In fact, the Security Council discussion and UN Secretary General’s recent report on Nepal has claimed that Nepali Congress was in favour of removing Army Chief R. Katawal, but changed its position once he was fired by Prime Minister Prachanda. “That was never our position. We had been consistently advising Prachanda not to remove the army chief”, says Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, central committee member of the Nepali Congress, and a former foreign affairs minister. Katawal ‘s reinstatement into the post by President Rambaran Yadav triggered Prachanda’s resignation, and what’s more, the army issue is at the heart of the new political polisarisation in Nepal. With UNMIN seen as ‘biased,’ its unsung and unwept departure is expected anytime now. But what remains to be seen is its impact elsewhere, especially in other conflict-affected countries. Will the UN be accepted as a trusted and capable agency for peace? Nepal’s experiment with UNMIN was not a happy one.

yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com