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| Escalating Body-count in Nepal |
| 2004-02-24 |
| EFL Six months after the ceasefire between the Government and the rebel Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist (CPN-M) broke down, the fighting has bogged down to a stalemate with neither side making any headway. In the countryside, Government presence is still limited to the district headquarters and a few armed garrisons. And although the security forces - under the unified command of the Army - have been making forays into areas outside the secure zones, they have not been able to hold any territory permanently. For its part, neither has the ’People’s Liberation Army’ of the Maoists been able to prevent incursions by Government troops into areas supposedly under their control. This seesaw battle has come at a large human cost. Of the almost 9000 people killed in violence related to the CPN-M-led ’people’s war’ begun in 1996, the outbreak of fresh fighting since August 2003 accounts for almost a quarter: nearly 1500 people (ostensibly Maoists) have been killed by the security forces; over 300 soldiers and policemen have lost their lives; and civilian victims are also in the range of 300. Notwithstanding the military impasse, the Maoists are as active as ever. In a defiant move in January, they began creating ’autonomous people’s governments’ to correspond with ethnic or regional homelands. Among these are the ’Magarant Autonomous People’s Government’ in the Maoist heartland of western Nepal, inhabited largely by Magars, the largest ethnic group of Nepal; and the ’Madhesi Autonomous People’s Government’ for the Tarai plains that stretch across the southern part of Nepal. (Unfortunately for the Maoists, a member of the former, Suresh Ale Magar, and the head of the latter, Matrika Prasad Yadav, were arrested in India on their way to a rally in New Delhi, and immediately handed over to the Nepal Army.) It seems clear from the two years of the Army’s engagement in the fighting that its role cannot go beyond containment. The security forces have begun venturing into Maoist areas in an apparent bid to counter the impression that Maoist ’governments’ are at work in areas outside direct Government control. But these actions have not been able to inflict much damage on a guerrilla force that simply retreats in the face of superior firepower; the military strength of the Maoists remains pretty much intact. The Government of Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, appointed in June 2003, is currently fighting on three fronts - the Maoists; his own party, which wants him to quit; and the alliance of five parties that want an end to the rule by proxy by King Gyanendra through a handpicked Prime Minister. The Opposition parties have been threatening to launch a movement against the monarchy itself, if the King does not revert to being a constitutional monarch. Anti-government rallies are routine, and the streets of Kathmandu ring with anti-monarchy slogans, the likes of which have never been heard before. But, instead of being conciliatory, the King has made it very clear that he is not going to limit himself within the boundaries laid out in the Constitution. Nepal is bracing up for a new round of protests, as the political parties re-think their agitation strategy. Apart from the strike the day before, the 9th anniversary of the ’people’s war’ on February 13 was peaceful enough. That is a date that is etched deeply in Nepali public consciousness. Last year, it was a different sentiment that greeted the anniversary. A ceasefire had just been declared and the various protest programmes of the Maoists had been called off. Peace seemed imminent and hopes soared high. One year later, it is back to the killing fields in Nepal. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #1 Perhaps a collectivist interprise where half the people live in bondage and the other half live in protest. Those protesting win. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-24 1:58:49 AM |