Peace At Sight
By declaring the People's War over, the government and the Maoists vow to chart a new course for Nepal
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
It was an electric moment. Following half-an-hour-long narration of the draft of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) by the Home Minister Krishna Sitaula, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chairman Prachanda put their initials in the document that promises to chart a new era for Nepal .
Assisted by Sitaula and Nepali Congress (Democratic) president Sher Bahadur Deuba, PAM Koirala – who is not in good health - signed al pages of the accord. On the other hand, Prachanda was the first one who completed the process of signing the accord as he was ably aided by his deputy Dr. Baburam Bhattarai.
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Signing agreement : Hope for peace
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The moment was 8:29 pm - the third Tuesday of the 21st day of November of the year 2006. As soon as they rose to shake their hands and exchange the document, the evening in the hall of Birendra International Convention Center (BICC) turned into broad daylight with incessant flashes of camera lights - attempts made by journalists to capture that moment of history. In one quick second, the silence of the hall was broken as it ruptured into deafening noise of clapping. Political leaders, foreign diplomats, civil society leaders, central leaders of Maoists, government officials and journalists all rose to welcome the peace accord -which they believe would put the derailed country back to track.
Following the signing of CPA, the People's War launched by the Maoists in February, 1996 has been officially declared over. From now onwards illegal carrying and display of weapons, their use, attacks and threats have all been deemed punishable by law. Reiterating the commitment to hold the elections of CA by mid-June, 2007, the CPA prohibits all kinds of illegal use of weapons, raid, ambush, mining, aerial attack, abduction, etc. Within 30 days both the sides will share information regarding the placement of mines and within 60 days they all would be disabled, it states.
It vows to form a high-level Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate about human rights abuses. The accord has separate provisions dealing with civil and political rights and rights of women and children. The accord states that the UN will be allowed to continue its monitoring of human rights. Likewise, the UN team will be asked to verify and monitor arms and army management, which will be as per the November 8 agreement. It also states that the UN will be asked to observe the CA polls as well.
The CPA also declares that henceforth no parallel institution will exist in the country - which means the Maoists' People's Court, People's Government, parallel tax collection and similar other parallel outfits will cease to function. The CPA further states that after the formation of interim parliament and promulgation of interim constitution, the "two parties" will cease to exist and the sole responsibility of implementing the agreements, including the CPA will fall under the shoulder of interim cabinet.
After the CPA was signed, both Prime Minister Koirala and Maoist chairman Prachanda addressed the audience. "Beginning today, the politics of killing, violence and terror will be replaced by the politics of reconciliation," said Koirala. He said that he took the political gamble of 'dealing with terrorists' because he thought it was a duty of a democrat to bring non-democrats into the framework of democracy.
Prachanda stated that with the signing of the CPA, people of Nepal were in a position to give message to the entire world. "The continuity of 238-year-old tradition has been broken now. This is the victory of Nepalese people and the loss of regressive elements," he said. Prachanda said that like in the war, his party would work with equal zeal to implement the peace accord. "We have no prejudices against anyone. We want to make it clear to everyone that we are neither conservative nor dogmatic in our thinking," he
said.
