Nepal, March 21 -- Two government decisions that came close on the heels of each other have hogged the headlines for some days now. The first was the agreement with CK Raut to end his proto-secessionist movement, and the second was the proscription on the Netra Bikram Chand 'Biplab'-led Communist Party of Nepal.

Even though he never really posed any serious threat to Nepal's territorial integrity, and it was mainly decisions by successive governments to incarcerate him that elevated his stature, being able to bring Raut into the political mainstream can be considered an achievement of sorts. How his political journey pans out in the future remains to be seen, and much will depend on how the state acts to neutralise the very real grievanc...