Opinion A question of integrity

The Maoists are facing this difficult question as the party declared around a dozen ‘autonomous republican provinces’ — their own model of Federal Nepal — with caste and ethnicity as the determinant factor. Last week,they declared Newa republican province as the capital valley,seeking to convey that the capital should go back to the political ownership of the community that dominated pre-unification (1768 AD) Nepal. The ‘progressive forces’ apparently want to undo what they call a ‘military victory’ of King Prithvi Narayan Shah — the architect of modern Nepal — who conceptualised the new nation as a ‘common garden of all the four varnas and 36 castes’.

In fact,the Maoists did not face any resistance when they — symbolic delimitation as they called it — declared the ethnic provinces. Prithvi Narayan Shah had ceased to be a national icon when the G.P. Koirala government that took over from King Gyanendra in April 2006 declared that his birth anniversary would no longer be observed as the national ‘unity day’. Through a Home Ministry order,he was turned into a ‘persona non grata’ in Nepal’s history. What the Maoists are doing today — not recognizing the territorial unity that he achieved through a military victory — and taking Nepal back to the pre-1768 stage — is clearly a step backwards.

The Maoists have been telling the masses that the creation of the ethnicity-based provinces is actually aimed at empowering ethnic groups. Unilaterally declaring these provinces before the constituent assembly had decided on the modality of federalism and the number of provinces to be created,is putting the cart before the horse. For the first time,it has been challenged by almost all political parties,though they have not banded together on a single platform. The Nepali Congress has declared the action “the most retrograde step the Maoists have taken.” The Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party has announced that it will not recognise this Maoist model of federalism.

At the same time,there is a strong undercurrent of hostility from the public,who now see the Maoists as planning to split the country,and who blame the government for not doing enough to defend the nation’s integrity. Major political party leaders,incuding those who were at the forefront of the April 2006 movement to restore democracy,are considering organising a big show on January 11 — Prithvi Narayan Shah’s birth anniversary — as a challenge to the Maoist politics that wants to disintegrate the country.

The political equation formed four years ago on an anti-king platform,at India’s behest,has almost collapsed now. Key Maoist ideologues and top leaders have said they are willing to take to arms to capture power anytime,and they have begun treating pro-democracy parties — their allies in the anti-monarchy politics — as enemies. This breaking up is already taking its toll on the peace process and is likely to jeopardise the constitution-making process. The May 28 deadline now looks difficult,if not altogether impossible. The only party that hopes to convert that failure into opportunity are the Maoists. “We will declare the Constitution from the street and capture power if the deadline is not met”,said Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai recently. Such an eventuality will render the entire exercise of the past four years futile.

The Maoists are confident of capturing power via the weakness of their rivals. They have asked other parties to accept their leadership of the National Unity Government or face indefinite nation-wide strike from January 24 — also an exercise to seize power. They not only plan to unilaterally announce their provincial government,but are also likely to form their own security agencies and bureaucracy which will bring the ‘legal state’ into direct confrontation with the rebels. Bhattarai hinted as much in his article (in a journal that his daughter edits),asserting that the Maoists need to create a situation in which at least one of the two neighbours — India or China — recognises “our government”. Maoist chief Prachanda has said his party is engaging India politically as well as diplomatically,and that it would review “our policy towards India” if it fails to concur with the Maoist stand.

But the Maoists do not seem to realise that that they are losing their clout and support at home,by associating themselves with caste and ethnicity,burying the revolutionary image they projected when they launched a decade-long insurgency that resulted in the loss of 14,000 lives. The Maoists are currently even more unpopular than King Gyanendra was after his 15 months of direct rule beginning February 2005. Democracy has been the major issue of concern,but Nepal’s integrity has never before been a subject of speculation.

yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com