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2010 paved the way for what could be the biggest year in Nepal’s political history. On October 13th Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, warned the government that the guerrilla wing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would not rest until an appropriate power-sharing pact was reached with his party.
This could not have come at a worse time. With the May 2011 permanent constitution deadline approaching rapidly, the Constitutional Assembly (CA) is still in a grid-lock. It is the CA which is charged to draft the permanent constitution and transfer power from the Interim Constitution of Nepal which has governed Nepal since 2007.
Prachanda’s demand has only deepened the rift between the ruling Nepali Congress and the Maoist PLA. Due to the street classes between the two factions, the CA was unable to make its mid-point draft deadline earlier this May. If the current strife is to continue, there can be no doubt that the grid-lock will not be broken and positive efforts will not be made to finalize the permanent constitution in May 2011. Nepal could essentially be without a functioning constitution by next year. The country already has had immense trouble electing a PM after countless votes and polls.
This also created ripple effects in the region earlier this year, when India charged Nepal for failing to crack-down on the PLA and secretly training Guerrilla fighters. Nepal’s Peace and Reconstruction Minister Rakam Chemjong thoroughly denied any links of the CA to the guerrilla and terrorist factions. More interestingly, Chemjong neither confirmed nor denied the allegations that the Maoists were training their Indian brethren to derail the peace process.
There have however been advancements in trade between the two nations. New Delhi pledged NRS 300 million for the enhancing the agricultural base in Nepal through the construction of over 3,000 shallow tubewells.
In a recent estimate by the UN’s The Forest and Agriculture Organization, nearly 3.4 million Nepalis or more than 50 percent of Nepal’s 75 districts are food-deficit. 28,000 children under the age of five are malnourished spiking the mortality rates.
The Indian investment is not only geared toward providing a better irrigational structure to enhance exports and trade, but more importantly to tackle the destruction of rural agriculture due to the decade-long Maoist insurgency in the region.
Transition to a new political structure is never smooth. It’s been two years since Nepal abolished monarchy and since has been working to perfect its new democratic government and its constitution. Where the new establishment is taking a long time reaching a stable government and a prime minister, it was very quick to usurp all power from its deposed king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah.
In September, the 63-year-old ousted king was prohibited to enter the Basantapur Palace to make offerings to the Kumari. This ritual has been of great historical importance since it ensured the triumphant reign of the monarch, his realm, and its subjects. It was a tradition handed down through the ancestors to the now ousted king. The President of Nepal, who replaced the king as the head of state, has taken over all royal duties including making offerings to the Kumari and thus reducing this hallowed heritage to just an empty ritual.
Traditions as these are important in the minds of a nation and its history since they are traced through blood-lines to mythic antiquity and gives people a link to their origins. A democratic structure of government is in every bit antithetical to dynastic monarchy. The President of Nepal cannot take on centuries-old rituals and traditions simply because he is the new head of state. Where political structures and organizations can change hands and regimes, rituals as these are sacred and existential to any nation – and cannot be replaced with a common vicegerent.
Of course there is no smooth transition to democracy, but keeping the eye on the ball instead of ancient rituals and formulating a permanent constitution might help establish a structural foundation upon which future governments can function. It’s time for reconciliation and a nation to come together towards a stable future. 
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