Important Milestone

THE Nepalese people heaved a sigh of relief Wednesday evening as His Majesty's Government and Nepal Communist Party (Maoists) agreed to declare an immediate ceasefire and start a fresh round of peace talks to end the more than seven year-old violent insurgency. Under the agreed provisions, the Maoist leadership has halted all forms of offensive and violent acts. In response, the government has decided to withdraw the 'terrorist' label on Maoists and bounty on the head of some Maoist leaders and remove the red corner notice for the arrest of Maoist leaders and workers. In a statement, Maoist chairman Prachanda has described the government's decision as a positive and forward-looking move towards resolving the crisis in the country. This is, no doubt, an important milestone in Nepal's political history and, thus, a historic decision in resolving the national crisis and restoring peace and stability in the country. The ceasefire would bring to a halt the violent conflicts that have already claimed more than 7000 lives and destroyed national property worth tens of millions of rupees. Killing one Nepali by another Nepali and destruction of national property are by no means at the interest of the nation. It has only benefited the enemies of the nation, which should not be tolerated by any patriotic Nepali citizen. When there are provisions for any political goals to be achieved through peaceful means, it is definitely wrong to use violence for the same. The Maoist leadership finally seems to have realised this fact and positively reciprocated to the government's appeal for peace talks. The present Council of Ministers in general and Minister for Works and Physical Planning Narayan Singh Pun in particular, made meticulous efforts to create the present situation, for which the whole team deserves commendation. His Majesty the King, from the beginning, had clearly entrusted the present government with five major responsibilities including resolution of the Maoist problem. The government, as said by Minister for Information and Communication Ramesh Nath Pandey, had always been positive and effortful in resolving the crisis through peaceful means.

As said by Minister Pandey, differences of opinion can be resolved through dialogue and negotiation on the basis of patriotism. It is beyond any shade of doubt that no citizen can remain unaffected if the nation falls into dangerous crisis. The violence and instability virutally pushed the country to a unimaginable situation. But the people became hopeful for a peaceful solution of the Maoist problem right after the formation of the present government as His Majesty himself had publicly called all people, irrespective of their political ideologies, to come together and work collectively to lead the country towards progress and a better future.

The government has, thus, lived upto the popular expectations, as the ice has been broken with regard to the Maoist problem. Although it is a humble beginning, the process has now been initiated towards ending violence and restoring peace in the country. The more important and challenging task lies ahead for the government to negotiate peace in both theoretical and practical terms. Efforts, thus, need to be made with more care and caution in the future to reach a logical conclusion for the solution of the problem. The government has already designated Minister Pun as the convener of the peace talks and similar announcement is expected from the Maoist side too. Previous talks between the government and the Maoists had failed to bring about any positive outcome as the government seemed to have gone to the negotiating table without complete preparation and specific agenda. At the same time, the Maoist leadership also needs to honestly keep its promises by completely halting all offensive and violent activities in a practical sense. The past experiences have it that Maoist leadership declared truce at the central level, whereas its workers continued to parade with fatal weapons in the villages. It is now expected that such mistakes would, certainly, not be repeated from either side. Prior to the initiation of the talks, a broad national consensus also needs to be forged on the agenda for talks with the Maoists. Minister Pun has already said that the government is planning to hold a roundtable conference with representatives of political parties and civil society to discuss the agenda of peace talks and create a conducive atmosphere. This speaks of the fact that the government is moving forward very cautiously and responsibly, so that talks may end in a logical conclusion. The nation has already suffered much and can no longer afford further crises. Now the fate of the nation lies on the success of the peace talks, failure of which is definitely expected to invite more chaos and instability. Both sides now need to move ahead responsibly and pragmatically taking the national interest on top of everything else.