Nepal: Biplab – The Main Thing is Revolution

Photo Credit: Eric Ribellarsi

This article is from the new Red Star.

Netra Bikram Chanda “Biplab”-  State, Transformation & Peace

“Debates and struggles are running inside and outside of the political parties.  UCPN-Maoist, NC and UML are passing through the process of intense debates. A strange situation has been created whether the running peace process can carry the debate in a smooth way or not. If not, we cannot deny that the struggle will enter into a stage for state transformation.”

3 September 2011: The debate of state, transformation and peace has widened the struggle in two spheres. The first one is among the political parties and the second one among the ideological factions within political parties. Struggle among the political parties is mainly amongst UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and UML.  Struggle among the political parties is amongst the ideological factions within Maoist, NC and  UML parties. However, the struggle  among the factions within Maoist party is very important and has historical significance. The struggle can give a new direction and a new mode to the political struggle and peace process.

1. Struggle Among the Political Parties

The truth in our understanding is that the principal matter in the consensus and agreement between UCPN (Maoist). NC and UML is transformation of state and peace. The trust among the people at that time was that NC and UML would be ready to transform the state mechanism. Maoist would postpone the People’s war and both would get together.

The common acceptance says that the old feudal and capitalist state  will be transformed  into a new state with Maoist and that will open the way ahead to peace, constitution and prosperity.  Both the old power and the revolutionary powers advanced together through Comprehensive Peace Accord to the Constituent Assembly by making interim constitution.  Nonetheless, NC and UML are drawing themselves back from the understanding that was made in the initial phase of the agreement for peace. They have given emphasis only in the matter of peace.

We were agreed that the principal cause of all the struggles, movements and the wars was the regressive anti-people and status quo character of the state power. This cause pushed the state into miserable condition and deprivation. People’s War is the consequence that it invited. To eradicate the cause, we agreed in the issue of the transformation of the state.  For that:

*Change the state from unitary to federalism

* Implement the scientific land reform

*Provide special rights to women and dalits

*Form the national army by integrating both Nepal Army and the People’s Liberation Army

*Review and Cancellation of all the unequal treaties.

Write People’s Constitution (sovereign power in the people).

Except the above mentioned issues, the other issues were on making public whereabouts of disappeared, providing relief to the martyr  families, providing medical treatment to the wounded   and cancellation of all the suits that were filed during wars (People’s War). However, the old political parties like NC and UML have forgotten all these commitments while passing through the process of peace, election of the constituent assembly and the abolition of the monarchy. They are focusing only on the issues of peace process. They are saying that the issue of transformation is nothing and there is only one issue of peace process.  Maoists have taken the issues of state transformation and peace process together. The main aspect is the transformation of the state. Transformation ensures the peace process.

Unfortunately NC and UML are expressing their views that raising the  issue of the transformation of the state  is to neglect the peace process.  Not only this, to give emphasis on the transformation is to be extremist  and deviate from the way of peace process. In their interpretation, it is to go  back to the struggle and impose dictatorship.

The tendency of NC and UML  to accuse the progressive and revolutionaries to be totalitarian and against the peace process is unbearable to the  people and for us. It neither expresses the aspiration of the agreements and the understandings nor addresses the aspiration and the expectations of the people.

NC and UML pronounce peace only in the form.  According to them, the danger over peace is from UCPN-Maoist because they are not ready to abandon weapons. red-army and writing constitution. However, in essence it is quite  reverse that NC and UML are against peace and constitution. Their current decisions  and activities justify that they are against federalism, integration of army and scientific land reform, participation of Maoist in the bodies and sectors of the state. They are against the special rights of women and dalits.

In essence, the peace they are pronouncing is without transformation of the state, which has a stronger  tie with the ruling class than the people. Struggle between truth and falsity has begun when NC and UML stood up for the false peace. Maoists are for real peace that is related with the transformation of the state and that addresses the aspiration of the people.

2. Party Inner Struggle

Debates on the representation of revolutionary and progressive in the bodies and the sectors are going on in Maoist, NC and UML. It is about the space for representation in the state mechanism. NC and UML are not ready to provide space to Maoist in the state because they do not want to see Maoist advancing ahead and what they want is to limit UCPN-Maoist inside the boundary of parliamentary system. They have their stand in providing a few spaces under their conditions.

Meaning, existence and identity along with the glory of UCPN-Maoist is directly  connected with the issue of the transformation of the state. Maoist is a single political party that put forward an original concept of state transformation. Thew concept and the activities up to People’s War is only for the transformation of old state into new. Postponement of the People’s War is for peace with the transformation of the state.

In this context, the inner struggle in any revolutionary communist party is for the transformation of the old state and state power. Communists have made conceptual framework of armed struggle for state transformation. They sometimes use underground armed struggle  and sometimes open struggle  through the united front. In course of debate and struggle, communist parties are split and united. Since 1996, we practiced armed struggle for a decade that is the great People’s War.

When we were preparing for armed struggle, the party at that time was not united, rather there was debate and no uniformity in understanding and agreement. Party split on the eve of armed struggle; however, it took its initiation for protracted  people’s war. A decade long armed struggle ran and the state reached to the situation to go into the process of state restructuring.

But the political parties like Nepali Congress, UML and the other fringe political parties that support regressive politics are against state restructuring. For the enhancement of the process. we had put forward our peaceful roadmaps in place of using force and they were accepted  and committed to implement by NC and UML. The understandings are as follows:

*Implication of  federalism

* Implementation of scientific land-reform

* Building national army

* Participation of UCPN-Maoist in the bodies and the sectors of the state

* Special right of women and dalits

*Protection of the families of the martyrs and the disappeared

* State responsibility in education, health and employment.

NC and UML intentionially forget all these decisions and understandings. When NC and UML did not become ready to implement these agreements in practice, then, the question of revolt appeared the only one option left before revolutionaries.         (The writer is Standing Committee Member of UCPN-Maoist)