Minister Thapa Sunday evening turned down Katawal’s two-month-old official request to extend service tenure of eight brigadier generals. Among the retiring generals are probable future chiefs of Nepal Army if one goes by their grooming, training and expertise. Some of the retiring generals had attended crucial trainings in the USA and Britain. True, some of their rivals termed them “American agents” when they time and again got opportunities to attend the best US defense college courses but none of their rivals questioned their competence.
Thapa’s answer was clear — “You did what you could do and I am doing what I can do.” Instead of resigning from the post following the bitter row with Katawal, Thapa patiently waited for a moment to get back to him. He responded to the Army Headquarters’ surprised query by saying retirement was natural after a normal tenure expires.
However, senior generals say this is far from natural as it was the largest ever lot of generals retiring at once, that too against expectation. According to a retired senior general, it will place those having inadequate knowledge and skills on top positions of the army, a situation the Maoist leaders want.
Had Katawal sensed possible rejection of army headquarters’ recommendation for extension of terms, he could have knocked on the doors of the ruling CPN-UML leaders first, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav second and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal third to explain why these generals were important for the institution. Proactive lobbying could probably have yielded a favorable result. When I contacted a senior officer at the military headquarters, he expressed confidence that the term would be extended. It shows they hadn’t imagined in their wildest dream that this would happen.
Personally, this is a big blow to Katawal. He will be seen as someone who failed to retain competent generals. The audacity that Katawal demonstrated by challenging Defense Minister’s “prejudiced” orders to stop recruitment process at the final stage has now been crushed.
And Katawal is in a catch-22 position.
The president does not like to interfere in government affairs for obvious reasons. Nepali Congress (NC) does not like to enter into a conflict by activating the constitutional position of president. The president is the ace of spade for NC while the army its shield. Immediate action by the president would break the shield and the ultimate power that the country’s oldest and largest democratic party intends to use in case of a serious situation will come under direct attack.
UML leaders who maintain a soft corner to Nepal Army’s stance have already fallen prey to Maoists’ blackmailing. They neither can quit the government nor can they stop the Maoists from imposing their arbitrary decision from inside the cabinet. Former Naxalite leadership of the UML is still wondering whether to turn left or right and whether to confront or collaborate with the extremist Maoists. UML´s strong action against the Maoist decision not to extend the terms of generals is unlikely, at least until Jhala Nath Khanal leads the party and Bam Dev Gautam leads the party in the government.
“Who is our patron, ultimately?” Katawal might have wondered throughout the night after his attempts to make a back-dated decision for extending the generals’ term failed Monday.
The might of the armed service commander is his arms but Katawal is in a state where both his arms are tied to his back. Nepal’s army still takes US and Indian army as its father institutions in terms of their support and guidance but they are not in a mood for altercation. Nor does Katawal personally want to go for open confrontation just a few months before his retirement. He is also not sure which political party would back its action if the army threatens to come to the field.
Katawal has defied the Maoist-led defense ministry’s orders to the extent he was permitted by law or peace agreements. Now, I don’t see any option for Katawal except to convince the political parties to support the cause raised by the army. Engaging in confrontation with the Maoists will only give the latter a reason for pushing their communist agenda forward.
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