Aditi Phadnis: The return to democracy

PLAIN POLITICS

Managing the Maoists will be an acid test for Nepal's new PM, GP Koirala.

Unlike in India, in Nepal, the presentation of credentials by diplomats is not a mechanical exchange of letters. It is a romantic and pretty ceremony. Newly appointed envoys to Nepal don't just drive to the equivalent of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and present their papers. They are taken by horsedrawn carriage to the Narayanhity Palace "" and only on a Friday. There, the King grants them audience (nazar) and they present their credentials. In return, the King gives them a scented handkerchief as a present "" presumably, symbolically asking them to take the perfume of Nepal to their own land.

As ceremonies go, it is enchanting. But given the stench of the putrefying flesh of the 19 people who have died in the last two weeks in the anti-King riots in Nepal, King Gyanendra will need all the perfumes of Arabia to sweeten the handkerchiefs he gives out henceforth "" that's all he's likely to be doing in the future any way.

Democracy has returned to the Himalayan Kingdom. Eighty-one-year-old Girija Prasad Koirala (his official biography says he was born in 1925 while his father was in exile, in India) has taken over as prime minister, delayed by his ill-health caused by bronchial problems (if Nepalese newspapers are to be believed, before swearing him in, the King implored him to stop smoking). On the face of it, he appears to be an undisputed prime minister, standing tall on the strength of years of jail, exile and political experience.

But in Nepal, the more things change the more they remain the same. Koirala had to delay appointing his council of ministers because embittered by his "betrayal", the Nepali Congress refused to recognise the faction led by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deupa, as a separate party. Doing so would mean treating quislings and collaborators on a par with freedom fighters, Koirala's supporters charged. He has taken care of this problem now and named a council of ministers, but the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) is by no means homogenous. The Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) has already attacked their Prime Minister of 10 days for ignoring their claims and giving them too little: because out of the 19 who died in the Nepal violence, 11 were from their party. The Home Minister, Krishna Sitaula, is from Nepali Congress, appointed to the post because of his line to the Maoists. He held secret talks with the Maoists in Delhi along with other opposition leaders who were in India in exile. But that was then. Now will he be able to represent the state and yet negotiate with an anti-state actor? Hard to say.

The first announcements Koirala has made are to promise elections to a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution; and to invite the Maoists for talks. A constituent assembly and then the drafting of a new constitution that consigns the King to the palace in a purely ceremonial role is not difficult but it could take time.

But it is the management of the Maoists that pitfalls await the new dispensation at every step. Will the Maoists surrender their weapons prior to the talks? Their leader, Baburam Bhattarai, has said they will keep their arms till the constituent assembly is formed. If they agree to surrender arms, they expect the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) to do the same. Maoists have said they will deposit weapons either before the UN or a third party. Will India agree for a UN role so close to home while being vehemently opposed to the UN's role elsewhere? If not, who will the third party be? India/Indians? In that case India will have to lift the "terrorist" label on the Nepali Maoists and immediately release 180 or so Maoists in Indian jails, including CP Gajurel, in prison for among other charges, traveling on a false passport. The US has already said it will be watching the Maoists for their deeds and will not be impressed by their words alone.

Talks were on before the King took matters in his hands, to absorb the Maoist militia into the Royal Nepal Army. At one stroke this would have the effect of decommissioning weapons and utilising the training "" such as it is "" that the Maoists got when they decided to become revolutionaries. An imperfect integration could create its own problems. It is imperative that the process is coddled carefully to go through as seamlessly as possible. Some outside agency will have to oversee the disarmament-demobilisation-reintegration process "" and this must start before the Maoists change their mind.

And then what about the structural problems of Nepali society that gave rise to a Maoist movement in the first place? Koirala began his first ever stint as PM with the best of intentions. Ask Shailaja Acharya who headed the Land Reforms Commission. She gave up her post, bitter and defeated midway. Nepal has to face the challenge posed by its iniquitous society squarely. Maybe that country needs a debate on quotas or some form of affirmative action as India is witnessing. The desperate poverty of tribals and dalits and caste rigidities cannot be addressed overnight. But the Maoists expect that. Although their leadership is upper caste, their cadres are from oppressed tribes and dalits. If the movement is to convert itself into a party, it cannot afford to overlook the social justice aspect of its plank.

The worst case scenario "" for both India and Nepal "" is this: the SPA dithers and Maoists return to their dugouts and caves, realising that the path they adopted in 1994, when they took up arms, was the right one. The RNA will have to be called out again. Now that India has burnt its boats and there is no King on whom to pin the blame for things that go wrong, it will be back to square one in Nepal. GP Koirala needs all the help he can get to prevent that from happening.