The term ‘ left’ was coined after the French Revolution of 1789. In the French National Assembly, those who supported the king sat on the right and those who wanted change sat on the left. This is where the word ‘left’ or ‘left’ emerged.

Leftism is a political movement that advocates for equality and justice in society by changing the traditional structure and works for those same agendas. The left believes that all people should be equal. It is a system that wants to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. The left strongly advocates social justice. It is the job of the left to protect the rights of the disadvantaged, oppressed, and marginalized classes of society.

The left believes that the state should control or strongly regulate basic needs such as health, education, and employment. In this system, collective interest is primary and more important than individual profit. In the leftist system, attention is paid to the rights and interests of workers, unions are supported, and public institutions are strengthened. It follows the concept of a welfare state. These are the main characteristics of the left.

In the context of Nepal, various parties known as the ‘NCP’, which keeps on being renamed, merged, and separated from time to time, claim themselves as leftists. It has been more than six decades since the parties claiming to be leftists were established in Nepal. Since the achievement of democracy in 1978, these ‘leftist’ parties have come to power repeatedly. One party claiming to be leftists, the then CPN-Maoist, even waged a ten-year war in the country with the claim to restructure the state.

There is no point in blaming the people for these ‘Marxists’ who have no organizational capacity. If you always despise and insult the ignorant people, how will you reach them? Shouldn’t you try to educate them? Isn’t the improvement of the material condition an ideology? But what about material improvement? What about education? How appropriate is it to accuse the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of being fascists and advocate the status quo?  But have the parties that claim to be left-wing in Nepal been able to make the Nepali people experience even a general glimpse of socialism or communism? Was six decades too short for them? Or was the twenty years since the rise of the CPN-Maoist too short? No. Rather, their own ideological deviations took them miles away from the essence of leftism. They completely forgot the promise they made to the masses. They became addicted to capitalism and made them promoters of capitalism around them.

After the Gen-G uprising six months ago, I began to ponder the question of what state violence is and why the state is so eager to oppress its own citizens. Why was it so easy for them to shoot at the children of the people who put them in power? The shots fired by the state would be acceptable, but the resistance by the people would be ‘terrorism’? Why were those young people who had not been injured, had not burned anything, and had not even come close to the parliament building shot? These questions led me to the German philosopher Friedrich Engels. As I studied, I began to find answers – not only about state violence, but also about the true nature of our ‘democracy’, i.e., elite democracy.

As I have been understanding socialist principles for the past 6 months, I have been tormented by a bigger question than the questions during the movement – ​​where is the leftist force in Nepal? It has already been established that the UML and the Maoist Center are not communists, and it is difficult to call them ‘opportunists’ in the Leninist definition. They are only the founders of Nepali elite democracy. But my interest is not in them. My interest is with those leftists, who are outside electoral politics. Where were they when all these events were happening?

The movement is a process of strategically rousing anger and political activism among the people against the ruling class. What were these parties doing before, after and during those uprisings? I did not feel any kind of political awakening. ‘Class consciousness’ can be created in such moments, but I had to learn these subjects by studying them myself. It is the job of the ‘leading squad’ and organizers to reach out to the people in their spontaneous movements and lead them, because in such movements, consciousness is in its infancy. But they were absent and are still absent. If the people cannot be awakened, then what is the point of their existence? If they do not work towards a greater goal, then what is the point? If there is no initiative towards building a ‘dual power’, what are they actually doing?

Seeing this inaction of the so-called ‘leading’ parties, one feels disappointment, pain and frustration. There is neither alternative politics nor any concrete program. The group that was saying that Ravi Lamichhane should be jailed yesterday, in the absence of an alternative program, even they were forced to stand with his party in the end. And on the other hand, some self-proclaimed ‘Marxists’ are expressing extreme disappointment on social media and crying that the rise of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the entry of ‘fascists’ into Nepal. What should Nepali citizens do? Continue to live without a state? Or live under military rule?

There is no point in these ‘Marxists’ who have no organizational capacity blaming the people. If you always only despise and insult the ignorant people, how will you reach them? Shouldn’t you try to educate them? Isn’t improving the material situation an ideology? But what about material improvement? What about education? How is it right to accuse the RSS of being fascist and advocate for the status quo? While Oli had already shown his fascist character before his fall.

They are adding insult to injury by defaming the people by vilifying them. You detest what the people do. You hate what the people stand for. You belittle the common man whenever you get the chance. You don't want to make people aware, but rather you want them to be aware themselves and to be able to criticize those who are not.  I would like to say to those who accuse you of making hollow claims - your claims are hollow. In Poush 2077 and Jestha 2078, KP Oli dissolved the parliament twice unconstitutionally. The Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional twice. He concentrated power in the Prime Minister's Office, manipulated constitutional commissions, and labeled those who disagreed as 'anti-national' or 'foreign agents'. The 'Media Council Bill' brought to control the press and the 'Social Media Bill' that we all know were examples of that. Oli had already shown 'proto-fascist' tendencies through the law itself. Despite all this, how can 'Marxists' say that it was better to remain in the status quo than to vote for an alternative party?

They are adding insult to injury by defaming the people on top of this incompetence of the Nepali left. You are disgusted by what the people do. You hate what the people stand for. You belittle the common man as soon as you get the chance. You don't want to make the people aware, but rather that they themselves become aware and can criticize those who are not. You are not for the people, and you can't be. You have no ability to understand the people, no courage to reach them, but only pretend to be 'knowledgeable' and 'enlightened'.