Honest Illusion and Dishonest Betrayal

Recently, the Maoist cadres called for a transport strike in the Hetauda, Kalaiya and Nijgadh areas to affect the mass meeting organized by Nepali Congress in Birgunj. While the toprung Maoist leaders and other leftleaning politicians demand an immediatedeclaration of a republic and threaten taking to the streets if not done so, the second man in the present cabinet, Ram Chandra Poudel, gets “booed” and showered with filthy materials. A seniorjournalist, Kanak Mani Dixit, who led the April uprising from the front narrowly escaped from getting roughed up. Are these isolated incidents or is there a pattern that needs to be analyzedand understood?

Who are these people that don't think even for a second before attacking people that have spent their entire life fighting for democracy and the freedom of the Nepali citizens? Are these people average Nepali citizens that are working hard to make bothends meet, or are they brainwashed, radical leftists that are shrewdly being used against the people that do not share their radical leftist ideology? Is itan outburst of pent-up frustrations or a calculated move to silence the democratic forces by the radical left?

Nepal as a nation is passing through a tumultuous time of both honest illusion and dishonest betrayal.The Maoist radicals, who posed themselves as supporters of democracy and lured democratic forces to team up against the despotic monarch, are nowcovertly operating to silence democratic voices. Are we becoming the prisoners of our own mistakes (teaming up with the Maoists)?

Looking back, it begs for a question: Was it a good idea on part of democratic forces in Nepal to team up with the Maoists who are drastically different in thoughts, ideology, and aspirations, to overthrow the ruleof an utterly unpopular monarch with no popular backing? Was it a good idea to ignore that “radical communism,” which the Maoists vouch for, and thefreedom and democracy that Nepali citizens long for, were two significantly different and titanic ideas, two ways of life, and two totally irreconcilablebeliefs? Is it a case of “marry in haste and repent in leisure”?

In the aftermath of the derailment of the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, the leftist political parties, in an effort to close in on social and liberal democrats, are forging an alliance, which according to them is needed stepto declare the state a republic. UML's general secretary, whose desperateness to become the Prime Minister has been evident for a long time, now wants to fulfill his long cherished dream by bringing all political shops run by the leftists under a single umbrella. Nepal's dubious character and hidden motives became clear when he said that there was now no utility of opening up small shops in the name of communist parties. If all the communist parties areunited, we can easily defeat the rightists, he said during the event organized by the Maoists to mark the anniversary of Lenin's birth coinciding with the57th anniversary of the establishment of Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), on April 22. His statement has made it crystal clear that the UML's previoustie-ups with the social and liberal democrats in Nepal were a mere compulsion and political compromise in the absence of the ability of the political left to defeat social and liberal democrats rather than a logical step tostrengthen democracy in Nepal.

Maoist leader Mohan Baidya, speaking at a press meet in Charikot, Dolakha, without mincing a word madeit ample clear that the Communist Party of Nepal-(Maoist) and CPN-UML had reached an accord to put forward a commitment paper and declare Nepal arepublic even if Nepali Congress was not ready. Furthermore, he exhibited a classic example of what is called dual character of the leftists by putting all the blame on the prime minister for not being able to conduct CA elections. Isn't the Maoists' insincerity towards the peace agreements to some extent responsible for the delay in CA elections?The Maoists want to enjoy all the privileges of being in the parliament and the Cabinet, but do not want to share the blame for failures. What a classic example of hypocrisy and double standard?

However, it is not surprising to see the Maoists not sharing the blames for failures. This has been the strategy of the Maoists from the very beginning.The Maoists wanted to be in the cabinet in order to use all of the resources of the nation so that they could embolden their political footings and buy political legitimacy and support of the international community. The need to paint centrist political forces as a “good for nothing” group by blaming them for not being able to conduct CA elections is their strategic ploy to achieve their longterm goal, the establishment of a proletariancommunist state. The leftists know very well that without downgrading and discrediting democratic forces in Nepal, the virtues of communism cannot be spoon-fed to the innocent and largely illiterate Nepali populace.But the sad part of the story is, while the political left is all set to forge an alliance and bring all leftist shops under a single umbrella and trap freedom-loving Nepali citizens under the "yoke of communism," the democratic forces in Nepal seem to be clueless about the strategies to secure its political space and freedom of Nepali people in modern day Nepal. Is it a case of tacticalblunder or an act of thoughtless minds?

If the “red menace” is not fought against both now and effectively, the democracy in Nepal will be in peril. It is time to fight back against sophisticated lies and leftist propagandas which, ifnot acted upon now, will poison coming decades of our national life. The days ahead appear bleak for the social and liberal democrats in the country.The political left will take maximum advantage of their majority in the parliament and the cabinet. In the days ahead, while the top rung leaders of thepolitical left will keep themselves busy unleashing politically charged propaganda against democratic forces, the brainwashed radicals who belong togroups such as the Youth Communist League (YCL) that lack logical reasoning and have zero tolerance towards others that do not share their view point of an idyllic communist utopia will be used to silence the voices of freedom-loving people in Nepal.

Time is running out for democratic forces in Nepal. They need to act now and act rapidly to forge an alliance amongst the democratic forces. If needed, seek help from the international community that better understands the “red menace” and is more knowledgeable about ways to defeat it.Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, during the recent South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), said that he gambled his sixdecade long political career to secure peace in Nepal and he is right about it. But the recent activities of the Maoists show that he betted on an “unreliable horse.” Despite his all good intentions,his partner for peace – the Maoists – are proving themselves untrustworthy. They are abusing his trust to achieve their goal.

In the current situation, whereby peace and stability seem to be a distantdream due to the Maoists' insincerity and the UML's dubious character, Koirala's lumping of all Male (then UML), Masale (radical leftist party)and Mandale (regressive elements) into the same category seems real than ever. History will judge if Koirala's instinct to join hands with the Maoiststo defeat a cornered despot--King Gyanendra--was a good thing or not. It will also judge if it was entirely impossible to defeat King Gyanendra withoutseeking any help from the Maoists, which many people think was not the case. It might have taken a little bit longer, but couple of months or years is not a long time when it comes to the history of a nation. The dilution of ideology has a price attached to it. Maybe we are destined to pay that price!