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| Kathmandu Saturday April 06, 2002 Chaitra 24, 2058. |
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59 teachers killed so far as
Maoists continue targeting them
By Nitya Nanda Timsina
KATHMANDU, April 5:The teachers have been one of
the primary targets of both the Maoist rebels and the security forces, as almost 60
teachers have been killed in Nepal since the Maoists launched their bloody insurgency in
1996.
More than 60 others have fled their hometowns
and schools seeking asylum in the Capital after the government imposed the state of
emergency in November last year to wipe out the Maoists.
A report of Nepal National Teachers’
Association (NNTA), which is affiliated to the main opposition CPN-UML, has claimed that
at least 26 teachers have died either in the police custody or in the encounters since the
declaration of emergency. And it said Maoists have killed 33 of them. It said that those
who have died in the custody were arrested in suspicion of having contacts with the
Maoists
Even the report of the Amnesty International
said that besides those deliberately killed by the Maoists, nearly half the number of
teachers have died either in the "crossfire" or "killed by gunfire."
Most recently, 12 teachers, including the
headmasters, have been killed after the imposition of emergency while the whereabouts of
five others missing from the schools continue to remain unknown, the NNTA officials claim.
Though the number of teachers killed in action
is growing, the teachers have no clue whatsoever on why the Maoists have been targeting
them. But, one of the teachers said that the Maoists must have resorted to an
unprecedented killing of teachers, as the latter did not pay heed to the Maoists’
demands.
Maoists have been asking schools not to let
their students sing the national anthem, accusing it of glorifying the Monarch and not to
teach Sanskrit.
"The increasing number of incidents of
teachers being abducted, killed and murdered have had a grave impact on tens of thousands
of teachers across the country," said Ramakanta Sapkota, general secretary of NNTA.
He said that in addition to the execution-style killings, from late July 2001, more
teachers have been taken hostages, tortured brutally and imposed harshest punishments,
including deliberate and cold-blooded murder.
One such example is the death of Mukti Nath
Adhikari, a headmaster of Panini Sanskrit Secondary School in Lamjung, who was executed by
hanging him on to a tree on a broad-day light of January 16. The Maoists particularly
accused him of teaching Sanskrit and refusing to give donation.
Though the government has been assuring of
maintaining law and order in the country, more and more teachers in the far-flung villages
have been fleeing their homes and schools.
Even the teachers and organisations outside the
country have shown deep concern over the plight of the teachers in Nepal. Education
International, the international organisation of teachers, had urged Nepalese government
to put an end to the merciless killings and torture on teachers in Nepal and had asked the
government to bring the culprits to justice.
The Education International, which has its
headquarters in Brussels of Belgium, is an organisation of 24.5 million teachers across
157 countries.
It has also asked the government to restore law
and order in the country to create a conducive environment for early realisation of the
global campaign: "Education for all."
Despite continues pressure from various national
and international organisations, the Maoist rebels are targeting more and more teachers in
the villages, forcing tens of thousands of teachers to either flee their schools or quit
the profession.
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