Nepali society has badly eroded its socio economic and moral fabrics and is heading towards a FAILED STATE

Prof (Dr) Gopal Pokharel, Vice Chairman Nepal Council of World Affairs

Professor Dr. Pokharel is currently engaged at the Patan Multiple Campus under the T.U.

He possesses almost three decades of experience in the teaching profession. This perhaps explains his expertise in the discipline he is engaged with.

An expert on South Asian affair, Dr. Pokharel obtained his Doctoral degree from the university of Delhi and the topic had been "South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and its Strategic Implications for Nepal".

At the moment, Professor Pokharel is also the vice-president of Nepal Council of World Affairs, NCWA.

Dr. Pokharel has several publications to his credit, which have got duly printed in reputed national and international journals.

"Nepal's impression of India", Delhi University-South Campus 1994;

"Political Socialization in the Political Parties and Parliamentary Process", a POLSAN undertaking with the support of DANIDA;

"Internal Party Order; SAARC in Perspective", Delhi 1991;

"Rejuvenating Higher Education, Delhi and UML experiment in Democracy" are some of his research publications which gave name and fame both to this versatile Nepali scholar.

Last week, we approached this scholar for his exclusive interview to which he readily accepted. Below the results: Chief editor

TGQ1: How far has the economic inequality present in the society has fuelled the conflict, or do you see other dimensions attached to it? Do you think in the long run the Maoists ideology, if they succeed at all, will be sufficient in tackling the problem?

Dr. Pokharel: Even when the entire international community seems to be well equipped with all the pre requisites and preparations to cope with the challenges of the twenty first century, Nepal still is a country characterized as semi- feudal and semi-colonial by all the indicators. Concomitantly, the age old backwardness coupled with alarming economic in-equalities along with the abject poverty, destitution and diseases, dogmatic practices and inter alia the parochial perception in the mind set of the ruling elites has further exacerbated the precarious situation paving the way for the Maoist insurgency over the last eight years. (After the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990, the political parties were taken to be the key in understanding the current transitional state of Nepalese politics because upon then rests the responsibility for filling in the power vacuum created by the shift from a system of governance based on peremptory command of the king to one largely dependent on party politics. In the current national scene, this responsibility, however not limited to their classical role as "broker of ideas" with the obligations it entails for organizing the chaotic public will, educating the private citizens to "political responsibility" acting as a "connective link between the government and the public opinion", and in selecting competent leaders. The political parties had an additional responsibility for justifying how the contradictory logic of change and continuity which accompanies any dramatic shift in political scene can best be synthesized for the sake of political stability viewed against the backdrop, the main stream the Nepalese political parties failed miserably to register a fair delivery to the common people which culminated into the arm apprising threatening the very existence of Nepal as a nation state). As regards your specific question regarding the Maoist success, in the given regional and global situation the modus operandi that CPN (Maoist) have adopted is highly debatable and doubtful. However, the initiatives and lead that they have taken amply suggest that Nepalese society under no circumstances is prepared to accept the marginalization of different ethnic groups, janajatis , dalits ,women and madeshies etc, nor is willing to maintain status quo. In other words ,the people’s war which the Maoist have launched over these years has compelled the Nepalese state to go into the nitty-gritty of the problem which calls for prompt and effective action for rapid socio economic transformation of the society .

TGQ2: How relevant is it to consider the desirability of UN mediation for the homegrown problem? How do you see the Maoists willingness and the government's reluctance to the issue of UN mediation?

Dr. Pokharel: In the real politics only a wishful thinking or a sere hypothesis does not hold ground. It is now quite evident, as a result of armed conflict, Nepali society has badly eroded its socio economic and moral fabrics and is heading towards a FAILED STATE. Nepalese are forced to live a life of fear psychosis.Each day state-troops and the Maoist are engaged in bringing a military solution to a highly political problem. There has been considerable loss of lives of innocent citizens and utter disregard to human right conditions from both the sides. Under such a situation, it is no good to engage in futile exercise and argue weather a cat is white or black, the moot question of the hour should be to note whether the cat kills the mice or not. Therefore, if the Maoist are proposing themselves as per the rules of the game and are prepared to accept the logical outcome of UN mediation sincerely, the government should not hesitate to accept the offer for the larger of the nation.

TGQ3: How have you evaluated the state of Nepali politics after the King's "(in)famous October 4" move, thereafter the agitation and the return of Deuba as PM? Do you see, Nepal as a nation-state moving forward in the direction of any political stability with these actions?

Dr. Pokharel: Most of the developing countries while in transition have witnessed or experienced crisis in different stages of their development. Nepal can not be an exception either . After 1990 Nepal has not meticulously listed her national priorities by identifying the core issues confronting the society and accordingly moved steadily for addressing them meaningfully in a democratic way. Instead of bickering over a trifle the ruling elites should have shown political acumenship while encouraging the institutional building process by forging an alliance between and among the progressive and democratic forces on the basis of national consensus. But the irony of the situation is that the main actors in the national scene seem to confine themselves to petty-politics ignoring the lofty ideals of democracy. In reference to this the King’s October 4th move can be cited here as a glaring example. Initially when PM Deuba recommended for the extension of election time for over a thirteen months, most of the political observers and analysts were of the opinion that dismissal of Deuba government was a circumstantial compulsion for the king as the recommendation for extension was contrary to the constitutional provision. As the events went on unfolding the attempt on the part of the king was a deliberate one. At this juncture the king’s ambition seems to be magnified for finding out a space which in his own words a constructive role of a 21st century monarch .It is to be noted here that the political parties over these years did make many mistakes and serious mistakes but the October 4th move on the part of the king was a disastrous one in the democratization of Nepali polity. Equally this episode has tarnished the image of Nepali monarchy, as there is a growing antimonarchy and pro-republican slogan in every nook and corner of the society. Lastly when two of his experiments failed to bring a national reconciliation with the induction Lokerndra Bdr. Chand and Surya Bdr. Thapa as Prime Ministers, the king lately appointed once again Sher Bdr. Deuba as PM as his alternative choice. This shows the monarch on his part is frantically trying to justify his action for the larger interest of his country. This is taken as a partial correction of his previous move by most of the political observers and analysts. If the reinstated PM Deuba succeeds in bringing the popular constitutional forces together and the revolutionary Maoists across the table and negotiated settlement arrived at, then and only then, Deuba credibility would be established, other wise this action will be something like a mirage as far as peace and political stability in the society is concerned .We have to wait and see still for sometime to come whether the Nepali society is moving to a right direction or not.

TGQ4: How has government's rejection to the unconditional constituent assembly demand by the Maoists has contributed to the deferment of the probable peace-talks? What do you as a political scientist suggest the warring sides to do at this point in time so that talks resume and peace restored?

Dr. Pokharel: After the king’s takeover, so far there has been three rounds of peace talks between the government and the Maoists, the last round of talks at Hapure broke out and the Maoist resorted to their previous violent tactical action against the state. During the peace talks clear bottom lines were not drawn up with all sincerity and seriousness. Now, again the situation is a little favorable for resumption of dialogue for a peaceful solution of the problem. Most of the political parties in the national scene have accepted the demand of the Maoist that they are prepared to accept the proposition for a constituent assembly if the Maoist would sincerely adhere the rules of the game. For the larger interest of the nation, both the sides must work out the modalities in a pragmatic manner to initiate peace talks so that progressive and socio-economic reform measures could be carried on and lasting peace restored. Both the warring sides must realize the futility of armed conflict and the over militarization, and learn from hindsight to see Nepal’s bright future ensured.

TGQ5: Do you feel that Nepali Civil Society has lost its credibility and sensitivity in the eyes of the people? The deteriorating situation of the Human Rights and the supposed over milatarization, do these adequately hints the redundancy of our civil society? How you as a member of the civil society take the mild-conflict that is going between he HR commission and the military?

Dr. Pokharel: Nepali civil society has a long history and tradition of its own and hence, it’s credibility in modern times cannot be under estimated. At this point of time however, Nepali civil society apparently is somewhat in disorganized shape, for it has not sufficiently been effective to put pressure decisively on the forces playing against the vital social national interest. There are obvious reasons of this state of affairs. Because wrong strategies chosen for national development, the credibility of civil society seems somewhat weakened but not totally lost in the eyes of the people. Therefore, the moot question or the cardinal principle to activate the Nepalese civil society is related to policy-choice .If democratic peaceful solution gets preference neither the militarization would go out of proportion nor abuse of national human rights conditions would find space in the national agenda in terms of conflict management.
Both military organization and national human right commission being the integral components of the state craft could harmonize their plan of action to ensure betterment of the Nepalese people and thus help promoting the peace process based on human and democratic values in the Nepalese society peaceful national development is a common agenda and policy both military institution and human right commission can compliment each other in ensuring public safety and prosperity .It should however, not to be construed human rights commission and military organization are created as counter veiling forces. In the final analysis not mild conflict between the two but close co-operation and understanding is the need of the day, which alone would enable the country to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

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