A week after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has not managed to give full formation to the cabinet. So far he has been able to induct six members from his party and seven from the Madhesi front. Infighting between his own Maoist party and the disagreement between the Madhesi leaders is delaying the formation of the full cabinet. Politics they say is a game of opportunity and there is no lack of opportunistic Nepali political leaders. Why else would Mohan Baidya be protesting against a symbolic act like handing over the keys of the weapons containers to the special committee when the entire country would like to see the peace process go forward? Only because it was not “approved” by the central committee to specifically hand over the keys? Or why else would Madhesi leaders who claim to represent Madhesi interests still be undecided over who gets what portfolio when the focus should be on completing the peace process and writing the constitution?

Despite the expectations from Dr. Bhattarai, he is already showing signs that although he is academically the most qualified leader to Nepal till date, he is not bereft of the weaknesses that most Nepali leaders have displayed. He too opted to compromise with the Madhesi front on the issue of justice by proposing a general amnesty to all those accused of gross human rights violations during the Madhes movement. Although the trend of encouraging impunity began long before Bhattarai came in, with all three governments formed after the April 2006 People’s Movement, whether it was Nepali Congress, UML, or Maoist led, chose to ignore justice and had proposed general amnesty to all accused of gross human rights violations during the insurgency and various movements, one had expected Bhattarai to be more visionary than compromising.

This is not to say that society must not forgive, but by giving a general pardon, without so much as investigating and bringing the true facts to light, Nepal is setting a dangerous trend that allows space for those who have suffered to lose their trust on the state, and take justice into their own hands. What was worse was that the governments not only declared a general amnesty, and contradicted their own commitments mentioned in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, but also promoted many officials, accused of human rights violations. We even had a minister accused of direct involvement in gross human rights violations. Perhaps this is a sign of our society’s acceptance of violence as something natural and necessary. This has to change.

Political compromises today, at the cost of the justice is going to cost Nepal dearly tomorrow. We may choose to ignore international human rights laws and treaties in the name of political compromises now, but allowing and encouraging impunity at the state level, will give space for more violence to erupt, and this will be exactly the opposite of what the People’s Movement 2006 was all about. But perhaps it would be naïve to expect a party that has its roots in violence to actually be prepared to even understand that refusing to be a party to violence no matter how much one suffers, to accept modern democratic norms and pluralistic values, is the only way forward in today’s world. We can agree to disagree but we cannot go about each other’s throats just because we disagree. However by announcing a general amnesty, we are saying its ok to slit the person’s throat because he disagrees with you.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Disappearance Commission, provisioned in the Comprehensive Peace Accord, the officially recognized document that allowed the Maoists to come to peaceful politics, have long been forgotten. We now know that it was meant to be forgotten, because neither the late Girija Prasad Koirala nor the Chairman of the UCPN-Maoists had the balls, or the commitment to honor the document. They knew that by allowing the formation of these two commissions in an independent and autonomous manner, they would be the ones to get trapped in the end. These clauses were only candies offered to the international community to keep them quiet. The international community too chose to keep quiet about it because, well they are not so innocent themselves, we only have to look at the war in the middle east.

The political parties of Nepal have time and again been violating the sanctity of the state, making a mockery of law and justice. We the people are compelled to bear this because we think we do not have a choice. However, political leaders should be warned, if the people were willing to accept a regime change and that too of a 240 year old system where the king was considered as an incarnation of god, the current lot of leaders were sent by us, for us and from us. They too are mere commoners on whom the people have bestowed their faith. However if these leaders cannot give justice to the people, there will come a time when the people shall rise again and change leadership again.

For Dr. Bhattarai these are challenging times, but as the Chinese say, every challenge is a golden opportunity in itself. Instead of talking about general amnesty he should convince the Madhesi leaders that only allowing justice to take its course can ensure peace and prosperity for the people, regardless of whether they are from the Madhes, Pahad or Himal. General amnesty should not be given, until and unless there is a full fledged investigation into all acts of human rights violations since the beginning of the insurgency till today.

The people of the Rukum and Rolpa did not take up arms because they wanted to, but because the state caused them injustice, because of the police brutality imposed upon them. Nepalis did not participate in the People’s Movement 2006 because we liked this party or that party or liked or disliked the monarchy, we did so because we wanted lasting peace and prosperity for all. That was what the political parties promised us. Unfortunately there is no sign of the peace process being completed and the new constitution written. But if the parties think that the peace process will be completed by merely handing over the keys of containers, or integrating whatever number into the state security forces, and forget about establishing the rule of law and justice, they are forgetting their own commitment to the people. And that the people will not forgive.

Kaziba is a Nepali who dreams of conquering the world every night, but ends up waking every morning in the same prison.



http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2011/09/05/end-impunity/