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| Kathmandu, Thursday March 06, 2003 Falgun 22, 2059. |
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Oli defends Gautam
By Leela Baral
BIRTAMOD, Jhapa, March 5: Standing Committee
member of the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist & Leninist (CPN-UML), KP
Sharman Oli, today expressed strong dissatisfaction for taking disciplinary action against
Bamdev Gautam, another Standing Committee member, by the party Disciplinary Inspection
Committee for supporting Maoist demand of a constituent assembly.
"Taking action against a leader in case of
any lapse on his part reminds the world of monkey," said Oli, addressing a meeting
organised to mark 31st Martyrs Memorial Day in Sukhani.
Five communist leaders of Jhapa movement - Netra
Ghimire, Ram Nath Dahal, Krishna Kuikel, Biren Rajbansi and Narayan Shrestha - were shot
dead by then Panchayat regime in the jungle of Sukhani in the pretext of transferring them
from Jhapa to Ilam jail in 2029 B.S.
He said that instead of mobilising its cadre
force to bring back the executive power snatched away by the king, the party leadership
has waged a campaign taking action against its own leaders.
Addressing the function, he cautioned that
thousands of people would be killed and country’s sovereignty would be at stake in
case of the upcoming peace talks derailed once again. He said UML’s role should be to
prepare a ground for the success of the peace talks.
"It is inappropriate to take disciplinary
action against any leader for his remarks when the seventh general convention of the party
has kept all options open, including the constituent assembly, referendum and
constitutional amendment," he said, adding that all the internal differences should
be sorted out as per party statute.
Indirectly backing up Gautam’s views
regarding the constituent assembly and roundtable meeting, Oli said that the party should
be ready for popular movement rather than limiting itself only on putting demands to the
king. He also warned that relevance of the CPN-UML would be finished if it failed to take
bold steps in bringing about social changes.
He came down heavily on the
"unconstitutional" Lokendra Bahadur Chand government, which "does not have
popular mandate", for censuring mainstream political parties. Jeevan Ghimire, the
widow of Netra Ghimire, said that nobody would become widow or orphan if peace prevailed
in the country. CPN-UML observes March 5 as the Martyrs’ Memorial Day in memory of
the slain leaders.
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