2004: The year that was (News Feature)

By Akhil Tripathi and Prakash Dhakal

The year 2004 is finally gone. With the country badly caught in a political and constitutional deadlock and no progress towards resolving the Maoist insurgency, majority of Nepalese would agree that it was a demoralizing year for Nepal. While the breakdown of government-Maoist talks followed by unabated violence, bandhs, blockades, abductions and killings were major blows to the Nepalese people’s desire for peace, the chaos and confusion in the political front remained much the same.

The country’s democratic process that was derailed on October 4, 2002, despite protests from the major political parties, was not put on the right track even after two years. Meanwhile, Royal experiments continued unabated. Owing to intense pressure from the protesting parties, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, who King Gyanendra had appointed as the prime minister after sacking the elected government of Sher Bahadur Deuba, was made to step down on May 30, 2003. Other democratic options were sidelined and Surya Bahadur Thapa of RPP was appointed the prime minister. Thapa badly failed in the mandates the king had entrusted upon him while appointing him the country’s prime minister. While Thapa could not give an all-party shape to his government, the Maoists, too, pulled out of the peace process.

Thapa, like his predecessor Chand, had no option than to step down. He resigned on May 7, 2004. Then the leaders of major political parties including Girija Prasad Koirala (Nepali Congress), Madhav Kumar Nepal (CPN-UML), Sher Bahadur Deuba (Nepali Congress-Democratic), Pashupati Shumshere Rana (RPP), Badri Prasad Mandal (Nepal Sadbhavana Party) and other former prime ministers were called at the Royal Palace for audience. The country was without a government at Singha Durbar for over three weeks when the King, on June 2, 2004, appointed the “incompetent” Sher Bahadur Deuba, who he himself had sacked on October 4 2002.

Deuba was jubilant. “Regression has been corrected with my re-appointment”, an euphoric Deuba was heard saying while the protesting parties stuck to their guns, maintaining that Deuba’s appointment was only a continuation of 'regression'. Deuba, too, had his mandates clearly mentioned: giving an all-party shape to his government, bringing the Maoist rebels to the table of negotiations and holding parliamentary elections by the end of the year 2061 BS (mid-April 2005).

The beleaguered government of Prime Minister Deuba, who was desperate to give an all-party shape to his government to make it appear different than the two previous governments, got some respite after the CPN-UML- a major ally in the five agitating political parties- agreed to participate in the government, saying 'regression has been partly corrected'. On July 5, Deuba expanded his cabinet, introducing a 31-member Council of Ministers (CoM). The Deuba government now had 12 ministers from his own party (NC-D), 11 ministers from CPN-UML, five ministers from RPP, one minister from NSP and two ministers from the ‘civil society’.

Contrary to the UML logic for joining the Deuba government- that regression had been partly corrected with the reappointment of Deuba- the Nepali political circle was rife with rumours that general secretary of UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal, had decided to join the government after NC president Girija Prasad Koirala did not agree to propose his name as the five agitating parties’ candidate for the post of prime minister.

Though Deuba might have been successful in convincing other parties to join his government, he, so far, has clearly failed to bring the Maoists to the table of negotiations. While the rebels, on their part, have time and again said that they will hold talks only with the real 'master of the old regime', not with its 'servants'. On November 25, the desperate Deuba-led coalition announced a January 13 (2005) deadline for the Maoist rebels to come to the negotiating table, saying it would go ahead with general elections if the rebels do not sit for talks within this period.

The Maoists have already rejected the government deadline for talks, saying it was tantamount to a threat. In a statement issued at the end of November, Maoist supremo Prachanda said, “The deadline further diminished the prospects for talks”, adding that his party was ready to hold talks  “under a credible international mediation” and only if the government creates a favourable atmosphere for talks.

While the political and constitutional deadlock continued, the Maoist insurgency, too,  only escalated. The rebels launched some major attacks in many places including Kalikot, Bhojpur, Beni, Achham, Dhading, Okhaldhunga, Nepalgunj, Argakhanchi and  Dailekh. On December 18, they attacked the Ilaka Police Post at Sankhu, which is just 15 kilometers away from the capital city, killing 5 police personnel. With the escalating Maoist violence, over 2,500 Nepalese lost their lives in 2004 alone, which is one-fourth of the total casualties since the start of the conflict nine years back.

Meanwhile, a number of foreign dignitaries, ministers and diplomats from many countries, including those from global power centers like the USA, UK and  India  visited the country. Pledges were made and sought after regarding resolving the Maoist insurgency but peace still remains as elusive as ever. 

Amid all this, Nepalis during the past year launched peace rallies across the country- from far-flung Bajura to the capital Kathmandu- which only showed their extreme longing for peace and the end of the current anarchy in the country.

August 31 was a day which the Nepalese will not be able to forget in the years to come. The brutal killing of 12 innocent Nepali workers by Iraqi insurgents- the Army of Ansar-Al-Sunna- was a huge shock. It triggered riots in major cities of the country, including Kathmandu on the following day- the Wednesday of September 1. Frenzied mobs vandalized hundreds of recruitment agencies in the capital and private and public property worth over Rs.1.5 billion was damaged.

Gordon William Robinson, Krishna Kumar Verma, and Baliram Kumar are a few names that earned Nepal’s judiciary much infamy in 2004. Robinson, a notorious drug-lord, who was arrested with more than 2kg of heroine on August 27, 2001, had been sentenced for life by a Special Court decision. But overturning the Special Court verdict, justice duo Verma and Kumar of the Supreme Court, acquitted Robinson, saying “his (Robinson’s) statement was taken without appointing a translator and that the statement was not attested by a government official”. Later, after much criticism from all quarters, the Supreme Court, for the first time in the history of the country’s judiciary, ruled that the verdict given by justices Verma and Kumar violated legal principles and precedents.

While justice Verma resigned from his post in the third week of July, justice Kumar resigned only on December 5, after learning that the Judicial Council was going to impeach him. In what was a dramatic revelation, on November 5 reports said that Robinson was a New Zealander, his real name was Kevin John Miles and he died mysteriously in Bali, Indonesia.

Another major happening of 2004 was the arrest of Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj, who is known as the 'serpent' internationally. The Kathmandu District Court convicted Sobhraj of killing an American national named Connie Jo Bronich and Canadian national Laurent Armand Carriere in 1975. The court announced life-sentence to him and confiscation of all his property.

The Raj Parishad- a constitutional body- drew much controversy in 2004. It was accused of advocating an active role for the constitutional King by organizing regional and central conventions. When the Raj Parishad organized its central convention at the Birendra International Convention Centre in Kathmandu, the major political parties, including the CPN-UML which is a key coalition partner in the Deuba-led government, criticized it for going against the constitution. The parties even said it was yet another proof of King Gyanendra’s authoritarian ambitions.

All 11 ministers from the CPN UML, including Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari, boycotted the Raj Parishad convention. Even the ministers belonging to Nepali Congress (Democratic) boycotted all the proceedings of the convention except the inaugural session. This was perhaps the first time that the cabinet members boycotted a public function participated in by the King.

In conclusion, the year 2004 was full of despairs. Nepal hosted the 2nd World Buddhist Summit from November 30- to December 1 in Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace where participants from a number of countries prayed for an eternal peace in this Himalayan kingdom. But the prospects for peace still look very dim. However, the Nepalese haven’t given up hope. They are optimistic that the year 2005 will mark the beginning of peace, prosperity and political reconciliation in the country. nepalnews.com Dec 31 04

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