Opinion Not by fiery rhetoric alone

Pushpa Kamal Dahal,or Prachanda,knows the road to the heart of radical youths and students belonging to his party,the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M). A radical and fiery speech,a call for revolution and branding other political parties as “puppets” of international forces,especially the US and India,with raised fists,still does the magic. That was what he did last week while addressing the annual convention of the All Nepal National Independent Students Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R). “We must turn universities and colleges into barracks,” he told three thousand students in the 20-30 age group. His speech thereafter was lost in the din of applause. Lekhnath Neupane,the outgoing chairman of the militant student wing of the UCPN-M,declared instantly: “We must carry a pen in one hand and a gun in the other.”Prachanda’s speech may have a tactical element as he needed to be seen to be more revolutionary than party vice chairman Mohan Baidya who has been insisting that calling off the armed insurgency was a mistake and that only a mass revolt would lead to the establishment of a people’s republic,but its overall political message could be disastrous. The underlying message is loud and clear,that Maoists may any time change tack,and that their joining the peace and democratic process five years ago is just a “tactical one”.The clear message from the Maoists comes at a time when pro-democracy parties like the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) are suffering from inter-party and intra-party conflict. The CPN-UML,which heads the current caretaker government,has openly accused Speaker Subhash Nembang of pro-Maoist bias and contemplated his recall,while Prime Minister Madhav Nepal is furious with President Rambaran Yadav for summoning a special session on the Maoists’ request when the cabinet was considering convening a regular one. In short,there is political confusion among the pro-democracy forces who have been working together with the Maoists for the past five years,and there can be discerned a process of disintegration as internal differences appear to be almost unmanageable. If at all they decide to work with the UCPN-M to finish the task of writing the constitution,that will be on Maoists’ terms,as Prachanda has said time and again that the 12-point agreement — the basis of their working together — has outlived its relevance. Deb Gurung,a senior Maoist leader,offered more clarity when he said the Maoists chose to work with the pro-democracy parties to remove the “monarchy”,implying the UCPN-M will go its own way. Prachanda’s radical stance — even for a tactical reason — has once again pushed his two adversaries,Baidya and Baburam Bhattarai,to the background. Despite both being ideologues,they lack Prachanda’s charisma and ability to play to the gallery. Prachanda cashed in effectively on the anti-India mood that prevails in the country in general and among his party’s followers in particular,and at a recent party conclave he put a major chunk of the blame for the current mess in Nepal on its southern neighbour. Nevertheless,the Maoists will wait out the remaining five-and-a-half months as their attempt would be to use the hung constituent assembly to endorse their people’s republic constitution,and put the blame on the US and India’s “puppets” for failure. But having a people’s republic would be a challenge for other parties. Non-Maoist political parties seem to have woken up too late,and long after they have lost credibility. The tussle that has started between the president and the prime minister,and the speaker and his party,has considerably weakened the pro-democracy forces,and also acted as a morale booster for the UCPN-M. Prachanda’s rabble rousing will therefore,in all likelihood,continue during the current tenure of the constituent assembly. In fact,the top Maoist leaders may try to out-compete each other in raising the pitch of radicalism. The UCPN-M has not only refused so far to return the property it confiscated from individual citizens,during the years of conflict despite its pledge under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA),but Baidya also said recently that the party must snatch more land from the enemies. The prevailing statelessness makes it easier for any party,especially with a pro-democracy and pro-change slogan,to say or do anything and get away with it. The Maoists have taken the maximum advantage of the situation. Their onward journey that will begin from the ashes of the peace process will be one more exercise in landing a mortal blow on what they call the remnants of the old regime. But as the Maoists know they are discredited in the people’s esteem and that of their own party cadres,mainly over the lavish lifestyle and corruption-infected public life they led in the past five years,they would bank more on the growing differences among other political parties. And current trends show they have not disappointed the Maoists.

yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com