Show statesmanship

A statement attributed to Maoist strongman Prachanda, demeaning that the government fix an early date for talks, is no doubt appealing on the face of it. But as things now stand, the Maoists do not seem to have fully met their side of bargain. For instance, the chief Maoist negotiator for talks once said that there were no more than 46 policemen in Maoist custody. He scoffed at the government figure of 71 policemen still under their detention. However, the Maoists have already released in two batches more than 56 policemen taken captive at different occasions. The government had also indicated that more than 117 civilians were also being held captive. But, except for a few here and there, the Maoists have not released any substantial number of them. These are very important prerequisites for talks and unless they are met, the Maoists will only be strengthening the hands of hawks in the ruling party, who want to break off talks with the Maoists. The government too must show sincerity in its dealing with the Maoists now that they have come to the negotiating table. The government backed by all mainstream political parties has categorically put the "non-negotiable" before the Maoists as well as the people. These include monarchy and multi-party system of democracy. Everything else could be talked about and some meaningful settlement reached.

We would like to make the excuse clear that the Maoist high command directives have yet to proliferate down to the Maoist workers level. How else would one explain the sorry picture of the Moist leaders having to "apologise" time and again for the indulgence of their workers in activities such as extortion, collection of forced donation, and even abduction. Whoever be at fault for the delay in the third round of talks between the government and the Maoists, the present situation demands that all outstanding differences be settled through talks, and that the guns be forever thrown away. Shunning of violence of any form and talks are necessary to restore confidence among the people, who should be made to feel a sense of normalcy. It is only this way that the country can return to the development track that will benefit the people. The Maoists will do well to realise that this country also belongs to them and their activities of the past six years have had a negative impact on various fronts, including economic and social fronts, which have a direct effect on the well-being of rural people. The government and the Maoists, both of which claim to speak and work for the people, will do well to undertake meaningful talks at an early date with the Maoists, mending their ways and the government, showing greater flexibility. It is necessary for the leaders of both sides to show statesmanship at this crucial juncture when the world’s only super power is waging a full scale campaign against all forms of terrorism.

Thimpu’s political will on trial

By Mohan Lohani

Despite agreement at the eleventh round of Ministerial talks between Nepal and Bhutan held at Thimpu last August to simplify and speed up the verification process of refugees from Bhutan languishing in the seven camps of Eastern Nepal for over a decade, the slow pace at which verification has been taking place for the last six months has become cause for concern. It has made the refugees numbering over one hundred thousand and anxiously awaiting repatriation impatient and rest- less. There were high hopes in the refugee camps when the verification process was finally launched last April. During the last six months, the Joint Verification Team (JVT) consisting of five members from each country has completed the process of verifying only a little over one thousand refugee families equivalent to approximately eight thousand refugees. At this pace and rate, the team will require not less than six years to complete its assignment. A Task Force set up in June 2000 under the convenorship of this writer by the then Foreign Minister Chakra P Bastola to look into various aspects of the refugee imbroglio and come up with specific recommendations and options had strongly recommended, inter alia, that it was absolutely necessary to constitute several sub-groups to assist the main group (JVT) in expediting the process of verification which would finally pave the way to the repatriations of refugees with dignity and honour.

The Thimpu meeting had also agreed to accord priority for verification to Khudunabari, the biggest among the refugee camps, which accommodates nearly two thousand families equal to more than twenty two thousand refugees, and complete the job not later than October this year. Khudunabari has indeed become a test case for the exercise of political will in Thimpu. Representatives of various groups of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal are also of the view that whether the repatriation of refugees will take place soon or will be further delayed will depend on the progress made at the verification process in the Khudunabari camp. At a recently concluded conference of Directors of Strategic Studies Institutes in South Asia sponsored by the Colombo based Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) the writer of this paper had raised in his statement the issue of the presence of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal as one of the problems posing a serious security threat to Nepal and expressed concern over the slow pace of ongoing verification in the refugee camps. Zangley Dukpa representing Bhutan at the Conference and also a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, although he did not make a rejoinder at the formal meeting, agreed with me at an informal encounter that the verification process had to be expedited to maintain the credibility of both sides.

Anybody who has followed the refugee issue with interest knows that Nepal, while giving shelter to so many refugees for humanitarian reasons more than a decade ago, had viewed the issue as one with an international dimension, and appreciated the role and involvement of UNHCR in coordinating relief assistance and operations in the seven refugee camps of Eastern Nepal. Since the crisis was not of this country’s making, Nepal was keen to find a political solution to the long –drawn refugee issue through bilateral talks with Bhutan. On Nepal’s initiative the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) was formed with a mandate to work out an agreement acceptable to both sides and which would also facilitate an early repatriation of refugees to their country of domicile.

The first meeting of JMC, which was held in Kathmandu in 1993 to which PM Deuba who was then the Home Minister led the Nepalese delegation, decided to classify refugees in four categories, namely, bonafide Bhutanese citizens forcibly evicted from their country, migrants or those who left Bhutan voluntarily, Non –Bhutanese and Bhutanese criminals or those who left Bhutan after committing crimes in that country. Some critics at home continue to take Nepal to task for having accepted the categorization proposal. The proposal has been defended on the ground that it was a sort of compromise strategy to break the impasse and arrive at a solution as speedily as possible.

Despite the fact that both sides had agreed to set up a JVT seven years ago, that is, in 1994, the formation of the team was delayed as Bhutan found it difficult to accept Nepalese clarification on the categorization proposal. It has been Nepal’s consistent position that refugees from Bhutan, with the exception of Non-Bhutanese and irrespective of the category they belong to, have lived in Bhutan for generations and must be allowed to return home in safety and with dignity. Bhutan has viewed this problem as a byproduct of immigrants’ or Southern dissidents’ citizenship issue. In other words, Bhutan has refused to accept Nepalese interpretation by drawing this country’s attention to Bhutan’s 1985 Citizenship Act under which Bhutanese who have left the country voluntarily or as migrants cease to be the citizens of that country.

It is common knowledge that domestic law is not applicable to anybody who becomes a refugee under international law. Refugees known as migrants have confirmed that they were forced to leave the country under adverse conditions of intimidation and psychological torture. Nepal continues to argue that such refugees are as bonafide as those in category one. Quite obviously, even after the verification process has been completed, both sides are required to harmonize their respective positions on the issue of categorization. This may take some time before the final process of repatriation begins. Refugee analysts opine that the longer the repatriation of refugees is prolonged and delayed, the more challenging to the Bhutanese regime will be the people’s struggle for democratic rule from within and outside Bhutan.

International observers closely watching the presence of refugees in other parts of the world such as the flood of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran have pointed out the unique nature of the refugee issue confronting Nepal for over a decade. India, which was the first entry point of asylum for Bhutanese refugees before they were pushed into Nepalese territory, is a common friend of Nepal and Bhutan. While Nepalese have solicited Indian cooperation in resolving the decade- old refugee issue, India has treated the issue as one to be sorted out bilaterally between Nepal and Bhutan. As a result of bilateral dialogue and discussion, a Joint Verification Team, as stated earlier, started its work last April and has proceeded, albeit slowly, with the process of verifying the status and identity of Bhutanese refugees cooped up in the refugee camps of Eastern Nepal for more than ten years. It is, however, encouraging that Bhutanese intellectuals have looked positively at this development as Karma Ura, Head of the Centre for Bhutanese Studies at Thimpu, observes : ‘The verification process agreed between Nepal and Bhutan will probe where the truth stands. The New Millennium has begun with a major diplomatic advance between Bhutan and Nepal. Let us hope realism prevails.’

Nepal and Bhutan as close neighbours have many things in common and can no longer allow the refugee issue to dampen and dilute their good – neighbourly relations in a long-term perspective. Both have experienced the pangs and constraints of being landlocked. As SAARC member states and also as members of the growth quadrangle both countries are expected to work together and in close concert with other member states in order to achieve the lofty objectives of regional and sub-regional cooperation. In brief, there is ample scope for exploring and expanding the areas of cooperation that are mutually beneficial and would promote the wellbeing of the people of the two countries.

Take it for sure

By Purushottam Kattel

Frequently on my way to reporting, I make a round of the huge but inactive Dashrath Stadium, the headquarters of reporters who take care of their sports beat. The stadium looks like an old man carrying a sag of garbage on his head.

It looks more aweful during the day time. One can’t find even a living being around the ground, except a few gloomy staff of National Sports Council (NSC). NSC has over 1000 staff. I again stress the word "a few" as the allocation of the government staff does not reach 350. When you circle the cozy parlors around the stadium, one can see and hear gossiping locals in a few rooms, while the other rooms look like an old ghost hunted house of a terror movie.

While wandering around all-silent passages, they intolerably stink of urine as though we are in and around the public toilet of Biswajoyti film hall. Perhaps, it is the peculiarity of any government office. The government officials inhesitantly maintain such environment around their offices.

The web of the spiders are fine and classic, indeed. If a modern artist ventures the area, I am sure he will find a source of inspiration in his creative mind. A woman of 50-55 years old comes and unpleasantly asks about the purpose of my visit to this building. She finds me visiting frequently without any purpose. But, to me, the main building represents the symbol of a well-to-do government office.

I have to say to her that I am looking for someone bla..bla..bla. Before I complete the sentence, she responds: "s/he is not here right, now." Her response is always for sure.

There are numerous stairscases which lead one to the building where the member-secretary lives. While entering, one can find an aquarium-like glass box in which there is a model (architecture) of the whole premises of Dashrath Stadium. I fear if I ever can get that. I got that once while cleaning the glass a week before the 5th National Games began.

One can find this place lively as well. The noise of a few staff tortures eardrums. They are sports officials and bureaucrats, I swear. All the time they keep their head on over the chess board. The game also reveals a spirit of sports that is unity. Do you know how?

Universally chess requires two players. But here one finds more than a dozen of players sharing their knowledge and talents with their counterparts. If one goes upstairs, he or she sees a notice- "if you have any appointment with the member-secretary, please come after two o’clock". Wow! upto two o’clock our member-secretary works. How does he work? He locks the door from outside so that his visitors will not disturb him. Sometimes, he remains himself locked in his room for weeks. NSC is a place where one finds neither khel nor kud.

Achieving peace and justice through war

By Anita Pandey

It is ironic that the WTC and Pentagon attacks took place while the UN-sponsored World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) was in progress in Durban. It is ironic that the US withdrew from the WCAR for disagreeing on the Zionism issue. It is ironic that the WCAR culminated with a statement that the conference was a success!! And that, apart from the initial response to the attacks, the UN in New York has remained eerily mum. And lastly, it is ironic that peace is on every sane person’s mind, yet actions are being planned aggressively.

The role of the UN is being questioned. The plea put forth by the Afghanis (both Talibans and the representatives of the Northern Alliance) that the UN should arbiter in the negotiations has somehow got lost in media labyrinths. Instead, ‘revenge’ cloaked in ‘wiping out terrorism’ has become the popular slogan of the US and its allies. Support for ‘wiping out’ is gathering worldwide acceptance, yet not one country has questioned the means through which it will be achieved. The media has its hands full airing statements of Presidents, heads of state of supporting countries and the Taliban, yet what of the Afghan civilians— soon to become victims of war in the Asian subcontinent. Life for them will change forever. The economy will slump and the region will plummet further into poverty.

Closer home, in Nepal, we are struggling with a long-simmering situation at the hands of the self-appointed, so-to-say reformists, the Maoists. The Maoists claim to bring justice and equality. It is widely accepted that the insurgency took root because of abject poverty and frustrations felt by the people towards the government, whichever it may be. But the methods with which the Maoists are trying to right the wrongs are sorely denounced. Violence has escalated over the last six years of insurgency. Ordinary people in towns and villages under Maoist control do not express themselves frankly for fear of being caught in the crossfire. The Maoists have gunned down unarmed innocent policemen in several incidents. It is true that some police personnel hitherto misused their power and, instead of protecting, the people sometimes became the perpetrators. But justice at the hands of the Maoists is misplaced and as it always happens, the innocent pay for the deeds of the crooked.

The Maoist rebels have captured many locally elected offices in the interior districts of Nepal and declared a self-style rule as also a ‘People’s War’—their slogan. In some cases, people are paying double tax.— to the government and to the Maoists. The elected member has been forced to resign or leave office and the office place is locked up. Some party workers (of different political parties) have not even returned to their village for fear of life and limb. The Maoists supposedly bringing justice to the people of remote districts of Nepal have somewhere imposed on the human rights and well being of the very same people. These people are poor, powerless and at the mercy of those that govern them. The general public is sometimes restless, sometimes fearful, and sometimes noncommittal. They will not oppose any act of the Maoists for fear of retaliation.

With the show of force, the Maoists have even closed down some schools in the wake of the call for free education. But the noble idea has been stretched too far because students who could at least acquire some form of education at whatever cost are also now bereft of the facility. There was no thought given to adjusting the students in other schools or simply running the school free since the infrastructure is there. So whether it is the odd policeman or a group of Maoist insurgents wielding power at the barrel of the gun, it is the same for the person on the street. The Maoists are known to punish those who do not show acquiescence. In districts of Maoist control, the village police posts have either been closed or are deserted by the police personnel who are sitting ducks for the Maoists.

The issue of innocent lives being lost is dismissed by the Maoist leaders saying that in a revolution some blood is shed. If so, why not the blood of the Maoists, why innocent people? If you take stock of the 2000-odd reported killings by both sides in the six years of insurgency, a large proportion are those of mistaken identity—informer to the police or informer to the Maoist. Then there are women and children, there are the youth that are fresh recruits to the police force and have never been in a combat situation, the list is countless.

The plight of the people caught between the police and the Maoists is poignantly portrayed in the recently released documentary The Killing Terraces at the opening of the Film South Asia 2001, a festival of South Asian documentaries. The hour-long film studies the reasons for the insurgency and carries accounts of victims of violence at the hands of the police and the Maoists. Perhaps the most touching are those of the woman who is caring for the only family she has left, her two little grand children whose parents were killed by the Maoists. She worries for the future of the little ones after her. Or perhaps of the young boy of 12 who is caring for two yet younger siblings after the parents were killed by the police and the two elder brothers drafted in the People’s War. There is revenge written all over the little boy’s mind. There is also the predicament of the father whose two sons have become enemies—one joined the Maoists and the other the police. Either case, he is a loser.

These testimonies work up an anger at once for all the players—for the government for misusing funds and power and taking the country to the depths of poverty and corruption, for the Maoists who have played on innocent minds and proceeded to act with the force of the gun, and for the police personnel who have been more a threat for the common person rather than a protector.

The Killing Terraces documentary is very timely and needs to be aired widely for the consumption of all above mentioned players to sensitize them of the consequences of their deeds.