Aditi Phadnis: Maoists return to democracy

BACKSTAGE

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, opened his press interaction in New Delhi, with the remark: "I am feeling very emotional to be here, in the midst of friends who helped us in our struggle." For the Maoists of Nepal, the armed struggle phase is over. It is only now that the really hard part begins.

For a man who was underground for more than a decade, Prachanda didn't really look worse for the wear. His moustache was pepper-salt but his hair was black, suggesting use of chemicals. His colleagues said he had sat in an aircraft and stayed in a five star hotel for the first time in his life. Clearly in awe of him, they all wore smart clothes, spoke good English and had the sharp features of upper caste Nepalese, rather than the almond eyes and button noses of Gurung, Limbu, Rai and Magar communities.

These are the communities that form the rank and file of the Maoist cadres, the boys and girls who have the guns. Now that the UN is supervising the decommissioning of arms, Nepal will get a better sense of how many weapons the Maoists really have. But they were thought to be around 5,000 to 8,000 (even 12,000) in numbers with a People's Militia of 35,000. The main force was augmented by a semi-trained Army of 5,000 support force. Their main weapons were AK 47 rifles, SLRs, .303 rifles, country guns, few hand grenades, explosives, detonators, two-inch mortars, LMGs, RCL, and an 81 mm mortar. Nearly 85 per cent of these weapons were looted from police and the Royal Nepal Army.

How much of this stockpile will really be put beyond use? It is hard to say. Prachanda vowed his colleagues were ready to return to parliamentary democracy once they had totally outlawed the King. But a tiny fringe group has already announced its intention to retain its arms. If the arms are still around, how will democracy function in Nepal? The tug-of-war for the political centre-stage has already begun. The comprehensive peace accord signed between Prachanda and G P Koirala, Prime Minister of Nepal, says the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly, tasked with writing a new constitution for Nepal, to be held in June 2007 will decide on the fate of the monarchy in Nepal. But there are others in the Nepali Congress who say the monarchy is not an issue in Nepal any more, especially after the powers of the king over the Army were taken away. The real issues are of land reform, caste and equitable development. But the Maoists are keeping the monarchy as the focal point because they feel they have the pedagogical advantage in doing so.

The Maoists had nine seats in Parliament in 1991 before they took to armed struggle. Now, they have come a full circle. It has to be seen whether their armed struggle has had the effect of increasing or decreasing their parliamentary presence. For, also voting for elections to the Constituent Assembly will be the families of those they have killed and those who simply disappeared.

Nepal is headed for a politically interesting phase. By making Maoists legit, India, thankfully, seems to be getting it right this time.