Quintessential letter of reflection: Former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai to Krishna Bahadur Mahara

KATHMANDU, Oct 5: Addressing a letter to his former political ally former Speaker of the House of Representative Krishna Bahadur Mahara of the Nepalese Parliament, former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai who is also the Chairperson of the Samajwadi Party Nepal wrote ” the needle of suspicion point toward you, we studied back in 10th grade about ‘Paribanda’, a book written by Pushkar Sharma, in that book the innocent is proven guilty”

Releasing a letter through his social media page on Facebook at midnight the former Prime Minister is emotional yet thoughtful looking at the past that he shared with the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara who resigned amidst a rape allegation.

(Former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai’s midnight letter to the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara on his facebook page) 

In the letter, he writes about how he is surprised and emotional regarding the entire incident that came to light. He begins by narrating that the incident that came to light regarding the allegation of rape and his resignation has put to question the entire historic movement of the Maoists that not only fought for a federal, secular republic, but also for women’s liberation that they envisioned.

Former Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai further writes ” When we were leading the Maoist movement, Prachanda and I, it was Suresh Wagle and you who we determined to be ideologically sound, honest and of high moral character. We used to prioritize your advice, it was when Prachanda and I back in 1998 had our first major ideological and organizational debate. In the year 1999 in Punjab Ropad’s politburo meeting, we had listened to the advice given by the two of you and we resolved our ideological differences. It was a tragedy that right after the meeting got over on September 8, 1999, Suresh Wagle was martyred with dignity.

Later Post Bahadur Bogati and you were the beacons of the party, and the people respected your leadership. In the year 2014 with the sad demise of Bogatiji, our party went downhill, and we were in an ideological downfall which led the general public to lose faith in our movement. Congress-United Marxist Leninist was involved in prior corruption and scandalous affairs and hence your episode is no longer a personal matter but it is also a matter of Nepal’s revolutionary movement, ideology and a moral crisis that has befallen creating an image of negativity. We all have to accept this.

How did the Maoist movement reach the point of the abyss? We will analyze and synthesize them separately. Nepali revolutionary movement brought us to the summit of the federal democratic republic. We have to take pride in it, but as Rosa Luxemburg says the revolution will never remain stagnant, either it will move forward, should move forward, or it will get behind. There is another saying, to climb a mountain is easy, but to remain in there is difficult, there is yet another saying that when the revolution is over the next day the yesteryears revolutionaries would have transformed.

We failed at this very point. I climbed a summit but in order to climb another one I chose a different road, but I couldn’t convince my friends. They were only trying to remain in the summit which is scientifically not possible. Therefore, you are stuck in the summit, and your previous action is just one example of that.

I cannot state whether you are guilty or not regarding your case. You know the truth and the woman involved, but until now with the information that has been revealed the needle of suspicion point toward you”

The former Prime Minister further gives an example of a few Sanskrit lines and states that “a historic revolutionary like you are given the social responsibility of leadership, it is incompatible to be involved in sexual abuse. Even further serious is treating a woman as a commodity, and defiling her by using political power and wealth; it is a crime punishable in accordance with the law.

We have a patriarchal society and in most cases, women are the victims, but there are times when even men are the victims of various conspiracies and entrapment. In your case, if you are a victim then please bring out the truth, and seek justice in accordance with the law, and prove yourself innocent. In this case, as well we have to have an independent and impartial investigation and you have to support it. It will not lessen your reputation but increase it.

In case this crime did happen as a mistake then you have to take responsibility and come out in the open and repent for your actions, this will show that you are still a revolutionary, and for the Nation. They say mistakes that are made may not be a crime, but not rectifying mistakes is the biggest crime”