Concerns still remain

These days the United Nations doesn't have much to cheer about. So it must come as something of a relief that its efforts in Nepal have met with what must be termed success. The discussions between its representatives, the political parties and the Maoists have yielded a formula that could succeed if the politicians show as much sagacity as the Maoists have done. The agreement is that the Maoists will have 73 seats in the interim legislature, which is two short of what the largest political formation""the Nepali Congress""has. They will, of course, lay down arms. The legislature is to have 330 members. An interim Constitution is to be announced on November 26 and come into effect five days later. The new interim government is also to be in place then. The Maoists have agreed to dissolve the "people's" government and the "people's" court the same day. In June next year, elections to the 425-member Constituent Assembly are to be held and will be monitored by the UN. Most importantly, in the very first meeting of the Constituent Assembly, the future of monarchy is to be decided by a simple majority. In any event, the king is to play no further part in the governance of the country and his properties are to be nationalised and converted into a trust. To India, which had become an ineffectual observer, the agreement ought to come as a relief.

History will adjudge this to be a victory for the Maoists and their leader Prachanda, who forced the feudal and aristocratic establishment of Nepal to take into account the concerns and needs of the people. Prachanda is going to participate in the leadership summit being organised by Hindustan Times, where he can meet world leaders. Had the Maoists not taken to arms and forced the issue, it is likely that Nepal would have continued to be governed as it had been since 1990. Then, in victory also, they have shown courage and good sense by agreeing to lay down arms and participate in the democratic process. To some extent, that commitment will also depend on the manner in which the Maoists use their access to arms. This is because the storage terms favour them. It must be hoped that they will not hang about in the background in voting booths, armed to the teeth. After all, on their own admission, there are as many as 35,000 of them and they possess around 20,000 modern weapons. How they obtained them will be a question to which India will want an answer.

India's other concern, stemming partly from the answer to that question, will be to ensure that China's influence in Nepal remains limited. Prachanda has his links with India, and Nepal's natural geographical and trade links are with India. But the Maoists have taken their name from a Chinese leader, and how they see Nepal's interests once they are part of the government remains to be seen. For this, India has only itself to blame. If you have sided with the losers, at some point you have to pay the price.