It is disgusting to witness the way the Big Three have been handling the situation in their hurry to promulgate new constitution. The ongoing constitutional process, being undertaken at a time half the country is burning, has been widely criticized. Not only have sections of Nepali society been demanding a halt to the process in order to create broad consensus, even Nepal's foreign friends and well-wishers have advised leaders to this effect.There is no alternative to continued dialogue to solve the current crisis. Everyone's aspirations can't be accommodated in the new constitution, but then there are avenues to accommodate most concerns, including those of Tharus, Madheshis, hill people, and other minority and disadvantaged groups. Once the constitution is promulgated, everyone should own up the document, but there is no chance of this happening in the current situation.
The country suffered minimum human casualty while fighting the autocratic regime of king Gyanendra and the sacrifice of those people was enough to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy. However, the current crisis has already taken four dozen lives and the government is still indifferent. This apathy has disgraced the ruling parties. With the ever increasing turmoil in Madhesh, we seem to have squandered an historic opportunity to write a new constitution for continued peace and progress of Nepal.
In wake of such a volatile situation, how could the Big Three justify their rush to promulgate the constitution? What is the urgency when the country is witnessing a bloodbath? Will people accept such a constitution? And most importantly, will such a constitution institutionalize peace in the country?
The government has clamped down on the Madheshis, the media and free enterprise, ignoring the aspirations and demands of several sections of the populace. Its unbending attitude has been alienating an increasing number of political parties. More than 12 parties have already disowned constitution writing in Constituent Assembly. Even members of ruling parties have requested their leaders to put the constitution process on hold for a while and talk to protesting parties.
As a result of such pressure from all quarters, the constitutional process was stalled for two days. The period for bringing the disgruntled parties should have been extended to reach broadly acceptable, amicable solutions. But the Big Three chose to bulldoze ahead, much to the chagrin of the people.
It is true that people have asked political parties to promulgate new constitution on time. But the current CA has another two years of life left. In this situation, it is difficult to understand why the ruling parties have pressed ahead, while the agitation in Madhesh is increasing and life there is getting more and more difficult.
People's mandate doesn't permit the Big Three to ignore the justifiable concerns of people and to suppress dissent. It also doesn't allow it to order the police to fire at protesters. Moreover, the ruling parties at this juncture have been depicting protesters' criticism as an attack on the state. The ruling parties are treating their critics as their enemies and traitors.
This unfair treatment has forced some members of ruling parties to vent their dissatisfaction publicly. But haughty leaders have turned a deaf ear to the advice of their own members. Their current political stand is no different to the stance taken by king Gyanendra's autocratic regime in 2005.
One of the disgruntled Nepali Congress leaders has explicitly said that the current situation is the result of the aspiration of one ailing leader to become Prime Minister, even at the cost of pushing the country into prolonged bloodbath. The country should not be sacrificed to the ambition of a political leader. This is what world history and Nepal's own history has taught us.
We have already wasted eight years. Why not a few more days, even a few months to settle the problem? The ruling parties must understand that the sky won't fall if the constitution is delayed by few weeks. Although the current quarrel is over delineation of states, other important issues have been overlooked as well. One such example is distribution of resources.
There is still plenty of time to correct the course. The ruling parties should not be autocratic and the opposition parties should not be anarchic. The ruling parties have no rights to take the lives of innocent people conducting peaceful demonstrations. It is unfortunate that politicians have resorted to exaggerations and white lies for their personal benefits. At this critical juncture, the ruling parties' approach of quick constitution makes no sense at all. The country is already in deep hole but the ruling parties won't stop digging.
The author is former foreign secretary
bhagirath_51@live.com
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