The Maoists’ frustration is understandable -- ever since they quit power they have been desperate to get it back, but they don´t have the necessary numbers in parliament to alter the current power equation. For the last few months they also made frantic efforts to reach out to and make it up with India, but in vain. Engaging in clandestine negotiations with the southern neighbor failed, and now they have said publicly that they want a dialogue with India alone. While Dahal has tried to drum up some nationalistic fervor he has almost in the same breath taken the most regressive stance any party could take, if you analyze things from a truly nationalistic point of view. What is the essence of what Dahal said at New Baneshwar? It´s this: They want an overtly India-brokered deal to get back into power. This is a stance that will bring New Delhi right into the center of Nepali politics.
Sometimes we wonder how a party can claim that it´s the only nationalistic force and the rest are foreign stooges. But then we wonder about many things that the Maoists say or the way they think or behave. Still, we are sure about one thing: To call those who have different political viewpoints "foreign puppets" is nothing but bigotry, and only weakens our collective national standing. This is not the first time that the Maoists have gone through such a profoundly disorienting phase -- once they were digging trenches to "fight Indian expansionism". We can just hope and wish that the Maoists will be able to pull themselves back from the brink.
Teachers' agitation immature and irresponsible: Education minis...
