E-Kantipur

The present stalemate between the political parties in government and the Maoists may seem to be the result of a few agendas like integration of the People’s liberation Army (PLA), dissolution of the Young Communist League (YCL) and returning of seized land and property, but it has deeper ideological and philosophical underpinnings. This is both a stalemate and an open battle between violence and violence; peace and peace; and anarchy and anarchy. On the surface, the Maoists seem to be representing violence and anarchy, and the political parties non-violence and peace. But in reality, the Maoists’ ideological and practical orientation has always remained violent; nevertheless, the political parties in government are not completely non-violent and honest peace seekers either.

Pure violence has remained a core ideological weapon since the inception of the Maoist movement. When one openly survives and legitimises itself through violence, it is pure violence. Democratic forces, on the other hand, adopted and represented impure violence by legitimising and defining it as per their need and convenience. In theory, democratic political forces gave up pure violence a couple of decades ago. But they are far from completely disassociating it from their daily affairs. The ongoing battle between the Maoists and non-Maoists representing pure and impure violence has created a ripple effect in our society with clearly visible polarisation in every sphere of our lives. And society must get involved as it is this debate that will shape the foundation of modern Nepali society. 

Maoists must abandon violence of all kinds both in theory and practice. Citing the reference of transition phase, one cannot allow the Maoists to continue plasticising soft and hard violence as and when they like it. And penning down commitments on paper is not enough. Society expects the Maoists to apologise for perpetuating and institutionalising violence in the name of transformation. The foundation of a dignified, prosperous and civilised society cannot be created through violence. 

Revolutions that are based on violence may be able to emancipate the downtrodden at the surface level; but deep down, it kills our freedom. It dogmatises us, makes us slaves and limits our innovation. Violence does not signify our confidence or power. Drawing from the life experiences of Mahatma Gandhi, renowned Indian leftist thinker Purushottam Agrawal argues that violence makes us weak. In fact, he claims violence is the manifestation of psychologically weak people. When people become weak, they resort to violence. The Maoists’ violent revolution is, therefore, not a glorious attempt at transforming society. It did not transfer the weak into strong people, it merely manipulated the weakness of the weak in their favor. It has thus weakened the morale of our society as well as our transformation process. 

However, it is not only the Maoists that are violent. Let’s face the facts, our state is violent. Our bureaucracy is violent. Our social structures, norms and ideals are violent. Our teachers propagate violence to discipline children. Children and young ones perpetuate violence because they want to be heard by society. Social, ethnic, religious and cased-based movements practice violence because they want to safeguard their identity. Our businesses largely thrive on violence. The elite and middle class are synonymous to violence of a varied nature. Fundamentally, violence is the core enemy we have failed to defeat. 

It is, therefore, not only the Maoists that should apologise; the Congress should also come forward and apologise for the violent movement it initiated at one point in history. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal similarly holds no right to ask the Maoists to abandon violence unless his party apologises for the violent movement that it initiated. Hasn’t the great philosopher Charvake publicly accused Krishna of bringing ruin upon the entire society by his actions at the end of the Kurkshetra war? Nepali society is not on the verge of war, but in conflict where we are contesting our preconceived notions and ideas. This is the time to question the relevance of Krishna’s act and also the counter allegations of Charvake.

Moreover, constitutions are not always drafted. Neither does the peace process take place again and again in the history of nations. However; we have to keep building on our past achievements to manage our country. And one such attempt to manage a non-violent society began with the signing of the 12-point agreement between the Maoists and the democratic political forces. In the truest sense, it was a truce between the Maoists and the Nepali Congress to defeat violence and promote peace and development. 

The Maoists agreed to transform themselves into a democratic party by renouncing violence while the other political forces agreed to march towards socialism, thus bringing them together in a singular political ideology — democratic socialism. Theoretically, the 12-point agreement is the beginning of the end of political isms in Nepal. The Congress and the Maoists could mingle with each other by carrying freedom and social justice with them. Unfortunately, four years down the line, we have completely deviated from our collective mission. 

Peace can only be restored when the conditions leading to violence are meaningfully addressed in a democratic framework. The Maoists launched a violent campaign because the state compelled them to do so. They fought against the violence of varied nature perpetuated by the state, but only to use it for their narrow self-interest. And due to their narrow intentions, the violence they once fought against has manifested itself in different masks in an entrenched fashion. And on the other side, the democratic political parties cling to a democratic framework, but forgot to address the necessary conditions leading to violence. They mobilised a violent state machinery to defeat violence perpetuated by the Maoists. At the end, we all are today victims of violence. 

For a peaceful society, the Maoists must come forward and renounce violence once and for all. However, it is the equal responsibility of the Nepali Congress to help itself and the Maoists to defeat violence. And in our context, we need the Maoists with democratic credentials and the Congress with a socialist outlook. And only with such transformation in them can we achieve peace and development. And for this to happen, the Maoists must take the Congress into confidence like they did when they signed the 12-point agreement thereby changing centuries-old ideologies and systems. Nepal’s emergence into a new era is possible, but only through agreed understanding and much needed reform in both the Congress and the Maoists.

Sumit Sharma Sameer

sharmasumit77@gmail.com

Post Your Comment

Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory.
* Full Name
* Address
* Email Address
* Comment
* Captcha	Get another CAPTCHA code
Note:	Comments containing abusive words or slander shall not be published.