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Nepal : Agreement on keeping Maoist arms under UN supervision |
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After almost a week of hard posturing, Maoist rebels in Nepal have decided to let their arms counted and deposited under UN supervision very soon. This raises hopes that the decade-old Maoist insurgency and resultant conflict, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives in the Himalayan kingdom, would be settled through negotiations. An understanding was reached between Prime Minister G.P. Koirala and Maoist supremo Prachanda at a meeting on August 2 under pressure from the visiting high-level team of the United Nations, which is led by Staffan De Mistura. Maoists’ willingness for ‘depositing’ arms after proper accounting effectively means separating weapons from combatants. The Nepal Army would be confined to the barracks as well as per the agreement reached between the two sides. The UN team after a week long stay in Nepal, would apprise Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the understanding the two sides in Nepal have reached and that would form the basis of the future role of the world body to work on arms management of both sides. The Government and the Maoist leadership, as per the understanding reached, would also be issuing a statement reaffirming their commitment for peace and non-violence with instruction to their respective armies not to go against the peace initiative.
This was a pre-requisite for holding Constituent Assembly polls. The Maoists have proposed a Constituent Assembly that would draft a new Constitution within a year. But before this an interim Parliament will be in place to replace the current House of Representatives. The Maoists have proposed that they would have one-third of the 303-member Parliament with the rest being shared equally by the representatives of the Seven-Party Alliance and members of the Civil Society.
At the same time, a high-level judicial commission will be questioning the Nepal Army Chief about the military’s role in a crackdown on pro- democracy rallies earlier this year. The commission has summoned Gen. Pyar Jung , the First Military Official, to face questioning on alleged involvement of the Army in crushing the people’s movement that terminated King Gyanendra’s 14-month-long direct rule and restored democracy.
The Nepal Maoists’ decision to come overground and join the political mainstream is reportedly sowing deep confusion in the ranks of their Indian comrades with the CPI (Maoist) failing to take a stand on the current developments in the Himalayan kingdom. CPI(Maoist) insiders said that Nepali Maoist chief Prachanda’s recent public criticism of Stalin and his invitation to capitalists to take part in the economic development of the country had not gone down well with the Indian Maoists. What has particularly disturbed the CPI (Maoist) leadership is Prachanda’s advice that Maoists in India should emulate their Nepali comrades, come overground, join the political mainstream and participate in competitive parliamentary politics. Prachanda, in an interview, even invited Indian Maoists to enter into a debate on the issue and said,” If revolutionaries (in India) are not going to look at the need for ideological development, then they will not go anywhere.” The Nepal Maoist chief also indicated that Stalin’s insistence to go ahead in a “monolithic way” giving no place to competition, had resulted in the ultimate downfall of the Soviet Union. The CPI (Maoist), which had so long been hailing the Maoist-led movement for democracy in Nepal and had described it as a decisive signal of revival of Maoist revolutionary movement in South Asia, has now decided to stop praising the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) till they hold a detailed and direct discussion with the Nepali leaders.
More squeeze on King
In the meanwhile, the Government continues to take measures to put a halt to the extravaganza indulged in by the beleaguered King Gyanendra. The Government proposes to nationalize the royal properties. Parliament was told the other day that the Palace’s excess property which is estimated to be over 1,700 hectares of land, would be nationalized. The Cabinet meeting has further agreed to scrap State allowances to most members of the royal family. Now, only the King, the Queen, Crown Prince, his wife and Queen Mother Ratna Rajya Laxmi would be entitled to a State allowance. Other royals like the King’s grandchildren and daughter will no longer enjoy the State’s largesse.
That the King was leading a luxurious life in one of the poorest countries in the world was revealed by a newspaper Jana Aastha which said that the palace bought 4,500 bottles of assorted brands of liquor.
In another revolutionary measure, Nepal’s Cabinet took a decision on August 1 to allow for a Queen to succeed on the throne provided the monarchy survives. According to the decision, in future the King’s first born would be his heir, irrespective of the gender. If implemented, the decision will see the sceptre passing into the hands of Crown Prince Paras after King Gyanendra and then to Princess Purnika, the former’s first-born. While Paras’ inheritance would not come into dispute since he is the first-born of King Gyanendra and Queen Komal, who also have a daughter Princess Prerana, there would be a sea-change after that. Paras and his wife Crown Princess Himani, have three children: Purnika, 6, Hridayendra, 5, and Krittika, 3. Till now, going by the tradition, it was assumed that Hridayendra would succeed his father.
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