News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Maoists Losing Patience: Dr. Bhattarai

In what appears to be a clear warning to the government to speed up the peace process, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, coordinator of the Maoists negotiating team, said that they cannot wait forever for the talks to happen. "We cannot wait indefinitely for the talks. We are losing patience. If the government does not initiate the peace process soon, we would be forced to return to violence," said Dr. Bhattarai, addressing a mass meeting in the mid-western town of Nepalgunj. Dr. Bhattarai accused the government of trying to linger the process and thereby exhaust the revolutionaries. "But we will not fall for their trap," said Dr. Bhattarai. Although the Maoists negotiating team had surfaced three weeks ago to hold talks, the government is yet to announce its full talks team. Currently, the government has appointed only Narayan Singh Pun, Minister for Works and Physical Planning, as the coordinator of its talks team. Leading dailies report.

Foreign Missions Unwilling To Meet Maoists

Although a week has passed since Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, coordinator of the Maoist talks team, claimed they wanted to meet with representatives of foreign missions based in Kathmandu, the latter have indicated they are not willing to meet with them yet. At a press briefing to journalists of foreign media last week, Dr. Bhattarai had said the Maoist talks team wanted to meet with the foreign representatives to clarify their position and ask them not to intervene in the internal affairs. According to Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a member of the Maoist talks team, they have already written letters to embassies of major countries in Kathmandu. "We have dispatched formal letters but we have not received any reply yet," said Mahara. However, the foreign mission representatives may be waiting for the "green signal" from their respective governments as they are still suspicious about the intentions of the Maoists, who had walked away unilaterally from the peace talks with the government in 2001, said diplomatic sources. According to these sources, USA which has shown deep interest to this problem is angry with the Maoists since they walked out of peace talks last year and engaged in violent attacks even taking life of two of its junior staffers. Likewise, the UK, China and India, too, are keenly witnessing the progress of talks. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

King Stresses On Peace Process

King Gyanendra addressing the civic reception organized in his honor by the citizens of far western region in Dhagadhi on Friday (April 4) said that everyone needs to support the peace process and make it a success, warning that any attempt to thwart the process would be against the peopleís will. "There must be unequivocal effort in giving permanence to peace," he said. He said the world was going through a difficult phase making national unity even more important. "The one and only option for Nepal and Nepali people in this crucial hour is to work together to bring the country back from the brink, failing which we will stand condemned by history and be an embarrassment for future generations." The King added that the converging point of all different opinions must be patriotism. "It is but natural to have differences of opinion and competition in a multi-party democracy. However, the converging point of different opinions must be patriotism." He also reiterated his pledge for multi-party, adding that all should concentrate on the ways to uplift the country. He said the national goals of peace, good governance, establishing a corruption-free administration and government responsible towards the people should be achieved with active participation of the political parties and elected representatives under the aegis of the multi-party democracy. He said the international community had once again begun to place its faith on the improvement of general condition of Nepal. "We should not squander this opportunity," he said. The King highlighted the role of monarchy. "Nepal has been able to maintain independent identity and self-respect only because of the peopleís unwavering trust in the institution of monarchy and monarchyís unqualified dedication towards the people." The King, in his address, also stressed for equitable development of the country. "It is our desire to see that not a single individual, a single village or a district or any ethnic group or community feels neglected." Leading dailies report.

Maoists Seeking To Meet The King

The members of the Maoists negotiating team have requested Narayan Singh Pun, Minister for Works and Physical Planning and convener of governmentís negotiating team, to arrange for their meeting with King Gyanendra. "Since the King heads the power of the old regime, we believe it is necessary for us to meet with him," Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a member of the Maoist negotiating team, is quoted to have said in the Spacetime daily. "We have come for dialogue but have not spoken to any representatives of old regime other than minister Pun." Though the Maoists have sought for the meeting with the monarch, there have been no replies to their request from the palace yet, it is reported. Leading dailies report.

Victims Call For Justice And Peace

Even as the government is preparing to withdraw charges against several Maoist leaders, the victims of violence have asked the government not to forget about justice while doing so. Reacting to the governmentís preparation not to press charges on the alleged killers, who are currently in custody, of Krishna Mohan Shrestha, chief of the Armed Police Force, and his wife, the brother of the slain top cop Jesh Mohan Shrestha said he was surprised and outraged. "Peace is the wish of every one of us. We want the deaths of our brother and sister-in-law to be the last ones. Let there be no more deaths. But whoever is responsible for the killing must be delivered justice," he said. The Shrestha couple along with their bodyguard Surya Bahadur Regmi was killed while they were on a regular morning walk days before the government and the rebels announced ceasefire. Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, coordinator of Maoists talks team recently warned that raking up cases of individuals could jeopardize the peace talks claiming anyone could be caught in the battlefield. There have been reports that following Dr. Bhattaraiís warning the government is preparing not to press charges against Krishnahari Sainju and four others who were arrested in connection with the assassination. Likewise, families of victims of Maoist violence have demanded that their concerns be addressed in the peace talks. They have asked that there should be impartial probe and action against the killing of innocent people. They have also demanded that the Maoist leadership apologize publicly. "There should be probe on the killing of parents of so many orphans like us. The Maoist leader should apologize publicly and clarify reasons for the killings," said Binita Gyawali, treasurer of Society of Orphan Victims of Terrorism. Kantipur daily reports.