Nepal scene becoming curiouser and curiouser

New Delhi( editorial May 22)The Nepal situation is becoming curious by the day. The Maoists are in the government but they are still acting as if they are in opposition to the government on a host of issues that range from teachers’ salaries to upkeep of cantonments where the Maoist cadres are housed under a UN supervised peace process. It is not surprising that the US is still wary of Maoists and their plans. US envoy to Nepal, James F Moriarty, a known outspoken critic of Maoists, has conveyed Washington’s doubts vis-à-vis the Maoists to the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala last week. Will they, the Maoists, give up violence? This is the question Mr Moriarty has been raising for a while. Frankly, nobody who is any body on the Nepal scene has any answer. Prime Minister Mr Koirala himself has his own misgivings about the Maoists though they are a member of the ruling eight party alliance. Maoist supremo Prachanda is clear about his goal. He wants Nepal to become a Republic. He is insisting that the interim parliament must usher in the Republic. The Prime Minister is not averse to Republic idea but believes that it should wait till the statute is ready. Mr Prachanda also advocates early elections to set up a constituent assembly to draft a new statute for the Himalayan country. The Government considers mid-November as the appropriate period for elections. This view is shared by the chief of UN Mission to Nepal, Ian Martin. Both Mr Prachanda and his deputies notably, Baburam Bhattarai, have been saying that they will struggle "from the streets, the parliament and the government" until the country is declared a Republic. At a meeting in Kathmandu on Sunday, May 20, Mr. Bhattarai declared that the Maoists would not ‘retract even an inch’ from their demand. A senior Maoist leader and Minister for Local Development Dev Gurung has said that Maoists can step down from the government anytime and join the agitation on Republic issue. He also said uncertainty over Constituent Assembly (CA) elections was weakening the eight party unity. Even the cabinet meetings have come under the shadow of differences between the Maoists and other parties in the ruling coalition. Result is that there are no regular cabinet meetings for the past two weeks. In the past the cabinet used to meet at least twice a week and more often if the situation demanded. The last cabinet meeting took place on April 29.

It is a pity that the Maoist leadership doesn’t realise the incongruity of their actions. Certainly they are entitled to speak up on their pet demands but they cannot hold out threats of mass agitations to secure their demands since they are a part of the government. Take for instance the issue of amenities for Maoist cadres housed in camps. Mr Prachanda last week held out a 24-hour hour ultimatum to ‘improve the upkeep’ and threatened to launch a nationwide agitation. The Government acted post haste and a ministerial committee approved a provision of Rs. 3000 a month to each of the Maoist army member. It was not the government’s case that milk and honey were overflowing in these camps. It only needed some breathing time to put its act together. So, the question is couldn’t the Maoists secure the ‘package’ without such theatrics. They could have since Mr Koirala and Mr Prachanda still enjoy good personal rapport.
There are reports that the Young Communist League (YCL) affiliated to the Maoists is on a rampage. They have become a ‘parallel law enforcement agency’, and are attacking police posts and government offices to enforce their writ. Maoist senior Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who is also the Communications Minister, sees nothing wrong in YCL activities. He is also the cabinet spokesman. So much so it is disturbing to hear him say last week that the kind of activities the YCL has been carrying out ‘cannot be ruled out’ in the transition period. The inescapable conclusion is that the Maoists are either slow learners of the Three Rs of democracy or unwilling to adjust to the changed circumstances. Either way the Maoists are not serving their cause.