What Nepal needs today is a culture of tolerance in this Himalayan conflict. Only then will it be possible for a coexistence in harmony between the warring political parties, cultures and religions in Nepal. This culture of tolerance and a civilisation of peace is only possible if the Nepalese work courageously and decisively towards non-violence. As a German saying goes: Gewalt erzeugt Gewalt. Aggression creates more aggression.

An open dialogue carried out with respect for each other’s opinions leads to a fruitful solution. After years of battling with each other, the Maoists, democratic parties and the monarch should realise that what all in the end desire is peace. There is better path than the path of violence. Aggressive behaviour in this Nepali context will lead to destruction of all involved in this struggle. A further escalation can lead to an irreversible national tragedy.

It is important in Nepal’s case to use a hermaneutic method in which we try to understand all involved sides: the King, the Maoists and the members of the different political parties.

What does the King want? The Nepalese King Gyanendra Shah said in his first Badadasain speech, that he wanted to uphold the Nepalese constitution and nationalism and mentioned “The institution of monarchy, as in the past, will remain steadfast in the commitment to the unity and welfare of the Nepalese people. It remains unwavering in safeguarding the constitution and upholding nationalism.” One can’t speak of unity when a civil war has been raging since a decade, and the people are divided between loyalty to the Royals and the Maoists, who have been in the past intimidating and indoctrinating the previous landlords and intellectuals.

A horrific drama was staged in Nepal. A drama of mothers, who will never see their sons, men, and children who killed other children, men and women, youths who believed, and still do, in aggression, instead of love. We merely have to see the press photos of Nepalese women, children and misled youth who have changed sides to don camouflage battle dresses instead of the dawra suruwal and topi attire in civil, peaceful times. Oh, the horror and shame of it, to have turned a tolerant, peaceful country through boundless egoism and brutal aggression into killing fields under the shadow of the Himalayas.

The search for quick, aggressive solutions by humans armed with imported weapons in the Himalayas, as in other societies of the world, is due to the pride of belonging to a pure, super race, a higher culture, better ideology, religion, and caste or class in society. This leads to a monopolistic line of thought in which one’s ideology, class, caste, race is regarded as dominant and superior to others. We have seen such instances in Auschwitz, Pol Pot’s massacres, in Iraq and elsewhere.

In order to have peace in the Himalayas, the Nepalese have to develop a heart that is ready to change, and try to resist the temptation of making serfs out of the vanquished. The human factor is missing, and the society is helpless and paralysed in this tragedy. And the arsenal of death has been growing, the many deaths and executions due to bullets and mines. Only tolerance can lead to a culture of peace and tranquillity. We have no alternative but to regard each other as humans, and not as objects, and try together to carry out fruitful dialogues that are open for tolerance and respect for the lives of each other.

The Maoists, alias Maobadis, dream of Mao Zedong’s ideology, use his strategy and are determined to establish a socialist republic in Nepal, which naturally means a humanitarian disaster, with reluctant Nepalese fleeing across the border seeking asylum and refuge from the brutal Maoists, in democratic and friendly countries in the neighbourhood and elsewhere. According to some organisations at least 200,000 Nepalese have left their homes and another 1,8 million have sought refuge in other countries. Among them are Nepal’s intellectuals: politicians, civil servants, teachers, medical doctors, male and female nurses. Between 1996 and 2005 the Maoists killed 4,500 Nepalese and the Royal Nepalese Army and police killed 8,200 Nepalese.

In the past, the Maoists gathered money for their battle operations through donations forced at gun-point. For a long period the Maoists gave the impression that they had no intention of doing away with the monarchy, because they knew that the uneducated subjects of the kingdom worshipped the King as an incarnation of Vishnu. So they wanted to carry out talks with the King and not the bickering, power-drunk leaders of the different political parties. Monarchy is at the moment down, but not out, but lying low.

Nepal’s Maoists have to learn that their faith in Maoism, namely that theirs is the only true ideology suitable for Nepal, has its limits. The Maoists of Nepal have yet to develop a tolerant, civilised behaviour in the positive meaning of the word, for at the moment they are in the brutal and aggressive phase of the conflict. They have to be allowed a re-entry into politics through an amnesty under the condition that they approve of laying down their weapons. This hasn’t happened as yet, for the Maoists have grown fond of their weapons.

Then comes the retreat in which they will show a passive behaviour and thirdly a dialogue-phase, during which they have to recognise the values and norms set by the democratic constitution of Nepal.

This dialogue can take place only through a realistic and rational analysis by Nepal’s Maoists, the King and the other political parties involved in this struggle for power in the Nepalese political landscape. Only this path leads to solidarity between the different holders of power in the country.

Even the Panchayat democrats had to realise that the ancient Hindu idea of a Panchayat rule, derived from the model of five village elders at the national assembly level, was a system and religious ideology that did not go with modern times. It must be mentioned that the Panchayat politicians were more or less marionettes of the Royal Narayanhiti Palace, who were sacked and others appointed, when they made mistakes in decision-making or were used as scapegoats during political upheavals.

The political parties have had their share of power after the declaration of democracy in 1990, and they had to solve the problems of a rising population, a shortage of food, degeneration of the ecology, the rising number of jobless Nepalese. The social tension was also getting worse. In January 2004 senior leaders of democratic political parties edged towards the students’ and the Maoists’ point of view, which was indeed a critical and disturbing development in Nepal, for it included the political centrists who had helped negotiate Nepal’s transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy after the riots of 1990 for democracy.

Since then, the farmers of Nepal have seen eight governments and seven prime ministers. The leaders of the political parties were hungry for power, corrupt and unable to give the country the necessary boost. The Nepalese have an average income of 200 euros per person. 31 % of Nepal’s 27 million people live under the poverty line.

There is no doubt that the Rana and Shah families, which have ruled Nepal for 250 years, have profited immensely since the days of Prithvi Narayan Shah. In the Kathmandu Valley of yore, there were three independent kingdoms with kings ruling the Newari subjects. In 1768 the ninth Shah King Prithvi Narayan conquered Kathmandu Valley and moved his capital from Gorkha to Kathmandu and founded what we know as Nepal today. The Shah dynasty was established and Prithvi Narayan Shah’s successors ruled till 1846. The Kot massacre took place near Kathmandu’s Durbar Square whereby Jung Bahadur Rana emerged as Nepal’s prime minister, and later became the maharaja of Nepal, a hereditary title which the Ranas held for 104 years. The successors of King Tribhuvan were King Mahendra, King Birendra and the present King Gyanendra Shah.

But the economic curve of this country has rapidly sunk in the past years. Nepal’s carpet industry, which gave work to 550,000 workers in 1992 has shrunk to less than half. The textile industry which had previously 70,000 workers has gone down to 20,000 workers. Tourists have also been advised by their respective embassies to avoid Nepal because of the Maoist struggle and has sunk to 38% since 1998. And the agricultural sector is also in bad shape.

Globalisation has shown that the world is becoming a global village with trade and commence based on mutual respect of laws and rules, tolerance and a policy of give-and-take. The former East Bloc countries are competing with each other to become members of the European Union and Nato, provided they embrace and introduce democratic values and norms. In this sense, the Maoists of Nepal cannot hope to create a communist enclave in the Himalayas for long, because Nepal is important as a bulwark and buffer-state between China and India, two military super-powers and economic giants. Nepal is like a hinge between China and India, and possesses geopolitical importance and the Himalayan vacuum, which is feared to develop, is of interest to the USA and other countries.

King Gyanendra Shah is on record as saying to his countrymen, “We should be pragmatic in the analysis of our geo-political sensitivities, socio-cultural systems and economic realities, ensuring a just and equitable share for all.” King Gyanendra dismissed the admittedly corrupt and incompetent government of PM Sher Bahadur Deuba in October 2002. Soon after King Gyanendra assumed executive authority himself. The King picked two governments but they could not resolve Nepal’s problems.

A new development is rather disturbing, for the political parties and the Maoists have joined together and pulled a fast one on King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shahdeva. I dread to think about the consequences of this unholy alliance. In the past the political parties of Nepal have said that they would not enter into any formal relationship with the Maoists, unless and until the Maoists renounce violence. The latter have yet to put down their weapons and commit to supporting the democratic process. Abduction and extortion is still the order of the day beneath the shadow of the Himalayas.

The goal of my words for tolerance is to make the Nepalese realise that tolerance is of universal value and is necessary for the development of peace and solidarity. If we are tolerant, we can seek peaceful solutions in the case of conflict between the King, the Maoists and the political parties. There cannot be a progressive dialogue between the quarrelling parties involved in this poor Himalayan country. The longer the dialogue is blocked by aggressive means, the longer will be the suffering of the average Nepalese in the Terai and the hills of Nepal. It is only through tolerance, solidarity and brotherhood that the peoples of Nepal can achieve their goals of a better life, good governance and a livelihood in peace. We are all seeking a common goal, though the means are different at the moment.

I wish Nepal a new era of democracy, peace and tolerance, generosity and broadmindedness in the Nepalese society, above the narrow-minded, illiberal, bigoted, prejudiced caste and ideology thinking in the past. It is hoped that we Nepalese will preserve our rich culture, ethnic diversity and great religions, and still go with the rest of the world towards an enlightened, peaceful and tolerant society in the Himalayas, by laying down the weapons of death, and beginning anew to respect human values and norms that have helped the Nepalese people ever since this nation was established.

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My Nepal, Quo vadis? (Satis Shroff)

My Nepal, what has become of you?

Your features have changed with time.

The innocent face of the Kumari

Has changed to the blood-thirsty countenance

Of Kal Bhairab,

From development to destruction,

From bikas to binas.

A crown prince fell in love,

But couldn’t assert himself,

In a palace where ancient traditions still prevail.

Despite Eton college and a liberal education,

He chose guns instead of rhetoric,

And ended his young life,

As well as those of his parents and other royal members.

An aunt from London aptly remarked,

‘He was like the terminator.’

Another bloodshed in a Gorkha palace,

Recalling the Kot massacre under Jung Bahadur Rana.

You’re no longer the same

There’s insurrection and turmoil

Against the government and the police.

Your sons and daughters are at war,

With the Gurkhas again.

Maobadis with revolutionary flair,

With ideologies from across the Tibetan Plateau and Peru.

Ideologies that have been discredited elsewhere,

Flourish in the Himalayas.

Demanding a revolutionary-tax from tourists and Nepalis

With brazen, bloody attacks

Fighting for their own rights

And the rights of the bewildered common man.

Well-trained government troops at the orders

Of politicians safe in Kathmandu.

Leaders who despise talks and compromises,

Flex their tongues and muscles,

And let the imported automatic salves speak their deaths.

Ill-armed guerrillas against well-armed Royal Gurkhas

In the foothills of the Himalayas.

Nepali children have no chance, but to take sides

To take to arms not knowing the reason and against whom.

The child-soldier gets orders from grown-ups

And the hapless souls open fire.

Hukum is order, the child-soldier cannot reason why.

Shedding precious human blood,

For causes they both hold high.

Ach, this massacre in the shadow of the Himalayas.

Nepalis look out of their ornate windows,

In the west, east, north and south Nepal

And think:

How long will this krieg go on?

How much do we have to suffer?

How many money-lenders, businessmen, civil servants,

Policemen and gurkhas do the Maobadis want to kill

Or be killed?

How many men, women, boys and girls have to be mortally injured

Till Kal Bhairab is pacified by the Sleeping Vishnu?

How many towns and villages in the seventy five districts

Do the Maobadis want to free from capitalism?

When the missionaries close their schools,

Must the Hindus and Buddhists shut their temples and shrines?

Shall atheism be the order of the day?

Not in Nepal.

It breaks my heart, as I hear over the radio:

Nepal’s not safe for visitors.

Visitors who leave their money behind,

In the pockets of travel agencies, rug dealers, currency and drug dealers,

And hordes of ill-paid honest Sherpas and Tamang porters.

Sweat beads trickling from their sun-burnt faces,

In the dizzy heights of the Dolpo, Annapurna ranges

And the Khumbu glaciers.

Eking out a living and facing the treacherous

Icy crevasses, snow-outs, precipices

And a thousand deaths.

Beyond the beaten trekking paths

Live the poorer families of Nepal.

No roads, no schools,

Sans drinking water and sans hospitals,

Where aids and children’s work prevail.

Lichhavis, Thakuris and Mallas have made you eternal

Man Deva inscribed his title on the pillar of Changu,

After great victories over neighbouring states.

Amshu Verma was a warrior and mastered the Lichavi Code.

He gave his daughter in marriage to Srong Beean Sgam Po,

The ruler of Tibet, who also married a Chinese princess.

Jayastathi Malla ruled long and introduced the system of the caste,

A system based on the family occupation,

That became rigid with the tide of time.

Yaksha Malla the ruler of Kathmandu Valley,

Divided it into Kathmandu, Patan and Bhadgaon for his three sons.

It was Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha,

Who brought you together,

As a melting pot of ethnic diversities.

With Gorkha conquests that cost the motherland

Thousands of ears, noses and Nepali blood

The Ranas usurped the royal throne

And put a prime minister after the other for 104 years.

104 years of a country in poverty and medieval existence.

It was King Tribhuvan’s proclamation and the blood of the Nepalis,

Who fought against the Gorkhas under the command of the Ranas,

That ended the Rana autocracy.

His son King Mahendra saw to it that he held the septre

When Nepal entered the UNO.

The multiparty system along with the Congress party was banned.

Then came thirty years of Panchayat promises of a Hindu rule

With a system based on the five village elders,

Like the proverbial five fingers in one’s hand,

That are not alike and yet functioned in harmony.

The Panchayat government was indeed an old system,

Packed and sold as a new and traditional one.

A system is just as good as the people who run it.

And Nepal didn’t run.

It revived the age-old chakary,

Feudalism with its countless spies and yes-men,

Middle-men who held out their hands

For bribes, perks and amenities.

Poverty, caste-system with its divisions and conflicts,

Discrimination, injustice, bad governance

Became the nature of the day.

A big chasm appeared between the haves-and-have-nots.

The social inequality, frustrated expectations of the poor

Led to a search for an alternative pole.

The farmers were ignored, the forests and land confiscated,

Corruption and inefficiency became the rule of the day.

Even His Majesty’s servants went so far as to say:

Raja ko kam, kahiley jahla gham.

The birthplace of Buddha

And the Land of Pashupati,

A land which King Birendra declared a Zone of Peace,

Through signatures of the world’s leaders

Is at war today.

Bush’s government paid 24 million dollars for development aid,

Another 14 million dollars for insurgency relevant spendings

5,000 M-16 rifles from the USA

5,500 maschine guns from Belgium.

Guns that are aimed at Nepali men, women and children,

In the mountains of Nepal.

Alas, under the shade of the Himalayas,

This corner of the world has become volatile again.

My academic friends have changed sides,

From Mandalay to Congress

From Congress to the Maobadis.

The students from Dolpo and Silgadi,

Made unforgettable by Peter Mathiessen in his quest for his inner self

And his friend George Schaller’s search for the snow leopard,

Wrote Marxist verses and acquired volumes

From the embassies in Kathmandu:

Kim Il Sung’s writings, Mao’s red booklet,

Marx’s Das Kapital and Lenin’s works,

And defended socialist ideas

At His Majesty’s Central Hostel in Tahachal.

I see their earnest faces, with guns in their arms

Instead of books,

Boisterous and ready to fight to the end

For a cause they cherish in their frustrated and fiery hearts.

But aren’t these sons of Nepal misguided and blinded

By the seemingly victories of socialism?

Even Gorbachov pleaded for Peristroika,

And Putin admires Germany, its culture and commerce.

Look at the old Soviet Union, and other East Bloc nations.

They have all swapped sides and are EU and Nato members.

Globalisation has changed the world fast,

But in Nepal time stands still.

After King Gyanendra’s coup on February 1, 2005

Nepalis aren’t allowed to assemble, even peacefully,

The right to assemble has been scrapped,

Preventive detention has become the law of the day.

Rights to property and privacy are denied at will.

The subjects of Nepal enjoy no free press.

The blind beggar at the New Road gate sings:

Lata ko desh ma, gaddha tandheri.

In a land where the tongue-tied live,

The deaf desire to rule.

Oh my Nepal, quo vadis?

The only way to peace and harmony is

By laying aside the arms.

Can Nepal afford to be the bastion of a movement and a government

That rides rough-shod over the lives and rights of fellow Nepalis?

Can’t we learn from the lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq?

The Maobadis have been given a chance at the polls,

Like all other democratic parties.

Even the Maobadi warlords are Gurungs, Tamangs,

Rais, Subbas and Bahuns and Chettris,

Be they Prachanda or Baburam Bhattrai,

Leaders who prefer to retain their power in Nepal,

With weapons still.

Glossary:

Maobadis: Maoist communists who have been fighting for a communist-ruled Nepal since 1996.

Raja ko kam: the King’s Service

Kahiley jala gham: when is it going to be sunset

Article Source: http://www.articleset.com