From `Nepal Royal` to `Nepal American Army`

29/07/2003

Letter of the Nepal Maoists to the Old State Government

CPN (Maoist)

Negotiation team office
Date-2060/4/7

(23July, 2003)

R.F.

To the Negotiation team,

Old state Establishment (His Majesty´s Government)

Through: Facilitators Messrs Padmaratna Tuladhar, Damannath Dhungana,
Sailendra Upadhya and Karnadhwaj Adhikari.


Motion: About pre-bases (precondition-Tr.) for the third round dialogue.

Mr,

Received the letter that the Old state establishment (His majesty´s government) sent on 2060/3/29 (13 July 2003) urging, "to resume third round of dialogue with no delay." Having deeply studied and analysed the letter as well as over the result of the formal and informal dialogue between the representatives of the old and the new states, on the guidance of Chairman of CPN (Maoist) and the Supreme Commander of People´s Liberation Army (Nepal) Comrade Prachanda, we have sent the following reply about pre-basis for the third round dialogue.

1. The manifestation of strategic equilibrium as a consequence of seven long years´ vicious civil war in the country, the cease-fire announcement on 2059/10/15 (29 January 2003) is shortly going to be accomplished six months. It is well known that 22 point code of conduct had been issued to systematise the cease-fire and two rounds of formal dialogue took place in order to find forward going political exit. But, the credibility of the Old state has completely been lost by constantly committing a seer breach of the ceasefire and code of conduct from the Old state establishment and mainly by its Royal Army and till today by not practicing the decisions of the second round dialogue, agreed to limit the Royal army within 5 Km, perimeters, releasing the central level political prisoners, to make public the whereabouts of the disappeared. Further, on the latest stage, the abduction of office secretary Bharat Dhungana of our negotiation contact office and Gyanendra Tripathi, the member of the negotiation managing committee from within kathmandu, kidnapping our leader and cadres from Dolkha, Khotang and other parts of the country, mainly proves that the old state is fully adhered to break the negotiation process and push the country into the vortex of civil war. In this context, we will have nothing left except to come to the conclusion that the Old state has broken the negotiation process unilaterally and there is no meaning of the third round negotiation without immediate execution of decisions came out from the second round of peace talk.

1.2.It is well known to all that the old state has been run by the self-proclaimed king covertly since Royal carnage of 1st June 2001 (2058/2/19) and overtly since 4th October 2002 (2059/6/18). In these circumstances, it is evident that the present cabinet of His Majesty´s government and the negotiation team forged by it deserves executive rights equivalent to zero. There is no doubt that because of King´s monitoring and guiding from the back of the curtain and a unauthorised and miserable negotiation team appearing at the stage since the declaration of cease-fire and second round of negotiation including the important things caused hurdles in the negotiation process. In this reference, we have a firm opinion that in order to make third round negotiation meaningful either the king himself should participate at the negotiation process or he has to make his public commitment with clear and un-ambivalent statement, announcing that the negotiation team deserves full rights to negotiate all necessary aspect including forward going political outlet and he (the king) himself is fully committed to execute the negotiation.

1.3.The root essence of the cease-fire and peace negotiation is: both of the army remain at their respected controlled areas as it was at the stage of ceasefire situation, either of the party make no armed intervention to other´s areas and the army must accept unconditionally the decision of their respective political leadership. In our context, accepting the ground reality that the headquarters and big cities were under the control of Royal army of the Old state and rest of the vast countryside remained under the control of the people´s liberation army(PLA) of the new state at the pre-ceasefire position, it was mentioned on the code of conduct at article 4 as "both parties will abide by not to make any provocative activities at the sensitive areas of each others". But the Royal army of the Old state, having breached the objective reality of two state and two army, not only committed a heinous by intruding into the new state and the area of the people´s liberation army, it also adventured to penetrate everywhere in the name of campaigning so-called health camps and dared to directly ignore the decision of its own leadership about 5 Kilometre(which was purposed by old state). Through the view point of national independence and national sovereignty, the grave question is "Royal Nepal army" has objectively been turning out to be "Royal American army" by hiring hundreds of American army experts and advisers into the country and that situation has signalled a vicious conspiracy of imposing a foreign puppet regime by averting the peace negotiation process. In this situation, in order to create a credible atmosphere for the new step of negotiation, the Royal army must immediately stop its anti negotiation attempts and must declare a commitment to abide by fully and unconditionally the all decisions of all steps of peace negotiation and all the hired foreign army advisors and army experts should immediately be expelled from the country.

1.4.Today, the objective necessity and the willingness of the country and the people is not that "negotiation is for negotiation" but that "negotiation should be for forward going political solution". Having underlined these facts, we had presented the political agendas in a systematic and written form, addressing to the present objective reality of the power balance with central aspect of political outlet and its process and method at the first round of negotiation on 27 April 2003. It has been crystal clear in different ways in the meantime that there is a broad support of the broad masses including all section of people of all oppressed classes, nationalities, regions and sexes for the new types of democratic system to be instituted through round table conference, interim government and election of the constituent assembly, bearing the essence of making the people practically sovereign by giving accomplishment of capitalist multiparty democracy instead of debacle and hybrid monarchical parliamentarian system. But even after the three months have been passed by, the old state has neither expressed any comment over that proposal nor has dared to present separate political agenda. Rather, the changing persons at the chair of the changing puppet government on the sentiment of the newly proclaimed king and foreign pressure, have time and again been expressing in direct and indirect languages about holding parliamentarian election within the framework of the old system without obstacles by solving so called Maoist problem. The present problem of nationality, democracy and livelihood is the problem of century´s long structural crisis in the political, economic social and cultural arena, and are the contradictions of classes, nationality, regional and sexes; but no where is found on their saying and doing that the solutions of these problems are forward going political changes and progressive new constitution is the minimum necessity. In this context, in order to assure that the other step dialogue is not a game for buying time for a preparation of war, it has been necessary for the old state to declare its political position prior to the next round of dialogue.

1.5.Despite the conflict in the country between the Royal army of the old state and the people´s liberation army of the new state through a military point of view, the competition among three forces – the retrogressive autocratic monarchical forces, status quoist parliamentarian forces and progressive revolutionary people´s democratic forces is bitter truth through political viewpoint. But maintaining this tripartite conflict for indefinite period is not possible through scientific and practical point of view. Either this conflict could be solved through minimum forward going political outlet acceptable for all three forces through peace negotiation, otherwise, finally the status quoist force is obliged to be fragmented and divided or polarised between two arenas of the progressive and retrogressive forces. The hesitation of the parliamentarian to advance though election of the constituent assembly and the exercise of sticking on status quoism despite the broad wishes of the majority of their own cadres have made no less contribution for the obstacle in the negotiation process. It has been crystal clear that the monkey-hiccups of the leadership of the parliamentarian forces have become pretexts for the autocratic monarchists to linger the peace negotiation. In this context, we want to make them clear that the relevance of the new dialogue will be accounted only if they clarify their position shortly, having recognised that the revolutionary people´s democratic forces have come to today´s strong force by resisting the combined attacks of the monarchist and the parliamentarian forces in the past.

1.6.Truth is always solid and clear. Therefore, the unclear harping of negotiation by the old state so far deserves no meaning and importance. We are still in a position to favour forward going political outlet through negotiation. We are specifically sensitive on the question that let not the civil war in the country be intensified and let not the foreign military boots be stabbed on the chest of the patriotic Nepalese people. But if the …‘Royal Nepalese army´ turns out to …‘Royal American army´, we are committed to defeat that being Vietnamese liberation fighters of the 21st century. We urge that the let the old state come at sense and comply the second round negotiation including applying them immediately and make the favourable atmosphere for the third round of negotiation. Otherwise, we want to make it clear through this letter that we will be obliged to resist any attempts of violating against the code of conduct and the decisions of the second round negotiation. It is obvious that the old state is responsible for the consequences from that.

Baburam Bhattarai

Coordinator, Negotiation team

CPN (Maoist)