India on their side, Nepal Maoists wary of US
Nov 20, 2006 - 2:34:24 PM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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But he admitted frankly that he was not too enamoured of Indian democracy, pointing out the many ills plaguing India, ranging from regional disparities to endemic poverty.
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By M.R. Narayan Swamy, Indo-Asian News Service,
[RxPG] New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) Nepal's top Maoist leader Prachanda, having made a dramatic leap to become a friend of India, has told his supporters here that dangers from the 'US-backed Nepal Army' cannot be ignored though the king has been ousted.
At the same time, Prachanda, as the chief of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist is widely known, has promised his Indian friends that his party would remain committed to the principles of multi-party democracy come what may.
For the first time since Nepal's Maoists unleashed an armed campaign against the monarchy in 1996, Prachanda made an official visit to India, spending three fruitful days here before returning home Sunday evening.
He held meetings with Indian academics, supporters and top political leaders including former prime ministers V.P. Singh and Inder Kumar Gujral, communist veterans Prakash Karat and A.B. Bardhan as well as old-time socialists across the spectrum.
He also held close-door sessions with his core supporters, both Indian and Nepalese.
At one such select meeting, Prachanda outlined what he felt were dangers to the changing equations in Nepal that is expected to bring the Maoists to power very soon.
'The king is out but he is not dead,' he said, referring to King Birendra, who stepped down in April following a Maoist-backed mass uprising. 'The RNA (Royal Nepal Army) exists. And the US remains opposed to our revolution.'
He added that the path ahead would not be an easy one and sought help from Indian supporters to help consolidate the ascendancy of Nepal's Maoists, who have radically but tactically transformed themselves to gain India's friendship after years of hostility.
According to Indian friends of Prachanda, the latter feels that the US, which considers Nepal's Maoists as terrorists and has a soft corner for the king, would not mind doing a Nicaragua in Nepal by supporting the Royal Nepal Army, whose officers are fiercely pro-monarchy and stand to lose their privileges in a Maoist dispensation.
Prachanda's reference was to the US-backed Contras who fought a civil war against the Sandinistas after the latter captured power in Nicaragua in 1979.
'Our agenda is socialism,' Prachanda maintained. But he explained that it was necessary for the Maoists to win legitimacy and also to isolate the king and this is why they decided to make up with mainstream 'bourgeois' Nepalese politicians besides India.
'Otherwise we might have gone on fighting for 20 more years, captured 90 percent of Nepal and legitimacy would still have been with the king,' he said. 'In today's world, it's very important to have legitimacy.'
Maoist supporters feel Prachanda has more than gained that legitimacy with his India visit. Although his trip was to attend the HT Leadership Summit, his aides say it has been 'very fruitful' and see as it as their virtual recognition by New Delhi.
In his interactions here, Prachanda made it a point to say that Stalin was wrong in imposing a one-party dictatorship on the erstwhile Soviet Union and that only multi-party democracy would provide vibrancy to Nepalese society.
But he admitted frankly that he was not too enamoured of Indian democracy, pointing out the many ills plaguing India, ranging from regional disparities to endemic poverty.
And in comments that are bound to irk the Indian Maoists, Prachanda said: 'If we had remained stagnant ideologically, we would have degenerated. Some of our armed cadres may have even taken to crime. A revolutionary needs to change his mindset for the sake of the people.'
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