We appeal Nepal Army to support us in our fight for National Independence

Q1: What is your party’s first priority, Civilian Supremacy or National Independence?

Prakash: The issue of National Independence definitely is of top priority. However, we are also raising issues of Civilian Supremacy, Peace and Constitution Drafting.

I would like to further clarify…the question is as to why the need for keeping the issue of National Independence on top? What we have observed is that the naked Indian interference and Indian Expansionism are the main obstacles to the logical conclusion of the peace process and also to guarantee Civilian Supremacy in Nepal.

Thus we firmly believe that unless and until we bag success in uprooting the Indian hegemony and expose the Indian agents, neither can we bring logical end to the peace process nor can we draft the constitution on time.

Q2: It is no secret that the Maoists’ leaders stayed in New Delhi during the rebellion period; they signed the 12-Points Agreement again in New Delhi and while the party was in the government did not feel it necessary to object to all those unequal treaties and moreover, the citizenship bill. However, when out of government you have once again acquired anti-India posture. It is also said the movement itself is a bargaining chip to bounce back to power? What say you?

Prakash: It is entirely a baseless allegation. Let me begin with by 12-points Agreement. We since the beginning asked the political parties to sign the deal right here in Nepal. Further, we asked them to come to Rolpa. But, the NC President Koirala and the then general secretary of UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said that it was impossible for them to arrive in Rolpa. I then personally went to Rolpa and talked to Comrade Prachanda and Baburam Ji and convinced them to go to New Delhi. I did not want the talks to fail at that point in time. Later, we all agreed to go to New Delhi. However, it is not important where the talks were held. It was needed in the larger interest of the country and countrymen.  As far as the role of New Delhi is concerned in the 12-Points Agreement, the agreement was not signed on New Delhi’s request. If the NC and UML leaders had held talks with New Delhi then we have no idea over that. India was found very positive then. Why it was positive it is all together another issue…but the agreement was not made at India’s request. And your allegation that we did not raise issues of national interests while in government and out-of-government we are using the same tactic to bounce back to power then it is the false allegation. To tell you in detail while we were in government we had raised those issues through diplomatic channels. Chairman Dahal when visited New Delhi as the country’s prime minister he indeed raised those issues.

In the entire history of Nepali politics, we are the only party that has never bowed down to the foreign lords. Rather we say that those old days of slavery have become the talks of the bygone era. We told them that rather than bowing down our heads to them we will resign from the government. The issue of Citizenship bill is of a different nature. The Nepali Congress had proposed the idea of acquiring citizenship on the basis of birth. We forced them to make it just once. We also said that to ease the process of citizenship distribution in Madhesh, Dalits, farmers and homeless should be given the citizenship at their doorsteps. While doing this there have been some cases where non-Nepalese have too acquired Nepali Citizenship. We should investigate those issues properly and put those culprits behind the bar.

Q3: Ok then if Nationalism is priority number one, then what about having good relations with the Nepal Army and other Nationalists…your party has so far failed to build sound relations with Nationalists? What say you of this then?

Prakash: You are absolutely right. All nationalist forces must march ahead together. It is in this regard we have been saying that there is the need for Nationalists and Republicans to unite not just for the sake of unity but with a mission to safeguard our National Independence. In fact the process of unity continues. We are continuing direct and indirect parleys with those forces. And, as far as our relation with the Nepal Army is concerned, we want no struggle with the Army.  The Nepal Army under the erstwhile Chief Rukmangad Katawal has ridiculed the government decisions, it also reduced the Civilian Supremacy and bowed down to the foreign lords. Still, our mission is not against the entire Army setup. We appeal the Army to support us in our fight for national independence and stop supporting the foreign agents. We are hopeful that the Army will not support those forces-the regressive ones, who want to derail the peace process, dissolve the Constituent Assembly and are pushing the country closer to a war.

Q4: There is widespread concern among the population that even if the Constitution is drafted it will be either India-friendly one or would be drafted as per the wishes of the foreigners…it won’t be as preferred by the people? What say you?

Prakash: Look, the constitution should reflect the wishes of the people. Thus, the new constitution must guarantee National Sovereignty, democratic values and principles…it must ensure institutionalization of Republican order and end to all forms of feudalalism. It must also ensure Industrial Capitalism and pave way for socialism and in the process bring an end to Ethnic, Regional, Gender and Class evils. It must also guarantee the rights of Workers and Farmers and ensure social and economic transformation. We have the knowledge that people do not just want a constitution but they want a people oriented constitution. We will not accept anything that would be as per the wishes of foreigners or the status quoists.

Posted on : 2010-01-27 07:12:14

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