National 2 (Spotlight Weekly)

Burden Of Fear

Maoists’ drive for raising funds is hurting all sections of Nepalese society

By A CORRESPONDENT

As the Maoists continue to raise funds in the name of donation to their party, the traders, teachers, government employees and others have continued to suffer from not only the financial but psychological distress as well.

As most of the people fear to go against the Maoist order, they end up parting with their hard-earned money.

Baidya : Victimized

Teachers regularly face extortion threats in the villages. Since schools are the only government agencies that are allowed to operate even with the Maoist heartlands, teachers have become an easy prey. “We have reports that teachers in some parts of Bardiya district – in midwest Nepal – have to pay 60 percent of their annual salaries to the Maoists as donations. In other districts also, similar donations of around 25 to 45 percent is mandatory,” said Keshab Prasad Bhattarai, president of Nepal Teachers Association (NTA). “Not only the rebels, even the government forces often target teachers and accuse them of sheltering and helping the rebels.” Bhattarai said that at least 3000 teachers have been displaced due to the conflict.

In May when the Maoists’ student wing had imposed indefinite strike in educational institutions, Umesh Shrestha, president of Private and Boarding Schools Organization of Nepal (PABSON) had expressed frustration over the persisting disturbances in schools. “It is an open secret that many times schools also have to pay money to buy safety,” he had charged.

However, it is rare for news stories of extortion to get out as most of the victims prefer to remain anonymous.

A recent incident in Kathmandu has exposed the problem of extortion. In what appears to be a botched attempt to take action against the Maoist extortionist, security forces killed a Maoist cadre as well as an official at the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Plainclothes security personnel, who were hiding nearby, opened fire at a Maoist cadre named Krishna Adikari as he was about to receive money from Ullas Baidya, a director at the NEA, near Old Baneshwore chowk on July 13. However, their bullets also hit Baidya who later died in hospital. Adhikari was killed on the spot.

Reports said that Baidya was acting in coordination with the security forces who had provided him with a bundle of fake notes to hand over to the Maoists. Meanwhile, the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) later clarified that Baidya was killed by a bullet fired by an unknown person. According to Brigadier General Rajendra Bahadur Thapa, spokesperson of the RNA, Baidya had asked for security assistance after he received extortion threats from the Maoists and, therefore, the security personnel had gone with him to Baneshwore chowk to nab the extortionist.

Although the Maoists later denied they had any hand in the incident, police authorities said the Maoists regularly issued extortion threats to people even in Kathmandu. “The government forces are prepared to help if anybody comes with a complaint of extortion,” said Thapa.

Businessmen are the other breed who are also constantly harassed by the Maoists who demand hefty amounts as donations. “Depending on the size of their industry and business, the Maoists ask for anything between few hundred dollars to few thousands,” said an official at the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

In a rare revelation of the extortion problem, Binod Chadhary, a leading industrialist and president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), recently said, “The Nepalese businessmen are currently passing through extreme difficulties. Apart from other problems, we also suffer from regular extortion threats.”

For obvious reasons, most people shy away from divulging the information regarding the extortion. “The business community is caught between government's drive for tax revenue and chanda aatanka (extortion terror), or in softer tones, voluntary contributions demanded by the Maoists,” said Narayan Manandhar, a director at the FNCCI.

In many cases, the Maoists have taken physical action and even killed people who refused to pay donation to them. On January 15, 2004, Gopal Giri, a mayor of Birgunj sub metropolis was shot to death by the Maoists. The news reports quoted his family sources as saying that the Maoists had asked for US$ 6000 as ‘donation’ from Giri. Upon his refusal to provide the money, the rebels had asked him to step down from the position of mayor. Later he got killed.

The Maoists, on their part, deny they engage in extortion. Often in their statements, Maoists refuse that they engage in forceful extortion. But they concede they accept contributions to their party and that they have the legitimate right to raise taxes in the areas under their control.

In fact, foreign envoys in Nepal have time and again urged the Maoists to refrain from harassing the businessmen. “To the best my knowledge, there has not been whole transparency on the part of the Maoists with respect to people who they will kill or torture and certainly there is no way of seeking redress of people whose money was extorted by the Maoists,” said American ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty.

The Maoists also seem to be desperate to raise funds not only within the country but also outside. A recent news report stated that they are planning to organize an open mass meeting in Belfast, Ireland on August 07. The meeting is being organized by the World People's Resistance Movement in order to gain support and collect donations for the current Maoist movement in Nepal.

Apart from the Maoists’ extortion, police authorities have said that the threat of bogus Maoists have also increased in the country. “There are many incidents in which common criminals are found to extort and loot money in the guise of the Maoists,” said a senior police official.

On July 21, three people who identified themselves as the Maoists looted over US$ 2000 from a money exchange counter in Kathmandu. The police suspect the three are common looters and not the Maoists.

Incidents like these have tremendously affected the business environment in the country. Trapped in an unenviable situation, Nepalese people are paying the cost of war in their once peaceful land.