Asia-Pacific

Commentary

Maoists’ Barbaric Acts Are Threat to Nepali People

Kamala Sarup
June 22, 2005

Nepalese protestors are arrested by riot police

Members of the Maoist Victims Association, wearing black bands on their mouth, are arrested by riot police May 26 after a silent protest march near the royal palace in Kathmandu where they planned to plead for food and shelter. (Photo: STR / AFP-Getty Images)

Nepal’s Maoists have been attacking innocent civilians. Recently, at least 38 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a crowded bus detonated a land mine planted by Maoists. The Nepali people continue to fall victim to their barbaric acts. The Maoists’ war has entered a stage of genocide. It is unacceptable to let innocent people be killed in the name of Maoist extremism. Maoist terrorism is a threat to Nepal’s democracy and civil liberty. Nepal could turn into another Cambodia, Afghanistan, Bosnia or Rwanda.

Radical Maoists are attempting to preserve their killing culture from contamination. If history is any guide, then the communist revolution has never come to the negotiating table. They simply buy time to reorganize their ragtag, hit-and-run fighters for the next wave of violence and destruction of public infrastructure.

Nearly ten years of the Maoists’ war have left more than 10,000 Nepalese dead. Innocent people and police officials of various ranks and even members of opposing political parties have been the most affected victims. Attacks occur in different parts of the country, bombing and destroying electricity and communication networks, so the situation is always very tense and difficult.

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Thousands of people in Nepal have lost their sense of security and thousands face an indefinite period of uncertainty and anxiety. The Maoists has affected lives in almost all of the 75 districts of the country. Thousands are now coming to the capital city from the Terai [western region] and hills for security. There are many horror stories of Maoists capturing people and literally hacking their victims to pieces with their knives.

The Maoist war ruined dozens of lives, it made some mentally ill, others were left poor after their husbands’ deaths. They are a violent group; they massacred villagers whom they suspected of collaborating with the government. Nepalese have a particular dread of terrorism.

Cambodia and Nepal are two democratic kingdoms that have both suffered immensely from the ravages of terrorism. There can be no political justification for acts of terrorism.

Radical Maoist movements have failed to take power in Peru and Cambodia. The tactics of Maoists in Nepal are to terrorize the countryside by setting up ambushes and seeding minefields. Because of the radical Maoists thousands of Nepali are dying due to disease and starvation.

Any Nepali man, woman or child who is seen as a threat, or who refuses to obey orders is killed in Nepal. The Maoists have ignored the Geneva Convention. Their terrorist activities cannot and should not be tolerated.

The atmosphere of insecurity and terror ruined the national economy. The villages are still under the control of Maoists. Schools in rural areas have been among the targets. They killed many teachers. Many parents, fearing for the safety of their children, chose not to send their children to school and confront the Maoists. Many innocent people are in the way of the combatants or are deliberately targeted by Maoists. Forceful recruitment of young children and women by the Maoists is another serious issue. A humanitarian crisis is taking place in Nepal.

Furthermore, Maoists are attacking ambulances and Red Cross facilities, restricting their movement, making it almost impossible for the injured to get treatment and for humanitarian aid activities to be carried out.

The Communist groups in the universities and the schools during the 1970’s tried for a Marxist revolution and failed. By tradition, the power behind any communist revolution was rejected. After that, they then tried for Black support, but again they were rejected. They then used the Vietnam War and Shining Path; that too disappeared. Lacking support, the movement apparently faded away.

Radical terrorists caused American deaths in the Middle East in 1983 when they bombed the marine barracks in Lebanon. There have been many isolated terrorist acts against Americans since then, but American reactions to these events were low and ineffectual.

However, when the radical terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers in New York City on Sept. 11, they unleashed the concerted support of Americans to uproot and destroy radical terrorists worldwide. The wars being waged in Afghanistan and Iraq are the immediate objectives of this war against radical terrorists. Terrorists can survive longer if they become immune within a country. That is why it is important to eliminate them from their havens. We need to wage war wherever radical terrorists are concentrated in large numbers.

We Nepali reaffirm our commitment to combat terrorist acts in all forms and manners wherever they happen and regardless of who commits them. Now the Nepali speaking world energetically condemns terrorism, pledging to fight terrorist acts.

Constitutional monarchy and democracy are the two pillars of Nepal’s political stability. The Maoists must lay down their arms and come to the people to pave the way for a lasting peace.

Kamala Sarup is editor of Peace Media, online at www.peacejournalism.com.




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