Social inequality has been a contributory factor in the tragic internal violence that has haunted Nepal since 1996. Following the restoration of democracy in 1990, power became centralized in the Katmandu Valley. This gave rise to a liberal, social middle class, which benefited from globalization. However, rural communities continued to suffer a mixture of injustices, of which poverty has been the consistent factor. These inequalities gave rise to the founding of the Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist (CPN- Maoist) in March 1995 by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda.
Against the backdrop of social exclusion in rural communities, the Maoists cajoled marginalized groups into joining their militia. The subsequent 11 years of violent conflict killed nearly 15,000 people, wounded nearly 12,000 and forced nearly 2 million away from their homes as internal displacements or refugees. Atrocities have been committed by both insurgent and government forces.
The key breakthrough on the road to peace came in September 2005 when the Maoists announced a ceasefire and signed a 12 point agreement with the 7 major political parties of Nepal, in the aftermath of the King’s decision to shut down the elected government. During subsequent months every move of the Maoist supremo Prachanda and his party’s cadres were constant preoccupations of both the Nepalese – for whom they were matters of life and death – and the international community who desperately wanted peace restored in Nepal. Just over a year later the Maoists signed a formal peace agreement and declared they would abandon arms forever. The killing of human beings has now come to a halt.
The Maoists had always depicted the Nepal royal family as the real enemy and root cause of the conflict in Nepal. By contrast, the Royal Nepalese Army owed its allegiance to the King who is its supreme commander. Under the terms of the November 2006 peace agreement, both forces will be confined to barracks with their weapons under lock and key, under UN supervision. In the longer term it is intended that the Maoists will be integrated into the army and police.
A combination of fragmented political parties and the stubborn King Gyanendra has not served Nepal well in recent years. In February 2005 the King attracted international outrage when he imposed a nationwide state of emergency, suspending constitutional rights, detaining opponents and restricting the work of journalists. However, the King’s action galvanized the main political parties into coordinated and determined resistance through a succession of public demonstrations and non-cooperation. The King’s response was severe with arrests of political leaders, a ban on demonstrations, and imposition of curfew in Kathmandu.
Despite killings of protesters by the armed forces, eventually the spirit and size of public demonstrations through April 2006 grew to the point at which the King bowed to the people power movement. He not only restored parliament but also declared that he would accept the people’s sovereignty and decision of parliament.
Dramatic change was then presaged by a succession of announcements of provisional measures by the House of Representatives (HoR). A nine point declaration made in May 2006 not only stripped the King of his powers (such as control of the army and exemption from tax), but also declared that the country should be a secular rather than Hindu state.
The new Prime Minister Mr.Girija Prasad Koirala grasped the nettle of serious negotiations with Prachanda and, with the assistance of UN mediation, reached a far-reaching and dramatic peace agreement which was signed by all key political parties and the Maoists in November 2006. The political terms will see 73 Maoist representatives immediately joining the HoR and elections in June 2007 to a Constituent Assembly responsible for drafting a new constitution. The people’s antipathy towards the King is very high and it is possible that the new constitution may not accommodate the monarchy. The popular people’s movement in Nepal has therefore consigned the absolute monarch into a nominal monarch and Nepal is now a peaceful place.
Both sides in the conflict have been guilty of neglecting the needs of common people and it will be important for the new government to reconstruct the people’s shattered identities first rather than asking other forms of help from the outsiders. Though weak and heavily fragmented, Nepal has strong traditions of civil society which today thrives in numbers if not yet in finding its most effective niche in the political process.
A measure of the disquiet over the failed royal coup is how the criticism of global human rights watchdogs has been deflected away from the Maoists towards the actions of the King. Indeed a commission has stated its intention to prosecute the King and those senior officials who endeavored to suppress the popular movement in April 2006. There are also plans to establish a truth and reconciliation body to address abuses committed by both sides during the long years of conflict.
In return for their integration into the political process, the Maoists are committed to disbanding their network of enforcement bodies that dispense unofficial justice and administration throughout much of rural Nepal. The appalling disregard for human rights in regions controlled by Maoist forces has been of concern throughout the years of violence especially the indoctrination and use of children for military service. Women and girls have also suffered from the instability created by the insurgency which has combined with cultural pressures to create a serious problem of human trafficking in Nepal. Various studies have put the number of girls and women trafficked every year, particularly to India for the commercial sex trade, at 7,000-12,000. In addition, the number of internally displaced persons is alarming. Though not registered, there are believed to be over 0.5 million internal refugees in Nepal, including thousands of children working in dangerous conditions.
An interesting step by the new government is the intention to review laws which are considered to reinforce discrimination against women. Amongst other things, this may lead to a minimum of 33% of civil service positions reserved for women. Fairer treatment for dalits is also under consideration.
In the wake of the Maoist insurgency, many health facilities in rural areas of Nepal are either damaged or destroyed completely. The government is also under heavy pressure for health system reform and the recent MDG Needs Assessment report describes investment in health as “grossly inadequate”. Government and development agencies in Nepal have concentrated mainly on direct medical intervention and institution-building. Primary healthcare is largely ignored and is not yet integrated into community health settings. As a result, rural communities are not yet empowered and remain totally ignorant toward health issues.
Among other problems, this has created a high risk environment for HIV infection. Whilst prevalence in Nepal remains low relative to countries in Africa, latest figures show that over 60,000 people have the HIV infection and there is concern that the disease is escalating. There are also worries about a return of polio, necessitating mass programs of vaccination of children. Figures for child malnutrition and mortality are in any event very high by regional standards.
Years of progressive macroeconomic deregulation in line with the neo-liberal model have brought little benefit to the poor in Nepal. Despite average aid of nearly US$400 million per annum, Nepal has no economy in any serious sense of the term, being dependent largely on subsistence agriculture and overseas remittances. Undeterred, the country has been persuaded to conform to the rigors of the World Trade Organization, of which it became a member in 2004, the first to do so from the group classified as “Least Developed Countries”. With so many poor farmers lacking capital to modernize and with Nepal’s flimsy export earnings greatly dependent on the troublesome sector of textiles, many observers fear that the time is not yet right for the country to compete with global business.
On a more positive note, there are hopes of a peace dividend emerging from the Maoist agreement together with a more supportive donor environment; substantial new investment in rural infrastructure, health and education is envisaged.
The wilderness in Nepal fosters an incredible variety of ecosystems; the greatest mountain range on earth, thick tropical jungle, thundering rivers, forested hills and frozen valleys. It is also a sanctuary for 735 recorded species of birds together with 400 species of butterflies, including some on the verge of extinction. The value of this diversity has been recognized in the designation of almost 20% of the country as “protected areas” although the management of these areas tends to be the subject of political debate.
The widespread dependence on subsistence agriculture underlies many problems of environmental degradation in Nepal, in particular the depletion of forest resources which in turn leads to biodiversity depletion and desertification. This does not mean to blame the poor. What is missing is the linkage between survival strategies, knowledge of the poor and sustainable livelihood options. Contemporary and traditional innovation should be scouted and experimented for value addition. Policy support at macro as well as micro level is important as networking of various strategies, institutions, and experts leads to sustainable livelihoods and conservation of the environment.
The impact of climate change, to which by contrast Nepal is a minimal contributor, threatens to thaw Himalayan snow and glaciers with potentially disastrous results. A Greenpeace report says that the Himalaya region is warming at twice the global average rate and that 67% of glaciers are in retreat. As many as 20 lakes in the mountainous region have been identified as at risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF). As in other parts of South Asia, the monsoon pattern appears to be unsettled, aggravating sensitive productivity of agriculture and obliging the government to seek food aid in September.
