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3 Nepal: Little peace for the
peacekeepers By Dhruba Adhikary
these would be provided through a separate
legislation. Constitutional experts have also
raised questions regarding arrangements on the
monarchy. Since the draft does not, practically
speaking, leave any role - even a ceremonial one -
for the king during the interim period, it is not
necessary to mention that the fate of monarchy
would be decided by the first meeting of the
elected constitutional assembly.
The
provision made for citizenship is another thorny
question. "It is clearly against this country's
national interest," said Bhimarjun
Acharya, a constitutional
lawyer, alluding to the stipulation that "anybody"
born or residing in Nepal before mid-April 1990
would be given Nepali citizenship. A widely held
perception is that such an arrangement amounts to
an invitation for a "demographic invasion" from
India, with which Nepal shares a porous border of
more than 1,800 kilometers.
A shared view
on the current draft is that it is more of a
political deal than a legal document with
constitutional legitimacy. From the standpoint of
ethnic and regional groups, even this political
deal is incomplete because it fails to insert
commitments made for ethnic autonomy as well as a
federal structure within Nepal. The more striking
- and disturbing - point is that the dissatisfied
and dissenting voices include those expressed by
notable partners in the coalition itself.
One of the two factions of a pro-India
regional party, for instance, went to the extent
of giving a call for a general strike on December
25 in southern districts bordering the Indian
states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Ensuing clashes
reported on that day from some places led to a
major confrontation in the far-western town of
Nepalgunj, engaging native speakers and residents
with hill origins.
The Koirala-led
government has one minister from the party, Nepal
Sadbhavana (Anandi Devi), which gave the strike
call to register its dissatisfaction with the
draft (on the ground that it does not have
provision for regional autonomy), but he has not
volunteered to take moral responsibility and quit
the post. Nor has Koirala dismissed him from the
government.
Police units deployed in the
Nepalgunj area did not dare go into action when
the violence erupted, leading to one death and
scores of injuries. And central authorities in
Kathmandu said they were unable to mobilize the
Nepalese army because the peace accord between the
government and Maoist rebels forbids deployment of
soldiers from the army barracks.
There is
a widespread fear that in the absence of an
effective security apparatus, violence might
spread to other areas of the country as the number
of ethnic/regional groups continue to issue
threats to take to the streets. One lurking fear
is that the pro-monarchist group, now working
covertly, might try to fish in the troubled
waters. Law and order have already been a serious
challenge, with reported cases of theft, thuggery
and rape on the rise throughout the country.
Apart from others, Koirala himself appears
restless about certain provisions contained in the
draft, which takes effect after the current
205-strong Parliament makes a formal declaration.
Koirala, 84, publicly expressed his worries last
week about the unlimited powers given to the
person occupying the post of prime minister. He
was obviously thinking about his immediate
successor(s). If ailing Koirala dies before the
scheduled elections, there is a distinct
possibility of a Maoist leader taking over the
regime.
This means that Nepal could soon
find itself under a communist rule modeled on
North Korea. Maoist leaders, who are impatient to
ascend to power, have made it clear time and again
that they would not abandon their revolutionary
goal at any cost. "All revolutionaries need to use
a microscope ... to be able to see that the
accords we have signed are in the best interest of
our revolution," wrote deputy Maoist leader
Baburam Bhattarai in an article published in
Janaadesh Weekly on December 26 - the 114th birth
anniversary of Mao Zedong.
And most of the
Maoist disciples in Nepal tend to believe that
once they were in power, China would automatically
accept them as comrades-in-arm. From their
viewpoint, New Delhi too would not hesitate to
recognize them because Indians might not see any
harm in doing so. After all, Indians played a
crucial - albeit in a covert way in the beginning
- role in developing a 12-point understanding in
November 2005 in New Delhi. And the Americans, who
are keen to maintain a strategic relationship with
Delhi, would find it expedient not to disturb
India on the issue of a small country like Nepal.
"This is part of a greater grand design of
which Nepal's interests are being sacrificed,"
Satchit Rana, a former army general who is
considered one of the close advisers to King
Gyanendra, told Asia Times Online recently.
Gyanendra himself has in effect been sidelined
since Parliament adopted a resolution last May 18.
Rana's opinion is ostensibly based on the
perception that the US is advancing its design to
encircle China from every conceivable
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