role. The gruesome ambience, in which the former King Birendra was assassinated along with his entire family members, provided a draconian background to the present King’s enthronement. Whatever be the revelation of the official report, Gyanendra and his wayward son Paras can hardly escape popular suspicion surrounding the former King’s slaughter. In addition to this, King Gyanendra’s soaring political ambition coupled with the ways he unabashedly devised to embezzle national exchequer caused sharp erosion in the glory and dignity of monarchy. Undoubtedly, the unconstitutional seizure of power festooned with widespread popular suspicion regarding his hand behind the Maoist violence and terror completely wrecked Gyanendra’s position as a constitutional monarch. True, by virtue of his own hubris and rapaciousness, he reduced himself to a grotesque liability. And the institution of monarchy with a history of almost 250 years was effectively rendered anachronistic. Democratic republicanism emerged to be an inevitable destination.

But, whatever the course of events might have dictated, the will and aspirations of the majority seem to have been ruthlessly mangled. Despite their professed commitment to peaceful parliamentary democratic norms, Maoist terrorists have failed to reconcile with the basic norms and practices of representative civilization. Nor are they willing to abide by democratic principles. Strangely enough, they have not made any secret of their macabre intention that they want to morph Nepal into a communist republic – a euphemistic expression characterizing a hell whose directive principles are exclusively based on abduction, extortion, murder, violence and terror. Theirs will be a “people’s state” where dissension will be muzzled and dissenter bludgeoned to death. And the blood of the innocent that has embellished their ‘revolutionary flag’ will redden their proletarian spirit.

On the one hand, political forces are exhorting the people to focus their entire attention on the impending Constituent Assembly elections. They are trying to impress the people that it will be the defining moment to give a new direction to the country. If the polls are conducted in a free and fair manner and the entire eligible Nepalese are allowed to express their opinion without any threat or intimidation, it will certainly be a welcome milestone in the democratic history of Nepal. But the situation on the ground is quite different. Maoists are still armed to the teeth. They are brazenly defying the state system. The Maoist leadership has already started to unleash terror by publicly declaring that they would again resort to the seizure of property and ‘physical action’ against those who dare to go against their will. Their cadres have come out of the cantonment – a symbolic gesture deliberately meant to send the signal that they are not prepared to honor any kind of limitation when it comes to advancing their diabolic mission. Most unfortunately, Koirala’s pusillanimous connivance has equipped them with adequate impunity. Equally ironical is the stark reality that notwithstanding profusely flowery rhetoric about their commitment to Constituent Assembly elections, no political forces including the Nepali Congress and Maoists are intrinsically prepared to face the results thereafter. But this is something they can ill afford to reveal to the public. This is an endemic mystery of Nepalese politics that can be traced to King Tribhuvan’s pronouncement in the early 1950s. (15 September, 07)

(Mr. Lama can be reached at johnlama29@hotmail.com)

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