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Kathmandu Saturday November 18, 2000 Mangshir 03, 2057.
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Government not to fall into Maoist’s trap:
DPM Poudel
By Damakant Jayshi
KATHMANDU, Nov 17 - Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ram Chandra
Poudel said on Friday that the government was not going to concede any more concessions
and fall into the trap of fresh conditions set by the Maoists.
Speaking to The Kathmandu Post at his Home Ministry office, DPM Poudel
accused the Maoist rebels of trying to extract maximum national and international
publicity.
"The rebels are using the talks as a ruse to get a maximum mileage out
of the whole exercise and it is only their strategy to buy time and strengthen
themselves," said Poudel. "We not only need to find out the authenticity of the
statements issued by them (rebels), but also need to know how genuine is their intentions
for the dialogue", said the minister.
"I repeat, if they had really wanted to talk, could Dinesh Sharma’s
statement have stopped them? Previously, we released Deb Gurung, meeting their condition
for talks. They did not come. Now even after Sharma’s and Gautam’s release, they
are not coming forward for talks. On top of that the rebels, the media and intellectuals,
are questioning our good intentions," observed Poudel.
In the press release issued here Thursday, Pushpa Kamal Dahal a.k.a.
Prachanda had asked the government to make public the whereabouts of the party’s
central committee members Dandapani Neupane, Matrika Yadav, advisor Ishwari Dahal and
other members "without any drama", and start the process of their release and
"put an end to state terror". "If the government meets these demands, we
are ready to sit for the talks," the release stated.
When asked about the whereabouts of the "missing rebels", Poudel
declined to comment.
The DPM said he would insist for a few more rounds of informal talks if the
rebels agreed to sit for dialogue. "At least to prepare the modalities for the formal
talks, we need to have some informal rounds."
When asked to state the government’s response if the violence escalated,
Srikant Regmi, Home Secretary, who was also present during the talks, said that the
government would "employ all the possible measures to protect the lives of the
citizens."
Speaking about ex-MP and human rights activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar’s
comment that the government "only talked about talks without taking any concrete
steps", Poudel said, "Tuladharji has not remained as neutral as was
expected."
It was Tuladhar who had brokered the informal talks between the DPM and
Maoist Rabindra Shrestha, central committee member last month on the ministers request..
Replying to DPM Poudel’s charge, Tuladhar said he had not sided with
anyone. "Just because I have spoken as a human rights activist and criticised the
government’s handling of the Dinesh Sharma episode, I have been accused of being
partisan towards Maoists."
Tuladhar stressed that it was the government’s responsibility to
initiate talks now as it was the government, and not the Maoists, which had proposed the
dialogue". He added, "If the government does not trust me, they can look for
another mediator. It is not necessary that I be the one to mediate again."
Meanwhile, talking to The Kathmandu Post, Narhari Acharya, Spokesman of the
ruling Nepali Congress too accused the Maoists of not being sincere about the dialogue
with the government. "After Deb Gurung and later the release of Sharma and Gautam,
this is the third time they have set conditions. Their motive is questionable. Earlier,
they had said they would not talk with the government. What do they actually want?"
Acharya said the NC was in favour of talks and reminded that previously the
NC Central Working Committee meeting had asked the government to be open for talks.
"As for the party, our task is to create minimum positive environment for
talks."
Regarding the rebels’ conditions, Acharya said it has almost become
their habit to set fresh conditions. He added that although the government had not yet set
any conditions, "it might do so at later stage". However, he did not elaborate
on this.
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