By Gopal Khanal (KATHMANDU, 21 March 2019) – Now CK Raut’s secessionist saga has come to an end. Together with this, the deliberate move to weaken the government has gone belly up at least for now. Raut-led Independent Madhesh Alliance’s decision to register new party – Nepal Janamat Party (NJP) – has further added anxiety to those, whose sole aim was to destabilise Nepal.
But ‘spoilers’ could wear a new mask and try to accumulate power with the covert support of anti-national and foreign elements. We should be aware of such guise and pretence. CK’s separatist movement is transformed into mainstream constitutional politics but Biplav’s criminal and terrorist acts exist. It seems Biplav could be the new potential ploy of foreign elements for their malicious move of pushing Nepal into continued violence.
Sincerity
After the 11-point historic agreement between Nepal government and Raut-led Independent Madhesh Alliance (IMA), questions and suspicions were raised. It was quite natural that people want to be informed on how such developments took place when CK himself was in jail. But here the surprising positive development has been protested in such a way that as if the government committed a crime.
Efforts were made to create storm in a teacup. Such unfounded, far-fetched and irrational discourse saw an untimely demise. The evidence was the decision of the IMA’s National Council meeting that concluded in Lahan, Siraha. CK-led IMA on 18 March decided to implement the agreements signed with the government.
Look at the decisions first, the meeting decided to register a new party at the Election Commission with the new name, ‘Nepal Janamat Party’ soon. Second, they decided to change the flag. The new flag will be of red, white and green colours going in vertical lines and red colour astadal between the middle of the white lines. Third, the meeting decided both Nepali and English languages would be used in the name; its stamp would be round between the astadal.
Similarly, the meeting formed a 3-member agreement implementation committee led by Chandan Singh to see the 11-point agreement made with the government. The meeting also nominated CK as the coordinator of the Nepal Janamat Party with 35-member central working committee. Ten members are yet to be decided and it authorised the party coordinator to nominate them.
In nutshell, the two-day national council meeting of IMA has demonstrated the seriousness to the agreement and sincerely began to implement it. If there will be any cases violating the agreement in the future, the committee formed under the man – Chandan Singh- who had facilitated the 11-point agreement, will monitor and maintain.
Still to seek destructive meaning in the 11-point, can be disastrous for the nation. Hope, Bhim Rawal of ruling Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) and Sher Bahadur Deuba, president of the main opposition-Nepali Congress, could grasp the sensitivity of the agreement, which has now come into implementation.
Biplav’s ploy
CK made a U-turn. But Biplav still seems adamant in his wrong stance. The government gave enough time to Biplav to think and rethink about his path. It was simple– Biplav’s path of violence and destruction to establish the ‘’scientific socialism’’ is obsolete. The dogmatism no longer prevails. The biggest lesson learned from the 10-years-long Maoist war is that the violence and gun can never be the means of capturing the absolute power. Moreover, at a time of globalised world, it is completely impossible.
The government has not banned Biplav group abruptly. The government last week banned such unlawful acts after the continuous verbal request and later aggression against the destructive act carried out by his group. We should note that the ban is not against any political party as manipulated by some but against the criminal and terrorist activities and those who have been promoting such acts.
The spokesperson of the government, Gokul Prasad Banskota, on Thursday formally declared to contain the criminal and destructive acts. The government reached a decision that Biplav-led group is not a political party but a criminal and destructive group. The meaning is clear – now the government will not tolerate Biplav’s activities.
The most vocal against Biplav’s destructive activities has been Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. He first asked to find a solution through dialogue and then he warned not to repeat the violence. But Biplav didn’t pay attention to the PM’s call for peace and democratic order. And such a decision was taken.
Prime Minister Oli has been taking stringent stand against the criminal activities such as bomb explosions, extortions and demolishing development of mega projects. He translated his warnings into action. All should understand that the tough decision was not the choice of the government but the compulsion.
At a time when Nepal has been moving ahead with the slogan of development and prosperity, large-scale projects should be built meeting that target. Prime Minister Oli has not only a vision to develop Nepal but a roadmap and programmes, too. Conducive environment for the Foreign Direct Investment has been created and different laws in this regard have been passed through the parliament.
In such a situation where the government has focused all its strength to transform Nepal into a developed and prosperous Nepal, Biplav should shun violence and join the mainstream politics. And, the government has said that the door for dialogue is always open.
Manipulation
The Oxford English Dictionary defines conspiracy theory as ‘’the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; especially a belief that some covert but influential agency is responsible for an unexplained event’.
In both the cases aforementioned, some so-called intellectuals and leaders of ruling and opposition parties tried to manipulate the situation by applying conspiracy theories. But the efforts remained in vain because the reality is in front of all – CK joined mainstream politics leaving secessionist movement. Bringing someone involved in a secessionist movement to the side of an indivisible state is a big achievement. And Biplav should come in the same path sooner than later.
This article first appeared in The Rising Nepal.