Maoists in Nepal: Gloomy Past, Glorious Present and Exigent Future

In the period when the reputation of all the major political parties are diminishing mainly because of their inability to keep pace with the aspirations of the people; and, the socio-economic as well as political indicators of the country are showing negative trend, Maoists’ transition to the mainstream politics is perceived by large section of the society as the light in the other side of the tunnel.

BY Prakash C. Ghimire

The people of Nepal have expressed their deep desires for lasting peace and strong commitments towards the republican form of government that are manifested in the number of CA berths the Maoists have secured. It is now worthless to indulge in a debate whether the success of the Maoists in the election is the result of intimidation, black-mailing, booth-capturing or other wrongdoings of YCL cadres in the rural areas of Nepal where entry of other political party-activists were reported to be scrutinized. This is the second time that the people have articulated their forgiveness to so many wrongdoings of the Maoists in the forms of vandalism, intimidation and violence during their war days. Firstly, the Maoists were given, without any prejudice and detestation, an ample opportunity of safe landing in the political arena with the historic Comprehensive Peace Agreement which paved way for them to join the parliament and eventually the government. There were significant numbers of people who considered that the Maoist insurgency in Nepal was guilty of terrorism as are the movements in Spain (ETA) and Northern Ireland (between various Catholic and Protestant groups); the long-term insurgencies in Colombia (FARC, others); and communist rebellion launched by Sendero Luminose in Peru. In fact, the Nepalese Maoists specifically had sanctioned the use of terror, intimidation and vindictiveness in their doings during the peoples’ war. However, people often do not associate the term ‘terrorism’ with communist ‘uprising’. Yet, it is widely known that in the past, communist governments practiced some of the bloodiest terrorism on their own citizens. These include the victims of Stalin's iron rules, sufferers of the Cambodian genocide under Khmer Rouge’s brutality (1975-79), victims of the Latin American and Cuban civil wars as well as East and Central Europeans dying in the uprisings of 1953, 1956 and 1968 against their communist masters. When the records of the former Soviet Union were opened, Soviet crimes became widely known. Needless to mention the magnitude of the cruelty under the banner of Mao’s so called Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-69) and the chilling effect of the June 4 massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Yet, the bulk of Nepalese populace has allowed the Maoists to write their destiny as the CA members and has welcomed them to exercise executive power. In the period when the reputation of all the major political parties are diminishing mainly because of their inability to keep pace with the aspirations of the people; and, the socio-economic as well as political indicators of the country are showing negative trend, Maoists’ transition to the mainstream politics is perceived by large section of the society as the light in the other side of the tunnel. Unquestionably, there are substantial numbers of people in Nepal who consider the Maoists as the only genuine alternative to the old, repressive social order. Will the Maoists be able to fulfil the aspirations of the people who voted for them? Though it is too early to comment, there are visible obstacles on the way forward which may prove to be stumbling blocks for the forthcoming government that is likely to be headed by the Maoists.

Nepal’s diversity has been one of its distinguishing features: the country has accommodated widely different cultures, religious and other beliefs, opinions, lifestyles, and values in a synchronised manner. Different communities, even though living within one territory, have been experiencing differing social and cultural practices and even different sub-economic systems. It is natural that the expectations and aspirations of each of these groups would differ somewhat from each other. Still, there used to be an unseen bond to weld together the separate sets of aspirations into one collective, national dream, composed of the multi-faceted aspirations of each community, living freely and proudly with its own separate identity which could co-exist symbiotically with the other entities, to compose a harmonious and united entirety. However, the Nepalese society, for some years - with the onset of the Maoists movement, has seen the continuous rise of visionless movements of various political, ethnic and religious groups within the country, demanding for so-called expression of their own specific identities, often with the use of violent means and at times with the demand for territorial autonomy with self-determination provisions. It has also seen a quasi-total breakdown of accepted traditional, spiritual and moral value-systems with their connected social and cultural practices. The increasing materialism and the evolution of new ideology that is generating diverse hopes and aspirations, consequent to the spread of the value-systems specific to the free market economy, has given rise to a situation where the individual seeks solace, not in spiritual or human relationships, but in the spiral of blind consumerism and in excessive indulgence in unrestrained expression of violence. The so-called movements in the names of Madhesh and Limbuwan could be cited as examples of evolution of such new ideologies.

The present government’s inability to prepare a contingency plan has worsened the situation. There have been rehearsals of series of melodrama for the balkanization of Nepal in different stages by the extreme political forces inside Nepal as well as by the ‘honest’ neighbour in the south. Rather than preparing a concrete contingency plan and the corresponding plan of actions, the government indulged itself in adopting a ‘piecemeal engineering approach’. Government tried to deal with socio-political problems as they emerged and responded those deficiencies in an ad hoc manner. The government, in one hand, failed to analyse the complex interdependence between the extreme forces, and, in the other, could not distinguish between the ‘bargaining theory’ and the ‘conflict theory’, which the extreme political forces were practicing. The ‘balkanization’ of Nepal has been moving towards the successful ending with the continuous uprising of various regional ethnicity based conflicts in the names of Limbuwan, Khumbuwan, Magarat, Tamuwan, Tharuhut, Madhesh etc. The question is how the government led by the Maoists will respond to this alarming situation?

Questions were being raised from the beginning of the Maoist movement in the country on its birth and nurturing. There were significant number of people who considered them to be the conception of the royalists to destabilise the country and eventually strength the position of the palace. No need to mention, communists were nurtured by the palace to downsize the influence of democratic forces during the Panchayat regime. The conflicting statements of various Maoist leaders expressed in different forums in recent days on the future of the monarchy has raised many eye-brows and people are waiting to hear whether their verdicts to vacate the Narayanhiti palace as early as possible will be respected. Needless to mention, the quantum of people’s supports to the Government headed by the Maoists will largely depend upon how quickly and obediently it will move forward to make Nepal a Democratic Republic. Are the Maoists sincerely committed for the abolishment of the monarchy?

The Nepalese political arena will also be influenced with the internal power struggle that may trigger within the Maoist camp between different groups to achieve contradicting objectives by means of conflicting strategies. There are people who believe that the Maoist party is made up of people with contradicting characters and individual vested interests who seem suspicious of the outside world and apprehensive among each other. It is told to be run by a small clique of people – not all of whom necessarily like and trust each other. The difference of opinions between political and military wings, or so called ‘pro-palace’ and ‘pro-Indian’ groups, or frontline cadres and the leaders could inflict conflicts. The issue of assimilation of Maoist militia, who are desperately waiting to come out of the poorly managed cantonments, with the Nepal Army will surely be a challenge for the leadership. Failure to do so will certainly spark off skirmish within the party which may be costly for the leadership and therefore, they should prepare contingency plan well in advance in balancing the internal power equations.

Another important factor which may decide the fate of the Maoists leadership is how they will respond to the tremendous pressures that are likely to be imposed from different outfits in the neighbouring country in the south and elsewhere with whom they were reported to have cordial working relationship during their war days. The foreseeable pressure from international left-wing extremist organisations such as the People’s War Group (PWG), Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Janashakthi and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), of India, Purbo Banglar Movement of Bangladesh, Communist Party of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organization of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) etc.; and the strategy that Maoists will adopt to respond to them will have significant effect on the Nepalese politic in the days to come. These groups have been reported to have initiated various joint ventures including creating the Revolutionary Corridor (RC) extending from Nepal to across six Indian States. It was one time reported that the Nepalese Maoists and the PWG had co-worked to form the Indo-Nepal Border Region Committee to coordinate their activities in North Bihar and along the India-Nepal border. If these reports are true, will Maoists separate themselves from the coalition, and if yes, how?

The past history of Maoists is controversial and even now a subject which calls for a debate in days to come especially when its relationship with Indian politics is analysed. The Maoists are reported to be protected and, often manipulated, by the Indian political forces, time and again in their favours, especially during their war days when many of the top leaders were operating their bases from Indian soil. Prachanda’s strong and unsolicited anti-Pakistan remark in the soil of India some months back was probably the return goodwill gesture to show appreciation on what he and his party received from India in the past. The role of India in manipulating the Maoists to destabilise the political atmosphere in Nepal to create conducive environment to inflict their interests could not be ruled out. There is still danger that the Maoists may become the pawn to serve the Indian intention. India will put no stone unturned to manipulate the government headed by the Maoists be it in the form of supports to so called Madhesh Movement or influencing Nepal army to go against the assimilation of Maoists militia.

The nation is already overwhelmed with rising ethnic tensions, deteriorating communal harmony, behind-the-curtain game plan of some ‘vested interest persons’ to (mis)utilise the fragile political situation in their favour, rapidly-escalating lawlessness, marred accountability of public and private sectors towards the nation, and many others. The so-called movements for autonomy are fuelling the deteriorating situation to make it worst and irreversible. The Maoists should not be proposing such alternative course of actions which could be far more disastrous and repressive than the government that they had respectively chosen to challenge for the last 15 years. They should not be thinking very much only in terms of the government, setting aside the most important issue of being engaged with the people and deciding future course of actions based upon peoples’ aspirations. The most important thing to do first should be to find out from the people what they want their nation to be like, rather than assuming and manipulating grassroots aspirations. The Maoists should realise that the failure of world communism resulted from its unwillingness to apply the purifying orthodoxy of China's Cultural Revolution to return regularly to the movements' essential proletarian foundations. If the Nepalese Maoists have still a hangover of the so called success of the People’s War in the past, it will be detrimental to them and catastrophic to the whole country. Time has given ample opportunity to the Maoists to prove that the synchronization of communism and democracy is possible. In the past, communism as a rallying cry, as a banner to unite oppressed people, did have a certain seductive appeal to catch the people’s sentiments. However, this notion has progressively been fading out. The Maoists should now comprehend that the destiny of the country is significantly dependent on what they would contribute for peaceful settlement of the political crises and how they drive the country forwards where the fundamental rights of the people are not compromised. Nepal desperately needs peace and prosperity; and the Maoists should prove that the path majority of the Nepalese have opted for to these solaces is not costly and counterproductive.

(Prakash C. Ghimire is associated with Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) as a Senior Advisor for Renewable Energy Programmes in seven Asian and African countries with duty station in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He can be reached at: prakashchgh@gmail.com)

(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to editors@mos.com.np)

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