Diplomatist Magazine Annual Edition 2018 | Page 52

Knowledge Partner
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist
Nevertheless , China keeps insis * ng that it respects Nepal ' s sovereignty and " will not tolerate any outside interference over it ".
India was perhaps too myopic when it brought Maoists and other Nepali poli * cal par * es together , and was not deeply thoughkul about its consequences . China gave up its ' smile diplomacy ' and intensified its presence soon ajer the monarchy was put under suspension in April 2006 and abolished two years later . Beijing would ojen take up with the palace or the prime minister ' s secretariat the issue of ' western forces ins * ga * ng ' Tibetan refugees in Nepal against China . But with the poli * cal change of 2006 India ' s visible alliance with the Western groups on one hand '' and the aboli * on of the monarchy on the other , China increased its presence and interest in Nepal , overtaking India in Foreign Direct Investment as well . The economic blockade that Nepal suffered for five months ajer September 2015 within a week ajer Nepal promulgated its cons * tu * on turned en * re Nepali sen * ment against India . The Oli-led Lej Alliance won the polls this * me , largely because he iden * fied with that sen * ment which essen * ally took an an * -India form .
The peace process has no doubt brought into Nepal interna * onal exper * se , something that every country that has undergone conflict has experienced . However , what Nepal failed to do was to take the peace process and poli * cal cases . Because the Maoists have remained an important part of the government or poli * cal process since 2006 , all the par * es have chosen not to annoy them . Peace without jus * ce will make the peace process less relevant . Simultaneously , its poli * cal outcome too runs the risk of being challenged . Poli * cal par * es have only worked together in pursuit of power , sharing amongst them the plum poli * cal , cons * tu * onal and diploma * c appointments based on their poli * cal clout and numerical strength . Nearly every poli * cal ins * tu * on in Nepal , including the Supreme Court , has been packed with poli * cal par * es ' cadres or loyalists , affec * ng ins * tu * onal credibility and fairness .
A group of approximately forty vic * ms belonging to a common plakorm – Sajha Chautari – met TRC members in January 2018 and asked them to quit if they were
In all these years , poli @ cal actors , especially the top leaders of the eight par @ es that monopolised power together or in rota @ onal leadership , have not owned responsibility for the current mess .
unable to provide jus * ce to the vic * ms . As poli * cal equa * ons have now changed following the first elec * on under the new cons * tu * on , the rij between poli * cal par * es over the control of state organs has come in the open . The peace process has silenced the guns , but has not guaranteed the stability of the process and that of democra * c order .
All these aberra * ons in the conduct of the state crept in largely because there was a total absence of accountability on the part of poli * cal actors . Nepal con * nues to face challenges of having to fulfil the peace process and give legi * macy to the poli * cal change .
Image 24 : A Nepalese Army checkpoint on the road leading from Nepalgunj to Tikapur in western Nepal in 2003 . Several checkpoints were added due to security concerns during the Maoist insurgency
process together , and let the people in general , and the vic * ms of the conflict in par * cular , feel a sense of ownership towards it . Retrospec * vely , it was viewed more as an ini * a * ve by outsiders . For instance , the Truth and Reconcilia * on Commission ( TRC ) that was formed only in 2015 , ten years ajer the deadline ( it was to be formed by January 2007 ) to inves * gate and punish human rights violators during the decade of conflict has not achieved much so far because the Maoists want general amnesty granted in all the
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