Continuous and intentional violations of peace deal and meekness of the government to take any corrective measure created a vicious cycle of state-of-flux and lawlessness. …Because of frequent indefinite strikes, distribution of citizenship cards across Terai and collection names for voters’ list has been severely affected.
By Chattra Bahadur
A leading daily newspaper recently published the results of the survey stating that almost 70% of the respondents pointed out that the foremost challenge before the government is to maintain law and order situation. And the response is not entirely surprising. We are witnessing frequent and increasingly violent indefinite strikes, shortages and unavailability of essential food items, rocketing price rise with shrinking job opportunities, growing insecurity, etc. At the time of height of the Maoist insurgency, it was often reported that the presence of the government was restricted to the capital and the district headquarters only. However, at present, it appears that the government is not even present in the capital or in the district headquarters.
After the fall of the royal regime and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) coming into power, the Maoists returned to the negotiating table; and finally, the peace deal was brokered. The longstanding demand of the Constituent Assembly was agreed upon and, in return, the Maoists renounced their armed struggle. For the most Nepalese, it was huge relief and offered a ray of hope of elusive political stability and prosperity.
However, hopes of people were dashed soon to considerable extent when the Maoists could not forego their love for brute force, intimidating tactics, kidnapping, open extortion (often phrased as willful donation), forced indoctrination, swift rebuttal and brutal repression of any opposition, and the top leadership continuously being in state of denial of all the wrongdoings of cadres instead of taking disciplinary action. At the same time, the SPA government stood as a silent spectator even when the Maoists violated every single article of peace accord citing lame excuse of ‘fragile peace process’ and ‘still looming threat of reactionary and regressive forces’. And inability to enforce the peace deal in the letter and spirit, and inability to enforce strict measures for each violation on the part of the government have significant share wherein any sane Nepalese sees a remote chance of normalcy coming back.
Passive posture of the government to take any concrete stand on any issue has cost the nation dear. Continuous and intentional violations of peace deal and meekness of the government to take any corrective measure created a vicious cycle of state-of-flux and lawlessness. It is becoming evident that brutality and devastation of any nature could be justified as a political compulsion and crucial means to achieve the end without accepting any moral responsibility of such actions. All these actions have gained new ‘respectability’ and ‘acceptability’. The organizers of indefinite strikes dominate media space upholding such actions as ‘venting frustration’ in response to the government apathy and police brutality. In the end, they hold the government and reactionary elements responsible for all the damages because, in any case, their demands are genuine and their protests were peaceful. The civic society and human rights activists find the government and ‘unseen forces’ (regressive and reactionary forces) accountable for loss of lives and damage of property. The government surprisingly does not respond either positively or negatively. Continue reading
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