link: http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story3%2Etxt&counter_img=3?headline=Prachanda's~Delhi~deal~puts~King~on~backfoot

Prachanda's Delhi deal puts King on backfoot

Kanchan Gupta / New Delhi

MAOIST CEASEFIRE IN NEPAL AFTER TALKS IN INDIA ----- In a surprise turnabout, Maoists in Nepal announced a unilateral three-month ceasefire on Saturday and called for restoration of political dialogue. According to information available with The Pioneer, the so-called truce has been announced at New Delhi's behest to create international pressure on King Gyanendra who has launched a massive offensive against the Maoists ever since the royal coup of February 1.




It is believed that the supreme leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Comrade Prachanda, was in India recently for talks with officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Cabinet Secretariat.



Ignoring the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' stand that India should take a tough stand against Maoists in Nepal, the PMO and the Ministry of External Affairs have been eagerly pursuing a deal with Prachanda, possibly at the instigation of the CPI(M).



Saturday's declaration puts King Gyanendra in a tough spot because he is now likely to face global pressure to initiate a dialogue with the banned Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Till now, India was virtually alone in pushing the line of reconciliation through dialogue.



Curiously, the truce declaration follows the joint statement signed by Prachanda and Ganapathy, general secretary of Communist Party of India (Maoist), announcing their decision to "fight together and establish socialism and communism" in Nepal and India. The joint statement commits the Nepalese and Indian Maoists to fight "unitedly" to crush "conspiracies hatched by imperialists and reactionaries" and set up a Pol Pot-type regime in the two countries.



What is also of concern is that the so-called truce declaration urges Nepal's political parties to drop their demand for restoration of Parliament and call for elections to write a new Constitution in which the monarchy will find no place.



Coincidentally or otherwise, Nepali Congress, that country's largest political party, which concluded its latest national party convention on Friday, has deleted the word "monarchy" from the party's constitution. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), the second largest party, has also declared its intention to press for republican polity.



Offering to temporarily halt his nine-year-long bloody war against Nepal's monarchy and Government, which has left more than 12,500 people dead, Prachanda's statement on Saturday says, "During this period, our People's Liberation Army (PLA) will be in defensive positions. The People's Liberation Army will not launch any offensive from its side. We believe our move will encourage all forces, within and outside Nepal, who want peace through a forward-moving political solution."



While political parties have welcomed the ceasefire, the Royal Nepal Army has refused comment. The declaration is clearly aimed at seeking the support of political parties who have been agitating for the restoration of electoral democracy ever since King Gyanendra dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Government on February 1 this year.



According to reports from Kathmandu, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) have issued statements welcoming the Maoists' move and urging King Gyanendra to hold official peace talks. Appearing on Nepal-1 television channel, former Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, during whose tenure in 2003 the Maoists had violated an earlier ceasefire, welcomed the truce, saying it is now for the King to initiate talks with the extremists. However, Nepal watchers in New Delhi are not too sure about the real objectives of the "unilateral ceasefire" offered by Prachanda who has termed it as "a confidence building measure" intended to prove their commitment to a "democratic and political resolution" of the armed conflict that has had an adverse impact on India's internal security. Maoists in Nepal have been collaborating with Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadre.



Officials in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi, who have been closely tracking Prachanda and his "People's Liberation Army", have reacted with caution to the truce offer. "This is clearly aimed at achieving two goals -instigating external pressure on King Gyanendra to start a dialogue with the Maoists and recovering from the massive counter-assault on Maoists mounted by the Royal Nepal Army," said a senior official.



It is no secret in New Delhi that the Home and Foreign Ministries are divided over how to deal with the Maoists in Nepal, more so after the royal coup of February 1. The Ministry of External Affairs has been pushing for a pro-Maoist, anti-monarchy line while the Ministry of Home Affairs has been advocating a tough approach against Prachanda and his men lest they add to India's own serious Maoist problem.



"Those who believe that the Maoists in Nepal can be drawn into legitimate politics through a deal-induced truce are grossly mistaken. They should remember how Prachanda violated the truce of 2003. They should also learn from our own domestic experience," said another official involved with counter-intelligence operations. He pointed out how the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh had twice agreed to a truce and used it to their advantage. "Faced by a daunting counter-offensive, the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh twice agreed to a ceasefire. On each occasion, they used the truce to regroup, re-arm and re-launch their attack on the State," he added.