Maoists in suits

Maoists in suits
Nick Meynen
Originally in Dutch: Maoïsten in Maatpak. (Gent, Vrede, maart-april 2007, nr. 384)


On the road to democracy

In the course of the past months, a peace agreement and a new interim constitution consolidated the position of the Maoists into the mainstream. By coming out of the jungle and into the parliament, the peace process took a great leap forward. By mid-June, historic elections should result in a new constitution and the first democratic elected government in 8 years. In the streets, the new constitution is already the matter of a fierce debate. During three weeks of strikes and demonstrations by Madhesi's in the south, more then 30 people have died and many more were wounded. After the PM's promises to include their demands and amend the constitution, other groups are already knocking on the gates. For a stable peace and an inclusive democracy, Nepal will need more then Maoists in suits.

A scream from Nepal's basement

Most people who think of Nepal imagine the great Himalaya, Mount Everest and other snowy peaks. In the south, however, lies a low-lying flat area called the Terai, which is part of the great North Indian Gangetic plains. In this stretch of Nepal, more people speak Hindi then the native language Nepali. The Terai is Nepal's economic motor and link with the outside world, yet the people who occupy the region or extremely neglected. It was only a matter of time before this population of almost half that of the whole of Nepal was going to ask a proportional share in politics.

In the 18th and 19th century the king rewarded friendly courtiers with land rights in the Terai. The elites who came down from the mountains to claim these lands often used the locals as bonded labourers and slaves. During the 20th century, poverty, lack of sufficient arable land and natural disasters brought new emigrants to this fertile region. A third wave of refugees settled in the Terai when the recent civil war broke out. Many Pahadi's or hill tribes managed to find key economic and political positions while the opposite movement is a rare exception. Even today the Madhesi's or people from the lowlands don't have access to the police, army or bureaucracy. The quote from a former minister of the royal regime in the eighties of the past century that “You are a conquered people and as you may know, conquered people have got no rights!” puts it very clearly how these people are viewed from the elite in Kathmandu.

Since their struggle comes from a serious and existing grievance the government couldn't stay deaf for their demands. With the governments promises to translate their demands into new amendments of the interim-constitution new questions have arisen. Extremists from the Terai want independence, but how hard will they stick to this demand? Even when it doesn't get that far, regional autonomy on an ethnic basis can cause other problems. Deepak Thapa, an important author on the conflict, doubts if ethnic autonomy is financially possible. He further warns for the mere replacement of ethnic dominance. Ethnic groups are not separated geographically in Nepal so in every region or even district several minority ethnic groups exist. A recent UNDP report describes how groups like the Chepang and Badi who live in the Terai experience serious difficulties to gain citizenship and the rights who come with them. Other groups like the Sattars and Mangta are even more marginalised because previous groups get attention from some donors. These people can't buy or sell land, participate in elections or claim their rights.

Political revenge

In revolutions, the winner takes it all. That includes revenge on the previous ministers, who where responsible for putting the current leader under house arrest or even jail. Claiming that these reactionary forces stimulated the Terai protests, several former puppet ministers from the royal regime were arrested. An investigation into crimes committed against the April revolution has resulted in a series of accusations, even against the former king. At present he has managed to escape, but for how long remains to be seen. He refused to answer the question the investigators had sent him, but he's friends are running short in numbers. With the elections coming up, round-ups like these are part of the political game. Meanwhile, the Maoists are heavily investing in their campaign by hanging Kathmandu full of posters of their hero, Prachanda. For the first time in 25 years he held a public speech in a mass rally organised by the party in the capital. The huge crowd, filled with schoolchildren and teachers brought in from far away places, listened to promises of a new democratic area. Two years earlier, on the same spot, king Gyanendra spoke to another rally filled up with schoolchildren on how democracy had improved under his direct rule, three weeks after he put most of the cabinet in jail and took the role of prime minister upon him. Nepal can only hope that words will start reflecting reality this time.

In the countryside, local leaders often resort to less democratic methods of campaigning. According to the latest UN report, threats, political violence and targeted killings continued, although on a smaller scale then during the war. Part of the problem is the lack of a full disarmament. The UN is supervising the process in which the former People's Army stores their weapons in containers, but not all weapons are collected. The Maoist police is able to keep some of them, 'for their own protection', or for killing political opponents.

Despite these incidents, dangers and problems, the Maoists should be given the credit giving the good example in terms of inclusive representation of minority groups. They included a large number of women and dalits (untouchables) into their parliamentary team. The question that remains unanswered is if these people are capable to propose and execute new policies in line with their ideology of reducing the gap between low and high castes or the poor countryside and the rich centre. According to a Maoist leader in Dolpo, West Nepal, their struggle had two phases: “first comes destruction, then construction.” It is time to see if they are also capable enough in the second part.