Of course, PM Dahal had to talk to his cadres in the most simple and basic language. Why is this an issue? Do we not know the level of Nepali janata who go to the worst public schools in the world, who have access to absolutely no outside knowledge, and who manage their time for school despite their burdens of cattle grazing and tilling? It did not create an ideological void, as claimed by some of our intellectuals, but rather it strengthened the ideology of Marxism, Communism and Maoism in the most primordial way to the real people of Nepal who never had the luxury to be sent to the best schools and colleges in the world.
The video offers nothing new about the Maoists, nothing new that can be extrapolated. Their agenda was a known fact to all of us. Maoist ideology oozed of their taking over of the state, it was clear that they ultimately wanted to capture state power, and we’d be damned if Maoists actually went parliamentary-democratic way. Now, that would have been the most unfortunate!
The most important point we absolutely fail to recognize is that people voted them in, citizens of Nepal who need to be trained in an almost child-like fashion actually voted them in, in the most respecting, liberal and democratic manner. Now I know you will give me this argument of “fear” and “terror” and that people gave Maoists a chance because they were tired of all the “violence” and “bloodshed” and wanted “peace”. But let’s be real.
It is really comical when the so-called intellectuals put forward the idea that the Maoists are only driven by the tactics of state capture. Let us not make capturing state power an issue here. The communists are for that only! Maoists have learnt a lot from the past communist states and their mistakes, so they definitely will not repeat them. I request our intellectuals to start reading some left literature before critiquing the left—the Communist Manifesto would be a good beginning. And please, Nepal will never be Cambodia and those of us who are so keen on comparing Polpot with ‘Prachanda’, just sit back, relax and indulge in more productive discussions if you can.
State capture understood by the liberals, or pseudo-liberals to be precise, who were so pro-king till a few years ago is about a small group of people capturing state power for their own good, for their vested interests. But when capturing of the state power happens in a collective, when it has massive back-up support from three-fourths (I’m being more conservative with the numbers here) of the population, it ceases to be the valorized-glorified state capture. It then becomes people – the masses – capturing state power for the good of the majority who can’t afford fancy schools/colleges and hence cannot afford to be very theoretically-grounded producing brilliant arguments. Hence, Maoists plan of capturing state power is actually the most apt plan for the citizens unlike what we are coaxed to believe—that Maoists have no plan for the people, besides their own plan of state capture!
Another point of irony that is often raised is that Maoists themselves as a part of the government are heavily invested in weakening the foundation of the Nepal Army (NA). Well, there is a slight misunderstanding, I would say. Maoists are/were actually, as part of the government, trying to further strengthen the foundation of the NA. Why do we forget the fact that NA has always been India’s puppet army? Before and even after Indian independence, NA was a de-facto Indian army protecting the geo-political interests of India. Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru had time and again reiterated that Nepal’s foreign policy should be coordinated with the foreign policies of India. Nehru had explicitly mentioned in the Indian parliament that “…from time immemorial, the Himalayas have provided us with a magnificent frontier. Of course, they are no longer impassable as they used to be but they are still fairly effective. We cannot allow that barrier to be penetrated.”
Bringing changes within the army institution is a simple thing, a simple process, a process that anywhere in the democratic world is the responsibility of the government. Nepal was no different; the only difference was Maoists were in the government and they were the ones making changes against India’s command. This was the only problem!
The sovereignty that big liberals question and want it intact for us, for Nepal, has always been under threat. The threat is damn clear; it is not from the Maoists. With the Maoists’ move to sack Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal, India’s increasing discomfort became so clear with Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood meeting PM Dahal every other day and showering him with Indian threats. Since Maoists didn’t kneel before India’s command, they had to get out. They chose fighting for sovereignty as opposed to clinging on to state power. Therefore, it is the Maoists that wanted to finally get rid of India’s influence on the NA and in reality make Nepal a sovereign nation. Maoists’ niyati is quite clear—they are determined to finally rescue Nepal from India’s changul, unlike Nepali Congress and CPN-UML who go with the Indian flow.
And yes, why is so much being written to defend President Ram Baran Yadav? Why is he being put up high on the pedestal, saying it was on his head to carry this burden of democracy? The president, under no circumstances, should have reinstated Katawal. It is more unconstitutional than what the Maoist government did. We know such skirmishes had even happened way back when King Birendra was alive during Man Mohan’s prime ministership. When Man Mohan’s cabinet decided to go for a mid-term election and presented it to Birendra, instead of giving immediate decision, he made a point to consult the Supreme Court. Our president now did not consult the apex court; he just succumbed to the pressure of 17 parties. How weak is our president? The ultimate person in the hierarchy turned out to be the weakest.
Now, it is not that difficult for Nepali janata to see where all political parties fit, what their values are, who and what drives them and how loyal they are actually to the people of Nepal. It is crystal clear. UML’s stance and NC’s stance are so clear to people that in the next election, the Maoists are sure to win a majority. Those who are so critical of the “scary” Maoists, please be ready to be ruled by them DEMOCRATICALLY in the days to come.
Well, civilian supremacy will be very clear for us Nepalis once the next cabinet is decided. It will then be clear who our next prime minister will be: will it be the one that has gotten mandate from the people or will it be someone who’s lost from not one but two constituencies? We have yet to witness that.
And, finally, on the charge that because of the Maoists there is an increasing possibility of foreign meddling, well, I believe, it is quite the contrary. Because of the Maoists, there is a possibility of stopping foreign interference and a clear example is when they tried to stop that interference, we know how lion-ous India became with Rakesh Sood threatening PM Dahal not to touch the army, warna (or else), who knows, maybe, a filmy Bollywood style war? Actually, the war in Nepal has just begun.
retika.raj@gmail.com
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