There was more surprise in store as Dahal was politely relating the standing committee decision and not bellowing his warnings, as is his wont. I am a little challenged on the intellectual front but still not foolish enough to take politeness as a person’s weakness. But here Dahal was trying his best to shake my beliefs and persuading me with his body language that politeness, at least in his case, is a sign of impuissance. The erstwhile aggressor, who even smiled with arrogance and whose sense of humor reeked of contempt and disregard for his opponents, simply had lost touch with his humility in the past couple of years to conceal his actual feelings now. It was stark. Like the proverbial emperor with no clothes.
Dahal should at least have been proud while making the announcement, for he was ending the misery of millions of Nepalis. These millions may not qualify as people in his definition, but they still are his fellow countrymen. And his words, which have never been mellifluous, were still music to their ears even though their agonies were of his making.
The Maoists’ withdrawal of their indefinite strike--for now, I have to remember--is a welcome decision and should be taken in the right spirit. But the faces of Dahal and his fellow comrades during the press conference showed how reluctantly the sensible decision was arrived at. This should never be taken as someone’s victory at others’ expense, but the Maoist leaders seemed to have taken it as a loss of momentous proportions. Defeat of the people to the self-centered and affluent Kathmanduites.
Dahal said the decision was taken to prevent the setting of people--for once he was generous enough to use the term even for those not confirming to his ideals--against people. But he must have dreaded to even consider this scenario having initiated the indefinite strike as the decisive battle to become prime minister.
He may still get to lead the next government, but it will not be on his terms. He must now listen to his opponents’ demands and his militant cadres would now need some convincing for the rationale of calling this strike at the first place if not the withdrawal. For the Maoists gained precious little from this week of madness. If at all, it got the urban middle-class more alienated, rather antagonized with intimidation and extortion. It may not matter much for a self-proclaimed sovereign party but the Maoists still lost international credibility gained after the 2006 April Uprising. More damagingly the non-Maoists will now believe that the Maoists can be--or rather have already been--cut down to size.
Therein lies the danger. Having seen the Maoists brought down to knees, the invigorated ultra rightists may now dream of further cornering them. There are already many who want them to get back to the jungle and believe the army can finish off the Maoists who are less likely to get the Indian patronage this time around.
Maoists may have betrayed the hope of many voters in the past two years, but they are still the largest political force in the country and should not be underestimated. One Gyanendra Shah has already burnt his fingers thinking he can do away with anything just because the political parties had lost their popularity. The country cannot afford another war, even with the demoralized Maoists. The Maoists had forgotten the history and started believing that they can push others around with a few thousands of cadres. It needed but a solitary peace assembly in Kathmandu to wake them up.
The Maoists may have erred in underestimating the grit of opponents and might of neutrals but were very quick to read the writing on the wall. Better late than never, they realized that the people could see through their demands for peace and constitution. The people of Kathmandu had voted overwhelmingly for them during the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections and were irked that the Maoists were not giving two hoots to the plight of voters.
The Maoists themselves must always have known that all this was just for the naked ambition of one man. Now they have been left in no doubt what the people think of it. The Maoist leaders calling the mobilization of their hardcore cadres’ spontaneous action saw the real spontaneity of the people on May 7 when scores attended the peace rally held in many places throughout Nepal.
One hopes the Maoists learn their lesson from this debacle and give away the romantic dream of turning Nepal into a people’s democratic dictatorship or the dictatorship of the proletariat. The people want transformation of the Maoists into a pluralist party and the mandate in the last election was mainly due to this wish.
The Maoists have already done their bit with the gun and now they have tried through the streets. As unpopular the government may be, the people, Maoists saw, still did not rate them over it. The parties in the government, however, must not misinterpret it as their victory and should now reach out to the Maoists. The people’s verdict for peace is clear, if it was not already through April Uprising and the CA elections to some extent. The sooner the leaders realize it, the better for everybody concerned.
premdhakal@gmail.com
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