Blasts In Capital : Crime Against Humanity

Yuba Nath Lamsal

The series of bomb blasts targeting public places in Kathmandu on Sunday was nothing but a barbarous act and a crime against humanity. The terrorist acts that killed two innocent civilians, including a schoolgirl, and injured over two dozen people must be condemned by all.Terrorism is the modus operandi of criminals. It can never be a means of achieving a political goal. Nowhere in the world has terrorism succeeded in achieving the political goals. World history has shown that those who resorted to terrorism and violence finally denounced such activities and joined peaceful political methods to achieve their political objectives. Those who failed to do so have been eliminated. Under no circumstance can terrorist acts be accepted as a political activity. This crime against humanity, thus, must be dealt with severely in accordance with the law of the land.

Terror

In terms of security, it is an act of terrorising the people, destabilising the nation and threatening national integrity. Politically, it is a ploy to disrupt and sabotage the ongoing peace and political process. Although the force behind this heinous crime would be disclosed in due course after a thorough investigation, one can easily point a finger at those elements that are against the political process in the country.

Nepal is now in the process of holding the constituent assembly election that will write a new constitution. It is an exercise through which the people would be involved in the constitution making process as their elected representatives would write the country's fundamental law. This is the process that Nepal is experiencing for the first time in its history. There had been demands in the past as well for an election to a Constituent Assembly to write the country's constitution. But these efforts were aborted time and again, and the Nepalese people were deprived of their right to make their own constitution. Instead, the king or people in power imposed the constitutions in the past, which was neither democratic nor in the interest of the people.As the new and democratic process of writing the constitution through the people's elected representatives has already started, some elements that would lose their privileges are active in sabotaging this process. Thus, the recent bomb blasts in the capital and some criminal activities in the name of political slogans must be viewed and analysed from that perspective. Against this background, the recent remarks of Maoist chairman Prachanda need to be analysed more seriously. According to Prachanda, elections to the Constituent Assembly cannot be held under the existing situation. He, however, came under heavy criticism from various quarters for his remarks. His main concern was about the present security situation. Moreover, there are elements that do not want the Constituent Assembly election. These elements want to thrive on chaos and anarchy. If the Constituent Assembly election is to held and the present political process to complete its course, they are sure to lose their privileges. These elements need to be watched so that such sinister activities do not repeat.

The fundamental duty of the government is to maintain law and order and protect the lives and property of the people. However, the law and order situation in the country is not satisfactory. This is because of the political transition. The situation always remains unstable and uncertain during the political transition. But terrorism is an act that cannot be totally eliminated through the efforts of the government alone. Terrorism is the enemy of civilisation and civic culture. Thus, there must be collective and united efforts from all sectors, including the political parties, civil society and the general people, to counter and combat terrorism in a more effective way. The election to the Constituent Assembly is a must to create a new Nepal in which all people have equal share and opportunity in all sectors. Once the political process completes its course through the Constituent Assembly election and writing a new constitution, most of the pending problems including ethnic, religious, political, linguistic issues and matters pertaining to governance would be resolved. It would also solve the issue relating the state structure as all the political forces have already agreed to go for a federal structure. It has also been agreed that the first meeting of the constituent assembly would decide the issue of monarchy. Given the present scenario prevailing in the country, it is certain that the monarchy would go and Nepal would be a republic.But some political forces and individuals, including the Maoist leaders, have been demanding for the immediate abolition of monarchy and declaration of a republic. Their logic is that the monarchy and the Constituent Assembly cannot go together, and one must be compromised for the sake of the other. According to them, the Constituent Assembly would definitely abolish the monarchy, and it would be natural for the monarchist forces to do their best to stall the process of the Constituent Assembly election.

From this perspective, Maoist Chairman Prachanda has demanded the immediate declaration of Nepal as a republic as the Constituent Assembly election cannot be held under the monarchy. There is a strong rationale in the logic. However, they must have thought about it when the 12-point agreement was reached between the seven-party government and the Maoists on the fate of the monarchy. Meanwhile, the investigation process must be intensified, and the culprit of the blasts must be disclosed as soon as possible. The individuals found responsible behind this crime must be punished severely. Some have pointed a finger at the Palace for this incident. Without concrete evidence, none should be blamed. If investigations find the monarchy's hands behind these incidents, it should be immediately abolished as there is a provision in the interim constitution that the monarchy can be scrapped by a two-third majority of parliamentarians.

Twin responsibilities

It is a national crisis. In such a time of national crisis, the political forces and all citizens must demonstrate a strong sense of unity and patriotism. Both internal reactionaries and external fundamentalists are out to destabilise and push the nation backward. Now we are at a crucial juncture in history. We have now twin responsibilities. One is to keep the nation intact by safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity and the other successfully completing the ongoing political process through the Constituent Assembly election.

Source: The Rising Nepal, September 6, 2007