(Presented in the 5th World Conference of the ICOR held recently)
Nepal Communist Party (Mashal), in the very beginning, likes to clarify that this report unlike a country report would be mainly political. Therefore, we will confine ourselves to discussing and evaluating the current political situation of Nepal. Our strategic goal at present is the New Democratic Revolution. Nepal is a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country. Therefore, naturally, our minimum program is New Democratic Revolution. However, all the leftist parties or organizations of Nepal do not unanimously accept such a view. Many of them have put forth the view that as New Democratic Revolution has already been completed in Nepal, so they emphasize that socialist revolution should be their strategic goal for the time being. But we think that such a view is completely wrong. It prerequisites as high degree of industrial revolution for the socialist program. However, as far Nepal is concerned, the level of industrial development is very low. However, Nepal is not under the control of an imperialist country. It is influenced by them. It is because of such an objective condition that we have to go through a bourgeois-democratic revolution. However, in the present international circumstances, in which the countries are dominated by imperialism, a bourgeois democratic revolution cannot take place under the bourgeois leadership. In such a situation, Nepal being a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country, the task, which was fulfilled under the leadership of bourgeois in European countries, can succeed only under the leadership of the party of the proletariat in Nepal, and that makes it a new democratic revolution.
A new democratic revolution is our strategy, which can or must go through various tactical stages. The objective is to serve the strategy, which means, to prepare the ground for the new democratic revolution or to strengthen the subjective process of the revolution. The tactics are to be changed according to changes in various political situations. However, the strategy of a country changes when the overall historical or objective condition of a country changes. However, tactics change according to particular political situation in different times. In this context, the quotation of Lenin is worth mentioning, which emphasizes that every policy of the party should be changed after matching concrete analysis of a concrete situation. It is on this Leninist spirit, our party has been adopting various tactics according to various political changes in Nepal. It is because of such a correct approach of our party that we have been able to refrain from “leftist”, “centrist”, “rightist” or “leftist” sectarian mistakes. In the long history of the party, we had to go various type of ideological or inner political struggle against all those wrong views.
For the time being, our party has decided that our main contradiction is with domestic feudalism and Indian imperialism. However, we have to struggle against many other domestic or international opponents such as comprador and bureaucratic bourgeois, American, Russian, Chinese, or Western European imperialist powers. Our party takes American imperialism as the main danger in the present international situation. However, considering the geo-political situation of Nepal, among the foreign imperialist powers, we take Indian imperialism as a main enemy of Nepal. We regard both India and China as an imperialist power, but we, on the one side, taking into account the geopolitical situation of Nepal, and on the other side, to check and balance the interference of American and
Indian imperialism in Nepal, emphasize on maintaining a friendly relationship with China. Both American and Indian imperialist forces think that China is a serious obstacle in the way of their interference in Nepal. Therefore, they fully try to influence the ruling party or government machinery to keep Nepal away from China. Such an attitude of them is guided by their imperialist motive.
Since India came out of British domination, it has been following an expansionist policy towards Nepal its objective being to much Nepal into Indian Union. On the one hand, national awareness of the Nepali people or international situation and on the other hand, the presence of China in the north border of Nepal, India has not been able to fulfill its expansionist objective. Recently, India has turned into an imperialist country and the danger of India to Nepal has increased many times more. In such a situation, many parties, including the ruling political parties in Nepal, have been adopting a pro-Indian attitude and some of them, Madhesbadi parties’ are directly buit to serve the Indian interest in Nepal.
Formally, America used to fulfill its imperialist interest in Nepal by either using the political parties of Nepal in one or another way or pressurizing the government of Nepal. At the same time, the main strategy of the USA had been to fulfill the interest in Nepal through India. Lately, it has adopted the policy of playing a direct role. Needless to mention the objective behind foreign such party is to capture the government in Nepal and to make hold of state power to serve American interests in Nepal. Such a strategy on the part of American imperialism is intended to encircle China to make Nepal a battlefield to attack Tibet and to restore the rule of the Dalai Lama there. Therefore, we conclude that in the long term, the threat of American Imperialism is going to be very dangerous for Nepal. Not only all the reactionaries’ and bourgeois parties but also right revisionist parties or organizations such as the Maoists and the UML have adopted a compromising policy towards American imperialism. Because of such an attitude, the MCC was passed by the parliament with an overall majority, although the legal front of our party, the National People’s Front (NPF) had voted against that, and (MCC). At the same time, NFP has organized a countrywide agitational movement against that. America in also China to make adopted the SPP by the parliament to allow the US army to reach in the border of Tibet. However, our party as a part of the international united front against imperialism and fascism is determined to fight against this and overall imperialism for world peace and democracy.
It is known worldwide that India has occupied 372 square kilometers of Kalapani area for more than six decades and the leftist forces of Nepal unitedly have been struggling from the very beginning against that. Later, the whole area of Kalapani was included in the map of India. However, the parliament of Nepal unanimously claimed that the Kalapani Area wholly belongs to Nepal and it included the land Indian side occupies in the map of Nepal. We are sorry to mention that even China’s map has not shown the Kalapani area in Nepal. We are also sorry to say that almost all left parties of India were okay with the Indian occupation of the land of Nepal and even after the movement of the leftist party and organizations of Nepal against such an act of India, they have not adopted the position that the Indian army had occupy the Kalapani Area of Nepal. Perhaps the lack of the spirit of proletariat internationalism could have made them reach the clear-cut stand in which they can take a stance on the Kalapani issue of Nepal. However, we are convinced that all the Marxist Leninist parties or organizations of the world would take a proletarian internationalist stand on the Kalapani issue of Nepal and protest against the occupation land of Nepal by Indians.
Our party maintains that our country has the main contradiction between the Nepali people on the one side and domestic feudalism and Indian Imperialism on the other side. Together with that, we take the contradiction between comprador and bureaucratic bourgeois and American or European imperialism as an important one. In the international level, American imperialism is the main danger so; we emphasize having a united international movement against imperialism and fascism worldwide. That is why we fully support the international united front established to fight against imperialism and fascism.
NCP (Mashal) is fighting against various imperialist forces to defend the nationality and sovereignty of Nepal, in the same time we have been fighting for democracy for a long time. We are happy to acknowledge that after the century-long struggle of the Nepali people for democracy; we had succeeded to establish and secure secularism by people’s movement of 2005. However, the retrogative forces are campaigning with a plan and are organizing against the achievement of 2005. Therefore, fighting against retrogression has been an urgent task of Nepali people at present.
The royalist or retrogressive forces of Nepal have been trying to fight the democratic achievement of the Nepali people achieved through the movement of 2005 repeatedly. The autocratic Rana rule was abolished but in 1960, the then king Mahindra established absolute monarchy and dictatorial Panchayat system, which was, abolished by the democratic movement of 1990. However, in 2002, the then king Ganendra took powers in his hand and established absolute monarchy and the people’s movement of 2005 established republic system abolishing monarchy wholly. However, the royalists are in movement to restore monarchy and make Nepal Hindu nation again. Situation seems to worsen further as a section of Nepali Congress is in favor of restoring monarchy and making Nepal Hindu nation.
KP Sharma Oli, the Prime Minister of Nepal, had been against republic system from the beginning and had dissolved the parliament twice. Therefore, he had made coalition with Royalist party repeatedly in the election or in government too. The Hindu fundamentalist government of India too is supporting the royalists of Nepal is one or another way. Therefore, it is obvious that the danger of retrogression is very serious and our party always gives high importance to the struggle against that.
The line of united action against retrogression has been very glorious in Nepal. It was through united action that the rule of absolute monarchy and dictatorship Panchayat system had ended in 1990. The monarchy was abolished in 2005 and the effort of KP Sharma Oli to dissolve parliament repeatedly was foiled. Now the alliance of leftist and democratic forces has weakened much because of vacillating and opportunist rule of various political parties or organizations who formally unitedly had stood against retrogarion. However, we still emphasize on having united action – having an alliance of all the forces who stand for the republic and a secularism. we see very little possibility for such unity against retrogression. However, we are not disappointed and we should do our best to carry out to struggle against retrogression or against the danger of restoration of monarchy and to make Nepal as a Hindu nation. Looking at the long and glorious history of Nepali people, we are optimistic for the outcome that we shall finally be able to defeat royalist and the retrogative forces.
We are against the federalism in Nepal since the very beginning. It is our considered perception that the federal system is imposed on Nepal by the pressure of foreign powers mainly India and Europe. Federalism is bound to create many problems, including the threat of possible separatist demands, and sectarian strife in the name of culture, religion, and language. Therefore, we are opposed to federalism and we will continue to wage a struggle against it because, in the long term, federalism will endanger the integrity of Nepal given the geopolitical situation, particularly the proximity of Madesh Province with India. We emphasize establishing a unitary system based on democratic decentralization and self-rule replacing federalism
While giving emphasis on the struggle against retrogation and imperialism for the sake of nationality and democracy, our party had taken the policy of fighting and struggling for the just and policy demands of the various classes and masses such as workers, peasants, women, youth, students, ethnic people, scheduled cast and immigrant Nepali living in a foreign country. Our objective behind all these movements mean to prepare the ground for the New democratic revolution or to make the tactic to-serve strategy.
NCP (Mashal)
