Asia-Pacific, Headlines

NEPAL: India Opening Doors for All to Talk

Surendra Phuyal

NEW DELHI, Jun 27 2005 (IPS) - As a political face-off between Kathmandu and New Delhi continues, India is laying out the red carpet for Nepal’s opposition leaders to discuss ways to end the crises bedevilling the Himalayan nation.

Former prime minister and president of the National Janashakti Party, Surya Bahadur Thapa, became the latest in a string of political leaders who have landed in New Delhi to canvass support following the Feb. 1 royal takeover in Nepal.

During his week-long ”medical trip”, Thapa, a heart patient, is scheduled to consult with doctors. Most importantly, the 80-year-old leader will seize the opportunity to meet political leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the ruling United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, besides key cabinet ministers, former prime ministers and other officials.

"I haven’t come here with the king’s message," he told reporters in New Delhi on Friday, dismissing speculations he might be conveying words from King Gyanendra to New Delhi. "I am here on a medical trip."

During his talks with Indian leaders, he said, he will emphasize that the sooner the political players can bridge the widening rift between Nepal’s monarchy and the parties, the sooner the country can resume a normal life.

"A big change in Nepal is imminent, but I can’t tell you when it’s going to happen," Thapa also predicted.

New Delhi, which suspended crucial military assistance to Nepal after the king dismissed the government and declared a state of emergency on Feb. 1, has emphasized the need for national reconciliation and a consensus between the monarchy and political parties in order to tackle Nepal’s Maoist challenge.

It articulated that stance during the visit of another former prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, who met Indian leaders during his medical trip here in early June. For the first time since the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (CPN-M) launched its "people’s war" in 1996, India urged Koirala to open a communications channel with the rebels.

"Now it’s become very clear that there’s no military solution to the conflict in Nepal," Koirala told reporters before leaving for Kathmandu. "Even the Indian leaders have realized the fact that the Maoists are a political force. And this problem can only be resolved politically."

Significantly, Koirala, who leads an alliance of seven political parties in Kathmandu that refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the king’s government, admitted that he had had "some kind of communication" with Maoist emissaries during his stay in New Delhi.

Post Feb. 1, Delhi has been a political hub for Nepal’s public and underground political leaders and human rights activists.

The flurry of Nepali political activities come amid reports that New Delhi has opened dialogue with Maoist leaders and emissaries, like the group’s number two leader Babu Ram Bhattarai, a Jawaharlal Nehru University alumnus, and Maoist Spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara.

The two have publicly stated they have started diplomatic meetings with foreign leaders. In their recent statements and interviews, the Maoists have said that they are keen on working with the parties, and on ending the bloody conflict.

But they have laid down a precondition: an election in Nepal to a constituent assembly, which would draft a new constitution that would ensure that sovereignty in the country remains with the people of Nepal.

For its part, the king’s government has cautioned political parties against working with the Maoists. "It would be unfortunate if the parties join hands with those enlisted in the terrorists group," Information and Communication Minister Tanka Dhakal told journalists in Kathmandu, adding that if it happened, the parties would also be treated as "terrorists".

Since the Maoists launched their uprising to create a more egalitarian society in February 1996, more than 12,000 people have been killed, including rebels, members of security forces and innocent civilians.

The Maoists have destroyed substantial sections of the developing nation’s basic physical infrastructure, and also scared away tourists, a major money-maker for Nepal’s mainly agricultural economy.

On taking power the king said he would need three years to resolve the nation’s crises and to hold local and parliamentary elections. In February he announced municipal polls would be held later this year.

Yet the parties are not reciprocating. The alliance led by Koirala is demanding the restoration of the House of Representatives and formation of a national government that, in turn, would start fresh negotiations with the Maoists and work towards a new constitution through constituent assembly elections.

"That’s the best way to resolve the crises, this bloody conflict," said Hari Roka, a political analyst and a research at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). "Sooner or later, the parties have to come together and work on a new constitution, which should address the concerns of all sections of the deprived disenchanted Nepali people," he added.

Their number includes Dalits, or "untouchables", who make up about 20 percent of Nepal’s population of over 23 million; ethnic minorities, who account for 40 percent; and women, Roka added, echoing the sentiment of many intellectuals and the Maoist leaders.

In Kathmandu, Koirala has urged Maoists to work together with the seven-party "democratic alliance". The group’s supreme leader Prachanda, whose real name is Puspa Kamal Dahal, reacted by saying the rebels would stop targeting civilians and political workers.

"Our party has taken positively the call made by the seven-party alliance to restore peace and establish complete democracy," he added in a statement. "The party has given special instruction to all its cadres to stop targeting civilians and party workers. We have asked them (cadres) to halt physical attacks on unarmed people."

But since then a number of civilians have been killed in ongoing Maoist attacks.

The worst carnage in the nine-year history of the insurgency occurred Jun. 6, when 41 people were killed after the Maoists exploded a landmine under a crowded bus in Nepal’s southern Chitwan district, bordering India’s Bihar State.

Delhi appears more than convinced that there can be no military solution to the conflict in its northern neighbour, which is spilling over into Indian border states, and that resuming talks is the best possible solution. It is sticking to its avowed policy that constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy are the twin pillars of Nepal’s stability.

While ministers in Kathmandu criticize Indian and western envoys in Kathmandu for unnecessarily interfering in Nepal’s internal affairs, Delhi has made it clear that "any attempt to encourage democracy in our neighbourhood should not be construed as unwanted interference".

London and Washington, which are coordinating with New Delhi to monitor events in Nepal after Feb.1, have conveyed similar concerns.

India, which shares history, cultural ties and an open border with Nepal, has been promoting democracy in its smaller neighbour from immediately after Indian independence in 1947.

Indian leaders supported Nepal’s first democratic struggle in 1950; again in the 1960s after the late King Mahendra’s power grab; and during Nepal’s "spring" of 1990, when multi-party democracy was restored.