Do Maoists still believe in violence? If not, they should next declare a permanent ceasefire as a prelude to lasting peace.
By Rajesh B. Shrestha
The apparent desire of the Maoists to enter the political mainstream deserves encouragement rather than rebuke. However, becoming mainstream entails more than just coming over-ground. The essence of a mainstream democratic political party is competing in the marketplace of political ideas — without weapons. As long as the Maoists bear arms, they are not a mainstream political party, whether or not they are in power.
Both the international community and the Nepali public at large are still skeptical of Maoists’ intentions even as they are hopeful and optimistic of their stated commitment to democratic republic. World history has ample examples to warn us how things can go wrong after transitions. Less than 10 years after the monarchy was abolished in the French Revolution, the new republic saw the crowning of a strong general (Napoleon Bonaparte) as the Emperor of France through a coup d’etat. Instead of dismissing healthy skepticism of the Maoists intentions as “feudal”, moderate Maoists need to take the opportunity to make their democratic intentions clear, if they indeed subscribe to it. The Maoists need to demonstrate that they accept competitive multi-party democracy not out of expediency, and not as a transition, but as the final destination and a permanent political shift. As always, actions are more effective than words alone in making this point.
Maoist leaders have claimed on more than one occasion that they do not intend to return to the jungle. Maoist supremo Prachanda in his famous Kantipur interview went so far as to state that if the peace talks fail, the Maoists would lead an “October uprising” that would be peaceful in nature. Do the Maoists still believe in violence? If not, they need to urgently declare a permanent ceasefire to give credence to their peace overture and reciprocate the government’s own declaration of indefinite ceasefire. As it is, the 3-month ceasefire they announced expires later this month in July. A lot has transpired since the re-instatement of the Parliament in April. Amid all the declarations and several-points agreement, one on a permanent ceasefire is surprisingly missing and seriously overdue.
If the Maoists sincerely believe in a democratic republic and do not intend to return to war as they claim, it is time for them to show their commitment to peace wholeheartedly, grow out of their rebellious outfit and enter into sensible political adulthood. A reciprocal permanent ceasefire would get the ball rolling.
A permanent ceasefire would naturally lead to the mind-set of arms management and eventual disarmament on more trustworthy grounds. If the Maoists need arms for deterrence against the Nepal Army, they will find that the Nepali people are receptive to the idea of a simultaneous downsizing of the Nepal Army for the sake of peace. To work towards the idea of merging the two armies, Maoists need to come clean on the actual strength of their armed fighters, militia and cadres for starters.
Unfortunately, recent Maoists actions reflect a backward-looking mindset. Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai has confirmed what many fear in a recent Reuter’s interview that Maoists never intend to part with their weapons. Like the broken ceasefires in the past, they are continuing military recruitment and intensifying rebel training despite the ceasefire and the ceasefire code of conduct. Some Maoists argue that they are more than a rebel group, that they are a parallel government. The Maoists’ “parallel government” more closely resembles a totalitarian state than a democratic republic we could aspire to. The unwillingness of the Maoists to disarm hurts their democratic aspirations and lends support to critics who argue that weapons are their only strength.
Despite the posturing, the Maoists leadership probably understands that a return to the jungle is a political suicide for them. Not only would they lose much of the political credibility and legitimacy they have earned over the last couple months through clever maneuverings, the support they supposedly enjoy in rural Nepal among the Janjatis and the unprivileged would steadily erode. Through its successive progressive declarations empowering women, Dalits and Janjatis, the reinstated Parliament of the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) has paved several in-roads to the Maoists base. While declarations alone do not change the ground reality, they have indeed stolen the thunder of the Maoists’ for bringing these soring backburner issues back to the front. Going forward, it is likely that the SPA rather than the Maoists would be more inclined to address these issues to reclaim their lost territory. The obstinacy of King Gyanendra, which the Maoists used as the lightning rod to energize their support base, has largely been reduced to a dead-weight. More importantly, the resumption of war by the Maoists would amount to insensitivity and betrayal to the thousands of people who came out on the streets to demand peace above all in Nepal.
The issue of Maoist arms remains crucial potential spoiler in the success of the ongoing peace talks and the process of mainstreaming Maoists. If the Maoists sincerely believe in a democratic republic and do not intend to return to war as they claim, it is time for them to show their commitment to peace wholeheartedly, grow out of their rebellious outfit and enter into sensible political adulthood. A reciprocal permanent ceasefire would get the ball rolling.
(Currently based in UK, Rajesh Babu Shrestha is an organiser of London Chhalphal ( www.london-chhalphal.org) and can be reached at [email protected])
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