The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : NEPAL'S PALACE COUP

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Wednesday, Feb 02, 2005

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NEPAL'S PALACE COUP

BY DISMISSING PRIME Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for the second time in a little more than two years, King Gyanendra has not only acted against the spirit of Nepal's system of constitutional monarchy. He has, with reckless deliberation, plunged his country into a political freefall of the kind he will find very hard to control or reverse. Since the King dismissed the elected government of Mr. Deuba in October 2002, Nepal has been in something like a twilight zone as far as democracy, civil liberties, and the normal conduct of political discourse are concerned. Parliament remained suspended and it was clear the King was in no hurry to allow fresh elections. By declaring a state of emergency now, King Gyanendra has lifted the veil of ambiguity that covered his authoritarian and reactionary political agenda. When Mr. Deuba unwisely accepted the King's invitation to reoccupy the Singh Durbar last year, he should have anticipated that what was being offered to him was something worse than even a Faustian bargain: Nepal's fractious politicians were being given precious little in exchange for giving up their democratic soul. At least Mephistopheles was promised 24 years of pleasure; Mr. Deuba barely got 24 weeks.

There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the increasing determination of the Government and its Maoist adversaries to settle Nepal's fate on the battlefield is, to a significant extent, the product of King Gyanendra's putschist politics. As Nepal, India, and the rest of the world contemplate his latest coup-within-a-coup, one thing is clear: it is this palace-engineered deportation of politics that has enabled military methods and military concerns to gain ascendancy. Thanks to the King's support, the Royal Nepal Army has had a free hand in its people- and terrain-destructive war against the Maoist insurgents; that the ensuing violations of human rights have not brought the authorities any closer to victory is a different matter altogether. As for the Maoists, the growing illegitimacy of the King and the hollowness of the political system of constitutional monarchy have led their leadership to conclude that a spectacular victory could be round the corner. The rhetorical questions posed to Mr. Deuba by the Maoist leader, Prachanda, when the Prime Minister offered peace talks last year were aimed at highlighting the fact that the Government had control over neither King nor Army. This thesis has now been proved correct. Similarly, the extremist rebels know that their demand for a Constituent Assembly will now find an even wider echo across the Kingdom. King Gyanendra's latest move has stripped the monarchy of the cordon sanitaire provided by the political parties. From now on, Nepal will witness a two-cornered contest — the King versus the rest — with the Maoists well placed to increase their clout.

Although the Manmohan Singh Government has issued a statement expressing its "grave concern" over the "serious setback to the cause of democracy" in Nepal, India needs to reflect on how its own ambivalence towards King Gyanendra relates to the most recent turn of events. True, New Delhi continuously urged the Palace to compromise with the political parties ranged against him and warned that the Maoists were taking advantage of the prevailing state of confusion. At the same time, the decision to sell arms to the Royal Nepal Army was seen as tacit endorsement of the King's authoritarian ways — and of the view that a `military solution' to the problem of insurgency was possible. In fact, there is no military solution. In addition to urging the reversal of his illegitimate, anti-constitutional adventure and an immediate return to democracy, India needs to send this message to King Gyanendra, post-haste.

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