(Temporary) peace at the expense of just about anything

icklThere is finally peace in Nepal, but this peace has been bought- and at a great price at that. In the quest to appease the masses and to ensure that peace prevails - however temporarily - the political parties have more or less gifted the country to the Maoists on a platter.

All the demands the Maoists have made have been met and continue being met- yet, the Maoists have not made any concessions, except for a meaningless ceasefire in which they still continue to abduct and extort businessmen (to feed their army apparently). Occasional spurts of violence are still common.

The people of the country have been gained nothing so far. Changes that have been brought about are purely cosmetic in nature and potentially dangerous in effect. For instance, Nepal has been declared a secular state by the House of Representatives (HoR). Nepalese society has been characterized by religious tolerance over the centuries and there was absolutely no need to declare Nepal a secular state. By doing so, the government has succeeded in provided religious hardliners with an opportunity to take a confrontational stance. A non-issue is now increasingly becoming a sensitive issue. The point is that the trend being set by the HoR does not necessarily augur well for the country, as opined by news media within the country as well as around the world.

This is perhaps the only time the HoR will be in a position to pass laws in a jiffy without extensive debate, infighting, squabbling and prolonged delays. At such a time, I think it should be the government’s prerogative to pass laws that address the larger issues that confront us today – issues that deal with the economic and social development of the people – rather than picking on issues, proclaiming that they are problems, and then addressing them, when they aren’t problems in the first place.

In all this while, the Maoists have inched their way forward and become the most powerful entity in Nepalese politics.

While the Maoists demand various things from the political parties, the political parties "request" the Maoists to stop extorting money. While all the demands are being met, none of the requests are being entertained. The political parties have a crisis of leadership, the Maoists definitely do not. The political parties have nothing vaguely resembling an ideology; the Maoists at least have a semblance of one - albeit a frequently changing one. Finally of course, while the political parties have at their service the national army whose loyalty is still questionable, the Maoists have close to twenty thousand fighters – poor, hungry and indoctrinated at that.

The reality is that the Maoists are the only ones left with any power at this point of time. They have played their cards to perfection and are now enjoying great success in spite of having done nothing much over the last few months. Neither can the Maoists be defeated militarily, nor can they be ignored politically.

The Maoists only used to pull the trigger- now they call the shots as well.