In response to a call from a friend and against the wishes of my family members, I came out of my house and went to the main road in Baneshwor on the evening of April 21 in defiance of the curfew imposed by the government headed by King Gyanendra. For more than an hour I found myself in the midst of sea of humans, most of whom were holding tree branches, shouting against the King’s direct rule, calling for his abdication and expulsion from the country. Despite the fact that the crowd looked exhausted and thirsty, their vigour and zeal was such that they seemed to be prepared for any consequence, even death. As a gesture of solidarity, we brought buckets and jars full of water for the protestors to quench their thirst. At the time, I had little doubt that I was contributing for a great cause. And I think no different now.

It may be recalled that if during the night of April 21 King Gyanendra had not agreed to relinquish his direct rule and made a call to the agitating Seven Party Alliance (SPA) for the recommendation of a name for the post of Prime Minister, the next day the country would probably have had a republican government. The King, again, was compelled by the national forces, and with the support of the international actors, to concede more and had to make another proclamation within 72 hours (April 24), whereby he agreed not only to surrender all his powers by reinstating the dissolved House of Representatives (HOR), but also accepted the road map of the agitating SPA for the resolution of ongoing conflict.

Following these developments, we have witnessed the revival of the dissolved House of Representatives, the formation of the SPA government, the announcing of ceasefire between the conflicting forces, emergence of Maoist leaders from their hideouts, adoption of resolutions by the HoR that brought about fundamental changes in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990, signing of the 8-point agreement between the SPA and the CPN-Maoist and formation of the interim constitution drafting committee.

But the most important development was the humbling of King Gyanendra when he was reduced from an all-powerful monarch to an almost non-entity and persona-non-grata. As a result of these developments, the country, for all practical purposes, has turned into a republic where the monarch is irrelevant. But whether Nepal can afford to keep monarchy is still a matter of debate.

As a result of these developments, the people of Nepal expected the main political actors would have learned the lessons from the past and the country was going to have lasting and sustainable peace since the insurgents had joined hands with the SPA to solve the country’s problem. But the way the SPA is behaving within the House of Representatives and in the cabinet and the different tunes the leaders are playing are akin to the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Seeing the law and order situation in the country deteriorate by the day and the recent petroleum farce, one really wonders if there a mechanism or a towering personality in the country to row the state towards its destination in the choppy waters of Nepali politics.

Similarly, the way the interim constitution drafting committee projected itself by submitting incomplete work to the SPA and CPN-Maoist, one could feel nothing but get baffled as to what is happening in the country. Similarly, from the presumably growing differences between the important factions of the SPA and the Maoists, which side is fooling the other. If the palace was posing a hindrance to the recently won Loktantra, instead of making noise on the floors of the House, the SPA leaders could have abolished monarchy and declared the country a republic, which would not only have satisfied the Maoists but also paved the way for the election to the constituent assembly.

Likewise, if the Maoists are having a second opinion on joining hands with the SPA or feeling trapped at the hands of the international forces, which helped it enter into a pact with the seven-party alliance, they should have thought twice before joining hands with the SPA alliance.

At one time we thought that those friends of Nepal who wanted King Gyanendra to surrender power and for the same purpose supported the alliance between the SPA and Maoists, would urge the political forces to lead the country towards a logical political settlement. But people are aware that they too are playing different tunes now. So the question arises whether they were really interested in bringing sustainable peace to the country in the first place.

All these factors make it very difficult to say where this nautanki (eunuch drama) is leading the country. Or is it the curse of Sati that has placed huge obstructions in the way of ending the conflict and achieving sustainable peace in the country. So the big question is whether the dreams of sustainable peace will remain elusive to all Nepalis.

Dhungel is executive director, IIDS