Last year the month of April became the most glorious period in the history of Nepal. It not only toppled an old and wretched system of governance, but also laid the foundation for a new and vibrant Nepal by introducing total transformation of the past system of governance and people’s participation, guaranteeing basic rights of the masses. In a couple of days, April will come again and will motivate us to review the actions of the leaders in the last 12 months.

The peaceful mass upsurge became possible only after the agreement between the seven party alliance (SPA) and the Maoists came to the knowledge of the people who had been aspiring to peace and good governance. There is no doubt that the SPA as well as the Maoists played an active role in the movement; nevertheless one has to accept that the role of Koirala and Prachanda stood highest.

Koirala, a die-hard anti-communist, came to realise that the Maoist insurrection could never be eliminated by armed suppression and for peace and prosperity the Maoists had to be brought to the mainstream. His initiative to force an alliance with the Maoists to topple autocracy paved the path for mutual understanding between the democratic forces and the rebels. On the other hand, Prachanda’s realisation of the futility of “no win-no lose” situation of the war prepared necessary conditions for the upsurge. One has to accept that the Maoist participation in Jana Andolan II made the movement widespread and successful.

This year’s April is going to witness something different. Peace agenda has become illusive, as several other factions have launched armed struggle. Moreover, the civil war has extended. It is no more a war between several political factions too. During Jana Andolan II, the leaders had promised to transform the state structure and establish an all-inclusive democratic system. Logically, one would believe that people from all walks of life would express their grievances and themselves present the remedies for their problems. A country having so many languages and ethnic groups had to devise mechanisms that would provide equal opportunity to all. Naturally for such an exercise an appropriate forum had to be created. The Maoists from the beginning had proposed such a forum by demanding a political conference. But in their rush to join the government they dropped this idea.

Koirala, who was accepted as the head for two reasons — his age and his political initiatives — however, forgot his role as the leader of a coalition and started acting only as a NC leader assuming that the other parties would work under his aegis. Unfortunately, both Koirala and Prachanda could not continue to keep the consolidation process on the right track.

Electoral system is very important particularly when inclusiveness has been emphasised. The provision in the interim constitution to hold elections on the basis of a mixed electoral system had been immediately challenged by the Tarai and Janajati peoples but no attention was paid to them. There is no other way to give the people of different ethnic or linguistic groups the right to self-rule except by creating provincial governments that would include them. However, it took a lot of time to accept this by amending the interim constitution.

Similarly, proportional representation is the only means to assure the minorities that their interest would be taken care of. Out of the eight parties, only the CPN-UML stood for proportional representation. The Nepal Sadbhawana Party has now taken up the issue. Careful consideration has to be given to the question of a popular electoral system and the demarcation of new boundaries of the administrative units to be formed on ethnic and linguistic basis. The upsurge in the Tarai cannot be just blamed upon this or that. It would be like ostrich burying its head in the sand. A party could be banned but spontaneous mass upsurge cannot be suppressed and no other party would know it better than the CPN-Maoist who has been demanding a ban on Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum. In order to establish peace, the government must declare its willingness to listen to the grievances of the agitating groups and the remedy to be told by the Madhesis and ethnic groups themselves. No political party has the right to claim the backing of all Madhesis and ethnic people just because some of the leaders of that party belong to these groups.

In order to establish peace and amity among the people, an appropriate forum is needed and that has become much more important than holding the CA polls. An election for the CA without resolving important issues beforehand will create greater hurdles in the path of peace and amity. Therefore, once more attention has to be paid to convene the process of peace and mutual understanding. Let the Maoists pay serious attention to their own very important and pragmatic proposition.

Upadhyay is former foreign minister