Nepal Continues to Polarize, Growing Split Within the UML

Report by Mukit N. Kattel.

The situation in Nepal has become even more scary. The main ruling party has officially put the conditions of disarmament of the Maoist party before constitution writing and ordered the prime minister to stay on the position. The monarchist groups are nullifying the clauses of the interim constitution (like the clauses of secularism) to prepare moral ground for claiming the resumption of the pre-JanaAndolan II constitution. Debate is underway whether or not to extend the term of the constituent assembly. Some ethnic groups (like the Kirant) have started attacking police posts and putting local administrative building in fire to start their new democratic government at the local level. People have  confiscated Katuwal's property and many other lands in the countryside. The government has attacked and relocated some slum areas settled this way in eastern Nepal.
 

A severe inner-party struggle has started in the ruling UML party. This party has not been able to take action against the pro-Maoist Vice Chairman and his group. Physical confrontations have been reported between the Oli (the most notorious figure in the UML party) group of students and non-Oli group of students at RR college in the capital city.

The Maoists have cancelled the mass rally slated for May 25 and have rescheduled for May 29, the Republican Day and the end of the current term of the Consitution Assembly and the end of the period for constitution writing. They have declared that they would promulgate a peoples' constitution from the street on that day (to my knowledge, their constitution has not been public yet for discussion).

Footage from Lal Salaam's May 13 Public Event in Toronto

Presentations by: Katharine Rankin - Associate Professor and Director of Planning, University of Toronto. Derek Rosin - solidarity activist. Anil Bhattarai - reporter for The Kathmandu Post. Recorded May 13, Toronto, Canada.

No revolution can be replicated but developed

By Basanta, The Worker #11, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), July 2007, pp. pp. 15-24.

“We do not regard Marx’s theory as something completed and inviolable; on the contrary, we are convinced that it has only laid the foundation stone of the science which socialists must develop in all directions if they wish to keep pace with life. We think that an independent elaboration of Marx’s theory is especially essential for Russian socialists; for this theory provides only general guiding principles, which, in particular, are applied in England differently than in France, in France differently than in Germany, and in Germany differently than in Russia.”
V. I. Lenin [a]

Introduction:
 
Under the adept leadership of chairman comrade Prachanda, our party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), has been leading powerful people’s war since February 13, 1996. This revolution, irrigated by the blood of more than 13,000 best sons and daughters of Nepalese people, is now clashing at close with the enemies to give birth to a new Nepal, free from feudal and imperialist exploitation. Ever since the loss of proletarian power by our class in China, it is the only revolution that has attained this height. It is not that communist parties are not engaged in revolutionary struggles all through the period following it. Also, it is not to speak ill of others, but it is a living fact that it is the only people’s revolution, which has reached this level in the contemporary communist movement. Naturally, this great accomplishment has on the one hand become pupil of eyes for the proletariat and oppressed classes the world over and dust in eyes for imperialism and all sorts of reactions, on the other. It shows the great opportunities and grave challenges before our party and the revolution it has been leading.

Today, the New Democratic Revolution in Nepal is at a crucial juncture of great victory and severe setback. It is true for any revolution when it reaches at the threshold of seizing central power. In such a situation, only a correct political tactic can lead to great accomplishment while a wrong one is bound to result into disastrous consequence. We have witnessed triumphant revolutions in Russia and China. We have also witnessed serious setbacks of proletarian revolution in other parts of the world. We have sufficient treasury of experiences, positive and negative in the international communist movement. Success or failure of any revolution is dependent on whether or not the party of the proletariat can draw correct lesson from those experiences, both negative and positive, and apply the positive ones creatively in agreement with the specificity of the given country.

International situation: FAVOURABLE or UNFAVOURABLE?

by C. P. Gajurel ‘Gaurav’, Secretary of UCPN-Maoist

Communist Movement is an internationalist movement. Goal of all communists, provided they are truly communists, is communism. We should not be confused about vulgar distortions of communism whether it is ‘National communism’ or ‘Euro communism’. Internationalist nature of communists is characterized by the principle ‘either we all reach or none of us’. This is the basis of proletarian internationalism.

International situation is not same as proletarian internationalism.

Apart from the domestic situation, which is decisive, Communist movement is definitely influenced by international situation of the given time. Development of communist movement of a single country definitely depends upon the favourable or unfavourable international situation. Success or failure of revolution of individual country also largely depends on favourable or unfavourable international situation. In many cases, the question of ‘unfavourable international situation’ is being (mis)used by rightists or revisionists to justify their degeneration from a communist or revolutionary to a revisionist or a bourgeois politician. None of the revisionists of the world declare themselves as revisionists; rather they try to show that they are revolutionaries and are still communists. Capitalist class is an exploiter and oppressor class. So it is quite natural that the politicians openly representing the class interest of this class will not be able to garner support from the broad masses.

So in order to garner support of the broad masses, the revisionists, who represent the class interest of the bourgeoisie, disguise themselves as “communists”. They always distort the revolutionary line and situation in service of the bourgeoisie. They are the people who sabotage the revolution from within. Words like “Communism”, “revolution” are the masks of revisionists under which they cover their ugly bourgeois face. Revisionists of this era always prolong or delay or stop the revolution in the pretext of “unfavourable” international situation. They have regular and long time idea which states that no revolution can take place when there is “unfavourable international situation” and for them “unfavourable international situation” is permanent.

Lal Salaam Chapter Formed in Quebec

Lal Salaam Réseau de solidarité avec le Népal has been formed!  Their blog can be found here.  They can be reached at lalsalaam [dot] quebec [at] gmail [dot] com.

Jed Brandt's Images From Nepal

Jed Brant, a member of the Kasama Project in the US, is in Nepal reporting on the revolutionary movement there.  He is also a skilled photographer and has been regularly posting his pictures here.

Himalayan precipice: Time is running out for attempts to settle the country’s confrontation

From The Economist.

NEPAL’S Maoists can put on an impressive display. For the past week they have endured torrential rain and outbreaks of diarrhoea to bring the capital, Kathmandu, and the rest of the country, to a halt. Then, on May 4th, tens of thousands formed a human chain around both sides of the 27km (17-mile) ring road, surrounding and cutting off the capital. In a country where politics is marked by incompetence and cynicism, no other force can match the former rebels for commitment or organisation—which is only one reason why everyone else finds them so frightening.

After ten years of insurgency the Maoists laid down their arms and signed a peace deal in 2006. That deal is now on the verge of collapse. The heart of the process is the writing of a new constitution, a long-standing Maoist demand. When a Constituent Assembly was elected in 2008 to write it, the Maoists emerged with an effective veto and twice as many seats as their nearest rival.

Then things started falling apart. A Maoist-led government resigned after less than a year when the prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda (“fierce one”), sacked the army chief as part of a dispute over integrating former guerrillas into the army—only to see him controversially reinstated by the president. With some prodding from India, 22 parties cobbled together an anti-Maoist coalition, but the constitution-writing process stalled. May 28th marks the expiry of the interim charter under which the country has been operating. If there is no agreement to amend it, Nepal will plunge into legal limbo. No one knows what law—if any—will then apply.

Nepal in the Eye of the Hurricane

Report by Mukit N. Kattel. This report covers the developments until noon May 11 Nepal  time.

Nepal appears slow today as the Maoist Party does not have any protest program until Jestha 11 (by Nepali calendar or May 25). The Maoists have a vigorous stir planned from that date onward and have said that  preparations are currently underway and so is the case with their rivals. Bloodshed is likely after this date if the current stalemate continues. The Maoists refused to respond to a letter by the Prime Minister that requested that the Maoists sit down for talks. The Maoists have said that they would not sit for talks until the Prime Minster resigns.

The proposed deadline for the promulgation of a new constitution is May 28. Based on developments so far, no new constitution is likely by that deadline and a constitutional vacuum is likely. The Maoist Party is saying that the people themselves will promulgate a new constitution from the street on or after May 28.  The current ruling parties seem ready to respond with a declaration of a state of emergency so that they do not need any parliamentary approval for the extension of their tenure for another six months. The monarch and his camp are also waiting for that vacuum. The monarch last month said that he has not been constitutionally ousted yet as the existing constitution remains valid unless it is replaced by the new one.  They are provoking people with anti-secularist and anti-federalist slogans (and this slogan is being backed by Hindu orthodox groups in India).  There are many commonalities in interest between the current ruling parties and the monarch on army issues, land issues, etc. and the biggest partner of the ruling coalition, the Nepali Congress, is against federalism.

Balance of Power Shifting, PM Losing Foreign and Local Support

Report by Mukit N. Kattel.

 

Today's (May 10) development in Nepal is the announcement from the goverment that it is not stepping down despite its previous word that it would consider resigning if the general strike was called off. The government  has repeated the same conditions for the resignation and promulgation of the new constitution: the Maoist party should be disarmed (by merging few Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) with the old army on person to person basis (not by group identity) and by rehabilitating most of them in the society, remove the para millitary nature of the YCL(young communist league), return the land and houses confiscated during the peoples' war to the respective landlords, etc. ). Tough physical confrontations are likely if current situations continue.

By 12:30 pm Nepali time of May 10, some changes in power balance have appeared. The UCPN(Maoist) has declined the call from the Prime Minister for sitting for dialogue. They have said that they would not sit for dialogue until the resignation by the Prime Minister. The diplomatic missions in Nepal and the people that led the peace rally against the strike have pressed the government to consider a consensus government, accommodative constitution and army integration (and implied that the government should keep its word by resigning). Reputed dailies have stated that CPN Maoist are getting favour from 10 parties in the Constituent Assembly. Maoists have continued protests and surrounding activities in front of the main administrative building in the capital city to halt the administrative activity. They have said that they are resuming nationwide massive protests and other peaceful activities again from May 11 onward. Today, the BBC Nepali radio interviewed representatives from all major parties and exposed what the bottleneck was and who the problem makers were. The interview made clear that the main issue of disagreement was the method of PLA integration.

Most of protesters of May 1 are reported to be still in the capital city for the next phase of stir.

Gov't Refuses to Step Down Despite Strike Call-Off, Clashes Intesify

Report by Mukit N. Kattel.  Nepali speaking readers are encouraged to tune in to Radio Mirmire.  This report covers the developments until 1:45 pm May 9 Nepal time (2:30 am eastern time USA/Canada). 

The call off of general strike by the Maoist party the day before yesterday night created some confusion in people. Maoist leadership organized a public meeting yesterday to clarify their stance. The leadership clarified that they had dropped only the general strike component, not the whole movement. The chairman of the party said that they dropped that component to stop the people to people confrontations created by the government and to respect the demand of the government that they would consider their stepping down once the general strike was called off. The chairman said they would continue peaceful protests and warned that they would go for even higher level of movement if the government did not respond to the call off of the general strike by stepping down within two days.  He said his party would not even sit for talk unless the prime minister would step down.  After this public meeting, the confusion has been largely removed. Most civil society people, political parties, ordinary people, Nepal government and foreign diplomats have welcomed the call off. Some people and few protestors appeared to feel that the call off would not do good to the movement but most protestors look in favor of the step. From the chairperson’s speech, most people have gathered that the party would go for higher level of movement if the government would not step down. The stepping down of the current government means the stepping up of the Maoist party to the government. They think this stepping up would be helpful in many respects---they would be in upper hand position to restructure the army by integrating the peoples’ liberation army, to incorporate peoples aspirations in the forth coming constitution and to create a smoother transitioning to peoples’ democracy in the country.

Contrary to the expectations and request of most people, the government is not going to step down even though their demand of calling off of the general strike has been fulfilled. The meeting of 15 parties involved in the government yesterday has repeated their old stance (that the UPCN(M) affiliated Young Communist League should remove its para-military nature, that the properties and land confiscated during the 10-year Peoples’ War that is being used by the landless people be returned back to the old landlords, the new constitution will not be promulgated until the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) is merged with the old army, only few PLA will be merged on one by one basis rather than in bulk, and not the whole lot that were qualified by the United Nations, they cannot mention secularism, federalism, civil supremacy over the military, peoples over-riding power, peoples’ democracy, labor class rights, etc. in the preamble and other relevant sections of the constitution, etc. etc.) and have declared that  the government would not step down until the whole movement is dropped and their demand mentioned above is met. The resignation of the prime minster has thus become symbolic and an entry-point demand of the movement and has become a tussle between the regressives/status-quoists and the progressives. This situation is inviting a decisive class struggle.

Today, according to Mirmire FM radio and Sagarmatha FM radio’s live broadcast (Radio Mirmire has even stationed itself at the protest sites), peaceful protests are underway in more than a dozen places outside the capital cities and at more than a dozen places in the capital city, including the Singh Durbar area. The army has started heavily-armed patrols, the police has become more aggressive with the protesters and the youth wings of the ruling parties are attacking the protests in a hit-and-run manner. The army has not allowed the entry of even the employees into the main administrative building, the Singh Durbar. More than a dozen protestors and about the same number of policemen have been injured already. Police have heavily used tear gas to disperse the confrontations caused by the UML affiliated Youth Force attackers. The protesters have captured a few Youth Force people attacking the protests with weapons and have been submitted to the Nepali human right activists and UN High Commission for Human Rights people. Similarly, they have captured people from the intelligence bureau of the police with their identification cards who infiltrated into the protests and threw stones at the police to provoke them and have also been submitted to the human rights activists. This is the reason why the government has decided to remove the United Nations Human Rights offices from the periphery of the country and if possible, they would remove them from the country itself. It also shows that the government is well prepared to launch a heavy operation against the progressives to prevent the promulgation of a progressive constitution in the country.