UML’s lust : For power or survival ?

By VIJAY B KUNWAR

The world communist movement divided further into Soviet "revi-sionist" block minus Stalinism and communist block based, and judged on Mao Tse-Tung thought. In the course of time, the Soviet line was labelled as "Soviet socialist imperialism", with a propaganda war launched by Beijing and its ideological allies worldwide. With the Cold War between the world capitalists and the Soviet socialists, and with the growing wave of democratic pluralism, the Soviet-designed communist regimes underwent an era of de-regimentation, in some places as indigenous movements while in some countries with the penetration of the capitalist world headed by the US.

BP Koirala never accepted repeated proposals made by Pushpa Lal, the chief architect of Nepali communist movement, for a joint struggle of his party and the NC against the Panchayati regime. But after the death of both PL and BP, the NC agreed to join ranks and hands with the communists in the movement for the restoration of democracy (MRD 1990) under the supreme leadership of NC commander Ganesh Man Singh. The movement known as jana-andolan became successful with the King lifting the decades-long ban on all political parties. This achievement marked a new beginning for the communists, based on the "Marxism-Leninism and Mao Tse-Tung Thought."

By now, one or two communist parties still following the Soviet model of "revisionist" Khrushev minus Stalinism, pro-Soviet parties lost their relevance in the Nepali context, which gave rise to the pro-Mao parties. Gone are the days of the Cold War period and so are the communists of the Soviet pre-Breznev era and Chinese pre Deng-Tsio Ping era. The communist party led by Man Mohan Adhikary and the other a consortium of a few, regrouped first as Coordination Centre and later claiming to be the mainstream communist party as CPN-ML (the nucleus of Jhapali rebels), merged to be renamed as CPN-UML.

In the post-1990 elections, the UML got the reward of unification with the second largest place in the House of Representatives. It once enjoyed the formation of a minority government after emerging as the single largest party after the mid-term polls held in late 1994, thanks to the inner party bickering of the then ruling NC. With the unethical commissioning and decommissioning of about half a dozen short lived governments in the hung parliament, the communists, specifically those the architects as well as vanguards of the "revolutionary" ML were divided into two; one reverting to the same old name of CPN-ML and the other remaining officially as CPN-UML. History was repeated. Amid sharp and antagonistic rivalry, it was the NC that emerged a victor again with a clear majority while the UML became the second largest party. To the dismay of the high flier dissidents, the new ML scored a zero in the third general elections held within eight years of parliamentary practice. Here again, the division of the UML deserves thanks of all concerned that led to an anti-climax of the communist sceptre that was all set to haunt over the nation as a full majority parliamentary communist government realized with the philosophical ideals of "people’s multi-party democracy", a pragmatic design re- invented by Madan Bhandari.

The Maoists are the latest breed in the evolutionary process of the revolutionary communist brigade. Ideologically equipped with the scientific principles of "Marxism-Leninism and Maoism", the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist is a remake of smaller factions within the fourth conventionists. Through an electoral exercise and a significant representation in Parliament constituted in 1991, the United People’s Front (UPF) enjoyed its outrageous voice against the "platform of the gossiping bourgeoisie". With the tactical differences ripening within, the UPF again changed its guards; one group still remaining in the mainstream parliamentary practice, and the other as a continuum of the breakaway UPF as Maoists calling for the revolutionary overthrow of the semi-feudalistic and pro-capitalistic state structure dominated by the semi and petit bourgeoisie class as well as the "reactionary forces".

The Maoists took up arms and ammunition, initiated attacks and sabotage on the police posts and dismantled the places of public utilities. Cadres and sympathizers of the NC were the next target of abduction and annihilation, as most of the times the NC was leading the governments, though short-sighted and short-lived. After the NC sympathizers deserted their homelands in the country side, it was the turn of the UML to face the consequences of the People’s War, who at the initial stage of the Maoist sabotage chose to remain silent and sometimes cooperative to the jana-karbahi (people’s actions).

After five years of bloody war and death of around three thousand Nepalese, the Maoists became a party to the process of peace-talks with the Deuba government. Republicans in the longer run towards "Socialism", the Maoist agenda was reduced to the interim government and holding of elections to the Constituent Assembly. After three hectic rounds of talks, the dialogue failed. As a consequence, the nation lost the precious lives of another five thousand during the past fifteen months alone.

In the meantime, inner party squabbles, within the NC rank and file, led to the dissolution of the lower house for yet another time in its short history, elections scheduled for November 2002. The Maoist movement scaled to its all time high spirits, spread violently to almost fifty five of the seventy five districts of the country. Deuba miscalculated his move to postpone the general elections by another twelve months. The King immediately dismissed the Deuba government on charges of inefficiency to hold elections as proposed by himself. The lower house already dissolved, the King nominated a new government, sidelined the mainstream parties who had had a full swing in the twelve years of multi-party functioning. But even then the Maoist war went on to acclaim "significant achievements" by killing more people, irrespective of whether combatants or non-combatants.

A new power equation has come into existence; one represented by the King with the institutional backing of the security forces, political parties representing in the dissolved house and the hitherto minority but lately a major force emerging as the CPN-Maoist. Though not all agree on this structure of equations, for the Maoists there are these days only two forces; one represented by the King together with the pro-monarchical parliamentary parties and the other being the Maoists themselves, who are fighting against all of the existing reactionary and retrograde forces safeguarding the old regime.

In line with other mainstream parties, the UML fresh from its Seventh Convention, is caught between the predicament of the peace process, underway with the announcement of truce between the warring forces. It has a cut-throat rivalry with the Maoist brigade, which the UML label " ultra-left extremism". But the UMLs fail to recall their own blood stained history written at Jyamire’, a small village in the countryside of Jhapa. The frustrated "Jyamirepanthi" ultra leftist rebels were also very few in numbers while following the foot trails of Naxalite uprising. But in course of time, the Jhapali breed assembled in a revolutionary school of thought under the auspices of CPN-ML, its arch rivalry with the Fourth Conventionists going on, both in ideology and line of action. The ML emerged as a real force within leftists, and was considered as mainstream of the communists until the advent of the Maoists.

The Maoists, though differing sharply with the actions of the then ML, by resorting to violence and bloodbath have become a strong force in high tidal spirits. Now with the prospects of peace and normalcy ahead, the Maoists may establish themselves as the mainstream of all communist movement, inspired and supported by the Revolutionary International Movement (RIM), a union of international Maoist movement. It is evidenced by the volatile and mostly controversial statements being issued every other day by the UML big shots who have very recently spoken in support of the NC demand, reinstatement of the dissolved House; of course later to form an all-party government and UML leading the peace-talks. This may be a fresh strategy coined up for its very survival, while the lust for power remains as usual.

It is the turn of the UML to experience a heavy dent on the card holding cadres in the countryside, most of whom already siding with the Maoist people’s militia.

(Concluded)

Saree shoppers

By PRAGYA KARKI

Well, at the last week of this month (Falgun), I’ve got to attend the wedding ceremony of one of my sisters. Whenever it comes to parties and functions, all of a sudden our (girls’) wardrobe abates! In the past few years, whenever I needed to take part in weddings of my near and dear ones, I relied upon my mom’s sarees. I simply used to gaze through her collection and pick one of them. But sad to say, I never managed to return her clothes without a slight damage done. Be it a hole (no matter how microscopic!) made by my stiletto heel or the ugly scars (even if it perfectly blended with the hue of the saree), she did not fail to spot them! For the last time I tried my luck, albeit in vain.

Finally, I thought about buying a saree for myself and when my cash deposited in my bank (piggy bank!) was quite enough to buy one I invited one of my friends to join me shop around. Though it was not the ‘bandh’ day the road at my locality was quiet with very few vehicles plying around. I instantly knew what it was, ‘sabari-time’ (VIP’s arrival). People residing at this part of the capital are used to with the inconvenience caused by the ‘sabari-times’. There were many hurried and worried ordinary people like me desperate to see the signs of public vehicles. Amongst them my eyes were stuck on one of the ladies. Not that she was extraordinary, but the saree she had worn was indeed very beautiful, adding much to her feminine elegance. After a long impatient wait, at last one of the public vehicles turned up. Guess what? Charles Darwin’s theory, ‘survival of the fittest’ took place in order to occupy the seats! Me along with few other girls and guys attired in pants, without any hitch, made it. But this lady in a beautiful saree returned empty-handed. She turned out to be a latecomer because before rushing to manage the seat, she’d to first manage her swirling and flowing saree itself!

Upon meeting my friend and hearing her piece of mind for being late, I started the mission. At the first shop when dealing with its owner we both fell into the bracket of a ‘nervous customers’ as it was the first time we were shopping around to buy saree, not jeans! As we proceed ahead, we slowly transformed ourselves into the ‘talkative’ and even the ‘argumentative customers.’ Eventually when the quality, suitability, styles and yes the price satisfied me I bought one. When we were about to leave the shopkeeper reminded us about the other accessories rather essential stuff, which if not bought would have made my saree-shopping campaign a deficient one. The whole package- ‘fall’, ‘blouse piece’ and others needed to be bought. Needless to say, we accomplished that task too. It was already getting quite dark when my dear friend bade me somewhat a tired tata and we separated. On my way back home, I dropped at the tailor’s place as the stitching part was still there and placed my orders. Exhausted, I reached home. No sooner had I entered inside my room, I took out my pocket calculator and started calculating the cost price of the saree along with the entire package (even the amount outstanding to the tailor). I had a pretty good jolt and was taken aback when I found the entire package’s opportunity cost equivalent to two jeans and an equally matching tops respectively!

Listen to women peacemakers

By SAKUNTALA NARASIMHAN

War is news. Peace isn’t. Aggres-sive, macho, belligerent postur-ing catches media attention. Movements for tolerance, humane and harmonious, don’t. Which is why four recent peace proposals failed to catch the spotlight they deserved.

One of these, an international resolution on peace and conflict, known as the Kampala Conference Declaration of 2002, got completely ignored by the media despite the strong 15-point recommendation - drafted by women joining hands across the continents - at the end of a triennial, global Women’s Worlds Conference in Uganda.

The other, the ‘Not In Our Name’ (NION) movement that is gathering wide support across the US, has received media attention only in passing. This, despite the strong passions that underlie the movement, which condemns the American president’s determination to wage war.

The third initiative was a joint call for peace by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the UN Human Rights Commission and the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). At the launch of their joint report on women and armed conflict on January 22, 2003, UNIFEM director Noeleen Heyzer pointed out that the "nature of war is changing, with combatants using women as weapons of war". Heyzer added that the death toll of women and children in civilian populations is rising. While she saw the report as an "important tool for change" (towards promoting peace worldwide), the media paid scant attention to the event despite its UN origin. Was this because it called for peace, rather than war?

The fourth peace call came at the end of 2002 from an AWID (Association of Women in Development) conference which sought international commitment from all governments for accountability (in promoting gender equity, especially as agreed to under the Platform for Action drawn up at the Beijing conference of 1995) and peace (condemning unilateralism, and opposing the advent of a permanent ‘war on terror’). This too failed to make it to the mainstream media as worthy of coverage.

Was the sidelining of these four initiatives due to the fact that three of them were put forth by women, or was it because the theme was peace, rather than a call for war? Queried at random, some people said both reasons were applicable. "Women urging peace is not news. It would be news if women wanted war," said one man, while four respondents remarked that what women say "does not command the same weight as what men say".

The NION movement of USA, which has drawn support from Australia, Italy, Belgium and the UK, is the dissenting voice of thousands of American citizens who disapprove of their President’s decision to launch military operations (in Afghanistan and Iraq as ‘protection against terrorism’).

What is most significant is that this movement was started by relatives of the victims of September 11, thus emphasising the conviction that killing Afghans and Iraqis by the thousands (and also American troops in the process) is not a solution or the way to combat terrorism. "War will only lead to more hatred of Americans and more terrorism as a consequence," say those who endorse NION.

The Kampala Declaration lists a comprehensive 15-point resolution, seeking among other things, the creation of a database on women, peace and security experts, and organisations to be made responsible for funding women’s peace-building activities, dissemination of information on best practices in peace building (including through the internet), and holding national troops and staff involved in peace keeping missions accountable in human rights violations. (The US has refused to agree to this clause, effectively eroding its professed commitment to upholding human rights worldwide).

Women suffer inordinately in times of armed conflict and consequently, they are important stakeholders in the search for sustainable peace. Therefore, the Kampala Declaration demands that women refugees must be included in the decision-making mechanisms of camps to ensure equitable distribution of relief aid and other assistance. It also demands that the "traditional mechanisms used by women for conflict resolution and peace building should be not only supported but also institutionalised". Women’s involvement in the peace process, the Declaration avers, is "not a luxury but an absolute necessity".

Resolution number 7 of the Declaration also calls for the integration of programmes on gender awareness and peace education at all levels of education, so that the younger generation may be better equipped for peace building in the years to come.

The connection between gender equity on the one hand, and peace on the other, is not incidental. "As a mother you don’t want your kids to go to war. We women are slow in supporting armed conflict," says Jody Williams, one of 10 women who have been honoured with the Nobel Prize for Peace. She was in Afghanistan in July 2002 and saw the ravages of war herself. Why is it that fathers, who are also parents, do not similarly think of the costs and consequences of war on their children? Women call for ‘conflict prevention’; men call for ‘pre-emptive military action’.

"We need to go to war before Iraq gets nuclear weapons," says one American spokesman (male), and "this is the only way to protect US citizens". One may well ask: who used the first-ever nuclear bomb on an unsuspecting Japanese population, killing 200,000 innocent citizens in minutes?

"We need to go to war in Iraq because the region is vital to our economic health," said an American man on the Oprah Winfrey TV show last month. "But where is the question of health - economic or any other kind - if life itself is threatened by war?" retorted Alice McGrath, an American housewife, with devastating logic. She added that casualties would affect both parties, the aggressor as well as the invaded, regardless of who is right or wrong.

Women rely on intuition, men on logic, goes the popular saying. But in the context of peace, its clear that women are the more logical in reasoning, and the men are the ones getting carried away by their egos. Or their irrationality, perhaps?

Global peace and gender equity is quite obviously connected - like two sides of the same coin. One more good reason, then, for having more women at the decision-making table.

Women Features Service