Dr. Chandrakala: Percept and Practice

Students affiliated with the seven political parties disrupted Rashtriya Prajatantra Party Nepal's (RPPN) western regional meeting in Pokhara The two-day long gathering of the party had begun on December 10. The students barged into the hall where a closed session of the RPPN was underway and started vandalizing the furniture and other things They also beat up some RPP-N activists. It is evident from incidents that Maoists and Seven party alliance don't other party to hold meeting and campaign for CA elections. That much for tolerance of differing opinions in a democratic set up among the Seven-Party Alliance Government and Maoists. What a contradiction between percept and practice!

Maoist's strategy is that they don't want all their weapons to be verified by UN Team. To avoid the verification of weapons, Maoists are planning to hide some of the weapons in remote areas of the districts. They have started returning the weapons to the people whom they had taken from with intention to get them back in time of need. While verifying the weapon, UN Team should be careful about this.

There has been report of a rift going on between Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal' and Krishna Bahadur Mahara over the use of fund received from the government. It is alleged that Mahara is utilizing the fund on his own without consulting other leaders and are giving jobs to his favorite cadres only.

The opposition Indian parliamentarians disrupted proceeding in both Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. on December 10. A remark by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that minorities must have the first claim on the country's resources created a furor in parliament leading to repeated adjournments of both Houses. The opposition said that the remarks of Prime Minister would divide the country. Our leaders should take heed.

People who were earlier lured by Maoists with attractive pay into joining the People Liberation Army (PLA) are stranded inside the PLA camps in Chitwan. They do not have money to return home. Most people inside the camps are desperate to return home after realizing they were lured by false promises of Maoists but they haven't enough money for even bus fare to return home. In the meantime, Maoist instructors are training new recruits to remember the names of Maoist commanders and commissars. Maoists trainers are repeating each day that "You should be able to say the names properly when asked by the UN team."

Government has selectively compensated the families of people who died in the chopper crash. Twenty four people died in the crash on September 23 in Taplejung district. The cabinet on October 30 passed a proposal to compensate seven government officials but Sarad Rai, Narayan Poudel and Damodar Parajuli who were also government officials were left out. The families of 11 people including Dr. Harka Gurung, Dr. Tirtha Man Shakya, Dr. Bigyan Acharya, have not been provided compensation by the government and they were protesting to deaf ears.

People's dream of corruption free government seem difficult to be realized. Last year shop at Tribhuvan International Airport was rented at Rs.5.5 million. But, this year Minister for Cultural, Tourism and Civil Aviation Pradip Gyawali has been very generous in awarding the shop to his close aide Deepak K.C. for the period of three years at merely Rs.2.5 million. Likewise, it has been decided to lease the shop situated in the first storey of the terminal to Abin Krishna Tamrakar instead of Bhimeshwor Trading Company who was ready to pay Rs.12.8 million, i.e., Rs.6 million more than Tamrakar. According to the news published in The Kathmandu Post, Minister of Health and Population, Amik Sherchan said his ministry itself remains sick due to conspiracy and corruption.

In the meanwhile,

Maoist cadres on Dec. 6 held some district level political leaders captive for four hours and misbehaved with them. The leaders were visiting Sukdeva in Hekuli of Dang District along with journalists and human rights activists to look into local complaints that Maoists were engaged in illegal timber trade worth Rs.1 million. They checked the facts and it was true.

Contrary to what Maoists had agreed to during the peace agreement with the government, Maoists have obstructed reestablishment of displaced government offices in Ramechhap while in other districts they have continued taxing the general public. They have barred government officials from visiting remote villages for official work.

In Sankhuwasabha Maoist cadres tried to abduct CPN-UML district secretary Dammar Bahadur Khadka to stop him from organizing his party's public campaign at Madirambeni and Madimulkharka villages.

In Nawalparasi district Maoists stated that they will continue collecting donations and taxes from locals in the district. The district in-charge of the Maoists Tankamani said, "No matter what, we are not stopping taxes and donations".

Maoists on December 6 morning brutally beat up a hotelier woman and an Indian businessman. According to victimized woman who runs a hotel at Bhantabari of Haripur VDC-9 in Sunsari district, she was stripped by Maoist area committee member and hit on her private parts with sticks.

Maoist cadre on December 7 thrashed an elderly neighbour Hom Prasad Yawa Limbu, 72 of Bharpa-6 of Panchthar district causing severe injuries to Limbu's spinal cord, hands and chest.

Janakpur Maoist in-charge threatened to kill Principal of local Laxminiya Secondary School Kari Yadav when he asked Maoists to return motorcyle they had seized from Yadav's son four months ago.

Maoists beat up Local Development Officer, District Development Committee officials. Over three dozen Maoist cadres broke into Saptari District Development Committee office and beat up Local Development Officer Ram Mani Bhattarai and several other officials at the when the tender opening process was in progress.

Maoists on December 8 abducted former chairman of Thokarpa VDC in Sindhupalchowk district, Gopal Chandra Bhandari from the village for general enquiry. His whereabouts are unknown.

In Pyuthan district M have taken 5 persons into their captivity.

Maoists cadres have taken away the labourers employed in Surkhet-Jumla Road construction saying that the labourers would be recruited and paid a hundred dollars each. This has created problems for completing the road on time.

Cadres of the Maoist affiliated All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) Revolutionary, manhandled and misbehaved with proprietor of MM Plastic Industry in Biratnagar, Suyas Pyakurel and CPN-UML Sagarmatha Zonal Committee secretary Suman Raj Pyakurel on Dec. 11. A group of ANTUF activists broke into the Industry and forcibly took the duo out of their office.

In Siraha on Dec. 4, Maoist cadres abducted Baidhyanath Paswan of Ramnagar-5, Siraha and made him sign at gunpoint a fake transaction involving Rs.1.2 million. Paswan managed to flee from Maoist captivity four days later on December 8.

Maoists have recaptured a police post at Sunwal of Rupandehi district on December 12. Rabin Sharma, the in-charge of Number 10 area committee claimed that the post was recaptured as per directives of party high command.

According to a minister who participated in discussion on formulation of Interim Constitution, Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai presented himself aggressively and repeatedly asked the government delegation, "You people want us to go back to Jungle again? It is reported that Dr. Bhattarai was aggressive during the talk on arms management also.

In the meantime Yubraj Gautam's article in a daily vernacular newspaper, Samacharpatra (Tuesday, December 12, 2006) has been highly appreciated and there is a demand for English translation. He says how Lendup Dorjee expressed his regrets personally to him in his (Dorjee's) words and how ridiculous was it for Prachanda, a Presidentail hopeful, should prostrate himself at the feet of his benefactors.

Narayan Man Bijukchhe's interview published in Janbhavana Weekly (Monday, December 11, 2006) was touching the Nepalese heart when he said drafts like that of the twelve-point agreement suffer in translation when written a foreign language (English or Hindi).

Today we will see whether the Prime Minister would remain firm in his stand of weapons management and then only Interim Constitution, Interim House of Representation and Interim Government or he along with Sher Bahadur Deuba would capitulate of Maoist pressures or would there be one more in the series of inconclusive summit talks.

ENDS

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