Rawthentic
4th June 2008, 06:01
Eyes on Nepal: 5 Reasons This Revolution Matters
By Mike Ely
Something remarkable is happening.
A very radical movement has overthrown Nepal’s hated King Gyanendra and abolished the medieval monarchy. It has created a revolutionary army that now squares off with the King’s army. It built radical political power over a decade of guerilla war – undermining feudal tradition and the caste system. It has rallied remarkably broad popular support in the key April 10 election. It has emerged as the leading force of an unprecedented Constituent Assembly (CA)– where the reshaping of Nepali society will be debated. And it has done all this under the banner of Maoist communism -- while advocating a fresh attempt at socialism and a worldwide transition to classless society around the world.
People in Nepal call these revolutionaries the Maobadi.
The other remarkable thing about all this is the silence. There were press accounts on April 10 election and the May 28 abolition of the monarchy. But very little is reported about the intense moments now unfolding in Nepal, or about Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) that stand at their center.
The Maoist victory in the election was, not yet, a victory of the revolution. The Maobadi leading the CA haven’t yet uprooted the army and political intrigues of the old rulers. New tests of strength lie ahead.
A communist revolution! How many people have a sense that communist revolution is close to winning somewhere in today’s world?
Consider this: The world’s mass media tirelessly reported on the Tibetan rebellions two months ago. Meanwhile in Nepal, just across the Himalayan ridges, millions of people were supporting a Maoist party’s program for radical changes in their society. This barely got a mention.
There are obvious reasons for this silence around Nepal.
For one thing, the Western media isn’t interested in announcing that people in one of the world’s poorest country have thrown their support behind one of the world’s most radical movements.
For another thing, many leftists don’t quite know what to make of the Nepali revolution.
Even many leftist have started to think revolutionary change may be impossible And the non-dogmatic methods of the Maobadi disturb a lot of leftist assumptions. When the Maoists suspended their guerilla war in 2006, some people assumed they were going to give up their weapons and army. When they entered an anti-monarchist coalition government, some people assumed they would become part of a corrupt cabal. When the Maoists ran in the CA elections, some people assumed they would lose both the vote and their own identity. When the Maoists describe their anti-feudal program, some people assume they are taking the capitalist road and forgetting about socialism.
The Maoists of Nepal now aren’t just facing the problems of a opposition movement – but the r different problems of leading a whole society, and avoiding a sudden crushing defeat at the hands of powerful armies. They are carrying out tactics for isolating their internal rivals, broadening their appeal, and neutralizing external enemies. This world has been through a long heartless stretch – and many people have never seen what such popular communist revolution actually looks like in real life.
So let us list five reasons why we should turn our eyes to Nepal.
Reason 1: Communists have discarded dogma but not radicalism.
We should watch this revolution, because there is much to learn here. Here are revolutionaries who have deeply analyzed the workings of their society, developed a bold plan for overthrowing the dominant social system, connected deeply with the people, and then flexibly shifted direction repeatedly to advance.
Leaders of the CPN(Maoist) says they made their mental leap toward launching their revolutionary war, “by protecting revolution from the revolutionary phrases that we used to memorize in the early period.” And they say that then, later, they dared “to abandon the course once selected and have the courage to climb the unexplored mountain.”
We can’t apply the Nepali Maoist methods and programs directly to a country like the U.S. – there is a profoundly different society from ours. But we can learn from their methods.
These are Maoists who value Mao’s great flexibility, and refuse to copy revolutions made elsewhere. They work to look at today’s world through fresh eyes. They insist that communism itself needs to be reconceived and want establish a socialist process that includes multiparty elections.
They believe that new forms for popular accountability are needed to help prevent the emergence of arrogant new elites.
They alternate methods of struggle: guerilla war, and then negotiations. The creation of remote revolutionary base areas, followed by a political offensive to win over the whole country. A victory in the special election, accompanied by threats of a final insurrection.
Will their methods succeed? It is impossible to know that yet. And there is much for us to learn before we can make our final evaluations.
Reason 2: Imagine Nepal as Fuse to India’s Powder Keg
Nepal is such a distant and marginalized backwater that it is hard to imagine the country shaking the world.
This is an utterly impoverished, landlocked country of 30 million people – most packed into lowlands and foothills between the Indian border and the great Himalayan mountains. It is a small country, the size of Arkansas, that is pressed between the world’s most populous giants, China and India.
But you can But then consider this revolution’s potential impact on nearby India.
Nepal slopes down the foothills of the Himalayan mountains onto the great northern plain of India’s Ganges watershed. Nepali immigrant workers form part of the Indian working class. Indian brothels are filled with the brutalized girl children of the northern hill country. And the Indian states just across the Nepali border are filled with millions of the world’s most impoverished dirt farmers – where there has been a smoldering Maoist armed struggle for forty years.
Understanding both connections and possibilities, the Maobadi proposed that the revolutions across South Asia should aim for a common “Soviet federation” after overthrowing their governments. The Maobadi helped form the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organization of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) in 2001, which brought together ten different revolutionary groupings from different countries throughout the region.
The possibility of revolutionary contagion haunts the Indian government. Conservative analyses have spoken of a “red corridor” running through central India, north to south, from the Nepali border to the southern tip, where India’s armed Maoist forces have made some inroads among the poorest, often tribal people.
Radical changes in the lives of Nepal’s poor could have a profound effect across that border. The revolutionary forces in India, whose movement has often seemed trapped in a few rural pockets, could be transformed and energized.
In short, a revolutionary Nepal may have a hard time surviving alongside a hostile India. But serving as a inspiration and a base area for revolution, Nepal may become the fuse for changes on a world scale.
Reason 3: A secular, progressive challenge to a capitalist world
For far too long, rebellions and outbreaks against the world order have been dominated by reactionary politics and lowered sights. In particular, discontent against the crimes of western capitalism has often been funneled into Jihadist strains of Islamic fundamentalism.
Now suddenly, here comes a movement seeking a radical transformation of social conditions and hateful old traditions. It is dedicated to the liberation of women and that rejects xenophobia in favor of a broad-minded internationalism.
It is like a wonderful scent upon the wind. You are afraid to turn away, unless it might suddenly disappear.
Reason 4: Nepal proves that the dreams of a new world are not dead.
Marx once remarked that the revolution burrows unseen underground and then bursts into view to cheers, “Well dug, old mole!”
We have all heard that that radical change is dead. And yet, here comes revolution again, popping up, fresh, moving in unexpected ways.
Most revolutions fail. This one in Nepal may yet be crushed or betrayed from within. Events may ultimately roll against the hopes of the people. But such dangers are inherent in revolution.
For now this living revolution exists, glistening with what communists call the dignity of immediate actuality. This is the first glimpse a whole generation has gotten of how people can transform themselves and their world.
Reason 5: Our brothers and sisters are making revolution -- they must not stand alone.
It is hard to exaggerate the hope and daring that has gripped the world’s poorest people. In the spare highlands of Nepal, half-starved farmers have formed peoples courts, cooperatives and communes. They want to rebuild their world through political power, armed struggle and collective labor. Ancient horrors like wife beating and child marriage are being challenged for the first time. The youth have joined revolutionary armed forces to defy and overthrow those who have tormented the people. There in that new army, young men and women defy the traditions of arranged marriage – connecting in “love matches” that embody a breathtaking sense of freedom. The 40 ethnic groups of Nepal are negotiating new relations based on equality and a sharing of political power.
All of these changes, and more, became thinkable because of the CPN(Maoist)’s daring decision to launch a revolutionary war in 1996.
Not surprisingly, this revolution faces attack from the U.S., India and other major powers. The CPN(Maoist) has been labeled “terrorists” by the U.S. government, and portrayed as murderers in the media. Western powers have armed Nepal’s pro-royal National army with modern weapons. A powerful anti-revolutionary movement in Nepal’s fertile Terai agricultural areas has been exploited by India and Hindu fundamentalists.
It would be wrong if our critical study of Nepal’s politics was not colored by a partisan affection for this revolutionary attempt. It would be intolerable if future rounds of U.S. intrigue and intervention faced only passivity and silence here in the U.S. itself.
Here it is: The revolution in Nepal.
Who will we tell about it? What will we learn from it? What will we do about it?
* * * * *
Mike Ely is part of the Kasama project (http://mikeely.wordpress.com (http://mikeely.wordpress.com/)) and helped create the Revolution in South Asia (http:// )resource. His email is [email protected]
By Mike Ely
Something remarkable is happening.
A very radical movement has overthrown Nepal’s hated King Gyanendra and abolished the medieval monarchy. It has created a revolutionary army that now squares off with the King’s army. It built radical political power over a decade of guerilla war – undermining feudal tradition and the caste system. It has rallied remarkably broad popular support in the key April 10 election. It has emerged as the leading force of an unprecedented Constituent Assembly (CA)– where the reshaping of Nepali society will be debated. And it has done all this under the banner of Maoist communism -- while advocating a fresh attempt at socialism and a worldwide transition to classless society around the world.
People in Nepal call these revolutionaries the Maobadi.
The other remarkable thing about all this is the silence. There were press accounts on April 10 election and the May 28 abolition of the monarchy. But very little is reported about the intense moments now unfolding in Nepal, or about Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) that stand at their center.
The Maoist victory in the election was, not yet, a victory of the revolution. The Maobadi leading the CA haven’t yet uprooted the army and political intrigues of the old rulers. New tests of strength lie ahead.
A communist revolution! How many people have a sense that communist revolution is close to winning somewhere in today’s world?
Consider this: The world’s mass media tirelessly reported on the Tibetan rebellions two months ago. Meanwhile in Nepal, just across the Himalayan ridges, millions of people were supporting a Maoist party’s program for radical changes in their society. This barely got a mention.
There are obvious reasons for this silence around Nepal.
For one thing, the Western media isn’t interested in announcing that people in one of the world’s poorest country have thrown their support behind one of the world’s most radical movements.
For another thing, many leftists don’t quite know what to make of the Nepali revolution.
Even many leftist have started to think revolutionary change may be impossible And the non-dogmatic methods of the Maobadi disturb a lot of leftist assumptions. When the Maoists suspended their guerilla war in 2006, some people assumed they were going to give up their weapons and army. When they entered an anti-monarchist coalition government, some people assumed they would become part of a corrupt cabal. When the Maoists ran in the CA elections, some people assumed they would lose both the vote and their own identity. When the Maoists describe their anti-feudal program, some people assume they are taking the capitalist road and forgetting about socialism.
The Maoists of Nepal now aren’t just facing the problems of a opposition movement – but the r different problems of leading a whole society, and avoiding a sudden crushing defeat at the hands of powerful armies. They are carrying out tactics for isolating their internal rivals, broadening their appeal, and neutralizing external enemies. This world has been through a long heartless stretch – and many people have never seen what such popular communist revolution actually looks like in real life.
So let us list five reasons why we should turn our eyes to Nepal.
Reason 1: Communists have discarded dogma but not radicalism.
We should watch this revolution, because there is much to learn here. Here are revolutionaries who have deeply analyzed the workings of their society, developed a bold plan for overthrowing the dominant social system, connected deeply with the people, and then flexibly shifted direction repeatedly to advance.
Leaders of the CPN(Maoist) says they made their mental leap toward launching their revolutionary war, “by protecting revolution from the revolutionary phrases that we used to memorize in the early period.” And they say that then, later, they dared “to abandon the course once selected and have the courage to climb the unexplored mountain.”
We can’t apply the Nepali Maoist methods and programs directly to a country like the U.S. – there is a profoundly different society from ours. But we can learn from their methods.
These are Maoists who value Mao’s great flexibility, and refuse to copy revolutions made elsewhere. They work to look at today’s world through fresh eyes. They insist that communism itself needs to be reconceived and want establish a socialist process that includes multiparty elections.
They believe that new forms for popular accountability are needed to help prevent the emergence of arrogant new elites.
They alternate methods of struggle: guerilla war, and then negotiations. The creation of remote revolutionary base areas, followed by a political offensive to win over the whole country. A victory in the special election, accompanied by threats of a final insurrection.
Will their methods succeed? It is impossible to know that yet. And there is much for us to learn before we can make our final evaluations.
Reason 2: Imagine Nepal as Fuse to India’s Powder Keg
Nepal is such a distant and marginalized backwater that it is hard to imagine the country shaking the world.
This is an utterly impoverished, landlocked country of 30 million people – most packed into lowlands and foothills between the Indian border and the great Himalayan mountains. It is a small country, the size of Arkansas, that is pressed between the world’s most populous giants, China and India.
But you can But then consider this revolution’s potential impact on nearby India.
Nepal slopes down the foothills of the Himalayan mountains onto the great northern plain of India’s Ganges watershed. Nepali immigrant workers form part of the Indian working class. Indian brothels are filled with the brutalized girl children of the northern hill country. And the Indian states just across the Nepali border are filled with millions of the world’s most impoverished dirt farmers – where there has been a smoldering Maoist armed struggle for forty years.
Understanding both connections and possibilities, the Maobadi proposed that the revolutions across South Asia should aim for a common “Soviet federation” after overthrowing their governments. The Maobadi helped form the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organization of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) in 2001, which brought together ten different revolutionary groupings from different countries throughout the region.
The possibility of revolutionary contagion haunts the Indian government. Conservative analyses have spoken of a “red corridor” running through central India, north to south, from the Nepali border to the southern tip, where India’s armed Maoist forces have made some inroads among the poorest, often tribal people.
Radical changes in the lives of Nepal’s poor could have a profound effect across that border. The revolutionary forces in India, whose movement has often seemed trapped in a few rural pockets, could be transformed and energized.
In short, a revolutionary Nepal may have a hard time surviving alongside a hostile India. But serving as a inspiration and a base area for revolution, Nepal may become the fuse for changes on a world scale.
Reason 3: A secular, progressive challenge to a capitalist world
For far too long, rebellions and outbreaks against the world order have been dominated by reactionary politics and lowered sights. In particular, discontent against the crimes of western capitalism has often been funneled into Jihadist strains of Islamic fundamentalism.
Now suddenly, here comes a movement seeking a radical transformation of social conditions and hateful old traditions. It is dedicated to the liberation of women and that rejects xenophobia in favor of a broad-minded internationalism.
It is like a wonderful scent upon the wind. You are afraid to turn away, unless it might suddenly disappear.
Reason 4: Nepal proves that the dreams of a new world are not dead.
Marx once remarked that the revolution burrows unseen underground and then bursts into view to cheers, “Well dug, old mole!”
We have all heard that that radical change is dead. And yet, here comes revolution again, popping up, fresh, moving in unexpected ways.
Most revolutions fail. This one in Nepal may yet be crushed or betrayed from within. Events may ultimately roll against the hopes of the people. But such dangers are inherent in revolution.
For now this living revolution exists, glistening with what communists call the dignity of immediate actuality. This is the first glimpse a whole generation has gotten of how people can transform themselves and their world.
Reason 5: Our brothers and sisters are making revolution -- they must not stand alone.
It is hard to exaggerate the hope and daring that has gripped the world’s poorest people. In the spare highlands of Nepal, half-starved farmers have formed peoples courts, cooperatives and communes. They want to rebuild their world through political power, armed struggle and collective labor. Ancient horrors like wife beating and child marriage are being challenged for the first time. The youth have joined revolutionary armed forces to defy and overthrow those who have tormented the people. There in that new army, young men and women defy the traditions of arranged marriage – connecting in “love matches” that embody a breathtaking sense of freedom. The 40 ethnic groups of Nepal are negotiating new relations based on equality and a sharing of political power.
All of these changes, and more, became thinkable because of the CPN(Maoist)’s daring decision to launch a revolutionary war in 1996.
Not surprisingly, this revolution faces attack from the U.S., India and other major powers. The CPN(Maoist) has been labeled “terrorists” by the U.S. government, and portrayed as murderers in the media. Western powers have armed Nepal’s pro-royal National army with modern weapons. A powerful anti-revolutionary movement in Nepal’s fertile Terai agricultural areas has been exploited by India and Hindu fundamentalists.
It would be wrong if our critical study of Nepal’s politics was not colored by a partisan affection for this revolutionary attempt. It would be intolerable if future rounds of U.S. intrigue and intervention faced only passivity and silence here in the U.S. itself.
Here it is: The revolution in Nepal.
Who will we tell about it? What will we learn from it? What will we do about it?
* * * * *
Mike Ely is part of the Kasama project (http://mikeely.wordpress.com (http://mikeely.wordpress.com/)) and helped create the Revolution in South Asia (http:// )resource. His email is [email protected]