Probe the audio tape

A controversial audio tape aired by various TV stations late on Friday evening -- the transcript was printed by many newspapers, including Republica, in today´s print editions -- has claimed that Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara sought 500 million rupees from an unknown Chinese source to buy votes to elect Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal as prime minister in Sunday´s election. Mahara has already issued a statement refuting the charge but the government is yet to react officially over the case. Mr Mahara, let us put it to you bluntly – a statement alone is not enough. And we also want to warn the government that this is too serious a matter to be brushed aside without a proper investigation. The government cannot escape from its basic responsibility of bringing before the people the truth concerning such a serious case.



If the tape is genuine, and the voice recorded in it is indeed Mahara´s, it will indicate how serious our national crises has become, and how gravely it is being complicated by regional geopolitics. It will also mean that China and India-- growing superpowers in their own right-- are either engaged in a proxy fight through Nepal and/or competing for influence in this impoverished country. We can neither afford such a proxy fight, nor can we allow our parties/leaders to be bought off by either of our giant neighbors. If the audio tape is fabricated, its message will be no less ominous: deliberate attempts are afoot to defame the largest party in the Constituent Assembly, the UCPN-M, and to drag our northern neighbor into unwarranted controversy. This is equally deplorable and unacceptable to us.



However, the best way to proceed, before drawing any conclusions, is to have the authenticity of the audio tape tested by a renowned international forensic lab. Technology is now so advanced that voice spectrum analysis at any forensic lab with such facilities can ascertain whether the voice in the audio tape is indeed Mahara´s. Since the Maoist party has been implicated in a very grave matter, it should not only offer cooperation in forming a probe commission; it should actually demand formation of the commission at the earliest. If Mahara is innocent, he will be duly acquitted of any charges once the probe is over and it will also clear the doubts in people´s minds about the party, besides exposing a larger conspiracy to frame it.



But if the Maoist party objects to the formation of such a commission on one or another pretext, it will only remove public doubts, if any, about the authenticity of the audio tape.



Similarly, if the government-- and the parties in the ruling coalition-- shy away from a probe commission, it should not only be taken as an act of condoning Maoist behavior, but will also raise serious questions about the moral integrity of those parties.

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