How can relations among the Nepalese political parties be improved and how can mutual recrimination be avoided? How can the government and the Maoists increase their mutual understanding and respect for each other? How can we strengthen our commitments to reconciliation and peaceful coexistence? As our political systems are incapable and far too short-sighted to address the basic moral questions, which have significant impact on Nepal's political stability and prosperity.
If our leaders fail to lead the moral crusade for justice and human dignity, if they fail to enunciate the essentially humane part of politics, the oppressed, the deprived, the humiliated, and the dispossessed will have chosen to forget the humaneness of politics, but will use it for violence. If politics does not become part of the solution, it will motivate hate- so trust and peaceful dialogue is essential at various levels. First, there must be dialogue among political leaders. Equally important is dialogue among people, among leaders, among scholars, and among lay people.
Civic society should support democratic pluralistic society and peaceful political transition to democracy should increase opportunities for individuals and groups to interact politically with the government to achieve major political changes. Civil society includes those individuals and organizations in a society which are independent of the government and which are able to exercise rights of free speech and association.
We Nepalese may talk about physical peace, but peace as a lifestyle is difficult to achieve for many reasons, both explicit and implicit, and that substantial homework has to be done before embarking on such a venture that might prove difficult to tread as we go down the line. We do not know the position of the political parties which have different attitudes and different ways of thinking according to their preferences and often whims. In our society people only talk about their rights and find themselves conscious about their position. They do not think in the larger interest of nation-building which is not an easy task. We do not think we have an important responsibility to our nation. If nation survives we are there if it is not there where we are going to find ourselves? One thing our leaders should remember: democratic ideals may not yield any results if we lack sustained efforts to empower people both politically and economically. Economic injustice provides a fertile ground for conflict.
The most fundamental thing is nation-building with all components of national society contributing to it in a selfless manner and, of course, with a view to promoting national harmony. We are a small nation with two giants as neighbours. National unity must remain the priority goal of political process, both right and left. Nepal has been suffering not because we lack manpower, resources and national unity, but because we lack visionary leaders who can guide the nation to a path of development. We have leaders who do not read and therefore do not understand what is happening beyond Thankot. They amass property without feeling a sense of cheating, they care for their coterie and psychophants who always guide them to do michievious things. Compare our leaders with others. We do not need to go beyond SAARC so let's have visionary and dedicated leaders. The quality of present day leaders in Nepal is questionable. Their loyalty is doubtful. Their interest is vested. Their way of thinking is limited. It is because of this reason we are suffering today.
We have to make efforts to change the society consistent in the changes in our thinking. We Nepalese should understand that charity begins at home.
The role of the civic society in every sector of society is more important, but the scale of this effort should be larger. Civic society can assist civilian movements in framing and carrying out well-conceived strategies for nonviolent conflict, setting the agenda for negotiations. Numerous structural factors help to mold a nation's negotiating style, including geography and geopolitics, governmental structures, economic indicators, demographic makeup, and legal and educational systems. From the Nepali standpoint, a negotiation is something entered into by competing parties in an effort to find a mutually beneficial compromise.
The government-Maoists talks should be in the interest of the nation or else the country would have to be bear huge damages. Dialogue and peace are the need of the day. The movement begun against injustice and corruption by political parties should lead to peaceful talks at the round table conference, success for the cease-fire and peace talks and every citizen should play a facilitating role in ensuring success of the dialogue.
Already, the humanitarian situation in Nepal is of great concern. The Nepalese population is highly vulnerable, with thousands of children under five chronically malnourished, and thousands of Nepalese lacking access to safe water and sanitation.
An active civic society is always needed for leading the social movement because strong civic society is the foundation of democratic development and creation of a just and equitable society. In any time of conflict, it is the civic society that plays the lead role in bringing about a tangible and lasting solution to the problem facing the nation and the people. Nepal, too, is not an exception. Currently peace process has been initiated owing to the sincere and serious efforts of the present government to restore peace, stability and security in the country. Maoists have also realised the importance of peace and stability. The cease-fire announced by both the government and the Maoists is the result of the widespread desire and will of the people, civil society and international community.
Recently, Prime Minister Chand called for an all-party meeting, perhaps, to converge all divergent political views and make one single national approach to solve this seemingly intractable and embarrassing problem of this country. The question of interim government, round table conference and constituent assembly have occupied lot of space of the journalists and National newspapers in the recent past. Even Recently Minister for Physical Planning and Works and government appointed coordinator for the peace talks, Narayan Singh Pun, said the 20-point draft code of conduct was sent to the Maoists on Saturday but added differences still remained on two points so Maoist response was awaited and that formal negotiations between the two sides would then begin in earnest. The lack of trust and respect for politicians makes us all wonder whether the proposed negotiations will lead to permanent peace? There is no hope for peace unless the major political forces the King, the Maoists and the parliamentary parties recognise the urgency of a negotiated peace and are willing to take bold initiatives to address the concerns of the common people. The mainstream political parties, particularly Nepali Congress and the United Marxist-Leninist, are as much to blame for Nepal's present situation as the other political forces. The civic society in Nepal should rally for more social transformation and stability and to bring about social reforms. A member of civil society can help bring about drastic and conceptual changes because the role of the civil society in Nepal has largely confined to issuing a couple of press statements and organising mass meetings of a selected group of people in the capital in case of heavy losses of lives in confrontations in the remote parts of the country.
Civic society in Nepal has to be trained in the skills they will need to organize nonviolent action, including: public speaking, managing people, preparing effective appeals for support, fundraising, and identifying and neutralizing informants and infiltrators because given the high likelihood of harassment, repressive violence, imprisonment, solitary confinement, or even torture, leaders also need to be prepared with the basics of trauma management.
To promote a permanent peace and respect for diversity through citizen participation in programs that develop a consensus around peace issues. To contribute to the definition of a permanent national peace policy through action, ideas and research aimed at the construction of a society based on policies of social justice and sustainable, humane development.
Nepalese people cannot forget how Glen Stassen said "Peacemaking, whether in personal, group, or international relations, requires a variety of capacities for self-transcendence: transcendence of one's own interests and perspectives for the sake of understanding the interests and perspectives of the other side, which calls for the virtue of empathy; transcendence of one's pride and defensiveness, which inhibit the acknowledgment of injuries done to others capacity for repentance and perhaps restitution; transcendence of one's own grievances and desire for vengeance over injuries inflicted by others capacity for forgiveness"
Negotiation is only one of many ways that organizations and societies deal with conflicts so how interest-based negotiation can be combined creatively with other rights-based and power-based procedures such as arbitration, adjudication, voting, and third-party intervention in order to constitute a "dispute resolution system."
Nepalese people bear the brunt of the country's violent armed conflict. Maoists actions increasingly turned anti-peace by the early 2000s. Thousands have been killed in recent years, and thousands more have been kidnaped for ransom. Small children, some as young as thirteen or fourteen, have been recruited into the irregular forces - guerrillas and paramilitaries - that play a primary role in the conflict, fleeing their homes to protect themselves and their families. The violence targeted against the local infrastructure community forestry projects, small hydro plants, bridges, telephone stations, and office buildings. The closure of educational institutions, businesses and cession of ordinary life in the country in response to their frequent calls for "bandh" helped only to make the lives of ordinary people more difficult.
Negotiation means that you not only set your Objectives for a negotiation, you also understand why those are your Objectives. It is a humanistic approach to negotiation that utilizes the strategies and tactical tools of successful negotiating to achieve optimal results. Strengthening independent actors' capacity in civil society can contribute to stability by broadening participation and enhancing prospects for democratic accountability and responsiveness.
Civic society-building can be organized by extgernal actors such as NGOs, regional or international organizations and understanding. Some might simply tell the story, ask a few relevant questions, and let the conversation, and the Conflict resolution is never easy, but it is especially challenging in Nepal.
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