Politics of vandalism

Out of power and desperate to reclaim it, the Maoists have resorted to the politics of vengeance and vandalism. The other day they clashed with police in an attempt to obstruct Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal from attending the convocation function at Purvanchal University in Biratnagar. Today, they tried to block President Dr Ram Baran Yadav from reaching a program venue in Pokhara to inaugurate an international conference on forestry. On other occasions Maoist cadres have hurled stones at ministers and vandalized private vehicles. In Biratnagar the other day, Maoist activists ransacked parked vehicles and overturned some of them in the middle of the road-- all this in the name of restoring "civilian supremacy". What kind of civilian supremacy are the Maoists talking about when their cadres indiscriminately vandalize civilian property and violate the dignity of citizens?



To wave black flags in protest is a very democratic thing to do but to stone a minister´s vehicle is something else entirely -- in a civilizational sense it´s sheer savagery; it´s the equivalent of taking politics back to the stone age. The Maoists believe violence and vandalism to be their best political weapon without realizing that it´s actually their biggest weakness. Janaandolan-II was the people expressing themselves for peace and rejecting the use of force and violence as a political means. In pouring out onto the streets at risk to their lives, they were rejecting violence and intervening for peace. But the Maoists never seem to have gotten that message, and continue to believe in violence and practice it whenever it suits them. That´s a betrayal of public faith--no one perhaps voted for them during the constituent assembly election to endorse their violent tactics; instead, they voted in the hope that the Maoists, once elevated to power, would learn to behave and respect the rule of law.



We can understand the Maoist calculation that by continuing their confrontational politics and creating chaos in society, they can drive home the point that governing Nepal while leaving them outside that government is impossible. But the Maoists are underestimating the damage this will do to their credibility. When peace is what the Nepali people overwhelmingly yearn, violence will only be greeted with antipathy. The Maoists must come to terms with the fact that their chairman, Puspha Kamal Dahal, resigned as prime minister after he lost the confidence of the majority of parties in parliament and he can return to power only after winning back that confidence. Civilian supremacy, after all, means the supremacy of decisions taken by CA members elected by the sovereign people and the Maoists must learn to accept that.

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