05-16-2006, 09:32 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>POLITICS OF VENDETTA AGAINÂ </b>
The arrests of some prominent monarchists by the Koirala government would send all the wrong signals, writes Jyoti Malhotra
Koirala with Tamrat Samuel of the UN department of political affairsÂ
Just as the landing of the former royal, Karan Singh, in Kathmandu in the middle of the <b>democracy movement only gave more teeth to the struggle, the arrest over the weekend of all the kingâs men by G.P. Koiralaâs government will only detract from the credibility of the new sarkar.</b>
The truth is, the east is red this season in south Asia. The re-storming of its bastions by the Left Front in Kerala and West Bengal last week has affirmed again the importance of the aam admi in this age of corporate globalization. But it was the kingdom of the gods, Nepal, that had shown a whole month before that the spirit of the revolution was alive and well in south Asia.
The disciplined and determined marching of young people on the streets of Kathmandu through April, the columns of bodies willing themselves to break the curfew day after day, in honour of their own spirit and in honour of a new Nepal, will definitely go down in history as the making of a model revolution.
By the way, those young men and women had not only put the corrupted institution of monarchy on notice â but just as important, the political parties on alert. This is the double message of Nepalâs revolution. Already, though, the prime minister, G.P. Koirala, has been displaying such a shockingly immature political instinct that it boggles the imagination. In a move that is reminiscent of the autocracy of the paanch sarkar, as the monarchy in Nepal is called, <b>Koiralaâs new sarkar ordered the arrests of the five most powerful ministers (foreign affairs, home, communications, local administration and health) in King Gyanendraâs government and suspended three security and intelligence chiefs in Kathmandu last week.</b>
<b>Worse, Koiralaâs order was issued after an emergency cabinet meeting in his house, under the same laws that used to be invoked by Gyanendra when he summarily dismissed governments he did not like. New Delhi has, so far, not reacted publicly to Koiralaâs dismissals, but it is not likely to go down well with India. If Koirala thought he was going to get both Maoist sympathy as well as international approval for his move, he should perhaps pay closer attention to what the people are saying â both in his own country as well as in India, whose public opinion has always played a big role in shaping the democratic profile of Nepal.</b>
Unfortunately for Koirala, a large majority of the people, including those who vociferously supported Aprilâs jan aandolan, feel that this move smacks of vendetta. Many feel that Koirala should learn from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up by black South Africa after it became independent of white rule in 1994. <b>In India, too, the countryâs 500-odd princes gave up their special privileges to join the Indian Union in 1950 after Vallabhbhai Patel entered into a dialogue with them. The demolition of their privy purses happened much later, in 1971, when these former blue-bloods had had a chance to absorb the republican spirit.</b>
Surely, Nepal cannot be that different. If anything, G.P. Koirala must have his finger on the pulse of all Nepalâs citizens, irrespective of their ideological belief. He must offer former offenders a chance to repent and the new rulers, the opportunity to forgive. Thatâs what Mahatma Gandhi did with the British. Thatâs the way of south Asia.
Koirala, who has perhaps lived in exile longer than any of his comrades, knows that is a basic truth. The large majority of the subcontinent, always centrist, wants its fundamental rights protected so that nobody is above the law. That means both king and commoner must respect the wishes and traditions of the people.
In this case, Koirala should have simply curtailed all the powers of the king, especially his control over the army. If the king resisted such a move, then sterner measures can be called for â including international censure. But arresting the kingâs coterie can only lead to a backlash, especially in a country where the mood is still fragile.
This delicacy of the moment currently defines Nepal. Koirala, in his new incarnation as prime minister, must rise above party and post and persuade all Nepalis to see reason. For example, just as the royalists will have to be told that they are not so special anymore, that they will have to surrender their vast land holdings to the state, the Maoists will similarly have to be told to respect the traditions of the people. Peopleâs courts, in which justice is summarily executed, are just not on, for example. Nor is urinating on shiv lingams an exercise in Marxism.
In the new Nepal, restraint is the need of the hour. One would have thought Koirala, who spent many years in India, and who counts upon the Indian democratic and left leadership as his best friends, would have understood. His move to throw the kingâs coterie in jail may only earn him some brownie points with the Maoists, although even that is unlikely. Prachanda and Babu Ram Bhattarai, both know it is one thing to galvanize a nation to the point of a revolution, completely another to rule fairly in a new dawn.
If anything, Indiaâs experiment in affirmative action, with Dalits for example, could serve as a new blueprint. The royalists, who have large experience in a number of areas, must be asked to serve â and nobody will accuse them of being anything less than Nepali.
Crucially, the armyâs allegiance should transfer smoothly and effortlessly to the new government. Indiaâs army owes allegiance to the commander-in-chief, or the president, but he is a totally toothless, titular head. Even if Nepal keeps the king in ceremonial mothballs, to be pulled out during Dussehra, he cannot have any control over the army. That power should ultimately reside with the prime minister. Pyaar Jung Thapa, the current army chief, can be cordially told who his new boss is. That is all.
This, then, is the bottomline. In the new Nepal, there is no place for the politics of vendetta.
link
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The arrests of some prominent monarchists by the Koirala government would send all the wrong signals, writes Jyoti Malhotra
Koirala with Tamrat Samuel of the UN department of political affairsÂ
Just as the landing of the former royal, Karan Singh, in Kathmandu in the middle of the <b>democracy movement only gave more teeth to the struggle, the arrest over the weekend of all the kingâs men by G.P. Koiralaâs government will only detract from the credibility of the new sarkar.</b>
The truth is, the east is red this season in south Asia. The re-storming of its bastions by the Left Front in Kerala and West Bengal last week has affirmed again the importance of the aam admi in this age of corporate globalization. But it was the kingdom of the gods, Nepal, that had shown a whole month before that the spirit of the revolution was alive and well in south Asia.
The disciplined and determined marching of young people on the streets of Kathmandu through April, the columns of bodies willing themselves to break the curfew day after day, in honour of their own spirit and in honour of a new Nepal, will definitely go down in history as the making of a model revolution.
By the way, those young men and women had not only put the corrupted institution of monarchy on notice â but just as important, the political parties on alert. This is the double message of Nepalâs revolution. Already, though, the prime minister, G.P. Koirala, has been displaying such a shockingly immature political instinct that it boggles the imagination. In a move that is reminiscent of the autocracy of the paanch sarkar, as the monarchy in Nepal is called, <b>Koiralaâs new sarkar ordered the arrests of the five most powerful ministers (foreign affairs, home, communications, local administration and health) in King Gyanendraâs government and suspended three security and intelligence chiefs in Kathmandu last week.</b>
<b>Worse, Koiralaâs order was issued after an emergency cabinet meeting in his house, under the same laws that used to be invoked by Gyanendra when he summarily dismissed governments he did not like. New Delhi has, so far, not reacted publicly to Koiralaâs dismissals, but it is not likely to go down well with India. If Koirala thought he was going to get both Maoist sympathy as well as international approval for his move, he should perhaps pay closer attention to what the people are saying â both in his own country as well as in India, whose public opinion has always played a big role in shaping the democratic profile of Nepal.</b>
Unfortunately for Koirala, a large majority of the people, including those who vociferously supported Aprilâs jan aandolan, feel that this move smacks of vendetta. Many feel that Koirala should learn from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up by black South Africa after it became independent of white rule in 1994. <b>In India, too, the countryâs 500-odd princes gave up their special privileges to join the Indian Union in 1950 after Vallabhbhai Patel entered into a dialogue with them. The demolition of their privy purses happened much later, in 1971, when these former blue-bloods had had a chance to absorb the republican spirit.</b>
Surely, Nepal cannot be that different. If anything, G.P. Koirala must have his finger on the pulse of all Nepalâs citizens, irrespective of their ideological belief. He must offer former offenders a chance to repent and the new rulers, the opportunity to forgive. Thatâs what Mahatma Gandhi did with the British. Thatâs the way of south Asia.
Koirala, who has perhaps lived in exile longer than any of his comrades, knows that is a basic truth. The large majority of the subcontinent, always centrist, wants its fundamental rights protected so that nobody is above the law. That means both king and commoner must respect the wishes and traditions of the people.
In this case, Koirala should have simply curtailed all the powers of the king, especially his control over the army. If the king resisted such a move, then sterner measures can be called for â including international censure. But arresting the kingâs coterie can only lead to a backlash, especially in a country where the mood is still fragile.
This delicacy of the moment currently defines Nepal. Koirala, in his new incarnation as prime minister, must rise above party and post and persuade all Nepalis to see reason. For example, just as the royalists will have to be told that they are not so special anymore, that they will have to surrender their vast land holdings to the state, the Maoists will similarly have to be told to respect the traditions of the people. Peopleâs courts, in which justice is summarily executed, are just not on, for example. Nor is urinating on shiv lingams an exercise in Marxism.
In the new Nepal, restraint is the need of the hour. One would have thought Koirala, who spent many years in India, and who counts upon the Indian democratic and left leadership as his best friends, would have understood. His move to throw the kingâs coterie in jail may only earn him some brownie points with the Maoists, although even that is unlikely. Prachanda and Babu Ram Bhattarai, both know it is one thing to galvanize a nation to the point of a revolution, completely another to rule fairly in a new dawn.
If anything, Indiaâs experiment in affirmative action, with Dalits for example, could serve as a new blueprint. The royalists, who have large experience in a number of areas, must be asked to serve â and nobody will accuse them of being anything less than Nepali.
Crucially, the armyâs allegiance should transfer smoothly and effortlessly to the new government. Indiaâs army owes allegiance to the commander-in-chief, or the president, but he is a totally toothless, titular head. Even if Nepal keeps the king in ceremonial mothballs, to be pulled out during Dussehra, he cannot have any control over the army. That power should ultimately reside with the prime minister. Pyaar Jung Thapa, the current army chief, can be cordially told who his new boss is. That is all.
This, then, is the bottomline. In the new Nepal, there is no place for the politics of vendetta.
link
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