Calling for Peace

Peace echo from strange quarters in Nepal--Dr I Arul Aram

‘Shangrila’ – the heaven of peace – is stained with blood, the blood of its heavenly beings. Yes, the traditionally peaceful Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal is facing with a civil war for a decade now. About 13,000 people have been killed so far. Voices of peace start echoing from strange quarters as well. One such is that of Dr Govinda Prasad Thapa, who recently retired as Additional Inspector General of Police in Nepal. Talking at the School of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS) in London in March 2006 under the auspices of the London Chhalphal, the ex-police officer said the Maoists struggle had ruined Nepal. “The issue should not be rejected but addressed. We should take conflict in a positive way. Conflict of any magnitude can bemanaged, if it is not rejected. Socio-economic injustice and exclusion of communities are the fundamental problems of Nepal. We have to address them before the situation gets out of hand.”The ex-police officer, who is influential enough to have a private audience with the King, now wears a cloak of a human rights activist. But he does not wish to be branded as such, lest he is considered partisanin the Nepali sense! He says the conflict has not only marred development but also made the state ineffective in ensuring safety, security and justice to its citizens.The conflict has resulted in the migration of thousands of people, besides inflicting heavy casualties. And, men are kidnapped, women are raped, people trafficked for flesh trade or human organs, children are recruited as child soldiers, gun culture is widely prevalent, corruption is rampant, socio-cultural fabric destroyed, economy is shattered, and democracy is vandalised. Dr Thapa says that the rejection of conflict results in trying to wipe out the parties to the conflict and going for an all-out offensive to gain control over the situation. Alternatively, the much better approach is to accept the dynamics of conflict and move toward a peaceful resolution. The use of arms and ammunition cannot result in a permanent solution. At best, it can do a patchwork. People with arms feel more powerful and they exercise their power by killing innocent people as well. The British legacy of having the police and the military for protecting the rulers, and not the people, continues. “This mindset has to change.”Peace expertise needed. The situation is complicated, says Dr Thapa. Not that the government has not tried out non-violent means of conflict resolution. But peace talks failed because of the lack of expertise. “We do not know the ways to negotiate or we were not serious about the talks. In fact, no notes have been taken during the last two peace talks. We do not know how to carry on a dialogue or to take notes. The United Nations or some friendly government should come forward to help us in gaining expertise in peace negotiations.”Nepal’s main political parties and civil society have urged the government to take part in a mutual ceasefire to decrease the conflict’s toll on civilians and start peace talks. The government rejected the Maoist’s ceasefire, saying the Maoists were using it to prepare for an intensified fight. On 2 January 2006, the Maoists ended its one-sided ceasefire and clashes have returned to pre-ceasefire levels. The government should declare a ceasefire. It did not responded positively to the four-month ceasefire of Maoists. Somehow the government took a different view of the situation. But no definite policy has been set forth. No written agenda or common grounds to channelise the conflict towards peace have been worked out. For instance, about constituent assembly, no one knows what its size and shape should be. No paper workhas been done. No documents are there to base the discussion. There is no vision, laments Dr Thapa.
Civil society should be strengthened as it plays amajor role in development at the grassroots. If the local communities develop, people would gain the capacity to manage their problems. Empowerment of local communities and development are an anti-dote to civil unrest. Coordination even within the government framework is lacking. The army and the police do not coordinate.Home and Defence Ministries function separately. If any one Minister is entrusted with the job of coordination, this will not happen. Lack of coordination between two armed wings leads to erratic violence which needs to be avoided, says Dr Thapa. Asked whether the morale of the police is deteriorating, Dr Thapa says ‘yes’. “The police should have been given an important role in counter insurgency operations as they who have intelligence of remote areas. Whenever there was an attack on police stations, reinforcements should have been sent rather than withdrawing the already available force. Becauseof the wrong decision to withdraw the police from certain remote areas, the government no more has access to intelligence in certain pockets. Declaring a state of emergency on 1 February 2005, the King had promised to (1) usher in peace, (2) restore democracy, (3) control corruption and (4) accelerate development. But these did not take effect. The King cannot do all these as a single man. “Without consolidating all actors in the conflict, the King will not be able to fulfil his promises, says Dr. Thapa.
(The writer is a Visiting Research Scholar at theLondon School of Economics and volunteer with PeaceBrigades International. He may be reached at i.a.aram(at) lse.ac.uk)