Mindless Destruction
CONSIDERING the trail of widespread
destruction across the country by the Maoists, it is not easy to fathom the kind of loss
that the nation has suffered particularly over these past months. But it can be said that
billions of rupees worth of infrastructure, built over decades of development, have
perished at the hands of these terrorists out to inflict the maximum damage on the nation.
As security forces make more and more advances against the terrorists, the latter are
apparently hitting soft targets. Be it a telephone tower or a bridge or a hydropower plant
in remote areas, they are all fair game for the Maoists. By bombing these pieces on
infrastructure, they have achieved only one thing: the degree of revulsion among the
public as these wantonly destructive acts have further risen. All Nepalese are totally
convinced now that Maoists want to cripple the country’s economy and push the country
back by decades in terms of development infrastructure. Though the damage is difficult to
assess fully at the moment, it is becoming clear that a huge amount of money has gone up
in smoke if the insurance claims of just a few organisations are taken into consideration.
According to the government-run National Insurance Corporation, four claims—one each
from Nepal Rastra Bank, Agriculture Development Bank, Nepal Bank Limited and Nepal
Telecommunication Corporation—alone amount to Rs. 350 million. The infrastructural
damage to the property of the last one has meant that hundreds of villages, most of them
in remote and hilly areas with no road link, are now cut off communication-wise from the
rest of the country. Another claimant, Jhimruk hydel, has assessed the damage inflicted by
Maoists’ bombing at Rs. 100 million.
It is not yet possible to assess the extent and cost of
damage on other national properties like Village Development Committee offices, land tax
offices, and other public voices. All in all, the resource-poor country that Nepal has
always been has had to bear unprecedented cost. While their trail of destruction has to be
condemned in no uncertain terms by all Nepalese and security efforts to save these
physical structures from the baleful eyes of Maoists must be stepped up, mobilisation of
resources to rebuild these essential structures has become necessary. Both internal and
external resources have to be mobilised both to bolster anti-terrorism campaign and to
undertake development works. In this regard, the indication on Wednesday that the United
States government is considering around US$ 20 million package in security and development
assistance to Nepal is good news. Such instances of largesse from Nepal’s friends are
crucial to check the Maoists’ mindless destruction and violence, while enabling the
government to undertake activities that better the common Nepalese’s living
conditions, further worsened by Maoists’ destructive deeds.
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