Nepal: Cease fire should be strengthened with a code
of conduct quickly. Update 29.
by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan
Surprisingly, without any structured follow up, the
cease fire has still continued without any major incident for the last
three weeks. The National Human rights Commission (NHRC) was the
first to take up the issue. In separate, but identical letters the
NHRC has appealed to both sides to transform the state of truce into a
lasting peace. The letter asked the two sides to come out
with a public commitment and a set of dos and don’ts. It also
insisted on a code of conduct for the two parties during the cease fire.
G.P.Koirala made the same point when he said that the
cease fire will not be relevant and transparent until both sides come up
with a code of conduct.
The government is perhaps aware of the tenuous nature of
the cease fire without a follow up action on the modalities. Narayan
Singh Pun, the chief coordinator indicated on Feb. 15 that the government
is drafting a "code of conduct" for the formal negotiation with
the Maoists and that the draft will be made public.
It therefore appears that the government besides
agreeing to the three demands of the Maoists ( removing price tags,
legitimising the party and the cancellation of red alert notices) have not
discussed the modalities of cease fire with the Maoists so far. This is
likely to complicate the peace process as there have been reports of
Maoists freely moving about in remote villages with arms besides having
training exercises and arms drills. So far the security forces have
been avoiding any confrontation with armed Maoists.
Experience has shown that it is not enough to have dos
and don’ts during the cease fire but there has to be a mechanism to
monitor and verify cease fire violations on complaints from both
sides. Prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand is said to have reacted
favourably to suggestions made by human rights activists to involve
international intermediaries and observers in the negotiations on the same
lines as in Sri Lanka. This move if pursued would only
internationalise a problem that is essentially internal.
All reports indicate that the cease fire was negotiated
essentially by the King’s emissaries directly with the Maoists. This
was stated by none other than Prachanda himself in an interview with a
newspaper of Kathmandu. In a meeting of nine leftist parties, Nepal
People’s front chief, Amrik Sherchand quoting Prachanda also confirmed
that before the cease fire was declared, an understanding was reached with
the King’s emissaries. The fact that Narayan Singh Pun the
negotiator meets frequently the King to brief the latter on the ongoing
negotiations and other issues raised by the Maoists also tends to give the
impression that the King is getting directly involved in the talks.
While the King and his government have avoided the
political parties in the negotiations so far, the Maoists on the other
hand are making rounds in Kathmandu to meet all the political leaders.
Prachanda in his telephonic conversation with Madhav Nepal of UML had
indicated that they would seek participation of all political parties to
reach a political solution. Two Maoists leaders, Krishna Bahadur
Mahara and Dinanath Sharma are camping in Kathmandu and are doing rounds
to ascertain the views of the political leaders. It may be recalled
that Krishna Bahadur Mahara was the chief negotiator on behalf of the
Maoists in the earlier aborted cease fire and peace talks. He was
the one interviewed by the CNN a few months ago which the Nepalese allege
was done in the JNU campus at New Delhi!
The Maoists leaders met G.P.Koirala on 18 Feb., Narayan
Man Bijukche of NWPP (Nepal Workers and Peasants party) on 19 Feb, UML
leader Madhav Nepal (date not known) and former Prime minister Kirti Nidhi
Bisht on 23 Feb. They met human rights activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar
on 19 Feb. and talked to another activist Dhaman Dhungana. The last
two have been requested by the Maoists representatives to work as
facilitators for the talks.
Prachanda the chairman of the Maoists is also said to
have had telephonic conversations with Narayan Man Bijukche, G.P.Koirala (
denied by Koirala) and Madhav Nepal. Prachanda is said to have
described the cease fire declaration as part of a strategic balancing act
following the government’s willingness to concede certain demands of
them. He described the talks as the "continuation of the war by
another means" and said that the leadership is aware of the
conspiracy being hatched by the "outgoing regime, imperialists and
expansionist (read India) forces."
What is noticed and of significance is that Narayan Man
Bijukche of NWPP has become active in the ongoing negotiations. NWPP
with its stronghold in Bhakthapur in Kathmandu valley is known to be a pro
Chinese party and in the past has been funded by the Chinese. The
fact that Prachanda chose to speak to him first ( not denied by anyone)
and that the Maoists representatives have also met him in the beginning of
their political rounds show that the Chinese are fully in the
picture. Of the former Prime ministers, Kirti Nidhi Bisht was the
first one to be met and in the past Bisht had also been one of those said
to be close to the Chinese.
The Maoists in the meanwhile are wasting no time in
going round the rural areas to mobilise their cadres and the public
. They have held public meetings in a big way in districts where they are
strong like Myagdi, Rolpa, Khotang, Baglung and Bara. In most of the
places reports indicate that the Maoists were fully armed. Sports events,
lectures and house to house visits are taking place. Some combat training
and drill displays have been reported. In the mass meetings the
Maoist leaders highlighted their grievances and their demands particularly
one for a constituent assembly to have a people oriented constitutional
dispensation. There is a certain amount of fear amongst the public and in
the absence of leaders of other political parties in those remote areas,
the Maoists are having a field day.
The left oriented parties in the meantime are
consolidating their position. The UML of Madhav Nepal took the lead
in convening a meeting in Kathmandu on 11 Feb. Leaders of CPN- Unity
Centre/Masal, People’s front Nepal, CPN-Marxist, CPN-MLM, CPN- United,
Nepal Socialist Party (MLM) and NWPP. They called both the left
forces and the democratic parties to work together with a common strategy
to settle the current crisis. In the meeting they admitted that they were
overtaken by the suddenness of the cease fire between the government and
the Maoists. Strangely Madhav Nepal criticised both the King and the
Maoists as not truly representative of multi party democracy and people’s
sovereignty. Ultimately if the talks make some headway, it is likely
that the leftist forces would join hands with the Maoists and seek some
compromise as they cannot afford to give up the political space created by
them since the 1990 revolution.
The RPP consisting mostly of former Panchayat leaders
has by and large stuck to their demand of being included in the peace
dialogue between the government and the Maoists. Their leader
Pasupathi Shamsher Rana declared on Feb. 10 that the "political
parties should never be excluded in the process to reach a
negotiation." While they have not been invited to participate in the
talks, they have declared that the principle of people being the
repository of sovereignty, constitutional monarchy and multi party
democracy is non negotiable in the talks. But the party as such is
not likely to be of any embarrassment to the King and will fall in line.
It is only the democratic forces led by the Nepali
Congress which are still in disarray and unable to come to terms with the
recent developments. It is time they make a positive move and take a
realistic position with regard to the talks. There is other wise a chance
of their being isolated. G.P.Koirala is still harping on the
restoration of the dissolved house and says that a constitutional
government can follow. It is not clear what he really wants. His
cadres for fear of the Maoists have not moved to the interior villages to
explain the party’s position and mobilise them.
The King is taking a big gamble in marginalising the
Nepali Congress and the present divisions within the party appear to have
given him the confidence to continue with this strategy. The Leftist
forces, aware of the move have begun consolidating their position. It is
time that Nepali Congress mobilises all the democratic forces to get
involved and take a united stand. Otherwise all the efforts and
sacrifices they had made for decades before, will come to nothing..
