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Janadesh : Comrade
Chairman, why did you declare unilateral cease-fire all of a sudden?
Comrade Prachanda :
To create an environment at both the national and international level for a
forward-looking political way out, to inspire the seven political parties to
come in cooperation by clarifying their immediate slogan, to reinforce the
movement of civil society, to increase political intervention upon the old state
and to consolidate party’s relation with the broad masses by honouring their
sentiment and aspiration etc. are the main motivating reasons behind the
declaration of cease-fire.
JD : The royal state
has its own military. How will the ceasefire declared without their agreement
succeed?
PR : In our opinion,
the development of the events of 3/4 days has justified the correctness of
political intervention against the old state, the purpose with which the
ceasefire was declared. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the
important aspect of the psychological war against the royal army underlies this
ceasefire. To prove that the royal army is not in support of peace and a way out
(from a new height) is not less significant.
JD : Royal state is
speaking the language of repression. Does not this ceasefire become
counter-productive in the situation when the parliamentarian seven political
parties have not been able to come unitedly with a concrete program?
PR : In my opinion,
no question of it being counter-productive arises, for its correctness lies in
exposing worldwide the fascist character of the royal state and inspiring to
change the vacillating and unclear character of the seven parliamentarian
political parties. Concretely speaking, the ceasefire has already played that
role within these 3/4 days.
JD : Now, some rumour
is spreading that the ceasefire can result in a respite for the royal state in a
situation when the party has been acquiring military successes!
PR : The political
intervention that has now been taken in the wake of military successes can never
give respite to the old state. None, who has seriously observed and understood
the historical reality that the key to the development of the Nepalese people’s
war lies in the appropriate coordination of political and military intervention,
can make such kind of talk. It is also necessary here to pay attention to the
strategy of active defence (offence when attacked) of People’s Liberation Army.
JD : There was
outside propaganda that a special agenda on Nepal would be tabled in the General
Assembly of the United Nations and that Gyanendra would participate in that. Is
not the declaration of ceasefire aimed at influencing the forthcoming convention
of the United Nations?
PR : Definitely,
there lies an objective of clarifying doubts remaining within different sections
in the world on our party’s politics and exposing the old feudal power. But, it
was not declared with the prime objective of influencing the forthcoming
Convention of the United Nations.
JD : You have said in
your statement that all in the UNO, including our main neighbour, and the entire
international community are showing concern on the present situation in Nepal
from their own angle and are presenting their own kind of solution to the
problem. Would you please clarify this further?
PR : I think, the
international concern, move and anxiety that is being shown on the present Nepal
civil war is known to and endured by all. Also it is not hidden to anyone that
some of the power-centres are working with the strategy of isolating our
movement by creating an alliance between the king and the parliamentarian
parties; some of them are working with the strategy of making the king agree to
a constitutional monarchy by exerting pressure for cooperation, to a certain
extent, between our party and the parliamentarian parties; where as some of them
are in favour of real democracy and peace in Nepal. In this very context, it has
been clarified in our statement that none can deny that some of these elements
are not trying to gain by declaring Nepal a failed State. The essence of the
aforesaid mentioned in the statement is to make the Nepalese people further
clear, by clarifying the reality that all in the international communities have
no unified standpoint.
JD : A short time
ago, India was very much offensive towards you, and the previous CC meeting had
raised the danger of Indian expansionism. Now, what has been the role of India?
PR : Following the
step taken on February 1, 2005, it is an open reality that the discord and
contradiction between the king of Nepal and the Indian ruling class has
increased to a certain extent. In spite of class unity, today’s necessity is to
try to use the contradiction that has emerged between them in favour of the
democratic aspirations of the Nepalese people.
JD : What is the
Party’s opinion on the new decisions of the N.C. and UML?
PR : Objectively our
party has taken the NC’s decision to remove constitutional monarchy from their
party constitution and go ahead for a constituent assembly, and the UML’s
decision that they could go up to a democratic republic through a constituent
assembly, as positive and advanced steps, whatever be the subjective reasons for
taking it.
JD : Will this
ceasefire lead to concrete results in the situation when, though objectively
necessary, the dialogue and cooperation between the Maoists and the seven
political parties has not yet taken a concrete shape?
PR : The decision the
seven political parties took on the very next day after our declaration
clarifies the fact that our declaration of ceasefire has motivated them to go
forward in the direction of taking concrete decisions. But, because of
vacillations, and an unclear and collaborationist stance of some of the leaders
of the seven political parties, the resoluteness they should have shown in
taking initiative and decisions was not observed. Nevertheless, with the passing
of time, we are optimistic that they will come forward.
JD : Comrade
Chairman, has this ceasefire been declared by having discussions with the seven
parliamentarian parties? Was this ceasefire declared to resolve the complexity
that has arisen between the forces waging armed struggle and the peaceful
movement?
PR : The present
decision of ceasefire has been taken based on our party’s political analysis not
by having discussions with anyone else. It is not also true that this
declaration has been done to resolve the complexity between peaceful and armed
struggle. What is true has been said before.
JD : Can the
political movement against the feudal autocracy reach its climax now? How
optimistic are you towards the possibility of a forward-looking political way
out in the near future?
PR : Nepal, in her
political history, is at a serious turning point. In the immediate sense, the
country can make a forward move only through people’s victory against the feudal
power. We, on our behalf, are making efforts to make the people’s movement
victorious by utilizing both the tactics of firmness and flexibility maximally,
as necessitates. The feudal autocratic monarchy has been in political isolation
and confined by people’s encirclement from all sides. In this turning point of
history, it is necessary for all of us to push on. What is necessary here is to
make ineffective the strategy of some of the international power centres and
mainly the United States of America, which does not want this political way out
to take place under the leadership of a revolutionary party. This another point
to pay attention to.
JD : All have raised
the question of democracy. In fact, what kind of democratic republic do you
mean?
PR : The democratic
republic, which we are saying, is the transitional republic that can address the
problems related to class, nationality, region and sex in today’s Nepal.
Transitional means, it is a republic in between a new democratic republic and a
parliamentary republic with Nepalese specificity.
JD : How are you
looking at the role civil society is playing now?
PR : In the political
movement in Nepal, civil society has been playing a very important role since
the period of the anti Panchayat movement. The political clarity and mass
mobilisation that is taking place under the initiative of intellectual
personalities, including Devendra Raj Pandey, civil society has become an
imitable inspiration for the political parties. In this sense, we have high
regard to the role of civil society.
JD : For a party in
war, the military success becomes a pressure against the enemy. Now, is not
there any possibility of the Party being cornered because of the ceasefire? How
much is there the possibility of conspiracy from different internal and external
powers?
PR : We must never
understand political and military intervention in absolute terms. If military
support for every political intervention and political correctness of every
military success could not be justified the movement can fall prey to
conspiracies of national and foreign reactionary powers. We must never forget
this salient particularity of the Nepalese people’s war of ten years. The
enemy’s business is always to conspire. The coordination of military and
political intervention is unavoidable to make such kinds of conspiracies
ineffective. In this sense, the present declaration of ceasefire is pushing the
reactionaries into a corner, not us.
JD : What is the
situation of inner-struggle within the party? Has it gone in the direction of
resolution?
PR : The problem of
unhealthy inner-struggle has already been resolved. Healthy inner-struggle is
the party’s life so it continues uninterruptedly.
JD : What possibility
do you see of the king fulfilling their demand of parliament, to make the
parliamentarian parties confront you?
PR : Although the
palace can move that pawn of conspiracy but right now it is not imminent.
Therefore, we have been appealing to the parliamentarian parties to come forward
directly for an interim government and constituent assembly. Their slogan for
reinstatement of parliament has already become outdated and turned into a weapon
for the palace to play.
JD : A joint
statement of Ganapathy, the general secretary of the CPI (Maoist), and yourself
has come out. It indicates a process towards the polarisation of the
revolutionary communist movement in the region. Now, how will the communist
movement in the region and the world go ahead?
PR : Ideologically,
we are confident of the fact that a new wave of revolution in South Asia and the
world is coming up. Our joint statement with comrade Ganapathy is the expression
of that identical ideological conviction.
JD : What would you
do if the royal government also declares a ceasefire and calls you for a
dialogue? Is it that you won’t have a dialogue in any case with the government?
PR : Right now, we
are not seeing any possibility and justification of dialogue with the royal
government. If it makes such a declaration and puts forward clearly that it is
ready to provide an opportunity for the people to decide their fate, then there
can be dialogue in agreement with the political parties and civil society. We
can never expect talks to be absolute, with the aim of providing total rights to
the people.
JD : Comrade
Chairman, the propaganda being made that you declared a ceasefire after meeting
the foreign minister of India and according to India’s suggestion, is coming
from the media of the royal government. What is the truth, would you clarify?
PR : Nothing can be
achieved by such propaganda excepting that our declaration of ceasefire has
caused such warped reaction in the brain of royal ringleaders. The
misinformation of the national betrayers, that are killing the best sons and
daughters, who love the national integrity and sovereignty of the country more
than they do their lives, is nothing other than an excuse to hide their defeat.
The fact is that, who is sensitive and responsible and who is criminal towards
the interests of Nepal and the Nepalese people is clear as daylight. The feudal
palace’s move that the patriotic Nepalese people can be confused by planned
misinformation is now old. The Nepalese people have been able to identify their
real friends and foes. I challenge the lackeys of the feudal palace to prove
that I met with any of the authorities of the Indian governments, and the
ceasefire was declared according to their plan. This kind of misinformation can
never save the feudal elements standing in the palisade, from getting thrown
into the garbage can.
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