Talk I did for a Melbourne DSP Meeting. The first half is the same as the historical background i already have up here, but its a little more fleshed out and upto date.
ill also use this to apologise for not writing much stuff recently as well. been flat knacker
As all of you know this year I have been following the events that have been unfolding in Nepal. Most of you would have heard me rant and rave about Nepal at least a couple of times, and tonight won’t be the last time. What has happened and is happening in Nepal has very real and very big implications for India, South Asia and the World.
Nepal, for those who don’t know, is a small, landlocked nation in the Himalayas wedged between China and India. It is an incredibly poor and underdeveloped nation, 30% of people live in extreme poverty. It has a horrendous childhood mortality rate, on par with Iraq and the West Bank. 80% of the population is employed by agriculture. Most of the country is only accessible by foot or by air, there are few roads, and naturally health care and education is very limited in quality and availability, especially in the wake of the civil war. The literacy rate is 48% and drops as low as 35% in women. Nepal is an incredibly impoverished nation.
The modern nation of Nepal came into being when in 1768 the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding areas was conquered by the royal Shah Dynasty and foundered the Kingdom of the Gorkhas. Nepal continued to grow through military conquest throughout the late 18th century. This was also the time where another power in the region was rapidly growing, being the British East India Company. These two powers inevitably came into conflict, and the result was the 1814-16 Gorkha War, where the Nepalese were soundly defeated by the technologically superior British. In 1816 the Segauli Treaty between the British and the Nepalese monarchy came into affect, in which Nepal had to forfeit large portions of land, especially along the agricultural areas known as the Terai.
From this point on Nepal has been a semi-colonial "protectorate" of foreign Imperialists, with the Monarchy playing the role as the local ruler in the interests of foreign powers, historically out of London. After the 1816 war and embarrassment, the Royal court degenerated into factionalism and instability, which came to a head in 1846 when there was an overthrow of the Shahs. While the Shah monarchy remained in place it lost all but ceremonial power to the rival Rana families. This arrangement continued for roughly the next hundred years.
In the 1940’s a democratic movement built up, heavily influenced by the Indian Democracy and Independence movement of the same time. The Nepalese monarchy had adopted a policy of isolation and was largely successful in keeping foreign influences from entering Nepal. However they were not successful in stopping Nepalese from a relatively privileged background escaping into and embracing these outside influences. In 1947 the Nepali Congress (NC) party was formed and they launched an armed uprising in 1950. At the same time, the ceremonial Shah family saw this as their opportunity to regain their power and influence, and they monarch and his family fled their "palace prison" to India. This uprising called for an election to a constituent assembly to write a new democratic constitution, but this was not to happen. In 1951 an agreement, known as the “Delhi Compromise” was forged between the Nepali Congress, the Shah Monarchy and the ruling Rana's to create an interim government, to rule until an election to a constituent assembly could be organized. The Rana's were too discredited from their brutal rule to return, but over the next few years the King used his reinstated powers to slowly weaken the democratic forces, and the NC never really pushed for an election. In 1959 the King issued a new constitution which left all power with the monarchy, and almost none in parliament, and announced elections to this new impotent parliament later that year. While the NC won the elections easily, the first Royal parliament would last only a limited time, when in 1962 the King dissolved the parliament and replaced it with a “party less” system called “panchayat”, which would govern Nepal in the interests of the royals for the next three decades.
In the late 1980's a period of regroupment occurred within the Nepalese left, and the democratic movement was able to put aside differences. This resulted in the United Left Front, a union of most of leftist parties of Nepal and the ability for the United Left Front to work with the Nepali congress for the democratic Cause. 1990 the democratic movement rose again in the form of “Jana Andolan”, which translates as “the people’s movement”. Nepal erupted. All aspects of society came out on the streets and the king was forced by this movement, to relinquish power again to a constitutional monarchy, with multiparty democracy. The United Left Front went onto forge the CPN(UML)
Again there were calls for a constituent assembly, the removal of the King from power and a truly democratic Nepal. Because there was no strong principled revolutionary leftist forces the demands of the peoples movement went unanswered. A range of reforms including land reform and poverty alleviation programs were never introduced, the king was retained as head of state. This new "democracy" descended into bureaucratic and stable infighting and was completely useless.
The CPN (Maoist) came out of a regroupment during this period, but outside of the United Left Front. Several Maoists groups came together during this upsurge, and formed the Maoist party, however during the Jana Andolan were still too small and insignificant to capitalize on the upsurge and keep the movement going.
Originally the new Maoist party participated in Electoral politics. In the 1991 the electoral arm of the Maoists was the third biggest party in the parliament. They used their position in parliament as a propaganda tool while the party began preparations to launch the “Peoples War”.
On February 4th1996, Babburam Bhattarai on the behalf of the CPN(M) presented a list of 40 demands to the prime minister, and announced that unless action was taken that a “Peoples War” the Maoists would launch a people’s war, which they did on February 13. The 40 demands was to become the Maoists manifesto, and centered around the right to healthcare, education, better conditions for rural Nepalese, and end to the caste system and discrimination against women and minorities, and for elections to a constituent assembly to set up a federal democratic republic. Initially, this insurgency was small and localized to the Nations western hills, but was able to slowly gain some level of popular support due to the failure of the government to help the rural poor. Then when the government started trying to crack down on the rebels, or those perceived to be rebel sympathizers, the heavy handed responses further stirred unrest and the Maoist influence grew.
2001 was a momentous year. Firstly the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) held a National Conference, which resulted in the formal adoption of what they term “Pracahanda Path”. I don’t know all the intricacies of what is Maoism but “Prachanda Path” seems to be, not a departure from Maoism, but an elaboration on Maoism. Prachanda Path seems from what I can tell a turn away from dogma and orthodoxy, but the development of a relevant, non-sectarian strategy for the reality of Nepal. While the CPN(M) is definitely a Maoist organization, they definitely maintain a criticism of aspects of Maoism, which was spelled out in “Prachanda Path”. In particular they talk about, at least in the present situation their commitment to a multi-party democratic system, and seem to be very critical of Stalin. At any rate “Prachanda Path” laid the basis for divisions within the international Maoist Movement, which came to a head over the next few years and ended with a split in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement, which was the biggest Maoist international.
The second big event in 2001 involved the Royal Family. The Nepali crown prince, while drunk and stoned, shot his parents (the king), his brothers and a large portion of the royal family after an argument, and then shot himself. Naturally this drastically undermined the support and respect for the royal family, and then by association the government. Finally, 2001 saw the terrorist attacks in the US. The Nepali government’s response to this was the jump on the terrorist bandwagon and declare the CPN(M) as a terrorist organization, and then declare a state of emergency which severely curtailed civil rights, the freedom of the press.
The new king, one of the remaining royals Gyanendra, began consolidating power in his own hands. In 2002 he dismissed the Parliament, and directly appointed governments, usually from royalist parties. On February 1st 2005 he dismissed the entire government and took all authority. Gyanendra then used the Royal Nepalese Army, fresh with training and weapons from the United States and the UK, to unleash a wave of violence and destruction against the population deemed to be supporting the Maoists.
At this point the insurgency exploded, and the Maoists, despite massive military presence, were able to expand and fight off the military. By late 2005, the Maoists had effective control of 80% of the nation, and the government had little control outside of Kathmandu the capitol, and a few larger provincial cities (but even these were susceptible to attack).
In late 2005 the Maoists controlling 80% of the nation, decided to blockade the capitol Kathmandu. As the king and government were coming under more pressure, the political groups that were members of the now dissolved parliament formed the Seven Party Alliance (SPA). The leaders of the SPA and the CPN(M) opened a dialogue which came to the “12 point agreement”. Within this framework, the CPN(M) committed to multiparty democracy and freedom of speech, while the SPA adopted the Maoists calls for elections to create a new constitution.
Together the SPA and the CPN(M) agitated for a boycott of the 2006 February 8 local elections. A series of waves of arrests of political activist was launched by the royal government, but the SPA/CPN(M) effort was successful with less than 20% participation in the polls.
This led to “Jana Andolan II” or the second people’s movement. Inspired by this, the SPA, in conjunction with the CPN(M) called what was initially intended to be a 4 day strike from April 5-9 2006, which brought the nation to a halt. On April 8, the government ordered a curfew, with orders that protesters to be shot on sight. On April 9, the SPA announced that the strike would continue indefinitely. Prachanda threatened to personally enter Kathmandu and lead the protests. The government responded by again trying to enforce its curfew. On April 21, after 14 days of massive street protests (involving as many as 500,000 people at any one time just in Kathmandu) the king relinquished power back to the SPA, and asked the SPA to designate a new Prime Minister.
Some political commentators refer to the 2006 movement as the “democracy movement” and only the events 1990 as “the people’s movement”, but I think it’s important to see this as the same struggle. 1990 and 2006 was the same struggle, it’s the same demands, the only difference being that in 2006, unlike in 1990, there was a strong and principled force (the Maoists) that was determined enough to see the changes through.
Jana Andolan 2 was the real transition of power. While the King was only officially removed this year, after the Jana Andolan 2 he was stripped from all power and it really was just a matter of time. Jana Andolan 2 ended Nepal as the world knew it. It wiped the slate clean and took everything back to square one. The Struggle since 2006 and the Jana Andolan 2 has been on what the new Nepal will look like.
Prior to the elections this year CPN(Maoist) did not initially join the interim government. The SPA went back on its previous promises and did not immediately call for elections to a new constitutional assembly, but said that elections should simply be held for the previously existing parliament, and a parliamentary committee would draft a new constitution. The Maoists insisted on a new body to constitute a new republican state but under Maoist pressure, the SPA was forced to give into these demands. This caused the elections to the Constituent Assembly to be delayed.
A second delay was caused by arguments over the form of the Constituent assembly elections. The SPA including the NC and the UML initially argued that the elections would be held with just electorates on a first past the post basis as had historically been the case. The Maoists however demanded a direct proportional representation system. This was especially important was the former system had been used by the Nepali political elites in Kathmandu and the Hill regions of Nepal, to oppress the peoples of the southern Terai Plains. People in the Terai make up 40-50% of the population of Nepal, but had never received more than 15-20% of the representation in a Nepalese parliament. A compromise solution was resolved where 240 seats would be on the basis of the first past the post, 335 seats would be awarded on the basis of direct proportional representation and then 26 seats would be given by the government to any minority groups that were not represented or under represented in the assembly.
After 2 delays the elections where finally held on April 10 of this year.
Despite some tension the elections were held in a generally free and fair atmosphere. People were free to cast their vote. The results show a massive victory to the Maoists, who polled about 30% of the vote and will make up 36% of the seats in the Constituent Assembly. While this isn’t an absolute majority, it’s more than 15% more seats then any other party, and they polled a million votes more than their nearest competitors. While this isn’t an absolute majority, parties with progressive platforms make up the majority. Smaller revolutionary Parties make up about another 8%, the bureaucratic hulk that is the UML makes up another 18%, and then the Madhesi Parties another 12%. In all the elections were an overwhelming vote for change, and radical change, led by the Maoists
Ill talk abit about the Madhesi movement. The Madheshi/Terai Parties picked up about 13% of the vote during the election. These parties spring from the southern plains, the Terai, where most of the agricultural land is and about 40% of the population lives. This population has historically been oppressed by the people from the hills where the monarchy had been based. In 2007 in response to the idea from the SPA that the elections would not be on the basis of direct proportional representation, the Madheshi Movement sprang up. This movement called for an end of oppression of Madheshi people, for regional autonomy and for a direct proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly Election, all of which were Maoist demands. The difference was that the new Madheshi parties are lead by bureaucrats and politicians from the NC and the UML who jumped ship and set up new less discredited parties with the help f the Indian embassy. Essentially this movement by the Madhesi people was usurped by a leadership which used this movement to divert support from the Maoists, by picking up some Maoist demands and capitalizing on the Madhesi populations rightful anger, and dropping other Maoist demands like land reform which would challenge the local elites.
At any rate the elections took the established elites and political establishment by complete and total surprise. Prior to the elections, the consensus in the Media and political commentators was that the UML would win, followed by the NC and the Maoists would follow in a distant third. The real question was would the Maoists accept defeat or try and return to the hills following their inevitable defeat. Naturally the result knocked the established political order flat on its arse.
Due to this the Maoists met outright hostility from both the UML and the NC in attempts to form government. There were pre election agreements that in order to keep the peace process going that a national consensus government would be formed while the new constitution was written. The NC and the UML now started trying to wrangle their way out of these deals. I wont go into detail, because its largely unimportant, but after about 6 months of political haggling the Maoists were able to form government with the UML, other leftists and some of the Madhesi parties.
So the challenges now for the Maoists are many. They are leading the government, but seeing as it is a minority government, it would be correct to say they have taken state power. Nepal is now a nation of two armies, the National Army with its officers still very much pro royal, or at least right wing and the Maoists Peoples Liberation Army. There were agreements on the integration of these two forces, but in light of the election results the elite of Nepal, led mostly by the NC are desperately trying to maintain the National Army as a bastion of their power and are trying to exclude the Maoist army or at least drastically limit the level in which Maoists are brought into the army.
Its also of fundamental importance that the Maoists achieve land reform. In a feudal backward country like Nepal land reform naturally is in the forefront of the majority of the populations minds. This is particularly important because the areas where the majority of the land reform will take place is in the Terai, and therefore to maintain support there and amongst the Madhesi populations a widespread and effective land reform policy is essential.
Thirdly developing the country is also going to be essential if a long term sustainable and ultimately socialist Nepal can even be possible. At the moment it is an incredibly backward county with essentially no industry, and its economy is entirely based around agriculture and tourism. Unlike Venezuela also Nepal does not have the good fortune of sitting on a fifth of the worlds oil wealth, and has very limited natural resources. They do have an enormous potential for hydro-electric power stations, and sitting between India and China would be in a very good position to export sustainable green energy to those nations, but developing these resources is very capital intensive, and also very demanding on an educated workforce, which Nepal at this stage just doesn’t have, and therefore Nepal at this stage, in the absence of a Soviet bloc, is very dependant on international capital to bankroll its revolution.
The Maoist party is aware of these challenges. The Budget written by a key Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai this year was very ambitious. There are plans for a literacy program to erase illiteracy within two years, extend the road networks to all regions, develop other infrastructure projects, such as bridges ect and extensively invest in hydropower projects. Also by early next year the Maoists hope to begin the extensive nationwide (but Terai based) land reform programs. These projects are very dependent on foreign aid but also on cutting corruption. The Maoists are now using their youth wing the Young Communist League as a tool of development. Because it is such a large and well organized organization it has taken it upon itself to begin infrastructure projects, and also help try and develop communities with communal agriculture projects ect. Also in the budget school will be free up until the 8th grade (I think), which although its not (yet) full free education it’s the best the government can offer in the economic reality of Nepal at this stage.
It is important however to note that the Maoist Party of Nepal is currently going through a very intense internal debate. Essentially this debate stems from their current strategy “Prachanda Path” has essentially reached its conclusion, and very successfully. In 2001 the CPN(Maoist) made the conscious decision to start looking into the cities and within the “democratic forces” for allies against the monarchy, and to politically work towards a constituent assembly, and the republic. In this they where completely successful, due to a host of reasons. Now they have come to the end of the “Prachanda Path” there is no real clear direction as to where to from here, what do we do with the Constituent Assembly, do we consolidate the gains of the revolution, or continue to push forward for something even more?
I wont go into all the details of the factional debates, but three weeks ago the CPN(Maoist) held an extended cadre conference with about 1200 cadre from across the country. The new working slogan that they have adopted is they are building a new ‘People’s Federal Democratic National Republic’. The slogan isn’t really important, but the meeting was. Coming out of this meeting allot of the party especially the grass roots had been growing frustrated by a parliamentary focus of the leaders, which in some ways was justified. The party hasn’t really brought out the full force of the party apparatus since the election campaign. They had been very active on certain issues, and I’m not at all trying to suggest the leadership is bureaucratic but they had been bogged down in political shit slinging within the Assembly. Now they have a commitment to not neglect the roots and to continue to struggle on the streets and in the assembly for the new Nepal. The Maoist party is now going to use the constituent assembly to write what they term a pro-people constitution, which seems similar to a Venezuela.
Ill just finish up saying that I don’t think Nepal is really the “Next Venezuela” because the two are very different. Nepal is not and will not be for a long time in a position to give aid around the world, or even really have doctors on every corner ect. But Nepal does have a movement that has overthrown a 240 year old monarchy that was backed to the hilt by international powers, and is involving literally millions of people in struggling for a better socialist society. The political landscape of Nepal has changed forever, and the more the fire grows there it is spreading into India and beyond. I could go on for longer and talk about the women’s movement, the youth movement, the oppressed peoples and more which are all amazing in themselves, but at the end of the day its just important to know that there is a revolutionary movement radically changing the reality for millions of people in South Asia, and this has very real repercussions for the world, and we need to be switched onto this revolution.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Internal Struggle of the Maoists in the Lead up to the National Cadre conference
Anyone watching Nepal would probably have read that at the moment there is a very intense internal struggle is playing out within the CPN(M). From what ive read this is my take on the internal struggle. That being said it is hard to find good information, and especially only having access to the english speaking press...
In any healthy revolutionary organisation there is nessiarily a strong culture of debate and discussion. But also any healthy party organisation has to have a firm commitment to democratic centralism. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is no exception to this rule.
In the corporate press there is all sorts of talk about deep and even ireconcilable differences within he Maoist camp as to the direction of the party in the new post CA election context. Any rumours of bidding splits, I belive are false. The CPN(M) has gone through some very momentus and incredibly intense ideological struggles and challenges over its life. The creation of the idea of "Prachanda Path" was not a simple process, but involved a simmilar intense debate and struggle within the Maoist party. Internal struggles have even got to the point where Baburam Bhattarai the defacto number 2 of the CPN(M) was even breifly expelled from the CPN(M) in 2005. Importantly while the CPN(M) has had very intense internal politics, even since before the peoples war began, the intensity of the internal struggles have been matched by a passionate commitment to the party and democratic socialism, and all factions have been able to come behind the party line when all is said and done.
The current debate and disscussion needs to be understood in the context of the situation in Nepal. The CPN(M) finds itself in a very precarious position at present. While they have form and control government it would be false to say that the Maoists have completely captured state power at this stage. The Maoists have found themselves leading what is left of a feudal/bourgeois state. Nepal is a country with 2 armies, the Nepalese Army, which despite dropping Royal from its name is very much still a bastion of the old state, and and the Peoples Liberation Army of the Maoists. Nepal is still crippled by underdevelopment, which simply must be allieviated. Due to a lack of resources and capital any development will have to be tied to foriegn investment, which with the lack of any "soviet bloc" means that this new (potentially) socialist government could need to be open and relatively cooperative with forces such as the IMF or the World Bank. It is this context that the debate within the Maoist Party is happening. The current strategy of the Maoists goes back to when they were still in the jungles during the Peoples war. The peoples war, the co-operation with the other parties and the truly massive Peoples movement of 2006 have brought this strategy to its logical conclusion. The monarchy has been defeated, the constituent assembly is sitting and the Maoists lead the government. Their stragegy was the right one, and they have the success to prove it, and so now they are in the middle of forging the new blueprint for the next stage of the struggle.
Within the party their has emerged two lines and factions within this debate. The first which i will term the "Orthodox" faction from my understanding hold a more traditional Maoist viewpoint and are lead by Mohan Baidya, CP Gajurel, Ram Bahdur Thapa and Matrika Yadav. The second, the "21st Maoists" are more flexible and have been more open to creating a new and dynamic party line, is lead by Babburam Bhattarai and his wife Hasila Yami (and Prachanda has recently shown inclinations to this side of debate).
The Orthodox faction is calling for a "Peoples Republic" in the more tradishional sense. They are calling for the immeadiate controll of the economy and political life. They think that the revolutionary events of the 2006 peoples movement are in danger unless there is an immeadiate and intense puch forward for socialism. They would like to imeadiately try and build a state simmilar to a Cuba or (apparently) North Korea and do away with the constituent assembley (ala Bolsheviks in 1917). Interestingly both sides of the debate maintain that they are for multi party democracy, however the orthodox faction would only allow other parties to function within the political space allocated by the state. The "21st centurary Maoists" are less ambitious but just as revolutionary. This faction recognises that Nepal is impoverished and needs to be able to interact with the rest of the capitalist world in order to obtain capital to develope the country. They are for creating a "people oriented constituion" through the constiuent assembly (simmilar to a Venezeula) and consolidating their own control and the gains of the 2006 peoples movement, before trying to push to a more obviously socialist system. They are for a multi party democracy, but want to change the context of that democracy. (eg they argue that in a capitalist context, the political parties all advcated the same ruling class ideology just different means to that end, but in the context of a socialist revolution, the parties would all be for socialist revolution, but with different means to that end ect). I
n my honest and humble opinion, both these lines have some serious strengths and weaknesses. The 'Orthodox' faction will always be correct in saying that the quickest road to socialism is the best road to socialism, I mean if a socialist party isnt striving for socialism, then it isnt a socialist party is it? But to put your party, and now the nation of Nepal on such a public crash course with the might of international imperialism, especially while the country is so underdeveloped, international solidarity still in its infancy, and your trading partners so limited seems risky, if not suicidal. While it would be nice to have a south asia Cuba, there is no USSR to take the heat off while the New Nepal is being born, and whats more Cuba is struggling under a blockade that makes it difficult for socialism to breathe there, Nepal being landlocked, at this stage could easily be smothered by India closing the border.
That being said the "21st Centuray Maoists" can be cutting a fine line in the race to develop the countryside. They only need to look across the border to West Bengal to see that a "communist" government means shit if they are just communist in name, and not in actions. Particually the bending over backwards to get money off the WTO and the IMF can naturally lead to the seeping in of some less than revolutionary ideas. However if you can keep the outside corrupting influences out and develope the country, then the working classes of Nepal will be in an infinately better posistion to spread the revolution as time goes on. T
hese two lines are currently being debated out, allong with many other issues, in the lead up to a National Cadre Conference in November, to decide on Maoist stratgy going forward. There are two important things to remember more than anything else however. For one, which ever line gets up and what ever happens at the conference, the fundamental thing about the revolution in Nepal will not change, and that is there are millions of oppressed peoples who are actively involved in the changes of that country, who know the power of their class and are already far better off for the relativly small changes so far. The monarchy -gone, the caste system, largely gone, developement- seriously being challenged, sexism- seriously being challenged, feudal land relations- seriously being challenged or already gone. On top of this the Young Communist League with half a million members is not going to be any less active against corruption, the revolutionary women are not going to stop uplifting women. At this stage the machine has enough juice to keep it ticking over.
Secondly, nothing i can say is of any consequence, and i would like to stress that this are my own ramblings from my analysis with only a few limited contacts in Nepal and then jsut what i read on a few email lists and websites. Take note that this party is a party that since its creation has consistently read the political lay of the land and found the best way to go forward with truly amazing results. If anyone is going to find the best possible way to enhance the revolution in Nepal and spread it to the world, the CPN(M) are the people to do it. At every twist and turn they have made the most of every situation based on the very best concrete analysis of the concrete situation. There is no reason to start doubting them now, and im sure that the exciting developements in Nepal are going to continue for the forseable future.
In any healthy revolutionary organisation there is nessiarily a strong culture of debate and discussion. But also any healthy party organisation has to have a firm commitment to democratic centralism. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is no exception to this rule.
In the corporate press there is all sorts of talk about deep and even ireconcilable differences within he Maoist camp as to the direction of the party in the new post CA election context. Any rumours of bidding splits, I belive are false. The CPN(M) has gone through some very momentus and incredibly intense ideological struggles and challenges over its life. The creation of the idea of "Prachanda Path" was not a simple process, but involved a simmilar intense debate and struggle within the Maoist party. Internal struggles have even got to the point where Baburam Bhattarai the defacto number 2 of the CPN(M) was even breifly expelled from the CPN(M) in 2005. Importantly while the CPN(M) has had very intense internal politics, even since before the peoples war began, the intensity of the internal struggles have been matched by a passionate commitment to the party and democratic socialism, and all factions have been able to come behind the party line when all is said and done.
The current debate and disscussion needs to be understood in the context of the situation in Nepal. The CPN(M) finds itself in a very precarious position at present. While they have form and control government it would be false to say that the Maoists have completely captured state power at this stage. The Maoists have found themselves leading what is left of a feudal/bourgeois state. Nepal is a country with 2 armies, the Nepalese Army, which despite dropping Royal from its name is very much still a bastion of the old state, and and the Peoples Liberation Army of the Maoists. Nepal is still crippled by underdevelopment, which simply must be allieviated. Due to a lack of resources and capital any development will have to be tied to foriegn investment, which with the lack of any "soviet bloc" means that this new (potentially) socialist government could need to be open and relatively cooperative with forces such as the IMF or the World Bank. It is this context that the debate within the Maoist Party is happening. The current strategy of the Maoists goes back to when they were still in the jungles during the Peoples war. The peoples war, the co-operation with the other parties and the truly massive Peoples movement of 2006 have brought this strategy to its logical conclusion. The monarchy has been defeated, the constituent assembly is sitting and the Maoists lead the government. Their stragegy was the right one, and they have the success to prove it, and so now they are in the middle of forging the new blueprint for the next stage of the struggle.
Within the party their has emerged two lines and factions within this debate. The first which i will term the "Orthodox" faction from my understanding hold a more traditional Maoist viewpoint and are lead by Mohan Baidya, CP Gajurel, Ram Bahdur Thapa and Matrika Yadav. The second, the "21st Maoists" are more flexible and have been more open to creating a new and dynamic party line, is lead by Babburam Bhattarai and his wife Hasila Yami (and Prachanda has recently shown inclinations to this side of debate).
The Orthodox faction is calling for a "Peoples Republic" in the more tradishional sense. They are calling for the immeadiate controll of the economy and political life. They think that the revolutionary events of the 2006 peoples movement are in danger unless there is an immeadiate and intense puch forward for socialism. They would like to imeadiately try and build a state simmilar to a Cuba or (apparently) North Korea and do away with the constituent assembley (ala Bolsheviks in 1917). Interestingly both sides of the debate maintain that they are for multi party democracy, however the orthodox faction would only allow other parties to function within the political space allocated by the state. The "21st centurary Maoists" are less ambitious but just as revolutionary. This faction recognises that Nepal is impoverished and needs to be able to interact with the rest of the capitalist world in order to obtain capital to develope the country. They are for creating a "people oriented constituion" through the constiuent assembly (simmilar to a Venezeula) and consolidating their own control and the gains of the 2006 peoples movement, before trying to push to a more obviously socialist system. They are for a multi party democracy, but want to change the context of that democracy. (eg they argue that in a capitalist context, the political parties all advcated the same ruling class ideology just different means to that end, but in the context of a socialist revolution, the parties would all be for socialist revolution, but with different means to that end ect). I
n my honest and humble opinion, both these lines have some serious strengths and weaknesses. The 'Orthodox' faction will always be correct in saying that the quickest road to socialism is the best road to socialism, I mean if a socialist party isnt striving for socialism, then it isnt a socialist party is it? But to put your party, and now the nation of Nepal on such a public crash course with the might of international imperialism, especially while the country is so underdeveloped, international solidarity still in its infancy, and your trading partners so limited seems risky, if not suicidal. While it would be nice to have a south asia Cuba, there is no USSR to take the heat off while the New Nepal is being born, and whats more Cuba is struggling under a blockade that makes it difficult for socialism to breathe there, Nepal being landlocked, at this stage could easily be smothered by India closing the border.
That being said the "21st Centuray Maoists" can be cutting a fine line in the race to develop the countryside. They only need to look across the border to West Bengal to see that a "communist" government means shit if they are just communist in name, and not in actions. Particually the bending over backwards to get money off the WTO and the IMF can naturally lead to the seeping in of some less than revolutionary ideas. However if you can keep the outside corrupting influences out and develope the country, then the working classes of Nepal will be in an infinately better posistion to spread the revolution as time goes on. T
hese two lines are currently being debated out, allong with many other issues, in the lead up to a National Cadre Conference in November, to decide on Maoist stratgy going forward. There are two important things to remember more than anything else however. For one, which ever line gets up and what ever happens at the conference, the fundamental thing about the revolution in Nepal will not change, and that is there are millions of oppressed peoples who are actively involved in the changes of that country, who know the power of their class and are already far better off for the relativly small changes so far. The monarchy -gone, the caste system, largely gone, developement- seriously being challenged, sexism- seriously being challenged, feudal land relations- seriously being challenged or already gone. On top of this the Young Communist League with half a million members is not going to be any less active against corruption, the revolutionary women are not going to stop uplifting women. At this stage the machine has enough juice to keep it ticking over.
Secondly, nothing i can say is of any consequence, and i would like to stress that this are my own ramblings from my analysis with only a few limited contacts in Nepal and then jsut what i read on a few email lists and websites. Take note that this party is a party that since its creation has consistently read the political lay of the land and found the best way to go forward with truly amazing results. If anyone is going to find the best possible way to enhance the revolution in Nepal and spread it to the world, the CPN(M) are the people to do it. At every twist and turn they have made the most of every situation based on the very best concrete analysis of the concrete situation. There is no reason to start doubting them now, and im sure that the exciting developements in Nepal are going to continue for the forseable future.
Bhutanese Refugees
If you’ve read what the mainstream media has had to say about Bhutan in the last year then you would probably have a pretty decent impression of Bhutan and its government. A monarchy that has “given up its power” and embraced democracy, and a government that has chosen to strive for “gross national happiness” instead of production or straining towards a western style consumer society.
However looking past this highly successful public relations campaign by the Bhutanese government shows a very different picture.
According to the CIA handbook Bhutan has a population of around 680,000 people. however according to the UNHCR 100,000 of those are ethnic Nepalese who have been forced to live in refugee camps in Nepal since the early 1990’s. On top of the Royal Bhutanese Government systematically discriminates against the remaining ethnic Nepali population. The last government census (in 2005) labeled 13% of the population within Bhutan as “non-nationals” and thus denied them any rights, including the right to vote.
In 1985 pro democratic uprisings, largely in the southern Nepali population were suppressed by the Royal Bhutan government. The Nepali population was viewed as a threat to the monarchy and systematically discriminated against. The Hindu religion was outlawed and only the Bhutanese dress, dialect and customs were legal. The entire Nepali cultural identity was outlawed. On top of this, freedom of the press was closed and foreign tourism was curtailed to try and limit outside influences.
To the concern to the Bhutanese monarchy the Nepali population continued to grow, and at a faster rate then that of the ethnic Bhutanese, and despite the Monarchy’s best efforts, a radical democratic movement was still active and growing in strength, fueled now by civil rights claims as the ethnic Nepali’s demanded the right to their own culture and language. The Royal Bhutanese government changed the citizenship requirements and only granted citizenship to Nepalis who could prove their citizenship with “registration” papers from the ministry of home affairs dating back prior to 1958, despite that ministry not being in existence until 1968.
After a nationwide census in 1988 the Royal Government began a crack down on the Nepali population. Especially political activists were targeted, any more than 100,000 people, more than 15% of the Nations total population was expelled, imprisoned or even in some cases killed. It was an ethnic cleansing operation of epic proportion, and one of the most underreported events of our generation.
The western media had always ignored the plight of the Bhutanese refugees, which made its reporting of the “elections” this year even more insulting. The accepted line was that this was an encouraging and refreshing to see a “benevolent dictator” king give up some of his powers for the good of modernizing the country. It is absolutely laughable that these elections had any credibility at all. On top of almost a 6th of the country living in exile, and another 13% being disenfranchised, only two political parties, both staunchly royalist were registered and allowed to participate in the election. The king and a number of his representatives automatically gain entry to the assembly’s without being elected. The upper house was only open to people with a higher education qualification, and in a country such as Bhutan where public education at an elementary level is largely unavailable then this just serves to drastically limit the members of the assembly to the narrow and privileged grouping around the monarchy.
In the end while there was an election, and on Election Day there was no vote rigging or tampering, it does not mean that these elections were not rigged as the media has reported. The voting system in Bhutan was so flawed that the outcome was already a foregone conclusion and the oppression of the Nepali and other minorities, as well as the true democratic movement was always going to continue unchallenged.
The elections of this year in Bhutan were nothing more than a Public Relations exercise to change the impression of Bhutan in the international community, and sadly it has been very successful.
It seems that after almost 20 years the refugees languishing in Nepal are finally having their problems dealt with, but unfortunately the solution that the UN has come up with is not the ideal solution for the refugees. A third party resettlement program has been formulated where the governments of the United States, Australia and a handful of European countries have agreed to resettle the refugees in their respective countries. While this is obviously far better that the refugees continuing to stay and rot in their camps, and the standard of living in these countries is somewhat higher than in Bhutan or in Nepal, the desire of the overwhelming majority of the refugees is the want to return to Bhutan and their communities, relatives and homeland, but one that is free from discrimination and democratic.
However looking past this highly successful public relations campaign by the Bhutanese government shows a very different picture.
According to the CIA handbook Bhutan has a population of around 680,000 people. however according to the UNHCR 100,000 of those are ethnic Nepalese who have been forced to live in refugee camps in Nepal since the early 1990’s. On top of the Royal Bhutanese Government systematically discriminates against the remaining ethnic Nepali population. The last government census (in 2005) labeled 13% of the population within Bhutan as “non-nationals” and thus denied them any rights, including the right to vote.
In 1985 pro democratic uprisings, largely in the southern Nepali population were suppressed by the Royal Bhutan government. The Nepali population was viewed as a threat to the monarchy and systematically discriminated against. The Hindu religion was outlawed and only the Bhutanese dress, dialect and customs were legal. The entire Nepali cultural identity was outlawed. On top of this, freedom of the press was closed and foreign tourism was curtailed to try and limit outside influences.
To the concern to the Bhutanese monarchy the Nepali population continued to grow, and at a faster rate then that of the ethnic Bhutanese, and despite the Monarchy’s best efforts, a radical democratic movement was still active and growing in strength, fueled now by civil rights claims as the ethnic Nepali’s demanded the right to their own culture and language. The Royal Bhutanese government changed the citizenship requirements and only granted citizenship to Nepalis who could prove their citizenship with “registration” papers from the ministry of home affairs dating back prior to 1958, despite that ministry not being in existence until 1968.
After a nationwide census in 1988 the Royal Government began a crack down on the Nepali population. Especially political activists were targeted, any more than 100,000 people, more than 15% of the Nations total population was expelled, imprisoned or even in some cases killed. It was an ethnic cleansing operation of epic proportion, and one of the most underreported events of our generation.
The western media had always ignored the plight of the Bhutanese refugees, which made its reporting of the “elections” this year even more insulting. The accepted line was that this was an encouraging and refreshing to see a “benevolent dictator” king give up some of his powers for the good of modernizing the country. It is absolutely laughable that these elections had any credibility at all. On top of almost a 6th of the country living in exile, and another 13% being disenfranchised, only two political parties, both staunchly royalist were registered and allowed to participate in the election. The king and a number of his representatives automatically gain entry to the assembly’s without being elected. The upper house was only open to people with a higher education qualification, and in a country such as Bhutan where public education at an elementary level is largely unavailable then this just serves to drastically limit the members of the assembly to the narrow and privileged grouping around the monarchy.
In the end while there was an election, and on Election Day there was no vote rigging or tampering, it does not mean that these elections were not rigged as the media has reported. The voting system in Bhutan was so flawed that the outcome was already a foregone conclusion and the oppression of the Nepali and other minorities, as well as the true democratic movement was always going to continue unchallenged.
The elections of this year in Bhutan were nothing more than a Public Relations exercise to change the impression of Bhutan in the international community, and sadly it has been very successful.
It seems that after almost 20 years the refugees languishing in Nepal are finally having their problems dealt with, but unfortunately the solution that the UN has come up with is not the ideal solution for the refugees. A third party resettlement program has been formulated where the governments of the United States, Australia and a handful of European countries have agreed to resettle the refugees in their respective countries. While this is obviously far better that the refugees continuing to stay and rot in their camps, and the standard of living in these countries is somewhat higher than in Bhutan or in Nepal, the desire of the overwhelming majority of the refugees is the want to return to Bhutan and their communities, relatives and homeland, but one that is free from discrimination and democratic.
The Power of Youth
Coming from Australia its hard to imagine any power in young people. We are constantly belittled in the media as being interested in nothing more than “sex drugs and rock and roll”, and young people are excluded from any positions of power. Even the few places where youth have a voice such as in university student unions have been systematically attacked by the government (ie VSU) to further marginalize us.
The powers would be would have us believe that there is no power in youth, and you cant possibly achieve anything, unless you sell your soul to the bureaucracy. It’s only after you completely give up your beliefs and become a cog in the machine before you can ever “be something”.
But this doesn’t have to be the case. In the tiny and impoverished nation of Nepal, the youth are taking their lives and futures into their own hands. Nepal is currently in the middle of a radical transformation and leading from the front of this revolutionary wave are the youth. The Young Communist League which is the youth organization of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has as many as 500,000 members and is active for change across the country.
Nepal is an incredibly underdeveloped nation, and due to this options for youth in Nepal have historically been very limited. 80% of the Nation is employed in agriculture and education has never been readily available. For young men, the only other options have been foreign employment in either the middle east on dangerous construction jobs for almost slave wages or alternatively to sign up for the “Gorkha Battalions” in the British and Indian militaries where they have to fight and die for foreign nations for often with less pay and/or rights then the rest of those armies.
For women the historical options have been even bleaker. The only work available for young Women is sex work, mostly in India, and many women and girls have been either tricked into prostitution with the promise of other decent work only to be forced into sex slavery on arrival, or girls as young as 7-8 have been abducted and sold to brothels. It is believed that of the 250,000 prostitutes in Mumbai, India, most are Nepalese. Alternatively, women were often forced into arranged marriages in line with the Hindu traditions that dominate the country. Young women have historically never had option or a say in their futures.
But this is all changing in the “New Nepal”. During the 10 year peoples war and the April 2006 “peoples movement” uprising young people have discovered their voice. Young people lead the struggle against the Monarchy and its oppressive state forces which collapsed under the pressure of a massive peoples movement in 2006.
But while from the ashes of the old régime the new Nepal might be arising, it is still riddled with many of the problems that crippled the old. Corruption in the police and local officials is still common, unemployment is still widespread and communities are mostly still without important necessities, like running water or garbage collection.
The powers would be would have us believe that there is no power in youth, and you cant possibly achieve anything, unless you sell your soul to the bureaucracy. It’s only after you completely give up your beliefs and become a cog in the machine before you can ever “be something”.
But this doesn’t have to be the case. In the tiny and impoverished nation of Nepal, the youth are taking their lives and futures into their own hands. Nepal is currently in the middle of a radical transformation and leading from the front of this revolutionary wave are the youth. The Young Communist League which is the youth organization of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has as many as 500,000 members and is active for change across the country.
Nepal is an incredibly underdeveloped nation, and due to this options for youth in Nepal have historically been very limited. 80% of the Nation is employed in agriculture and education has never been readily available. For young men, the only other options have been foreign employment in either the middle east on dangerous construction jobs for almost slave wages or alternatively to sign up for the “Gorkha Battalions” in the British and Indian militaries where they have to fight and die for foreign nations for often with less pay and/or rights then the rest of those armies.
For women the historical options have been even bleaker. The only work available for young Women is sex work, mostly in India, and many women and girls have been either tricked into prostitution with the promise of other decent work only to be forced into sex slavery on arrival, or girls as young as 7-8 have been abducted and sold to brothels. It is believed that of the 250,000 prostitutes in Mumbai, India, most are Nepalese. Alternatively, women were often forced into arranged marriages in line with the Hindu traditions that dominate the country. Young women have historically never had option or a say in their futures.
But this is all changing in the “New Nepal”. During the 10 year peoples war and the April 2006 “peoples movement” uprising young people have discovered their voice. Young people lead the struggle against the Monarchy and its oppressive state forces which collapsed under the pressure of a massive peoples movement in 2006.
But while from the ashes of the old régime the new Nepal might be arising, it is still riddled with many of the problems that crippled the old. Corruption in the police and local officials is still common, unemployment is still widespread and communities are mostly still without important necessities, like running water or garbage collection.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Background: Nepal 1768- Elections 2008
This is a talk i did for a Sydney DSP meeting a few weeks ago.
Summarises the history of Nepal, from its very beggining through to the elections held this year.
Very brief, and vague in different sections. Hope this can be of use to people!
The modern nation of Nepal came into being when in 1768 the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding areas was conquered by the royal Shah Dynasty and foundered the Kingdom of the Gurkhas. Nepal continued to grow through military conquest throughout the late 18th century. This was also the time where another power in the region was rapidly growing, being the British East India Company. These two powers inevitably came into conflict, and the result was the 1814-16 Gorkha War, where the Nepalese were soundly defeated by the technologically superior British. In 1816 the Segauli Treaty between the British and the Nepalese monarchy came into affect, in which Nepal had to forfeit large portions of land, especially along the agricultural areas known as the Terai.
From this point on Nepal has been a semi-colonial "protectorate" of foreign Imperialists, with the Monarchy playing the role as the local ruler in the interests of either London, or more recently, New Delhi. After the 1816 war and embarrassment, the Royal court degenerated into factionalism and instability, which came to a head in 1846 when there was an overthrow of the Shahs. While the Shah monarchy remained in place it lost all but ceremonial power to the rival Rana family. This arrangement continued for roughly the next hundred years.
In the 1940’s a democratic movement built up, heavily influenced by the Indian Democracy and Independence movement of the same time. The Nepalese monarchy had adopted a policy of isolation and was largely successful in keeping foreign influences from entering Nepal. However they were not successful in stopping Nepalese from a relatively privileged background escaping into and embracing these outside influences. In 1947 the Nepali Congress (NC) party was formed and they launched an armed uprising in 1950. At the same time, the ceremonial Shah family, saw this as their opportunity to regain their power and influence, and they monarch and his family fled their "palace prison" to India. This uprising called for an election to a constituent assembly to write a new democratic constitution, but this was not to happen. In 1951 an agreement, known as the “Delhi Compromise” was forged between the Nepali Congress, the Shah Monarchy and the ruling Rana's to create an interim government, to rule until an election to a constituent assembly could be organized. The Rana's were too discredited from their brutal rule to return, but over the next few years the King used his reinstated powers to slowly weaken the democratic forces, and the NC never really pushed for an election. In 1959 the King issued a new constitution which left all power with the monarchy, and almost none in parliament, and announced elections to this new impotent parliament later that year. While the NC won the elections easily, the first Royal parliament would last only a limited time, when in 1962 the King dissolved the parliament and replaced it with a “party less” system called “panchayat”, which would govern Nepal in the interests of the royals for the next three decades.
In the late 1980's a period of regroupment occurred within the Nepalese left, and the democratic movement was able to put aside differences. This resulted in the United Left Front, a union of most of leftist parties of Nepal and the ability for the United Left Front to work with the Nepali congress for the democratic Cause. 1990 the democratic movement rose again in the form of “Jana Andolan”, which translates as “the people’s movement”. Nepal erupted. All aspects of society came out on the streets and the king was forced by this movement, to relinquish power again to a constitutional monarchy, with multiparty democracy. The United Left Front went onto forge the CPN(UML)
Again there were calls for a constituent assembly, the removal of the King from power and a truly democratic Nepal. A range of reforms including land reform and poverty alleviation programs were never introduced, the king was retained as head of state, and this new "democracy" descended into bureaucratic and stable infighting and was completely useless.
Over the same period a series of unifications and regroupments occurred within the far left, (left of the UML) which resulted in the Communist Party Nepal (Maoist). Initially this party participated in the electoral process, with some initial success, but it almost immediately began its preparations for an armed struggle.
On February 4th1996, Babburam Bhattarai on the behalf of the CPN(M) presented a list of 40 demands to the prime minister, and announced that unless action was taken that a “Peoples War” the Maoists would launch a people’s war, which they did on February 13. The 40 demands was to become the Maoists manifesto, and centered around the right to healthcare, education, better conditions for rural Nepalese, and end to the caste system and discrimination against women and minorities, and for elections to a constituent assembly to set up a federal democratic republic. Initially, this insurgency was small and localized to the Nations western hills, but was able to slowly gain some level of popular support due to the failure of the government to help the rural poor. Then when the government started trying to crack down on the rebels, or those perceived to be rebel sympathizers, the heavy handed responses further stirred unrest and the Maoist influence grew.
2001 was a momentous year. Firstly the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) held a National Conference, which resulted in the formal adoption of what they term “Prachanda Path”. “Prachanda Path” seems to be, not a departure from Maoism, but an elaboration on Maoism. While the CPN(M) is definitely a Maoist organization, they definitely maintain a criticism of aspects of Maoism, and especially Stalinism, which was spelled out in “Prachanda Path”. At any rate “Prachanda Path” laid the basis for divisions within the international Maoist Movement, which came to a head over the next few years and ended with a split in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement, which is/was the major Maoist international.
The second big event in 2001 involved the Royal Family. The Nepali crown prince, while drunk and stoned, shot his parents (the king), his brothers and a large portion of the royal family after an argument, and then shot himself. Naturally this drastically undermined the support and respect for the royal family, and the government. Finally, 2001 saw the terrorist attacks in the US. The Nepali government’s response to this was the jump on the terrorist bandwagon and declare the CPN(M) as a terrorist organization, and then declare a state of emergency which severely curtailed civil rights, the freedom of the press.
The new king, one of the remaining royals Gyanendra, began consolidating power in his own hands. In 2002 he dismissed the Parliament, and directly appointed governments, usually from royalist parties. On February 1st 2005 he dismissed the entire government and took all authority. Gyanendra then used the Royal Nepalese Army, fresh with training and weapons from the United States and the UK, to unleash a wave of violence and destruction against the population deemed to be supporting the Maoists.
At this point the insurgency exploded, and the Maoists, despite massive military presence, were able to expand and fight off the military. By late 2005, the Maoists had effective control of 80% of the nation, and the government had little control outside of Kathmandu the capitol, and a few larger provincial cities (but even these were susceptible to attack).
In late 2005 the Maoists controlling 80% of the nation, decided to blockade the capitol Kathmandu. As the king and government were coming under more pressure, the political groups that were members of the now dissolved parliament formed the Seven Party Alliance (SPA). The leaders of the SPA and the CPN(M) opened a dialogue which came to the “12 point agreement”. Within this framework, the CPN(M) committed to multiparty democracy and freedom of speech, while the SPA adopted the Maoists calls for elections to create a new constitution.
Together the SPA and the CPN(M) agitated for a boycott of the 2006 February 8 local elections. A series of waves of arrests of political activist was launched by the royal government, but the SPA/CPN(M) effort was successful with less than 20% participation in the polls.
This led to “Jana Andolan II” or the second people’s movement. Inspired by this, the SPA, in conjunction with the CPN(M) called what was initially intended to be a 4 day strike from April 5-9 2006, which brought the nation to a halt. On April 8, the government ordered a curfew, with orders that protesters to be shot on sight. On April 9, the SPA announced that the strike would continue indefinitely. Prachanda threatened to personally enter Kathmandu and lead the protests. The government responded by again trying to enforce its curfew. On April 21, after 14 days of massive street protests (involving as many as 500,000 people at any one time just in Kathmandu) the king relinquished power back to the SPA, and asked the SPA to designate a new Prime Minister.
Some political commentators refer to the 2006 movement as the “democracy movement” and only the events 1990 as “the people’s movement”, but I think it’s important to see this as the same struggle. 1990 and 2006 saw the same demands, the only difference being that in 2006, unlike in 1990, there was a strong and principled force (the Maoists) that was determined enough to see the changes through.
Jana Andolan 2 was the real transition of power. While the King was only officially removed this year, after the Jana Andolan 2 he was stripped from all power and it really was just a matter of time. Jana Andolan 2 ended Nepal as the world knew it. It wiped the slate clean and took everything back to square one. The Struggle since 2006 and the Jana Andolan 2 has been on what the new Nepal will look like.
Prior to the elections this year CPN(Maoist) did not initially join the interim government. The SPA went back on its previous promises and did not immediately call for elections to a new constitutional assembly, but said that elections should simply be held for the previously existing parliament, and a parliamentary committee would draft a new constitution. The Maoists insisted on a new body to constitute a new republican state but under Maoist pressure, the SPA was forced to give into these demands. This caused the elections to the Constituent Assembly to be delayed.
A second delay was caused by arguments over the form of the Constituent assembly elections. The SPA including the NC and the UML initially argued that the elections would be held with just electorates on a first past the post basis as had historically been the case. The Maoists however demanded a direct proportional representation system. This was especially important was the former system had been used by the Nepali political elites in Kathmandu and the Hill regions of Nepal, to oppress the peoples of the southern Terai Plains. People in the Terai make up 40-50% of the population of Nepal, but had never received more than 15-20% of the representation in a Nepalese parliament. A compromise solution was resolved where 240 seats would be on the basis of the first past the post, 335 seats would be awarded on the basis of direct proportional representation and then 26 seats would be given by the government to any minority groups that were not represented or under represented in the assembly.
After 2 delays the elections where finally held on April 10 of this year.
Despite some tension the elections were held in a generally free and fair atmosphere. People were free to cast their vote. The results show a massive victory to the Maoists, who polled about 30% of the vote and will make up 36% of the seats in the Constituent Assembly. While this isn’t an absolute majority, it’s more than 15% more seats then any other party, and they polled more than a million votes more than their nearest competitors.
Summarises the history of Nepal, from its very beggining through to the elections held this year.
Very brief, and vague in different sections. Hope this can be of use to people!
The modern nation of Nepal came into being when in 1768 the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding areas was conquered by the royal Shah Dynasty and foundered the Kingdom of the Gurkhas. Nepal continued to grow through military conquest throughout the late 18th century. This was also the time where another power in the region was rapidly growing, being the British East India Company. These two powers inevitably came into conflict, and the result was the 1814-16 Gorkha War, where the Nepalese were soundly defeated by the technologically superior British. In 1816 the Segauli Treaty between the British and the Nepalese monarchy came into affect, in which Nepal had to forfeit large portions of land, especially along the agricultural areas known as the Terai.
From this point on Nepal has been a semi-colonial "protectorate" of foreign Imperialists, with the Monarchy playing the role as the local ruler in the interests of either London, or more recently, New Delhi. After the 1816 war and embarrassment, the Royal court degenerated into factionalism and instability, which came to a head in 1846 when there was an overthrow of the Shahs. While the Shah monarchy remained in place it lost all but ceremonial power to the rival Rana family. This arrangement continued for roughly the next hundred years.
In the 1940’s a democratic movement built up, heavily influenced by the Indian Democracy and Independence movement of the same time. The Nepalese monarchy had adopted a policy of isolation and was largely successful in keeping foreign influences from entering Nepal. However they were not successful in stopping Nepalese from a relatively privileged background escaping into and embracing these outside influences. In 1947 the Nepali Congress (NC) party was formed and they launched an armed uprising in 1950. At the same time, the ceremonial Shah family, saw this as their opportunity to regain their power and influence, and they monarch and his family fled their "palace prison" to India. This uprising called for an election to a constituent assembly to write a new democratic constitution, but this was not to happen. In 1951 an agreement, known as the “Delhi Compromise” was forged between the Nepali Congress, the Shah Monarchy and the ruling Rana's to create an interim government, to rule until an election to a constituent assembly could be organized. The Rana's were too discredited from their brutal rule to return, but over the next few years the King used his reinstated powers to slowly weaken the democratic forces, and the NC never really pushed for an election. In 1959 the King issued a new constitution which left all power with the monarchy, and almost none in parliament, and announced elections to this new impotent parliament later that year. While the NC won the elections easily, the first Royal parliament would last only a limited time, when in 1962 the King dissolved the parliament and replaced it with a “party less” system called “panchayat”, which would govern Nepal in the interests of the royals for the next three decades.
In the late 1980's a period of regroupment occurred within the Nepalese left, and the democratic movement was able to put aside differences. This resulted in the United Left Front, a union of most of leftist parties of Nepal and the ability for the United Left Front to work with the Nepali congress for the democratic Cause. 1990 the democratic movement rose again in the form of “Jana Andolan”, which translates as “the people’s movement”. Nepal erupted. All aspects of society came out on the streets and the king was forced by this movement, to relinquish power again to a constitutional monarchy, with multiparty democracy. The United Left Front went onto forge the CPN(UML)
Again there were calls for a constituent assembly, the removal of the King from power and a truly democratic Nepal. A range of reforms including land reform and poverty alleviation programs were never introduced, the king was retained as head of state, and this new "democracy" descended into bureaucratic and stable infighting and was completely useless.
Over the same period a series of unifications and regroupments occurred within the far left, (left of the UML) which resulted in the Communist Party Nepal (Maoist). Initially this party participated in the electoral process, with some initial success, but it almost immediately began its preparations for an armed struggle.
On February 4th1996, Babburam Bhattarai on the behalf of the CPN(M) presented a list of 40 demands to the prime minister, and announced that unless action was taken that a “Peoples War” the Maoists would launch a people’s war, which they did on February 13. The 40 demands was to become the Maoists manifesto, and centered around the right to healthcare, education, better conditions for rural Nepalese, and end to the caste system and discrimination against women and minorities, and for elections to a constituent assembly to set up a federal democratic republic. Initially, this insurgency was small and localized to the Nations western hills, but was able to slowly gain some level of popular support due to the failure of the government to help the rural poor. Then when the government started trying to crack down on the rebels, or those perceived to be rebel sympathizers, the heavy handed responses further stirred unrest and the Maoist influence grew.
2001 was a momentous year. Firstly the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) held a National Conference, which resulted in the formal adoption of what they term “Prachanda Path”. “Prachanda Path” seems to be, not a departure from Maoism, but an elaboration on Maoism. While the CPN(M) is definitely a Maoist organization, they definitely maintain a criticism of aspects of Maoism, and especially Stalinism, which was spelled out in “Prachanda Path”. At any rate “Prachanda Path” laid the basis for divisions within the international Maoist Movement, which came to a head over the next few years and ended with a split in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement, which is/was the major Maoist international.
The second big event in 2001 involved the Royal Family. The Nepali crown prince, while drunk and stoned, shot his parents (the king), his brothers and a large portion of the royal family after an argument, and then shot himself. Naturally this drastically undermined the support and respect for the royal family, and the government. Finally, 2001 saw the terrorist attacks in the US. The Nepali government’s response to this was the jump on the terrorist bandwagon and declare the CPN(M) as a terrorist organization, and then declare a state of emergency which severely curtailed civil rights, the freedom of the press.
The new king, one of the remaining royals Gyanendra, began consolidating power in his own hands. In 2002 he dismissed the Parliament, and directly appointed governments, usually from royalist parties. On February 1st 2005 he dismissed the entire government and took all authority. Gyanendra then used the Royal Nepalese Army, fresh with training and weapons from the United States and the UK, to unleash a wave of violence and destruction against the population deemed to be supporting the Maoists.
At this point the insurgency exploded, and the Maoists, despite massive military presence, were able to expand and fight off the military. By late 2005, the Maoists had effective control of 80% of the nation, and the government had little control outside of Kathmandu the capitol, and a few larger provincial cities (but even these were susceptible to attack).
In late 2005 the Maoists controlling 80% of the nation, decided to blockade the capitol Kathmandu. As the king and government were coming under more pressure, the political groups that were members of the now dissolved parliament formed the Seven Party Alliance (SPA). The leaders of the SPA and the CPN(M) opened a dialogue which came to the “12 point agreement”. Within this framework, the CPN(M) committed to multiparty democracy and freedom of speech, while the SPA adopted the Maoists calls for elections to create a new constitution.
Together the SPA and the CPN(M) agitated for a boycott of the 2006 February 8 local elections. A series of waves of arrests of political activist was launched by the royal government, but the SPA/CPN(M) effort was successful with less than 20% participation in the polls.
This led to “Jana Andolan II” or the second people’s movement. Inspired by this, the SPA, in conjunction with the CPN(M) called what was initially intended to be a 4 day strike from April 5-9 2006, which brought the nation to a halt. On April 8, the government ordered a curfew, with orders that protesters to be shot on sight. On April 9, the SPA announced that the strike would continue indefinitely. Prachanda threatened to personally enter Kathmandu and lead the protests. The government responded by again trying to enforce its curfew. On April 21, after 14 days of massive street protests (involving as many as 500,000 people at any one time just in Kathmandu) the king relinquished power back to the SPA, and asked the SPA to designate a new Prime Minister.
Some political commentators refer to the 2006 movement as the “democracy movement” and only the events 1990 as “the people’s movement”, but I think it’s important to see this as the same struggle. 1990 and 2006 saw the same demands, the only difference being that in 2006, unlike in 1990, there was a strong and principled force (the Maoists) that was determined enough to see the changes through.
Jana Andolan 2 was the real transition of power. While the King was only officially removed this year, after the Jana Andolan 2 he was stripped from all power and it really was just a matter of time. Jana Andolan 2 ended Nepal as the world knew it. It wiped the slate clean and took everything back to square one. The Struggle since 2006 and the Jana Andolan 2 has been on what the new Nepal will look like.
Prior to the elections this year CPN(Maoist) did not initially join the interim government. The SPA went back on its previous promises and did not immediately call for elections to a new constitutional assembly, but said that elections should simply be held for the previously existing parliament, and a parliamentary committee would draft a new constitution. The Maoists insisted on a new body to constitute a new republican state but under Maoist pressure, the SPA was forced to give into these demands. This caused the elections to the Constituent Assembly to be delayed.
A second delay was caused by arguments over the form of the Constituent assembly elections. The SPA including the NC and the UML initially argued that the elections would be held with just electorates on a first past the post basis as had historically been the case. The Maoists however demanded a direct proportional representation system. This was especially important was the former system had been used by the Nepali political elites in Kathmandu and the Hill regions of Nepal, to oppress the peoples of the southern Terai Plains. People in the Terai make up 40-50% of the population of Nepal, but had never received more than 15-20% of the representation in a Nepalese parliament. A compromise solution was resolved where 240 seats would be on the basis of the first past the post, 335 seats would be awarded on the basis of direct proportional representation and then 26 seats would be given by the government to any minority groups that were not represented or under represented in the assembly.
After 2 delays the elections where finally held on April 10 of this year.
Despite some tension the elections were held in a generally free and fair atmosphere. People were free to cast their vote. The results show a massive victory to the Maoists, who polled about 30% of the vote and will make up 36% of the seats in the Constituent Assembly. While this isn’t an absolute majority, it’s more than 15% more seats then any other party, and they polled more than a million votes more than their nearest competitors.
Nepalese Maoists set ambitious targets in budget
as seen in Green Left Weekly
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/769/39650
Nepalese Maoists set ambitious targets in budget
Nepal’s finance minister and member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Dr Baburam Bhattarai announced the first budget of the Republic of Nepal.
The monster 236 billion rupee (AU$3.9 billion) budget is 39.7% larger than the total allocation for the previous fiscal year. The Maoist-led government hopes to raise the extra funds by reducing corruption, as well as increasing revenue from tourism and foreign aid. Bhattarai announced a series of programs aimed at increasing education and health care and increasing employment opportunities. Central to these programs are the “Be Literate: Build New Nepal” and the “New Nepal: Healthy Nepal” programs. The literacy program aims to eradicate illiteracy in Nepal within two years. According to the UN figures, Nepal’s adult literacy rate is below 50%; the level of illiteracy is worse among women. New schools and university campuses are planned, particularly in remote and rural areas where the bulk of Nepalese live. Education will be free up to secondary level with free daily meals up to Grade 5, free education for all up to Grade 10 and free for poor and oppressed peoples up to Grade 12. The “New Nepal: Healthy Nepal” program aims to provide free health care to all Nepalese. Investment will be made to repair damage done to the health-care system during the 10 year war that ended in 2006, and health-care facilities will be increased with the eventual goal of extending health-care facilities into the villages. A free maternity services program will also be set up, which is significant given Nepal’s horrendously high infant mortality rate of 62 deaths per thousand (Australia’s is 4.82 deaths per thousand). An ambitious road building program is planned, with the intention of up all districts of Nepal within two years. (At present large portions of Nepal are inaccessible except by foot.) As well there are plans for another international and more regional airports to help increase tourism. Nepal’s water resources will be better utilised, with plans to provide widespread and quality irrigation to increase agricultural output, and an ambitious target has been set by the government to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity from hydroelectric plants by 2020. The new government also plans to encourage communities to set up cooperative shops and cooperative agricultural projects to spur local development and local, community-owned economies. A new parliament building will also be built in Kathmandu and monuments will be built to commemorate the Jana Andolan or People’s Movement that brought about the fall of the Hindu monarchy and the creation of the secular Republic of Nepal. The opponents of the Maoist-led government have criticised the budget as too ambitious and too reliant on foreign capital. The Nepali Congress has led attacks on the budget in the constituent assembly and the media. However, Bhattarai argued during his budget speech: “We are now in the process of making a great leap forward from one era to another … there is always a risk involved in such a move … We can never reach the destination unless we aim high.”
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/769/39650
Nepalese Maoists set ambitious targets in budget
Nepal’s finance minister and member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Dr Baburam Bhattarai announced the first budget of the Republic of Nepal.
The monster 236 billion rupee (AU$3.9 billion) budget is 39.7% larger than the total allocation for the previous fiscal year. The Maoist-led government hopes to raise the extra funds by reducing corruption, as well as increasing revenue from tourism and foreign aid. Bhattarai announced a series of programs aimed at increasing education and health care and increasing employment opportunities. Central to these programs are the “Be Literate: Build New Nepal” and the “New Nepal: Healthy Nepal” programs. The literacy program aims to eradicate illiteracy in Nepal within two years. According to the UN figures, Nepal’s adult literacy rate is below 50%; the level of illiteracy is worse among women. New schools and university campuses are planned, particularly in remote and rural areas where the bulk of Nepalese live. Education will be free up to secondary level with free daily meals up to Grade 5, free education for all up to Grade 10 and free for poor and oppressed peoples up to Grade 12. The “New Nepal: Healthy Nepal” program aims to provide free health care to all Nepalese. Investment will be made to repair damage done to the health-care system during the 10 year war that ended in 2006, and health-care facilities will be increased with the eventual goal of extending health-care facilities into the villages. A free maternity services program will also be set up, which is significant given Nepal’s horrendously high infant mortality rate of 62 deaths per thousand (Australia’s is 4.82 deaths per thousand). An ambitious road building program is planned, with the intention of up all districts of Nepal within two years. (At present large portions of Nepal are inaccessible except by foot.) As well there are plans for another international and more regional airports to help increase tourism. Nepal’s water resources will be better utilised, with plans to provide widespread and quality irrigation to increase agricultural output, and an ambitious target has been set by the government to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity from hydroelectric plants by 2020. The new government also plans to encourage communities to set up cooperative shops and cooperative agricultural projects to spur local development and local, community-owned economies. A new parliament building will also be built in Kathmandu and monuments will be built to commemorate the Jana Andolan or People’s Movement that brought about the fall of the Hindu monarchy and the creation of the secular Republic of Nepal. The opponents of the Maoist-led government have criticised the budget as too ambitious and too reliant on foreign capital. The Nepali Congress has led attacks on the budget in the constituent assembly and the media. However, Bhattarai argued during his budget speech: “We are now in the process of making a great leap forward from one era to another … there is always a risk involved in such a move … We can never reach the destination unless we aim high.”
Monday, September 22, 2008
Prachanda to Meet with Cuban VP, Visit Karl Marx's birthplace.
From KantipurOnline.
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=161302
PM Dahal to visit Marx’s birthplace
Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, Sept 21 - During his 28-hour stopover in Germany en route to New York, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will take a two-and-half-hour drive to Traier to visit the birthplace of Karl Marx, whose writings have inspired communist revolutions all over the world, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The house where Marx was born in 1818 was turned into the Museum-Karl-Marx-Haus in 1947 by Germany's Social Democratic Party.
The museum houses a study centre with 80,000 volumes including the works of Marx and the spectrum of his reading, the history of socialism, the history of the socialist and workers' movement as well as the social and economic history of the 19th century.
"The exhibition in the Museum-Karl-Marx-Haus will inform you: about the person Karl Marx, his life, his work, his allies and his adversaries," according to the website of the museum. "Account is also given, for the first time, of the history of his influence which extends from the end of the nineteenth century up to present, thus
encompassing the entire panorama of the twentieth century."
While in Frankfurt he will also release a book in German whose title translates in English as Revolution in Nepal, one of the officials accompanying the prime minister said.
In New York Prime Minister Kamal Dahal is scheduled to meet four presidents, one vice president, two heads of government and representatives of the US and Russia, according to the program made public by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Besides attending a dinner and tea reception hosted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Dahal will also have a meeting with him the day before he leaves New York.
He will attend a reception hosted by US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.
Foreign ministry sources say that there is no separate meeting scheduled with Bush.
"Bush only meets very important world leaders during the General Assembly," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs source said.
Ex-king Gyanendra had made preparations to attend the UN General Assembly in 2005 after he took over executive powers, but decided not to go after he was not invited by Bush for the reception traditionally hosted for world leaders on the eve of the General Assembly.
The presidents Dahal is scheduled meet are the Sri Lankan, Swiss, Turkish and Serbian presidents. He will meet the Cuban vice president and the heads of government of Bnagladesh and Mongolia.
"The Turkish president requested a meeting with our prime minister and we could not refuse," said a source. "There was also a request from Cuba for a meeting with its vice president."
The meeting with the Swiss president was mutually arranged, he said.
Dahal will also meet Minister for International Development of Norway Erik Solheim and US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher. Both are frequent visitors to Nepal. While Solheim was here the day Dahal was sworn in as prime minister, Boucher last visited here in 2006.
The Russian foreign minister, who is leading his country's delegation to the UN General Assembly, will also meet the Nepali prime minister.
Dahal is also scheduled to give a talk at the India China Institute of the New School University on the topic "A Maoist Vision for New Nepal" and a talk at the Asia Society titled "A New Nepal: Challenges for Enduring Peace and Democracy".
While Kul Chandra Gautam, former assistant secretary general of the United Nations will moderate the former, Tamrat Samuel, former deputy special representative of the UN Secretary-General to UNMIN, will moderate the latter.
He is also scheduled to participate in a BBC world debate on the Millennium Development Goals and give an interview to CNN.
In between he will go on a half-day tour of the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre were located, and the financial capital of the world, according to the published programme for the New York visit.
No programmes are scheduled for the prime minister for September 28 when he will leave New York in the evening.
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=161302
PM Dahal to visit Marx’s birthplace
Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, Sept 21 - During his 28-hour stopover in Germany en route to New York, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will take a two-and-half-hour drive to Traier to visit the birthplace of Karl Marx, whose writings have inspired communist revolutions all over the world, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The house where Marx was born in 1818 was turned into the Museum-Karl-Marx-Haus in 1947 by Germany's Social Democratic Party.
The museum houses a study centre with 80,000 volumes including the works of Marx and the spectrum of his reading, the history of socialism, the history of the socialist and workers' movement as well as the social and economic history of the 19th century.
"The exhibition in the Museum-Karl-Marx-Haus will inform you: about the person Karl Marx, his life, his work, his allies and his adversaries," according to the website of the museum. "Account is also given, for the first time, of the history of his influence which extends from the end of the nineteenth century up to present, thus
encompassing the entire panorama of the twentieth century."
While in Frankfurt he will also release a book in German whose title translates in English as Revolution in Nepal, one of the officials accompanying the prime minister said.
In New York Prime Minister Kamal Dahal is scheduled to meet four presidents, one vice president, two heads of government and representatives of the US and Russia, according to the program made public by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Besides attending a dinner and tea reception hosted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Dahal will also have a meeting with him the day before he leaves New York.
He will attend a reception hosted by US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.
Foreign ministry sources say that there is no separate meeting scheduled with Bush.
"Bush only meets very important world leaders during the General Assembly," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs source said.
Ex-king Gyanendra had made preparations to attend the UN General Assembly in 2005 after he took over executive powers, but decided not to go after he was not invited by Bush for the reception traditionally hosted for world leaders on the eve of the General Assembly.
The presidents Dahal is scheduled meet are the Sri Lankan, Swiss, Turkish and Serbian presidents. He will meet the Cuban vice president and the heads of government of Bnagladesh and Mongolia.
"The Turkish president requested a meeting with our prime minister and we could not refuse," said a source. "There was also a request from Cuba for a meeting with its vice president."
The meeting with the Swiss president was mutually arranged, he said.
Dahal will also meet Minister for International Development of Norway Erik Solheim and US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher. Both are frequent visitors to Nepal. While Solheim was here the day Dahal was sworn in as prime minister, Boucher last visited here in 2006.
The Russian foreign minister, who is leading his country's delegation to the UN General Assembly, will also meet the Nepali prime minister.
Dahal is also scheduled to give a talk at the India China Institute of the New School University on the topic "A Maoist Vision for New Nepal" and a talk at the Asia Society titled "A New Nepal: Challenges for Enduring Peace and Democracy".
While Kul Chandra Gautam, former assistant secretary general of the United Nations will moderate the former, Tamrat Samuel, former deputy special representative of the UN Secretary-General to UNMIN, will moderate the latter.
He is also scheduled to participate in a BBC world debate on the Millennium Development Goals and give an interview to CNN.
In between he will go on a half-day tour of the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre were located, and the financial capital of the world, according to the published programme for the New York visit.
No programmes are scheduled for the prime minister for September 28 when he will leave New York in the evening.
Monday, September 15, 2008
INTERVIEW- Dipak Sapkota; Assistant editor of the Red Star
Dipak Sapkota is the Assitant Editor of The Red Star, which is a progressive english language paper based in Nepal. The Lal Salam blog talked with Dipak and he answered our questions about the radical changes happening in Nepal.
Lal Salam: Nepal is currently going through a very radical time of change, with the declaration of the republic and the abolition of the monarchy. What is the atmosphere like on the streets of Nepal in this time of great changes?
Dipak Sapkota- Yes, as you said, Nepal is going through very historical changes. People celebrated with huge enthusiasm the declaration of Republic. On 28th May, people in the capital city organised rallies and gathered outside the constituent assembly to hear the declaration of Republic. The government announced holiday for three days to celebrate the Republic. People now hope a lot from the first government after the Republic. But at the same time we are suffering from acute fuel shortage and inflation that is hampering our happiness.
LS: The Monarchy has been abolished, but the King remains in the country. Is there any possibility of the Monarchy returning, are there any royalists forces left in Nepal?
Sapkota- The possibility of the Monarchy returning is very less. The king was so infamous and he is not a politically strong man. He was a businessman and he still holds his business. So he may not dare to re-establish monarchy. There is a very small force who still advocate the monarchy. There are only four members out of 601 in the constituent assembly from the Royalist party.
LS: While the monarchy was only officially abolished this year, it lost the majority of its powers in the 2006 Democracy Movement when millions protested in the streets. What was it like during that movement? What was the feeling in the people during that movement?
Sapkota- The People's movement in 2006 was a joint attempt of CPN-Maoist and seven parliamentary parties. The 12-point understanding made on November 2005 was the main inspiration of the movement. People wanted to get rid of Monarchy as well as they had also wanted peace and progress in the country. 21 people were killed during the movement in the cities.
LS: In the corporate media a lot is made of the Young Communist League. Could you tell me more about the young Communist League and the role they are playing in Nepal today?
Sapkota- The League was a semi-military organisation before the Maoist armed movement started in 1996. Many revolution-aspirant youths joined this organisation. Later during the armed movement People's Liberation Army came into existence. The League was overshadowed. After the Maoist agreed on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in November 2006, PLA started to stay in 28 different temporary cantonments. But there were no provisions for thousands of Militias. So the League was again reactivated that organised the militias and youths who joined Maoist at that time. In the past YCL engaged in building roads, controlling crimes, distribution of drinking water in cities, control the frauds at manpower agencies, traffic management, and youth awareness. Now they are busy in collective farming, working for solving the problems of education and unemployment.
LS: The corporate media characterises the YCL as the "young criminals league" and there are many allegations of criminal or violent activities. Is there truth behind the claims of intimidation and violence?
Sapkota- This is the matter of class. The corporate media serves the interests of elite class of Nepal. That means they see the League as the criminals. The activists 'arrested' some most infamous corruptors and handed to the police, that was 'intimidation' and 'violence' for corporate media.
LS: During the Peoples War and the state of emergency enforced by the then Royal Government there were many limitations brought against freedom of speech and the press. What was it like to act as a journalist under those conditions?
Sapkota- Yes, the then Royal Government imposed many restrictions against freedom of speech and the press. They especially attacked the progressive journalists. More than 25 journalists were killed by the state and about 200 arrested during the conflict. There were dangers of being killed by the state at any time.
LS: The progressive press in Nepal often talks of Krishna Sen. Who was he?
Sapkota- He was one of the senior-most progressive journalist in Nepal. He was an editor of a progressive daily 'Janadisha' at the time he was arrested. The police killed him in the custody by torturing him a lot. He was also a revolutionary poet, a soft spoken man and highly respected among the left in Nepal.
LS: There is much talk in he mainstream media about the "authoritarian" tendencies of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) and the media expresses concerns for the freedom of the press. Prachanda was said to have threaded certain media outlets earlier this year. As a journalist, is freedom of speech under threat in Nepal?
Sapkota- This is very common allegation to the left and the revolutionary forces in the world. The Nepali press enjoys a lot of freedom and facilities. The present government is not sole Maoist government. The Maoists have assured multi-party competition and they have time and again expressed their commitment for the freedom of press. Prachanda had not threatened the press but he had requested the media to be serious about the nation before they write.
LS: What role are women playing in the changes in Nepal? What are the conditions like for women in Nepal and are there any signs of improvement?
Sapkota- Woman play a vital role in the change in Nepal. The participation of the women in the People's war was surprising. About 40 percent in the People's Liberation Army were women. Likewise the participation of the women in the movement 2006 was also significant. Now there is about 33 percent women participation in the Constituent Assembly as the result of People's War and people's movement. The present condition of women varies in cities and villages. Women enjoy quite a lot of economical, social and educational rights in the cities whereas in the villages women live in worse condition in terms of all these issues.
LS: Nepal is home to a range of oppressed nationalities, castes or religious groups. What role are these groups playing in the changes in Nepal, and are there signs of improvement for them?
Sapkota- Yes, Nepal is home of range of nationalities, castes and religious groups. These groups are now struggling to institutionalise their rights in the new constitution either through the Constituent Assembly or various activities. They have proportional participation in the Constituent Assembly and the cabinet as well as various government bodies. These groups are enjoying reservation in the civil service, political appointment and they will soon have in security sector too. They are having significant benefits but the advantage is not reaching to the lowest level within these groups too.
LS: The elections to the constituent assembly this year were historic. What was the atmosphere during the elections? Was there any intimidation or fear?
Sapkota- Nepal had the election of the constituent assembly for the first time in Nepal. Nepal waited it for more than 60 years. The participation of the voters was more than 60 percent in the election. The election was like the celebration. Many corporate media reported 'intimidation' and 'fear' but it was not like that. Some parliamentary party leaders who had betrayed the people in the past faced the bitter reaction from the people in the election, some were even chased from the villages.
LS: The changes in Nepal are dramatic and have only been won after years of hard work. What role are youth playing in the political process in Nepal?
Sapkota- The participation of the youth in the People's War and People's Movement was the decisive factor for their success. The 30 thousands strong People's Liberation Army had more than 98 percent youths. More than 60 percent were between 18-25 age group. There are more than eight students unions who are affiliated with different political parties. Likewise four youth organisations who also organise youths for movements and awareness. The youths of Nepal, may be, are the most political conscious youths in the world.
LS: Where do you see Nepal going? Where do you think Nepal will be in the future?
Sapkota- Nepal is still at the crossroad. The Maoist, who lead the government is trying to start a campaign for economic progress and political transformation. But some parliamentary parties are trying hard to foil the government. Nepal needs stability and steady economic progress. As well as the republic should be institutionalised and must be people's oriented. Nepali people hope for a better future.
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