Spring Awakening, Part II ?
The joint agitation of the opposition seven-parties and the Maoist terrorists is nothing else than an attempt to resurrect the people’s movement of 2046 B.S. (Jana Andolan). Even this has unnecessarily been glorified by writers and commentators as the so-called ‘Spring Awakening.’ But at least the leaders then were willing to seek a compromise. Now, the agitating political parties have made the Maoist agenda their own in the following easy steps (or so they think): restorations of the defunct parliament, an interim government composed of these very disgruntled elements and the terrorists, an election to a constituent assembly (accompanied by threats and intimidation in favour of their own candidates) and the pushing through of a constitution abolishing the monarchy, the RNA and all vestiges of an open society.
This road map is flawed at every stage and must be resisted at all costs, because it would definitely mean the death-knell of Nepal as an independent and sovereign state. Genuine nationalists must unite to effectively thwart these attempts of our domestic collaborators, massively supported by foreign powers. The movement for ‘democracy’ and other freedoms is a sham like using catch-words to incite the people.
The word now in vogue is ‘Loktantra’ instead of ‘Prajatantra’, although both are exact synonyms for ‘democracy’! (from the Greek words demos, the people, and kratos, to rule). But as we all know very well, during the infamous 14-year misrule of the political parties, Lincoln’s famous dictum “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” was utterly corrupted and Nepalese politics degenerated into pure ‘kleptocracy.’ One would expect that a would-be intellectual like Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, who has supposedly written a ‘definitive’ book on Nepalese democracy would not hoodwink the Nepalese people.
Maoist Conspiracy
The same is the case of Maoist collaboration and collusion with the battling 7-parties. After signing a joint statement in India, after the Maoists reportedly ceased their ‘military operations’ in the Valley to support the agitation, after the terrorists supplied every possible help to them, after captured Maoists conceded their mission to infiltrate the so-called peaceful movement, after documents signed by Prachanda/Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai have turned up to unmistakably substantiate this unholy alliance and conspiracy and after the Maoists are attempting to engage and tie down the RNA to divert their legitimate efforts to consolidate internal peace and security, these moronic ‘leaders’ would have us believe that theirs is an independent movement!
It is significant that during the peaceful/violent demonstrations, the professed ‘top leaders’ were conspicuous by their absence. Were they manipulating behind the scenes? After all they are flush with Indian cash.
Low-level activists had their days and it seems that they could not win the hearts and minds of the people. On the fifth day of the aggressive agitation, the BBC correspondent had surmised that it had lost its momentum and that the government would win a moral victory.
Role of Hostile Media
Then there is the fiction that HMG/N and the security forces have suppressed basically ‘peaceful’ demonstrations. If one only read the anti-national and anti-social sheets like the Kathmandu Post, Kantipur, Annapurna Post and the Himalayan Times and watched only Kantipur TV, one may have come to this conclusion. However, their reporting was very one-sided, biased and fully intended to inflame public opinion. This was a concerted effort to fabricate a revolutionary situation and replicate the reputed ‘Spring Awakening’ of 1990. However, just as in the period of parties’ rotten and defective governance, there was no people’s participation in the movement, which was, therefore, doomed to failure.
Only party cadres, paid demonstrators and hoodlums, bored youths and unknowing street children and, of course, Maoist infiltrators – all throwing stones at the security forces, burning tires, destroying private and public property and generally forcefully preventing people from going about their legitimate business-this was the stuff of the ‘revolutionary mix’ for the ‘final solution’. Considering the fact that a part of the media in the current crisis has not been objective or unprejudiced, but downright antagonistic to HMG/N, relevant steps should be undertaken like cutting off all government advertisement to these broadsheets and channels. After all, one cannot have the cake and eat it too!
Professionals & ‘Democrats’ ?
However, there were some self-appointed ‘democrats’ from professional occupations, who violated their working ethos and abetted the violent demonstrators. These were medical doctors from the teaching hospital and children’s hospital, lawyers, employees from the national and government banks and some professors (including some from the department of political science who should really have known better – shame, shame!). Since many of these professionals are so concerned about democracy and intent on social service, they should be transferred for some time to the countryside in order to be able to serve the people at close quarters. Participation of civil servants in (violent) protests against the state smacks of politicization and is also unconstitutional, especially since the very existence of the state is at stake.
Indian Perfidy
Since its proxy war in Nepal through the Maoists and the seven-parties does not seem to be succeeding, the Indian government is poised to launch a blatant aggressive offensive. Last week’s People’s Review reproduced a very reliable report from the Independent Indian Media which could have been a trial balloon, but also projected plausible parameters necessitating such a course of action to ‘protect’ vital Indian interests: “India must rise and perform its regional role as the world’s largest model democracy by liberating the Nepali people from the clutches of a despot.” Most enlightening indeed!
The scenario will probably be: if a government of their choosing cannot be installed by hook or by crook within the country, then a government-in-exile can be constituted in the hallowed earth of Jai Bharat, composed of course of bootlickers and outright traitors. This gang of fifth-columnists will then ‘solemnly request’ the Indian neo- imperialists to free Nepal from tyranny!
In 1990, King Birendra had refused permission to the RNA to quell the uprising. As things now stand, King Gyanendra as supreme commander will not shirk his duty and allow the Indians an easy walkover. If things come to a head, the Indians may come to realize that – as a Nepalese saying goes – the size of the throat has to be considered before swallowing a bone!
(The writer can be reached at: [email protected])
