The top leader of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Pushpa Kamal Dahal has alleged that a serious conspiracy is being hatched against Nepal internationally.
In an exclusive telephonic interview with Nepal magazine published on Sunday, the Maoist supremo called upon all patriotic Nepalis “to become aware towards such conspiracies.” “We are of the view that Nepalese should not kneel down on anybody’s pressure and that no body should intervene or meddle on issues related to Nepal’s sovereignty. You write it in clear words, the kind of warning (US Assistant Secretary for South Asia) Richard Boucher is giving right now…tell me who is he and on what basis is he saying that this or that should happen in Nepal. Nepalese people should rise against all such tendencies,” he added.
During his brief visit to Kathmandu last month, Boucher had advised the Nepal government not to include Maoists in the interim government unless they give up arms. He had also expressed doubts over their intention to return to peaceful competitive politics.
The Maoist chairman, who is popularly known as Prachanda, said that his party wanted to usher Nepal into a new era through peaceful competitive politics. “However, if the way the US is warning, the royal army commanders indulge into conspiracies against us then we are ready to fight till the last. We are not in for kneeling down in front of American pressure and intimidation,” he declared.
US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher (File Photo)
In response to a query by Bhoj Raj Bhat of Nepal magazine if he was likely to lead the Maoist negotiation team as chairman Mao did during the Chinese revolution in 1945 with the then ruler Chiang Kai-shek, Prachanda said it was not like that. ‘We are 21st century communists. We haven’t carried the extra weight of predetermined opinions. We don’t have any kind of dogma or fundamentalism. In order to make the Nepalese people sovereign and also make the Nepalese revolution successful we are ready to take any path,” he said.
The Maoist leader made it clear that his party had reservations the way the seven party alliance decided to call off the ‘people’s movement’ as soon as King Gyanendra agreed to reinstate the dissolve parliament. “However, now that we have agreed to hold talks, we should annul the ‘old’ constitution and (dissolve) the present government. A new interim constitution and interim government must be formed,” he said.
On the question of managing arms possessed by the Maoist guerrillas, Prachanda said the essence of the 12-point understanding (with the seven party alliance) was that the activities of both the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Royal Army should be put under the supervision of the United Nations or any other credible international organization. “There is no question of management. Whatever the constituent assembly election decides, the management (of arms) should be done according to that,” he said, adding, “What (the 12-point MoU says) in fact is keeping both the army under the supervision of reliable international organization, hold elections to constituent assembly and based on the outcome – move on to form a restructured new national army.”
When asked about any formal or informal contacts between his party and the government of India, the Maoist chairman said, We haven’t had any direct talks. Yes, talks are certainly going on with the leaders of various Indian political parties. We are also holding talks with those political parties that are in the ruling coalition but there hasn’t been any official talks with the (Indian) government,” he said.
Prachanda also refuted reports that India had a predominant role behind the latest developments in Nepal. “No, I don’t think so. In fact, the royal proclamation that was made in the aftermath of the visit of the special India envoy Karan Singh reflected the Indian way of thinking. In our statement dated May 4, we cautioned that nothing should be done against democracy, peace and progress in Nepal,” he added.
Prachanda further said (as the people’s movement reached to the climax) Nepali people wanted to go directly to the political conference, formation of an interim government and then (holding elections to the) constituent assembly. “And through it — the establishment of democratic republic. But, here some political parties had put forward the proposal of reinstatement of the parliament. That was not what the Nepali people wanted,” he added.