No to identity politics
The Himalayan Times
30 December 2021
No to identity politics
The end of the decade-long people’s war, fought by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) and led by Prachanda against the state, after the signing of the 12-point Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the then seven-party alliance in New Delhi had brought high hopes among the people of seeing a peaceful and prosperous Nepal. Since it entered into mainstream politics in 2063 B.S., this party has gone through a number of radical transformations, shifting from a guerrilla warfare unit to a key democratic force within Nepali politics. However, the party has poorly performed and failed to fulfill its promises made to the people, especially, low-income individuals and groups, during its decade long insurgency “Shrestha identifies key priorities of Maoist Centre “THT,December 26, Page 3)
As it entered the competitive politics, the CPN (Maoist) revised its ideological goal from “New People’s Democracy” to “Democracy in the Twenty-First Century”. After these ideological changes, it had entered into a vicious circle of splits and mergers in the party. Even in these situations, CPN-MC had the opportunity of leading the coalition government by its chairman, Prachanda, two times with not much to show in achievements. Instead, people have started raising questions about the importance of its decade-long so-called people’s war which saw the sacrifice of 17,000 lives.
It was interesting to see different senior leaders of other political parties suggesting to the CPN-MC to seriously discuss about the current national politics and come up with a national agenda relevant for national sovereignty and integrity during the inaugural ceremony of its 8th general convention being held in Kathmandu. Prachanda has tabled his ideological and political report in the closed session, stating that his party should fight for identity-based federalism on all three fronts - street, government, and the Parliament “Dahal proposes three-front fight for identity-based federalism” (THT, December 28, Page 1). It is yet to be seen how his proposal is received by his party members when there is growing concern about the significance of federalism.
Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharajgunj
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