It was heartening to watch the peace rally organized by the civil-society to pressure the Maoists after a brutal week of May Day banda. It is the testament to the budding democratic norm of people's power after the last twenty years of continuous political turmoil that the rally itself was so successful. The fact that the show of force had the intended effect of the Maoists taking back their street protests is important. In the aftermath, however, it must be emphasized that the victory of the civil society is not as thorough as claimed and remains quite hollow and incomplete.
Before asking why the civil society has not been very effective, it is necessary to understand "who" the Nepali civil society is composed of. In a country where political affiliations to the parties is so strong and so deep across all the sectors of the society, it is hardly a surprise that there seems to be no visible, un-affiliated, groups of people that could form a truly independent base of civil society. After all, in every nook and cranny we find groups of competing party apparatus: from the student unions of all the parties in the colleges, to the workers affiliated to specific parties, to the farmers, the teachers, the government employees, each group have various political party organizations that claim their loyalty. So where is the true base of independent civil society loyal to the entire country and its people?
Hearing the list of organizers of the "peace rally," it seems that the main block for the support for civil society were the educated, urban, businessmen and professionals. After all, those who represent and are members of FNCCI and PAPAD are the "sukila-mukila" of Nepal; indeed Prachanda's formulation was quite apt. But where Prachanda made the mistake in his characterization is that he seemed to be talking only about the organizers of the peace rally and not the actual attendees. Really, there is one major characteristic difference between the attendees at the peace rally and the Maoists supporters who descended on the valley: the simple urban/rural divide.
Thus, so far the "civil-society" movement is largely a urban (which, by default forms the Nepali elites) phenomenon. The Kathmandu elites are the ones who were most inconvenienced by the Maoists' blockade: they could not ride their cars and motorcycles, they could not shop at the shops and malls, they could not use the ATMs and the banking services, they could not attend their private schools and colleges; simply they they could neither work nor play. Compounded in the short term discomfort was certainly the growing sense of drift that has plagued Nepal in the last twenty years. People, both urban and rural, are tired and cranky after seeing such continuous tumult. Hence, they found themselves lined up on the opposite side of the geographical, societal and economic divide against one another.
Of course, this characterization of the urban/rural divide as highlighted by the Maoist protests and the "civil-society" counter protests is common knowledge. It is uncontroversial. There have been many news reports from the days of the banda which clearly establishes this conflict as fact. The plight of the poor and downtrodden Maoists protesters have been documented as well. See here and here for some representative samples.
So now we see why the so-called "civil society" is so ineffective in the larger matters of the nation. Their block of support (urban, educated, professional) the least represented in the parties and the parliament. They have no real base outside of Kathmandu and other city-centers. Finally, they seem to be in no hurry to make them more relevant outside of their comfort zones. How does the intellectual, elite civil society establish its bonafides as the true independent voice of the people which can guide and force the parties to better policies and more cooperation for the greater good?
Reading Ashutosh Tiwari's most recent column, I felt like he was wresting with the same questions as I was. And in a way, his suggestions would be a good place to start.
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