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Nepal: Putting back the pieces together

Bhuwan Thapaliya - 12/11/2006

The physical scars are noticeable. In fact, they are everywhere in each nook and corners of Nepal: Bullet pocked, shell shattered roof tops, deserted fields, ramshackle government offices, and the fire darkened houses in the villages of Nepal. Even the electricity poles, water pipes, telephone towers, and demolished police posts, shows the bitter sides of conflict that has choked Nepal’s throat. The truth however is this: The world’s largest reconstruction effect cannot overnight erase all evidence of a war that lasted for 13 years in Nepal.

The mental scars are more insidious. A generation of Nepalese has grown up to the sound of bullets and the scorching façade of the violence. Their parents have witnessed and often connived in the destruction of a country which once used to be known as the “ Switzerland of the South Asia,” a solitary example of democracy and solidarity especially taunting to its neighbors – India and Pakistan – that different religious sects could live in harmony.

No wonder, now, that the Maoists so confused before the peace accord seem subdued. They are all set for the constituent assembly election scheduled for next year. Government and the Maoists are now allegedly as one , both believers in the same God – peace, despite the death toll of more than 13,000 people and thousands more wounded, the displacement from their homes of thousands people and the flight abroad of thousands more.

The scar are yet there but at this moment everything stands still in Nepal and it is moving forward. And why not? The best way to get scars to face is to leave them alone. It is pointless to dwell on those deaths and those wounded fatally. The better course, as so often in Nepal ’s history is to ignore the past and concentrate on the future.

The government and the maoists nonetheless have to compensate those families whose family members were killed and brutally maimed by them, and promise those who were sandwiched in their conflict that such atrocity will never happen in the future again. Then perhaps they may forgive them considering the future of Nepal or else they will never.

Meanwhile, it seems now that the Nepalese will bind their wounds, recover their spirit and rebuild their country. After all, they have a reasonable guarantee of political stability from an interim government under a determined prime minister. Moreover, what choice do the Nepalese have? They are surely too talented and resourceful to let their country slip back into a self- destructive cycle.

But the optimism comes laced with doubt. Nepalese may ignore the past, but they do not forget it. Nor, it seems, do they forgive. Besides, who defines the Nepalese peace? Is it the maoists, or the political parties of Nepal , or the United Nations? Analysts say, Nepalese people should define peace and until and unless this happens peace will never prevail in Nepal .

Have the ordinary Nepalese really got their stake of peace? Time and only time will give answer to this question.

Nonetheless, whatever their differences, today Nepalese share a common heritage – a freedom to speak, travel and live anywhere they want in Nepal . But these are not enough to rebuild a country. If the Nepalese are to prove the pessimists wrong, they must do more than construct roads, restore electricity and get the telephone to work; they must take responsibility for their own mistakes.

Sociologically speaking, we all are part of the system, so we all have to accept our mistakes and take some responsibly for misdirecting this nation. Fortunately for Nepal , some of the clouds are beginning to clear with unexpected speed. Smiles are returning to faces that few months ago were distorted by anger, fear and uncertainties.

But the hard work is just starting. It took the Philippines eight years after “People Power” toppled Ferdinand Marcos before the coup attempts ended and the economy began to take off.

Nepal faces harsher conditions, with a more volatile population and far deeper economic woes. But it does have something going for it. In fact, the recent upheavals have created a rare, historic opportunity for positive change in a country that, until recently, was mired in the quicksand of political uncertainties.

What else needs to be done? The country’s political revolution has already sprung its share of surprises but now comes the toughest part: turning newly unleashed aspirations into reality while maintaining law and order. Nepal ’s immediate task is to stabilize the political and economic situation.

Government has made the right start by promising early polls, but that is not enough. Setting a timetable is not easy, given the complexity of the tasks ahead. But Nepal needs to restore confidence quickly among the International community, especially the International Monetary Fund and investors.

To do so, Nepal must lose no time specifying what she will do and when she will do it. She must be seen to be actually making progress.Neplease leaders must grasp the opening to push ahead with the political, economic and social reforms the nation desperately needs to rise, transfigured , from the ashes and shine as the beacon of peace and love yet again.