Indepth Analysis

Sher Bahadur Deuba competes with the Left!

Kathmandu: Three developments of the past week appear of long-term import. The first of course, has to do with government-Maoists activities and activities of the Left triggered by such. The second is the Jaswant Singh visit, which reasserted the Indian orientation in Nepali politics. And the third of course, is the Deuba move on land ceilings and his proclaimed six-point popular program.

The Jaswant Singh visit may at this juncture be interpreted as a follow-up of the trade talks impasse. The point being underscored by the Indian media is that the existing treaty allows Nepal to re-export third country imports on the guise of superficial productions in Nepal. The Nepalese side, however, wants identification of such claims and cites the utility of the existing treaty in having raised the size of the Nepalese exports to India while at the same time pleading for more concessions on grounds of continuing imbalances favoring India. It is noted that the talks are to continue and India has not foregone its demand for a review.

Outside this seemingly routine affair, the Indian media highlights the fact that this is the first official tour of an Indian plenipotentiary after the Palace tragedy. Regardless of the official Nepalese media playing down this point much political significance may be given here. It is perhaps not for nothing that the Indian media chose to delve lengthily on the citizenship issue in Nepal as background to the Singh visit. Jaswant Singh incidentally is foreign minister and defense minister both.

The political nexus moreover, saw a more than casual underlining in the rush of the Left leaders to neighboring Kurseong- Siliguri, India. If the Maoists talks would seem one trigger for such activity, the casual reportage in the Indian media of this activity would appear to have relevance also on grounds of the unity moves in the Left. West Bengal, India, is verily the Indian Communist fort and to what extent there is a nexus in between Indian preferences and the current Nepalese move will have to be carefully watched.

The Maoists activities and responses to such on part of our political establishment can also be seen as reflected in the strong Deuba statement calling for the Maoists to show adequate responses to government gestures for talks. Indeed, as many as instances of the past week indicate, local Maoists workers appear to have remained active and belligerent to the embarrassment of the government. This could well also embarrass the Maoists leadership command and control process.

Of course, parliament and public activities have concentrated on the sudden Deuba proclamation of its six-point program as a result of which the closure of land registration offices has virtually stopped the economic activities in the predominantly land-based economy. The compulsions behind Deuba wanting to be "'more Left than the Left" are many. How he will sustain this image would deserve more analyses. At the moment he seems to have opened a Pandora's box of possibilities as is already been suggested in the streets, in the parliament and of course in the Courts.

Deuba's wish to exhibit himself more 'Left than the Left' might boomerang!

Kathmandu: Trying times appear ahead in Nepal's already anxiety-ridden politics. The fluidity that have marked the country's politics of late continues to be so even if the Government and the Maoists insurgents decided to talk to ease the situation some three weeks back.

The lull seen in the nation's politics for a while appears to have been badly shaken by some epoch making political developments whose ramifications will perhaps jolt the nation from within should the political actors of today lose sight in handling the would-be situation with proper care.

However, here we will analyze only the land ceiling issue and its would be impact in the existing Nepali society.

If Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has, on the one hand, invited wrath from the land-owning class for his "revolutionary" steps taken with regard to the proposed new "land ceiling" for the land owners, then on the other, he has equally been bagging accolades from various communists factions for his last Thursday's historic proclamation made inside the parliament. After all there should be no panic in the nation if the poor lot are provided a piece of land.

The step initiated by Deuba is sure to destabilize the national politics as this move will create a fissure in between the government and the land owning class in Terai plains and even in the hilly regions where a sizeable chunk of rich people command authority over vast stretches of land whose fair distribution among the land-less lot in Nepal could at least give shelter to the needy ones. More so, this new move will annoy Deuba's own party men who apparently belong to the land owning class.

Besides this, the government led by Deuba is already being grilled inside the parliament by the members of the Sadbhavana and the RPP stalwarts. Undoubtedly, these two parties represent the interests of the land owning class who tentatively were their voters at times of the elections.

Conversely, the communists have reasons to rejoice simply because their support to this new Deuba move vis-à-vis the new land ceiling will by all means go in their favor at times of the elections. Undoubtedly, the land less and the poor people who will get lands for themselves will unconditionally support communists' candidacy thinking that it were this grouping whose active support made them master of a small piece of land.

At the end of the game, this move might create a rift in between the new and the old master of the same piece of land.

Since the land ceiling is a sub-judice case and hence we will refrain from making any further comments on this topic until the court clears the matters in a day or two.

However, Sher Bahadur Deuba's off-the-cuff proclamation made in this regard might destabilize his own chair very badly from within. Making blunt promises and bringing them into effective implementation were entirely two different things.

If Deuba in doing so wishes to please the weaker section of his own constituency and bag their tacit support at time of the election and also out maneuver the communists during that time then it would be a suicidal affair for him. For, the communists' possess the knowledge on how to turn the wave in their favor. This could mean that some way or the other the congress will have now feeble grip over their vote bank in the Terai plains.

Be that as it may, Deuba has apparently attempted to show the communists that should an opportune moment come he can acquire a posture, which could be more Left than the Left.

It would have been pretty fair and nice if the Prime Minister had done his homework properly prior to going in for such an announcement whose social, legal and economic dimensions were much more higher that he might have imagined of.

H.M. King Gyanendra's expressions create ripples in political sector!

Kathmandu: His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, the new constitutional monarch, is in the news these days.

His Majesty's fresh expressions have created ripples in the already topsy-turvy looking politics of the nation.

King Gyanendra during a tête-à-tête with one prominent Nepali journalist last week has hinted that he will not be a "mere onlooker like my brother King Birendra" regarding the deteriorating affairs of the state.

During the talk with the media man His Majesty has amply hinted that He very much wished to get his role as per the existing constitution properly defined.

This amply suggests that King Gyanendra sooner or later will "assert" his role as Nepal's monarch much the same way as is being done by national political parties.

This also forces us to infer that a sort of new political environment will dawn in Nepal should the King so desired and the political parties deny the King the role he very wishes to assert.

King Gyanendra' assertive posture comes to the fore when He says that he will not remain as a mere onlooker to the events in Nepal like his brother which means that he wishes to play an active role in nation's politics come what may.

His Majesty the King during the talks with the reporter also amply hinted that should not he be consulted on matters of grave national events and national importance?

In effect, the King perhaps wished to hint at the fact that at a time when a particular quarter was hell bent on installing republicanism in Nepal and that he as a constitutional monarch was not being informed by the government of the day or by political actors of today.

The King apparently has hinted that the installation of republicanism in Nepal be left to the wishes of the people who would in essence decide whether they preferred constitutional monarch or switch to republicanism.

This also means that the new monarch has no place in his hearts for the Maoists demand for a republican state in Nepal, which is only but natural.

To add, King Gyanendra has also made it clear that the constitution of the day has got to be respected and duly honored by all sets of forces including the political parties but not only by the common people and the monarch.

This automatically means that the King is aware of the fact that Nepal's political leaders have at different intervals of time during these 12 democratic years have exceeded their functions regarding honoring the letter and spirit of the constitution.

Its corollary could be summarized that the King henceforth would not tolerate the Nepalese leaders' exceeding their functions.

Regarding King Gyanendra's concern for the people and their well being is more than welcome.

King Gyanendra's desire to play a role in the nation's politics is also welcome. However, what is so far not clear is that how he will play his role: by turning himself into an active monarch or will he do so by remaining well under the constitution now in force? If he does so by being well within the limits of the constitution, the people will definitely favor his moves. If he favors the first mode instead, he might invite criticisms from various political quarters.

It is also not clear at this stage as to how the Nepalese political parties react to King Gyanendra's fresh "political" overtures.

However, what is for sure is that King's straight-forward expressions have come at a time when the nation is all set to arrive at an amicable solution to the overly stretched Maoists insurgency.

Undoubtedly, King Gyanendra's one to one talks with a media man will invite mixed reactions in the days ahead.

Siliguri(India) pilgrimage of communists leaders significant!

Kathmandu: Who is playing foul with whom? Who is dishonest with whom? Who wishes to forge a tacit alliance with whom? And finally what would be the fate of the proposed Maoists-Government talks are the few questions that have been plaguing the minds of the local intellectuals here of late given the quickly changing political equations or say overtures in and among various communists groupings?

To come to the point, Nepali population were taken aback last week when they learnt through their own mode of information that their "respected and honored" communists leaders suddenly left for a "pilgrimage" to neighboring India to meet Comrade Prachanda alias Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the chairman of the Maoists insurgency.

The contingent of the communists leaders from various camps left Kathmandu last Wednesday and had a long chit-chat with Maoists leader Prachanda in Siliguri, India, which is also considered to be the citadel for the Indian and the Nepalese communists both.

This sudden meeting in between and among the Nepalese communists leaders including comrade Prachanda is highly significant and can't be dismissed outrightly even if things that have trickled after the Siliguri-meet in a otherwise manner.

This could well be a common calculated strategy of the communists' leaders to divert the attention of the lay men in Nepal from the actual happenings in Silguri.

However, what has been given to understand is that the UML-Maoists talks apparently failed much to the discomfiture of the latter.

In effect, Comrade Prachanda wished to seduce the UML in its final demand for demanding the republican state in Nepal during the impending talks with the establishment, however, Madhav Nepal's total reluctance in this regard apparently contributed to the failure of the meeting.

That the Maoists meeting with the leaders in pilgrimage to India failed gets reflected from the fact that the UML party summoned a special meeting of its CC members to divulge the details of the Siliguri Summit wherein the party suggests the Maoists leadership not to dampen the prospects of the talks with the government in any way.

That the UML at least at this stage is not willing to subscribe to the Maoists line of the Republican state in Nepal becomes amply clear from its press statement released upon return from the Indian pilgrimage in which it hints the insurgency not to press the establishment with this specific demand and let the dialogue take a positive course.

The UML in its fresh statement has urged all and sundry not to disrupt the peace process. This means that the UML has sensed that some quarters wish the proposed talks to fail. However, who could be those forces, the UML is tight lipped.

The unnecessary delay seen in the proposed talks in between the two warring rivals is simply intriguing.

Be that as it may, the Siliguri pilgrimage of Nepal's communists' leaders by all means proves that should an awkward moment grip the communists here, Siliguri could be the safest place for them in the East.

Secondly, it also gives inkling into the possible places for emergency hideouts of our Maoists leaders, which are the neighboring bordering areas in India.

Thirdly, it also could be inferred that some exclusive connections of Nepali communists' leaders couldn't be ruled out with Indian communists' leaders as of last week.

These notwithstanding, the Siliguri Summit meeting at least gave the Nepalese leaders to take stock of current situation in Nepal as perceived by them respectively.

Interesting days ahead indeed.

A blatant case of 'gender' discrimination

Kathmandu: The largely male dominated Nepali society appears to consume some more time to reconcile with the positive changes that have been visible in the other camp that is the sector of the female folks.

Rhetoric apart, the female folks in Nepal continue to be accorded second-class treatment be it in the society or even in the government sector.

The progress achieved or say accomplished by a particular female member of the society is held still under suspect thus causing mental agony and humiliation to the extent that the female authority yields to the excessive undue pressure of the society and prefers to find solace in some other jobs where the domination of the male members is either totally absent or is at its lowest level.

However, things have become different today. Female folks of today's Nepali society prefer to fight with the social battle come what may.

That the Nepali female members have come of their age has come to our notice only recently.

Usha Nepal is a name that created ripples in the Nepalese society when she filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against a government decision that summarily alleged her that she had furnished a false birth certificate at time of joining the His Majesty's Government job some decades back.

"'How I could cheat the government on such a sensitive issue as that of birth certificate"'. The certificates, which I submitted then, are all genuine ones and hence I outrightly reject the government's false allegations. A sort of conspiracy has been hatched to malign my growing prestige by some of high place authorities in government for reasons completely unknown to me"', divulged Usha Nepal to this scribe last week.

Usha Nepal was later dismissed from her government job but thanks the Supreme Court, which issued orders to reinstate her at the ministry where she had been working at time of dismissal.

"When I received a letter of termination, I was then the incharge of the Nepali team verifying the Bhutanese refugees in Jhapa", said Usha Nepal adding, "this amply explains the government's interest and honesty in handling the issue.

To an inquisition of the Telegraph on whether she suspected a sort of gender discrimination in her dismissal, Usha Nepal opined that "it could be".

To yet another query of the paper, Usha Nepal admitted that government sector rarely followed the established regulations. According to her, it is the Nepali Courts only, which has honored the pains and the problems of bureaucrats like several others and me.

To recall, the special bench of honorable Judges Harischandra Upadhyaya and Gopal Khatri at the SC instructed the government to reinstate Ms. Nepal. The decision to that effect was taken on August 10, 2001.

The Usha Nepal sad episode very much exposes the government's attitude towards Bhutanese refugee issue and more so on its stance towards the female bureaucrats working in its own setup.

Fortunately, Usha Nepal has been reinstated and she will continue in her high chair at the Home Ministry till September 16 next month.

It is time that the international donor society that claims to champion the causes of the female folks in Nepal takes this issue seriously and does the needful so that such sad events do not get repeated in the future.

US and RF to continue to negotiate to move beyond ABM Treaty

Kathmandu: The US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that the United States and Russia must
move forward in a new strategic relationship that reflects the end of Cold War hostility.

"That strategic formula is not based solely on military issues -- such as mutual nuclear weapons reduction -- but also involves advances in U.S.-Russian political and economic relations", Rumsfeld said August 16 in an interview on the PBS television Newshour.

Elaborating his idea further on this count the US Defense Secretary opined that "What we need to do is to find different structures and agreements and understandings so that we can move forward in a less hostile and more rational relationship".

There have been a number of discussions between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior U.S. and Russian defense officials, and himself and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on those issues and on the proposed U.S. missile defense system and the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, Rumsfeld recalled. More meetings between defense officials are scheduled in September, and the two presidents will meet in October and November, it is learnt.

The meetings to date have enabled U.S. officials to understand the Russian perspective and what things "are really concerning them as opposed to just rhetoric" and to tell them "the things that concern us," he said. "It is a process. It's not an event."

Rumsfeld said the United States will continue to negotiate with Russian officials to move beyond the ABM Treaty, but will not intentionally violate the terms of the treaty as it researches, tests and develops a missile defense system.

If the United States is unable to establish a new relationship with Russia so that it can get beyond the ABM Treaty and proceed to develop the kinds of missile defense capabilities that have been proposed, "then obviously the United States would have to give notice [to withdraw from the treaty]," he said.

Nepal not to tolerate activities against neighbors

Kathmandu: A press release issued by the Indian embassy in Kathmandu on 19 August states that the fresh visit of Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh's Nepal visit was a rewarding one in the sense that it provided with an opportunity to "exchange views with Nepalese political leaders wherein it was agreed that the cooperation between Nepal and India should be further strengthened in the existing spirit of friendship for the development and well-being of the peoples of the two countries.

The press release also notes that India’s concerns with regard to the use of Nepalese territory for anti-Indian activities by elements maneuvered by third countries was conveyed to which, adds the press release, His Majesty’s Government reiterated that such activities against friendly neighbors would not be tolerated.

The full text of the release issued at the end of Singh's Nepal visit is as follows: editor.

"Minister of External Affairs and Defence of India, Mr. Jaswant Singh came on a goodwill visit to Nepal from August 17 to 19.

2. During his visit, Mr. Jaswant Singh had an audience with His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev in which he conveyed, once again, deep condolences at the recent tragedy. He also conveyed the good wishes of the President and the Prime Minister of India. Mr. Jaswant Singh called on the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon’ble Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba and reaffirmed India’s commitment to building further on the existing friendship and cooperation with Nepal. He exchanged views on issues of mutual interest. The Minister also had occasion to meet with leaders of major political parties in Nepal for exchange of views.

3. During his discussions, Mr. Jaswant Singh conveyed with regard to the Trade Treaty that certain issues have come up in the operation of the Treaty over the past five years which would need to be addressed and necessary adjustments made. India was confident that satisfactory solutions of all questions would be achieved through forthcoming discussions. With regard to the Russiyal-Khurdawar-Lautan bund, Mr. Jaswant Singh conveyed that the construction of the bund had been halted since July 10 after the expression of concern by His Majesty’s Government and that no damage in any way would be caused to Nepal. It was unfortunate that totally unfounded apprehensions had been sought to be raised with regard to Lumbini which was as sacred to India as it was to Nepal.

4. During discussions, Mr. Jaswant Singh conveyed India’s appreciation of the movement towards negotiation and reconciliation that had been made with regard to the Maoist question. India’s concerns with regard to the use of Nepalese territory for anti-Indian activities by elements maneuvered by third countries was conveyed. His Majesty’s Government reiterated that such activities against friendly neighbours would not be tolerated.

5. In the exchange of views with political leaders in Nepal, it was agreed that the cooperation between Nepal and India should be further strengthened in the existing spirit of friendship for the development and well-being of the peoples of the two countries.

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