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renewed violence in this war-torn country.

4.4 Data Analysis

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important. He also states that the Maoists were responsible for gross violation of human rights when civilians and teachers were targeted by them and killed brutally for almost seven years, and the government had to intervene after the cease-fire and was not responsible for these human security issues. Further, he notes that researchers have noted that Nepalese were against such division among them, evident from the findings that 78% of people from Terai region and 85% from hilly regions indicated that they were against ethnic and religious types of federalism.⁴⁸⁷ Despite this, after the political changes of 2006, when Nepal became republican, political parties tried to divide the country on the basis of ethnicity and religion for their political motives. Yet another reason identified by him is that the results of the elections were driven by force rather than by will of the voters, leading to final election of the wrong parties.

Ram Karki⁴⁸⁸ states, in this regard, that the current situation of Nepal is such that there is peace for a handful of people, which is encircled by deprivation and poverty for the

remaining people. Such discrimination is a source of violence in the society. Thus, there is a dire need to build peace in the nation through peace-building initiatives, and the gap between the sections of the society must be duly filled. Dolendra Khadka⁴⁸⁹ gives a rather ironical opinion by saying that Maoists and the NA are not enemies of each other and thus the country does not need peace building at all. Puspa Kamal Dahal⁴⁹⁰ states that Nepal has been ruled by an autocratic regime for a very long time and democracy has never been followed. There is a need to change the feudal structural pattern and institutionalize things like a federalism republican state, inclusion and participatory democracy, which can be done through a new constitution. This new constitution can be in place only after peace building is completed.

487 Manmohan Bhattarai. See Appendix 5,291.

488 For details of Ram Karki. See Appendix 5, 323.

489 For details of Dolendra Khadka. See Appendix 5, 338.

490 For details of Puspa Kamal Dahal. See Appendix 5, 347.

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Sanjaya Kumar Mishra⁴⁹¹ states in this regard, that the issue of political agenda raised by Maoists in the past called for the peace-building process. Thus, it may be said that Nepal needs peace building, since there is huge discrimination among sections of society. Such discrimination is capable of creating disruptions in the peaceful environment, thus this issue must be addressed. However, there is no public violence in the country now, as stressed by some of the respondents. Further, the citizens of Nepal are not in favor of any religious or ethnic federalism. Thus, the only factor due to which peace-building process becomes necessary is to eradicate inequality among the sections of the society.

According to Surendra Pandey⁴⁹², the peace-building process comprises multiple aspects, like army integration, dual security systems and handing over the weapons of Maoists to the government (80% weapons handed over)⁴⁹³. While the latter two have been almost completed, the process of army integration is yet to be completed. The composition of the army would be 35% each from NA and Maoists and 15% each from Nepal Police and Armed Nepal Police, and their standard norms for fitness and education are also being worked upon⁴⁹⁴. Another important part of the peace building process is the package of rehabilitation, wherein Maoists are demanding huge amount of money for providing senior level combatants, which exceeds the budget of the Nepal government. The remaining 20% of weapons will be handed over after this issue is resolved by them mutually. Apart from these, issues like political rights, right to freedom of speech, issues relating to ethnicity, religion, class and gender, and even more basic issues, like food, shelter and livelihood, are being looked into more deeply across the nation. The peace process needs to resolve these at the earliest if the nation is to gain political stability and democracy.

491 For details of Sanjaya Kumar Mishra. See Appendix 5, 351.

492 For details of Surendra Pandey. See Appendix 5, 305.

493 Ibid.

494 Ibid.

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According to Jhalnath Khanal⁴⁹⁵, the peace-building process is moving in the right direction now and a special committee designed for it is successful in managing the human resources and handling other responsibilities, like monitoring and supervising the activities of cantonments and combatants. He indicates that the dual security system has also been well handled and the trust of stakeholders has been obtained. The process is also providing proper security to Maoist leaders. Baburam Bhattarai⁴⁹⁶ alsobelieves that the peace-building process is on track, though he states that the process is very slow. While there has been success in controlling the violation of CPA and armed conflicts, some issues like army integration are yet to be solved. He further states that the country is in a transformational stage right now towards a more modern society, and it will take some time before it reaches the stage of mature leadership. He further elaborates that the process will be said to be completed when there has been a holistic change in the nation, comprising changes in the field of political system, economic system, social change, and change in cultural issues.

While earlier the focus was only on changing the political system, currently the focus is on rejecting monarchy and the feudal system and establishing a fully democratic setup; however, the process will take more time.

Kul Acharya⁴⁹⁷ acknowledges the role of NRN-UK in the peace-building process and states that they helped in developing a friendly environment in Nepal before the CPA 2006 was signed. However, currently they play no role in policies of the state. He further states that, though there are about 200 different organizations of Nepalese in UK, none of them is trying to divide people on the basis of ethnicity or other factors, and all of them are working towards uniting them for their good, and also they are all working under the umbrella organization NRN-UK.

495 For details of Jhalnath Khanal. See Appendix 5, 310.

496 For details of Baburam Bhattarai. See Appendix 5, 317.

497 For details of Kul Acharya. See Appendix 5, 330.

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According to Puspa Kamal Dahal, the peace process is almost complete and only things like the case of disappearance, and truth and reconciliation commission are yet to be completed. However, it may be noted that TRC was only formed in February, 2015.

According to Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, the process of peace building is smooth in Nepal and there are no probable issues if the constitution is promulgated in the right time. He further adds that people of Terai are quite happy with the signing of the CPA in 2006, since some of them had no identity prior to this. Shreehari Subedi⁴⁹⁸ states that the process can be

concluded successfully if the interests of political leaders are common.

Though the respondents mention integration and rehabilitation issues, it was found that these issues have now been duly resolved, meaning that the peace-building process is progressing fast. Further, the major issues that the country is yet to deal with are related to basic things like food and shelter. which are not yet available to all citizens. Also, issues like political rights, right to freedom of speech, issues relating to ethnicity, religion, class and gender are being increasingly looked into by the authorities.

According to Manmohan Bhattarai, the peace-building process is being hampered because political parties and Maoists established mutual understanding and joined hands against the feudal Nepalese king, since Maoists knew they could not get along with the king.

However, the desired and expected results were not achieved by any of the parties leading to further delay in the peace-building process. Another problem in peace building that he identifies is that the Maoists were also divided into two groups, out of which, one was more inclined towards sincere and honest peace building by way of writing a proper constitution, while the other was more interested in continuing with the ongoing peace process in which there are multiple complexities. This disagreement obviously trickles down into the

implementation of the peace process. Further, he notes that the peace process faces the

498 For details of Shreehari Subedi. See Appendix 5, 353.

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problem of low level of education of the deprived people from backward regions, due to which they failed to participate in the peace-building initiatives. He identifies the major issues causing such delay as army integration, rehabilitation and issues related to ethnicity and religion.

Similarly, Jhalnath Khanal also indicates the issues of army integration and rehabilitation in the peace building process, which were causing problems in the process. Baburam

Bhattarai indicates that the process of peace building in Nepal started with a focus on armed struggles against the monarchy monarchy and foreign domination and for supporting the socially backward groups, women, Madeshi, Dalit and poor classes. The problem being faced is that the focus needs to be changed to complete restructuring of the state, society and

economy, which can lead to durable peace. Ram Karki states that the peace-building process is being hampered by the conflicting interests of the political parties and that most of them are looking to serve their own purpose rather than restructuring the society for good. Kul Acharya notes that the main problem of the peace-building process of Nepal is the selfish interest of political parties in drafting the contents of the new constitution. According to him, all the parties focus on serving their own members rather than the people of the state. Indra Gurung⁴⁹⁹ also states that the main issue hampering the peace-building process is that there are conflicts between parties, and all of them are looking to fill their own pockets and outdo the others. He further adds that NRN plays a big role in the peace-building process and helps in improving economic conditions of people living outside Nepal. Dolendra Khadka states that the problem in the process is the issue of army integration, which can be resolved by political leaders and security people collectively, however, the impacts of such integration must be deeply understood first. He further notes that the leaders of Nepal are following an out-dated approach, of interest to historians, but the approach does not apply in today’s

499 For details of Indra Gurung. See Appendix 5,336.

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environment, which is hampering the peace-building process.

According to Shreehari Subedi, it is the lack of consciousness of the government, which is causing problems in the progress of peace. However, it may be noted that high portion of respondents indicate issues of integration and rehabilitation, which are now duly resolved by the authorities. The major issues that emerged as the hampering factors for the peace-building process were the self-centered tactics of the parties that ignored the welfare of the public.

Further, there is a very low level of education in the country, due to which people are not able to actively participate in the election process, which leads to election of the parties with vested interests.

Further, in the process of updating information during mid-July 2015, I carried out additional interviews. In regard to the peace process, Som Prasad Gauchan⁵⁰⁰ mentions that the Nepal peace process is really strange and unique. He highlights that the reason Maoists came to the peace process is because of an Indian factor, and another factor is that, if the conflict lasts for years, there will be unnecessary interference of international countries in the country and political power will be used by Nepalese army. These are the reasons Maoists came to peace process. According to him, it is mainly the international factors that push Maoists into the peace process. Sangita Khadha⁵⁰¹, highlights that the success of peace process will be the ending of peace process and getting rights for victims of Nepal's Maoist insurgency.

Bikash Lamsal⁵⁰², says that although we have done agreements in parliament – like 12 point agreements – we are still having inequality in society, based on gender, as well as economic disparities. Not only that, he says, but also there are issues like Dalit, Janajati, and including all rights in a new constitution will mark the success of peace process. Amrit

500 For details of Som Prasad Gauchan. See Appendix 5, 357.

501 For details of Sangita Khadha. See Appendix 5, 360-61.

502 For details of Bikash Lamsal. See Appendix 5, 363.

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Devkota⁵⁰³, youth leader, argues that Maoist insurgency started with 40 point demands and that the Maoists are already in the political process, so, they cannot go back from the political process. Therefore, it will be successful, with the TRC already formed.

Chandra Kant Gyawali⁵⁰⁴ says that the peace process of Nepal is related to the promulgation of constitution, so it will end after that. Chairman of CA of Nepal, Subash Chandra Nembang⁵⁰⁵, says of Nepal's peace process, “It is taking pretty long time to come into the normal line; however, if you go through the overall political developments, it is really encouraging.” PM K.P. Oli (Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli)⁵⁰⁶, Chairman of CPN (UML), has a different perspective on the peace process. He says, “It almost is in last phase. Integration of army is completed and now we are on the process of completing remaining portion, which are going to manage soon. TRC is formed. It has started its regular work. Mainly the peace process is completed.” The problem is that of the peace process was delayed for the formation of the TRC and constitution writing.

Through the overall evaluation of the data and literature, it is found that there is indeed a major need for a mechanism and commitment within the political parties. There should not be any distinction on what they deliver and commit. There is a loophole in any agreement or commitment, that is, the authority should have the capability to acquire it. There should be a non-political committee as a watchdog to see the overall development of peace process. The committee will be responsible for taking all the issues that has been raised, highlighted and side-lined, as well. There should not be any infiltration, at any cost. There is a positive

gesture that the government has put forth for the peace building. It has given a message in the international arena that the peace process is not merely utopia. This should be taken into consideration and can be taken as an achievement. The problems are that they have a lack of

503 For details of Amrit Devkota. See Appendix 5, 367.

504 For details of Chandra Kant Gyawali. See Appendix 5, 370.

505 For details of Subash Chandra Nembang. See Appendix 5, 372-73.

506 For details of PM. K.P. Oli. See Appendix 5, 375.

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professionals involved, making it more political with more extrinsic perspectives than intrinsic perspectives on issues, with a lack of deliberation and discussion of the themes, and addressing the task at the last minute.