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‘Army help vital to resolve crisis’
KATHMANDU, JAN 21 - While successive governments have either branded the Maoists as "terrorists" or a "political force," depending on the season, conflict resolution experts have consistently
said that Nepal was in the grip of a "political problem thrown up by a movement which is largely fragmented".
Dr Thomas A Marks, a political risk consultant, holds the view that Nepal was in the grip of a political crisis and that the army should so act that the issue is sooner or later resolved politically by the political establishment.
"Of course, it indeed is a political issue but there is force involved also. As for the solution, the same lies in the army co-operating with political establishment and acting as a shield," said Dr Marks while talking with The Kathmandu Post on Tuesday.
While he explicitly said that the army should not arrogate the task of fighting out the rebels on its own, he also went on to contribute that rebels were a spent force now, "with the element of criminality dominating it. ".
Someone who has conducted a thorough research into the Maoist insurgency, Dr Marks insists that rather than the Maoist outfit gaining ground on the strength of its capacity, the reverse was true. In fact, he argued that the lack of any commitment to take on the rebels earlier made the difference.
"Here is a state which did not rise up to the challenge to the degree demanded and a force which is whipping up grievances of the poor people to keep the tempo alive," Dr Marks further said. He also hastened on to add that the rebels had come this far on the strength of relatively better strategy.
Dr Marks, a professional conflict resolution expert, however, came up with a rather non-conventional opinion on the Nepali political and constitutional crisis.
"Let me tell you, King (Gyanendra) has done a yeoman’s service to the nation by doing what he is doing," Dr Marks said, declining to concede that the political parties had a point in protesting the royal intervention of October 4, 2002.
He, however, added that the way out further was to resume democratic process by holding elections to local bodies first.
He insisted that political parties ought to have come up with what they have to offer to resolve the Maoist tangle rather than hit the streets to demonstrate and add to the tension already in place.
Earlier while speaking at the workshop organised by the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS), Dr Marks argued that the Maoists evolved themselves on firm footing at a certain stage by outwitting the ruling establishment on every front including political, international and ideological before hitting the downturn as now.Posted on: 2004-01-22 04:06
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