Editorial (Spotlight Weekly)

The tough posture adopted by the Maoists by announcing the ultimatum to end the ceasefire does not augur well for peace prospects in the country. Whatever their cause for embroiling the poor country in a bloody civil war, one thing is sure, they have not endeared themselves with the overwhelming masses who have been forced to live the miserable lives of refugees. Their inexpedient reliance on alien support in the pursuit of their polemical objectives has generated undesirable opportunities for direct foreign interference in our internal affairs, which can never be conducive to the good health of the nation. Their obduracy to come to early negotiations will only contribute to accelerate greater foreign intervention, which becomes necessary to safeguard the entity of the country. If they have hardened their stance to strengthen their bargaining position, they are sure to mellow down and become more reasonable as talks progress. But if they are really suffering under any kind of misconception, they are advised to give second thoughts and relinquish suicidal maneuverings. The Thapa government has gone a long way to appease them by releasing their central committee members to smoothen the paths of dialogues. Such concessions only manifest desperation on the part of the government. Submissions before negotiations start only denote defeatist attitude. Because, negotiations must always be carried on from the position of strength not appeasement. We do strongly believe that the Maoist leadership are more patriotic than the tried and found wanting political parties of our country and will not revert to their violent activities as they could never be in the overall interest of the country. Consequently, we do trust the Maoist will decide to sit in for talks with the government in power, which is sure to lead them later to the final authority in the present context ñ the King. Since the Palace cannot afford to fail like the government, they will only agree to put a final stamp on the agreement. Hope, the Maoists take the hint and cleanse the atmosphere for early dialogues.

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That the Bhutanese refugee problem has started to attract the serious concerns of the world community and the superpower as well is a welcome development raising hopes of an early solution of the thirteen year old vexing problem. Hiram A. Ruiz, Director of Communications of the United States Committee for Refugees paid a three day visit to the refugee camps in Nepal a few days ago and emphasized the "right of the refugees to return to their homeland in safety and dignity" at a press conference. Had the United States taken as keen interest on this humanitarian issue a few years earlier, perhaps, this problem could have been resolved by now and the poor refugees spared the indignities of sub-human existence for such a long time. That this problem could not have originated without the tacit support and approval of Bhutan's mentor India, is an irrefutable fact substantiated by the reality that since Bhutan does not have a contiguous boundary with Nepal, the refugees were forcibly directed into Nepal by India when they landed in Indian territory after being persecuted to leave their homes and property by the Bhutanese authorities. And none of the Nepalese government that entered into negotiations with Bhutan could strongly assert and convince them to take the refugees back. Since India not only plays the dominating role but guides Bhutan's foreign policy, she should have mediated for an early resolution. But the illogical insistence that this is a bilateral issue and must be settled by Nepal and Bhutan between themselves only contributed to exacerbate the problem. In the meantime, the Bhutanese refugees have been forced to bear unbearable miseries. Now their patience is getting thinner and they have started manifesting signs of desperation. Since desperation can always breed violence, even terrorism, it has to be nipped in the bud. Because terrorism has no boundary and can pose threat to countries far and wide. As such it is high time the United States, the only superpower that can exercise the requisite pressures, took up the matter in right earnest and forced an early resolution of the long standing problem. Forcing the refugees to integrate themselves with alien nationalities can become counterproductive in the long run. They must be guaranteed their birthright to go back to their motherland. Persuasions, sanctions or force, what course to take is for the powers, who have taken the responsibility of maintaining and preserving peace and justice in the world, to decide. We can only plead for early settlement of the problem, which is causing inhuman sufferings for over a lakh of poor and deprived refugees.