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Kathmandu Friday October 27, 2000 Kartik 11, 2057.
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Govt-Maoist talks today
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Oct 26 - After years of
foreboding dark clouds, a silver lining has finally appeared in the Nepalese horizon in
the form of "unofficial" talks between the Maoist insurgents and the government.
The "unofficial" Tuladhar
brokered talks are to begin tomorrow morning, according to leftist human rights leader
Padma Ratna Tuladhar.
This is the first time since the
underground Maoist insurgents launched their "People's War" in February 1996
that they are talking with the government.
Padma Ratna Tuladhar told The Kathmandu
Post Thursday, "The Maoists have agreed for the "unofficial" talks and they
will have official talks with the government only when the government meets their minimum
demands."
The minimum demand is that the government
should make public the status of the Maoists, especially Dinesh Sharma.
"But this is not actually a
condition," says Tuladhar. "This is something the human rights organisations
have been asking for a long time. They will not sit for the formal talks until the
government makes the whereabouts of all its party workers public."
Tuladhar who brokered the Maoist-government
talks said, "One representative from the Maoists will hold the "unofficial"
meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel who is also the Home
Minister."
"The development has been very
positive", said Tuladhar and added, "This could prevent what might turn out to
be a civil war."
He said the army has been mobilised but
"mercifully so far there has been no encounter between the army and the
Maoists".
"But should an encounter take place,
it could signal the beginning of a civil war, " he said.
Tuladhar has been trying to bring the
government and Maoists to table and has been in telephone contact with the Maoist supremo
Prachanda alias Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
In the latest contact on Wednesday,
Tuladhar had said Prachanda assured him that the Maoists would not renege on their
commitment and that he (Tuladhar) "can give personal guarantee to the government
about this".
The Maoist insurgents have been waging what
they call "People's War" for almost five years during which about 1500 people -
police, civilians and alleged Maoists have been killed.
Attempts had been made in the past by the
high-powered Deuba Committee to forge a dialogue with the rebels but they turned out to be
futile. Sher Bahadur Deuba, the former Prime Minister who headed the committee had blamed
lukewarm government response for the fiasco.
DPM Poudel, however said he had no
knowledge about the talks. "Can there be a dialogue through the media?" he
asked.
Tuladhar had earlier said that DPM Poudel
had asked him to approach the Maoist leaders to seek ways for a dialogue with the Maoists.
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