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| Nepal's Prachanda obliges India's CPI(M) | | Yechuri plays key role in Nepal's politcal revolution | | SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, July 10: It is the tale of two cities--the tale of two revolutionaries. Khatmandu-based Prachanda, the Maoist leader, and Sitaram Yechuri, politburo member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). Yechuri, who is also a member of Rajya Sabha, has been playing a key role in the ongoing political revolution in Nepal.
Yechuri has been carrying out talks with the Maoists as well as with the seven political parties, and has succeeded in bringing the rebels into the democratic process. The success is attributed to the personal rapport that he enjoys with Prachanda, the Maoist leader, who is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in the 1970s when JNU was a veritable red bastion among the Indian universities.
In a media interview, Yechuri explained the details of the political process that is unfolding in the Himalayan kingdom. The first stage, he said, was in last August when the seven political parties and the Maoists came together on the basis of a 12-point agreement. Among other things it involved in the convening of the constituent assembly and the writing of a new constitution. In the old constitution, sovereignty rested with the king and the parliament. In the new constitution that is being envisaged, sovereignty will lie with the parliament.
Did Yechuri have a difficult time convincing the political parties to accept the Maoists as partners in the political process? His reply: "It was, of course, difficult. But more difficult was convincing the Maoists to join the political process, and how it would further strengthen them and widen the political scope of their activities". Did India misread the situation in Nepal earlier one? His answer: It certainly did. It wanted to preserve the role of the monarchy. But the mood of the people had changed.
Did the US play a key role in the worsening the situation in Nepal? Sitaram Yechuri's one-line reply: "The US was certainly against the Maoists taking part in the political process". When asked if he though there will be dificulties on the way, the CPI(M) leader was quoted as saying: "It is going to be a long process, and there are difficulties. When I went to Nepal recently, an eight-point programme was forged between the political parties and the Maoists. This involved the elections to the constituent assembly which will write the new constitution, the induction of the Maoists into the interim government that will conduct elections to the constituent assembly. Meanwhile, the Maoists have agreed to abandon the parallel government structures that they have created".
According to Yechuri, a few options have been laid out. The first is to merge the Maoist units with the Nepalese army. The second is to maintain the Maoist units as separate but to be placed under the common command of the army. The third is to turn the Maoist forces into a para-military force. And then there is the difficult part of the surrendering of arms. One of the suggestions was that it should be done under the supervision of the UN observers. The Nepalese Prime Minister has written to the UN requesting for the observers.
Is it better if it is sorted out internally instead of bringing in the UN observers? Yechuri's reply: That would, of course, be an ideal thing to do. But the Maoists want international recognition that the presence of UN observers would give them. Is the process of integrating the Maoists working out smoothly? "It is not all that smooth. There have been complaints that Maoists are still going about with their arms. But it will work out", Yechuri stated.
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