Kathmandu, September 29, 2004: One of the best places to get a flavor of Nepal’s current crisis is at the office of the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP), a partner of the Advocacy Project. Founded in June 2001, COCAP is a network of 42 organizations and a pillar of Nepal’s pro-democracy movement. It can also call on scores of volunteers, including 25 trained human rights monitors who can be mobilized for demonstrations at very short notice.

The demonstrations began in earnest in September, and now routinely attract many thousands of determined people. COCAP monitors watch carefully for any acts of violence, and intervene when a protester or security official is hurt (They have rescued five injured security officials in the last few weeks).

The monitors also write down the names of those arrested, who shout out their names as they are being bundled into police wagons, as insurance against them disappearing. For some time, Nepal had the highest recorded number of disappearances in the world.

Nepalis are about to celebrate an annual festival and the COCAP volunteers are having a party. There is clapping and singing. Most of the volunteers seem very young for the responsibilities they carry and the risks they run. On September 7, 17 year-old Bijay Kumar Son was monitoring a huge demonstration in his distinctive red and blue monitor’s uniform. The uniforms have become familiar from television, but this did not stop him from getting slashed by lathi-wielding police.

It has come to this in Shangri-La.

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Worn with pride: Bijay Guindel in the uniform of a COCAP human rights monitor.

Although the King’s February coup surprised and alarmed many outside Nepal, most Nepalis saw it as just the latest in a series of high-handed actions by their monarchs.

Modern Nepal was founded in 1768, when Prithvi Narayan Shah, a forefather of the current King, united a patchwork of smaller states into one kingdom. In the mid-nineteenth century, the kings began to surrender power to the Rana family, which took over the post of Prime Minister and proved so isolationist and repressive that they eventually even drove out the King. He was invited back in 1951 by democratic forces, and responded by establishing his own increasingly authoritarian rule.

This lasted until 1990, when a massive outburst of civic action, known as loktantra, forced the then King, Birendra Shah, to engage with political parties and draft a new constitution. Unfortunately the politicians squandered their opportunity and in 1996 two Marxist intellectuals launched a Maoist movement to overthrow the monarchy. This emergence of radical Marxism during the mid-1990s was not the anachronism it might appear. China has always exerted a strong influence over Nepal. Some also see parallels between Nepal’s Maoists and the Shining Path in Peru – another ruthless left-wing group that drew support from impoverished mountain people.

Whatever their feelings about the monarchy, Nepalis were horrified when, on June 1, 2001, King Birendra and his Queen were shot dead by their son and heir, who then turned the gun on himself. This devastating event has never been fully explained, but the Crown Prince had been forbidden to see a girl and was thought to be high on drugs. He lingered in a coma and was immediately appointed King before dying. After he died, his place was taken by his uncle, the current King. Nepal is one of the few countries to have had three kings in as many days.

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The early years of the new millennium have been bad for Nepal. King Gyanendra launched his first major crackdown in October 2002, and the Maoists stepped up their violent campaign to overthrow him. COCAP and civil society found itself under enormous pressure, and in January 2004 Dinesh Prasain, the COCAP coordinator, was attacked and beaten up by security officials outside his home. The international community barely noticed.

It has taken the King’s Coup to awaken the world to Nepal’s agony. On February 1, the King suspended parliament, suppressed the press, arrested political leaders and prohibited all protests. The political parties called his bluff and formed a national consensus in the face of the common threat. In September they launched their street protests, and vowed to continue until democracy is restored. The Maoists announced a three-month ceasefire.

The feeling here is that King Gyanendra has dug himself a very deep hole. The two largest political parties have dropped their support for a constitutional monarchy and are edging towards outright republicanism. The big question is whether the Maoists can be persuaded to turn their back on violence and join the political process. If they do, the writing may be on the wall for the monarchy.

The King is also isolated internationally. He has been under pressure from traditional friends like India, Britain and the United States all year. With the Maoist threat suspended for the moment, it is hard for him to play the terrorist card.

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Uneasy relationship: The King’s coup turned Nepal’s soldiers on civilians.

It is tempting to see civil society groups like COCAP as squeezed by King Gyanendra on the right and Maoists on the left, but the truth is somewhat different. The vast majority of Nepalis want democracy, and civil society sees its role as that of a catalyst – leading the protests against a dictator and pushing the political parties to have the courage of their convictions.

COCAP itself has grown more democratic as Nepal’s government has become more autocratic. The network has made a big effort to reach out to civil society beyond the Kathmandu valley, which has been traditionally under-represented. COCAP only employs four paid staff and gives preference to indigenous groups, women and Dalit.

Another praise-worthy feature of COCAP (at least for me) is the fact that it never accepts project money (It has one loyal core funder and does not seek more). This is partly an attempt to avoid the corruption that has tarred many Nepalese NGOs. It may also explain why COCAP is able to muster so many more volunteers than larger, well-heeled organizations. Bijay Guindel, COCAP’s program director, proudly points out that COCAP’s volunteers are prepared to plunge into riots and conduct investigations in distant war zones. He feels that money would diminish their motivation.

Another feature of COCAP which interests me is its sophisticated approach to information. After a typical demonstration, COCAP monitors will return in the evening and type out their reports which are synthesized by Bijay and sent out by email to over 5,000 subscribers. As AP readers will know, the reports are also posted on this website.

COCAP’s reporting runs like clockwork, but the network is less well served by its website, which uses HTML software and takes a long time to update. Campaigning groups like COCAP, which are constantly posting large amounts of information, need a speedy system and an Open Source content management system would seem like a worthwhile investment. I also wonder whether the COCAP volunteers would like to tell their stories directly onto the Internet through blogs.

Bijay is immediately interested, which is not surprising. COCAP has mastered the basics of activism and is now ready to get excited about using IT as a tool for its advocacy. It is another example of the contrast between Nepalese civil society – which is ahead of its time – and the feudal system that it confronts.

Tomorrow: what it means to be a Dalit