5 Questions The Telegraph - Weekly (Nepal)

5 Q U E S T I O N S

I feel that there is no harm if the UN comes forward for the ultimate peace process in Nepal

Professor Dilli Ram Dahal

Professor Dilli Ram Dahal is not an unheard of personality for the regular readers of the Telegraph Weekly. We have had the honor to print his thought provoking articles in this paper in the past and interviews as well.

At the moment, Professor Dahal is a research scholar at the Center for Nepal and Asian Studies, CNAS, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

He obtained his Doctoral degree in the discipline of Anthropology from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu in 1983. He has published several articles both within and without and has also a good number of books to his credit.

In 2000-200, he did fieldwork on American families (autoworkers and farm families) and published an article in Contributions to Nepalese Studies (January 2004).

Last week we approached this brilliant anthropologist for an exclusive interview. Below the results: Editor.

TGQ.1 As a distinguished sociologist of the country, how you , Dr. Dahal would sum ups the various ups and downs that the country witnessed after the 1990 change? What went wrong and where?

Prof. Dahal: Actually this is a big question, which answers all of your four other questions listed below. In a nutshell, some of the ups and downs in the last 14 years of democratic rules in Nepal (from 1990-2004) are: i) It has raised more expectations and hope to people than providing goods and services to them, ii) political instability, iii) bad governance, and iv) Maoist problems. A large number of people after 1990 simply became frustrated as nothing turned into the table of people. The political leaders had shown little vision to democratize Nepal and empower Nepali people who were oppressed and suppressed over the last 200 years. These political leaders were all the time after their own perks and privileges. In fact, because of bad governance, the problems of social exclusion, particularly the caste and ethnic exclusion, uneven development, rampant corruption, and politicization remained pervasive in every field in the democratic regime as well. In the last 14 years of parliamentary democratic processes, the country has witnessed so many things: the competitive parliamentary practices, the dissolution of parliament by the Prime Minister, the King is taking over the power of the state by using 127 clause of the 1990 Constitution and appointing his desired choice of person as the Prime Minister of Nepal. In the last 14 years, the country has seen 14 Prime Ministers changing the structure of the bureaucracy, affecting working modality and programme activities of various agencies and government institutions including the dismissal of the local government bodies. Finally, Maoist took the advantage of this situation and " peoples’ war" begun between the Maoists and the army since 1996. In November 2001, the government had to declare emergency to control the Maoist problems. Nepal started experiencing a breakdown of its governance system and some scholars even started arguing that Nepal shows a symptom of a "failed state". In brief, everything went towards the wrong direction.

TGQ.2 Nepali society is in a state of conflict. Ethnic, religious and a host of other social issues appear to have come up in the front which if not tackled with proper care might catapult into a dangerous dimension thus leading the state towards disintegration. As a social scientist do you think that these issues were the real ones that demanded their timely redress or are these issues brought to the fore to destabilize the nation?

Prof. Dahal: Though it sounds that the Nepali society is in a state of conflict after 1990, in reality, it is not true. The monolithic political culture of the regimes before 1990 restricted the self-expression of the plurality of values and institutions and systematically discouraged people to express their cultural, religious and linguistic identities. One of the distinct features of democracy after 1990 is an openness of people showing their concern in social, economic and political dimensions of everyday life. So the host of issues, including the caste and ethnicity, religion and language came up in cumulative form and the democratic regime was not prepared to tackle such issues. Along with various demands, these social unrests were reflected in strikes as well. I feel that these issues are the natural outcomes because Nepal is the multicultural, multi-lingual and multi religious nation. In the multi-ethnic country like Nepal, issues of socio cultural diversity must be addressed properly to draw up attention to the specific development needs of particular social and cultural groups of people and aid the formulation of national programmes. Far from being considered a detriment, these elements of Nepal’s historic cultural diversity should be considered as an inherent source of social and cultural wealth.

TGQ3: The establishment side is rejecting Prachanda's preference for the United Nations for mediation efforts. Both forward their own justifications leaving the people to go confused. Should Nepal go the Prachanda way or let the homegrown issue get sorted out through the use of its own homemade skills?

Prof. Dahal: These issues are more political than social in nature. Recently the Minister of Information and Broadcasting of the Deuba government (August 14, 2004) clearly spelled out that there are three major forces to be recognized in Nepal: the King, the political parties and the Maoists. I also feel that unless these three forces come together for a dialogue, no peace process in Nepal would move further. Prachanda wants mediations from the United Nations, as he does not believe the position of the current government. The government does not believe Maoists as they aborted dialogues twice with government and took arms to defend their position. So it is good to have some mediator, who plays a constructive role putting both parties together for the process of long lasting peace. I feel that there is no harm if the UN comes forward for the ultimate peace process in Nepal. Every Nepali wants to live peacefully.

TGQ4: International researchers have expressed their surprise over the Maoists emerging as a force within a short span of eight years of their insurgency. What social factors could have contributed to their increased and growing military strength? Is it the social exclusion of the masses by the leaders? Or is it the self-conscience of the people in adding up their strength?

Prof. Dahal: It is no doubt that the Maoists have emerged as a political force in Nepal over the last 8 years. But they have to yet to prove that they have come to power " not because of the barrels of the gun but the wills of people". This armed conflict in Nepal has killed more than 9000 lives and billions of rupees of worth of damage to property and infrastructure. A combination of factors became instrumental in emerging the Maoists as a political force in Nepal. More importantly, poverty, inequality, social and political exclusion, gender disparity, caste/ethnic based discrimination, corruption, unemployment and bad governance have played important roles putting the Maoists in a safe landing position to come to power in Nepal.

TGQ5: Do you envision that any time in the coming five decades Nepal will be socially, politically and economically an advanced nation?

Prof. Dahal: 50 years is a very long period of time to develop a nation. Nepal is bestowed not only with the natural but also the cultural resources as well. What we need is a good leader to manage these resources. So far Nepal could not produce any great leader to rule this beautiful country? So if any charismatic leader is born, Nepal could emerge as a powerful nation in Asia as a whole.