The non-cooperation from the palace to the people-elected government following the incident had saddened Koirala very much.
In a regular weekly meeting following the Holeri attack in July, the then King Gyanendra asked Koirala whether the latter should resign saying his credibility was under question. Koirala replied saying that the people accuse the king of the murder of King Birendra and his family.
Koirala resigned two days after the meeting. I had advised him to face whatever the challenge ahead.
Then he asked me to arrange party programs to visit districts. I, as the head of the organization department of the party, arranged district-level programs beginning from Kailali. As Koirala finished addressing the party mass meeting, we came to know that one of our cadres was beaten to death by the Maoists in a nearby village. Koirala wanted to travel to the village to offer tributes to the deceased. But security forces did not permit him to go there. Koirala became very sad.
Koirala traveled to Kanchanpur the next day to address a mass gathering. Soon after he addressed the gathering, we heard the death of another party supporter. He was decapitated. The dead body was soon brought to the program venue. Koirala was shocked, and his eyes became moist. He directed to stop the party program.
Koirala then asked me, "What kind of situation is this? I have not been able to meet the families of the deceased party cadres to extend my condolences? What is the meaning of democracy where we cannot visit places to extend our tributes to the deceased and condolences to the bereaved families?"
These two incidents in the twilight of his life raised misgivings in his mind. The he started to ask, "What is the meaning of democracy in the absence of peace?"
He then concluded that violence should be ended at any cost. I think that was the first time Koirala decided to work for peace in the country.
Koirala then returned to Kathmandu, canceling all the programs to visit districts.
* * *
Our party [Nepali Congress] split in September 2002. The first meeting held after the split of the party decided that the Maoist problem should be resolved through dialogue and entrusted party president Girija Prasad Koirala to take initiatives for talks with the Maoists. Then Koirala started meeting Maoists leaders directly and indirectly. That was the first time Koirala started to read the Maoists’ mind.
* * *
In August 2003, the peace talks between the government and the Maoists broke down. Then Girijababu sent me [Sitaula] and Narahari Acharya to Banaras, India to meet the Maoist leaders. This meeting was kept secret. We told the Maoists that the parliament dissolved by the king should be reinstated. But the Maoists rejected our proposal. But we were successful in reaching an understanding with the Maoists: Sovereignty should be vested in the people as it was not with the people at that time. All these happened in the knowledge and direction of Girijababu.
* * *
In June 2005, Girijababu traveled to Delhi on a medical trip. During this trip, he met Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai, Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal at Gurgaun, Delhi.
During the nearly 45-minute talks, Koirala urged Prachanda to renounce violence. He told Prachanda, “Prachandaji, do you want to come to peaceful politics and democracy or not. It´s meaningless to hold meetings with you if you don’t believe in peaceful politics and multi-party democracy.”
Koirala also told Prachanda that the king would not bow to the armed Maoist rebellion; it would only make the king further stronger. Then Prachanda replied, “Girijababu, we are ready to come to peaceful politics but we cannot agree to your proposal for reinstatement of the parliament.”
At the end of the meeting, Girijababu and Prachanda agreed to fight against autocratic monarchy and for a full-fledged democracy.
This was the first political meeting that gave a formal shape to the would-be peace process.
Before that meeting, we – me and Dr Shekhar Koirala – had held meeting with second-rank Maoist leaders in Haridwar, India.
How Koirala met Maoist Chairman Dahal on that day?
We – Koirala, Dr Shekhar Koirala and me – had stayed at Hotel Ambassador in New Delhi. It was Koirala’s habit to take a nap after lunch. On the day he met Prachanda, Koirala directed his security detail to go out for shopping while he would sleep. Actually he was not sleeping that afternoon. He just wanted to avoid the security detail during his meeting with Prachanda.
The security detail folllowed his direction. He, along with Dr Shekhar Koirala and me, hired a taxi and went to meet Prachanda and other Maoist leaders. By the time security detail returned, at 4 pm, Koirala was already at the hotel. The security detail never knew about the meeting.
I now think that such a meeting would not have been possible had there been no support from the highest level of the Indian government.
Initially, Koirala was skeptical over Maoists joining peaceful politics as the party was an ultra leftist.
But this meeting was crucial to instill confidence in Girijababu that the Maoists could lay down arms and come to peaceful politics.
Girijababu and Prachanda talked over a cup of tea. The meeting was held at a Dharmashala. The leaders also smoked while talking.
* * *
We continued to hold talks with the Maoists following Koirala’s meeting with Prachanda. Koirala directed me and Dr Shekhar to negotiate for the 12-point agreement [the understanding signed in November 2005 between the Maoists and the then seven-party alliance]. Koirala had directed us not to compromise with multi-party democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights, peace, prosperity and independent and sovereign Nepal while negotiating the agreement. Koirala also made the Maoists to agree on these issues. As a result, the 12-point understanding became possible.
The understanding was detrimental to galvanize public opinion against the monarchy. The April movement became possible due to this understanding. Koirala had made the Maoists to commit not to use arms during the 19-day anti-monarchy movement in April 2006.
Koirala had asked me not to share the information about the understanding till it was singed by the Maoists and other parties in the alliance.
12-point understanding signing
We had agreed with the Maoists to sign the understanding on November 22, 2005. On that day, Koirala asked each leader of the alliance to come to his residence at Maharajgunj separately. He did so because he knew that if all the leaders of the alliance were called together, there would have been a debate on the understanding. He did not want to have a debate on the hard-earned 12-point understanding. Only Madhav Kumar Nepal, KP Oli, Dr Shekhar and me knew it till that day. Other leaders in the alliance were in the dark about the understanding till they came to Koirala residence on that day.
Gopal Man Shrestha, then acting president of Nepali Congress (Democratic), declined to sign the agreement. Shrestha wanted permission from his party chief Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was in jail.
Then Madhavji, Gopalmanji and I went to meet Deuba at the Police Academy. But we could not share the understanding with him as the security personnel were watching our activities. Then we returned. Shrestha kept on refusing to sign the paper. Koirala put his signature, saying that he would not wait for others to sign the document.
Narayan Manji [Narayan Man Bijukchhe) was not in Kathmandu at the time of the signing of the document. Koirala talked to Narayanmanji on the phone and asked me to read out the content of the understanding. Koirala asked him to send his party’s representative to sign the document. Bijukchhe also agreed. But Shrestha continued to stick to his stance. Koirala then directed me to make public the document even if Shrestha did not sign it, saying he would not try to convince Shrestha.
* * *
The first meeting of the reinstated House of Representatives was supposed to convene on May 18, 2006 following the April movement. The meeting was supposed to issue a proclamation to clip the powers of King Gyanendra. In the morning of that day, the then Army Chief Pyar Jung Thapa called on Girijababu at Baluwatar to make a warning-like request to defer the meeting of the parliament. But Girijababu scolded Thapa, saying “You, envoy of the king, don’t come here to talk like this.”
* * *
Koirala always believed in the politics of trust. He became successful in bringing the Maoists to join peaceful multi-party democracy because of his politics of trust. He never betrayed the Maoists during the whole peace process. He was particular about winning the trust of the Maoists. That was the reason why he sent me without my bodyguard to bring the Maoists leaders to Kathmandu from Sikles, Kaski by a helicopter in June 2006. Had he sent me to Sikles with my bodyguard, the Maoists leaders would not have come to Kathmandu with me. That was the first time Prachanda became public later on that day. He risked by sending his home minister [Sitaula was home minister then] to meet rebel leaders in their bastion because he wanted to cultivate a politics of trust with the rebel leaders.
(As told to Kiran Chapagain)
Related story
Let’s live in peace and embrace diversity
