Mr. King refers to an article and an interview. There was no article, just an interview, with the entire text being the words of Dr. Bhattarai. It was the first interview granted by Dr. Bhattarai after being sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister of the new Republic of Nepal. The entire discussion was held at his home, by candle light, because most of Kathmandu is plunged into darkness in the evenings due to power cuts.

Mr. King’s point that the “true test of democracy is not the ability to be voted in by the people, but the ability to be voted out by the people” is well made. We have to relate this principle to the facts, and I say this as one viscerally opposed to the intolerant and irrational doctrines of religion as well as that of communism. After several years of terrible atrocities and intimidation the Maoists of Nepal have moved to a different, to some extent peaceful, line, even accepting UN supervision of their arms cache, at a time when their Maoist colleagues across the border in India have infested hundreds of districts and are continuing with their massacres and barbarity in the name of the revolution.

The new Nepal – which comprises not just the Maoists but many progressive forces – is clearly committed to increasing the representation for women and Dalits in the structures they are helping put in place in Nepal. The media are freer than in earlier times, and the Nepal Maoists and their parliamentary allies also seem to be less doctrinaire about seeking foreign investments in their country.

Despite some irresponsible public statements, the King has been treated mostly fairly, and his palace has now been converted into a museum. Even the provocation of breach of protocol by some army men was dealt with in an even-handed manner.

The political leadership seems to have accepted parliamentary democracy as a means of social change: the on-going work of the Constituent Assembly is a case in point.

Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda resigned in May 2009 when the President of the new Republic overturned a decision by the Prime Minister – an unreformed or dangerous Maoist would have acted differently.

Should we, therefore, not acknowledge the changed nature of Maoist activity in Nepal, despite the close ties with anti-democratic China?

My regret is that perhaps the Maoists have become too well integrated with the parliamentary system! The late M.N. Roy, a founder Vice President of IHEU, said that all political parties will seek to represent people in their backwardness, and since their election the Maoists of Nepal do not disappoint in this matter at all: the shaky coalition government led by them bowed down to demands, threats and public demonstrations, and even agreed to the sacrifice of buffaloes in a religious ritual. They started playing Hindu politics.

In any case, several months have passed since the interview and there are no signs of a fresh Maoist assault on human liberty, so we can all relax. There will be no revolution and the king will not be beheaded.

Babu Gogineni is International Director, IHEU.