Betrayed Beyond Belief

With the suspension of the scheduled Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, political blame game is at its best. While the country is facing the worst form of chaos since its existence as a sovereign nation, the hunt for "scapegoat" is on. As usual, no politician or the political party wants to share the blame for dashing away people's desire to have CA elections.

The nation is so bitterly divided that the cadres of every political party see other parties as the culprit behind the current political fiasco forgetting its own party's role in the current mess. The NC rank and files shamelessly blame the Maoists for the suspension of the CA elections even though the current government is headed by non other than its own party president. As usual, the UML once again nodded to the Maoist demands but wanted to play safe by writing a "Note of Dissent." What an excellent way to fool Nepali citizens. Kudos to Madhav Kumar Nepal and other flip-floppers out there in the UML.

Everyone seems to blaming the Maoists for the current fiasco. Why are we surprised at the Maoists' ways and means now? Those that are now blaming the Maoists for derailing the CA elections should first educate themselves on ways that radical communists pursue to capture power. They must educate themselves on how radical communists ruled other nations in the past and what they are doing now to consolidate power in the different parts of the globe.
First, read what Mao did in China, Castro did in Cuba and what Kim Jong-il and Hugo Chavez are doing in North Korea and Venezuela before expecting the Maoists in Nepal to act responsibly and democratically. All those wishful thinkers out there will then realize that in radical communists' red book, seeking people's mandate through free and fair democratic elections is a big No No. Threat and discouragement are the two main weapons that radical communists use to diminish the hold of their political rivals in the society and capture power.
Blaming the Maoists for insincerity is nothing but foolishness. When they have never been sincere and abided by the agreement they signed, why are we upset when they pulled out of the government and forced suspension of the CA elections? It is us, who chose to overlook Maoists' insincerity and kept silent when they flouted the agreements.

So, blaming the Maoists for not being sincere is ridiculous. They were never sincere towards securing peace and consolidation of democracy to begin with. All the Maoists wanted was to enjoy the privileges of being in the parliament and the cabinet. They never ever wanted to share the blame for failures.

This has been the Maoist strategy from the very beginning. They 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, buy political legitimacy and seek support of the international community, and familiarize their guerillas with urban settings to wage urban centered revolution. The Maoists had made clear that their ultimate goal is to establish a proletarian communist state.

Under the current circumstances, the Maoists know it very well that they can neither win elections, nor capture the power by force. So, the only way for them to remain dominant in national politics, is through subversion of the democratic process by threatening and discouraging the Seven Party Alliance. They know it very well that the SPA does not have the required guts to challenge the Maoists' fiefdom and will go any length to appease them.
So, it is not the Maoists that are to be blamed but the spine-less politicians of the major political parties that do not have guts to energize the democratic base and challenge the Maoists' fiefdom and anti-democratic behavior. It is not the Maoists that have weakened democracy (they were never for it to begin with), but the SPA that joined hands with the radical Maoists that unlike them, believe power comes from the barrel of a gun not ballots.

In a mad rush for power, what the so-called politicians of the SPA foolishly ignored is that "radical communism," which the Maoists vouch for, and the freedom and democracy that Nepali citizens long for, are two significantly different and titanic ideas, two ways of life, and two totally irreconcilable beliefs.

The April revolution of 2006 had provided an excellent platform to secure peace and stability and consolidate democracy. It had paved the way for a new generation of pragmatists, highly invigorated, responsible, talented and energetic politicians to assume leadership, which unfortunately did not happen. Democracy has stalled in Nepal because the inept, diffident and inert politicians lack vision and a clear sense of direction. Even when the poor rise up against the despotic Monarch; granting opportunistic politicians a chance to make a difference, they squander it.

Trapped by the war lords such as Jay Krishna Goit and Narendra Paswan and betrayed the politicians of the SPA and the radical Maoists, Nepalis, here we are again at another critical juncture. We have had almost two years of opportunity to secure peace and consolidate democracy but the results are laughable: renewed autocracy, political violence, lawlessness and warlordism, and the usual blame games. Sadly, those with access and power have to a large extent enriched themselves and bled the nation out of its last vestiges of survival.
Seeing politicians undermine their constituents, it becomes evident that, politics means a money-making game in an impoverished Nepal. Serving the nation with politics proves to be a sham and pretension. All acts of political disloyalty and political betrayal have just one motivation: Honest illusions of genuine betrayal.

The tragedy is that most national political pugilists and players tend to pose themselves as the chosen savior of democracy and people's freedom. Whatever they do, no matter how myopically selfish, they see it as a vision of messianic responsibility. What they sell as democratic struggle can more accurately be described as perpetuation of feudal rule within an encompassing patron-client system.

In the present degenerative political culture, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for someone with vision and leadership potential to emerge and navigate the nation towards peace, stability, and prosperity.

However, the only way to get out of this mess is through another revolution. A new revolution is needed that will wipe out radical elements that are shrewdly trying to trap freedom loving Nepali citizens into the "yoke of communism" along with those pseudo-democrats out there that act more like Maoist operatives than people's representatives.

Prachanda and his henchmen will come to their sense only when people will rise and pull the carpet beneath their feet like they did to King Gyanendra. When King Gyanendra with hundred thousand strong trained professional forces could be brought to his senses, bringing Prachanda to his senses is not an unachievable act. It is certainly doable.

As a matter of fact, that is the only viable option left to bring these radicals to their senses. Even if some of us were to die, it is better to be liberated by death than trapped by radicals. If trapped, we would be forced to witness painful death of life, liberty and prosperity like helpless citizens of Cuba, North Korean and Venezuela are doing now.