Good guys and bad guys - Nepali Times

Publisher\'s Note
Good guys and bad guys

FROM ISSUE #515 (13 AUG 2010 - 19 AUG 2010) | TABLE OF CONTENTS

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The never-ending elections would be hilarious by now, if they weren't so deadly serious.

The political theatre of the absurd in parliament every week has turned people off the present crop of politicians, which may not in itself be a bad thing. But it is also making them cynical about democracy; citizens are not just blaming politicians, they are blaming the value system of democracy itself. This holds serious long-term perils for the country's future.

TV talk shows, radio studio discussions and the op-ed pages of newspapers can't get enough of politicians holding forth, mostly to blame everyone but themselves. Disagreeable politicians are all saying we shouldn't disagree. It is easy to be confused and tune out, and this is exactly what is happening to millions of people across the country. The latest ratings show a mass migration of viewers from the previously top-billed NTV evening news to Star Plus.

One common refrain is that politicians are too crooked, too selfish and greedy, so the country may still not be ready for democracy. If we had trains, it is said, dictators would make them run on time. Nepal goes through cycles of distrust regarding democracy every decade or so. While understandable, such a trend is disastrous for the kind of open society we are striving to build.

For those befuddled by the endless elections for prime ministership, for those who can't differentiate between the good guys and bad guys, there may be a few simple questions to help us make sense of the mess.

There are two kinds of political forces in this country: those that believe in the ideological doctrine of political violence, and those that don't. If we believe that killing and maiming people for political beliefs is not a desirable thing, then it should be pretty simple to agree that we are trying to build a society with a governance structure that abjures violence. At present this excludes the Maoist army and its paramilitary structures, and the quasi-political militias that operate in the Madhes and the eastern hills.

For this, the political forces that do not need violence to attain and remain in power must stick together. And there's the rub. The 'democratic' parties are so mired in individual ambition, greed and one-upmanship they have not been able to rise to the occasion to break the deadlock. Our goal should be to help all parties in their transition to peaceful politics, and failing this, to convince the parties that believe in pluralism to rise over petty individualism to counter the totalitarians.

There are those who believe the Maoists can be reformed, and those that are convinced the Maoists will never abandon their end goal of establishing a one-party people's republic. Even within the Maoists, two schools of thought have emerged in the current Central Committee meeting, hence their contradictory statements.

Democracy can be messy, and elected politicians can be crooks. But it is a system we know how to fix without killing people. We've lived through various models of authoritarianism, and they have been even more disastrous. Grassroots democracy in the mid-1990s was beginning to deliver development; it proved accountability can improve lives. But that was before the war set us back two decades.

READ ALSO:
Win-win-win, ALOK BOHARA
Patronising behaviour, PRASHANT JHA
A season to write, RABI THAPA
Changing inheritance laws, ARTHA BEED

1. K. K. Sharma
There are those for whom the experiences of the fifties was sufficent to know things about Nepal. It seems there are still people who have yet to know even with the experience of 20 years since 1990. If only they would review the accounts of the fifties, found in the newspapers stored in Jagadamba Liberary, they may not be so naive. Some old articles can still be reprinted, with present day contexts, and still be up-to-date. How about it ?

Posted on: 13 AUG 2010 | 1:53 PM NST

2. jange
Nepali politicians made a fundamental error in allowing the Maoists to take part in normal politics while still retaining their instruments of murder, loot and extortion and their ability to carry out violence.

Until this is corrected nothing will improve.

Posted on: 13 AUG 2010 | 3:14 PM NST

3. who cares

what is UML stopping from splitting?

* prachanda/maoist want uml to split so that they will have one less rival or would get commie vote of uml and get majority in the parliament.

*bam dev wants uml to be destroyed or at least split so that maoist would become largest commie party.ï¿½

prachanda must have forwarded him a formula: which is, if he is able to destroy uml, he shall get no. 2 position in maoist. if split, no. 4 position, and 5 position if he just join maoist with his gang.ï¿½

*Iï¿½want UML to split cause its time to clean democracy.

ï¿½

Posted on: 13 AUG 2010 | 5:34 PM NST

4. Slarti

But it is also making them cynical about democracy; citizens are not just blaming politicians, they are blaming the value system of democracy itself.

If by value system you mean democracy as a system ï¿½of the politicians, for the politicians, by the politiciansï¿½ then I agree. That is what the current system represents, and that is not democracy.

But otherwise, I think it is doing well enough and will survive this turmoil. You just have to learn to appreciate that people are smart enough to know that democracy offers them the best hope.

About autocratic, I know what you are pointing at and I may have something to say about that.

But seeing that it would be a waste of time, I would just say this. Authoritarianism represents a manner of functioning where the leader assumes that he knows best and everything must follow his belief system, over time it would become clear who is what.

Posted on: 13 AUG 2010 | 7:25 PM NST

5. Satya Nepali (1)

Well said, Slarti! The fact of the matter is that in Nepal, a bunch of second-tier feudals are the ones masquerading around as "democrats", and "democratic champions".

To them "democracy" is little more than snatching away power from the first-tier feudals (King etc.) and divvying it up among themselves. And when this doesn't work, they try to assuage the rest of the populace with clichï¿½s such as 'democracy is messy, but yadda, yadda, yadda...'

Posted on: 13 AUG 2010 | 9:36 PM NST

6. who cares
if we want to save nepali from current chaos, anarchy media should take the leadership in promoting and acquiring mass support to establish national security wing:

national security wing (which comprise)- pm/representative, retired army boss, retired polices boss, retired intelligence boss, opposition leader/representative, retired head judge, bar association leader, consumer right association boss, journalist association, professor association ---------- but they should not be involved with politics and individuals taking part in bar election, professors' election etc should not be affiliated with any party. party should stay away from such org.

whose job will be to select individual to fill independent govt. orgs. and send to parliament for approval, provide security advice to govt., to file case against corrupt, anti national, incompetent pm, ministers, MPs if govt., or anti corruption dont.... they should also have power to order police, army, investigation department, secret service to give protection to certain individuals, arrest individuals, investigate certain incident, keep an eye on particular situation like buying an selling of MPs, arresting kali bahadur kham and bringhim infront of the court. ... ......... and during the situation like today, where this is no govt. and bureaucracy is after corruption, so this wing should have power to drag them into court.

due to weak govt., divided parliament, crooks mps, politician nepalese are suffering and there are in position cause their hanumans are supporting them,,,,,,,,,,,, everyone is after personal benefit from MPs to politicians to hanumans......

and govt. can not bring them under law.

dont you think we could have avoided present chaos if there would have been such wing who can brink individuals like bringing sujata koirala under investigation regarding national sovereignty, arrest kali bahadur, jailing prachanda for buying MPs, investigate bureaucrat for destroying jungle ......

one thing media should remember is, media do not have to right news favoring elements- who are against media, against nation, against people, those who attack media ............. there is no such thing liberal human.

Posted on: 13 AUG 2010 | 10:17 PM NST

7. Nirmal

There is no country that might be able to stand, in fact, the privileges of our nobility. Far away from the time of the gentlemen of ridiculous Rana Regime, but very close to their ways, our today's nobility fall (or are located) above ordinary mortals, by virtue of their social role: they being "something" . Attend all musical and theatrical soirees without having to queue, without having to book months before entry, without releasing any energy. A single call at the last moment just to put them in the best seat. And when someone like the commentator KK Sharma or servers like me dare to point out what is clearly a democratic anomaly, two manual responses are activated immediately. The first is deterrence, a kind of impotence or better said an excuse: Democracy can be something messy, it is learnt -forget the time we spent learning-. The other answer is intended to relativise the situation: there are good guys and bad guys ie these invitations to nobility, these details of public relations are meant the chocolate of the parrot for the treasury.

Although almost all these kinds of festivals and shows in Nepal are pastronised or subsidized, it is possible that the generalization of these small perks is not a great burden for ordinary accounts, but this negative exemplarity goes far beyond politics or economics. It degrades the vision from above that society has of public affairs and contributes to premium antisocial drift. Taking advantage of their status, many famous people contributes to a certificate of naturalization to the old ideal: catch, the important thing is to catch. The privileged ones from todayï¿½s nepali society enjoy these invitations with naturality. Forget the fundamental ambition of todayï¿½s democracy: efficiency to achieve equality. Equality is not only before the law, but before all institutions. Equality before the box office.

It is not more antisocial urinating in the open public places than the one who takes advantage of his fame to sneak into a concert. And it is not more undemocratic the populist agitator of social fears than the professionals, the politician or the glamorous, unable to pay like all my poor neighbours to hear the artist you love or the show you want to enjoy, enthrone their uniqueness, proclaim differences.

Posted on: 14 AUG 2010 | 9:52 AM NST

8. Arthur
"If we believe that killing and maiming people for political beliefs is not a desirable thing, then it should be pretty simple to agree that we are trying to build a society with a governance structure that abjures violence. At present this excludes the Maoist army and its paramilitary structures,..."

It should be pretty simple to agree that if killing and maiming people for political beliefs is not a desirable thing, then the Royal Army established for that purpose needs to be thoroughly reformed and downsized.

Even more obviously the PLA is not going to disband while the Nepal Army remains unreformed. They value their lives more than Kunda Dixit does.

But it is not so simple for Nepali Times to admit these obvious facts. Instead it will continue calling on the corrupt feudal politicians of Nepal to unite against change. At least this week we have been spared the usual appeal for the "internationals" to join in. If that means Kunda Dixit has recognized that isn't going to happen, then perhaps he will eventually give up on excluding the Maoists from government and hoping for peace without implementing the peace agreement.

Posted on: 14 AUG 2010 | 6:01 PM NST

9. rishav

The Army and Police are in a difficult situation. They are attacked by all corners especially with the events afte the Maoists decision to take up arms and start it's peoples war and decided that being a civilian party and diplomacy was no good and killing and threat of force is the way to go. If the Army/Police don't intervene they are seen as not caring or professional in trying to protect it's citizens. If they then engage the armed political groups they are then told they are against "democracy," "feudal," "anti people." Being a Soldier or Policeman is a technocratic position it is never meant to be a democratic one, you are selected based on your qulaities to do your duty and rightly so.

The Army and Police had no issue with the maoists as a political party but when they decided to take up arms they had no choice but to intervene for the protection of our citizens that takes paramount. There was nothing feudal in this action just trying to protect the people from a political group that had acquired arms against it's own citizens for a self declared war.

The Maoists capitalised on a good tactic very apparent in Nepali culture to gain their position using the threat of force and intimidation. If you want people to do something you make them scared and force them to do it. 2-3 generations of Nepali's lives have been lost due to this Maoist self declared people's war. Where are we NOW! The worst political situation our country has ever seen, the worst state of security our nation has ever witnessed, least soveriegn time in our nation, the weakest Government ever seen and the most desperate situation for our people to be in. However great the Maoists may have thought their ideas were and good intentions they initially had. By taking arms and courting with the devil, they have become the most destructive force Nepal has ever witnessed and have actually created the worst ever period in Nepali history. The Rana regime, the panchyat era, is nothing compared to what these Maoists have done and created.

I guess there is that meaning of being prepared to do just about anything even sell your soul to the devil to actually do something you believe as good, but actually in that process you turn into the very thing you wanted to destroy. This is why I beleive the Maoists have unknowingly become more dictatorial and extreme than any Mandale Panchyat or supporters of the Rana's.

Posted on: 14 AUG 2010 | 9:38 PM NST

10. Dr B
* Arthur

"It should be pretty simple to agree that if killing and maiming people for political beliefs is not a desirable thing, then the Royal Army established for that purpose needs to be thoroughly reformed and downsized.

Even more obviously the PLA is not going to disband while the Nepal Army remains unreformed. They value their lives more than Kunda Dixit does."

You wrote this in response to the author's words: "If we believe that killing and maiming people for political beliefs is not a desirable thing, then it should be pretty simple to agree that we are trying to build a society with a governance structure that abjures violence. At present this excludes the Maoist army and its paramilitary structures,..."

I feel that this is a complete non-sequitur since the author is surely implying that in a society that abjures violence there is no place for ANY political party to have their own army or an additional paramilitary force labelled as a youth wing. Do you agree with this or not?

Also for whatever purpose the national army (you choose to call it the Royal Army) was established, it is still the NATIONAL army whether it needs reforming or not. No nation can tolerate having multiple armies,having political parties with their own paramilitary forces, and groups which have stolen property and refuse to even talk about returning it.

I'm sure there are many things and groups which I have omitted in my ignorance, but my mind is clear that these things ARE unacceptable in a country striving for democracy, peace, security, development .........

Posted on: 14 AUG 2010 | 10:49 PM NST

11. who cares

Arthur

you talk senseless, baseless.ï¿½

time will respond to your nonsense.ï¿½

Posted on: 14 AUG 2010 | 11:14 PM NST

12. Slarti

There are those who believe the Maoists can be reformed, and those that are convinced the Maoists will never abandon their end goal of establishing a one-party people's republic.

Sir,

You have identified with only the surface argument.

The point is not whether the maoist would abandon their end goal, they will not, the pertinent question is what should be done about the fact that they will not abandon their goals. And, then of course finding out who are the people helping the criminal maoists deny their criminality.

Before that you may wish to look at what pattern the Maoists have followed so far in order to achieve their goal.

If you notice the writings of communists, you will find that one by one their focus has been on eroding the very institutions tasked with protecting the Nepaliness of Nepal.

The aim of communists is complete destruction of whatever lives, so that the megalomaniacs leading the party should then be able to enslave everyone.

For that, lies have to be deployed to destroy knowledge and truth. And to do that, any defense that would prevent them from taking over must be weakened.

First, it was the king. The task became easier after the death HM Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, particularly in view of the circumstances. The king who followed proved to be a huge challenge and, in less conspirational circumstances, would have ended this problem.

But in the end, the king was easily dealt with, falling to the basest of human traits, suspicious minds. The last time everybody agreed on anything was to do away with the good.

The communists have now embarked on a plan to systematically erode the Army, its only a matter of time before that institution too falls, most likely in another three years.

After that it would be the turn of the political parties, the labels are already sticking. Unless someone has the mind to do something, it would be too late.

Then, you will not have the opportunity to write editorials and wonder about possibilities.

Of course, you can live in denial for as long as you want, but just because you are in it does not mean everybody has to share your ignorance.

It is time that you re-evaluate the facts and take the enemy head on. Look back without the prism of your ideology, re-read and re-evaluate facts on their own merit, and then tell me again -

Do you really have any shred of doubt that the Maoists will not leave their agenda of establishing Nepal as a colony, a slave for the first time to a global madness.

Best

Slarti, Royalist

Posted on: 15 AUG 2010 | 12:01 PM NST

13. Kalucha
#8 Arthur

It is west of time to respond to such lackey of the type of Artful Dodger, who is advocating for the one party dictators, creating rogue states , North Koreas etcs. Nepal cannot go for that. Jan Andolan was not for EVANGELISTS,terrorists racial politics,and King Arther and the Knights of the Night Brigade

Posted on: 15 AUG 2010 | 4:02 PM NST

14. Arthur
Dr B #10, I agree that when Nepal becomes a society that abjures violence there will be no place for any armed or paramilitary force loyal to a particular political tendency.

Do you agree that Nepal is not yet a society that abjures violence, but still a semi-feudal society in transition after a violent civil war that did not result in a decisive victory for either the semi-feudal army or the revolutionary army?

Do you agree that Nepal is still a violent society and that Maoists are the main victims of political violence with murders of Maoist cadres reported almost every week?

Whether you agree or not, I think that is roughly the view of one side of the peace agreement and it is not a view that can be refuted by simply calling on all those on the other side of the peace agreement to unite against it.

The peace agreement calls for an end to the transition by democratizing the Nepal Army and integrating the two armies into a single, professional national army.

That hasn't happened. It has been blocked by the Nepal Army refusing and India and other parties opposing carrying out the democratization and integration.

Meanwhile the Nepal Army remains a semi-feudal army answerable only to itself. It is not, and has never been, a "national army" and it cannot become a national army until the peace agreement is carried out and the transition completed so that there is complete civilian supremacy over all armed forces.

Neither can the PLA become the national army without either defeating the Nepal Army in war or joining together with it in a single army subject to civilian supremacy.

The article obscures this and at best prolongs the transition by trying to unite the parties that fought the PLA on a program of demanding that they be given peacefully what they could not achieve through war - ie that the PLA disband instead of carrying out the peace agreement.

If one were to take it seriously it is a call for a resumption of civil war since the PLA will not disband while the Nepal Army remains a threat.

No matter how enthusiastically both royalists and other readers of Nepali Times agree with it, this demand that the Maoists surrender to the Nepal Army cannot be taken seriously. It is just a delaying tactic to avoid finalizing a constitution and facing elections in response to the reality that the Maoists won the last election and will win an even bigger majority at the next election.

Not even Kunda Dixit could pretend to himself that the PLA will disband as a result of such articles. Do you believe it yourself? If not, what is the point, unless it is what I suggested - simply an excuse for delaying constitution drafting and elections?

As for "stolen property" Nepal needs land reform which is blocked by a semi-feudal army loyal to the landlords who still hold power. Any remaining errors made during the disorderly land reform that accompanied the people's war can be corrected in the course of the orderly land reform that will result from completing the transition. But the net result will be to transfer more land from landlords to tenants. There is no other way for Nepal to start developing instead of stagnating in feudal backwardness.

The "rightful owners" will be those who till the land, not those who kept Nepal in backward stagnation.

Posted on: 15 AUG 2010 | 6:49 PM NST

15. Dr B
Arthur

My points remain about no party being permitted to have it's own army or paramilitary youth wing in a society that abjures violence. We already have Madhesi parties/groups following suit and if the NC and UML did the same then the prospect of a Nepali "wild west is inescapable." Failure to understand, accept and act upon this democratic value is clearly a fundamental block to any trust many people had or will have in the Maoists. There are times when a magnanimous gesture is required but I fear, (and am personally disappointed by the feeling) that the Maoists and Prachanda especially blew it when in government up to May 2009.

Regarding your last point I am astounded that you can use the description "disorderly land reform" to describe the pillage that took place during the war. Many peasant villagers lost their land, most of whom WERE the rightful owners. Indeed many could find the use of that term offensive! And while many senior Maoist figures themselves, and their families, hold increasing property and land there is no room whatsoever for moralising about feudal ownership from that direction.

Posted on: 15 AUG 2010 | 12:45 AM NST

16. ngs
Arthur - you're nothing but a Prachanda Lackey of the worst kind- someone totally devoid of independant morality and totally brainwashed by the romantisicsm of maoist jungle lore. Heaven forbid if he were accused of rape and pillage, you'd find a way to justify that and blame the victim for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and for having tempted his awesomeness from his lofty pedestal. God save us from such sycophants and born again communists because you are the kind that feeds into the megalomanical lunacy of Prachanda and his bunch of thugs.

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 5:15 AM NST

17. Nirmal
Response to Arthur

Arthur Logic Number ONE

Do you agree that Nepal is still a violent society and that Maoists are the main victims of political violence with murders of Maoist cadres reported almost every week?
Yes, this is what reported. In Buddhism it is highly believed that you receive what you give. I am in no way justifying but condemning this violence too, do Maoists have guts -in nepali it is called himmat- to condemn violence that happenned and still is happening in our society? NO they are too casteist, or better said they are selective in this case too, sounds like the ones they used to name:selected murders, during their so called people's war, for me was simply a dirty war. You see that although I don't share their(and obviously your idea) of what that war meant I respect your opinion, and when I say "I", I mean all those non-maoists who had a deal called peace pact. I just flipped to see how Arthur writes thinking that the Maoists can reign the atmosphere as unique revolutionary heroes. Unless and until the Maoists put the full stop to their so called armed struggle officially, it is hard to gain massive popular sympathy as well as any national and international solidarity. In that Arthur should not have doubted. If the Maoists are what they are now of which the Maoists barons too feel proud( their electoral gain and militant base), it is because they were the new choice better availabled at that time. And Arthur must have known the tendency of nepali electors and electoral results by now. So nada of kinda Revolution is happening in Nepal. Our society is equally feudal as it is used to be, may be less but not significantly less. The total number of victims murdered alone in one year in our country says that there is going on a silence war, for people like us no matter who they are. But If the Maoists (and Arthur who wants us to take into account the increasing number of maoists victims) want to share these saddest moments as the loss of our own compatriots together, then, first they need to renounce their violent struggle officially.

Arthur Logic Number TWO

The "rightful owners" will be those who till the land, not those who kept Nepal in backward stagnation.
So who is going to decide the right "rightful owners", obviously the Maoists who are now enjoying them, no Arthur? So, in real sense they are not the victims but ocupants(Buuuuuuuum a great shot by our revolutionary heroes! ), yes by law they are not landlords, so what! does it make any difference? What were they doing while in govt to get to the solution, logical ending, as they love to say? Nada, do you Know Arthur what does it mean and what all this cacophony of the Maoists prove? Some more opportunists who made the real victims their shield to fight for their own petty interests, which seem great for them.

Arthur Logic Number THREE

The peace agreement calls for an end to the transition by democratizing the Nepal Army and integrating the two armies into a single, professional national army.

These days the maoists are sneaking(in nepali chaharnu) into royalists' doors for the sake of nationalism(the opium of nepali mass during royal era now with this brand of politicians forget even that thing, no one is there to follow these incompetent lots), yes the same royalists that has cunned GPK and the Maoists for their plan which later named
12 points pact, according to Shaktikhor video the Maoists had only 7000 rebels in official control. GPK may have allowed the number to increase which would not be any surprise for anyone who knows ABCD of nepali politics and knowing how he used money, muscle and power(in nepali sam danda bhed, some nepalipan of mine so that Arthur could be integrated little bit more with our real culture and languaje) to be on the top most job of the Nation. In politics what is written and what is seen by eyes is a sacred convenant, you got it? And with 7000 rebels don't pretend to have two status in an institution of army. We already had enough talks in previous posts I think about this issue. The number should go around that figure, not more and not less. the rests should be provided dignified life IF they renounce violence. Arthur the Maoists have not assaulted Janggi Adda at the gun points of revolution, let's understand little bit about what is ground reality and what is political analysis weaved by beautiful and inspiring adjectives.

Now, I think, Arthur will probably say, "sorry Nirmal I didn't understand your English." If so is the case, you are the second worst kuire after that Madame in the ticket counter of the underground from Paris, whom I asked the price of the ticket in French(phrase of my tourist guide)and she said Je ne se pas arabe, thank God, I was lucky I had a lawyer next to me, an unknown testimony of the situation, a beautiful French woman --blonde and with green eyes--, who first told her off and then threatened to denounce and obliged her to ask pardon. Tres Jolie Mamoiselle!

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 9:34 AM NST

18. jange
#15 , #16

Please don't discourage Arthur. He is our only source of textbook communist/maoist/marxist/etc.etc. revolution on this thread and it would be a big loss if he got pissed off and didn't respond.

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 1:14 PM NST

19. rishav

Good vs Bad

Funny to hear extreme maoist supporters talk about "democratizing" things. I think we now what that means. What we all fail to understand is there is an english dictionary for the Maoist supporters and another for the rest of the World.

Democracy (Maoist supporter defnition )- you can say what you like, do what you like but you can't do or say anything bad against us or our actions.

Democratizing an institution (Maoist supporter definition)- Making that institution completely under the control or at least heavily influenced by the Maoist party and to lose it's apolictical stance.

Peoples supremacy (maoist supporter definition) - People who belong to the Maoist party have the right for supremacy.

Feudal (maoist supporter definition) - To do things or actions which are not controlled or even influenced by the Maoist party.A person who speaks out openly against the Maoists.

Royalist (maoist supporter definition) - A person who speaks out against the maoists. A person who realises that grave difference in standards of the professional Nepal army and the Maoist guerilla force and who is against mass integration of the politisized Maoist Guerillas into the apolitical Professional Nepal Army.

Pro Indian antinationalist (maoist supporter defintion) - All other parties that don't support the maoist party at a time when it loses favour from the Indian establishment.

Maoist insurgency (maoist supporter definition) - A peoples war in which the whole of the nation was behind the Maoist, the only voice for and by the people.

Only when the Maoist supporters start speaking the same language as the rest of the World will they start to understand the current situation. Till then we will continue to have the current political stalemate and see Prachanda and co lose more and more credability.

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 7:46 PM NST

20. Arthur
Dr B #15, no "magnanimous gesture" was required. The anti-Maoists only had to accept the results of the elections and insist on the Nepal Army submitting to civilian authority so the peace agreement could be carried out.

Instead they seek to maintain a bloated semi-feudal armed force of nearly 100,000, along with armed police etc as threat to deter land reform and other fundamental change.

Disbanding the PLA in the face of that would not be "magnanimous" but suicidal. The certain result would be another massacre by the Nepal Army and a subsequent resumption of the people's war. The only chance of peace is BOTH sides accepting the terms of the peace agreement, including democratization of the Nepal Army and integration of the two armies.

Of course land reform during a revolutionary war is "disorderly". What do you expect?? If the transition is delayed too long it will be even more disorderly in the Terai where criminal gangs are already mobilized during the excessive delay. One way or another Nepal will change. Blocking the peace agreement is not the way to make the change more orderly.

Based on experience in China (and other revolutions) it is also likely that eventually there will be former "communists" who seize public property and act like landlords and capitalists. Such tendencies will need to be fought. Multi-party democracy is an important aspect of the measures to enable defeat of such "khaobadies". If there are such people already among senior maoists as you say, then they need to be fought now.

I would be interested in claims that senior Maoists are already becoming landlords from people like Matrika Yadav. But similar complaints from people who claim that most of the land seized seized during the people's war was taken from ordinary peasants and not from landlords are not very credible and sound just like jange's "looting" mantra.

Nirmal #17:

1. Both armies have already stopped the armed struggle. (Continued anti-Maoist violence is from criminal gangs, not directly from Nepal Army). Next step is to democratize Nepal Army and integrate the two armies. Neither side has any reason to trust the other until this actually happens.

As for the anti-Maoist parties, none of them trust each other or their own "leaders". Endless complaints that they and the classes they represent do not trust the Maoists are really not very interesting. What matters is that they are losing more support the longer they block change.

Government of Nepal is still completely corrupt and semi-feudal/bureaucrat capitalist. It is also more and more disfunctional. It is obvious to all that the anti-Maoist parties cannot govern and Nepal can only have a functioning government if it is led by the Maoists.

Land reform and replacement of the corrupt bureaucracy cannot be carried out until the peace agreement has been fully implemented.

But I don't agree that society is not significantly less feudal than before. I think there has actually been a big change in the mentality of people both in the hills and terai. There is much less fatalism and much more confidence that change is possible. A reflection of this in some of the commentary here is anger and despair, but that is what one would expect from those losing their privileges. Even here I sometimes notice a less feudal outlook than before (eg some of the royalists just keep shouting while others try to argue rationally and may eventually learn how to do so).

2. Orderly land reform will require both the high level commission that was supposed to be agreed on and legislation under which decisions will be made as to "rightful occupants". But it will also require mobilization of the mass of poor and landless peasants who know very well who is who and what is what. Obviously that won't happen while a semi-feudal army closely tied to landlord interests remains armed and not subordinate to civilian authority.

3. Both sides wanted as many Maoist fighters in cantonments as possible. Only about 7,000 of the 30,000 or more that assembled in cantonments were regular light infantry then while others were only guerillas or militia then. Now there closer to 19,000 regular light infantry and another 100,000 YCL.

If you think only 7,000 fought in the people's war you must really think they performed miracles! If you think they will peacefully surrender while the old army remains in place and the old system of corruption and looting continues you are expecting an opposite kind of miracle. It won't happen.

The parties that were shouting for no integration at all are now sometimes talking about 3,000 and sometimes about 7,000. But it is all empty talk. The key point is to actually democratize the Nepal Army and integrate the two armies.

Meanwhile the only point of this empty talk is simply to block adopting a constitution because the anti-maoist parties know they will lose even more heavily at the election that would follow. This is just a delaying tactic, not a serious hope that the Maoists will disband the PLA while the anti-Maoists retain the Nepal Army.

Je ne parle pas bien encore la langue Nirmali mais peut etre j'ai l'apprendre un petit peu.

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 9:45 PM NST

21. Slarti
"The 'democratic' parties are so mired in individual ambition, greed and one-upmanship they have not been able to rise to the occasion to break the deadlock."

I find it hilarious that you would say this.

The democratic parties have had cases of corruption, and favouritism, that is beyond doubt. But when compared to a party which operates the worlds largest extortion racket, these people are clean as a whistle.

The Maoist party has been doing what European feudal lords did for centuries on end - maintained a (violent) private army, and charged the state and its citizens protection money against violence that they themselves were responsible for wreaking.

As for the game of oneupmanship, I am not entirely sure, but your reports suggest not only that it is prevalent in the party, the repercussions of this game are much graver than the kids playing boo in Congress and the UML.

As far as breaking the deadlock is concerned, there too the fact that Maoists have maintained a stance that stands in sharp contrast to others views, and have not backed off of it despite others making concessions, further flies in the face of your supposedly liberal interpretation of the prevailing circumstances.

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 10:45 PM NST

22. Satya Nepali (2)

Continuing on from my comment (1), one of the problems in our country is the presence of self-styled "democratic champions" who keep defending fake democrats in the name of defending "democracy". In reality, they are defending the wrong people at the expense of the right system.

If they were truly committed to democracy i.e. committed to the system as opposed to just the people running the system, then the current choice should be clear enough. The current assembly has failed. As a consequence it should be dissolved and a fresh one elected with a fresh mandate. At the very least, the MPs' pay and benefits should be scrapped. But our "democratic champions" are not advocating any of these. Despite our politicians' dismal performance, despite their failure to write the constitution and despite their inability to even select a new government, our media-men (like Dixit) are for providing these failed politicians as much time as they please to deliver a new constitution. This is plain wrong.

In a true democracy, failure has consequences. Only when failure has consequences can there be ACCOUNTABILITY. Democracy does not work without accountability. But in the pretext of defending democracy, our media-men (like Dixit) are shielding this failed assembly from the consequences of failure. By helping to prolong its office and covering up for its failures ("transition", good guys vs bad guys etc. etc.), they are preventing our politicians from becoming accountable. In the pretext of defending democracy, our media and intelligentsia are actually making politicians more IRRESPONSIBLE and UNACCOUNTABLE. As such, they are UNDERMINING, rather than supporting, real democracy.

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 4:32 AM NST

23. Satya Nepali (3)

The correct thing would be to dissolve this assembly and go for fresh elections. Concurrently, REFRENDA should be held to decide on major issues of the country. Through their lousy performance, the current assembly has simply lost the faith, credibility and legitimacy to make major decisions for our country. It will be best to start afresh.

Such an action will convey to the politicians, in no ambiguous terms, who is the supreme power in the country: the people. Politicians will learn they cannot make any decision they want and ride roughshod over the peoplesï¿½ wishes. Only then will these politicians learn that failure has consequences. Only then will they realize that the people are the supreme power in the country. And only then will they become ACCOUNTABLE to the people. And this is how a true democracy will take root in our country.

Posted on: 16 AUG 2010 | 4:33 AM NST

24. Nirmal
Who is stopping the Maoists to bring some sort of proposal in the funtioning parliament to democratise NA all these times? Or is not the legislature not funtioning? If so what the hell CA the Maoists helped to achieve?
Martial acts NO in name of democratization of Army, democratic decision to save NA from its autonomous fetor YES...so what is stopping the Maoists to putforth such initiative? May be prabhus inside and outside....?

Posted on: 17 AUG 2010 | 7:50 PM NST