Backforce of Terai Violence in Nepal Disclosed

While leaders of Nepali Congress (factions led by Koirala and Deuba), Emalay (a party previously close to monarchy, now unclear) and Sadbhawana (a pro-India separatist) parties have been collaborating to entirely sweep the Maoists away from the Terai region, many new armed outfits have been formed to help the evil mission of the status-quoist parties. The parties that remained in power turn by turn for more than one decade and misused people’s resources for their vested interests and institutionalized corruption top to bottom now are extremely worried about their future if the independent elections for the Constituent Assembly take place. These politically and morally bankrupt parties have not been able to reach grassroot masses of Nepal to win people’s hearts. The rural masses still continue to chase their workers who lived for several years in cities and were indulged in corruption and self-prosperity in the name of poor people. For this reason, they have no moral courage to go to people and show their face. In order to look better, they would like to displace Maoists from villages first. But they could not and cannot do so only with administrative and military suppression. The past consequences, including their State of Emergency rule have already proved how detached they are from people. During the State of Emergency, the majority of Nepalis further strengthen the Maoist insurgency countering the corrupt state politics with no public accountability.

Although Maoist insurgents have entered the interim government with a hope to being able to appear different, their limited efforts are likely to be overwhelmed by the leaderships of status-quoist parties.

People have been expressing their doubt and surprise over why Nepal government did not arrest and punish openly roaming criminals involved in the Gaur massacre in which 30 Maoists cadres were murdered in cold blood . The Maoists had blamed the government of collaborating with the criminal gangs of the Terai. A recent incident in Rautahat has revealed the true face of so-called Nepali parties. Media in Nepal have recently revealed that Nepali Congress leaders and Sadhbhawana Party leaders have been collaborating with Terai armed criminal gangs engaged in robbing, killing and kidnapping.

When a commander of the Terai Cobra, an armed Terai outfit, Rajeshwor Prasad Sing, pseudonymously known as ‘Nagaraja,’ was brought to Kathmandu from Birgunj for amputation of his two hands seriously affected by a bomb explosion that occurred on 1 July, Science and Technology Minister Mahanta Thakur from Nepali Congress mobilized his ministerial staff members to ensure that he will not be arrested. Reports confirm that Nagaraja was the chief of the Terai Cobra and was seriously injured with his own bomb. But surprisingly, the minister went to Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital in an outskirt of Kathmandu to visit the armed gang leader.

In the meanwhile, Nepal Sadhbhawana Party has falsely argued that Nagaraja belonged to his party. Contrary to this claim, Nepal Police have confirmed that the man was in the Nepal Police’s most wanted list. These contradictory claims prove that Nagaraj was both the most wanted and the most protected criminal of Nepal.

Media reports state that Sadhbhawan party leaders Supply Minister Rajendra Mahato and Rameshwor Roy Yadav, including MP Amresh Kumar Singh have also met Nagaraja and assured him of full protection from the government and their party leaderships.

This reporter has always tried to reveal the political cum moral bankruptcy of Nepal’s so-called major political parties who repeatedly climbed to power ladder and made people’s lives more miserable. If the ministers and senior party leaders themselves openly meet most wanted criminals and assure them of full protection, what else can ordinary people expect from them. How will they conduct the elections of the Constituent Assembly?

The total silence and inertia of the Nepal government over ongoing Terai violence has been taken mysteriously. Many of the Terai criminal gangs have been conducted by the criminal-minded leaders of major parties, people grumble.

Especially, pro-India parties, Nepali Congress and Sadhbhawan Party are hopeless to win seats in fair and independent elections. They used to purchase mercenaries from the bordering Indian province, Bihar in previous elections. Booth capturing was a normally practiced election behavior in the past decades. Now people anticipate more violence and criminalization of politics during the elections of the Constituent Assembly because the politically and morally bankrupt parties have nothing to rely on except on money, muscle and tricks, along with their propagandistic mass media. Journalists affiliated to most of the private media are loyal to these parties. They therefore have focused their news coverage on media war against their foreign elements, viz., Maoist insurgents. They have ceased to verify news these days. For example, Kantipur FM deliberately gave a piece of false news 21 June. Following the peaceful settlement of a domestic dispute between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law regarding land ownership in Lalitpur district, Kantipur FM deliberately gave a false news stating that YCL kidnapped Kanchhimaya Khatri (a local lady in Lalitpur) while the named lady immediately refuted it from home. Upon hearing this false news, thousands of local people protested surrounding the Kantipur FM station pressurizing them to apologize. They did apologize for the time being.

But the political prejudice of media gatekeepers is there and it is more likely to harm the public interests. Most of the media in Nepal are run by non-journalists. Ironically, subordinate reporters have higher education and even degrees in journalism while their editors lack the same. As editorial authorities generally do not have a proper level of mass communication and journalism knowledge and have a very negative attitude to young and dynamic journalists, exposing the criminalization of politics at national level has become very difficult. Some young journalists mutter that ethical journalism is not favored by media mafia that prefers to run politics of the nation by controlling political decision-making processes. Such young journalists feel extremely frustrated when their editors sit with top level corrupt leaders and eat and drink with them while covering up their corrupt activities.

Analysis of sequential events and the nature of government role involved mirrors that the Nepal’s Terai violence has the backforce of party leaders currently power. It is Nepal’s political paradox that separatist parties, patrons of armed and criminal gangs, corrupt and stinky parties, hardcore feudalist parties and even Marxist parties such as Maoists are all in power, staring at one another. The Nepalis are too dullified now to think about themselves. Genuine Nepal researchers could suggest better?

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