NEPAL MAOISTS, INDIA & CHINA

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NEPAL MAOISTS, INDIA & CHINA

 

by B.Raman

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat,

Govt. of India, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical

Studies, Chennai. E-Mail: corde )

 

Despite the heavy casualties which the Security Forces claim to have

been inflicting on the Maoist insurgents of Nepal, the latter show

no signs of wilting under the pressure of the onslaught against them

by the Security Forces since the promulgation of the Emergency on

November 26, 2001, and the Nepalese Army taking over the

responsibility for command and control of the counter-insurgency

operations.

 

Their morale is high and they are not yet showing any serious signs

of facing difficulties in finding new recruits and in replenishing

their stock of arms of ammunition for which the main source is the

weapons captured from the Security Forces during raids on their

posts and clashes, supplemented by, according to Nepalese sources,

gun running from India. The Nepalese sources allege that Maoist

leaders and their cadres continue to get sanctuaries in India and

that many injured Maoists manage to get medical treatment from

doctors and dispensaries in India.

 

Presuming that the Nepalese allegations are at least partly, even if

not fully, correct, it is not clear to what extent the assistance

allegedly received by their Maoists in Indian territory has been the

result of their own initiative in building up a network of

supporters/sympathisers in the population in the bordering areas of

India and to what extent it is the outcome of well-coordinated

logistic support by their counterparts in India such as the People's

War Group (PWG) etc.

 

The continuing capability demonstrated by the Nepalese Maoists to

take the Security Forces by surprise not only in the interior areas,

but even in Kathmandu, the capital, indicates disconcertingly the

level of popular support still enjoyed by them due to the failure of

the Government to win the hearts and minds of the people and the

weak intelligence machinery.

 

As against this, the coordinated, surprisingly widespread and

precision attacks often mounted by the Maoists against the Security

Forces show that the Maoists are better informed about the

deployment and the weak points of the Security Forces than vice

versa.

 

On the Government side, the casualties have been more from the side

of the Police than that of the Army. This gives rise to the

suspicion that the Army has been avoiding a face-to-face

confrontation with the insurgents unless forced on it by the latter

and has, instead, been depending largely on helicopter-borne

operations.

 

The Maoists continue to receive political and moral support from

their counterparts in other countries, which are like the Nepalese

Maoists, members of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement

(RIM), the headquarters of which are believed to be based in the

USA. Amongst the publicly announced members of the RIM are: the

Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist),the Communist Party of Afghanistan,

the Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist-Leninist) [bSD ML], the

Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Communist Party of Peru, the

Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist-Leninist) [TKP ML], the Haitian

Revolutionary Internationalist Group, the Maoist Communist Party

(Italy), the Marxist-Leninist Communist Organisation of Tunisia, the

Proletarian Party of Purba Bangla (PBSP) [bangladesh], the

Revolutionary Communist Group of Colombia, the Revolutionary

Communist Party, USA, and the Union of Communists of Iran

(Sarbedaran).

 

In their propaganda, the Nepalese Maoists continue to say that

unless the Maoists of the South Asian region work jointly to

counter what they perceive as the pernicious role of India, final

victory would continue to elude them. However well the individual

organisations in different countries of South Asia might be doing,

Maoism, in order to succeed and thrive, has to succeed in the region

as a whole and defeat the Indian hegemonists, they say.

 

A statement on the South Asia situation attributed to them

says: "The Indian monopoly capitalist ruling class, the true

successor of British imperialism, has been pursuing the expansionist

policy of pressure, intervention and sabotage against the national

aspirations of the people and neighbouring countries. It has been

endeavouring to quell, with guns and state terror, the aspirations

of the people of Kashmir and the north-eastern states and the new-

democratic movements in Andhra and Bihar, and intensifying the

pressure, sabotage and provocative activities under the strategy of

making Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as new Sikkim . With

an intention to isolate Pakistan after the end of the Cold War and

fulfil its desire for regional hegemony, the Indian ruling class has

knelt down before US imperialism and has opened the door for them

for the merciless exploitation of the people of this region under

the pretext of liberalisation. The Indian ruling class has been

abetting the imperialist master-plan to encircle China and make it

capitulate completely by taking India in its grip. It has been

blatantly making interventions in the internal affairs of

neighbouring countries in order to enthrone its agents and advance

the process of "Sikkimisation". It has been harbouring plots to

link the People's War in Nepal, which has been going on for five

years, with Pakistan, China and smugglers and thereby confuse the

Indian people.

 

"It has been the characteristic of the Indian ruling class to

conspire to use the common aspirations of national democratic

revolution against the semi-feudal and semi-colonial conditions, the

distinct nature of its geo-political position and the economic,

political, religious and cultural relations established among the

people historically, to fulfil its regional hegemonistic

aspirations. The Indian ruling class and its aspirations have been

working behind the similar policies and suppressive and terrorist

intrigues practised by the ruling classes of all the countries of

the region.

 

The Maoists have also been criticising, though not in such strong

terms as they criticise India, what they project as the betrayal of

the Nepalese Maoists by the present leadership in China. They have

been particularly peeved at what they describe as the support of

Beijing to the characterisation of the Maoist movement by the

Nepalese Government as a terrorist movement. They deny charges that

their People's War amounts to terrorism and needs to be tackled in

the context of the current international war against terrorism led

by the USA.

 

The Nepalese Maoists have also stepped up their propaganda campaign

against King Gyanendra and the Royal Nepal Army (RNA). They blame

what they project as the behind-the-scene machinations of the King

for the failure of the peace talks last year and describe as one of

their principal aims the breaking of the stranglehold of the Rana

families over the RNA.

 

A post-Emergency statement in the form of a letter attributed to

Dr.Baburam Bhattarai, which is believed to be authentic, but not yet

proved to be so, says:"The real power of the old state has now been

completely usurped by the Gyanendra clique and the biggest losers

have been the meek parliamentary forces hanging between the

crossfire of revolution and counter-revolution. Otherwise, what was

the need to declare a state of emergency and suspend all fundamental

democratic and political rights of the people? It was a subtle

political coup d'etat staged by Gyanendra using the gullible (Prime

Minister) Deuba (who is now connected to the royalty through

marriage to a Rana!). And it is a direct corollary to the military

coup d'etat (i.e. palace massacre) of last June. It has also been

proved, as poignantly highlighted by the late B.P.Koirala in his

recently published Atma-britanta (or, self-portrait), that unless

the traditional royal army is replaced with a modern people's army

democracy in Nepal can never be safe. The feudal reactionary nature

of the royal army and its complete hegemonization by the ruling Shah-

Rana families may be gauged from the fact that of the thirty

commander-in-chiefs since 1835, twenty-six belonged to the Shah-

Ranas and four to their close courtiers, Thapa-Basnets. Hence,

there should be no doubt, at least to the progressive and modern-

minded, that the current fight in Nepal is precisely for ending this

age-old feudal tyranny and to usher in a real democracy suited to

the 21st century.

 

"And last, but not least, the role of our two immediate neighbors,

India and China, is going to be crucial in this epic fight.

Traditionally both these powers have sought to appease the monarchy

as a symbol of 'peace and stability'. But the ground reality has

undergone a radical change with the all-round democratization

process sweeping the vast countryside during the last six years of

PW (People's War ) and virtual collapse of the traditional

institution of monarchy after the palace massacre of last June. The

concept of 'peace and stability' should be dynamic, not static.

Only the voluntary and unified will of the majority of the people

can ensure genuine peace and stability. Let the international

community, and particularly our neighbors, India and China,

understand the current reality as the birth pangs of democracy in

Nepal and let the Nepalese people decide their own future."

 

The Maoists have strongly repudiated media reports of differences

emerging between the political and military wings of their

organisation. The only post-Emergency bulletin (date of issue not

known) issued by them so far on the state of the "People's War"

says: "To conceal their embarrassment of a shattering military

defeat and the never-ending power struggle within their own ranks,

the reactionary rulers have sought to fabricate a so-called friction

between the political and military leadership of the Party. In this

context, they have particularly attempted to float their

own "leaders" heading the different imaginary departments and tried

to create the impression that a so-called military wing headed by

Com. Badal (Ram Bahadur Thapa) was responsible for pressurizing the

Party leadership to take the current course of action. This is,

however, just the figment of imagination of the reactionaries, if

not a deliberate disinformation campaign to confuse the masses. The

actual reality is that our Party has developed a unified and

centralized leadership under the supreme command of Chairman

Prachanda and all the major decisions have been taken unanimously.

Of the three instruments of revolution--The Party, the Army and the

United Front--it is well known that Com. Prachanda is the Chairman

of the Party and the Supreme Commander of the PLA and Com. Baburam

Bhattarai is the Convenor of the recently formed United

Revolutionary People's Council (URPC). This leaves no scope for any

confusion about the leadership hierarchy in the Party. The

revolution has produced a distinguished galaxy of leaders including

Com. Kiran, Com. Diwakar, Com. Badal and others and they are

fulfilling their responsibilities in their respective fields with

distinction. Certainly Com. Badal is not the "Military Chief" as is

made out to be in the media and there is no question of him going

against the plans and policies of the party."

 

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat,

Govt. of India, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical

Studies, Chennai. E-Mail: corde )