Endangered Pluralism

The violent protest in front of the venue of the “Miss Nepal” contest last week has made it clear that xenophobic brand of nationalism is on the rise in Nepal. It came as no surprise when the Maoists joined other leftists groups and demonstrated in front of the venue where the contestants were competing for the coveted crown. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a Maoist ideologue and the information minister, had publicly acknowledged that he is both personally and ideologically, against the beauty pageants. If he could, he would have stopped the recently held “Miss Nepal” contest from taking off.

Despite vehement opposition from the leftists and the radical feminist groups in Nepal, the beauty pageants are organized year after year and operated within a greater context of generalized and widely accepted misogyny. It may be hard for freedom-loving, open-minded people to comprehend why the leftists and the radical feminists are hell-bent against things such as “beauty pageants,” which do not infringe on anyone else's personal rights.

Richard Wilk's claim may be helpful in understanding why the political left and the radical feminists hate beauty pageants and vehemently oppose it. Wilk says the pageants make sense of everyday life in this global order by creating common categories of difference. Furthermore, under the watchful eye of television, beauty pageants are engaged in ideological labor that undermines the presumptions of a global capitalist order, which is extremely distasteful to the political left.

The political left and die-hard feminists are totally against the beauty pageants and think such contests demean women and corrupt Nepali culture. They think beauty pageants as subordination of women to the status of sex objects in the new economy of global consumerism. What these leftists ideologues and the so called “hard core feminists,” who if allowed, would reduce the women's status to a vessels for reproduction fail to understand is that the norms that these beauty pageants promote are not even remotely as obsolete as they like to believe. What they seem to undermine is the fact that the beauty pageants do reflect contemporary culture, one in which the political left and the feminist groups pay lip service to women's right.

The leftist groups pose to be progressive and claim to be the champions of the women's right issues, but in fact they try to control the freedom of women. They fear that events such as beauty pageants would free women from socio-cultural bindings and subsequently lead to the liberation of their subjects. They tirelessly talk about equality and human rights of women but their sister organizations such as Youth Communist League (YCL), in the name of moral and cultural policing try to deprive women of their rights to indulge in things they like and want to participate in, and infringe women's right to choose. Thus, the Maoists and the other leftists groups are hiding their real willingness to subjugate women in a cloak of good intentions. If the leftists and the feminists really vouch for liberation and upliftment of women, which they claim to be the case, they should take on more pressing issue such as marginalization of women and work towards weakening the patriarchal structures, which is the main culprit behind women's backwardness.

The never-ending opposition of beauty pageants by the leftists and the so-called “women rights” groups reflects the problematic politics and the desperateness on the part of the feminists to align with the leftist groups to ensure the momentum of their fizzling movement. In the name of retention of culture, what the leftists and the feminists in Nepal are trying to do is stereotype the image of Nepali women. They want to project Nepali women as weak and submissive. For them, reinforcing the fundamentalist viewpoint of women as subordinate pays and it pays heavily. If women start perceiving themselves strong and independent, the very slogan of liberation of women that the leftists and the feminists have been cashing in so far becomes redundant and untenable. Thus, what the liftists and the feminists in the name of opposition to commoditization of women are trying to do is promote their own version of “cultural nationalism” as a substitute for the state-sponsored ideology of secularism in Nepal.

The powerful rhetoric of “cultural nationalism,” which the political left preaches, when set against the so-called hegemony of Westernization, becomes emotionally appealing to the millions of leftists and the feminists who perceive westernization of Nepali society as an inherent threat to their political future. So far the political left has been tremendously successful in manipulating the anti-western sentiment propagated by the leftist media and the polity under the deceptive garb of cultural retention to propagate their political ideology. The protest against beauty pageants is one of many such manipulative moves that the political left uses to promote the notion of “cultural nationalism,” which contributes towards securing its goal of establishing a proletarian communist state.

Beauty pageants draw a lot of flak from the leftist groups and the feminist groups who object to, basically because they cannot see the beauty contests further than the judgment of woman's appearance and promotion of glamour. The beauty pageants should be viewed as an event showcasing women's talent rather than an event showcasing beauty, sexism, vulgarism etc. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

Beauty pageants are innocuous. It helps winners catapult their careers in an upward motion. Their participation elevates their status so they are likely to succeed in their future endeavors. Besides, the winners of the pageants participate in promoting social issues and issues related to nature conservation, which in itself is a great thing.

The leftists and the feminist groups need to drop the obsession with women's bodies and what women do with it. They should stop viewing women as vessels for reproduction and putting women's right to bodily autonomy on the chopping block. The true liberation of women will take place only when they can freely decide on what they want to do with their body. The time has come whereby we, Nepali citizens, rise against the cultural and moral policing by the leftist and the radical feminists. The talibanisation of Nepali society in the name of “cultural nationalism” is simply unacceptable.

Rights and democracy in Nepal

Finally, after a year of submissive relationship, it appears, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and some of his colleagues within the Congress party have started realizing what the Maoists are up to. Prime Minister Koirala's refusal to toe Prachanda's line in declaring the country a republic through the reinstated parliament has once again demonstrated that Koirala does have the courage to lead the nation during this tumultuous period.

Prachanda, like in the past when the country was declared secular, failed to cast his spell and charm on Koirala and his colleagues this time around. With Koirala's refusal, Prachanda's uninterrupted run over the democratic forces has come to an abrupt end, even if it is temporary. Koirala's refusal to snatch peoples' right to choose has exhibited the subtle difference between a lifelong democrat who believes in people's right to choose and a radical communist who thinks "power comes from the barrel of a gun."

Negotiations with the Maoists were started with promises of peace. But the Maoists had something else in their mind; they want to take country toward dictatorship with promises of democracy. The Maoists are using the cry for freedom and ethnic equality to regiment people. It is understandable why Prachanda dislikes Upendra Yadav and Pasang Sherpa. When more and more people start to fathom the idea of ethnic equality and autonomy, the Maoist propaganda of fight against oppression becomes irrelevant and untenable.

Why do the Maoists who claim to stand for the people are in such haste of declaring Nepal a republican state? Why can't they wait until Constituent Assembly (CA) elections and let people decide?
The reason given by the Maoists to declare the country republic through the reinstated parliament is that the king has started his foul play. It is not anything new in the Maoists seeing foul plays. They see foul play in almost everything: ethnic protests, prime minister's stance on monarchy, and Ambassador James F Moriarty's statements. For the Maoists, if something is not in their interest, it's a foul play.

Democracy is all about people's right to choose. Gone are the days when people were not allowed to choose. Let the Nepali citizens be the master of their destiny rather than slaves of someone else's whims. It is important to let people choose because the system that people choose will have better chances of succeeding and delivering benefits to the people.
Furthermore, people take greater interest in safeguarding the system that they choose, and not the one that is imposed upon them. They will nurture it with better care and sincerity, if they are involved in the process.

Nobody has a moral authority to stand for 27 million people and say, "here is the system that best suits you, take it." Out of many things, freedom to choose is one that keeps democracy afloat, and its absence sinks proletarian communist states.

The Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) should counter the Maoist propaganda and force them to stick to the agreements. The Maoists have not stopped extortion, intimidation of civilians, administration of crude justice through their Kangaroo courts, and brandishing their weapons. The security situation in the country is apparently deteriorating. If the CA elections are held without improving the security situation, the Maoists will rig the elections—be it by showing the weapons they have covertly stored or through intimidations—and force the outcome of the elections in their favor. All they seek for at this point in time is, "political legitimacy." International community will be then forced to acknowledge the existence of the CPN (Maoist) like Hamas and Hezbollah as a legitimate political force. If they succeed in buying that legitimacy, it will be the last nail in the SPA's political coffin.

The ultimate survival of the SPA as a political force in future depends on their ability to force the Maoists to play by the rules and detangle the issue of monarchy from the other issues during the CA elections. The Maoists are consistently beating the drum against monarchy, which is a dead horse because that diverts people's attention and helps them get away from their own atrocities.
In the current situation, free and fair CA election is not possible by any means. So, the CA election should be postponed until the Maoists do not mend their ways and the grievances of ethnic groups are addressed. CA election without resolving these issues will merely be a window dressing of the process of construction of "New Nepal."

It is time to play a hard ball with the Maoist. The SPA government should gather the facts about the violation of agreements on part of the Maoists and pose some tough questions to Prachanda and his fellow ideologues. The brandishing of weapons in Nepalganj and appearance of weapons with UN's sticker in Gaighat can be used as a case to put them on defensive. The weapons with the United Nation's sticker that appeared in Gaighat of Udayapur district summarizes both the United Nation's sloppy job in harvesting and safe storage of the weapons and the Maoists' commitment to surrender all their weapons.

Give the Maoists a time frame to surrender their additional weapons that they have been brandishing openly and provide a security cover to Prachanda, who says he stands for people but is afraid to walk as a freeman in a free country amidst the people. If needed, the government could provide security cover to other top rung Maoist ideologues too.
Prachanda is desperate to declare Nepal a republic state ignoring the people's right to vote and choose the system they like simply because with each passing day, the Nepali people are getting suspicious about the Maoists' commitment towards peace, freedom, and democracy. The recent opinion polls clearly show that the CPN (Maoist) is going downhill. With increase in quest for ethnic identity and equality and dwindling people's trust towards the Maoists, they are at the risk of running out of popular slogans that attract people towards them and may eventually lose the very people that once associated with the CPN (Maoist) to the ethnic political forums such Upendra Yadav's Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPZRF) and Pasang Sherpa's the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NFIN).

With ethnic identity and equality gaining currency, the Maoists know it very well that century old communist tactics of propaganda and brainwashing to ensure the virtues of communism may not work in the future.

In addition, the Maoists want to declare the country republic now without seeking popular mandate because although letting people vote provides citizens with the possibility to participate, it gives decision-making power to people outside the Maoist cartel.
The majority of Nepali citizens voting will be those that are outside the Maoist cartel and they evade the control by the Maoists. The Maoists know it very well that putting the right to decide political future of the country in the hands of those that are not within their grip may not suit their long-term strategic goals.

The other possible reason behind the Maoists' desperateness to declare the country a republic might be to create power vacuum. They have sensed that the CA election in June is not possible due to increase in public outcry against their highhandedness and the ongoing ethnic tensions. So, the other routes for them would be to ensure a power vacuum and fill it.

Except for KP Oli and a handful of other moderate communists, the majority of rank and file within the UML appears comfortable in joining the CPN (Maoist), if the balance of power tilts in favor of the Maoists. So, if they could get rid of monarchy now even if it is a dead horse, with the demise of GP Koirala there will be a political vacuum, which they can easily fill in. However, the question that the Maoists may not want to think about and we, the freedom loving Nepali people can't stop asking ourselves is, for how long Prachanda's dream of proletarian communist state will survive. This is more than theory, as it is inherently contrary to the basic instinct—right to freedom and right to private property-- of Nepali people.

What next?

The Youth Communist League (YCL) has recently been in the news for the wrong reasons. First, it was ill treatment of the royalists in Birtamod, Jhapa; this was followed by an attempt to disrupt the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) protest in Birgunj; physical harassment of hotelier Hari Shrestha; and then came a failed attempt to foil the MPRF's mass meeting in Gaur.

Finally, the one that caused everyone to raise their eyebrows was the carnage in Gaur where the instigation of MPRF's men by the YCL cadres took an ugly turn. Twenty-nine YCL cadres were mercilessly slaughtered in cold blood and many more were injured by MPRF's cadres.

The Maoist arrogance, MPRF's political shortsightedness and inability to keep protests peaceful, and the government's inability to effectively deal with the Maoists and address the grievances of ethnic groups has been slowly pushing the country into the vortex of a full-blown civil war. The April revolution had provided a perfect platform for the re-establishment of peace and democracy. But inability on the part of the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) to effectively handle the situation and manage people's aspirations and the Maoist insincerity towards peace and democracy has left a million dreams lie shattered.

It is time to analyze what went wrong, who are the culprits, and what can and needs to be done to bring the country back onto the track. It is time to ask an indelible question: Why have the so-called leaders failed, over and again? Are we better off now than when the Maoists were in the jungles? Has the government's endless concessions to the Maoists contributed to anything other than increased insecurity, chaos, and blurred future prospects?

The glib idea held by SPA that providing political power will automatically lead to “moderation” of the Maoists is the main culprit behind the present mess. What the political leaders at the helm of the affairs have failed to realize is that political power only begets the desires of the radicals to perpetuate and aggrandize power and does not contribute towards “moderation.” Bringing the radicals to the helms of power has never resulted in moderation. It simply does not work. On the contrary, after coming to power, they get even more “strong headed” and rhetorical.

After coming to power, Hitler did not budge an inch from what he had set down in Mein Kampf , nor did Mussolini disband the Fascists and stop killing his political opponents.

Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini's list of opponents that were to be silenced kept getting larger and bigger after he came to power in 1979. Even after being in power for four decades, the moderation of Fidel Castro never happened; he never toned down. The moderation of Kim Jong Il of North Korea and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela doesn't appear realistic either.

There is a colossal failure of intellect, effort, and imagination on the part of SPA. In order to understand the Maoist totalitarian aspirations, it takes an effort of imagination. It is necessary to put one's self inside the Maoist minds, to see things as they see them, to understand their beliefs, strategy, and actions.

However, it is not an easy task to analyze another's mind when it is so fundamentally different from one's own. It takes effort and the bitter truth is that the SPA leaders never made an effort to understand the Maoist beliefs, strategy, and actions. Had they made an effort to understand the Maoist traits, they would have understood what the Maoists are up to and learnt how to deal with them effectively. They would not have endlessly seceded to the Maoist demands and turned a blind eye to their atrocities.

Out of many mistakes, one of the major mistakes that the SPA government has been making is that it sees the ongoing ethnic movement through the lens of CPN (Maoist). Prime Minister Koirala, whose popularity skyrocketed during and after the April revolution, runs a risk of losing his newfound popularity if he does not desist from watching the ethnic movement through the Maoist prism. The delay in solving the ethnic movement will have far reaching repercussions.

The Gaur carnage should serve as an eye-opener, both to the government and the Maoists. Prachanda and his fellow ideologues might have never imagined that the people, whom they thought to be oppressed, could rise so quickly and counter the Maoist fiefdom by gunning down their fellowmen. It is absolutely understandable; however, the right to pick up guns is not Prachanda's or for that matter, the Maoist rebels' private domain. Nobody should be condoning the violence, but now, it appears that the only way to challenge the Maoist fiefdom is through the use of force, as the government has failed miserably to enforce law and order and provide ample security to its citizens.

The government has failed to take actions against the Maoists that have flouted the law and provide security to its citizens. The perpetrators of Lahan's killing, Nepalganj's riot, and Birtamod's inhuman acts are still at large. The government and the so-called human rights activists prefer to remain silent when the rights of ordinary citizens are infringed by the Maoist rebels. Why are the human rights of the YCL members killed in Rautahat more precious than the innocent Madhesi killed in Lahan, scores of Madhesis intimidated and harassed in Nepalganj, and the royalists subjected to the inhuman treatment at the hands of YCL cadre in Birtamod?

Unlike most human rights activists in Nepal, who are leftist ideologues and value human rights of leftists to be more precious than those in the center and the right, the government should get over the biases and strive towards protecting the rights to the life and liberty of all citizens, irrespective of their political ideology and affiliations.

As far as Gaur's carnage is concerned, before jumping to hasty conclusions, it is necessary to put things in context. What options did the MPRF cadres have at that point in time, when the YCL members showed up to foil their mass meeting? They basically had two options: (a) be humiliated and leave the ground for the YCL members (b) retaliate and teach the YCL members a lesson, so that from next time onwards they would learn to respect others' rights to protest. The royalists' fate in Birtamod, Jhapa has already taught the MPRF and other groups a good lesson on what happens if you appear weak. The only mistake the MPRF members committed in this case was that they went much farther than just teaching the YCL cadres a good lesson. The inhumane killings of the rowdy YCL cadres that occurred in Gaur were certainly a deplorable act and a colossal failure on part of MPRF to keep the protests peaceful.

If the sister organizations of the Maoists such as YCL that are working towards the establishment of a totalitarian regime are not sufficiently opposed, from within and outside the country, they will proceed to do exactly what they believe in. The followers of totalitarian regimes are brainwashed ideologues that see things only in black and white. For them, the grey area does not exist.

According to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, “You cannot teach people to hate and ask them to practice peace.” These ideologues have been taught to hate people that do not share their ideology and it is impossible to discipline them without using some kind of force or through the strict rule of law. As the latter is virtually non-existent in present-day Nepal, other groups might soon run out of options to protect themselves and their rights and be forced to follow the retaliatory path adopted by MPRF, unless the government acts strongly and dares to punish the Maoists for their atrocities. If the law and order situation is not improved and the YCL cadres engaged in infringing on the rights of others are not punished, the Gaur-type carnage may occur frequently.

The perpetrators of not only the Gaur carnage, but also of the Lahan and Birtamod incidents and riots of Nepalganj, should be brought to justice. The SPA government that has a tendency of falling into the Maoist spell should not get charmed this time around and commit the mistake of outlawing MPRF. If MPRF is outlawed, as suggested by Prachanda, it will open the door for a full-fledged civil war and turn Nepal into a killing field. Are we ready for a civil war?

Nepal - Inclusion With Vision

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's commitment that “All marginalized groups would be included in all the organs of state machinery on a proportional basis.” However, translating a political speech into viable affirmative action programs that will ensure the actual empowerment of marginalized groups through proper representation may not be as easy as it seems.
The challenge ahead is to construct just affirmative action policies that can adequately and efficiently administer compensatory and distributive justice, but at the same time have very little room for abuse by free. One of the most important roles of a state that strives towards inclusive democracy is to reach out to marginalized groups that have been bypassed either by choice or by default. This will ensure that public service system is inclusive and representative. We, as a nation, will be better off by ensuring inclusion of marginalized groups rather than exclusion, which in itself is undemocratic. Thus, inclusion of all marginalized groups bypassed so far, in all of the organs of state machinery on a proportional basis, is necessary to inculcate a feeling of belonging and to make state machineries more responsive to the needs of everyone's need.


One of the ways adopted to correct past mistakes is through affirmative action policies to ensure empowerment of the marginalized groups. However, there is a fine line between effective administration of compensatory and distributive justice through affirmative action policies that ensures empowerment of marginalized groups and the reverse discrimination. In South Africa, after the African National Congress took power in the early 1990s, they tried correcting past indecencies by offering a severance package to white civil servants did not serve as a good omen as a majority of the experienced white civil servants left government service. This had a tremendous negative affect on bureaucracy and the overall development of the nation.

Thus, the burden lies on the government to ensure that the group that was privileged in the past does not become a victim of reverse discrimination and withdraw its contribution to the society। An abrupt withdrawal and flight of this section of society that is well-educated, relatively wealthy, and politically enlightened could prove to be disastrous for development of the nation. For empowerment of members of a marginalized group to take place, it is important to identify the individuals within the marginalized groups that are actually deprived and in need of the state’s intervention. Thus, preference should be given to only those castes within the officially declared marginalized groups for their upliftment, enhancement, and subsequently empowerment. For example, the members of backward caste Madhesis and Madhesi Dalits such as Lohar, Sonar, Dom, Chamars, Musahars and others who actually face discrimination on a daily basis, are at the bottom of the economic ladder and do not have access to social goods and opportunity should be the ones to benefit from the affirmative action policies, but not to the whole “Madhesi group” which they are part of. This is mainly so because some members of the “Madhesi group” such as those belonging to upper castes- Brahmins, Rajputs, and Bhumiyars- are actually more successful and financially well off than the lower caste Madhesis, Dalit Madhesis and even lower caste and Dalit Pahades. If they, along with lower caste and Dalit Madhesis, are made entitled to affirmative actions, the well-educated upper caste Madhesis that are better educated and financially well-off will quickly learn to hop opportunities and reduce affirmative action policies to “affirmative auction.”

So, instead of blindly allocating opportunities to the people within the certain group, a combination of factors like wealth, education level, income, occupation, and geographical disparities should be used to identify truly needy people among the officially classified marginalized groups. The resources and opportunities thus saved can be distributed among those who are that are needy but are born in the upper castes by default, not by choice.
The government should learn from the Indian experience। Despite having the public policy of affirmative action in India in some form or the other for more than five decades now, approximately 25 percent of total population is still languishing below the poverty line. The people that make up this 25 percent are mostly backward castes and Dalits. So, merely having policies in place does not ensure empowerment and emancipation. For real empowerment and emancipation to occur, policies should be able to deliver to those who need the most. In addition, affirmative action policies should be auditable. It should be audited from time to time to see if it is really addressing the issue that it is suppose to address or just enhancing dependency and the sense of entitlement among the recipients.

Our success lies in devising affirmative action policies that are unique, workable in the sociocultural context of Nepal and which reach those who deserve it the most। The policies should be time-bound rather than open ended. Failure to do so would result in a situation like in India, whereby the hope that reservation would be abolished after the catching-up by the marginalized groups, has not yet been realised. In the absence of a strict time frame, the very notion of catch-up will be defined to suit the political needs and will be subjected to political manipulation. As in India, there will be a consistent and concerted effort to extend reservation to cover more and more groups. It will be impossible to get rid of politically expedient policies of reservation in the absence of a time frame, even if it is a generation or two later. Thus, having a timeline in place is extremely important to prevent preference from turning out to be an entitlement. Failure to do so will eventually constrict opportunities for upper castes and ignite social tension. The formation of upper-class militia such as Ranvir Sena in Bihar in future cannot be ruled out altogether.

The overall goal of affirmative action policies that are to be implemented in Nepal should be to make discriminated and bypassed members of marginalized group become more competent and help them to emerge as natural competitors rather than enhance intergenerational dependency.

Can peace & Maoists coexist?

After the fall of King Gyanendra's despotic regime last April, political events have been unfolding at an unprecedented pace। For members of the reinstated parliament, raising hands in favor of whatever is tabled in Parliament seems to be easier than actually debating the issues that are detrimental to Nepal's future as a prosperous sovereign nation.

While internally displaced people (IDPs), many of whom are members of the current Seven Party Alliance (SPA), are still confronted by the wrath of Maoists and forced to live away from their homes, the government stays busy appeasing the Maoists and keeping them content। How far should this game of appeasement and political settlement go?

As far as the Maoists are concerned, they are still doing the same thing that they have been doing for more than a decade now। The only difference is that they are doing it more openly this time around. According to a recent National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) report, they have killed 15 people since the April 26 truce. They have resisted the reinstatement of police posts in rural areas, and in turn obstructed developmental works. The 12th municipal council meeting of the Lekhnath municipality was recently cancelled because the Maoist cadres padlocked the municipal office. While the Maoist leaders are making politically correct noises in the capital, their low rung cadres are constantly playing with fears of civilians.

Human rights groups and the civil society that vehemently opposed human rights abuses during King Gyanendra's rule seem to be least bothered by Maoist atrocities। They even keep silent when Maoist militiamen march with their guns loaded in broad daylight. Their silence proves that they act when it pays, and in the current situation it certainly does not pay to be in the bad books of the Maoists.

We, as a nation, thought that Maoists' atrocities would subside after they signed peace agreement with the government। When that did not happen we kept our positive outlook alive and chose to wait till they signed the disarmament pact with the UN. Even after signing the peace accord with the government and the disarmament pact with the UN, and receiving multi-million rupees to feed their guerillas, the Maoists continue to flex their muscle and undermine human rights of civilians.

The Maoists are yet to abandon their decade-old tactics of intimidation, threats, and killings as a means of political control. Even after getting a bumper deal of 73 seats in a new 330-seat parliament without contesting election, they have not mended their ways. The Maoists know better than ever that the politics of intimidation, threats, and violence pays; and pays heavily.
While the Maoists are engaged in systematic violations of the covenants of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, we are forced to adjust our level of expectations and cope with the realities। Instead of pin-pointing Maoists' atrocities, we have chosen to resort to wishful thinking. We hope that the Maoists will soon start behaving as civilized citizens. However, the Maoist latest actions show that they have very little tolerance for peaceful existence.

The recent furor over the ambassadorial appointment by the government proves that for the Maoists, the goal is always power। They do not want to be perceived as a weak partner. On the contrary, the Maoists see themselves as being in the driver's seat.

Maoist supreme Prachanda's strategy in many ways resembles that of Moqtda Al-Sadr, a young Shiite cleric from Sadr city in Baghdad, who has been dictating Iraqi politics for quite some time now and is perceived as a thorn in American effort to stabilize Iraq। Like Moqtada, Prachanda too claims that he stands for the poor and disenfranchised even though the Breitling watch he wears points in other direction. Moqtada uses his Mahdi Army to exhibit his strength and so does Prachanda through his people's army.

Many in Nepal and abroad think that keeping Prachanda inside the political system would mark an end of violent politics। It may just prove to be our wishful thinking. Technically, they were supposed to stop extortion, abduction, torture, and recruitment of militiamen after signing the peace deal. Has that happened yet? What will it take for the Maoists to stop human rights abuses and start behaving as law-abiding members of society? How long should the people accept this brutality while holding onto the hope that someday the violence will end, and they will be allowed to speak and live freely?

In Iraq, like in Nepal, foreign diplomats had similar wishful thinking। They thought bringing Moqtada inside the political system would stop atrocities carried out by the Mahdi Army. Contrary to popular belief, even after Sadr loyalists won 30 out of 275 seats in the parliamentary election and were allowed to hold important ministries such as health and transportation, the covert recruitment and operation of the Mahdi army continued unabated. The Mahdi Army that was once thought to be in the hundreds has now grown to several thousand. It has grown rapidly over time and has been terrorizing Iraqi politics and society concurrently. With each passing day, covert modus operandi of the Mahdi Army gets more sophisticated. They extort, torture, and kill in larger numbers than ever.

Moqtada Al-Sadr stayed away from government but has been busy pursuing a dual strategy; increasing his militia covertly and capitalizing on his control over the key ministries that his men run to provide services to the poor, and giving jobs to his die-hard followers। Prachanda might be having similar plans in mind. The recruitment drive carried out by the People's Liberation Army even after signing the peace accord with the government and the disarmament pact with the UN raises more questions than answers. Our wishful thinking and desperate need for peace stops us from questioning Maoist intentions.

The government has not responded to the Maoist allegation of unilateralism in the appointment of ambassadors to various nations yet. But if that is the case, the government has committed a mistake by not consulting the Maoists before nominating ambassadors to various nations.
The SPA government should not alienate the Maoists and make them suspicious। None except for the Maoists themselves know how many weapons they possess. If Prachanda is insecure, more arms and militiamen will be covertly kept away from the cantonment sites. With a large number of ammunitions and trained militiamen out of cantonment sites and his ideologues in Singha Durbar running various ministries, Prachanda will be without a doubt, more powerful than ever.

A complete democratization of society will be an elusive dream. The survival of social and liberal democrats will prove to be harder than ever. We cannot afford to let that happen. Therefore, let us not commit any mistake in belling the cat.

Counteracting Maoist Strategies in Nepal

After the April uprising, the mood of general public seems to be upbeat. People have begun to see a silver lining in the otherwise murky cloud. With the eight point pact between the government and the Maoist rebels, bloody insurgency that took lives of approximately 14,000 people seems to be coming to an end, hopefully a logical one.

However, even after the eight point pact, kidnappings and extortion of innocent citizens have not subsided. Kidnappings and extortions by the Maoists continue unabated.

Thousands of homes of internally displaced citizens padlocked by the Maoist insurgents are yet to be unlocked. Their lands have been distributed to create an utopian society and movable assets used up. Despite such atrocities, the current government seems to be reluctant to vigorously raise the issue and force the Maoist leadership to do something about it. The Maoists as usual have not been sticking to the agreements whole heartedly. This is not the first time they have breached an agreement. If one can get away with crimes, why bother about its judicial ramifications? It makes perfect sense.

While the Maoists seem upbeat about their political future, the government appears helpless, feeble, and in disarray. For now, its main agenda seems to be keeping insurgents happy, contended, and engaged. However, with Maoists' chairman blowing hot and cold on politicians, Nepalese Army, and the king concurrently, the political landscape is dangerously tilting in Maoists' favor and may not remain the same for long. Keeping the Maoists engaged is necessary but not enough to ensure the dominance of democratic forces. With an increase in dominance of CPN-Maoist in national politics and supposedly end of the monarchy after constituent assembly, what will the Nepali political landscape look like? With an increase in Maoist dominance in Nepali politics, members of UML and other splinter communist groups that share the same common minimum values may desert their parties and readily join the Maoist bandwagon. That will push social and liberal democrats towards oblivion. Their very existence may become questionable.

After constituent assembly when monarchy is undone, what happens if the Maoists do not gain majority in parliament? Will they resort to persuasive politics and try winning mind and hearts of ordinary citizens whom they frightened and intimidated for one and a half decades? Big brains churning out political strategies for SPA should be pondering upon these questions, sooner the better.

If the Maoists lose elections and become a minority group in the parliament, it is very likely that some of their leaders will again head out to jungles and resort to guns to maintain their fiefdom or they may resort to guns and rig their way to the power. It is all together a different question whether or not they will be able to hold on to power in the current geopolitical settings for long. Either of these two routes is alarmingly dangerous.

Prime Minister Koirala's instance on ceremonial monarchy is very insightful. It may not be a very popular or politically correct thing to do now, but it is the right thing to do. Politicians like Koirala should demonstrate the courage and do the right thing rather than cruising in with popular opinion. Having a ceremonial king may not be a popular idea but it serves the people's interests. It will provide international community a base and a space to operate in case communist groups go out of whack and follow Cuban, North Korean, or for that matter Venezuelan path.

Mere signing agreement does not mean anything. It is not only about bringing the Maoists on-board and keeping them engaged. The SPA should work towards retaining their lost grounds by proving themselves strong and visionary.

They should try defending their existence and redefine their strategy in order to gain public confidence in them.

Even after the 12-point pact, 25-point code of conduct and the eight-point agreement, Maoists' brutality continues unabated. It is propagating the perception of lawlessness. But establishing the rule of law and maintaining security is very important for the success of any peace process and beyond. Failure to establish the rule of --- and maintain --- law and order effectively has left East Timor in a lurch.

The government should not ignore Maoist atrocities or any other criminal groups. We may choose to ignore lawlessness, but the only thing we can hope after that is social unrest, untold bloodshed, and the end of our dreams.

A well functioning legal system is in everyone's best interest. It provides an arena in which citizens can hold politicians and civil servants to account. In addition, it helps citizens protect themselves from exploitation by rich and powerful, and help resolve conflicts in an amicable manner.

A rule of law is central to the realization of constitutionally guaranteed rights and is important to achieve the broader goals of development and poverty reduction.We had a well functioning parliament a decade ago. It did not take very long for things to go out of hand and we risked ourselves of becoming a failed

state. Be it an irrational thinking of bunch of leftist radicals that thought power comes from the barrel of gun or incompetent politicians who think they could get away without serving their constituents and enriching themselves. The decade old insurgency brought us nothing but made us to realize that the armed struggle is an incorrect approach. Sanity has finally made a come back, better late than never, and let us hope it prevails.

Nepal is confronted with significant challenges and seemingly intr-actableproblems. Corruption and weak adherence to the rule of law are the biggest blems. Political will to address governance and ensure economic development is central to the Nepal's future.

Role of Private Property

Recently, some members of Maoist-affiliated Trade Union ANTUF(R) physically assaulted a local businessman when he tried stopping them from writing graffiti on his private boundary wall. Instead of respecting the owner's right to exercise his private property rights, the Maoists indulged themselves in a brawl. What appeared even more disturbing is that the Maoists fined the owner and forced him to apologize for exercising the right that is granted by the law of the land.

Freedom in its entirety cannot be fully realized without private property rights. Of many reasons why communism failed was the inability to acknowledge the need of private property. It fails to reward those who excel, and fails to punish those who lag behind. There is no incentive for greater effort, neither in creativity, entrepreneurship or hard work.

Capitalism thrives because it rewards ingenuity, capability, and hard work. In a capitalist society, individuals that are capable and hard working thrive while those who are lazy or unable to conform to the demands of society are less successful and lag behind.

Private property is in the best interest of a democratic society because it gives meaning to the very concept of freedom and libertarian principles of justice. Freedom and property rights are very closely related to each other. The right to do as you please with your private property is an integral part of ones' personal freedom. Thus, in a free democratic society each person is free to acquire property and do whatever he wants with it without any interference, as long as stretching of his arms doesn't hurt someone else's nose.

Secured private property rights provide the legal certainty necessary for individuals to commit resources to ventures. The threat of plunder or confiscation greatly undermines confidence in market activity and tremendously limits investment possibilities.

Secured property rights are extremely important for the exchange and the extension of ownership to capital goods. They help foster the development of financial markets that are prerequisite for economic growth and development. Since the inception of peoples' war, the Maoists have forcibly grabbed thousands of hectares of private land in an attempt of creating utopian society and haphazardly distributed among the poor like Robert Mugabe's henchmen did in Zimbabwe.

Haphazard distribution of someone else's property is a sheer violation of property as well as basic human rights. Wealth should be gained through fair competition rather than conquest. Conquest cannot be a legitimate basis for rights, because conquest is a denial of rights.

In addition, what the Maoists fail to understand is that distribution of land that is locked in the form of dead capital is not the solution to the mass poverty and backwardness that exists in Nepal. The poor will be unable to make the best use of the newly gained land and generate further wealth in the absence of capital that is required to buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and farm equipment.

If the Maoists want to be the champions of the poor in a real sense, they should respect individual property rights and encourage ingenuity, hard work, and fair competition in the society. The poor in Nepal or for that matter anywhere in the world do not need land to lead financially secured life and break out of the vicious cycle of poverty. The poor already have innate skills to survive. All they need is capital to put their skills into practice. They should be provided with some capital so that they can put their skills into practice.

It is extremely necessary to remove the borders to trade so they are free to trade their most important property-labor with those who want it.

Despite the constant influx of development aid for the last five decades, approximately half of the country's population is still languishing at the bottom of the pyramid. The solution to the existing mass poverty that exists in Nepal does not rest on the availability of more aid from the West, but the introduction of policies that can integrate the wealth that already exists into the formal legal system and thereby into the global economy. So far, the ruling elites have failed to turn the despair of the people into hope and their uncertainty into a promise. Foreign aid myopia seems to have blind-folded politicians of our times. In the midst of our own poorest neighborhoods, crowded urban centers and remote hinterland, there are millions of dollars locked in the form of dead capital. What we lack is the way to grasp the means to unravel the mystery of how these assets can be transformed into capital.

The real problem lies in a kind of political blindness, which has kept politician from seeing what the real source of wealth is: Real property, or sound property rights? Once a society has a sound and well enforced property rights, it is bestowed with the secret of capital. The assets stored in the form of dead capital can then be used to generate loans and credit which in turn can create the much needed wealth. Nowhere in the globe has an economic system that is characterized as respectful to private property failed to lift the status of its citizens.

It was well-defined property right laws that helped Western countries convert informal property systems into formal ones and move from the Third World to their present First World status in the late Nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These countries prospered mainly because private property rights allowed citizens to use their property to create capital.

The challenges Nepal is facing as a nation are therefore to replicate this history. Thus, well-enforced property rights are the need of the day to create a new economic order providing the right incentives for massive economic growth to occur. It is of utmost importance because it acts as a mediating device that successfully captures and stores the mechanisms that are necessary to run a market economy.

One of the many challenges confronting the post-April revolution that Nepal pumped up with unmatched enthusiasm is to uphold private property rights and enforce these rights effectively. Inability to do so can seriously hinder the increase in productivity from available resources and in increasing the value of things that we possess. In the case of Nepal, it is not resources that are too scarce to lift the status of the poor and downtrodden. It is rather the political and economic institutions based on secure property rights and the rules of law.

Back to the square one: Does SPA have governance strategy?

It did not take very long for the gain of mass movement of 1990 to dissipate. Fifteen years and we are back to the square one once again chanting anti monarchy slogans, burning tyres, vandalizing public properties, and behaving more like goons than civilized human beings.

Our politicians seem to have learnt everything but Gandhian philosophy of non-violence from Indian leaders. Mahatma Gandhi hoped to win people over by changing their hearts and minds, and advocated non violence in all things. Gandhian philosophy which crumbled British Empire seems to have no buyers in the next door neighbor. Have we become more pessimistic over time and think a peaceful struggle for democracy against the tide? Or as a society, have we have become more egoistic? If we start valuing vendetta over morality, vendetta becomes our morality. We will start viewing things more and more from a teleological perspective: that as long as we are better off in the end; we have not committed an immoral act.

We can win hearts and minds of people through non-violent struggle. No guns or brick pieces are needed to bring the repressive, autocratic regime to its knees. Its foundation shall eventually crack due to its own misdeeds and repressive practices. Democracy in Nepal can and should be achieved through peaceful struggle and processes without destroying public properties. The era of nations achieving their independence through armed struggles and terrorist activities has passed. Thus it is not a matter of if but when.

Sooner or later we shall prevail as a democratic nation. However, our ability to strengthen democracy and keep it functional remains highly questionable. Moral bankruptcy among the political leaders was the major source of our failure in the past. Hopefully our leaders have learned a lesson this time. If not, Feb 1 shall repeat in some form or the other. It does not have to be royal take over. Thus, a million dollar question right now is: What would our leaders do differently than they did after the fall of Panchayat regime in 1990 that would strengthen democracy and make Nepal prosperous? Our ability to thrive as a prosperous and democratic nation solely depends on that. After 50 years of independence, Pakistan is still unable to solidify its democratic structure mainly because its leaders did not bother to take care of peoples’ aspirations.

Democracy in Nepal can and should be achieved through peaceful struggle and processes without destroying public properties. The era of nations achieving their independence through armed struggles and terrorist activities has passed.

If our leaders continued with their old habits, coming generations will have to fight for democracy again in future. This is mainly because failure to deliver development benefits and control corruption shall invite February 1st again and again in some form or the other. Insurgencies will easily flourish as impoverished societies are hot beds for insurgent movements. Thus, our leaders instead of engaging themselves in tongue lashing should come up with clear vision and plan about as and what they would do differently this time. Hard earned democracy did not last long because the rent-seeking coalition between business and politics served to fuel corruption and violence in the body politic of Nepal.

Easy money earned through illegal means was used to sustain a new class of political elites who remained immune from the forces of law enforcement because of their political status and connection. Nepal as a state was not driven by a clearly articulated vision of its leadership. Democratic structures started to tremble mainly because none of the prime ministers and their junior colleagues who held office in Nepal over the last decade appeared to be driven by a sense of mission to transform the society in a particular direction. The lack of developmental vision amongst the leadership in Nepal was compounded by their weak commitment to realize the importance of such a vision. Popular disillusionment occurred mainly due to the failure of the state to deliver expected democratization of local social relations and political authority, continuing poverty and a widening gap between have and have-nots, and widespread frustration with corruption at all levels of government.

Political parties should realize there mistakes and pledge non confrontational style of politics in a new democratic Nepal. This would help promote political dialogue to build a consensus behind a development agenda. Parliament should not be abused as an arena for rhetorical exchanges rather than a vehicle for political consensus building. Politicians should make a pledge in public that they will abandon their ill practices of the past and work for peace, prosperity, and stability in Nepal. Indulging in immoral acts of burning and destroying public property that we built through the tax payers’ money over the last 15 years is mockery of our own achievement.