Seven parliamentary parties of Nepal and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) have recently agreed on a historic and unprecedented 12-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish peace and democracy in Nepal [1]. The MOU is regarded as an appropriate political response to the current crisis in Nepal and has been widely welcomed by Nepalese people, human rights groups, other political parties, and international organizations including the UN and EU. Considering historical sufferings of Nepalese people and the enormous human cost of the last ten years of violent conflict, the MOU, which proposes a peaceful transition of Nepal through an elected constitutional assembly, has emerged as a ray of hope. We, Nepalese Diaspora and friends of Nepal, strongly believe that the MOU is a stepping-stone in building a democratic Nepal. We express our solidarity to the ongoing peoples movement for this cause. We also appeal to all international communities to support the movement for democratic transformation and lasting peace in Nepal.

Nepal has not seen a fully democratic system throughout its history; most of the time the monarchy has usurped the legislative, executive and judicial powers. The closest Nepal came to being a democracy was in 1990 when the regime came on the verge of collapse due to peoples movement. This time the king promulgated a new quasi-democratic constitution with some reforms but retained considerable and ill-defined powers, kept unchecked control over the military and excluded anti-royalist parties outside the legal framework. Unfortunately, the political parties that took power in the post-1990 political set-up continued in the path of mismanagement and political exclusion. Instead of searching for a negotiated solution to Maoists demand for reforms (most of which resembled platforms of the parties), the regime chose to dismiss the demands in a wishful thinking that they will disappear. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy has succinctly summarized this context in saying Many of the Maoists grievances mirror those of the majority of Nepals people who for centuries have suffered from discrimination, poverty, and abuse by one corrupt government after another[2]. Most Nepalese today agree that political parties in power made a mistake in not searching a conciliatory approach, the result of which has been a protracted armed conflict with massive violations of human rights from both adversaries.

However, the central cause of the current crisis has been a monarchy that has deprived Nepalese people of their intrinsic rights. The situation has worsened under King Gyanendra, who took executive powers by unconstitutionally sacking an elected prime minister in 2002 and started appointing prime ministers on his own. After dismissing three handpicked prime ministers, he seized absolute power in February 1, 2005. After this royal coup, conflict has aggravated sharply. The death toll of the last past five years of conflict has surpassed 10,000 lives. More ominous aspect of this is that most of the killed are innocent civilian. Nepal is ranked, by the UN, as one of the worst countries in the world in number of disappearances under state custody. With this staggering number of death tolls, continuous persecution and intimidation of ordinary people, terror of vigilante groups, torture and disappearances in military custody, the social cost of this conflict is immeasurable.

Tragically, King Gyanendra has denied all proposals for amicable solutions. Instead, his regime has been systematically oppressing the democratic forces and militarizing the Nepalese politics to prolong his autocratic and anti-democratic rule. Despite international appeal to reciprocate Maoists ceasefire for four months, the king ignored everyone, and instead launched a military offensive. His actions have not only squandered the opportunities for peacemaking, but also have pushed the country towards a bloodbath. We fear that Nepal is on the verge of a fully-preventable yet ignored human disaster.

As another betrayal to Nepalese people, the King Gyanendras appointed government has declared a local election in a ploy to legalize vigilante groups as political vanguards and cement his ambition of an absolute ruler. The seven parliamentary parties and the Maoists are requesting the Nepalese people to boycott the election. On the other hand, the regime is threatening anyone who is not ready to acquiesce. Recently, the vice-chair of King Gyanendras cabinet, Dr. Tulsi Giri, openly threatened: the government can sentence the political leaders to jail if they try to disrupt the municipal polls. We can term them fanatics and send them to jail if they start talking too much[3].

People firmly believe that the conflict can and should be resolved through dialogue; violence is not the solution. Accordingly, the parliamentary parties and the Maoists, for the first time in Nepals history, have converged into a common theme of establishing peoples supremacy by bringing a new constitution through an elected constitutional assembly. Although long overdue, this MOU has been a shining rod to people who want to see peace, justice and democracy prevail in Nepal. As envisioned in the MOU, whether the monarchy should be absolute, ceremonial or demolished should rest on the will of the people. We urge to Nepalese Diaspora and friends of Nepal to rally behind the most recent efforts of the parliamentary parties and the Maoists and help build a peaceful and democratic Nepal. We request all concerned for global humanity to denounce King Gyanendras autocratic monarchy and to raise their voices in support of Nepalese people. And, we appeal to the international community to use its collective influence on King Gyanendra to listen to the appeals of the civilized world and let the people of Nepal determine through democratic process the peaceful evolution of their country onto a path of economic and social progress, and bring peace and stability in Nepal.
Thank you!
[1]. http://insn.org/?p=2264
[2]. http://insn.org/?p=2362
[3]. http://www.newslinenepal.com/index2.php?option=newsdetails&sno=936