By paying the bail amount of the person who slapped him, the benevolent chairman of UCPN (Maoist), in his new avatar, has demonstrated to the world that the man responsible for waging a war that claimed 15,000 lives has turned over a new leaf. Short of turning the other cheek, he has opted for the best face saver possible in the situation. His move comes after the social networks were abuzz with the possibility of raising funds to bail out Padam Kunwar, who had slapped Pushpa Kamal Dahal publicly. The slap had sent out a strong message of disillusionment currently shared by the Nepali people. By paying the bail, the chairman has effectively bailed himself out of a tight spot where the only other option would have been to ‘exterminate’ the opponent, going by the former policy of his party of cutting dissenters down to size.
Many had been speculating on how the curtains would fall on this episode, with options ranging from Kunwar being made to commit a ‘suicide’ in custody to meeting other gory ends. In this context, Prachanda’s step has come as a surprise. But then, Chairman Dahal is no stranger to melodrama, and nor is he Ashoka the great, whose benevolence in later life was based on true repentance for his earlier violence. Dahal’s benevolence is perhaps the smartest move he could have made to save face from life-long blemish on his political career, which he made by calling upon all his devious manipulative skills that the Nepali public is witness to every day.
REPUBLICA FILE PHOTO
The scenario that has unfolded since the slapping has all the pathos of a classical drama and has been ironic in more ways than one. That a party cadre who had previously subscribed to the rigour and discipline of the party’s army should slap its chairman, that he should be unable to pay the bail amount in a grim display of his helplessness and poverty, and that the fund-raising for him in social networks could only be topped by the ultimate benevolence of the ultimate malevolent, are all ironic at different levels. It has an added element of tragedy in that a self respecting fighter of the ‘people’s war’ was made to suffer.
Kunwar is now out of custody, but he is not a free man. He is not free because he is still dogged by the poverty and tragedies in his family shared by so many victims of the conflict. He is not free because he carries the weight of disillusionment, confusion and humiliation that makes a mockery of his situation. He carries the weight of his shattered dreams that no amount of counselling or funds raised from Facebook can rid him of, unless his situation changes substantially. Angry at the injustices of the society, he must have started out an idealist, all set for a people’s revolution after indoctrination into Prachanda-path and believing that violence and killing would change the face of the society. He has to live with the fact that nothing has changed for the likes of him, and that the revolution he believed in has brought about magical changes in the lives of only a few of his party-men. The incongruity between the lifestyle of his leaders and of those like him will keep smouldering in the hearts of many like Padam Kunwars.
The next logical step for the chairman would be to announce measures that will involve money or opportunities—like a job—to rehabilitate Kunwar, which will add insult to the injury. Such a measure may pacify this particular family, but what about thousands of others who are also ‘mentally disillusioned, hurt and angry’, to quote from the report of Kunwar’s investigation? Will the UCPN (Maoist) keep doling out money and jobs unfairly in exchange for the wrongs committed by them, from the small pie that belongs to the Nepali people at large, on whose name they waged the war?
With the romance with the people’s revolution long dead, fearing the kind of backlash of which Kunwar is a representative, the UCPN (Maoist) party is using the state treasury to dole out charity to appease its sympathisers, unverified combatants and victims’ families, as if the state treasury was their personal savings account! Isn’t the golden handshake with ex-combatants of dubious identities already burning a big enough hole in the state coffers? Take the example of the disability pension scheme, which is a huge burden on government finances. Other charity being practiced is similarly arbitrary, while the Truth and Reconciliation Commission seems nowhere in sight even after six years of the peace accord. Just in case the so-called “people’s war” did not do enough damage, by running the state exchequer dry and destroying all systems at all fronts, the UCPN (Maoist) is trying to ensure that the nation shall never rise again.
The author is a lawyer and journalist currently based in Brussels
ila_home@yahoo.com
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