With Baburam Bhattarai gone from the UCPN (Maoist), it is as if the "Long March" of Nepali Maoism is now finished. It is the end of an era. Game over, comrades!Nepali people will never forgive Maoists for the ten years of 'People's War', which took thousands of lives and maimed many more. It has left a huge scar on Nepali psyche. In retrospect, after the 1990 change, Bhattarai and his former comrades gave the democratic constitution only five years to work before they started the war in 1996. They used to claim that history would judge their contrition. I am now thinking how history will judge Nepali Maoism which did not allow the democratic constitution of 1991 to even take off.
Then came the horrors—people could not travel safely in parts of Nepal. The then royalist security forces and Maoists had made lives of Nepalis a living hell. Atrocities like Barmude became commonplace, when the rebels fighting for social justice torched innocent Nepalis alive. When you think about it, the violence in those dreadful years is now unimaginable.
When I say Nepali Maoism is finished, it is not to say that various strands of Maoist parties as organized forces will cease to exist in Nepal. If a royalist party still advocating for the dead monarchy can stay relevant, then Maoist parties will certainly cling on. However, as a school of thought, what more can Nepali Maoism offer Nepal and her people? To discuss Maoism as a whole, I have not made any effort to distinguish the hair-splitting differences between numerous Maoist groups.
Nevertheless, I am also not one of the die-hard anti-Maoists who do not see anything positive in Maoists. They shook the fabric of the old Nepali establishment. Most recent achievements—republic, Constituent Assembly, the constitution and marginalized voices coming to the fore—had been Maoist agenda. Though many of us might be strongly against past Maoist violence, nobody can take away their contribution to Nepal. Nevertheless, as an ideology, Maoism in Nepal now has nothing new to offer.
After coming to peace process, Bhattarai himself had said on numerous occasions that now was the time for 'economic revolution'. Most communist parties of Nepal have noted that Nepal needs to build on the end of feudalism by encouraging industrialization and the development of capitalism. If that is what Nepali Maoists have in mind, then how are they different from the CPN-UML?
If the Maoists, whether the Baidya brand or the Prachanda brand, have accepted multiparty democracy and believe that the new way forward is more production and egalitarian redistribution, then how are they starkly different from the democratic socialist tendencies of Janata ko Bahudaliya Janabaad ("people's multiparty democracy") of UML?
The new constitution has brought many opportunities for the country. It has institutionalized secularism, republicanism and federalism. Nepal's constitution has become one of the most progressive in the world, offering solace to minorities including the LGBTI community. Now the major political parties must reach out to Madhesh and come up with an amicable solution to Madheshi demands.
The issues of identity will always remain and the society will need to check and correct itself in time and as per the concerns of marginalized communities. However, once identity concerns take a backseat, economic advancement comes to the fore. After that, what will be the political agenda of Maoists?
An agenda manipulated by Maoists for a long time is anti-Indian-ism. During the Maoist war, on one hand, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Bhattarai were allegedly living in a posh apartment in Delhi, with the help of Indian intelligence; while on the other, they were directing their party cadres to start a 'tunnel war' with India. With the small-country-complex, anti-India sentiment has always plagued Nepal.
Maoists guided that sentiment. However, as India has blatantly imposed an unofficial blockade on Nepal, Indian bullying is now out in the open. In this situation, people in general, including Nepali Congress and UML have taken up the agenda of securing our sovereignty. Therefore, even the agenda of Nepali sovereignty seems to be slipping out of Maoist grip.
It is the "end of history" for Nepali Maoism as an ideology. Ironically, its end also marked its partial victory—the delivery of constitution from the CA. However, it gave away its agendas to other political forces. It does not seem to have any 'shining path' to look forward to either. The dreams of Maoist communist utopia are dead. With Baburam Bhattarai, its chief ideologue gone, Maoism as an ideology is sure to meet its eventual death. The project is finished. Poetic justice, I would say.
The author is pursuing MSc in Conflict Studies in London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
shreya.paudel2010@yahoo.co.uk
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