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Kathmandu Tuesday September 25, 2001 Ashwin 09, 2058.
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Maoist ‘ideology’
The Maoists have launched a
"neo-revolution" in this country. They have already earned a reputation for
extorting money from business houses, local leaders and civil servants. They rape minors
and crack down on those who protested against such heinous crimes. And now, rather like
the Taliban in Afghanistan who deliberately demolished the Bamiyan Buddhas, the Maoists
have vandalized two idols of Goddess Bhagawati at Mehaltoli VDC in Dailekh district. For
centuries, Hindus from various parts of the subcontinent came here to worship Goddess
Bhagawati, although that practice no longer exists. But the way the Maoists have
desecrated the idols indicates that they neither worship the divine themselves nor do they
have any respect for the religious faith of others. They have thereby turned themselves
into barbarians as far as religion is concerned. Even before the idols were destroyed, the
Maoists had made known their views about religion. They considered it to be superstition
and obsolete mumbo jumbo, which they had every right to do. The aversion of communists of
all shades of red towards religion in general is nothing new. But that does not give the
Maoists or anybody else any right to proscribe the religious faith of others. It is such
callousness towards freedom of religion and conscience that has given communist movements
and regimes in the past such a bad name. The day after the Maoists wrecked the Bhagawati
idols they forced local people in Achham district to close down a centre of Sanskrit
instruction and ordered some twenty Sanskrit students to shift to a local government-run
school instead. Besides, they have also forcibly removed the sacred threads worn by the
students and tortured them physically. These too constitute infringement of people’s
right to profess their faith. Kidnappings, killings and forced closure of educational
institutions have now become a Maoist hallmark.
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990
guarantees individuals certain freedoms, including the freedom of religious worship and of
speech and expression. Though the Maoists are no respecters of the existing Constitution,
the way they have gone about trying to cow down those opposing their dictats could, one
has much reason to fear, be a foretaste of what is to come if they should ever assume
power in this country. The Maoists have even threatened to kill those who have opposed
their principles. They have poured petrol on teachers to intimidate them and planted
explosives at schools. They have committed crimes, and preached anarchy and immoral
behaviour in our society. Yet, the Maoist leadership has apparently taken no action
against its cadres indulging in such heinous excesses, and that despite growing popular
protest. The Maoists have turned on places of religious worship after having brought the
educational institutions to a virtual standstill. In fact, they are destroying this
country socially, economically and politically. The government should not keep looking the
other way all the time just so that the peace talks might derail. In fact some indication
of the general sense of outrage in ruling circles came the other day when the Home
Minister put his foot down and said he would not allow them certain concessions even if
that meant putting his own job on the line. If the Maoist movement in this country was
born because successive governments failed to clean up their act, the Maoists themselves
will one day come to regret it if they fail to clean up their own act in ways it needs to
be cleaned up.
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