Nepal: Positive developments?- Update 26.

South Asia Analysis Group

Note No. 170

08. 01. 2003

NEPAL: Positive developments?- Update 26.

by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan

Either by design or otherwise, recent developments in Nepal give indications that "all is not lost as yet". The King made the first move in declaring in an open forum in Biratnagar that he is committed to multi party democracy though his actions so far have not given that kind of confidence that the country would revert back sooner than later to multiparty democracy. The Chand led government have quietly opened channels to the Maoists for eventual talks through intermediaries. There is a commitment from the government that elections would take place as soon as possible both to the local bodies and to the National assembly.

More important and welcome is the Indian embassy’s forthright statement in reply to India bashers who have made it a habit to criticise India for anything done good or bad and for a change the Nepalese media did openly publish details of Maoists arrested by Indian authorities and handed over to their counter parts.

There have been no major incidents of law and order and by and large the security forces have managed to inflict more casualties on the Maoists than what they suffered. For the first time in the ongoing confrontation, the authorities punished two police men for their cowardice in meekly surrendering to the Maoists with their weapons. This was necessary as in many instances earlier some of the policemen just abandoned their posts with the first shot coming from the adversaries!

The CIAA ( Commission for the investigation of Abuse of Authority) continues to be active sparing no one.

On the flip side, the political parties continue to fight within and among themselves and are still demanding restoration of Parliament/ministry or formation of an all party government depending upon who is talking and continuing to make empty threats.

The Indian Embassy on the offensive: It is unfortunate but true that in Nepal, nationalism is mistaken for anti Indianism. In the past during Panchayat days it suited even responsible and balanced individuals to make baseless allegations against India to ensure and reinforce their loyalty to the powers that be. These very same people at times of crisis as it happened during the Palace massacres in mid 2001, looked for safe havens in India! It was distressing to hear responsible people talking loosely that " India is supporting the Maoists", "India is not helping Nepal to put down Maoists menace as it suits India" etc. Public humiliation and private conciliation have been the general tactics adopted by the media, officials and the governments in the past. It has been our observation that the Indian government and the Indian embassy have been far too long on the defensive leaving even those well wishers of India in total confusion.

It was there fore refreshing to see the Indian Ambassador making forthright comments in the "face to face" programme on 20^th December. He denied reports that India was giving any safe haven to the Maoists and to a mischievous suggestion that Nepal was India locked he replied that Nepal is "India open and not India locked" though it should have occurred to the person who posed the question that Nepal is also China locked. He made India’s position clear by ruling out mediation and also stressed that there was no room for any third country to intervene. On the very same day the Nepalese media reported the incident of Indian Police handing over six injured Maoists undergoing treatment in a private nursing home at Sitamarhi to the Nepali officials. The injured cadres were involved in the massive attack on the security forces at Sindhuli on September 7, 2002.

The King reiterates his commitment to multiparty democracy. In a public rally at Biratnagar on 3^rd January King Gyanendra made two significant points. Firstly he reasserted his position that multi party democracy and constitutional monarchy are the corner stones for a dynamic and prosperous Nepal. Secondly without directly mentioning the current problems created by the Maoists, he called for a dialogue thus dispelling doubts that the King had only a military solution in mind in dealing with the insurgency. In another reference to the fractious political parties, he said " it is our desire that instead of indulging in mutual recrimination, all patriots should work in unison towards the nations’ welfare . . . nationalism, democracy and progress complement each other and all of us should work together . . . ". Again he emphasised that patriotism must form the basis for the resolution of all feuds and that the greater good of the nation and people must be taken into consideration in finding out amicable solution to mutual differences.

Though the King made no direct criticism of the stand of the political parties of all hues, his reference to all to work for the greater good of the nation was intended for the political parties. There is no doubt that in the final analysis, unless the political parties are mollified and brought into some kind of accommodation the present problems faced by Nepal, be it in law and order or in economy cannot be solved. The political parties on the other hand instead of repeating ad nauseam the invocation of Article 128 of the Constitution as some of them do, could cooperate and try to get the country moving by preparing for the elections so that the present unstable situation could be brought under control. If it is not done, the gainers will only be the Maoists and those Panchayati royalists of pre 1990 revolution vintage who still have ambitions to regain the powers they lost. The two stalwarts, G.P.Koirala and Madhav Nepal have met the King on 12^th and 13^th December respectively to discuss the current political impasse, but reports indicate that no progress could be made.

The UN intervenes: The last thing that Nepal needs is advice from others on how to resolve their internal problems. The latest one is from the UN Resident representative in Nepal Dr.Henning Karcher. While outlining Track I negotiation and Track II diplomacy involving adherence to human rights and confidence building measures, he emphasised that key issues that need to be attended to are 1. Grievances of the excluded poor, 2. Good governance 3. Amendment of the Constitution, 4. Integration of youth 5. Comprehensive development packages as a part of peace agreement between the government and the Maoists.

It is not clear why the clause " amendment to the constitution " has been referred to. Except for the Maoists, it is no body’s case that the present Constitution needs to be amended to manage the current crisis. Much is made of Article 128 of the Constitution though it was meant for a particular situation when a transitory government was in position and had to be legalised. Many legal experts are of the view that this article is no longer valid whereas the previous article 127 is an omnibus provision which provides the King with sufficient powers to remove any difficulty in implementing the constitution. The political parties who were associated with the drafting of this constitution are aware of these provisions and yet are making impractical demands.

The government is in touch with the Maoists. Prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand in one of his parties at his residence (10^th December) admitted that the human rights groups have been given the responsibility of initiating talks with the Maoists and bringing them for a dialogue with the government. This was also repeated by the Deputy Prime minister Mandal. No breakthrough has been announced, but it looks that some progress has been made though the Maoists continue with their three conditions for talks, namely round table conference, interim government and constituent assembly. By and large in line with their declaration, the Maoists have desisted from targeting infrastructures and the political cadres though attacks on police outposts and patrols of security forces continue.

But it is with regard to elections that the government is sending wrong signals. The Deputy Prime minister "disclosed" on December 13, that elections will be held as soon as the Maoists insurgency is solved which would amount to saying that the elections will not be held in the near future. The Prime minister on the other hand in the same party on December 10 (referred to in previous para) mentioned that the government is committed to hold elections as soon as possible. On another occasion on December 14, he said that election could be held within six months so as to avert a possible constitutional crisis. To the political parties such contradictory statements are exasperating and the leaders do rightly feel that the government is not serious in trying to solve the present constitutional and political crisis.

The official view is that elections can be held in phases, but the electoral process has to begin early and now. The ideal situation would be to get the Maoists to contest the elections as they are likely to fill up the political space of the left, now vacated by the UML. But it looks to be unlikely as Maoists perceive themselves to be winning the "people’s war." But some success by the security forces on the ground combined with pronounced and visible determination of the government to go ahead with the elections may at least bring the Maoists to a dialogue.

A list of incidents involving Maoists from update 24 of 25^th November, 2002 is given as an Appendix.

Incidents

November 2002

25            A group of terrorists have looted property worth hundreds of thousands of rupees at Bijayapur in Laxminiya VDC ward no. 3 in Rautahat district, Birgunj.

26           The terrorists blew up one of the transmission towers along the Lamosanghu-Bhaktapur transmission line. The tower at Sikute had fallen down and hence the power supply was cut down. In Kapilvastu the terrorists killed a forest guard, Budhai Ahir, at the Champaran range post.

27            In Tehrathum the terrorists ransacked a school in the district and also demanded cash amounting to Rs.1.8 million or 200 students as a contribution towards their efforts to attack the district on December 8.

                All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (ANNFSU-Revolutionary), the student wing of Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), called for a one day bandh in Ilam.

In Baglung they beat up Devi Prasad Kandel, chairman of the constituency number one of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) causing severe injuries.

28            In Bhadrapur the terrorists hacked 23-year-old Krishna Achhami of Bahudandi Village Development Committee (VDC). He was hacked to death with a khukri. The rebels killed Bidur Shah, former ward member of Saudiyar VDC.

In Tehrathum they vandalised the VDC office and set documents on fire. Nearly a dozen of them had come on the night before ransacking the office of Sakranti VDC. The terrorists had set fire to and destroyed 26 VDC offices out of the 32 in the district. They had also gutted nearly one dozen deserted police camps and two school buildings.

29            In a brazen act of terror, two pro-terrorist activists threatened to kill Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Yuba Raj Pandey during a programme organised by journalists to discuss the Maoist-called indefinite closure of educational institutions.

                Suspected terrorists set off a bomb in the Economic Administration Section of the central office of the Tribhuvan University (TU).

30           Three persons were seriously injured in a khukri attack by the terrorists in Thangpaldhap in Sindhupalchok district.

December 2002

4              The rebels attacked an area police station and also looted cash, gold and silver equivalent to Rs 30 million from Rastriya Banijya Bank and Nepal Bank Limited, leaving three policemen dead and eight others injured.

6              In Kailali the terrorists killed Shital Chaudhari, an erstwhile Chairman of Pahalmanpur VDC. In Dang district, an armed group of terrorists barged into the house of Megh Narayan Chaudhari, the outgoing Chairman of Satbariya VDC and decamped with cash and goods worth   six hundred thousand rupees.

7             Five persons were killed and 17 others injured when terrorists ambushed a bus at Karare in Sindhuli   The terrorists killed CPN-UML activist Shital Chaudhai, chairman of Pahalmampur village, in Kailali. Eleven locals were injured, when the terrorists exploded a pressure cooker bomb at a restaurant in Saibu VDC of Lalitpur district.

8              Educational institutions in the Kathmandu valley were closed down indefinitely The student rebels have called for a nationwide strike of academic institutions.

10            More than 300 schoolchildren were left terrorised and traumatised as pro-terrorist students today hurled powerful bombs and damaged three vehicles parked in the Devkota Residential Secondary School, Biratnagar.

11           The terrorists destroyed the Lapse-Thadi bridge on Katari-Okhaldhunga section of the Siddhicharan Highway at Mangyakhu VDC.

The terrorists led by groups of armed and pro-Maoist students demanded for large mometary donations in the Morang district outside Biratnagar, the district headquarters. This has led to many locals fleeing their homes for safety to Biratnagar.

13            The terrorists had destroyed at least 13 sacks of mails meant for Achham, Bajhang and Bajura district when they destroyed an Area Post Office (APO) in Bajhang and Bajura districts.

16            In Rautahat the terrorists killed a civilian, Nathuni Chudihar of Narkatiya VDC.

17            In Kailali a group of terrorists killed two civilians after abducting them from Mudha bazaar. Police have identified them as Purna Singh Dhami and Bir Singh Bhul, both from Kota Tulsipur Village Development Committee (VDC). They also restricted the families of the security personnel from selling their agricultural produce.

                In Bardiya two security personnel were wounded in a Maoist-laid landmine blast in Daulatpur VDC.

18            At least six policemen, including a sub-inspector, were killed and seven others injured after hundreds of armed-terrorists raided a border police post in Koilabas. Moreover in Kailali district they shot dead plain-clothes head constable Karna Bahadur Bista, 32, at his home, located about two kilometres away from Tikapur Municipality.

22           One security personnel died while four other sustained injuries, two of them seriously when a patrol team was ambushed by the terrorists at Akashe Bhanjyang area of Yangnam VDC-7 of Panchthar district. The terrorists had been forcibly ‘collecting’ donations, ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 6,000 from teachers, government employees and merchants.

26            At least a dozen people were wounded when a powerful bomb planted by the suspected terrorists went off in the third floor of a seven storied commercial building in down town Kathmandu. A group of terrorists abducted Churna Bahadur Karki, a secretary of Resh VDC.

29            A two-day bandh was called by the terrorists in Bagmati and Narayani zones .

January 2003

3          At least one woman was seriously injured and property worth several thousands damaged when a bomb at the Natole ward office, Lalitpur, exploded. The explosion was suspected to be triggered by the terrorists. A strike was called by the terrorists in the Mechi and Koshi region of eastern Nepal. In Jhapa the government and private educational institutions remained closed.

4              The six security personnel of a patrolling team died in a clash with the terrorists at Gawar area of the Mahendra highway in Banke district.

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