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| Kathmandu, Thursday April 18, 2002 Baishakh 05, 2059. |
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Futile talks
Over the last few days one has been reading
extensively about efforts of the so-called Human Rights activist aimed at bringing about a
dialogue between the government and the Maoist rebels. Whilst I remain staunchly in favour
of Human Rights, I must confess that there are times when I have scant regard for such
activists. These are the same people who conveniently choose to look the other way when
atrocities are committed against the government machinery yet scream themselves hoarse at
the slightest mistake, inadvertently caused by security forces. The last few days have
witnessed a huge massacre of armed forces and yet there hasn’t been so much squeak
from these so called champions of Human Rights.
I certainly hope that this government is
prudent enough to realise how futile peace talks can become. The reasons for this are
numerous but let me point just a few. Firstly, the present activities by the rebels have
shown that they have gone way beyond the purview of a People’s Movement. What we are
seeing is nothing but organised terrorism. The rebels have indulged in large-scale murder,
rape, arson, looting, bank robbery, slaughtering cows ad nauseum. So if talks are to be
held or some concessions are to be made then, the government is setting a dangerous
precedent by giving legitimacy to these crimes. In future if any person is caught
committing any of the above crimes then what is there to stop him from calling himself a
Maoist and getting legal amnesty?
Secondly, with the type of atrocities
committed by these rebels they have left a lot of enemies in their wake. It might be easy
to make a head count and say approximately 3,700 people have pershed. But how can one
count the number of bereved relatives, wounded and maimed
armed personnel, robbed and improversidhed people, furstrated students and the Landlords
who have borne the brunt of constant looting. These are just a few examples: the actual
list is much longer. There is so much of anger seething in society that it will be
virtually impossible for people like Prachanda, Baburam Bhattarai and Badal to live a
normal life in society without having the constant fear of persecution.
Lastly, these rebels have not been the
perfect models of sincerity. What is to stop them from taking a break, in the name of
peace talks, regrouping themselves and again going on the offensive? Whether we like it or
not, there is no easy solution to the problem. We are in the midst of a grave national
crisis and the sooner we stop burying our collective heads in the sand the sooner we start
inching towards a lasting solution. As for these Human Rights activities, let them
continue to build castles in the air or did I mean pull wool over the eyes of society.
Prakash B Malla
Bansbari, Kathmandu |
