Are Maoists suffering from anxiety disorder?

Prateek Pradhan
The Statesman, 22 September

Psychiatrists say that when people feel anxious and uncomfortable among a group of people, dislike going to parties and avoid other social gatherings, they are suffering from social anxiety disorder.

Politicians are the least likely to suffer from this disease as they are the type who are always at ease among crowds. But it has been observed that political parties might sometimes show signs of social anxiety disorder.

The Maoist decision to disrupt the upcoming Constituent Assembly elections can be seen as a symptom of anxiety disorder. They have lost the self-confidence to face the general public, mainly due to their past atrocities. It could also be a lack of confidence in the leadership to face and gracefully accept the people’s verdict, no matter whether they lose or win. Maybe, the background of the party’s top leaders also plays a major role in shaping the party’s characteristics.

In April 2003, when the Maoists had declared a ceasefire and were holding talks with the king’s government (Lokendra Bahadur Chand was the prime minister), The Kathmandu Post did a profile of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, the supreme commander of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

My colleague Ameet Dhakal and I travelled to Chitwan, and met with his father, sisters, other relatives and friends to do research on the leader who had already made a name (don’t ask whether good or bad) for himself by then. Out of the many things we learnt about the man, one very interesting aspect was his shyness in public. According to one of his four sisters, Prachanda used to practice public speaking in his bedroom keeping only those siblings in the room who did not, would not or dare not find any fault in the way he delivered his speech. The same thing has happened in Maoist politics and the party.

Not surprisingly, there are not many leaders in the CPN (Maoist) who have any experience with open elections. They have always done the speaking and convinced the indoctrinated cadres. It is like killing a lion locked inside a cage. And the process of enlisting people into the party is also done in a one-to-one manner. They could never muster enough courage to try to convince people who did not believe in Maoist ideology. So, when opportunity knocked at their door to be a real hero and people’s leader, they fled through the back door. The CPN (Maoist) thinks that the elections that are going to be held under the close gaze of UNMIN, the international community and thousands of poll observers are going to be a ploy. No wonder they want elections where only the “true people’s representatives” (remember, only the Maoists decide who is true and who is false) win.

In other ways, they want something like the drama the king wanted to stage in the name of elections after the coup in 2006. Though not awe-inspiring, the Maoists’ avowed programme to disrupt the 22 November CA elections is similar to how they disrupted the king’s local elections.

Interestingly, Maoist leader Ram Bahadur Thapa “Badal” claimed that pulling out of the government was a victory for them. In fact, it was a victory for the radical faction within his party. So Badal’s claim was satirical to Baburam Bhattarai, senior Maoist leader, and the pro-reconciliatory group. But Badal and others will not have their last laugh as they are entrapped in their own cobweb.

The Maoists will definitely destabilise politics and cripple normal life, but that will not bring them any support. As the Maoist cadres do not have the political resilience and attitude to carry out a peaceful movement, they will soon jump into radical moves like withdrawing from the parliament and even going to the extent of using force. Slowly, they will have no option but to wage a violent move, which will turn the Maoists into a criminal and armed rebel group. Once they reach that situation, it will be virtually impossible for them to return to the political mainstream.

The people are definitely worried after the Maoists withdrew from the government. Obviously, for a couple of months, it will be a very difficult time for the people as the Maoists will be creating havoc. But if they do not change their minds quickly, they will be presenting the Nepal Army an opportunity to come out on to the street. If that were to happen, this time the people might not oppose the army as it has learnt that it has to maintain a democratic facade to convince the people. So there is no choice for the Maoists to join normal politics again and re-negotiate their demands to save their face and democracy.

The eight parties together can still establish a democratic republic. If not, then we will have to meet with psychiatrists for counselling.

Psychiatrists advise that if a person is affected by social anxiety disorder, the first and best treatment is self-help. If the Maoists relax and consider the situation realistically, they can overcome the problem. If not, the psychological treatments to be adopted are social skill training, exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. All these treatments can also be practised by a political party.

The CPN (Maoist) is in dire need of social skill training. It has to learn to be confident in the company of other people, and it should be taught how to start a conversation with political strangers. The exposure therapy is quite important for the party. Its leaders should be exposed to many democratic countries, and also to North Korea. They should learn where they are now and where others have reached with what political and social philosophies. The cognitive behavioural therapy tells patients that if their counterparts have run out of words, it is their responsibility to start a conversation. This is what the CPN (Maoist) needs to learn and use with the seven-party alliance, if it wants to recover from social anxiety disorder.

The Kathmandu Post/ANN