Small Price

THOUGH the reasons for taking the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency are not lost on the common Nepalese people, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has done well to explain to the public the justification and necessity of that measure. In a message to the nation Tuesday evening, Mr. Deuba spoke about various developments on the government's efforts to solve the Maoist problem in the recent past. The main point of his message was that since all the good intentions and honest efforts of the government were dashed by Maoists' unilaterally backing out of the peace talks and resuming violence, the government had to take the hard decision of imposing a state of emergency and deal with the security situation with all the resources at its disposal. Indeed, it could not have escaped notice of the common Nepalese people that the government had demonstrated a good amount of flexibility to bring the Maoists into political mainstream. In this endeavour, the government had the full backing of the public which had been sick and tired of this mindless violence since early 1996 that had claimed close to 2000 lives. The war waged by Maoists had defied general comprehension as the multi-party polity that Nepal embraced in 1990 allowed for all kinds of political parties.

By going back to the path of violence by breaking the ceasefire, which was in fact punctuated by Maoists' continuing reign of terror, the Maoists gave a clear message that they would not entertain "the possibilities of peace and building of a violence free civilised society", giving space to which, Mr. Deuba said, the government was making efforts to. It is an acknowledgement of the sincerity of the government's efforts that Nepalese people and Nepal's friends have extended their full support, to the latest step. India on Tuesday strongly condemned the widespread violent attacks by Maoists after unilaterally withdrawing from negotiations and said the declaration of emergency was a necessary step by a democratic government to preserve order. In Kathmandu, Mr. Deuba was told by heads of diplomatic missions, also Tuesday, that they extended support to the steps being taken by HMG. As to concerns on civic rights following the emergency measure, the people could be expected to take heart from Mr. Deuba's assurance that the government was fully alert on the civic liberty though the new situation may cause some discomfort to the people. This is a small price compared to the cost of seeing unchecked terrorism taking place in the country.

Strict Vigilance Needed

A FOREIGNER was arrested in his home country the other day for trying to export 22 kg of hashish after the police there was tipped off by their Nepalese counterparts through the aegis of the Interpol. The contraband was found hidden in 61 carpets lying in one of the godowns at the Tribhuvan International Airport. Similarly, while the police there also recovered four kg. of hashish from 14 other carpets while searching in his room, the Nepalese cops are searching for his accomplice in Nepal. No doubt, the Nepalese cops have done an excellent job. Had the contraband as well as the hashish trafficker not been nabbed, the repercussions could have been quite extensive. More so to the nation’s reputation and to the country’s carpet industry which, at this point in time, simply cannot afford to be embroiled in any controversy. It needs no recalling here that at one time, especially in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, the country was placed in the watch list of some nations for possible contraband such as hard drugs being smuggled into their territories from here. Of course, Nepal has never ever being placed in the drug producing category simply because plants from which such hard drugs are derived have never been grown here in an extensive scale. The only plant that grows in the country is the cannabis or hemp and from which hashish is derived. However, even this plant just simply grows profusely in the wild.

But then, the nation’s proximity to two generally identified drug producing regions to its east and west seemed to have prompted the drug traffickers from that regions to make the country a convenient staging point to smuggle their dangerous drugs into other countries. As in all such cases, some of these hard drugs tend to get into the local markets—and hence, the presence of drug addicts in the country. Nevertheless, what can be said is that those days when all kinds of drugs were quite easily available in the streets—especially during the so-called Hippie movement in the ‘60s and early ‘70s—are very much over. For this, the country’s law enforcement agencies, especially the police, should be duly commended. However, what needs to be pointed out is that only strict vigilance can apprehend drug smugglers and deter other would-be drug traffickers from again making the nation their handy staging centre to further their nefarious activities.