(1888PressRelease)
June 14, 2007 - A top leader of the Nepali Congress Party which is heading an eight-party coalition Government in Nepal since April 1 this year, has sent a peremptory message to the Maoists of the country that if they and organizations affiliated to them do not abide by terms of the Comprehensive Peace Treaty signed in November last year, elections for the Constituent Assembly slated for November this year may not be held at all.
"No law and order, no elections". In these terse words, Mr. Chakra Prasad Banstola, a senior member of the Nepali Congress party and a former Foreign Minister of Nepal said in New Delhi on June 8.Mr.Banstola is also a former Nepalese Ambassador to India.
He said this in response to questions asked at a discussion on "Recent Developments in Nepal " organized at the India International Centre on June 8.Presided over by Major General (Retd) Ashok Mehta, an expert on Nepalese affairs. The meeting was addressed by Mr. `Pankaj Sharan, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with Nepal and Bhutan and Mr. A. S. Verma, a journalist working with a Hindi newspaper and who is a staunch supporter of the Maoists of Nepal, and has written a book on that party.
Most of the questions asked at the open forum emanated from Mr. Verma's assertions and presumptions on the present situation in Nepal, including the Maoist assertion that their "People's Liberation Army" combatants would be absorbed in the Nepal Army after elections were held for the Constituent Assembly.
Mr. Banstola initially declined to speak on the occasion since he was not earlier slated to do so. The Madheshi representative Chandrakant Jha who was to speak could not make it because of his indisposition. However, the senior Nepali Congress leader agreed to answer questions.
Most of the questions arose from the assertions made by Mr. Verma who did not forget to mention that the present conflict in Nepal was actually a fight against U.S. imperialism and referred to the reported advice by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Mr. Madhav Nepal that his party the UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist-Leninist or in short UML) should co-operate with the Nepali Congress Party in order to resolve present problems in Nepal. Mr. Nepal (many families in Nepal prefer to use the surname "Nepal" instead of the caste names) had called on the Prime Minister and leaders of the BJP while on a visit to New Delhi on his way back from the SAARC Members of Parliament meeting held earlier this month at Shimla.
Mr. Verma had also alleged that numerous road blocks were being raised on the path of holding elections to the Constituent Assembly and at one point said he doubted if elections –postponed from June to November- would at all be held alleging that "if the Prime Minister does not want elections it cannot be held). Mr. Verma also alleged that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had spoken about his preference for a "ceremonial monarchy". He also said that China had not supported the Maoists. In fact China had supported the King and had had sent feelers to him that they would support him in his actions.
Several questions from among the audience described Mr. Verma's statement about U.S imperialism at work in Nepal as "fashionable".
However the Nepali Congress leader, answering questions, repeatedly sought to clear the misunderstandings about several aspects of the Comprehensive Peace Treaty created by Mr. Verma's speech. He told the gathering that neither the "P.L.A." nor the Nepal Army was out in the open now. The Nepal Army was in their barracks and the Maoists in "cantonments" created for them. The arms with the Maoists had been deposited and kept under lock and key in large-size containers. It was only the police force that was operating in the country now, Mr. Banstola added.
Mr. Banstola repeatedly stated that the Maoists had to abide by the Comprehensive Peace Treaty and law and order had to be maintained. This was his way of alluding to the lawlessness created by the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
When Mr. Verma at this stage remarked that the Prime Minister had described the YCL as Young Criminal's League although they were doing good work by catching hold of corrupt people and handing them over to the Police, Mr. Banstola retorted:"Who has given them the authority to behave in this manner"? There was no answer.
Mr. Banstola referred to the Jana Andolan –I (the people's uprising in 1990 against the panchayati system) and said that the Nepali Congress with other parties did work with the King with Constitutional Monarchy having been the system after that uprising, and said that the fate of the monarchy now would be decided by the people of Nepal after the Constituent Assembly elections.
Making no bones about the disappointment of the Nepali Congress with the Maoists for their unlawful activities in recent days, Mr. Banstola reiterated his view that "No Law and Order, no elections".
Gen. Mehta in his concluding address expressed grave concern about the deteriorating law and order situation in Nepal and said this might result in elections not being held in time. He stressed that law and order had to be restored and expressed hope about "mainstreaming" of the Maoists.
Gen Mehta also said that it appeared that after the elections, the Maoists would emerge as only the third largest party in Nepal. If that was so, what was the use of sacrificing 10,000 of the Maoist combatants, he asked.
