The Royalists and the Republicans By: Dr Sanjeev Uprety The people of Nepal are finally ready to rebuild

their nation, and chart the contours of their own future without the institution of monarchy. While our foreign friends including influential politicians and diplomats in countries such as India, U.K. U.S and U.N are finally beginning to accept this fact many of them, scared that some political vacuum might appear if the King is removed, still continue to favor the concept of ceremonial monarchy rather than that of the republic. Many Nepali citizens similarly continue to cling to the outdated idea that we still need the King as our socio-political center and as our guardian angel. To most of us, however, it seems clear that the institution of monarchy is counting is last days within the walled palace of Narayanhiti. Soon, the ground surge of peoples movement which still continues albeit in a different form will finally sweep it out and throw it into the dustbin of history. But what about the political vacuum? Ask the royalists, isnt it possible that Maoists or some other group of people with arms in their hands and despotic dreams in their hearts root their new empire of terror within the vacuum that will arise in a King-less Nepal? The vacuum will be replaced not by a particular person or political party but by a new constitution and a new political system, the Republicans answer, soon an interim government will be formed with the representatives of both SPA and the Maoists. It is that interim government which will lead the nation, first towards a new constitution, and then finally to the creation of a new socio-cultural and political system. But how can you trust the Maoists? Ask the royalists, since the ultimate goal of the Maoists is a classless society isnt it possible that they will take up the ways of violence once again after the republic is established? It is possible that they might do just that, answer the republicans, but just as classless society is the ultimate goal of the Maoists, total democracy based on the ideas of equality, liberty and freedom - is our final destination. If the Maoists break their promise, we will fight against them as we fought with them jointly against the king. Democracy is the highest of the political ideals, and this very ideal will continue to inspire our minds and hearts, and make us fearless in the face of despotic threats, irrelevant of the fact whether that such comes from the political right or the left. But why do you think that you republicans are so strong? Ask the royalists, the same political leaders who failed you following the janandolan of 1990 are inside the parliament once again, and the same feudal attitude, the same outdated political culture continues to flourish within bureaucratic and political organizations. What makes you so optimistic about the future of Nepal? We place our faith not upon the politicians who are inside the parliament, answer the republicans, but upon members of our civil society which has finally come of age. We place our trust upon its members members of peoples parliament outside Singh

Durbar - who continue to pressurize the official parliamentarians within. People of high moral integrity and clear political vision people like Dr Devendra Raj Pandey, Dr Mathura Shrestha, Prof Krishna Khanal, Krishna Pahadi, Kanak Dixit, Khagendra Sangraula, Hari Roka, Daman Nath Dhungana, Padam Ratna Tuladhar, Dr Mahesh Maskey among many others are the real leaders of the current ongoing political movement rather then the leaders of the political parties. If these people continue to reject the lure of joining the government to speak from the streets rather than from the podiums of the official parliament or governmental ministries the peoples movement will continue to maintain its momentum. Movement? What movement? The royalists ask in despair, the movement has already come to an end and the real political game has begun. The movement continues, answer the republicans, How can the movement end when more than half of the people in the nation are still hungry and miserable, how can the andolan be complete when the institutions and ideologies of feudalism, patriarchy and nepotism continue to underwrite the structures of bureaucracy, trace the foundations of political parties, and shape the way people act, behave and think? What still needs to happen is a revolution inside each single mind. People need to learn to respect each others as human beings, no matter what caste, class, creed, sex or geographical location they belong to. They need to break down the horizons of outdated feudal, patriarchal thought, and create a new democratic horizon of thinking. Till that happens the movement will continue, and the members of our media and the leaders of our civil society will continue to lead the masses from outside the gates of the parliament. Our journalists will remain ever vigilant to the machinations of power, and our poets, musicians and singers will continue to write, compose and sing songs to inspire those who have gathered outside the gates of Singh Durbar to keep a perpetual vigil till a new nation emerges from the rubrics of our feudal past. But the common people are still uneducated and ignorant, they are still easily swayed by the rhetoric of the political leaders who may use and discard them as they please just as they have done on previous occasions, thus object the royalists, how can a new mode of thinking and a new nation emerge under such circumstances? The common people are not ignorant anymore, the republicans answer, passing through the hellfire of a decade long Maoist conflict and the recent andolan they have emerged stronger, more aware of their rights and responsibilities. Each time that violence or repression manifested in and around their lives they learnt important lessons about their rights; each time that the price of salt, grains, kerosene and other necessary items skyrocketed due to the conflict they gained crucial political knowledge. The common people of Nepal, unlike that of U.S or U.K do not have the luxury of remaining politically neutral. The events of the last ten years have turned them all into politicians. Yes, it is true that their political awareness still does not have a clear shape and direction; it is still operating at a subconscious rather than at a rational, conscious level. But now it is the job of the journalists, writers, leaders and other members of the civil society to work as organic intellectuals, and transform and translate that groundswell of vague political

consciousness into clear, well defined political vision. It is their job to turn the ordinary, even uneducated, citizens of the nation into real intellectuals with distinct political vision. It is only then that the andolan will finally reach its desired goal, and the movement will come to its final end.