Thursday, December 22, 2005

Robert Kaplan Is An American Cowboy

Op-Ed Piece Sent To The New York Times

To: The Editor, Wall Street Journal.

My attention has been drawn to the recent Robert Kaplan article on Nepal in your newspaper. I am one of the leading Nepali democracy activists in the US, based out of New York City. I have received emails from friends asking me to write a rebuttal to the article.

Robert Kaplan's pride and joy is that he is not gun shy. I wrote the title of my blog entry on him - Robert Kaplan Is An American Cowboy - before I googled him. My suspicions have only been confirmed. This is a cowboy through and through. His prescription for the Nepali army is the same as for the US army. He emphasizes a light, agile force. I would not argue with that. It makes military sense. But he takes it one step further and thinks it has universal applications. He is so excited about the military idea that he has been cultivating for years that he totally misses the political picture in Nepal.

Expert after expert has come out saying there is no military solution to the civil war in Nepal, that there is only a political solution. That puts Kaplan in the wrong camp to start with.

The idea is to make possible a soft landing for the Maoists so that they end up one of several political parties in a multi-party Nepal. And I think peace and democracy will be hastened if the international opinion makers like Kaplan were to nudge the king towards a constituent assembly, the same idea for which America has spent $200 billion, 2100 American lives, and 30,000 Iraqi lives and counting. In Nepal the foreign powers can make the assembly possible simply by standing behind the idea. A respectful, partial integration of the Maoist army into the state army will have to precede any such elections. But before all that, the currrent regime has to fall, and an interim government has to take its place.

That is the roadmap we democrats are working towards. It is beneath someone of Kaplan's wide reputation to write so irresponsibly about Nepal. These are people who read books on other countries to get their ideas about Nepal. There are plenty of books and articles on Nepal available. He needs to be reading them instead.

Unless he was just passing through, as he has been wont to do through many a country.

Paramendra Bhagat
Brooklyn, NY


Who Lost Nepal? By ROBERT D. KAPLAN December 20, 2005; Page A14
Wall Street Journal

Nepal, sandwiched between the two rising economic and demographic behemoths of the age — China and India — could be the first country since the fall of the Berlin Wall where communists emerge triumphant. If the Bush administration does not act decisively, that’s what might happen. The administration should not take solace in the flurry of negotiations between the Maoist insurgents (who control most of the hinterlands) and the country’s political parties in Kathmandu, which could undermine the last vestige of legitimate royal authority while further strengthening the insurgents.

By canceling Special Forces training missions to the besieged Royal Nepalese Army, and with the possibility of lethal cuts of American aid to the local military, the administration, along with Washington, has bought into popular abstractions about how to best implant democracy while ignoring the facts on the ground.

Nepal is fast becoming a replay of both Cambodia in the mid-1970s and El Salvador a decade later. In Cambodia, the monstrous Khmer Rouge were threatening the capital of Phnom Penh, home to a pathetically undemocratic yet legitimate regime to which a Democratic Congress had cut off aid — a result of the Watergate-inflicted weakness of the Nixon administration. In El Salvador, murderous right-wing forces that nevertheless represented a legitimate state were pitted against murderous left-wing ones that represented the geopolitical ambitions of the Soviet Union and Cuba. Though the media emphasized the atrocities of the right wing, the Reagan administration had little choice but to work with them. Eventually, the right wing in El Salvador, with the help of a small number of Army Special Forces trainers, won the day. And in the years that followed the Salvadoran state and military were reformed.

Winning the day did not mean outright success on the battlefield. It meant bloodying the left’s nose enough to give the state an edge in negotiations. Ronald Reagan, a Wilsonian, was also a realist. President Bush now needs to take Reagan’s El Salvador model to heart in Nepal.

* * *

In Nepal, there is an undemocratic monarch (King Gyanendra Bikram Shah) who has canceled the political process, even as his military is guilty of human-rights violations including the undocumented disappearances of civilians. It is also true that the political parties the king has disenfranchised are comprised of feudal politicians, unable to rise above caste loyalties and whose version of democracy was responsible for bringing the country to its knees in the 1990s, thus igniting the Maoist revolt in the first place.

As for the Royal Nepalese Army, or RNA, it is a typical Third World military with all which that entails, from poor discipline to poor record-keeping regarding detainees. The exemplary human-rights record that Washington demands will not be reached in Nepal until the society itself evolves. Meanwhile, the crimes that the RNA is alleged to have committed bear no comparison to those of the Maoists, such as “mutilation atrocities” in which a victim’s bones are broken before his limbs are cut off. Just as there are no good guys in this conflict, nor is there moral parity.

Unrestricted aid to the Royal Nepalese Army is neither necessary nor warranted. I am suggesting a resumption of Special Forces training to one RNA Ranger battalion in particular, as part of a broad-based political strategy that highlights a dialogue between the king and the country’s politicians. Special Forces are a tool, not an answer. The Nepalese Ranger battalion in question is one I know, having spent time at its training base with its officers and enlistees during a recent visit to Nepal.

The Nepalese officers are fluent English-speakers, graduates of Sandhurst, and of either the U.S. Army Ranger course at Fort Benning, Ga., or the Special Forces “Q” Course at Fort Bragg, N.C. These officers speak intelligently and specifically about human rights, and they bear striking resemblance to foreign students at our top liberal-arts universities. A sub-group of the global elite, they would likely make a better impression in Washington than many Nepalese politicians.

Nepalese Rangers fight and train at the squad and team levels, unlike most other third world military units that I’ve observed, which are only confident fighting in mass, at the company level or higher. Counterinsurgency, it should be said, is about small-unit penetration.

Because the political process in Kathmandu will take many months to at least ameliorate, this Ranger battalion is the best tangible mechanism available to keep pressure on the Maoists in the field while that happens. There is no military solution in Nepal — but concomitantly, there can be no political solution without military pressure. This is an aspect of the problem often missed by journalists and human-rights workers, whose relationship with each other is quite close, even as their one with military experts in Kathmandu is less so. In any case, the autocracy of the king and the periodic abuses of the RNA will be tossed aside by the media if the hammer-and-sickle ever does go up in Nepal, as the same media starts chanting, “Who Lost Nepal?”

Don’t discount the possibility. The Maoists have taken a cluster of ideological ideals and launched them into a full-fledged militaristic cult. I saw a similar process unfold in the 1980s in Eritrea, where the guerrilla movement went on to topple the Ethiopian government. Like the Eritreans, the Maoists are media-savvy, whereas the Royal Nepalese Army is not. (It took me weeks of lobbying with Nepalese officials to gain access to their elite Ranger battalion.) The political children of the 1990s in Nepal, who saw free-market economics and popular democracy breed greater social disparities, the Maoists embody a rebuke to globalization that cannot be divorced from social currents running throughout South Asia.

To wit: Nearby Bangladesh, which used to feature a relative easygoing coexistence between Hinduism and a mild Islam, is witnessing a starker and more assertive Wahabbist strain. A poor country that can’t say “no” to money, with an unregulated coastline, Bangladesh has become the perfect set-up for al Qaeda. As for India, because it is so diverse we have tended to see it in stereotypes: the locus of spiritualism during the hippie era and the locus of software genius during an era of global journalists who move between slick corporate headquarters and luxury hotels. But India, as usual, is seething with social unrest, renewed regional identities and impressively resilient leftist movements.

The Bush administration wants India to step up to the plate in Nepal. But India is itself conflicted about the Nepalese situation. Even if the Indian government wants to weaken the Maoists, left-wing parties within the Byzantine political firmament of New Delhi sympathize with them, and have the means of assistance across a porous border. While India does not want to see throngs of refugees from a Maoist Nepal stampede into its already unstable state of Bihar, India also enjoys the fact of a weak, divided client regime next door.

Alas, there is also China, which, just as it did in Uzbekistan, is waiting for human-rights issues to tie the Bush administration’s hands to the point where Beijing can walk in and provide aid without regard to the host country’s moral improvement. China has promised another $1 million in military aid to a Nepalese regime that the U.S. refuses to help, even as Nepal’s defense minister has met with his counterpart in Beijing.

A few Special Forces training teams and some basic weapons — as a tool to everything else we’re doing in the political sphere — is all that should be needed. The earlier in a crisis we intervene, the smaller the military footprint required. That’s how to prevent future Iraqs and Afghanistans.

Mr. Kaplan is a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly and author of “Imperial Grunts” (Random House, 2005).

Kaplan Biography
The Globalist | Biography of Robert Kaplan
The Media and Medievalism by Robert D. Kaplan - Policy Review, No. 128
The Camden Conference 2004: Robert D. Kaplan
General Theory of Religion
Amazon.com: Listmania! - View List "The Complete Robert D. Kaplan"
Robert D. Kaplan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a prominent but controversial American journalist currently an editor for the Atlantic Monthly. His writings have also been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Republic, The National Interest, and The Wall Street Journal ...... his more controversial essays about the nature of U.S. power have spurred debate in academia, the media, and the highest levels of government ..... He lived in Israel for several years and joined the Israeli army...... when the Yugoslav Wars broke out, President Bill Clinton was seen with Kaplan's book tucked under his arm, and White House insiders and aides said the book convinced the President against intervention in Bosnia .... his popularity skyrocketed shortly thereafter along with demand for his controversial reporting..... Kaplan had not set out to influence U.S. foreign policy, but his work began to find a wide readership in high levels of government..... New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman called Kaplan one of the "most widely read" authors defining the post-Cold War, along with Francis Fukuyama, Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington, and Yale Professor Paul Kennedy. ...... In his book Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos, published shortly after 9/11, Kaplan offered the opinion that political and business leaders should discard Christian/Jewish morality in public decision-making in favor of a pagan morality focused on the morality of the result rather than the morality of the means...... Kaplan predicts that the age of mass infantry warfare is probably over and has said that the conflict in Iraq caught the U.S. Army in between being a "dinosaur" and a "light and lethal force of the future."........ Kaplan sees large parts of the world where the US military is operating as "injun country" which must be civilized by the same methods used to subdue the American Frontier in the 1800s. At one point he observes a Filipino and says that: "His smiling, naïve eyes cried out for what we in the West call colonialism."....... He has lectured at military war colleges, the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff, major universities, the CIA, and business forums, and has appeared on PBS, NPR, C-Span, and Fox News..... "Kaplan, over his career, appears to have become someone who is too fond of war. "It could be said," he has written, "that occasional small wars and occupations are good for us." He's expanded on this topic: those "occasional wars" are "evidence of humanity." This is because "peaceful times are also superficial times."" -- David Lipsky ...... and his argument--that our future is being shaped far away 'at the ends of the earth' ..... Here is a serious writer in 2005 admiring the Indian wars, which in their brutality brought about the end of an entire American civilization." -- David Rieff in The New Republic ...... "Because he specializes in exploring the San Andreas faults of the modern geopolitical system, his books have had more influence on politicians and policy makers than most travel writing." -- Adam Garfinkle .......
Robert D. Kaplan "A Post-Saddam Scenario," The Atlantic Monthly ...
Financial Sense Newshour's Ask The Expert: Robert D. Kaplan

Isolating The Monarchy


International Community

It is already solidly behind. But we need to keep up the pressure. There are not many examples on world stage where the major powers like India, Europe and the US are so solidly behind a people's aspirations for democracy. And that is a total reflection of the vibrant pro-democracy crowd in Nepal. Absent that the global community could have done little but look the other way for the most part.

Time will not cure this pressure for the king. There has to be a concrete change in ground realities.

It is not true China is supporting the king. China is at best staying neutral. China is too engaged with India, Europe and America to pick fights with them over Nepal.

The diaspora in the US needs to turn up the heat a little more. There has to be greater lobbying. The good work has to be made better.

There is a possible scenario such that the seven party alliance might have to unilaterally declare the formation of an interim government at the height of the movement. At that point we will need all the international friends we have got to recognize that government.

But this part of the homework is mostly done.

Seven Party Alliance, Maoists, Civic Society, The Masses

There has to be a strong alliance of these four forces. The first three need to come together for the benefit of the four. The 12 point agreement between the Maoists and the seven party alliance has to be revised. The seven parties need to let go the House revival stand. And the Maoists need to be willing to let go of their army before the country enters into a constituent assembly. Two of the four projects of the Nepali diaspora in the US are to do with the civic society, and two are to do with the seven party alliance. They are designed to bring them together and cement their bonds.

Ultimately the show of force is going to be when the people show up out in the streets in large numbers. I can feel the groundswell.

The king's reluctance to seek genuine dialogue leaves room only for a decisive confrontation.

Bureaucracy

They are already with us. They can not join the movement en masse during the early stages. But they will come out in large numbers when it is time to hit the decisive blow. They have been harassed and penalized like the rest of the population. We need to stay in touch with all our contacts inside the bureaucracy. We need to make the regime feel it has no way to keep secrets.

Judiciary

It has not been as out and out as it could be, but the Nepal Bar Association is solidly behind the movement. Shambhu Thapa has been providing great leadership. The Supreme Court itself has prevented excesses by the regime in several ways.

Police

The idea is not to confront the police. We should seek to befriend them and win them over. Being realistic, it might not be possible to avoid confrontations altogether, but we should seek to avoid them as much as possible. The idea is not to fight the police. We are not trying to dismantle the state machinery. We are trying to take it over.

The Army

Should there be a military crackdown, a lot of the army honchos are going to end up behind bars. It is illegal to follow illegal orders. Both giving and following orders will get you into trouble.

On the other hand, try and win them over. The foot soldiers are all janata ko chhoro. They might be susceptible to concerted propaganda.

Stay in touch with all your contacts in the army as well. A lot of up and coming army officers are big on the professional army idea. They are not there for the king. Many of them are in touch with select elements of the diaspora.

Protect The Demonstrators

Document all assaults. This movement will be different from the one in 1990. Legal action is to be initiated this time to book the guilty. The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental human right. No regime or constitution can take it away.

Senator Patrick Leahy


Mr. President, this is the third time in the past six months that I have spoken in this chamber about Nepal. I do so because this land of mostly impoverished tea and rice farmers who toil between India and China on precipitous hillsides in the shadows of the Himalayas, is experiencing a political crisis that may plunge the country into chaos.

As many predicted, King Gyanendra’s seizure of absolute power on February 1st and suppression of civil liberties has damaged Nepal’s foreign relations, triggered clashes between pro-democracy demonstrators and the police, and strengthened the Maoist insurgency.

The Maoists, whose use of extortion and brutality against poor villagers has spread throughout the country, announced a unilateral ceasefire on September 3rd which they recently extended for an additional month. Although flawed, the ceasefire was the impetus for a loose alliance with Nepal’s weak political parties after the King refused to negotiate with them and sought instead to consolidate his own grip on power.

Last month, the Maoists and the parties endorsed a vaguely worded but important 12 point understanding that could be the basis for a national dialogue to restore democracy and end the conflict. That, however, would require some reciprocal confidence building measures by the army, which has so far rejected the Maoist ceasefire as a ploy and continues to see itself as the defender of an anachronistic, corrupt and autocratic monarchy.

Although the army has won praise for its role in international peacekeeping missions, its reputation has been badly tarnished because of its abusive and ineffective campaign against the Maoists. It has engaged in arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings of ordinary citizens, which has alienated many of the same people who have been victims of the Maoists.

On December 10th, when hundreds of Nepali citizens took to the streets to protest the King’s repressive actions, the police used force to break up the rally and arrested several dozen people. The press reported another 120 arrests and dozens injured in demonstrations on December 17th. More protests are likely, and it may be only a matter of time before Katmandu is in the full throes of a pitched battle between pro-democracy demonstrators and the King’s security forces.

This is the disheartening situation in which Nepal finds itself today. The immediate challenge for the United States is how to help promote a political dialogue which includes the broadest possible participation from Nepali society to restore and strengthen democracy and end the conflict.

The Maoist ceasefire, while welcome, was a tactical move to lure the political parties into an alliance and further isolate the palace. There is no way to predict with confidence if the Maoists would participate in a political process in good faith, or simply use it as a ruse to gain new recruits and weapons. A resumption of attacks against civilians would be condemned and resisted by the international community. The Maoists should know that they cannot defeat the government by force, and as long as they extort money and property and abduct children they will be seen as enemies of the Nepali people.

Similarly, military experts have concluded that Nepal’s undisciplined army cannot defeat a determined insurgency that attacks civilians and army posts and then disappears into the mountains.

There are also concerns about Nepal’s political parties, who do not have a record of putting the interests of the nation above their own self interest. But the political parties, for all their flaws, are the real representatives of the Nepali people. They urgently need to reform, but there is no substitute for them.

Despite these difficulties and uncertainties, it is clear that the King has failed to provide the leadership to build bridges with the country’s democratic forces and develop a workable plan. It is also clear that efforts by the international community, including the United States, to appeal to the King to start such a process, have failed. The Bush Administration should apply whatever pressure it can, including denying U.S. visas to Nepali officials and their families.

With few options and no guarantees, Nepal’s hour of reckoning is approaching. There is a growing possibility that the King’s obstinacy and unpopularity will trigger massive civil unrest, shootings and arrests of many more civilians by soldiers and police, Nepal's further isolation, and perhaps the end of the monarchy itself.

Only the army has the ability to convince the King to abandon his imperial ambitions, but time is running out. The army’s chief of staff, General Pyar Jung Thapa, was privileged to receive training at the Army War College and he has participated in other U.S. military training programs. He has led Nepali troops in UN peacekeeping missions. He knows, or he should have learned, that the function of a modern, professional military is to protect the rights and security of the people, not the privileges of a dictator who has squandered the moral authority of his office. It is not only in the interests of Nepal, but in the army’s long term self interest, to show real leadership at this critical time.

The United States should do everything possible to encourage the army to announce its own ceasefire, to accept international observers as the Maoists have said they would do, and to support a broadly inclusive political dialogue with or without the participation of the palace.

Such a process, to be meaningful, must lead to free and fair elections. The municipal elections announced by King Gyanendra for early next year, without any consultation with the political parties, are no solution. An attempt to apply a veneer of legitimacy to an otherwise undemocratic process will only prolong and exacerbate this crisis.

Many of the Maoist’s grievances mirror those of the majority of Nepal’s people who for centuries have suffered from discrimination, poverty, and abuse by one corrupt government after another. But Nepal’s problems, which are at the root of the conflict, can only be solved through a transparent, democratic process. The Maoists have opened the door a crack for that to begin. The army should reciprocate. The international community should lend its support.

Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat, Vermont
Senator Leahy To US Congress On Nepal

This Reads Like An Executive, Feudal Monarchy


(UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION)
21- Point Programme
Approved by the Cabinet Meeting Chaired by HM the King (February 2, 2005)
  1. Legal provisions will be put in place to (i) "nationalize" illicit wealth appropriated through abuse of authority, smuggling, tax evasion, procurement irregularities or commission and, (ii) curb corruption at its roots. Those found guilty will be severely punished. As the first step in this direction, a "fully empowered" Royal Commission will be constituted within 15 days. Additionally, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will be transformed into an extremely capable, impartial and fully operational body by providing it with adequate authority and resources.
  2. Proper mechanisms will be put in place to improve the effectiveness and transparency in the manner in which HMG/N has been providing essential services to common Nepali Citizen within 15 days. Appropriate monitoring and evaluation frameworks will also be installed. Those found to be schmoozing at work and engaging in any form of patronage/rent seeking (nepotism, cronyism etc.) will be severely punished.
  3. Land Bank will be set up to "distribute" land (in a manner dictated by the law) to squatters, landless farmers and freed Kamaiyas (bonded labors).
  4. National income growth through agriculture is essential for poverty reduction. Hence a "planned programme" aiming to bolster modern and scientific agricultural technology (that "suits" the country), large and small irrigation projects and depending on geographical possibilities, horticultural farms, special case crops, livestocks will be implemented within a month.
  5. Private sector will be encouraged to play active roles in the protection and development of cottage industries as well as in the development and extension of manufacturing industries and hydroelectricity. Additionally, potential hydroelectricity projects will be prioritized and implemented through the mobilization of internal and external resources.
  6. HMG/N will prepare and implement a master-plan to tap into the tremendous growth potential in the tourism industry. The plan will seek to provide incentives and support to promote religious tourism, small and large hotels, resorts, tourist destinations and the overall industry. In addition, requisite human resources will be trained for the "tourist security police" force in order to promote "safe tourism".
  7. Disabled, backward and "dalit" children enrolled in up to the secondary level in public schools will be provided with free textbooks and scholarships. Even private schools and universities will be required to designate a certain percentage of seats for the free education of disadvantaged groups, dalits, minorities and disabled students.
  8. Appropriate curriculum "reform" will be undertaken to reorient education towards vocational needs of the market as well as to generate "nationalistic human resources". Textbooks and educational materials will be provided efficiently and at reasonable prices to students at all levels.
  9. Students bearing legitimate identity cards will be entitled to subsidized fares in means of public transportation and subsidized fees in public hospitals.
  10. In order to do away with the disparity between the rich and the poor in urban areas including the capital city, a ceiling will be imposed on real estate holdings. In addition, legal provisions to ensuring that new houses are made in full compliance with the earthquake-proof requirements and urban development plan of HMG/N will be expeditiously put in place.
  11. In view of addressing the accommodation needs of an increasing population, declining land, limited extension possibility of drinking water, electricity, sanitation, telephone facilities, HMG/N, in partnership with local bodies and the private sector, will introduce "planned housing" (apartment system). This will put a check on encroachment of otherwise arable land.
  12. In order to increase the pace of economic growth and to increase physical connectivity, an East-West electric railway system will be developed as a medium-long run strategy. Additionally, short cuts, tunnels, waterways and ropeways will also be developed and extended wherever possible.
  13. Upholding the principles of decentralization, local bodies will be given maximum autonomy gradually (in a phase wise manner). Authority in the areas of political, fiscal, social, administrative and semi-legal fronts will be gradually devolved from the centre to the villages.
  14. In order to address the rising problem of unemployment, employment opportunities will be sought both inside and outside the country. Required training and credit will be provided to increase access to foreign jobs.
  15. Those affected by conflict and those (Maoists) that have (and desire to) surrender(ed) will be trained and prepared for employment at home and abroad.
  16. Special river training programmes will be introduced in the Terai. This will bolster transport development, flood control and irrigation endeavors of HMG/N. Additionally, the land "saved" by river control will be used to resettle and develop squatters and landless farmers.
  17. A "Karnali Development Programme" for the integrated development of the zone will be implemented without delay. Surkhet-Jumla road will be completed by February 2006 (within a year) and other road projects to connect other district headquaters of Karnali zone will be initiated. Special programmes will also be initiated to make local citizens "self-reliant" in the areas of agriculture, health and education.
  18. Reform commitments made to improve governance (ADB-GRP), public sector management (ADB-PSM), and poverty reduction (WB-PRSC) will be completed on time. Special arrangements will be made to facilitate the implementation of projects and programmes being run by various bilateral and multilateral donors.
  19. A "positive affirmation" policy will be implemented to increase the representation of women, janajaties and Dalits in the state machinery.
  20. Policy reforms to develop the private sector will be initiated without delay. Various incentives and appropriate legal frameworks will be put in place to encourage the private sector to invest in physical infrastructure.
  21. Development programs will be chosen and implemented by the people. To this end, special emphasis and preference will be placed on works that are implemented through local user groups (preference over outside contractors).

Maoists Should Go Beyond Ceasefire To Peaceful Mobilization


Maoists renew threat to disrupt municipal polls, unilateral ceasefire as good as ‘withdrawn’ NepalNews ..... the CPN (Maoist) will mobilise masses, organise mass meetings and coordinate their programmes of protess with that of the seven party opposition alliance.

Their three month long ceasefire was and is their most brilliant military move to date. I can't see another such example of a similar incident on the world stage or in world history. No armed group with such a large presence, geographically and politically, over such a large portion of a national territory has ever made such a move, not that I know of. The Maoists have already made history.

They also moved from a communist republic to a democratic republic. I am not aware of such an ideological U turn anywhere in world history either.

Nepal has seen much violence this past decade, especially the past few years after King Gyanendra decided to go down the path of royal adventurism. More than 12,000 deaths, and over 23,000 suicides: those are the numbers. The royal army is responsible for about 75% of both.

The Maoists have been accused of senseless violence. And I for one have never approved of their violent ways. But if they are a rebel outfit that has acted inhuman and irrespponsible, the royal army is supposed to be the state. They can not act inhuman and irresponsible, but they have.

The royal army and the militarism it symbolizes have been blamed for one Nagarkot incident of 11 deaths. I think it should be held responsible for (12,000 + 23,000)/11 * 75% = 2,386 Nagarkots.

One option would be to put both the royal army and the Maoist army under the microcope and subject them to a country tribunal. For that the Democrats would have to militarily take over the country and bring both to justice through use of force. This option does not go with the ground realities.

Recently Kul Chandra Gautam suggested another option which is pretty much standard. He said forgiveness comes second. First there has to be some book keeping. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission has to be set up that will allow people who have lost much to the war to come forth and get their stories documented. But that is after peace and democracy.

I think a general amensty is the price the country has to be willing to pay for permanent peace. So the total emphasis has to be to help the Maoists become yet another political party within a multi-party framework.

But the king is stuck in third gear. He has no intention of reciprocating the ceasefire. If he had acted reasonable and reciprocated the ceasefire, we would have had the luxury to think he seeks reconciliation.

Instead he is hellbent on proving his points.
  1. The Maoists can be militarily crushed.
  2. The 1990 constitution is the final constitution Nepal will get.
  3. His use of Article 127 can not be questioned. All he has done have been valid.
  4. Citizens' rights are gifts from the king. When he takes them away, the citizenry should not act surprised. When he gives them back, the people should be thankful.
The emerging Maoist-Democrat alliance has been the outcome of the Maoist ceasefire. That is a huge achievement.

If the Maoists are truly republicans, they should not be surprised the king did not reciprocate the ceasefire. Kings are not supposed to be reasonable and democratic.

Instead the Maoists should continue with their ceasefire, and take further steps to consolidate their peaceful, democratic base, and engage the seven party alliance in further trust building. The 12 point agreement needs much polishing still. (10 Point Agreement To Succeed 12 Point Agreement) The idea should be to use the announced February 8 polls to engineer a total bipolarization in the country. The seven party alliance, the Maoists, and the CMDP (Citizens Movement for Democracy and Peace) have to come together in a solid way.

I think the Maoists have the Sinn Fein option. Keep your military wing intact for now. And have a separate political wing. Do not break the ceasefire, but engage in a major peaceful mobilization of the masses through the peaceful, political wing.

Breaking the ceasefire will take all positive developments back to square one. But a major peaceful mobilization will build upon the continued ceasefire.

To expect the king to take the lead would not be republican thinking. So his not reciprocating the ceasefire should not be held against the country and its population.

The monarchy and the Nepali Congress are on downward slopes for their own reasons. The monarchy is not willing to get out of the way even to a ceremonial form. The Nepali Congress is playing foul games with its sister organization the Nepal Students Union. A NSU that elects Gagan Thapa and is led by him would be somewhere at the forefront of this democracy movement and would be one piece of good news for an otherwise downward moving party. Gagan would be good for the NSU, the movement and for the Nepali Congress. But the NC leaders do not seem to realize this.

The king is the same way. He does not feel the groundswell. He does not feel the noose tightening around him. He wants all or nothing. Monarchs don't cut deals, I guess. The king's regime seems to be on autopilot. I think Tulsi Giri should speak publicly more often. That would really help the democracy movement. Because otherwise the democrats do not seem to realize this regime does not intend to understand democracy.

The Maoists need to come around to this:

2. The seven parties and the Maoists are committed to a constituent assembly elections to which will be held by an interim government functioning under an interim constitution that will make the interim prime minister the Commander In Chief of the army. Before the Maoists are invited to join the interim government, the two armies in the country are to be integrated through external mediation. If the integration not be total, foreign aid is to be sought to integrate the rest of the Maoist armed cadres into the economy. It is hoped that the integrated army will be downsized by the government that will come into power after a new parliament takes shape. The seven parties agree that the 1990 constitution is dead, and so is the 1999 House that can not exist outside the 1990 constitution. As to how to get to the interim government, a decisive movement is to be waged across the country. That might result in the king coming around to the idea of an interim government, in which case the question of monarchy will still be an issue in the constituent assembly. On the other hand, if the king be relentlessly uncompromising, the movement ends the monarchy before it forms the interim government, in which case the question of monarchy will not be an issue in the constituent assembly. It has been agreed that People’s power is the only alternative to meet the goals. This has been suggested as the interim constitution: Proposed Constitution.

And they should contiue with the ceasefire, and engage in some major peaceful mobilizations.

In The News

Maoists kill two civilians; abduct 400 NepalNews
Maoists pledge cooperation with int’l agencies
Nepali version of Linux ‘NepaLinux’ launched
Maoists renew threat to disrupt municipal polls, unilateral ceasefire as good as ‘withdrawn’
RPP dissidents call for early general convention
Nepal Maoists declare all-out war on elections
Times of India, India
Nepal parties vow to thwart municipal elections Reuters AlertNet
NEPAL’S DOWNWARD SPIRAL”: Senator Patrick Leahy talked ...United We Blog
Maoists call seven-day shutdown to halt Nepal polls Webindia123
Nepal Maoists declare all-out war on King's polls
Hindustan Times, India
Nepal parties vow to thwart municipal elections
Reuters
Nepal Maoists heal rift with UN
NewKerala.com, India
UN welcomes Nepali guerrilla's adherence to BOG Xinhua
12-point agenda Kathmandu Post
Joint Strategy required to counter Maoist threat: Patil NewKerala.com
NWPP to separate from the seven party alliance
PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
NC, UML leaders discuss further protests Kantipur
UN hails Maoists' recognition of Basic Operating Guidelines
Maoists kill 2 civilians; abduct 400: RNA
OHCHR for impartial investigation into Nagarkot shootout
NC-D leaders catch up with Maoist leaders
Maoists declare programmes to disrupt municipal polls
Giri's remarks draw flak; parties to obstruct polls at any cost
RPP rebel faction issues ultimatum for special convention

Monday, December 19, 2005

Major Revisions


Major Revisions To The Proposed Constitution

I made some major revisions two days back. Funny how people do not make use of the comments section at this blog. Instead they need personal attention. They have to meet you in person, or get on the phone with you to give feedback. Like it was Sanjaya Parajuli, Anil Shahi, Deepak Khadka and me with Gagan Thapa driving Gagan off to the airport. And that is when Sanjaya went on this tangent about the need for direct elections for Prime Minister. Recently it has been Diwaskar Adhikari in Texas harassing on the phone on the same topic, and many others in between. I have been working with Diwaskar on the video blogging project. But he has been spending more time on this topic. He has also offered some valuable insight on some other topics to do with the constitution.

And three days back we had our largest Sunday get together so far, and there was this major discussion on what a constituent assembly was, how it would come about, and so forth. For me the highlight was the social justice theme. In attendance were Binay and Tara Shah, Sarahana Shrestha, Ritesh Chaudhary, Anil Shahi and myself. We decided to meet once a month now on. Once a week was too much, and it was getting cold, and the seven party alliance does not seem to have the goal of bringing this regime down by February.

Sarahana was totally steering the talk. She had brought along her laptop, a fancy Apple one on that. She took copious notes. From that talk I added this to the Proposed Constitution:

The Pratinidhi Sabha will have reserved seats for the four groups, Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati and Mahila, 10%, 20%, 10%, and 25% with some overlaps. So the half of the seats for women will cut across that of these four groups as well. For example, of the 10% seats for Dalits, 25% of them will have to be women. And the 10% for Dalits will be half in the Terai, but that is not to cut into the Madhesi reserved seats. 10, 20, 15 and 25 are half the supposed shares of the populations of these groups, to be revised each census. The reservation for a group is discontinued once its share in the Pratinidhi Sabha hits 80% of its share in the national population. When identifying the seats for the Dalit, Madhesi and Janajati, the Election Commission will seek constituencies where the groups have their largest share of populations. No three contiguous seats may be reserved seats.

I think this is a major addition. Democracy as we know it does not automatically lead to social justice. America and India are good examples of that. Look at the blacks in America, the Dalits in India, and the women everywhere. Look at the recent spectacular riots in France. (French Society: No Easy Solutions, Sick Sarkozy, Riots In France) Democracies that have traditionally only recognized only the individual identity of individuals and not their collective identities have ended up recognizing the collective identity of any one group alone. It is not like the collective identity got negated or anything.

My problem is as to how to make this scientific, and possibly of universal use. One, you recognize the collective identities, but you also make room for change, especially positive change. That is what the provision for constitutional amendments is for. And the reservations come up with the automatic dissolution provision. Or the Dalit identity itself could go away. If all Hindus were to inter marry across the castes, or if all Dalits were to convert to Buddhism en masse, the Dalit identity might merge, or take a whole new meaning, although the history will always be there.

What is a collective identity? One measure is marriage patterns, I think. If at least 80% of the people in that group marry among themselves, I think that is a collective identity. What do you think? Another is to ask people. If I say I am a Madhesi, I am one.

Nepal Democracy Forum

I don't miss it. The key people I used to interact with there, I do so now better and much more productively on the phone. Now I have much more time for the projects. I am making a more productive use of my time. I have been meeting more people offline. I have a newfound interest in the ANTA. A few days back I helped launch the Baltimore-DC chapter. I was on the phone with Dinesh Tripathy who is taking the lead on the Legal Action project. He asked me if I knew Madhesis in his area. He wanted to get to know and hang out. I told him with that comment he had just made himself the President of the Baltimore-DC chapter of the ANTA. Immediately I conferenced in Guneshwar Shah who is in Virigina. He found himself the Vice President.

A lot of Madhesis are excited that I locked horns with the Nepal Democracy Forum. That has been one clear, positive fallout of the episode. The temperature has been raised a little.

Internet Access Down

For the past four days I have had only sporadic access. I don't know what went wrong. But now I am back. In a way I was lost. On the other hand I cleaned the bathroom and made my roommates happy. They had been doing all the cleaning forever, these poor Estonians. I also feel more rested. Otherwise I never have a day off. Don't get me wrong. I do take time off, randomly so. But it is good to have a chunk of 24 hours off.

Talking To Girija Koirala

It was such a good feeling. I have had many people write to me and call me about that.

Girija is like this huge presence. Like him or dislike him, he is there. For me it is not a like, dislike thing. I want to do business with him.

Boycotting The February 8 Polls

Personally I think it would make more sense to try and bring the regime down by February. But it is a tall task.

So how do you boycott polls? You can not organize to gherao polling booths. The police will come after you. More importantly, those who might choose to vote will have a right to. You can not obstruct their freedom to move around. It is not like the police is going to go into homes and force people to come out to vote. People have a right to show up and vote, and they have a right to stay back home and boycott the polls. So basically it is a political battle of opinion making.

I am with the seven party alliance. If their immediate goal is to organize a boycott of polls, I am with them. They are the legitimate leaders of this movement.

Getting people to stay home and not show up at the polling booths might be easier than getting them to come out into the streets in large numbers, perhaps.

Someone At Google Visited This Blog

20 December20:55Google Inc., Mountain View, United States

Who is that! Hello Sergei. Hello Larry.

The King Has Invented Something New

Is this monarchism? Militarism? Musharrafism? It is each, but it is also something new. In monarchism there are no political parties. In militarism things are several steps worse, and Aan Sang Su Kyi is in jail. In Musharrafism, Benazir and Nawaj are in exile. Looks like our guy has introduced something new. The virus has mutated.

In The News

Govt okays RNA’s proposal to buy two MI-17 choppers NepalNews
Students, police clash at Trichandra Campus
Giri’s remark an attempt to prolong autocratic rule: Leaders
Election symbols of only nationally recognized parties secure: EC
Maoist atrocities still ongoing: RNA
Government returns equipment of Kantipur FM
Former PM Deuba keeps himself busy in the custody
“US Prez’s letter not going to work”: Koirala
Govt not to hold talks with the Maoists: Dr Giri
India concerned about Chinese arms supply to Nepal: Mukherjee
Students organise sit-in against NSU reshuffle
ANNISU-R leader produced before SC
Melamchi project under review: ADB
Students urge to repeal NSU ad-hoc committee
Home Minister Thapa warns parties
Bhutan king to step down after three years
NC reconstitutes NSU central committee
King grants audience to Moriarty
Dozens `arrested’ in Chitwan, situation returns to normalcy
UML Gen Secy urges King to accept Constituent Assembly
Thapa did not commit suicide: HURON
Bhattarai urges King to return power to people
Media Ordinance constitutional: Government
2008 will be a significant moment in Bhutan's history, says India NewKerala.com
Democracy gets royal sanction Hindustan Times, India
King's decision to give up rule shocks Bhutan Times of India, India
Bhutan looks at controlled democracy Reuters.uk, UK

Proposed Constitution


Proposed Constitution

Preamble
  1. Nepal is a federal republic, a total, transparent democracy, with the sovereignty resting with the Nepali people.
Article 1: The Legislative Branch
  1. There is to be a lower house, the Pratinidhi Sabha, with 180 members, 60 per state, and a upper house, the Rajya Sabha, with 60 members, 20 per state, all of whom are to be directly elected through constituencies demarcated such that the largest has a population not more than 5% of the smallest, geographically in close approximation to a circle or a square, and protected from partisan gerrymandering by an autonomous Election Commission. The constituencies need not respect district boundaries. Three constituencies for the Pratinidhi Sabha will make one for the Rajya Sabha. The entire Sabha is dissolved en masse when its term nears expiration.
  2. The Pratinidhi Sabha will have reserved seats for the four groups, Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati and Mahila, 10%, 20%, 10%, and 25% with some overlaps. So the half of the seats for women will cut across that of these four groups as well. For example, of the 10% seats for Dalits, 25% of them will have to be women. And the 10% for Dalits will be half in the Terai, but that is not to cut into the Madhesi reserved seats. 10, 20, 15 and 25 are half the supposed shares of the populations of these groups, to be revised each census. The reservation for a group is discontinued once its share in the Pratinidhi Sabha hits 80% of its share in the national population. When identifying the seats for the Dalit, Madhesi and Janajati, the Election Commission will seek constituencies where the groups have their largest share of populations. No three contiguous seats may be reserved seats.
  3. Other than the specified groups, the Muslims will get 2%. The Newars will get one seat in the Kathmandu valley.
  4. All matters of national importance are to be decided by the national parliament through a majority vote unless otherwise stated. Parliamentary procedures are to be laid out or revised with a 60% vote margin.
  5. The legislatures are to elect their Speakers and Deputy Speakers. The legislatures shall assemble at least once every four months, and as often as necessary.
  6. No parliamentarian may be arrested while the parliament might be in session except for felony charges. Their speech in parliament is protected from any and all oversight, legal and otherwise.
  7. A simple majority of the parliament will pass the budget. All budget proposals must originate in the Pratinidhi Sabha.
  8. All bills must be posted online in three languages - Nepali, Hindi and English - for at least one week before they may be voted upon.
  9. All regional and international treaties that Nepal might enter into will have to pass a 60% majority in the parliament.
  10. Political parties may not engage in fund-raising activities. Instead each national party, described as those that garnered at least 3% of the votes in the previous nationwide parliamentary elections, will get an annual sum that will be directly proportional to the number of votes it earned. That money is to be used for party-building and electioneering activities. Details of expenses are to be posted online in the three languages to the last paisa on at least an annual basis.
  11. The Election Commission holds secret ballot elections for party leadership for each national party. Tickets for all elections are distributed by parties through democratic methods involving members at or below the said level in the organization.
  12. The Election Commission puts in place ceilings as to election expenditures. Independent candidates may not raise money, but may spend their own money that may not exceed the amount of the party candidate spending the most money. Once elected independent candidates may not join a national party for at least one year.
  13. A party may not charge its members more than Rs 36 a year.
  14. Every person on the state's payroll - elected officials, bureaucrats, justices, police, army personnel - is to submit a Family Property Statement, to be posted online and archived and updated annually. Upon exiting the public sector, they may discontinue the practice, but the archives will remain, and the updates will resume should the individuals re-enter public service.
  15. Details of all expenses incurred by the state, to the last paisa, are to be posted online in the three languages. All contracts offered by the state to the private sector are to be bid for in a similar transparent manner from beginning to the end. All job applications and promotions in the public sector are to be similarly handled in a transparent manner.
  16. All formal political deliberations at all levels of government are to be posted online in as real time as possible in the language that was used at the venue. Efforts are to be made to make the same available in Nepali, Hindi and English. All votes are to be similarly made public. This is to start with the four parliaments at stage one.
  17. Every elected official at all levels of government is to get a decent monthly salary.
  18. Anyone above the age of 16 is a legible voter. Members of the Pratinidhi Sabha will have to be at least 23 years of age, and that of the Rajya Sabha at least 25 years of age. The terms of members of the two bodies shall last four and six years respectively. All elected officials are to have been citizens.
  19. Acts of impeachment require a vote of 65%. This constitution can be amended by the same vote margin.
  20. The parliamentarians may not increase their salaries in a way that might affect the members of the existing class. The same applies to the salaries of members of the cabinet.
  21. The parliament may create, merge and dissolve ministries, agencies and commissions as necessary.
Article 2: The Executive Branch
  1. The Prime Minister is directly elected by the people. If a candidate not earn 50% of the votes, a second round is to be held within a month of the first when the two top candidates contest. The Prime Minister serves a four year term.
  2. A candidate has to be a citizen.
  3. The Prime Minister may elect members to the Cabinet that might or might not be members of the parliament. But if a MP get into the cabinet, that parliamentary seat goes vacant.
  4. The Prime Minister makes nominations to the Supreme Court and other constitutional bodies like the Election Commission (EC) and the Commission to Control Corruption (CCC) - both of which are autonomous - to be confirmed by a 60% vote in the parliament. The commissioners serve 6-year terms.
  5. The army, to be called the Nepal Army, is not to be larger than 0.1% of the national population and is to be downsized accordingly within 5 years of this constitution getting promulgated. The Prime Minister is the Commander-In-Chief of the army.
  6. The central bank is to be autonomous, and the governor, to serve a six-year term, is to be appointed by the Prime Minister, subject to a 60% vote in the parliament.
  7. All appointments made by the Prime Minster, except for his or her personal staff, will need a majority vote in the parliament for confirmation, unless otherwise stated.
  8. The Prime Minister signs bills passed by the parliament. The Prime Minister may also be the originator of bills to the parliament.
  9. The Prime Minister may send back a bill passed by the parliament. But if the parliament send it back to him with a 60% vote, he has to sign it.
  10. If the Prime Minister not respond to a bill within 10 days of it having been sent to him, it is to be assumed signed.
Article 3: The Judiciary Branch
  1. The judiciary will reflect the composition of the government, from village/town to district, to state to the national level. Towns and cities with more than 25,000 people will be served with more than one court, the number to be decided through a formula by the state government. There will be a layer between the district and the state levels, the Appeals Court, 10 per state. The system is to be peopled like the civil service, on merit.
  2. The Prime Minister makes nominations to the national Supreme Court. The Chief Minister makes nominations to the State Supreme Court. Both are subject to their respective parliaments for 60% of the vote. Justices to the Supreme Court are to serve to the age of 75 or upto their voluntary retirement.
  3. The state and national Supreme Courts interpret the constitutionality of laws passed by the parliaments when thus challenged, but such interpretations may be overturned by the parliaments through a 65% vote.
  4. The parliament, federal or state, may not diminish the salary of a sitting judge.
Article 4: The States
  1. The current "zones" and "development regions" are to be abolished, but the "districts" are to be retained. The country is to be divided into three states, roughly of equal population, Eastern, Central, and Western, to be called Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali, that are to include all three geographical regions, Terai, Pahad and Himal, and based on the three river basins. Each state is to have a Pratinidhi Sabha, 120 members, and a Rajya Sabha, 40 members.
  2. The districts will have their own governments, forming a third layer, named Zillapalika. It is for each state to design the formation and functioning of its component district and town/city governments. The village units are to be called Grampalika, the town units are to be called Nagarpalika, and the city units Mahanagarpalika, and will form the fourth layer of government. District, town/city and village elected officials are to be at least 21 years of age.
  3. The federal government will directly transfer 10% of its annual budget to the 25 poorest districts measured by per capita income. This does not prevent further federal expenditures on those districts.
  4. The income tax structure is to be as follows: 50% federal, 30% state, 10% district, and 10% village/town/city. The income tax is to be collected by the federal government, and funds transferred by the same to the other levels of government as per this formula.
  5. The federal revenue from all sources other than income tax is also to be similarly allocated. 50% stays at the federal level, the rest goes to the three states equally. Each state is also to send out 40% of its non income tax budget directly to the districts in direct proportion to the population of each district.
  6. The education system shall follow a tri-lingual policy up to Class 10, beyond which it is for each individual institution to decide on their own as to the language of instruction. The first language is to be the student's first language, the second language is to be Nepali. For those for whom Nepali might be their first language, the student may choose any language spoken in Nepal. The third language is to be English, the contemporary language of science and commerce. This policy applies to schools in both the private and the public sectors. The language of instruction for all other subjects to Class 10 will be a decision to be made by the individual school boards for the public schools and by the owners of the private schools.
Article 5: President, Governors
  1. Every elected official in the country is to vote for a President who is to serve a five-year term and is to be the guardian of the constitution. A block of at least 30% of the national parliament may make nominations for the candidacy. When there are more than two candidates, the one who gets the most votes wins.
  2. Each state is to similarly elect a Governor.
  3. The parliament may not diminish the salary of a sitting president or governor.
Article 6: The Individual
  1. The individual is the most important component of the state and is to be protected and celebrated.
  2. Every person has a birth right to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, a right to a speedy, public trial, and a right to privacy, a protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. No person may be tried and punished for the same crime twice. No person will be compelled to testify against themselves. No person will be deprived of life, liberty or propety without due process of law. Private property may not be taken for public use without due compensation. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended. No ex post facto law shall be passed. No warrants are to be issued, except upon probable cause, and should specifically describe the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. A person charged with a crime is to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his or her favor, and is to have the Assistance of Counsel for his or her defence.
  3. Every person born in Nepal is a citizen of Nepal. But this does not prevent people not born in Nepal from seeking Nepali citizenship.
  4. Every person is equal under the law. Any law that might conflict with that fundamental premise will become null and void as soon as this constitution takes effect.
  5. No person shall be taxed more than 40% of their income by all levels of government put together. Those in the bottom 40% income brackets are not to pay any direct taxes.
  6. No business may be taxed more than 30% of its income, and businesses in the bottom 30% income brackets will not pay any taxes. All business expenses are tax write-offs.
  7. The sales tax may not exceed 10% and is to be collected by the state.
  8. Elections at all levels are to be organized on Saturdays.
  9. No citizen of age may be barred from voting for whatever reason.
  10. It is a stated goal of the state to make possible lifelong education for every person in the country through creative partnerships between the private and public sectors, and through creative uses of the internet. The state shall also attempt to provide universal access to secondary education and primary health care, free of cost. The secondary education provision applies to people in all age groups.
  11. The state shall attempt to provide universal access to micro-credit to all in the bottom 40% income brackets.
  12. All persons that might enter into agreements, either in the private or the public sector, to access credit will have the option to declare bankruptcy as a last resort. Money owed by an individual, as opposed to by a business or a corporation, may not be passed on to the next generation. Indentured servitude is an illegal form of collecting money owed by an individual or family. Money owed may not be paid for through manual labor. Any person, group or organization, lending money on interest, the total of which is larger than Rs 20,000, to be indexed to inflation as calculated every five years and rounded to the nearest thousand, is to register as a small business owner, and will be subject to taxation and regulation.
  13. All educational institutions, public and private, must have at least 10% of its students on need-based full scholarships. Institutions may also opt to have 5% on such full scholarships, and 10% on need-based half scholarships, or 5% on full, 6% on half, and 6% on one-third scholarships. But at no time should the proportion of full scholarships dip below 5%.
  14. Employees of the state in the education and health sectors will be paid salaries that are at least 10% larger than to those with similar qualifications serving in other fields.
  15. An accurate, scientific census is to be conducted every 10 years, and scientific projections are to be made for the intervening years.
Article 7: Capitals
  1. The national capital is to be shifted from Kathmandu to the Chitwan valley within 10 years of this constitution getting promulgated.
  2. Udaypur Valley, Chitwan Valley, and Surkhet Valley will respectively serve as the capitals for Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali.
Proposed Constitution (November 17)
Proposed Constitution (September 3)
Proposed Democratic Republican Constitution (August 12)
Janata Dal Constitution (August 8)
Proposed Constitution (June 18)
Reorganized UN, Proposed Constitution, Methods (May 30)
Proposed Constitution (May 3)
Shortcut To A New Constitution, Shortcut To Peace (April 8)
This Inadequate, Improper, Insufficient 1990 Constitution (April 4)

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Phone Talk With Girija Koirala: Meeting History Itself



I got to talk to Girija Koirala earlier, not long back.

My first sentence to Bill Clinton was “Mr. President, you are Elvis.”

My first sentence to Girija Koirala was “To be able to talk to you feels like having entered a museum.” The entire time I was on the phone with him I kept thinking, this is the closest to BP Koirala I will ever get. BP Koirala has a place in Nepali history that no other political figures does, certainly no king. That is for sure. But Girija Koirala is more than BP Koirala’s brother. BP had more than one brother: none of them attained Girija’s stature, and there is a reason why.

Much is made of Girija never having gone to college, as in by US standards. Some of the legends in American business have been college dropouts: Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, to name a few. We call them borderline geniuses. Not that I am suggesting Girija is a genius, although at one point I wrote a satire comparing his House revival idea to Newton’s theory of gravitation, as in to suggest the House revival idea was holding everything down! (Newton, Apples, And Girija's House Revival Idea)

At some level Girija’s reach into his party the Nepali Congress might be even deeper than that of BP Koirala himself. BP was a visionary, an intellectual, a towering one on that. But he was not much of a nuts and bolts man. Politics is a contact sport. You have to deal with petty people. BP steered above that too much, too well. Also he was ahead of his times. So he did not get to enjoy power like he deserved to. BP is the biggest and the easiest reason I dislike Mahendra. Mahendra deprived Nepal of BP: that is his crime. If Nepal had been a democracy 1960 onwards, I think it would have emerged a small scale Asian tiger, economically speaking.

BP was unlucky in many ways. But there was one luck he had. BP once called Girija a “Hawaldar,” a police constable. In actuality, Girija was and is BP’s Hanuman. Girija’s devotion has been as much to the cause of democracy as to BP, and somewhere in there gets mixed the love of one brother for another. That is one powerful combination.

The Gandhi family in India did put decades into the fight for independence. But it also enjoyed almost four and more decades in power. The Koirala family, on the other hand, has largely been in the wilderness. And the founding father BP did not even get to taste it, not even one full term.

BP had a hard time coming to terms with Mahendra’s pettiness. You only have to compare Mahendra’s third grade poems to BP’s major novels to see the obvious difference between the two. A system that puts Mahendra onto the throne and throws BP into jail is so obviously wrong. It is not even worth debating. If BP would only have written his novels and done nothing else, he would still have found himself in the same class as people like Laxmi Prasad Devkota.

If Nepal ever gave birth to its proudest son, it was BP. Buddha and BP. What a ridiculous country that BP was mostly either in jail or in exile. Nepal turned BP into an orphan. Karna was disowned.

But Girija really is more than BP’s brother. Girija has been an organization man. He has this magical grip on his party. He generates this intense loyalty from his cadres. When you look at the 1990s, it is so obvious Girija outshined even when Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Sher Bahadur Deuba became Prime Minister. Girija let them. But his Mps always maintained this fierce loyalty to him: it was almost animal. This man knows organization like few others in Nepali politics do. Yes, Girija has been capable of the petty. You wish BP had been. Maybe we would have had to see less of Mahendra.

At my blog I have been very critical of Girija. But it has always been a policy difference, not a personal dislike. Though I am not a Nepali Congress person, I am a Sadbhavana person. Social justice means to me what democracy means to Girija. And post-democracy there is going to be a healthy competition between the Nepali Congress and the Sadbhavana.

But then there is the ANTA, Association of Nepali Teraian in America. When it got founded, I got invited to hold some kind of a central office. I declined. I have been instrumental in launching the New York City and Baltimore-DC chapters of the ANTA. But I have refused to hold any official title with them. ANTA is a social, cultural organization. It is not politically hard core enough for me.

But Girija is. He is hard core. I identify with him. It is like the bond one soccer player might feel for another. I do have that for Girija. I feel that affinity.

Girija Koirala is a player.

I have been trying to get hold of his phone number for a while now. I sent out emails to people who had it. They did not email it to me. Access is power. I did not take all that too personally. But then I got to talk to Amik Sherchan yesterday. And towards the end of the conversation he asked me for my contact info. After I learned he was not into email, I proceeded to give him my phone number. Then I casually said I did have the numbers of five of the seven leaders. I did not have the numbers for Gopal Man Shrestha and Girija Koirala. Will he please give them to me? I knew he had them. He gave them to me, two numbers for Girija Babu.

The first two calls I placed, one got me a busy tone, the other phone did not get picked. This evening the call went through. Someone else picked the phone, some male. No, it was not Sujata.

I paid him my respects, and then requested a few minutes of his time for the few questions I had.

He first gave me a brief synposis of where he felt the movement was. He said the movement was now spreading all across the country. It was in Kathmandu, but now it was also in the districts. The goal was to boycott the February 8 polls, he said.

I asked him why he insisted that the 1999 House be revived.

He said it is important to seek continuity through the 1990 constitution that was an agreement between the people and the king. This was important for the history of the Nepali Congress. If the 1990 constitution is ditched so unceremoniously, that is like wiping out the entire history of the Congress. He said the House revival idea important for his party’s identity and history.

“They tried to erase our history in 2017 B.S.”

Nepal’s history started with Prithvi Narayan Shah, he said. The 1990 constitution is an important element of that continuity.

I said he and his party were already for a constituent assembly. That is like saying you are for a new constitution for the country. Is that not so?

He said that is true, but it is possible to go towards that new constitution through the old constitution.

I said what if instead we were to have an interim government like that of Kisunji’s in 1990 that will take the country towards a new constitution.

“But Kisunji’s interim government had the powers of the executive, the legislative, as well as the judiciary. If the king will agree to that, then of course, sure.”

So you are saying if such an interim government were possible, you will let go the House revival stand?

“Yes,” he said.

Let’s say this king is a ridiculous, nonsense person, and instead of the king coming around to the interim government, it is given birth to by a revolution.

“If it be through a revolution, why only an interim government,” Girija Babu said. “If a revolution were to take the country to a republic itself, why would I have any problems with that?”

“Ganatantra aye awos!”

Then I thanked him for his time. I said you are a busy man, I do not wish to take too much of your time.

“Jaya Nepal,” he said, ever the dutiful, loyal Nepali Congress soldier.

“Jaya Nepal,” I said to a man who is history himself talking.

I could not believe my ears at the end of it all. Girija sounded more reasonable and nuanced and flexible on the House revival stand than many of the other leaders in the seven party coalition who pretend to have been bullied into it by Girija.

Girija is not being obstinate. He is being practical. He does not have the luxury to get too ahead of the movement itself.

This talk with Girija Koirala also opens up doors and windows for me. I am going to keep calling the top dogs in the seven party coalition. I want to be part of the conversation as they take their 12 point agreement to the next step.

The country needs a fundamental bipolarization. First the seven parties and the Maoists have to come up with a program that they are both fully behind, and feel comfortable with. And the Citizens Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP) has to come around to accepting the leadership of the seven parties, to the idea of joint programs. Of the four projects we in the diaspora are involved with, two are to do with the CMDP, and two are to do with the seven party coalition. The idea is to bring those two forces together.

One pole, the king. Another, the seven parties, the Maoists, and the CMDP.

The external work has already been done. The king is isolated globally. He is a persona non grata on the world stage. He can be isolated even further, if need be. The bipolarization will also isolate him inside the country. He is going to have to do business or get out of the way.

This is not about Girija Koirala or Madhav Kumar Nepal, although they are important and indispensable vehicles. This is about the 27 million people of Nepal. This is about democracy. The Nepali people are too good not to have it. Not even kings can get in the way, especially kings.

Girija Babu, my salutes to you. You are a soldier of democracy. Please let go the House revival stand in exchange for the Maoists letting go of their army totally before the country goes through a constituent assembly. Let’s move straight for an interim government. When the revolution enters its peak, we can get that interim government on our own, with or without the king coming along to the idea. Nothing and nobody can erase your personal history, or the personal history of your brother, the Mahamanav BP Koirala, and most certainly not the history of the Nepali Congress. Your party gets major credit for the 1990 constitution which was most definitely a democratic constitution, no doubts about that. But now is the time and opportunity for your party to reinvent itself and lay major claim also to the next constitution this country will have. If you do it right, perhaps your broken party will reunite, perhaps the smaller parties will merge into your party, and perhaps your party will emerge the largest party all over again.

Your party has laid claim to democracy. It perhaps can also lay claim to social justice.

But it all really starts with your letting go the House revival stand. Enough waiting. Time for the next step. Let’s move straight towards an interim government of the seven parties.