Respect people's rights

For the past few years, the Maoists have been creating a wave of terror in several districts in the country. In the name of the Peoples’ War, they have taken to the way of violence and terror and thus displaced many innocent villagers and also taxed the government into making huge budget allotments for providing security in such affected areas. If one makes even a cursory glance at the affected districts, one can see that most of them are in remote areas and thus they have been neglected to some extent in getting different development projects. The blame for this, goes to planners right from the early days. However, it is sad to see the Maoists, taking up arms in the name of “liberating” the people. This is not the right path to follow, when the country is enjoying a fully democratic Constitution and the people are free to enjoy all the fundamental rights provided to them. Human rights is one of the major components of this Constitution and this is also the most important provision for people to live in dignity and without fear from anyone. But when some groups start activities that don’t respect such rights of the people, basic constitutional guarantees become redundant.

      Speaking at a talk programme organised by the Save the World organisation on the occasion of the Human Rights Day on Friday, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba quite rightly pointed out that terrorist activities will drain the development budget of the country. And specially for far flung areas which need development most, it is an irony that funds allotted for development are being spent to combat insurgency. Appealing to the insurgents, former Prime Minister Deuba said that if they stop creating unrest and committing terrorism, he was ready to “strip the police of not only their guns, but even their lathis”. It is true that those who want to see the development of the country and the welfare of the people, must work inside the democratic Constitution of the country, for which the people of Nepal struggled hard and long. Just creating terror will pull the country down, not take it to the path of development.

(Editorial in The Rising Nepal, Dec, 12, Sunday)