Red Flag Flutters in Nepal

The news has started seeping in. The sweeping victory of the Maoists in the constituent assembly elections in Nepal is not actually a victory of democracy. The armed Maoist militants and goons have had a great role to play in manipulating these elections to their advantage.

What will follow next will be the complete obliteration of the opposition space in Nepal. It will be a single party rule with no room for political dissent.  

The pattern is familiar. The Marxists and the Maoists exploit the flaws inherent in  the democratic system to come to power. Thereafter, they immediately get down to dismantling the same structures and processes that lead to their ascension. This is done systematically, ruthlessly, and with bloody brutality by creating a command structure, with the politburo at the helm, and an indoctrinated cadre at the grass roots to carry out the diktat of their political gurus and masters and to silence and eliminate all political detractors and dissenters. They also co-opt the administrative machinery and the armed forces to complete their stranglehold. It will be easier for the Maoists in Nepal to achieve these ends since they will soon start the process of integrating their cadre with the existing army and administrative machinery. We have seen this happening in erstwhile and existing Communist states. Nepal will not be an exception.

We have seen it happening in India as well in the states of West Bengal, Kerala, and Tripura. The CPM cannot bear the idea of losing even a cent of political turf in these states. All attempt by political adversaries and dissenters to create a foothold are resisted tooth and nail, using violent means, with the police and the local administration playing footsie with the party cadre.

Sadly, it takes decades for people to free themselves from the clutches of their oppressive Communist czars and dictators. In the case of a country like India, with a history of being under minority rule for a thousand years, it will be still more difficult to wrest freedom from the determined, ruthless, and callous dictatorship of a political party that crushes opposition with all possible means and brutal force.

We have also seen how well-entrenched leftist intellectuals invent arguments and alibis for the monstrous deeds of the communist establishment. It indicates that their idealism is a mere slogan and a ploy to arouse people and garner their support to capture political power, either democratically or through a putsch. After having achieved that objective, they simply work at perpetuating their rule. Though they still take idealistic and moralistic positions in academic debates and discourses, it is mere posturing, and a façade. They are dishonest, they lie, and have no conscience whatsoever.

So, we appeal to those who value their freedom of expression and the right to political dissent to be on guard against such forces. Let us understand clearly that the Reds don’t care for democracy and if they swear by it, it is a deceitful stratagem to come to power. Let us not forget the unholy nexus of the communists and the Congress party that led to the imposition of internal emergency in 1975 in our country.

How do you counter the Marxists and the Maoists? You can only do it by strengthening democracy and making it deep-rooted. You also have to be vigilant against the forces that weaken it and put a question mark over its credibility as a true people’s movement and an expression of their wishes and desires. You have to be wary of wily political groups and leaders who hijack the democratic process to serve their narrow interests in cahoots with corrupt businessmen and bureaucrats.

What happens if you fail to do so? The propaganda of the Maoists that democracy is a futile political concept that cannot deliver what it promises, finds acceptability among the deprived sections of our population. It drives willing young cohorts, who are ready to take to guns to usher in the red revolution, into the waiting arms of the Maoists. And when you have the gun, you have the power and respect of the weaklings in your community. It is a heady feeling. You think you can control the destiny of others and your own. You also feel you have the power to right the wrongs and mete out justice. You feel like God. And it is never going to be easy to forgo this advantage. You become what you started out to destroy, an arm of an oppressive political regime.

Is it as simple as this? Yes, it is. It has always been. It is big words and complex sentences that make simple things sound complicated. The idea of ruling the destiny of others is an old one. It is almost like a sickness as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Marxism, Maoism, Leninism, Stalinism, Christianity, Capitalism, and Islam are all full-blown symptoms of this sickness. India has been different. It had no respect for world conquerors and for those who tried to determine the destiny of others. It respected those who conquered their self.

Things are changing now. Expressions like ‘losers’, ‘winners’, 'achievers',  and phrases like ‘jo jeeta wohi Sikandar’ have started gaining currency among the multiplex and mall generation of high spending flaunters. Winning is everything. You don’t believe in taking the laggards along as they may impede your progress. And what are you doing in the process? You are creating an exclusivist political economic environment around yourself. You exult in this world. You feel so much in control and powerful. You can also buy a Rajya Sabha seat in the Parliament with your wealth. You fly in choppers and jets, with armed guards providing you twenty-four hour protection. You think you are the role model for the coming generations. Yes, generally it should have been like that. It is like that in the western world. That is why they keep publishing lists of the rich and the powerful, in the Time and Forbes magazines.   

It does not work in India though where people are committing suicides to save themselves from the humiliation of being hounded by their barking creditors. Many poor people here once somehow lived happily even if they did not have access to the daily necessities. Today they cannot. They are constantly reminded of being abject failures in life and of their lowly class by the grand hedonistic spectacles they watch day in and out in various media. Their sense of deprivation and dissatisfaction worsens, and driven to despair they can easily pick a gun to kill and claim their share of the booty or jump in front of a running train to end their worthless existence.

They think you are a class apart from them. They are not wrong. You have deliberately tried to create this chasm to set yourself apart from the rest. You belong to a different class now. You have money, wherewithal, a supportive network, rich lineage, power of the gab, a scheming mind, pleasant visage, great instincts to seek opportunities, and a whole lot of other go-getting attributes. You have picked up these traits  by  training in exclusive institutions, and by eating high protein diet.

Those who don’t have these advantages are bound to feel pissed off. Some of them may even try and finally succeed in rubbing shoulders with you. But all of them cannot. You would not want them to. The privileged can be a few. Everyone cannot get the front seats of a fashion show or an exclusive invite to an IPL final. And you are advertising it, shouting from the rooftops, announcing to the whole world that you have arrived and you are the lord of what you survey.

What have you done in the process? You have differentiated yourself as an exalted class and thus have sown the seeds of a conflict. As these seeds grow into trees, the Marxist and Maoist theories will come to roost on them to lay the eggs of a bloody class war.

Who will suffer the most in this scenario? Ambanis? Tatas? Birlas? Shahrukhs? No. No. They can always cut a new deal with the ruling political dispensation irrespective of the colour of its flag. It is normal and natural for them. They will still have their car plants and well protected SEZs.  Jahan maal banane ka mauka milta hai wahin haanth mila letein hain yeh log. They have done it in Jharkhand and in the North-East, struck deals with the armed separatists. Aur bechara Shahrukh to har bade industrialist ki shaadi mein nachane ke liye taiyaar rehta hai.

Those who cannot live without their freedom of expression and the right to disagree with the establishment, and constantly question its policies and actions, will have to bear the main brunt of the Maoist onslaught. They will be the ones who will get badly jammed and screwed.

RKS