 |
|
| Kathmandu Tuesday April 02, 2002 Chaitra 20, 2058. |
|
Bandh withdrawal
The outlawed Maoist rebels have finally called
off a five day long nationwide bandh, supposed to have started today. This is encouraging.
A total of 250,000 plus students appearing in the School Leaving Certificate (SLC)
examinations will write their "papers" with no fear or uncertainty. Now,
students, who have to travel hours to reach their examination centres, can be there in
time. Those who have come to the district headquarters to write their SLC examinations can
breathe a sigh of mental relief. Over the past few weeks, the Maoists admonished students
to boycott the SLC examinations especially in the Maoist hit districts. The series of
Maoist attacks on police outposts and army barracks in the past few weeks is an indication
that the law and order situation has deteriorated. A two-day total bandh in January
stifled economic activity. Many educational institutions had to remain closed because of
the Maoist threat. The student wing of the Maoist rebels have also attacked a number of
government vehicles, newspaper organisations and hung up explosive devices at public
locations to scare people away. However, such violence cannot be left on its own. Nor can
the gun quell the conflict. Dialogue is one of the best options, and the ruling Nepali
Congress party must gear up to do the needful.
The six-year-long Maoist insurgency that has
claimed more than 3000 lives, besides displacing thousands of people, has taken a serious
turn since the rebels attacked Achham and Sanfebagar. Given such a situation, the
government cannot boast much progress in combating the insurgency. The scattered police
outposts and army camps guarding district headquarters especially in western Nepal have
fallen to the relentless Maoist assaults one after another. Achham and Sanfebagar have not
been able to overcome the trauma of recent attacks, which claimed lives of over 150 police
and army personnel in a night-long battle. There are cases where the Maoists have sent
clear warnings before carrying out any attack on police and army outposts. Had the
authorities in the capital reacted to such warnings in time, the casualty of police and
army men would not have been so high at Sanfebagar and Achham.
The government must acknowledge the fact that it
can no longer afford to deploy army personnel against the outlawed Maoist rebels. The
government has already diverted the development expenditure in billions to fight the
Maoist rebels. Yet, the government has not been able to contain the insurgency. This
indicates that the government has no option but to take initiative for dialogue to resolve
the problem and, at the same time, redirect the development expenditure to rural areas so
that the poor will benefit from it. It is the poverty that has bred the Maoist insurgency
rather than political ideology. |
