-By Saba Navalan
Nepal is one of those lands so very rich in natural resources that it constantly pricks the eyes of multi-national companies which dominate the world today. Nepal which is situated at the backyard of India had been treated over the years as its slave-land. The poor farmers and working class in Nepal is representing the ‘neo-slaves’ of the globe. In many villages there has
never been any governance or State administration. The inhabitants of these villages have never had access to government medical facilities. The horror of slavery in the Feudalistic System of Governance in the last century remains dreadfuly present trapped in a time capsule.
For a long time Nepal has remained so steep in enslavement and subjugation as if it was under the ‘colonial rule’ of India. Prior to Maoists, no one proposed an alternative system of politics against India’s domination as well as revolutionary path against the feudal slavery system. In this milieu people were mobilised under the leadership of the Unified Communist Party which followed Maoism in letter and spirit.
Villages were freed. Within a span of ten years many villages came under the overall influence of the Maoists. People were trained in people’s warfare. People were mobilised and organized through the Agricultural Labourers Organizations, trade unions and Workers’ Forums at first and later through Students’ Forums and Organizations which too became powerful. The Maoists maximised the conflicts and contradictions that existed between the King’s battalion otherwise known as the Royal Nepal Army and the Police Forces, in the initial stages and had developed effective suitable military strategy.
In a similar vein, exploiting the contradiction that existed between the King and the Political Parties that were arguing the case of ‘bourgeois parliamentary democracy’ the Maoists began to launch their revolutionary initiatives in the urban areas as well amidst the lower rung of the middle-class. Around 75 districts had completely or partly, came under the Maoist administration just before 2000.
Having formed a strong and firm People’s Political Front in Nepal, they led the first stage of revolutionary activities against the monarchy. The other capitalist parties too joined hands with the forces under the leadership of the Maoists in their effort to remove the system of monarchy. After the fall of monarchy the other parties came to an agreement with the Maoists on the issue of conducting general election for the formation of a Constitutional Assembly. At this stage the Maoists came forward to form a ‘Capitalist Democratic National Government’ in Nepal At the same time the Unified Communist Party of Nepal – Maoists - had announced was only an interim period in the revolution.
By June 2006 the United Communist Party or the Maoists developed a 12 Point Compliance Plan in consultation with the other seven parties. On the 21st of November, 2006 an extended Peace Pact was signed between the Maoists and the Government of Nepal. The reason why the Maoists, who with the support of a tremendous ‘people’s upsurge’ had cordoned the Royal Palace in Kathmandu, instead of seizing ‘the power to rule’ in its totality had accepted a ‘peace pact’ still remains a mystery. Many agree that the November Peace Pact was the historic blunder of Nepal Revolution.
The most alarming part of the pact which was considerably dangerous is the Clause whereby they would appeal to the United Nations Assembly, to be the watch-dog of the said Pact. As soon as the signatures were attested, an appeal was made seeking UN intervention.
At the close of 2006 the interviews of Prasantha, Baburam Bhattarai and such others and exaggerated praises and hyperboles about them found their way in the Western Media. At the time when the United Nations commenced its mission in Nepal on the 1st of January 2007, accurate information about the nature of work really aimed at and to be carried out were also surfacing. The real job entrusted in the hands of the Special Committee called The United Nations Mission In Nepal [UNMIN] was to supervise and affirm the disarming of the ‘militants of Maoists’ People Liberation Army.
The act of bringing in the United Nations in the picture, during the interim stage of Nepal’s revolution is considered the second worst possible mistake. What made the Maoists consent to it still remains a mystery. Although the initial stage of the revolution in Nepal to dethrone the king and to remove monarchy and feudalism began in the right direction, the way its succeeding stages of evolution were captured by the totalitarian institutions did start with the UN intervention.
At present a large number of Maoists accept the fact that within the Maoist Party the conflict between the progressive reaction, between right and wrong, between truth and lie had begun with the victory of the revolution itself. The revolutionary sections which are a minority today observe that not taking over monarchy in its totality and allowing UN to step in were two decisive mistakes made.
At that time Prasantha opined that disarming the militants couldn’t be deemed as the ultimate surrender of the revolutionary forces and that People’s Revolution was not entirely free. Thus he gave highly ambiguous and blurred statements and face-to-face sessions which however proved temporarily acceptable to the revolutionary forces. At the time the Communists sought refuge in an alluring conviction that ‘This is Prasantha’s revolutionary path’.
In establishing a meeting ground between the Maoists and the Parties advocating the system of Parliamentary Democracy, on a continuous basis, and later on, in disarming the People’s Liberation Army and to wipe it out without a trace, the UNMIN played a crucial role. Following the election, a government with five Maoist Ministers and one Deputy Minister was formed in April 2007. Simultaneously, the Maoist leadership was forced to accept the DDR Programme tabled by the United Nations. The ‘so-called’ treacherous scheme DDR Programme [Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration]- of UN was accepted by the Maoist polit-bureau.
In return the United Nations agreed to help the Maoists in undertaking several reforms. Particularly, the UN agreed to work hand in hand with the Maoists in ‘developing’ the villages and to aid the caste-wise oppressed sections to enter into the political arena and to put an absolute end to monarchy. European countries such as Norway, France and the United States joined hands with the UN and feigned to have the interests of Nepal, its well-being, progress and development as their foremost concern. Upon the understanding arrived at with the Maoists on the issue of ‘development-, as well as based on the recommendations of the United Nations, non governmental organisations (NGOs) began to march towards the villages in large numbers. By 2008 this invasion had reached a crescendo.
In the process of liberating the villages from the clutches of discrimination, the Maoists first created access to the basic services by establishing schools, hospitals and civil administrative structures at village level which were gradually devoured one by one by the NGOs.
The NGO named Nirdhan Utthan Bank Limited which came into existence with the help of the funds received from Asian Development Bank began commencing its destructive projects and programmes in the rural areas. Ms.Meena Aacharya , the influential member of this Bank which had as its role-model the Grameen Bank that had changed Bangladesh so much as to be called NGO franchised country boasts that their bank had come into being with the specific purpose of providing redress to the people of Nepal and to retrieve them, having as role-model the Grameen Bank.
Meena Acharya further says that more funds are available for ‘welfare schemes in Nepal and that the sponsors are ever ready to give more funds. USA’s Rockefeller family is regarded as one of the topmost funders of Non-Governmental Organizations in the world. This leading exploitative family` of USA right has a past for providing funds to Hitler who was responsible for war , destruction and a genocide that set an example to many others yet to come. The very principle of Nirdhan Utthan Bank Limited is extorting exorbitant interest for the loans they give. But, they would use the refined expression ‘Micro Finance’ to refer to it. Bill Gates who is called the technically refined thief of the world takes pride in hailing it as ‘Creative Capitalism’.
The organization by name Centre for Micro-Finance in Nepal (CMF) too played a vital role in bringing the people and the rural economy within the purview of Totalitarian Organizational set-up. The NGO called Working for uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the rural poor and discriminated groups which runs with the financial aid from Trickle Up Program USA -COPPADES – and the United European Countries targeted those villages freed by the Maoists. Every new corner of the country is invaded by several NGOs such as ‘save the children’,’ American Aid’, ‘Transparency international’ and so on. Under the agenda of uprooting poverty it geared up all activities for destroying the seeds of revolution.
The Nongovernmental Organization called Educate the Children began to take over the rural education. These Non-Governmental voluntary organizations which run with the help of funds from multi-national companies, instead of revolution gave alms to the people. Following the United Nations Organisation these NGOs had two primary projects on the basis of which they continued their tryst with Nepal.
1. Alluring the educated middle class front-line militants amidst the Maoisits with attractive salaries and with high-sounding slogans such as ‘helping the have-nots and Needy’ etc., and so enrolling them into their fold as staffs.
2. Destroying the mass Organizations bringing them under its control or by sabotaging.
As a result, for the first time an opportunist group which could exercise power and domination over the society emerged from within the Maoists. Secondly, organizations of mass mobilisation which proved the very foundation and driving force of revolution were destroyed. Thirdly, the Institutions of revolutionary administrative outfits became bourgeois forums. The house worth millions that Prashantha had acquired after the Peace pact. It is only as long as the Party remained under the constant vigil and surveillance of the working class people that it could remain as a revolutionary party, working for people’s cause.
In Nepal the systematic sabotage carried out against people’s organizations facilitated the formation of an opportunistic leadership to emerge. On the one hand the UN was bent on destroying the People’s Liberation Army and on the other, the freed lands once again fell into the hands of the landlords and the multinationals, thanks to the congenial climate for all these created by the NGOs. The way the People’s Organizations were sabotaged destroyed and came under the control of totalitarian Institutions proved to be the major setback of the revolution.
As a result Maoists who remained strong with people’s support began to weaken. And the opportunists and the compromising elements gained strength. Thus the bourgeois agenda was successfully carried out as planned. The revolution which the people had carried forward with their valour and sacrifice suffered a great setback.
Prasantha and Baburam Bhattarai were heading the opportunist groups that had gained strength. The revolutionary sect headed by Kiran seemed to be weak but at the same time having a firm political stand and perspective.
After the departure of Stalin and Mao, Revisionism and compromising elements came to the forefront in the World Communist Movement. The setback suffered by the Maoists who, defeating the diversionary political approach and tactics had initiated and led a liberation keeping in tune with the prevailing socio-economic climate, having people at the helm of affairs, was a well-planned one by the imperialist forces.
For the past 50 years in order to sabotage the class-based revolutionary people’s outfits and Movements the imperialist forces introduced the political ideology found by Post-modernism which is known as ‘Identity Politics’. Later on, this ideology was popularized through the civil societies. Civil Societies are formed through the Dhalit forums and other non-political ideologies.
These ‘civil societies’, with the help of micro-economy programmes undergo changes in their system of dwelling. Through this process, throughout the world it has become an easy job to unsettle and sabotage People’s Groups and to weaken the revolutionary passion and fervour that prevail among the people and to pave the way for opportunist and compromising elements to enter inside. The so –called Non-Governmental Organizations which are in reality totalitarian in nature and which had thrown open all the doors for the safe and smooth entry of anti-revolutionary forces, offering a red-carpet welcome are indeed a deadly curse of today.
It is this treacherous political strategy well planned and executed by the bourgeoise Organizations and outfits that had strengthened the leadership of traitors and betrayers of revolution such as Baburam Bhattarai and Prasantha in Nepal.
