Nearly a month
after the cease fire, the thought uppermost in every Nepali's mind is when the peace talks
will start and what will happen? The traumatic experience of the last seven years has made
the poor people jittery and they want total normalcy to return to the country without
undue delay. It is a time when all Nepalis irrespective of their political ideologies,
must sit down together and engage the Maoist leaders in a meaningful dialogue. But, the
political leaders who are directly responsible for embroiling the country into the
devastating civil war still look unrelenting. And a handful of their supporters in the
media and small intellectual domain, who shared the loot and fattened on the illgotten
wealth, are unabashedly advocating the lost cause of their masters. These corrupt and
unscrupulous politicians and their cronies have imperilled the multi-party democratic
process that the country had initiated at great sacrifices with their anti-national
behavior. What could be more facetious and ironical than their shallow shouts to defend
the achievements of 1990. Indeed, the hard won democratic regime has to be preserved but
not at the cost of the sovereignty of the nation. Since the King was forced to involve
himself directly in the administration, the people must have patience and give enough time
to the King to work out an agreeable formula that would bring lasting peace to the
country. The Maoist leaders should not fail to realize that, at the present juncture, the
discredited political leaders are a spent force. And for a new political leadership to
emerge, the country must go to the general elections as early as possible. Consequently,
the only alternative open to them at the moment is to arrive at a peaceful understanding
with the government in power and start the ball rolling for multi-party democratic process
to take over. The Maoists should not waste the precious time on useless and non-productive
talks with corrupt politicians. Since they must have become chastened by their gruesome
experiences, they cannot have any more truck with anti-national forces, whether inside or
outside the country. Unless they show enough courage and wisdom to rise above all
personal and partisan interests and come to terms with the government to pave the way for
holding the polls, the clouds enveloping the political sky of Nepal will not scatter away.
They must understand that constitutions can be framed anew, amended and even scrapped but
the sovereignty of the nation can never be bargained. As for King Gyanendra, not only
Nepal and its poor people but the whole world is anxiously waiting to see how he acts.
Since constitutional monarchy in a multi-party democratic regime cannot be compromised and
since the clock cannot be turned back, we do trust King Gyanendra will prove himself to
be the Savior of Nepal. As he happens to be the de facto Chief Executive in
the present set up, he cannot avoid taking unpleasant decisions. And one that he should do
urgently is to invite the Maoists for dialogue. The one big constraint he might suffer
from is only time. So, without wasting any precious time on the expendable and
unproductive criticisms of the proven quislings, he must not hesitate to usher in
permanent peace in the country so that his government can start the electoral process as
the top priority.
The thirteenth non-aligned conference has
just concluded in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Even though Heads of State and
government of 116 nations attended the meet, there is a lot of controversy in the
relevance of the conference and the continuation of NAM itself. When NAM came into
existence more than four decades ago, the bi-polar world was gripped in cold war. Even
then, the movement could hardly influence the course of global politics. And now, when one
superpower is dominating over the whole international arena, how effective would the
resolutions of the meet become is anybody's guess. Indeed, NAM can boast to represent more
than half of the world's poor and developing peoples. As for its impact on Washington is
concerned, we need not be ashamed to confess it will be quite insignificant. The world is
facing a very different situation. And most probably will be engulfed in a war that will
further destabilize the poorer nations of the world. The United States, the only
superpower is even threatening to defy the United Nations. If that unfortunate scenario
does really happen, the U.N.O. will not only lose its utility but start rolling down the
way of the League of Nations. Under such circumstances, what would be the efficiency of
NAM is a matter for serious consideration for all of us. |
