Sincerity, Please!

MINISTER for Information and Communication Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta said that His Majesty’s Government has been sincere to solve the Maoist insurgency through dialogue and negotiation and has taken a number measures to create a congenial atmosphere for peace talks. In an interaction with the media persons in Jhapa the other day, Minister Gupta, who is also the spokesperson of the government, asked the Maoist leadership to show similar attitude for the success of the peace talks. Minister Gupta is right in saying that at the present context success or failure of the peace talks between the government and the Maoist depends largely on the behaviour of the Maoist rebels. The peace process to end the six-year old insurgency has started and two rounds of talks have already been held. Both the government and the Maoist leadership have agreed to halt all types of offensive activities. The government has totally stopped the offensive activities and fulfilled some of the demands of the Maoists including the release of their workers from police custody and jails and announced some economic and social programmes. The government is sincere and committed to the agreement and has not done anything that may spoil the peace process. However, the other side— Maoists—does not seem to have fully kept its promises. Even after the start of peace talks, the Maoist rebels have continued to resort to extortion, intimidation and offensive activities. These activities are by no means conducive for the success of peace talks. The violence and terror perpetrated by the Maoist rebels in the name of "People’s War" have already caused a big damage to the nation. More than 1700 people have been killed and property worth over millions of rupees damaged by the insurgency. Thus, violence is not at the interest of the nation and the people. Peace is a must for development of the nation. Thus, the violence and insurgency must end for the progress of the nation and people and the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Maoists need to succeed at the best interest of the nation. If peace talks fail, the nation and people would, definitely, have to suffer more. At this crucial juncture, both sides need to be serious and committed to peace and development of the country. The Maoists now must end their offensive and violent activities and make themselves committed to peaceful resolution of the problem. As said by Minister Gupta, the ball, now, is in the Maoists court for the success of talks.

Gathering Momentum

THERE are signs, albeit not so common yet, that the movement against untouchability may gather some force in the coming times. There is some room for optimism that caste discrimination, so deep-rooted in the Nepali society, may face increasing opposition from people from all walks of life, Dalits and non-Dalits, in various parts of the country. It was high time that a solid movement began to free Dalits from the clutches of untouchability. That the practice of untouchability is an abhorrent social ill is held by all right-thinking and sensible Nepalese. But so embedded are the old habits in most parts of the country that Dalits continue to face, even in this age and times, daily discrimination. For no fault of their own, they face unequal treatment from the society. Though the constitution of the country explicitly forbids any discrimination based on caste, creed and gender, social equality is a far cry for most of the Dalits, who make up as much as 20 per cent of the total Nepali population. Granted poverty is rampant in Nepal, but it is even more so in the Dalit communities, with as much as 60 per cent of them falling under the poverty line.

Dalits are raising their voices more stridently now. Happily, other enlightened members of the public representing the so-called upper caste strata are joining hands with the Dalits in pushing the anti-untouchability drive. Such across-the-caste coalitions are giving the Dalit campaign more vigour than if the movement consisted of the Dalits only. A couple of months ago, Butwal’s city fathers, following some activism by Dalits, said they would work towards making Butwal free of caste discrimination. That reflected the growing consciousness among the local authorities and traditional elites of the society to shun such evil practices. More recently, Dhangadhi town in the far-west—a region where caste discrimination is prevalent comparatively more—saw the rare sight of Dalits and non-Dalits march through the streets hand in hand calling for an end to untouchability. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s recent announcement to end untouchability has also fuelled the movement forward. Inauguarating on Thursday a seminar held to finalise the 15th national report prepared in connection with UN convention on elimination of all kinds of racial discrimination, Minister for Home and Local Development Khum Bahadur Khadka emphasised that a social awareness campaign should be intensified for the elimination of untouchability and caste discrimination. All these pronouncements and actions go to add to the campaign. The bill on Dalits, presently in the parliament, should also be passed without delay. Ernest efforts in this regard will push the anti-untouchability movement further and take Nepali society towards social equality. The gathering momentum here must be nurtured.