Knowledge Partner
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist
Nevertheless, China keeps insis * ng that it respects Nepal ' s sovereignty and " will not tolerate any outside interference over it ".
India was perhaps too myopic when it brought Maoists and other Nepali poli * cal par * es together, and was not deeply thoughkul about its consequences. China gave up its ' smile diplomacy ' and intensified its presence soon ajer the monarchy was put under suspension in April 2006 and abolished two years later. Beijing would ojen take up with the palace or the prime minister ' s secretariat the issue of ' western forces ins * ga * ng ' Tibetan refugees in Nepal against China. But with the poli * cal change of 2006 India ' s visible alliance with the Western groups on one hand '' and the aboli * on of the monarchy on the other, China increased its presence and interest in Nepal, overtaking India in Foreign Direct Investment as well. The economic blockade that Nepal suffered for five months ajer September 2015 within a week ajer Nepal promulgated its cons * tu * on turned en * re Nepali sen * ment against India. The Oli-led Lej Alliance won the polls this * me, largely because he iden * fied with that sen * ment which essen * ally took an an *-India form.
The peace process has no doubt brought into Nepal interna * onal exper * se, something that every country that has undergone conflict has experienced. However, what Nepal failed to do was to take the peace process and poli * cal cases. Because the Maoists have remained an important part of the government or poli * cal process since 2006, all the par * es have chosen not to annoy them. Peace without jus * ce will make the peace process less relevant. Simultaneously, its poli * cal outcome too runs the risk of being challenged. Poli * cal par * es have only worked together in pursuit of power, sharing amongst them the plum poli * cal, cons * tu * onal and diploma * c appointments based on their poli * cal clout and numerical strength. Nearly every poli * cal ins * tu * on in Nepal, including the Supreme Court, has been packed with poli * cal par * es ' cadres or loyalists, affec * ng ins * tu * onal credibility and fairness.
A group of approximately forty vic * ms belonging to a common plakorm – Sajha Chautari – met TRC members in January 2018 and asked them to quit if they were
In all these years, poli @ cal actors, especially the top leaders of the eight par @ es that monopolised power together or in rota @ onal leadership, have not owned responsibility for the current mess.
unable to provide jus * ce to the vic * ms. As poli * cal equa * ons have now changed following the first elec * on under the new cons * tu * on, the rij between poli * cal par * es over the control of state organs has come in the open. The peace process has silenced the guns, but has not guaranteed the stability of the process and that of democra * c order.
All these aberra * ons in the conduct of the state crept in largely because there was a total absence of accountability on the part of poli * cal actors. Nepal con * nues to face challenges of having to fulfil the peace process and give legi * macy to the poli * cal change.
Image 24: A Nepalese Army checkpoint on the road leading from Nepalgunj to Tikapur in western Nepal in 2003. Several checkpoints were added due to security concerns during the Maoist insurgency
process together, and let the people in general, and the vic * ms of the conflict in par * cular, feel a sense of ownership towards it. Retrospec * vely, it was viewed more as an ini * a * ve by outsiders. For instance, the Truth and Reconcilia * on Commission( TRC) that was formed only in 2015, ten years ajer the deadline( it was to be formed by January 2007) to inves * gate and punish human rights violators during the decade of conflict has not achieved much so far because the Maoists want general amnesty granted in all the
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