The takeover by Mahendra laid the foundation for three decades of direct rule by the monarchy. A single party system that the King himself had envisioned was implemented and all other political parties were banned and their leaders either jailed or exiled to India. Those who escaped to India regrouped and launched an armed struggle against the King’s regime, limited mostly to border towns. The pressure was enough to force the King to compromise, but his situation became much more critical when India imposed an economic blockade in September 1962. To the King’s good fortune, war between India and China broke out on October 16 and upon the request of India’s Prime Minister Nehru, the Nepalese agitation was called off. This gave Mahendra the opportunity to consolidate his power. The Panchayat system was modelled as a ‘guided democracy’
such as those then existing in Pakistan, Indonesia, Yugoslavia and Egypt (Whelpton 2005). The system provided for directly elected village or town councils (panchayat), whose members formed an electoral college to choose district level representatives.
These latter in turn selected from among themselves the majority of members of the national legislature (Rastriya Panchayat), the remainder being either representatives of government sponsored ‘class organizations’ or royal nominees. The national legislature’s powers were limited and the whole arrangement was designed to allow an element of popular representation while the King ruled unhindered by the pressures of parliamen-tary democracy (Whelpton 2005). Because of the immense power the King wielded, the separation of powers between the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive became thoroughly blurred (Thapa and Sijapati 2007). Apart from minor acts of resistance mostly outside the capital, civic life was peaceful, development proceeded slowly and the system continued unchallenged (Table 13.2). In 1979, in response to the hanging of two Congress party fighters for an attempted assassination of the King, students, already unhappy about changes made to the education system, were mobilized for nationwide protests. As protests continued, universities were closed for a year. Bowing to the pres-sures, Birendra called for a national referendum asking citizens if they preferred the current system or a multi-party system; results favoured the current system.
As to tourism development, the government started including tourism-specific objectives in its five year plans beginning with the Third Plan (1965–70). The Tourism Act of 1964 was enacted, and an advisory committee formed, which was replaced by the Nepal Tourism Development Committee in 1969 (Touche Ross 1990). A major boost was given to building new hotels to accommodate the growing number of overseas visitors;
although most hotels were restricted to Kathmandu and Pokhara. Expansion of air serv-ices was also a priority during this period. Completed in 1972, the First Tourism Master Plan recognized the importance of developing Nepal as a distinct tourist centre, and sug-gested improvements in existing tourist sites, services and facilities, expansion of tourist areas outside Kathmandu, and publicity in the international tourism market (HMG 1971). Subsequent plans stressed the need for increased foreign exchange earnings from tourism, employment creation, broader geographical distribution of tourist activities, and establishing regional tourist centres. Tourism received separate ministry status in 1977. Within a short span of time, tourism became one of the most important sources of foreign exchange in the country. The Sixth Plan (1980–85) emphasized identification of tourist centres, promotion of off-season tourism, development of mountain tourism
and remote area tourism, development of resorts and tourist information centers, and tourism research and surveys as central priorities, and invested US$23 million in various tourism related projects (Pradhan 1997). The Seventh Plan (1985–90) stressed the need to attract high value tourists, simplified tax and tariff structures, government and private investments in tourism, and intensify marketing and promotion in Asian countries. It also emphasized heritage conservation and diversification of basic infrastructure required for tourism. The Nepal Tourism Development Programme (NTDP), formulated in 1990, provided a comprehensive review of all aspects of tourism and proposed a long-term strategy for tourism development (Touche Ross 1990).
With the growth in tourist numbers, Nepal quickly established its reputation as an adventure tourism destination. The country’s first national park – Royal Chitwan National Park – was established in 1973, followed in 1976 by Mt Everest National Park; both were later designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Around the same time, Nepal became an attractive destination to budget tourists, and soon Kathmandu became famous for its hippies. The Hotel Eden in Jhonche became notorious for its shady dealings (in drugs). The ‘hippie’ tourists were resented by local residents, which may be a reason for their deportation just before Birendra’s coronation ceremony.
Table13. 2: Tourism development and political events in Nepal – Era II. Compiled from various sources
Tourism development Political events 1962-64 Annual number of visitors
increases to 4,000
Tourism Act of 1964 enacted
Promulgation of Nepal’s new Constitution
1965-68 Mountaineering banned Political dissidents continue their agitation from India
1972 “Hippie” tourists are deported Death of King Mahendra and accession of King Birendra; Nepali Congress launches armed raid from India
1973-74 Nepal’s first national park (Royal Chitwan National Park) established
Naxalite-style campaign of violence;
Bomb attempt on Birendra’s life
1979-80 1977 - Ministry of Tourism established
1980 – Chitwan and Everest national parks are declared World Heritage sites
Two Congress fighters are hanged for attempted murder of the King; nationwide protests cripple government apparatus; universities remain inoperative for almost a year during 1979;
Birendra announces referendum on current system (Panchayat) of multi-party government – referendum favours single party system 1985-86 Annapurna Conservation Area
Project implemented; launch of Nepal’s first community-based tourism programme
Congress launches civil disobedience cam-paign; bomb explosions in Kathmandu’s Hotel de l’Annapurna
152 Part IV: Political Unrest
Era III – people’s movement or the second coming of democracy (1989–95)
With the death of B.P. Koirala in 1982, leadership of the Congress Party was assumed by Ganesh Man Singh, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, and Girija Prasad Koirala. However, the party lacked direction, as several of its former members had already joined the ruling government after the referendum in 1980, and were now in conflict with the party leaders.
Members from other left wing parties including the Marxist-Leninist communist party also joined the government. In 1985 the three Congress leaders launched Satyagraha (a civil disobedience campaign) while the communist groups organized a parallel agita-tion. The campaign was called off after four bombs went off in Kathmandu’s Hotel de l’Annapurna killing three staff. Average citizens were growing disenchanted with the heavy-handedness of the Palace. There was discontent among members of the royal family; for example, the King’s youngest brother Dhirendra renounced his royal title in a dispute with the Queen, while a key figure loyal to the palace was convicted of smuggling.
Towards the end of 1989 political parties began hectic parleys to prepare for a new stage of struggle against the King’s autocracy (Thapa and Sijapati 2007). The opposition was emboldened with what was going on inside the Palace, and were greatly helped when India imposed an economic blockade on Nepal in March 1990 as a result of a dispute arising from the 1950 Trade and Transit Treaty (Whelpton 2005). The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy was launched in February 1990 (Whelpton 2005). Congress was joined by the United Left Front, an alliance of seven communist groups, and despite the lack of a common strategy the opposition parties were united in their common goal to restore democracy in Nepal. On 6 April, some 200,000 demonstrators took to the streets in Kathmandu demanding an immediate end to the ban on political parties, violent clashes occurred in many parts of the Valley, especially in Patan and around the Palace. On April 8 the ban on political parties was lifted. On 19 May Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was declared Prime Minister, and several cabinet ministers from other parties including two royalists were appointed to his government, restoring multi-party democracy after almost three decades of authoritarian or ‘guided’ democracy.
Drafting of a new Constitution and holding parliamentary elections under the new Constitution were the two main goals of the newly formed government. The election results favoured Congress and Girija Prasad Koirala became the Prime Minister. However, in-fighting within the Congress Party and growing opposition from the Communist Party led to various events culminating with mid-term elections in November 1994 and a hung parliament. The Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) emerged with the largest number of seats while the United People’s Front (UPF; one of its factions was later known as the Maoists) failed to win a single seat. For the first time, a Communist leader (Man Mohan Adhikari) became the Prime Minister; however, the government did not last long. In September 1995 the Nepali Congress formed a coalition government under Sher Bahadur Deuba. After splitting from the United People’s Front, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka ‘Prachanda’ – or the fierce one) together with Baburam Bhattarai renamed his party as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and adopted the ‘Plan for the Historic Initiation of the People’s War’ in September 1995 (Thapa and Sijapati 2007). In November, Nepali Police launched Operation Romeo against Maoist supporters in the western part of the country (Whelpton 2005).
The Eighth Plan (1991-96) aimed to develop Nepal as a final destination for tourists and to implement the tourism industry as a major source of employment generation (HMG 1992). It also stressed the need for greater private sector participation. One significant achievement in 1992 was the establishment of several domestic airlines with private sector involvement. However, despite the strong emphasis on tourism development, improvements in infrastructure and government tourism investment beyond Kathmandu and Pokhara did not materialize. The government issued a new tourism policy in 1995 seeking to develop tourism as an important sector of the national economy, diversify tourism products, and opening new areas for tourism. The policy called for greater local participation in identifying and marketing rural tourism resources, and recommended setting up a Tourism Council with public and private sector participation.
Table 13.3: Tourism development and political events in Nepal – Era III. Compiled from various sources
Tourism development Political events 1989-90 A comprehensive
Tourism Development Program is formulated
Start of ‘People’s Movement’; dissolution of the Panchayat system; Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai appointed Prime Minister
1991- Free market system adopted in the domestic airline sector – several private air lines
Communist Party of Nepal formed after a merger of two far-left parties; establishment of United People’s Front as electoral vehicle for the Unity Centre
1994-96 A new Nepal Tourism Policy formulated
Baburam Bhattarai’s faction splits from United People’s Front; Prachanda’s faction of Unity Centre renames itself CPN (Maoist) and adopts ‘Plan for the Historic Initiation of the People’s War’