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Kathmandu Wednesday January 16, 2002 Magh 03, 2058.
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Report on Emergency
A joint meeting of different political parties has decided to
initiate a political process to end the state of emergency. Political leaders,
irrespective of their ideological differences, will prepare a report on the current state
of emergency. The joint meeting did not fix any deadline for the submission of the report.
However, the way a few political leaders within the ruling party have been raising their
voices against the imposition of emergency shows that the state of emergency may not last
longer than three months. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has imposed the state of
emergency throughout the country since November 26 last year to quell the Maoist
insurgency. The Maoists, who had agreed to resolve their problems through political
dialogue, unexpectedly withdrew themselves after three rounds of talks with the government
and resumed a war against the elected government. The fatricidal killing, which began six
years ago, has so far claimed more than 2000 lives, besides displacing thousands of
people. However, why are these political leaders bent on preparing a report on the state
of emergency at this juncture? Is it a process to topple the present government, or a step
to form a broad "democratic" alliance that Nepali Congress president Girija
Prasad Koirala has been so vociferously calling for?
Every political party has formed a committee to monitor the
state of emergency. But no single political party has brought to light any evidence
against the violation of human rights. In fact Prime Minister Deuba’s move to quell
Maoist activity has been more effective than Koirala’s. Koirala has slammed the
Palace on the Maoist problem without producing any evidence. It is unfortunate that UML
leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and Koirala have become more vocal against the Prime Minister
than against the state of emergency. The proposed "democratic" alliance may once
again spark political instability. The state of emergency has left the media in the dark
more than any other organs of the government. In suspending fundamental rights, the
government has failed to share information with the public on how the war against the
Maoists is going. There has been no transparency, nor has the government allowed
journalists to file reports of their own on the ongoing war against the Maoists. This
issue is raising concern amongst the advocates of the right to free expression.
Last month Supreme Court Justice Laxman Prasad Aryal raised a
concern over the manner in which the Ministry of Health had decided over the medical
treatment of the injured Maoists. Aryal raised his voice, citing that "humans after
all remain humans". This means any measures or laws against any perpetrators be
humane. This is what the political leaders should take into account before preparing a
report on the state of emergency. The country has been facing a critical situation since
the Maoists launched a war against the democratic establishment. Any move with an
intention to topple the present government may only help create instability in the
country, keeping democratic values in jeopardy. The broad democratic alliance proposed by
Koirala cannot be called as an attempt to practise democratic values beneficial for the
country’s political culture. Koirala should not rally with opposition leaders to
bring down the present government. Rather, Koirala should support the Prime Minister to
quell the Maoist insurgency and, at the same time, revive the country’s shrinking
economy. |
