If you think that every life should leave a good name behind, tell me a name that you’ve never forgotten in a day.
© Anshuman Rawat
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Author: Anshuman Rawat
Author. Entrepreneur. Filmmaker. Journalist.
As things stood on the evening of July 26, 20011, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s five-month-old government could collapse by the weekend, thereby giving serious headache to India, which has serious stake in the peace process and drafting of a new constitution. The present Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxists Leninists (CPN-UML)- is Nepal’s fourth government in three years.
Back in February of this year, Khanal had become the Nepalese Prime Minister by pulling the rug from below the feet of his own party leader, Madhav Kumar Nepal after signing a controversial pact with the former Maoist guerrillas to gain their support.
As discussed in an earlier post in this column, it was only on the last day of the expiry of the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on May 28, 2011 that Nepal’s key parties had forestalled a major Constitutional crisis and struck a last-minute deal to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) by three months, under which Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal would step down for the formation of a national unity govt.
While it was always going to be quite an uphill task to keep the top, warring leaders (Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, President of NC Sushil Koirala and Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal) from going for the jugular, what triggered the present impasse is UML’s decision of a reshuffle of ministers in the Prime Minister’ cabinet. In place of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, the Maoist central committee meeting yesterday nominated Narayan Kaji Shrestha, vice president of the party, to lead its ministerial team with the portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. The party has been seeking to reshuffle the cabinet, replacing their party men with a new list of 24 ministers since Monday (July 25).
However, Khanal, who heads the United Marxist Leninists Party but is dubbed as ‘half-Maoist and half-UML leader’ by his own party colleagues, refused point-blank to the demand and made it clear that he would rather resign than swear in any new ministers in the cabinet.
On the other hand, the party was clear in its stand: “We have given him time until 8 AM Wednesday,” disclosed Vice Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha of Unified Maoists.
At the same time, Nepal’s main opposition party, the Nepal Congress (NC) has now been obstructing the parliament for the last two days, demanding resignation of the Prime Minister. NC asserts that the nomination of new ministers by the Maoist party is gross violation of the five point deal (towards formation of a new constitution).
Speaker Subas Nembang had to adjourn the House meeting as NC lawmakers continued their protests despite his request to allow House proceedings. As a consequence, the Parliament failed to consider bills or conduct other business during the week.
Speaking in parliament, NC’s deputy parliamentary party leader Prakashman Singh said, “The PM had signed the five-point agreement admitting the fact that the government had failed to make progress in the peace process and constitution writing. So, he must step down.”
In a meeting of the top leadership of the major three political parties, the NC objected to yesterday’s endorsement by the Maoist Central Committee’s of the proposal put forth by UML Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on peace, statute and organizational – including cabinet – reshuffling.
Signaling tough days ahead for the parliament, the NC central committee has announced that the party would continue to obstruct the parliament until PM Khanal tenders his resignation. “Until environment becomes favorable we will continue to obstruct the parliament,” said NC Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel.
Critics of India, which are in significant numbers in the Himalayan nation, leave out no opportunity to point out that the current NC rigidity coincides with the visit of NC President Koirala’s to India – thereby implying that the impasse is (at least partly) created by India.
However, while PM Khanal would not have lost sleep over NC’s protests, the fact that the Maoists, whose support only he had managed to gain, are now hostile towards him for his refusal to reshuffle the cabinet means that resignation may be the only option left for him. In the process, he may also answer media and opposition criticism of him being a mere puppet in the hands of the Maoists.
And sure enough, the desire of the belligerent-by-the-day Maoists to rule the nation either directly or by proxy comes through the statement of Unified Maoists’ Barsa Man Pun: “After Khanal resigns we will take needed actions to form a new government under our own command.”
Quite poignantly for Nepal, the fall of the Jhala Nath Khanal government – irrespective of all its political ramifications – is the least of the worries for the Nepalese people. The biggest issue for them would be the unveiling of a new constitution. As per the 5-point agreement, the government would dissolve anyway if the new constitution does not come into being by the end of August. And since Nepal has already missed two earlier deadlines by which it was to arrive at a new constitution, the Supreme Court of Nepal has “discouraged the government” from seeking yet another extension.
Even a kid on the streets of Kathmandu would tell you that PM Khanal would not be able to get the new constitution ready by next month. Nor would he be able to discharge the Maoists’ guerrilla army, whose nearly 20,000 combatants remain a major concern for the future of democracy in the country.
All of the aforementioned uncertainty is taking a toll on the country’s economy – especially in the form of trade with India. India bashing may be the order of the day in some circles during the current volatile political climate, but what should worry even them is that the Indian investment in Nepal is now at its lowest since the last five years. It is a relationship that the Himalayan nation can barely allow to deteriorate.
Unless the final aim is to facilitate Maoists’ sitting in China’s lap.
A little after Rahul Dravid reached his 34th test hundred on the second day of the India-England test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, Alan Wilkins expressed his gentle displeasure to fellow commentator Ravi Shastri about the nickname ‘Wall’ given to the Indian batsman. “A wall can be brought down”, he argued – thereby implying that Rahul Dravid can’t be.
And yet, if you were to be in India these days, you would have thought that it is neither victory in the series nor the safeguarding of the No. 1 Test team status, but the 100th international century by Sachin Tendulkar is all that matters to Indians. Unfortunately, it may well be true in some sections of the so-called cricket-literate nation.
But Rahul Dravid, just as VVS Laxman, is used to being in the shadow of Tendulkar. In fact, he would rather not have any other way; just as India would rather not have any other man at the crease when the chips are down, than the ‘Wall’ himself. (Sorry Alan, but I guess it’s tad too late in the day to change the nickname. If you wish, he is known as ‘Jammy’ within the team.)
After yesterday’s late counter-attack by Stuart Broad with the bat and the first-ball wicket of Abhinav Mukund by James Anderson, the test match seemed evenly poised at stumps last evening. However, as has happened many a times in the last decade, Laxman and Dravid the steadied the ship and started taking the game away from England this morning – till Laxman perished behind the stumps on a Bresnan beauty.
But while the crowd favourite Sachin came and went early, along with Suresh Raina, Dravid stayed well at the crease and went ahead to score yet another important century for the team.
And yet, the highlight of the day was to come later in the day. In a maniacal period of about 20 minutes, India lost 5 wickets for mere 8 runs. After getting Yuvraj Singh caught behind in the 85th over of the Indian innings, England’s man of the moment Stuart Broad wrecked havoc with a deserving-yet-dubious (owing to Harbhajan being wrongly given out) hat-trick in the 88th over. After bowling two dots, Broad got Indian skipper MS Dhoni caught in the slips on the 3rd ball, caught Harbhajan Singh LBW on the 4rth ball and bowled Praveen Kumar on the 5th, before bringing some sanity to the proceedings with a dot ball.
It was the kind of over that could potentially change the complexion of the whole test match. It certainly changed Dravid’s composure, as in the very next over, he got caught at the third man of Bresnan, while trying to do a Sehwag while upper-cutting a rather innocuous ball. He made 117, typically fighting runs.
A little later, Broad completed his demolition job by getting Ishant Sharma caught by Ian Bell. Broad finished the day with scintillating figures of 6 for 46! Add to that the fact that he was the top scorer with the bat too. Yesterday, he had remarked that he felt good answering the critics. After today, he might have to search hard for critics.
To put things into perspective, this was not only Broad’s personal best bowling figures and the 10th best ever by an English bowler against India, but also the first hat-trick against India by an English bowler! The most recent performance of such impact by and English bowler against India was 21 years, by Ian Botham in 1980. Now that the great all-rounder’s protégé Andrew Flintoff has retired, should England already consider Stuart Broad the next Ian Botham? Hmmm!
On the other side of the crease, after looking like building a substantial lead during the 128-run partnership between Dravid and Yuvraj, India ended with just 288, enjoying a lead of 67 runs. However, it is a low-scoring match and the pitch and conditions are still favouring swing bowlers. So, 67-run lead might prove to be a handy one – especially in the light of the fact that injured Jonnathan Trott not likely to bat. He had injured his shoulder while trying to stop a ball today.
Sure enough, the lead started looking handy almost immediately after the England 2nd innings began. Alistair Cook continued his extraordinarily poor run at the crease, as he got out on 5, caught by Yuvraj at point on an Ishant Sharma ball, which he was trying to play towards mid-wicket!
When the frantic day finally ended, Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell were at the crease, with England still 43 runs behind India.
It is going to be difficult to wait till tomorrow!
Score at Stumps on the 2nd Day:
England 1st Innings: 221 all out (Stuart Broad 64, Andrew Strauss 32; Praveen Kumar 3/45, Ishant Sharma 3/66, S Sreesanth 3/77)
India 1st Innings: 288 (Rahul Dravid 150, Yuvraj Singh 62, VVS Laxman 54; Stuart Broad 6/46, Tim Bresnan 2/48)
England 2nd Innings: 24/1 (Andrew Strauss 6*, Ian Bell 9*; Ishant Sharma 1/9)
Former Sri Lankan President (from November 12, 1994, to November 19, 2005) Chandrika Kumaratunga recently charged her successor and present Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, of adopting “authoritarian” policies and warned the latter against clubbing Tamil civilians with the now vanquished LTTE/Tamil Tigers. She accused the government of projecting Sinhala Buddhists as the dominant force with others being excluded and warned that this would lead the country to anarchy. Most pertinently, she said:
“Sharing political powers with Tamils will not reduce our strength…rather it will bring together diverse skills and talent to enrich us.”
Also, in what can be an important analytical piece for the readers, while she blamed all governments – including that of her own father, S.W.R.D Bandaranaike – for failing to address the root causes of Tamil militancy in the island nation, she added:
“The consistent rejection by the state of the demand of the Tamil movement, for language parity, led to increased demands for power sharing through Federalism, and finally for a separate state.”
Most pertinently for the supporters of the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka, she projected “federalism as the only viable solution for the nation”, and urged the Rajapaksa government to “work towards an inclusive society and share power with Tamils.”
As she was making the statements, a political party that was closely associated with the defeated LTTE rebels – the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) – was notching up massive results for itself in the just-concluded elections held in the island’s former war zone. TNA took control of two-thirds of local councils by winning 18 out of 26 councils that voted on Saturday in the former conflict areas of the island’s north and east, in the first local elections since the end of nearly four decades of ethnic conflict.
For the uninitiated, it would be timely to state here that LTTE used the TNA as their political arm until they were defeated & decimated by Rajapaksa’s ruthless military offensive in May 2009.
Of the 65 councils for which the elections were held, the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which is dominated by Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), won 45 councils – including, significantly, two councils in the restive north, always a stronghold of the Tamil Tigers. The main opposition Sinhala parties suffered a drubbing as the United National Party (UNP) and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) could not win any council positions. Worse still for the UNP, it in fact lost three councils that they were ruling.
The only two seats that UPFA won in the Tamil territory were won largely because of the influence of Douglas Devananda, the Tamil minister and leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), whose party lords over the Jaffna regions of Delft and Velanai. Devananda had made his intention of being the Chief Minister of the area quite clear prior to the election and was said to have left no stone unturned to realize his dream.
Probably because of his fanatical zeal, many independent observers have reported that the pro-government EPDP used a great amount of intimidation and muscle power during the elections to show for the aggressive campaigning that Rajapaksa had undertaken during the election, in which he promised more development to give wheels to post-war economic revival of the once LTTE-held area. It was a clear attempt to win the hearts and votes of the Tamils; alas, it did not have numbers to show for it.
Curiously July 23, when the polls were held this day brings instant memories of ‘Black July’ of 1983 to the people in the Tamil areas. In 1983 too, the polls were held on July 23 and all hell had broken loose after the results – and ballot had decisively given way to bullets for the next two and a half decades!
But fearing no return to the past, the government is satisfied with the present results. Claiming to have finally brought democracy to the region, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said, “The people had used ballots instead of bullets. That’s a great victory for us.”
But what could only be termed a missed bus, there are pockets in the north which believe that they would have voted for the ruling coalition as a reward for the ongoing development work, had the government not given a free hand to EPDP, in collusion with the army, to unleash terror on the locals in the north.
Giving credence to the complaint, the Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CAFFE) reported that most violations in the current polls have taken place in the Northern Province, especially in the Jaffna and Kilinochchi regions of the Tamil stronghold.
Network for Election Monitoring of the Intellectuals for Human Rights (NEMIHR) also reported 88 complaints against the UPFA, which include 36 cases of election violence, 30 instances of election violations, 13 cases of using state property and state power, 3 cases of police favouritism and 6 examples of undue use of influence on the public.
The widespread interest in the region in the diplomatic circles in the country draws from the fact that the Rajapaksa government had concentrated more on the 19 local bodies in the North than on the 46 in the South, which it was confident of winning owing to strong ethnic Sinhala nationalistic mood. In fact, several officials from the British High Commission and the US embassy in Colombo visited Jaffna to observe the situation there, while the nation with the biggest stake, India, had kept a close watch via the Indian Consulate in Jaffna.
All that made sure that the Rajapaksa government, which is already reeling under a tremendous global blitzkrieg on its human rights record during the last days of the civil war, “could not afford to allow” any major activity in the Tamil areas. For, as if the issue was not green enough in the hearts of the Tamil population, the TNA distributed CD disks containing the Channel 4 documentary `The Killing Fields’ among the people during its campaigning. Also, unlike the government method of holding large rallies, the main Tamil political party used fliers, posters and newspaper advertisements as the main channels for reaching the voters. Needless to add, the war, the Tamil plight and the recently-ended war featured heavily in those materials.
Importantly, TNA already has the highest number of Tamil representatives in the Sri Lankan parliament and has always claimed to be the sole representative of Tamils in the country. Giving credence to its claim, not only the Tamil diaspora but also the Indian government is said to support the party. Recognizing that, the Rajapaksa government has held many rounds of talks with the party. And yet, probably not wanting to create a monster all over again, the Sri Lankan government insists that it wants to bring about a solution to the north and north-east issues in consultations with all the Tamil parties, and not TNA alone.
Unfortunately for the government, the present election results have left it with not much choice but to make TNA the principal partner in any dialogue. The TNA has proved its credentials; now it is up to the government to act.
While the elections were going on, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in New Delhi, Prasad Kariyawasam, had called on J Jayalalitha, Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (the spiritual home state of all Tamils) in Chennai, the state’s capital. High Commissioner Kariyawasam, who was on a goodwill mission, talked with Jayalalitha about the progress made in resettling the war-displaced Tamil refugees and invited the Chief Minister to Sri Lanka for a first-hand study of the situation in the North. He even put a proposal of a delegation of legislators form the Tamil Nadu State Assembly to visit the war-affected area.
Clearly, the government of Sri Lanka too understands that the much-needed, and much-appreciated – even in Tamil sections – development work alone would not win the hearts of the affected Tamilians in the nation. It would have to reach out to be seen as being at peace with the idea of a Tamil society within the Sri Lankan idea of nationhood. Maybe it can revisit what Kumaratunga has said viz.,
“Sharing political powers with Tamils will not reduce our strength…rather it will bring together diverse skills and talent to enrich us.”
Or else it might face the following situation again:
“The consistent rejection by the state of the demand of the Tamil movement, for language parity, led to increased demands for power sharing through Federalism, and finally for a separate state.”
On the other hand, is the Tamil leadership ready to be more accommodating itself now – and agree to swap the demand for a separate nation with lasting prosperity, liberty and identity-based peace?
The world is watching.