Now the question is not whether the government will mobilise the army but can the government mobilise the army. Apparently it cannot. The army can only be mobilised with the approval of the National Security Council comprising the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the Commander-in Chief, no matter how convincing the government assertion that the army is under it may appear. It therefore goes without saying that though giving the army a role in resolving the problem of insurgency may be the need of the day, the government cannot bring in the army when it desires. This perhaps best explains why the government had preferred the option of raising a paramilitary force to fight the insurgents even though using the army would have been a much cheaper means of dealing with the problem.

By Kumar B Bhatta

All Nepalis were terribly grieved to hear about the loss of many precious lives of dutiful policemen in Dolpa, Lamjung and elsewhere. The government claims it has not left any stone unturned to improve the law and order situation in the country. Furthermore, the government has removed three important persons- the Home Minister, IGP and the Home secretary from their respective positions and replaced them with seemingly more capable and energetic people.

It has been noted that the previous Home Minister was not happy with the Royal Nepalese Army for failing to help and cooperate with the police at the critical moment of the Maoist attack in those places even though army officials had verbally agreed to come to their help when the attack took place. Now, the RNA, with its changed attitude says it will provide help only when other alternative avenues of peaceful settlement are not possible, and also that the order to mobilise the army is consistent with the constitution and other formalities.

From a layman's point of view, the RNA's logic does not seem to be acceptable because soldiers are expected to do and die, not question why? If every soldier starts questioning and reasoning the superior's order, the result will only be disastrous. A former IGP wisely said that every policeman in uniform is a citizen and every citizen without uniform is a policeman. Unfortunately, our beloved RNA does not seem to fit into the picture. In 2018 BS when the Jana Sewa, the first film hall in Nepal caught fire, the fire brigade, situated nearby did not come to extinguish the fire simply because no one asked them to do so. After a few years, when Singha Durbar, the present Secretariat caught fire, it was reported the Chinese ambassador suggested to the then Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista to pull down a particular section of the wall next to the one consumed by the fire to protect the other remaining parts of the building. Accordingly, in the capacity of the Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Bista asked the Commander-in-Chief Singha Bahadur Basnyat to quickly arrange to pull down the wall. But the C-in C was reluctant to do so and said that he would carry out the order only when the King ordered him to do so. By the time the order came from the King it was too late, many sections of the building had already been consumed by fire. Is this the way RNA wishes to obey the orders of its superiors?

An interesting and actual story about the loyalty of the RNA told to the scribe by late Prime Minister MP Koirala is given here. It was during his Prime Ministership in 2006 B S when Dr K I Singh, the toughest political leader who was under detention in the Singha Durbar lock up, following his refusal to accept the Tripartite Agreement reached between King Tribhuvan, Mohan Shamsher JBR, the Rana Prime Minister and the Nepali Congress in Delhi, managed to break out of the jail with the help of some his followers, mainly Army personnel, and took the Government under his control. Many Congress leaders, ministers, including Prime Minister M P Koirala took refuge in the Royal Palace at that time. He was actually a monarch of all he surveyed for nearly 36 hours. He sent a delegation to King Tribhuvan under the leadership of Tanka Prasad Acharya (later on he also became a Prime Minister) for negotiation to recognise the government under his leadership. But as ill luck would have it, his proposal was rejected by the King, apparently under the advice from the government of India. He was left with no choice but to leave the country with his 50-60 followers. They all proceeded towards China, taking the route of Betravati river, Dhunche Pass, Tibet and finally to China.

Some Army personnel sent by the government of Nepal to chase and apprehend the escapees had actually reached a point at the Betravati river, and after surrounding the escapees, warned them to surrender. But due to the dynamic personality, able leadership and his power of speech, the ' loyal' Army personnel not only enjoyed a sumptuous dinner with the escapees but also bade them farewell to move towards their destination beyond Dhunche Pass.

There are many enlightened people in Nepal who are of the view that RNA is a white elephant for Nepal. The annual budget spent for the maintenance of the Army could be used for many developmental works in the country. The poorest of the poor countries like Nepal cannot justify spending a huge amount of 7-8 billion rupees on the Army especially when she wishes to eventually declare the country as a Zone of Peace'.

A few months ago, former Prime Minister K P Bhattarai openly said that the RNA would be completely smashed within 3 days, if Nepal is attacked from the South. In the same way, it cannot resist the attack from the North. The RNA is good for helping and serving the governments of Britain, India and sometimes the United Nations. With the exception of decorating themselves with medals and other decorations in their uniform and taking part only in officials functions they don't have other duty to perform. It is totally a different matter if they say that they have constructed some roads and bridges and rendered some rescue works at the time of natural calamity. Such work can be done even by other private agencies and NGOs. While remembering the murder of democracy in 1960, late Ganesh Man Singh once said, the RNA which is maintained through the income of our sweat and blood, is capable of killing and threatening us the politicians only and nothing else.

By Ritesh Shrestha

Rt Honourable PM, hello there. Firstly let me pour out my belated anger. I’m awfully aerated as you made a hell lot of mess of yourself at CNN’s Q and A interview programme hosted by Riz Khan. Your presentation was not unpolished, undiplomatic and not up to the mark. This does not tally with your reputation in the art of twisting tongue and lips. Well it’s all because..., who told you to insist on speaking in English when you aren’t fluent in it at all? You ought to have used a Nepali interpreter since your English sounded like you in fact needed an English to English interpreter as you even didn’t know what hundred million meant. When questioned about the economic problem of the country, you were foolish enough to put forward your own proverb - "In Nepal empty stomach is devil’s workshop". I felt you were pointing out your own attitude though you meant to address the public.

I’m terribly sorry for being abusive in the first part of the letter as I had to listen to lots of criticism that you disgraced Nepal and that you did more harm than good to the country as you could not make out what was on the UN’s plate. So what if your CNN presentation may have humiliated country’s image in the international arena ? You have always been a national hero. Who dares to challenge you? I believe Kishunji knows this better than anybody.

You’re doing a great job by providing obstacles in Deuba’s quest to solve the Maoist problem or else he might bag the credit for solving the nation’s greatest problem which may cost you your chair. Your chair...? Yes I feel quite lily-hearted as Maoists continue to hit headlines on the newspaper. Remember: this was one of the charges you made to get Kishunji to step down. Now he has started fingering your chair. Deployment of army may tail off the rising terrorism but it seems there is growing friction between the government and the palace? Regarding this, you must advise factions within your party that narrow squabbles are very dangerous for your majority government and most importantly your chair. Yes, one thing I would like to add is that NC guys must be told that they should not forget to be loyal to the Koirala family, if not to the country in the upcoming 10th Nepali congress national convention.

Anyway don’t you worry. I’m confident enough to proclaim that you will be an evergreen PM as you are the man with the only golden key in politics out here with such inborn magical talents of moulding everyone’s mind and attitude towards your wish.

That’s why I love you so much. Hail your talents which knows no bounds!

Skirting the main issues: For one thing, it fails to address the core issue of why successive governments have failed so conspicuously to firmly grasp the Maoist nettle.

It may be germane, at the outset, to recall the tiresome frequency with which NC stalwarts were given to bragging that the Maoists would be "wiped out" as well as the embarrassing reality that Maoist guerillas have grown from strength and become increasingly daring in their assaults.

Today, in the aftermath of the sombre Dunai and Bhorletar incidents, it is painfully clear the Maoists call the shots, holding the initiative on when, where and how next to strike.

For another, the current debate about Army involvement obscures the growing reality that ever since the GP Koirala-led NC government came into office it has oscillated as a pendulum from talking about talks, at one end, to unleashing an all out police operation, at the other.

Furthermore, it also hides the fact that Koirala has been flip-flopping wildly from "activisation of the National Defence Council" (in April), to declaring (in May): "I am not in favour of mobilising the Army against the Maoists" to "Army mobilisation is the ultimate option; if it is unsuccessful, should one call in the Chinese or Indian Army ?"

Koirala followed the sparkling gems of wisdom with an unprecedented hike in funds to the police for the creation of a new paramilitary force of some 15,000 strong. Then on 7 June, he claimed that the law and order situation had "improved"!

That was just a day before the gory Panchkatia police- Maoist clash in Jajarkot, which resulted in the deaths of 12 policemen and seven others, including five children.

More recently, Koirala promised that after the 18th session of parliament, he would undertake a tour of Maoist-affected regions. Instead, as we all know, he led a king-sized delegation on a two week long grand tour of America/Europe.

Besides, it is not difficult to conclude that the never-ending squabbles within the Nepali Congresss have contributed to uplifting the morale of the Maoist warriors and thereby to their frequent successes on the battlefront. But, are our NC worthies conscious of their awesome responsibility in that regard?

Failure of governments: The divide within that party on what the Maoist phenomenon is, and how to deal with it, has also been responsible for Maoist victories and the attendant deaths of policemen and innocents.

Incidentally, governments in the past five years must also be held squarely responsible for not having given any thought to the creation of an effective national security management system which could provide on a continuous basis, valuable national security related inputs for policy consideration.

Whichever way one looks at the situation, the writing on the wall is clear: successive governments have failed on this key front.

Against that sad background, how wise is it to mobilise the Army? Should the Army, and the nation, now pay a further price by way of loss of precious human lives and destruction of public and property merely to bail out a vacillating, panic stricken government which has no clue on how to deal with the situation?

Wouldn’t it be better if the Koirala led government openly if belatedly acknowledged its glaring failure and allowed the appropriate constitutional processes to take over?

Apart from the fact that Army mobilisation is a last resort measure, sheer commonsense dictates that it should take place if at all not on the whims or fancies of those who wish to cling on to power, come hell or high water but on a sober, unsentimental and comprehensive analysis of what the national interest demands.

Coming back to the question of Army mobilisation, one must ask: what happens, if, rather than quelling the Maoist rebellion, it only serves to spur it further? What then?

That aside, while there is no question that the government is above the Army, surely the Army must be given a free operational hand to carry out precise instructions from the government on the defined objectives to be secured in a military campaign.

In other words, if that requires that all operational theatres be placed under Army control, so be it. Government or party interference in such matters would clearly aid the rebels. It will be pertinent to note that the only piece of legislation on the stature books relevant to Army mobilisation links it with a declaration of emergency for the region(s) concerned. Also instructive is that past efforts to come up with an updated Act failed due to human rights considerations.

Apparently, while everyone wants the tasty peace omelette no one wishes to break the eggs that are necessary for its preparation!

Coming back to the failure of governments, past and present, and the growing signs that force alone is not the answer to a complex problem inextricably linked to political, constitutional, even foreign policy questions, it is time to ponder if the King should not cut the Gordian knot, invoke Article 115 of the Constitution, and declare a state of emergency.

Bring Maoists into the mainstream: In any case, if this nation is to be saved, the Maoists must be brought into the mainstream, not pushed into a corner from where only more bloodshed and mayhem can result, perhaps even with a loss of national sovereignty.