NATIONAL8 (Spotlight Weekly]

Innocent victims

Two children die on the day the Maoist rebellion enters the sixth year. Will the violence come to an end?

By A CORRESPONDENT

As the underground Maoist rebels were celebrating completion of five years of their armed rebellion, two teen-age boys fell victim to the violence. Prakash Dhungana, 11, and Khem Raj Dhungana, 14, died immediately after a bomb exploded near their house at Mangalsen VDC, ward no. 6, in far-western district of Achham early Monday. Eight others, including six minors, from the same family got injured in the incident.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the mishap as yet.

Chief District Officer of Achham, Khum Raj Punjali, told SPOTLIGHT over telephone that the bomb exploded near a public tap at Mangalsen village on Feb. 12 when people had gathered to collect water. All ten people belonged to the same Dhungana family. Officials later airlifted all injured persons, including a 15-month-old girl child, to Nepalgunj in mid-western Nepal for treatment.

Authorities say the bomb may have been left unattended when a group of suspected Maoist rebels had attacked the prison at the district headquarters at Mangalsen the previous night. No casualty was reported during the attack. Police diffused two more bombs at a distance of 200 meters from the site of incident. "We condemn the use of lethal weapons near human settlements," said Krishna Pahadi, chairman of Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES). "We call upon all the parties concerned to avoid such mishaps."

According to official figures, more than 1500 people have lost their lives during the Maoist rebellion, nearly 60 of them are children below the age of 16. While officials blame the Maoists for the unfortunate incident, the underground Maoist party has not commented on the mishap as yet. A source close to the Maoist said the rebels were taking caution to avoid civilian casualties after the Panchkatiya incident last year.

As the rebellion enters into the sixth year , more and more civilian are falling victim to the insensible violence. Human rights activists have attempted to bring the government and rebels to the table of negotiations but without success.

As the government is working on to equip the newly established Armed Police Force and rebels strengthening their ëbase areas' in the mid-western hills, violence is likely to escalate further. "The government should not violate human rights under any circumstances while the rebels should not do anything to hurt people who are not actively engaged in the conflict," said Pahadi. " In order to end the on-going violence, there should be an extensive initiatives from all quarters including the civil society and the government should guaranty the good governance," he added.

Unfortunately, both these are in short supply in the present day Nepal.