Right Decision

Jana Andolan II was a grand success thanks to the great participation of people from all walks of life despite the terror and suppression resorted to by the then royal regime. Many people, in the course of the 19-day revolution, sacrificed their lives all for bringing democracy once again in the country and to be free from the shackles of tyranny that was evident in the country then. The country and the people owe it to the martyrs and the other people who took part in the revolution without fear to do away with the authoritarian regime. Soon after the success of the April revolution, Parliament was reinstated. One of the major decisions of the government then was the formation of the high-level Rayamajhi Commission under the co-ordination of former Supreme Court Justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi to probe into the misuse of state coffers and power of the erstwhile royal government during the April movement. It was a right move to find the culprits that tried to suppress the people's movement by committing excessive force and misused the people's money to gun down people. However, those who misused power and state money to suppress the people were swept away by the people's power. That was the beginning of a new era for the people despite the fact there is a lot to travel in realising the goal of the constituent assembly and the drafting of an all-inclusive democratic constitution to herald a new Nepal.

The Rayamajhi Commission had submitted its report to the government quite a few months back, but it had neither been presented to the legislature parliament nor had it been made public despite several commitments in the past to do so. Finally, the cabinet has decided to present the said report to the legislature parliament today. This is quite meaningful in the sense that the names of the guilty will be made public, and the necessary legal action against them can proceed according to the law of the land. It has been reported that there are over 200 people who have been charged in the report as having acted against the people during Jana Andolan II. The decision of the cabinet was made public by the Minister for Information and Communications. Now, the people can rest assured that the necessary legal action will be taken against those who had committed excess and misused the state coffers to suppress the people's revolution. The coming days will be very important in how the recommendations of the report will be implemented in the greater interest of the people and the country.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 3, 2007

Government's Noteworthy Initiatives

Prem N. Kakkar

PROBLEMS crop up time and again in national politics. Since the success of Jana Andolan II and the formation of the interim government and the legislature parliament with the participation of the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists, the country can be definitely said to be moving towards the goal of holding the constituent assembly (CA) polls on November 22. There is, no doubt, that the announcement of the CA poll date is very significant as it has erased all doubts and confusions that persisted in the minds of the people stirred by the political leaders themselves in their various addresses. That the government was dilly dallying over the date for the polls has been proved wrong.Law and orderNow that all eyes are set on the CA polls, it is the right time for all the political parties to concentrate on the drive to go to the villages and districts so that the people will have all the inputs to be aware about the poll and prepare for it. So far, it seems that the political parties and their activists have not adequately galvanised themselves for the purpose. This is rather disconcerting as the polls going to be held in the country for the first time has great ramifications for the whole political scenario.

That the polls are important has been highlighted by the political leaders and the government, but concrete steps on many fronts have yet to be undertaken to the fullest. The first and foremost is improving the law and order situation of the country. Without peace prevailing, it is clear that it will be difficult to conduct the CA elections. The government is well aware of the situation, so it is conducting talks with the various agitating groups. The talks are moving ahead, but the conclusion is yet to come about. It can be hoped that soon an amicable solution with the different groups will materialise in the interest of all, including the voters. The violence that is taking place in many parts of the country, especially the eastern Terai region, is of great concern. There are people who are blaming the government for this, but it alone cannot do everything and needs the support of all, particularly the stakeholders. The differences in opinion among the political parties represented in the government are natural, but the need is to resolve them through mutual understanding and dialogue. That has been the hallmark of the time since Jana Andolan II achieved success. This is the reason why the top leaders of the eight parties always speak of maintaining unity despite the fact that the CA elections are going to be competitive.The reason for maintaining unity is the outcome of the fear that the regressive elements might become active to undermine the gains made so far. A look at the way the cabinet meetings are being held shows this. There are differences, and then the meetings are stalled for a number of days. Following high level parleys, the cabinet again sits down to take important decisions. The same happened last week. Finally, a cabinet meeting was held on Wednesday.

The meeting took some very important decisions, including the presentation of the Rayamajhi Commission report to the legislature parliament so as to make it public. The cabinet also approved the tune for the new national anthem. In fact, the country had been without a national anthem for over a year.In making the Rayamajhi Commission report public, the people will formally come to learn of the people indicted by the Commission. It will also make it easier for the legal process to start to prosecute those who have been named in the report for their suppressive role during the April revolution. Over 200 people have been named in the report, against whom legal action has to be taken. In this context, it is not understandable why the government took so long to take the decision to present the report to the legislature parliament. Now that the decision has been taken, the people will be waiting to see what steps will be taken to implement the recommendations of the Rayamajhi Commission. That it has come a few months before the CA polls must also be taken into consideration. DemandsThough late, steps are being taken to take the people into confidence. This will boost the morale of the people in the run up to the CA polls. Meanwhile, steps must be taken to deliberate on the demands of the various agitating groups, improving the law and order situation and the campaign to go to the villages and districts to make the people aware of the importance and necessity of the constituent assembly election. If these are done, the dream of a new Nepal will definitely materialise.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 3, 2007

Madesh In Turmoil : Still No Political Understanding

Vijaya Chalise

The Eastern Terai covering Mithila, the centre of ancient civilisation, has been facing constant turbulence since January this year. A number of armed groups claiming to fight for the rights of the Madheshi people have emerged, disturbing social cohesion. Despite a series of protests across the country against such violence, these armed rebel groups in the Terai continue to kill and abduct people, including government employees. With the emergence of various armed groups there, the security situation has deteriorated. The Goit and Jwala Singh factions of the Terai Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) have not only issued threats to the civil servants from the hills but even been involved in killing them. The local administration remains a mute spectator to all this.

Solution

The government has been trying to bring all the groups concerned to the negotiating table in a bid to find a peaceful solution to the problem. The eight-party coalition government even made changes in the interim statute-2063 constitution and agreed to increase the number of constituencies in the Terai region. Unfortunately, none of the groups, many of them splinter factions, has responded positively to the government's goodwill. Thus, questions are being raised as to whether the constituent assembly (CA) elections will be held as scheduled in November. Now that the CA elections are only 110 days away, it has become urgent to resolve the Terai problem to create a conducive environment for the CA polls. Political parties and parliamentarians have yet to forge a political understanding from the centre to the local level so that their presence can be felt in the troubled areas. Even the consensus reached on forming a unanimous voice regarding violence in the Terai has not yet translated into practice. The high-level Inter-party Co-ordination Committee (HLPCC) had recently reached a consensus to address the issue in one voice.

The government, too, has not been effective in initiating effective steps to bring the situation to normalcy by interacting with the locals in the region. Paradoxically, members of the council of ministers themselves have different views on how the problem should be tackled. While Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula gave a 15-day ultimatum to the various agitating groups in the Terai to come to the negotiating table, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel dubbed the Home Minister's ultimatum as something personal. Political observers say the Terai issue has two dimensions: first, it is political in nature; second, it is non-political, in that some of the activities are instigated by internal regressive forces and Hindu fundamentalists from across the border. If this observation is true, obviously, the first one should be settled through political negotiation. However, the second one will need to be dealt with from a different approach. In such a situation, where certain elements are also trying to fan communal violence by creating division between the Terai and the hills, the government and the eight-party political leadership should address the Madesh issue without bias or using it to secure votes during the election. Irrespective of the geographical region they represent, nobody would dispute the fact that all the people living inside Nepal are Nepalese. Therefore, there should be no hesitation in fulfilling the demand of the Madhesi people, who are still searching for their identity. Indeed, if their demands for an autonomous federal structure and an election based on proportional representation are addressed, one can hope to win the confidence of the Madhesi people. But noone would tolerate or compromise any act aimed at endangering national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

At a time when the government is holding negotiations with the Terai Jana Adhikar Forum, Madhesi intellectuals during an interaction with the Gorkhapatra said that the Madhesi people's rights be guaranteed by addressing their genuine demand before the constituent assembly (CA) polls in November. Their demands, among others, include an election based on proportional representation, reorganisation of their identity as Madhesi Nepali and an autonomous federal structure for Nepal. Professor Dr. Mohammad Habibullah said that the monarchy was an obstacle to inclusive democracy, so a new system should address the social, political and economic problem of all ethnic, linguistic and regional communities. Likewise, Jeetendra Dev, General Secretary of Loktantrik Madhesi Sangathan, said that the root cause of the Madhesi problem lay in the eight-party alliance's failure to stick to their earlier commitment to establish the Madhesis' right to autonomy and proportionate representation in the national parliament. He suggests calling a round table conference of all the Madhesi and indigenous groups and asking them for a solution. Secondly, he says, the eight political parties should issue a joint statement with a political commitment to establish an autonomous federal system and agree to a proportionate election to ensure the Madhesi people's greater representation in the constituent assembly. If the agitating groups are fighting for the rights of the Madhesi people, then they should be ready to settle the dispute through dialogue and create an election-friendly environment for the November poll that alone would consolidate their rights. Obviously, the Madhesi people should be treated at par with the people of the hills. For this, the political leadership should be visionary and handle the situation with care to protect the Nepali culture of tolerance.

Reactionary forces

Since the election to the constituent assembly is the only option for fully empowering the Nepalis, including the Madhesi and indigenous people, all should actively participate in the election for securing their rights. The possibility of the reactionary forces impending the constituent assembly elections will continue to grow if national harmony is not restored. No one should ignore the fact that royalist feudalistic forces are actively working to derail the constituent assembly polls, and all should unite to defeat such regressive forces. The country must move towards declaring itself a republican state prior to the constituent assembly poll. Besides, removing the racial hatred seen in the Terai at present and cultivating goodwill and good understanding in its place is essential.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 3, 2007