by Theo Russell
COMRADE C P Gujral, International Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), addressed a highly successful meeting in London last week organised by the Britain South Asian Solidarity Forum.
Gujral gave a detailed analysis of the CPN(M)’s strategy as Nepal enters a decisive phase. The enemy, he said, was no longer the monarchy, but “US imperialism”.
“Actually we are now fighting US imperialism. The fight against the monarchy is almost finished. Even if we achieve the Nepalese revolution, imperialism will not allow it to be sustained.”
“Following last year’s mass uprising, an agreement was reached by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), which included the UML (Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninist), and the CPN(M), for an interim parliament and government to prepare elections for a new constituent assembly.
“The US was opposed to this process as it contradicted the interests of US imperialism. When it was agreed that the CPN(M) would enter the interim parliament with 82 members, the US threatened to stop all assistance to Nepal.
“When the CPN(M) entered the interim government the US threatened to ask its allies to impose economic sanctions on Nepal. But the United States’ policy met with total failure.”
Elections for a new parliament were set for June this year, but were postponed by the Election Commission for technical reasons, and since then they have been postponed again twice.
Meanwhile arms and money have flowed into the southern Terrai region to promote ethnic conflict and violence.
Gujral said the US had prepared two “ambushes” against the CPN(M). “The first was for the CPN(M) to lose the elections, and if it didn’t accept this, they, and any mass movement supporting them, would be declared as ‘terrorists’.
“The second was that if the CPN(M) won the elections, the US had prepared contras – the Terrais – and would claim that the elections were rigged by the CPN(M) and that these forces were fighting for ‘democracy’.
“The CPN(M) saw these two threats to be trapped and killed, but the CPN(M) was also working out how to win the revolution.”
In August the CPN(M) leadership adopted a strategy of a mass mobilisation, recognising a “serious mistake” was made in agreeing that only a new government could declare a republic, “when it should have been declared before the elections.”
The Maoists “made a clear demand for a republic backed by a mass movement and decided to withdraw from the government and to refuse to participate in or allow the elections.”
In September a CPN(M) motion to the interim parliament to declare a republic was carried with the UML’s support.
“The CPN(M) is now saying they will oust the Nepali Congress from the government via a mass movement, and a new government should be formed,” Gujral said. “This would make the US very angry as it opposes any CPN(M) participation in the government.
“The CPN(M) knows that if it becomes the head of the government the US will not tolerate this. Thus the CPN(M) has asked the UML to take power.
“US imperialism and Indian expansionism are opposed to this strategy, and would not tolerate a revolutionary government. So the next stage will definitely be very difficult.
“The US is not interested in Nepal’s resources or in economic control, but is afraid of the worldwide impact of the revolution in Nepal. People are looking to the Nepali revolution, because it would set a precedent for revolution for the oppressed, exploited and struggling people of the world.
“There is also a growing Maoist movement in India, and the Indian ruling class is very afraid of the success of the Nepali revolution and is ready to take any action.
“So the situation is heading towards a climax. It is very difficult to predict what will happen in the next weeks or months. It is a life or death struggle we are working out in Nepal, and the situation is very serious, so at this time we think international support is very important.
“We are preparing our people for the worst eventuality of foreign intervention.”
Gujral said Britain is supporting the peace process and there was an apparent diversion between British and US policy, and reported important developments in the CPN(M)’s relations with China.
“The CPN(M) has established relations with China, and the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu has issued a statement saying that China would not tolerate any interference in Nepal, including by India.”
This announcement followed “rigorous discussions” between a senior official of the Communist Party of China’s international department, Professor Wang. In an interview Wang said that if the US or India attempted to intervene in various ways in Nepal, China would not tolerate such actions if a certain limit was exceeded.
Gujral concluded by saying: “We are confident that we will eventually see the success of the revolution in Nepal, the first successful people’s revolution of the 21st century.”
photo: Peter Tobin, Mushtaq Lasharie and C P Gujral
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