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Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Nepal after its Maoist revolution
The writer is an academic and researcher. He is also the author of Development, Poverty, and Power in Pakistan, available from Routledge Listen to article The mountainous, land-locked, never colonised nation of Nepal is getting increased international attention due to the unfolding great power competition in South Asia. Whether Nepal will be able to leverage this newfound external interest to its advantage depends on the ability of its current leftist leaders to transcend personal ambitions and demonstrate greater statesmanship. Communist ideologies have not had much luck in Bangladesh and Pakistan. While Sri Lanka has seen the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) form a government after the ouster of the Rajapaksa brothers in 2022, the JVP's historic communist leanings have been significantly compromised. Communist parties yield significant influence in Indian states like Kerala, Tripura and West Bengal, and Maoist rebels are locked in a lingering insurgency against the hegemonic national government as well. Yet, Nepal is the only South Asian country where Maoists managed to take over the reins of power. Nepal's recent political history has experienced rapid changes. The Shah dynasty unified Nepal during the 18th century, but real power soon shifted to hereditary chief ministers known as the Ranas. The Nepali Congress Liberation Army operating from newly independent India then formed an alliance with the monarchy to undermine the Ranas in 1951. After sovereignty of the crown was restored, the Nepali Congress Party worked with the monarchy to form a new government, until King Mahendra decided to suspend parliament, and turn the country into an absolute monarchy again in 1960. Increasing disgruntlement with the Hindu monarchy eventually led communist influences to gain influence. An outright Maoist revolt soon plunged Nepal into a civil war in 1996, which lasted for almost a decade. A Comprehensive Peace Accord was finally signed between the government and Maoists in 2006, which abolished the monarchy. Yet, despite the creation of a multi-party system, the political landscape of the country has remained instable. There has been significant fragmentation amongst the Maoists, and formation and dissolution of varied coalitions has led to repeated changes in governments, even within a single electoral cycle. During the last general elections, held in 2022, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist) formed a coalition with the Nepali Congress Party to secure power. But this partnership lasted for just over a year, before major differences emerged. A new leftist coalition was formed between the CPN (M) and the United Community Party (Marxist-Leninist), but the political situation remained tenuous. The CPN (M) has recently formed a new coalition with the Nepali Congress Party. How long this new coalition will survive before tensions erupt between these traditionally competing parties remains to be seen. There is also a relatively small but active group demanding restoration of Nepal's monarchy, which has also been resorting to violent protests to draw attention to their cause. Amidst all the in-fighting and jostling for power, there is scant attention paid to catering to the basic needs of the citizenry, to creating responsive state institutions, achieving sustainable economic growth and improving the lives of ordinary Nepalis. Nepal has the chance to leverage its geopolitical location to funnel more Chinese investments into the country to push back against traditional Indian hegemony. The US is also keener to invest in Nepal, primarily to keep the Chinese at bay. However, Nepali politicians will need to demonstrate much greater maturity and astuteness to balance these contending external influences in a manner which maximise national interests rather than serving their personal ambitions. Thus far, neither the Maoists factions nor the Nepali Congress Party have demonstrated such foresight.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Need answers': Will Sri Lanka's Tamils find war closure under Dissanayake?
Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka – On a beach in northeastern Sri Lanka, Krishnan Anjan Jeevarani laid out some of her family's favourite food items on a banana leaf. She placed a samosa, lollipops and a large bottle of Pepsi next to flowers and incense sticks in front of a framed photo. Jeevarani was one of thousands of Tamils who gathered on May 18 to mark 16 years since the end of Sri Lanka's brutal civil war in Mullivaikkal, the site of the final battle between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist group that fought for a Tamil homeland. As on previous anniversaries, Tamils this year lit candles in remembrance of their loved ones and held a moment of silence. Dressed in black, people paid their respects before a memorial fire and ate kanji, the gruel consumed by civilians when they were trapped in Mullivaikkal amid acute food shortages. This year's commemorations were the first to take place under the new government helmed by leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected president in September and has prompted hopes of possible justice and answers for the Tamil community. The Tamil community alleges that a genocide of civilians took place during the war's final stages, estimating that nearly 170,000 people were killed by government forces. UN estimates put the figure at 40,000. Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which itself led violent uprisings against the Sri Lankan government in the 1970s and 1980s, has emphasised 'national unity' and its aim to wipe out racism. He made several promises to Tamil voters before the elections last year, including the withdrawal from military-occupied territory in Tamil heartlands and the release of political prisoners. But eight months after he was elected, those commitments are now being tested – and while it's still early days for his administration, many in the Tamil community say what they've seen so far is mixed, with some progress, but also disappointments. In March 2009, Jeevarani lost several members of her family, including her parents, her sister and three-year-old daughter when Sri Lankan forces shelled the tents in which they were sheltering, near Mullivaikkal. 'We had just cooked and eaten and we were happy,' she said. 'When the shell fell it was like we had woken up from a dream. The house was destroyed.' Jeevarani, now 36, buried all her family members in a bunker and left the area, her movements dictated by shelling until she reached Mullivaikkal. In May 2009, she and the surviving members of her family entered army-controlled territory. Now, 16 years later, as she and other Sri Lankan Tamils commemorated their lost family members, most said their memorials had gone largely unobstructed, although there were reports of police disrupting one event in the eastern part of the country. This was a contrast from previous years of state crackdowns on such commemorative events. 'There isn't that climate of fear which existed during the two Rajapaksa regimes,' said Ambika Satkunanathan, a human rights lawyer and former commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, referring to former presidents Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brothers who between them ruled Sri Lanka for 13 out of 17 years between 2005 and 2022. It was under Mahinda Rajapaksa that the Sri Lankan army carried out the final, bloody assaults that ended the war in 2009, amid allegations of human rights abuses. 'But has anything changed substantively [under Dissanayake]? Not yet,' said Satkunanathan. Satkunanathan cited the government's continued use of Sri Lanka's controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and a gazette issued on March 28 to seize land in Mullivaikkal as problematic examples of manifesto promises being overturned in an evident lack of transparency. Despite his pre-election promises, Dissnayake's government earlier this month denounced Tamil claims of genocide as 'a false narrative'. On May 19, one day after the Tamil commemorations, Dissanayake also attended a 'War Heroes' celebration of the Sri Lankan armed forces as the chief guest, while the Ministry of Defence announced the promotion of a number of military and navy personnel. In his speech, Dissanayake stated that 'grief knows no ethnicity', suggesting a reconciliatory stance, while also paying tribute to the 'fallen heroes' of the army who 'we forever honour in our hearts.' Kathiravelu Sooriyakumari, a 60-year-old retired principal, said casualties in Mullivaikkal in 2009 were so extreme that 'we even had to walk over dead bodies.' She said government forces had used white phosphorus during the civil war, a claim Sri Lankan authorities have repeatedly denied. Although not explicitly banned, many legal scholars interpret international law as prohibiting the use of white phosphorus – an incendiary chemical that can burn the skin down to the bone – in densely populated areas. Sooriyakumari's husband, Rasenthiram, died during an attack near Mullivaikkal while trying to protect others. 'He was sending everyone to the bunker. When he had sent everyone and was about to come himself, a shell hit a tree and then bounced off and hit him, and he died,' she said. Although his internal organs were coming out, 'he raised his head and looked around at all of us, to see we were safe.' Her son was just seven months old. 'He has never seen his father's face,' she said. The war left many households like Sooriyakumari's without breadwinners. They have experienced even more acute food shortage following Sri Lanka's 2022 economic crisis and the subsequent rise in the cost of living. 'If we starve, will anyone come and check on us?' said 63-year-old Manoharan Kalimuthu, whose son died in Mullivaikkal after leaving a bunker to relieve himself and being hit by a shell. 'If they [children who died in the final stages of the war] were here, they would've looked after us.' Kalimuthu said she did not think the new government would deliver justice to Tamils, saying, 'We can believe it only when we see it.' Sooriyakumari also said she did not believe anything would change under the new administration. 'There's been a lot of talk but no action. No foundations have been laid, so how can we believe them?' she told Al Jazeera. 'So many Sinhalese people these days have understood our pain and suffering and are supporting us … but the government is against us.' She also expressed suspicion of Dissanayake's JVP party and its history of violence, saying she and the wider Tamil community 'were scared of the JVP before'. The party had backed Rajapaksa's government when the army crushed the Tamil separatist movement. Satkunanathan said the JVP's track record showed 'they supported the Rajapaksas, they were pro-war, they were anti-devolution, anti-international community, were all anti-UN, all of which they viewed as conspiring against Sri Lanka.' She conceded that the party was seeking to show that it had 'evolved to a more progressive position but their action is falling short of rhetoric'. Although Dissanayake's government has announced plans to establish a truth and reconciliation commission, it has rejected a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes, much like previous governments. Before the presidential elections, Dissanayake said he would not seek to prosecute those responsible for war crimes. 'On accountability for wartime violations, they have not moved at all,' Satkunanathan told Al Jazeera, citing the government's refusal to engage with the UN-initiated Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP), which was set up to collect evidence of potential war crimes. 'I would love them to prove me wrong.' The government has also repeatedly changed its stance on the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which promises devolved powers to Tamil-majority areas in the north and east. Before the presidential election, Dissanayake said he supported its implementation in meetings with Tamil parties, but the government has not outlined a clear plan for this, with the JVP's general secretary dismissing it as unnecessary shortly after the presidential election. 'Six months since coming into office, there's no indication of the new government's plan or intention to address the most urgent grievances of the Tamils affected by the war,' Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, South Asia researcher at Amnesty International, said. 'And the truth about the forcibly disappeared features high on the agenda of those in the North and the East.' Still, some, like 48-year-old Krishnapillai Sothilakshmi, remain hopeful. Sothilakshmi's husband Senthivel was forcibly disappeared in 2008. She said she believed the new government would give her answers. A 2017 report by Amnesty International [PDF] estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 people have disappeared in Sri Lanka since the late 1980s. Although Sri Lanka established an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) in 2017, there has been no clear progress since. 'We need answers. Are they alive or not? We want to know,' Sothilakshmi said. But for Jeevarani, weeping on the beach as she looked at a photograph of her three-year-old daughter Nila, it's too late for any hope. Palm trees are growing over her family's grave, and she is no longer even able to pinpoint the exact spot where they were buried. 'If someone is sick, this government or that government can say they'll cure them,' she said. 'But no government can bring back the dead, can they?'
Al Jazeera
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘Need answers': Will Sri Lanka's Tamils find war closure under Dissanayake?
Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka – On a beach in northeastern Sri Lanka, Krishnan Anjan Jeevarani laid out some of her family's favourite food items on a banana leaf. She placed a samosa, lollipops and a large bottle of Pepsi next to flowers and incense sticks in front of a framed photo. Jeevarani was one of thousands of Tamils who gathered on May 18 to mark 16 years since the end of Sri Lanka's brutal civil war in Mullivaikkal, the site of the final battle between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist group that fought for a Tamil homeland. As on previous anniversaries, Tamils this year lit candles in remembrance of their loved ones and held a moment of silence. Dressed in black, people paid their respects before a memorial fire and ate kanji, the gruel consumed by civilians when they were trapped in Mullivaikkal amid acute food shortages. This year's commemorations were the first to take place under the new government helmed by leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected president in September and has prompted hopes of possible justice and answers for the Tamil community. The Tamil community alleges that a genocide of civilians took place during the war's final stages, estimating that nearly 170,000 people were killed by government forces. UN estimates put the figure at 40,000. Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which itself led violent uprisings against the Sri Lankan government in the 1970s and 1980s, has emphasised 'national unity' and its aim to wipe out racism. He made several promises to Tamil voters before the elections last year, including the withdrawal from military-occupied territory in Tamil heartlands and the release of political prisoners. But eight months after he was elected, those commitments are now being tested – and while it's still early days for his administration, many in the Tamil community say what they've seen so far is mixed, with some progress, but also disappointments. In March 2009, Jeevarani lost several members of her family, including her parents, her sister and three-year-old daughter when Sri Lankan forces shelled the tents in which they were sheltering, near Mullivaikkal. 'We had just cooked and eaten and we were happy,' she said. 'When the shell fell it was like we had woken up from a dream. The house was destroyed.' Jeevarani, now 36, buried all her family members in a bunker and left the area, her movements dictated by shelling until she reached Mullivaikkal. In May 2009, she and the surviving members of her family entered army-controlled territory. Now, 16 years later, as she and other Sri Lankan Tamils commemorated their lost family members, most said their memorials had gone largely unobstructed, although there were reports of police disrupting one event in the eastern part of the country. This was a contrast from previous years of state crackdowns on such commemorative events. 'There isn't that climate of fear which existed during the two Rajapaksa regimes,' said Ambika Satkunanathan, a human rights lawyer and former commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, referring to former presidents Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brothers who between them ruled Sri Lanka for 13 out of 17 years between 2005 and 2022. It was under Mahinda Rajapaksa that the Sri Lankan army carried out the final, bloody assaults that ended the war in 2009, amid allegations of human rights abuses. 'But has anything changed substantively [under Dissanayake]? Not yet,' said Satkunanathan. Satkunanathan cited the government's continued use of Sri Lanka's controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and a gazette issued on March 28 to seize land in Mullivaikkal as problematic examples of manifesto promises being overturned in an evident lack of transparency. Despite his pre-election promises, Dissnayake's government earlier this month denounced Tamil claims of genocide as 'a false narrative'. On May 19, one day after the Tamil commemorations, Dissanayake also attended a 'War Heroes' celebration of the Sri Lankan armed forces as the chief guest, while the Ministry of Defence announced the promotion of a number of military and navy personnel. In his speech, Dissanayake stated that 'grief knows no ethnicity', suggesting a reconciliatory stance, while also paying tribute to the 'fallen heroes' of the army who 'we forever honour in our hearts.' Kathiravelu Sooriyakumari, a 60-year-old retired principal, said casualties in Mullivaikkal in 2009 were so extreme that 'we even had to walk over dead bodies.' She said government forces had used white phosphorus during the civil war, a claim Sri Lankan authorities have repeatedly denied. Although not explicitly banned, many legal scholars interpret international law as prohibiting the use of white phosphorus – an incendiary chemical that can burn the skin down to the bone – in densely populated areas. Sooriyakumari's husband, Rasenthiram, died during an attack near Mullivaikkal while trying to protect others. 'He was sending everyone to the bunker. When he had sent everyone and was about to come himself, a shell hit a tree and then bounced off and hit him, and he died,' she said. Although his internal organs were coming out, 'he raised his head and looked around at all of us, to see we were safe.' Her son was just seven months old. 'He has never seen his father's face,' she said. The war left many households like Sooriyakumari's without breadwinners. They have experienced even more acute food shortage following Sri Lanka's 2022 economic crisis and the subsequent rise in the cost of living. 'If we starve, will anyone come and check on us?' said 63-year-old Manoharan Kalimuthu, whose son died in Mullivaikkal after leaving a bunker to relieve himself and being hit by a shell. 'If they [children who died in the final stages of the war] were here, they would've looked after us.' Kalimuthu said she did not think the new government would deliver justice to Tamils, saying, 'We can believe it only when we see it.' Sooriyakumari also said she did not believe anything would change under the new administration. 'There's been a lot of talk but no action. No foundations have been laid, so how can we believe them?' she told Al Jazeera. 'So many Sinhalese people these days have understood our pain and suffering and are supporting us … but the government is against us.' She also expressed suspicion of Dissanayake's JVP party and its history of violence, saying she and the wider Tamil community 'were scared of the JVP before'. The party had backed Rajapaksa's government when the army crushed the Tamil separatist movement. Satkunanathan said the JVP's track record showed 'they supported the Rajapaksas, they were pro-war, they were anti-devolution, anti-international community, were all anti-UN, all of which they viewed as conspiring against Sri Lanka.' She conceded that the party was seeking to show that it had 'evolved to a more progressive position but their action is falling short of rhetoric'. Although Dissanayake's government has announced plans to establish a truth and reconciliation commission, it has rejected a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes, much like previous governments. Before the presidential elections, Dissanayake said he would not seek to prosecute those responsible for war crimes. 'On accountability for wartime violations, they have not moved at all,' Satkunanathan told Al Jazeera, citing the government's refusal to engage with the UN-initiated Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP), which was set up to collect evidence of potential war crimes. 'I would love them to prove me wrong.' The government has also repeatedly changed its stance on the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which promises devolved powers to Tamil-majority areas in the north and east. Before the presidential election, Dissanayake said he supported its implementation in meetings with Tamil parties, but the government has not outlined a clear plan for this, with the JVP's general secretary dismissing it as unnecessary shortly after the presidential election. 'Six months since coming into office, there's no indication of the new government's plan or intention to address the most urgent grievances of the Tamils affected by the war,' Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, South Asia researcher at Amnesty International, said. 'And the truth about the forcibly disappeared features high on the agenda of those in the North and the East.' Still, some, like 48-year-old Krishnapillai Sothilakshmi, remain hopeful. Sothilakshmi's husband Senthivel was forcibly disappeared in 2008. She said she believed the new government would give her answers. A 2017 report by Amnesty International [PDF] estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 people have disappeared in Sri Lanka since the late 1980s. Although Sri Lanka established an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) in 2017, there has been no clear progress since. 'We need answers. Are they alive or not? We want to know,' Sothilakshmi said. But for Jeevarani, weeping on the beach as she looked at a photograph of her three-year-old daughter Nila, it's too late for any hope. Palm trees are growing over her family's grave, and she is no longer even able to pinpoint the exact spot where they were buried. 'If someone is sick, this government or that government can say they'll cure them,' she said. 'But no government can bring back the dead, can they?'
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Business Standard
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
SL to table 'secret' defence deal with India in Parl: Prez Dissanayake
Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Friday confirmed that the recently-signed defence agreement with India will be brought before that country's Parliament soon, news agency PTI reported. Details of the defence deal are yet to made public by either side. His remarks come after the Sri Lankan opposition accused the National People's Power (NPP) government of signing a 'secret deal' during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka from April 4-6. Critics have demanded the full Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) be made public. 'They are creating false narratives. These are imaginary monsters created by them without seeing it. There are agreements between the countries, they are open for both sides. It is our responsibility to ensure our own security. This has been stated in a clause in the agreement,' Dissanayake said during a TV appearance on Friday night. The president reaffirmed that Sri Lanka would not allow its land to be used for any activities that could threaten India's national security, a stand Modi publicly thanked him for during his visit. The defence deal also assumes significance in light of China's growing interests in the island nation and its deepening financial investment in that country, particularly its ports. Earlier this year. India's Adani group withdrew from a proposed $442 million renewable energy deal with Sri Lanka, which had sought to renegotiate the financial terms of the partnership. The Adani group had termed the project, which envisaged building two wind power plants along with two transmission projects. unviable at the time. The opposition's concerns stem from the NPP's roots in the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which led a bloody rebellion in the late 1980s against Indian involvement in Sri Lanka's internal conflict with Tamil separatists. That unrest followed the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord signed in 1987, which introduced provincial councils across the country. The JVP opposed the accord until it was militarily defeated in 1989. The current MoU, signed on April 5, marks the first formal defence framework between the two nations and will remain in effect for five years. Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Thuiyakontha called the agreement a key milestone. India already trains around 750 Sri Lankan military personnel each year. 'This defence partnership continues to be an invaluable asset,' he said. Both countries have agreed to uphold each other's military and national laws and to honour the core principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and non-interference in domestic matters. Shortly after Modi's visit, the Indian Navy warship INS Sahyadri docked in Colombo as part of its deployment in the region, a move that underscores efforts to strengthen maritime ties between the two nations.
The Hindu
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Defence pact with India to be presented in Parliament, says Sri Lankan president
File picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at Presidential Secretariat, in Colombo | Photo Credit: ANI Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said that the defence pact with India would be presented in Parliament soon. Mr. Dissanayake was responding to opposition criticism that his NPP government had entered a secret defence pact with India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka from April 4 to 6 and has been demanding that the MoU be revealed. 'They are creating false narratives. These are imaginary monsters created by them without seeing it. There are agreements between the countries, they are open for both sides. It is our responsibility to ensure our own security. This has been stated in a clause in the agreement,' Mr. Dissanayake said during a TV talk show Friday night. Mr. Dissanayake had ensured Sri Lanka's consistent position that its soil would not be allowed to be used for any anti-Indian activity so as to endanger its neighbour's national security concerns. Mr. Modi, in his banquet speech, had thanked Mr. Dissanayake for this position. The opposition has riled the National People's Power (NPP) for signing pacts with India as its mother party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in 1987-90 had led a bloody rebellion to protest a direct Indian intervention in Sri Lanka's Tamil minority issue. The Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardena signed Indo Lanka Peace Accord brought in constitutional changes prescribing a council for each of Sri Lanka's nine provinces. The JVP led a violent campaign against anyone who supported the Indo-Lanka Accord until they came to be militarily crushed in late 1989. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation between India and Sri Lanka signed on April 5 during Prime Minister Modi's visit to the island nation will remain in force for five years. It is for the first time that India and Sri Lanka have inked a major defence pact to institutionalise a framework for deeper engagement in the military domain. 'India annually trains around 750 Sri Lankan military personnel. This defence partnership continues to be an invaluable asset,' Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Thuiyakontha had said after it was signed. 'As part of the cooperation under this MoU, both parties are committed to respecting each other's military and national laws, as well as the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter-including sovereign equality and non-intervention in internal affairs,' Mr. Thuiyakontha had said. Published - May 03, 2025 03:14 pm IST
