By Dr Shailendra Sigdel
One of my colleagues (who considers Nepal as his second home) from Thailand recently asked me two interesting questions. He told me, “Shailendra, I was reading news about Nepal for the last two weeks and both the King and Maoist leaders seem to be ready for dialogue but why things are not moving?”
He was referring to King’s address to the nation on the occasion of National Democracy Day (Feb. 19) and Maoist leader Prachanda’s recent interview with The Kathmandu Post and the BBC. His second question was: “Why the so-called democratic parties are not ready to hold talks with King, if they really believe in democracy?”
These are good questions but one has to analyse the situation carefully before trying to find answers. The King has called political parties for talks whereas Maoists seem to be willing to hold talks with the government (led by the King). On the other hand, the political parties seem not ready as yet to talk with the King.
I had not seriously thought about these issues. It seems to me that not only me those who are expected to help Nepal to install democratic process are also not doing that. There is no doubt that Nepalis have primary responsibility of solving their own political problems. But if they failed to do themselves, I think it is the moral duty of other well wishers to help Nepal to solve her problems
In the recent past, significant concerns have been expressed by the donor community regarding worsening political situation and its impact on the overall socio-economic development of Nepal. The recent example being the US ambassador James F. Moriarty’s statement regarding the need for dialogue between political parties and the King. However, delivering speech is not going to solve Nepal’s problems. What is required is some pragmatic approach.
In 2002, the government of UK appointed Sir Jeffrey James as its special envoy to facilitate peace process but nothing substantial could be achieved during his tenure. Similarly, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is quick to make comments as soon as there are important political developments in Nepal. But nothing substantial has been initiated from UN as of now.
Same is true with many advisers, experts and consultants who visited Nepal over the last several years in the name of conflict and peace building. How much they have contributed in conflict resolution is a big question. Some even argue that conflict in Nepal has become the dollar-earning industry for many local and international consultants in Nepal.
Time has now come for donors to rethink on why their request to find an amicable solution to the ongoing political solution has not brought about desired changes. What has been happening so far is that Nepal is getting adequate amount of moral support from donors but there is a sheer lack of pragmatic approach to deal with the crisis. The fundamental question is: Why the donors’ backed peace process has failed to yield any significant results? It seems that donors are keen to make speech and visit the country rather than making any substantial contribution to the peace process.
The seven political parties and Maoists’ 12 point MoU is a landmark achievement as the leaders of the seven parties have rightly recognized that permanent peace is not possible without active involvement of the Maoists. But again this alliance is highly criticized by the US Ambassador. Delivering speech by criticizing Maoists hardly is going to solve Nepal’s on-going political problems. What is needed now is a pragmatic approach where all party can sit together and find an amicable solution. Donors can play a very important role in this regard.
In his message on the Democracy Day, the King has expressed his desire to initiate talks with the political parties to resume stalled democratic process. But the King’s desire is not translated into concrete actions in terms of time frame and modality of the dialogue.
In this context, the diplomatic community could take initiative to start the dialogue. There is nothing wrong in that. Since majority of political parties are not listening to the people for lasting peace and the experience has shown that they seriously listen to the outsiders, it is high time that they must be persuaded to start dialogue with the King. Here again, donor community can play an important role.
The parties must get rid of their rigidity and biased mentality of not talking with the government. What is wrong if they get what they wanted by talking with the King instead of marching in the streets which has not been a very popular act in the eyes of majority of the Nepali citizens. They must not forget that they are also part of the problem for the current mess in the country. We all are aware that there is nothing wrong in the democratic system it is the leaders who made mockery of democracy in Nepal over the last 13 years.
Since the Maoist leaders have also expressed their willingness to start negotiations, there is nothing wrong in creating favorable conditions for talks to take place. It is very sad to note that why the donors’ community is not forthcoming to facilitate the peace process as is the case in Sri Lanka by the Norwegian government. What Nepal needs today is what Norwegians are trying to do in Sri Lanka to establish peace in the island nation. There is nothing wrong for the UN or some neutral countries to take lead in establishing the peace process in Nepal. Since time is running out, donors must not leave this as internal affairs of Nepal. Instead, they must take some concrete actions to reinstall democracy and peace in the country.
Constituting an international facilitating team comprising representatives from the UN and some neutral countries like Norway and Denmark would be a good starting point. Since the King has also expressed his willingness to initiate dialogue, there would not be any problem for this team to initiate peace process. In order to bring lasting peace, talks should not only confined to political parties but also with the Maoists because the stark truth is that without their involvement, peace would remain elusive.
(Dr Sigdel is working as a program director at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand. Please send your comments to [email protected] or [email protected])
(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to [email protected])
Sixteen Maoists were killed during a clash between security forces and Maoists at Satyabati area of Palpa district on Sunday.
According to officials at the Directorate of the Public Relations (DPR) of Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), security forces recovered dead bodies of 16 Maoists from the incident site.
11 security personnel were also injured in the incident.
The Royal Nepalese Army had launched an aerial attack against the rebels in the area.
The clashes took place after a security patrol from Saljhundi of Rupandehi district encountered the rebels.
Meanwhile, Maoists apologized for Saturday’s incident when a bomb planted by them exploded at Chorepatan area leaving six civilians injured.
A press statement issued by Kaski secretary of the Maoists “Karna” stated that the bomb was meant to target security forces, but had accidentally exploded before the set time due to a technical error.
Despite the political unrest in the country and sharp decline in Indian devotees, the number of devotees thronging the temple of Lord Pashupatinath area on the occasion of Mahashivaratri festival, an important festival of Hindus, increased this year.
According to Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), around 250,000 people visited the temple on Sunday. The number of devotees was around 200,000 last year.
Report quoted Ram Prasad Dahal, coordinator of the publicity committee of the PADT, as saying that 150-160 devotees on average visited the temple per minute when all four doors, plus the main door, were opened; but 50-60 people visited the temple on average when only one door was open.
Only 10,000 devotees from foreign countries, including 7,000 Indians, came to pay homage at the temple this year. However, the turnout of Kathmanduties and people from terai areas was higher as compared to previous years, Dahal said.
The number of babas visiting Pashupatinath this year increased as well. According to reports, 1,900 babas, including Naga Babas, visited to the temple this year as compared to 500 last year.
The PADT claimed that it had made good arrangement for devotees as compared to last year and devotees have to spend less time to offer prayer.
Over a dozen persons were injured, some seriously, when police baton charged devotees who were trying to force their way out of the temple area at Gaushala after being blocked for around four hours.
Traffic and the flow of devotees were halted at Gaushala due to the royal visit to the Pashupati temple at around 6:15 p.m.
A team of CPN-UML leaders met Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala and NC (Democratic) President Sher Bahadur Deuba at their residences separately to discuss future strategy to intensify the ongoing democratic movement.
According to UML Central Committee member Subash Nemwang, the delegation discussed with Koirala and Deuba the future strategy and program of peaceful democratic movement for the restoration of complete democracy in the country, according to newspaper reports.
The seven agitation political parties are protesting against the February 1 royal takeover of last year demanding restoration of complete democracy in the country putting an end to what they call “autocratic regime”.
They also discussed about the 12-point pact reached between the seven-party alliance and bringing Maoists to the political mainstream.
Nemwang ruled out the possibility of rift among agitating parties and said Maoists should internalize the pact into practice.
After the finalization of extensive program schedules for next month by the joint movement coordination committee, the UML is going to organize an all-party meeting of top-brass leaders next week for discussion.
A gang of unidentified persons vandalised 11 vehicles, parked at bus park in Beni, district headquarter of Myagdi district on Saturday night.
Seven buses, two taxis and two microbuses were damaged during the time of curfew, according to reports.
Owners of the damaged vehicles said they collectively suffered a loss of around half a million rupees. All vehicles were left with shattered windowpanes.
The local administration has been imposing curfew in the night time citing security reasons.
At least two security personnel have been reported killed when Maoist rebels made a surprise attack at Kavre Bhanjyang along the Banepa-Bardibas highway Monday morning.
A civilian, Bikas Karki, has been injured during the clashes.
The rebels had attacked the security team that was on a regular patrol at around 8:30 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Public Relations of the RNA said they were yet to receive information on the incident.
Seven months after the controversial amendment of the Civil Servants Act, 1992, the government is mulling over seventh amendment of the Civil Service Regulations, 1993, which proposes extra facilities to the civil servants.
According to the Kathmandu Post daily, the government, for the first time, proposed to award dearness allowance equivalent to annual inflation to all civil servants.
Over 86,000 civil servants and their families will benefit from the plan.
Besides, the government has also proposed “children care allowances” to women civil servants for three years, increase in paid maternity leave, and paid post-natal care leave for male civil servants. The civil servants for the first time will have a treatment fund and see their transfer being made more systematically.
According to the draft of the amendment, the proposed dearness allowance will be reviewed before the end of April every year as per the recommendation of a salary-allowance review committee.
The committee will recommend the allowance on the basis of the consumer price index published by Nepal Rastra Bank.
The salary, however, will be reviewed before the end of April every three years.
Once the amendment comes into force, women civil servants will get 100 days maternity leave instead of the existing 60 days. Male civil servants will also get 15-day post-natal care leave to look after their wives.
However as per the new rule, civil servants aspiring to pursue their studies on their own initiative will have to obtain prior permission from authorized officials.
The amendment also plans changes in the transfer process of the civil servants. As per the amendment, Ministry of General Administration will transfer civil servants only between July 16 and August 16 every year. Ministry level transfers will be done from August 1 to September 1 while transfers by government departments would be done during September 1 and October 1, the paper adds.
The new proposal will allow civil servants to open accounts in foreign banks even if they do not work or study abroad, but they are required to get approval from designated authorities.
As per the new provision, only one professional organization will be permitted in one service. Such an organization is required to be registered at District Administration Office.
Newly appointed head of the US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher has said that Nepal’s present political turmoil would be addressed if the king steps back to the position prior to February 1.
US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher.
(Photo source : fpc.state.gov)
During his speech to the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee in the US Congress on February 16, Boucher spoke about the challenging issues in dealing with each of the countries of the region including Nepal.
The success of US foreign policy in South and Central Asia is “critically important” to US economic and security interests, he added.
Referring to US policy in Nepal, Broucher said, “We also face a difficult situation in Nepal,” adding, “We believe Nepal’s internal struggle can only be addressed by the King taking steps to reverse the course he embarked on over a year ago – last February 1st – and to return to democratic government.”
“Many of the world’s most difficult threats are found in this region: narcotics, terrorism, corruption, weapons proliferation, HIV/AIDS, failing institutions, ethnic strife, stunted economies and natural disasters. But, the people of this region also enjoy tremendous potential, in each of the countries individually as well as through regional cooperation in energy, education, transportation and trade. There is a generation of young people across the region with unprecedented dreams and, if given the chance to use their talents productively, they can create enormous benefits for themselves and for others around the world, “ he added.
The US has been critical of the king on his coup and the political parties on forming alliance with the Maoists rebels for restoration of democratic government in Nepal. US Ambassador in Kathmandu recently said that the seven parties should end the agreement with the rebels and begin the process of reconciliation with the king.
Boucher was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs on Feb 21 replacing Christina Rocca, according to the US State Department website.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has said that the concerned government authorities have not responded to over 100 orders given by the CIAA.
The Annapurna Post daily quoted spokesperson of the CIAA Ratna Kaji Bajracharya as saying that over 100 orders for departmental actions and recovery of the losses incurred by the state from offenders has not been implemented.
Most of unimplemented cases are related to recovery of property from the offenders. He said that most cases were related to with the ministry of land reform and management.
According to the 13th report of the CIAA released recently, 13 orders for departmental action and recovery of losses sent to the ministry of land reform and management have not been implemented.
The ministry of finance has nine such cases, ministry of industry, commerce and supplies eight, ministry of agriculture and cooperative and ministry of culture, tourism and civil aviation six cases each, ministry of education and sports eight cases, ministry of local administration seven cases and the ministry of physical planning and works has five cases waiting for implementation, the paper adds.
The record states that over 150 government employee names have been forwarded to be taken action against by the CIAA, but not implemented. Similarly, more than Rs 10 million has to be recovered from cases of financial irregularities pointed out by the commission.
Bajracharya said the concerned authorities have not informed the CIAA about the reason behind the delay in implementation of the orders.
Bajracharya said that the commission has been investigating the implementation of its orders, requesting the concerned departments to send details of the action at the earliest.
He said the government has rather been awarding the guilty employees than taking action against them. The commission, according to him, has already ordered the government not to award such employees.
Three security personnel and one civilian were killed when Maoist rebels made a surprise attack at Kavre Bhanjyang along the Banepa-Bardibas highway Monday morning.
Officials at the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR) of Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) said, “The Maoists opened indiscriminate firing at a regular patrol at around 8:30 a.m. from a nearby jungle where locals were collecting fodder,” adding, “The security forces retaliated with patience to avoid civilian causalities in the incident.”
The casualties on the rebels side are yet to be confirmed.
A search operation around the area has been intensified to nab the Maoists, the DPR added.