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Kathmandu Sunday November 25, 2001 Marga 10, 2058.
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SPECIAL EDITORIAL
Be decisive
The audacity with which the Moist insurgents unleashed a wave
of violence and bloodshed across the nation killing at least 38 persons including
civilians, and, for the first time, soldiers demands appropriate response from the
government. If the security and intelligence units of the government is so weak,
ineffective and inefficient that they cannot get any information when thousands of Maoists
start to converge at one place and begin their bloody mission, then something is seriously
rotten in this Kingdom of Nepal. Soon after the Maoist Supremo Prachanda’s statement
on Wednesday evening scrapping the four month old cease-fire, the security chiefs had
touted that they were prepared to meet any eventualities, having learnt from the past. Yet
the events of Friday evening proved how wrong and complacent and ill prepared they were.
Even the army was found wanting in preparedness with about a dozen army personnel being
killed and precious sophisticated arms looted. Were the army personnel; with their modern
weapons at their disposal, sleeping unconcerned in their barracks in Dang even as the
Maoists put the whole area in flames? Some serious questions must be asked of the army
which should have reasonable and credible answers.
Full 24 hours after the Maoists began their attacks in
different parts of the country, the government has not been able to come up with any move
to respond to the Maoist audacity. This only goes to show the efficiency of the government
in dealing with the situation. The government must do what must be done and being decisive
in situation like the present will not only enable the government to meet head on any
challenge that the Maoists might throw but also create a sense of confidence among the
people that the government can indeed provide with the necessary protection. The
people’s confidence in their government is absolutely essential if democracy is to
survive in this country. It is difficult for the people to feel this confidence unless
they are able to perceive a sense of security and move about freely without fear from any
quarter. The government might have to take some unpleasant but temporary measures
including curbing of civil liberties to bring the situation to normalcy. But if the
government and opposition political parties think that this is necessary, such measures
must be taken so that people continue to enjoy democratic environment in the country. The
country has already taken more battering in its economy during the past 12 months than it
really deserved without the Maoists further complicating the situation. Nepalese people
deserve much better than this. The government must take necessary steps to allow the
security forces to deal with the situation. Any step that the security forces takes must
be backed by other political steps by the government including the sealing of the southern
border, if need be. Unless a government can be decisive in times of need, it has no right
to continue in office and should hand over power to those who can deliver. |
