Terrorism
Is The End In Sight?

By Yuba Nath Dahal

THE people of this country may be down, but they definitely are not out. They have suffered as they had never suffered before and they are sad to see their beloved country being systematically destroyed, yet, their spirits have not died and their passion for peace has not been subdued.

This has slowly started to manifest itself in many ways and such a trend alone should start worrying the tormentors of the people.

Tormentor

For now, the peoples’ greatest tormentor has been the Maoist terrorists. The way the terrorists are unleashing senseless violence in this land of peace and the way they are destroying development infrastructures, these are things which are unfathomable for any sensible Nepali.

At a time when the nation should have been working overtime to catch up with the rest of the world, the terrorists are bent on closing down development works and even the whole country, just to flaunt terror and make life difficult for everyone.

However, the desperate acts of the terrorists are slowly getting back at the terrorists themselves. Apart from the excellent work being done by the security forces of the country in countering and controlling terrorism, the general people too are saying "enough is enough". Like mentioned above, this attitude of the people in the end could prove to be the "Waterloo" for the terrorists.

They must realise the people just can’t be taken for granted any more. Though that’s exactly what the terrorists have tried to do.

From the atrocities committed time and again against innocent people, including teachers and even bus passengers, to the whimsical manner in which bandhs have been called for, the Maoist terrorists have played with the life of the people. When repeated too soon and too often, such barbaric behaviour is surely to be denounced by all.

Because of their irresponsible behaviour, steadily the isolation of the terrorists can be observed from various developments that have taken place in the recent months.

First of all, the disgust of the people from the violence of the terrorists can be seen from the acceptance of the state of emergency by them. All the people accepted that it was because of the increasing violence perpetrated by the terrorists, that the government was forced to announce such a drastic step. The major political parties too took a united stance in this decision of the government.

More recently, the spate of all-party meetings to counter the terrorist activities, must also be taken as a positive development for normalcy to return to the country and for this mobilising the people is the best way to isolate the terrorists and make them defunct.

The present decision of virtually all the major political parties to work together and organise different programmes all over the country, is the right step forward to unite the people against terrorism. There is no reason why the very political forces, that so successfully worked together with the people to re-usher multi-party democracy in the country, cannot work unitedly again to eliminate terrorism.

Further encouraging is the spontaneous manner in which different institutions have organised peace marches, sometimes individually and sometimes in a united manner. The people have been encouraged by this appeal for peace.

Last but not the least, it is the reaction of the people themselves, which should come as a great source of encouragement for the present government and all its security forces which are directly involved in fighting terrorism.

One will just have to look at the way the general people ignored the call for a bandh by the terrorists. It may be recalled, that it had almost become a habit for the general mass to accept bandh calls, no matter who organised this crippling form of strike. Not that they did this in support of the protest, it was just that they feared trouble may spill out on the streets if they did not heed the call. It was fear, not fondness which guided them to pull down their shutters during bandhs.

But surprisingly, this time, when the organisers were more sinister and the threat more serious, people still braved out and slowly demonstrated they were not in favour of terrorism. It might take some more time before the people fully go against such forms of strikes, but the signal has already been sent out that the people will not be subdued all the time.

The international crusade against terrorism has also come as a welcome development for Nepal and the Nepalese. From the lone super power of the world, the United States, to other top nations, they all have expressed full support for the Nepalese government in its fight against the terrorists.

Just the other day, the US government proposed a whopping US $ 20 million military aid to Nepal. Similarly, the United Kingdom, India and other friendly nations too have pledged military and other forms of aid for this Himalayan Kingdom which is battling terrorism.

Such pledges of support must come as a big morale booster for the security forces, which have been hard hit by the cowardly attacks of the terrorists. At the same time, such widespread international condemnation for their acts, must also clearly send a message to the terrorists that their days are numbered and their end is in sight.

For now, though the nation and the people have suffered unprecedented violence and destruction, the time is for everyone to stand together against the destructive and disruptive forces that are trying to destabilize this country. The senseless destruction of this peaceful country should not be allowed to be continued.

Tough Decision

The government, deserves credit for taking tough decisions at this tough time and it should be given full support in its efforts to protect the nation and the people. Meanwhile, along with the vigilance and brave efforts of the security forces, the outright rejection of the terrorist by the people will bring to an end this period of difficulty and confusion for the nation. In the end, terrorism will be defeated and peace will prevail, this, the people have already shown, though it may take some time for the terrorists to acknowledge this bitter fact.

Voice Against Bandhs On Rise

By Prem N. Kakkar

THERE is a silver lining in everything. Though Nepal is, indeed, passing through difficult times. The spate of violence and looting resorted by the Maoist terrorists have made the life of the public quite difficult. It took them six long years to go for the type of destruction that we hear of nowadays. They have really no respect for their own brethern. Whoever is murdered by the Maoists is no other than a Nepali. But in spite of the dangers that the terrorist activities pose to the country, the Maoist initiated violence just seems to continue.

Opportunity Squandered

The security personnel are doing their best to control the Maoist led terrorist activities staking their life in the process. Many security personnel have lost their life in their duty to the country. And blood is not cheap. Moreover, by destroying the basic development infrastructure of the country one just cannot understand the objective of the Maoists. They had an opportunity to sort out matters when the government had created congenial atmosphere for peace talks. But they squandered it by unilaterally pulling out of the talks.

Petty interests do not in any way assist the prosperity of the nation. And this is exactly what the Maoists have aimed to do. Instead of bloodbath, peaceful way out should have been the first choice. Billions of rupees worth of damage have been caused in so short a time besides the death of thousands of people. It is avengeance carried out but for what purpose no one can comprehend.

After the declaration of the State of Emergency and the deployment of the Royal Nepal army to combat the terrorist menace there have been gains, no doubt. And coming in the wake of the devastation of the economy, the Maoist terrorists called for a five-day bandh. We have already seen in the past that even a day of general closure costs the nation a colossal amount. But are the concerned perpetrators listening? May be, no. When the country should have gone for a high rate of economic growth everything has plunged into uncertainty.

Tourism, a mainstay of Nepal’s economy is in shambles. Tourism entrepreneurs had hoped for a fresh start in the year 2002 after the dismal performance in 2001 were once again disillusioned. There is no way the sector can pick up at the moment. The news travels fast and hotels are all but empty. Thousands of those engaged in the hospitality trade face bleak prospect. The main thing is that billions of rupees have been invested in the travel and trade sector. Unless peace returns to the country, nothing can be said when the situation will get better.

The same is the case of industries and the service sector. When such a long bandh is called for, the intentions are clear: to bring down the whole economy.

The government is doing its best to come down heavily on the terrorist outfit. It was also serious in tackling the bandh by taking several measures so that the people in general would not suffer. It is a welcome sign that all the parties represented in the parliament had joined hands against the bandh . Even the nine leftist parties had urged the Maoists to cancel the call for bandh.

Attempts at the people’s level too was seen. The people as they are fed up with bandhs in the past want no more such general strikes. One particular going for a bandh to press their demands does not affect all the sectors. But this type of bandh and that too for five continuous days is just too much to bear.

In fact, the political parties and the people have now only come up vocally agaisnt the call for a bandh. It is sheer inconvenience that the people have to face. Though belatedly, the people have come up against the bandh by organising peace rallies and talk programmes.

A bright lining is visible. In the past the people would just tolerate it and keep quiet. But not this time. The government on its part made certain that the public transport system was not affected and the people could travel from one place to another conveniently. Although not all the public vehicles have operated, the commuters have been facilitated by the number of vehicles on the road.

It is the people’s voice that counts. Unlike in the past bandhs, more shops are open and many shops have opened up their shutters. Though business may not be at par with pre-bandh days yet a sense of facing the situation is largely writ on the face of the people. The people have realised that bandhs as these serve no purpose at all.The people are at the receiving end. Those who lead the hand to mouth existence suffer the most.

Facing Reality

Whatever that may be, the people are now waking up to face reality. This must be considered a great event. Holding people to ransom cannot be tolerated. ‘To fight back’ is the quality that has to be generated and it is good to see the people doing it howsoever small a contribution it may look at present. Such a tendency has been born and it will, hopefully, nurture in the days to come to be able to thwart any evil intentions. That will the day when we will have come of age.