Dedicated to Daniel Pearl

Last Wednesday I invited some conflict victims and wanted to listen to their stories. I was shocked to know how pathetic was their situation. They literally cried while narrating their harrowing stories. It hurt me much and I almost shed tears after listening to their stories. Read their horrible stories through their own account.

Bhojraj Timsina, 32, hails from Kuika Village Development Committee-2 in Accham district. He says…

Maoists looted my house in 2055. I was studying Intermediate level but had to quit my studies after the Maoists threatened to take my life. I took all my family members to Bardia where we have little land. They settled there. I then joined a college in Bardia and continued my studies. I completed my Bachelors degree from Bardia and came to Kathmandu for Master’s degree. However, I couldn’t continue my studies in Master’s degree due to my poor economic situation. If the Maoists hadn’t looted my property and house, I think I could study Master’s degree. Now I am involved with Maoist victims. The government has completely ignored the issues of the Maoist victims and I am campaigning their issues these days.

 Chini Maya Neupane, 33, is from Thanching VDC 7 of Trisuli Nuwakot.

I was living a happy life in Thanching till 2056. We had the land that would produce some 200 muri paddy. It was a good life with my three children and a loving husband. The Maoists captured my house and land and asked me to immediately leave the village. They charged that I was spying for the government. It was totally wrong allegation. I along with my children and husband came to Kathmandu. My children couldn’t continue their studies in Kathmandu. Worse, my husband bacame paralytic due to frustrations in Kathmandu because it was much tough to manage food and shelter in such an expensive city in kathmandu. I then had the burden of three children and the husband. Fortunately, two schools agreed to provide free education to my two children. However, my eldest son, Rikhi Ram Neupane, 20, started having problem in the chest. I took him to Ganga Lal Heart Center where the doctor asked me to manage Rs. 400,000. It was beyond my capacity. I then took my paralytic husband to the hospital and Dr Bhagwan Koirala agreed to arrange the heart surgery of my son at Rs 100,000. I didn’t have even that amount so I asked Kantipur editor to publish my appeal for help. Kantipur did publish my appeal and I started receiving donation amount from various people.

It was 2064. One day I received a phone call from Pokhara saying that some people are interested to provide me some money for my son’s treatment. They asked me to go to Pokhara. I then went to Pokhara on a micro bus. When I reached Prithvi Chowk in Pokhara. I got off the bus and was waiting for those people to meet. Two women approached me and handed me Rs 15,000. I was happy and was thinking to return to Kathmandu because I had to collect more money for my son’s treatment. However, two cars stopped by my side and some six, seven young boys and girls surrounded me. They said they are the members of Young Communist League. They then forced me into their car and took in an unknown location. I cried out and told them I came to Pokhara to collect money for my son’s treatment. But they accused me of conspiring agains the Maoists. They then took me to a big hall. I don’t know the location. They beat me and said they would severely torture me. When they took me to the hall, some boys and girls started beating me. It was so severe that I asked them to shoot me dead. They said they won’t kill me but would torture. I hadn’t eaten food. It was some 10 o clock in the evening. Fortunately, a boy came. I knew he was the commander of the YCL in Pokhara. He saw my documents and said he also belongs to Nuwakot. I hoped he wouldn’t torture me. I asked for help. He said I would be set free. Although his colleagues were saying I should be tortured further, he asked them not to torture me any further. He provided me food. Tomorrow morning he returned to the hall and took me to a nearby police station. I said I hadn’t committed any crime. The police took me to Chief District Officer (CDO). The CDO asked his policemen to send me for a detention. I asked the CDO why he was sending me for detention while I had come to collect money for my son’s treatment. The YCL had already looted my money. They had already taken away my other documents. The CDO said he was compelled to send me to detention because it was the order from the YCL. I had no option but to abide by the CDO’s law. I then stayed in detention for next 10 days. After 10 days, the CDO released me but he said I had to pay some money as a bail for my release. I paid Rs 1000 and left the detention center. I then returned to Kathmandu but didn’t tell it to anybody because the YCL had threatened me against saying it to anybody. The CDO had also asked me not to tell anybody. He had given me a receipt of the fee and said I shouldn’t show it to anybody. 

I will never forget the incident. I want to tell it to Prachanda and want to hear how he will react. I don’t know how the government will address our plight but want to tell it to public. All the people should know this story.

Now tell me how the government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission can address the issues of the conflict victims while they have so much to say. They must be allowed to tell their stories to public. It will privide them psychological redress.

There are other victims with more horrible stories. I will post them later. 

 

Nepal government finally appointed 21 ambassadors after a long obstruction from the CPN-Maoist. The appointment of ambassadors will speed up the diplomatic relations with many countries. The Maoists had previously protested against appointing the ambassadors demanding that their men also be appointed as ambassadors. The Maoists in the past had demanded one of the four powerful nations–India, UK, USA and China to get their men appointed appointed. However, they later agreed with France, Australia, Malaysia and Denmark. I doubt that India, UK, USA and China will accept the agrimo for the Maoist men as ambassadors. Anyway, the problem has settled. Read more

BY GHANASHYAM OJHA

 

Today the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) organized an interaction on the recently proposed bill for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). All the participants, including the representatives from the UNMIN and othe OHCHR condemned the bill and urged the government to immediatley introduce another bill which address the issues of the victims. 

UNMIN Chief Ian Martin said the TRC was very significant and it should focus on the victims. He also demanded that the commissioners at the NHRC be appointed at the earliest.  In the absence of its commissioners, the NHRC hasn’t been able to function properly for more than a year. Without its commissioners, it can’t recommend action against the perpetrators and nor can recommend compensation to the victims of human rights violations.

He also highlighted the importance of the TRC stating that the issue was discussed during the UN Security Council meetin in New York recently.

I was much sad when I heard the victims of the 10-year old Maoist conflict. Most of them didnt’ have the knowledge of the TRC but all demanded that their kin who were either abducted by the Maoists or by the security forces be made public. They said they just want their kin….nothing more.

One of them was Purna Maya Lama, whose husband Arjun Lama was abducted by the Maoists in 2005 from Kavre. She said, “I don’t know about the TRC but I want to know the status of my husband.”

Human rights defender Dr Gopal Krishna Siwakoti said the government is obliged to properly address the issues of the human rights violations, as it is not only the national issue. “Punishment to perpetrators of the human rights violation and compensation to victims is a part of the international boundary and it has become an international issue,” he said, adding, “If the government doesn’t address it, the victims will seek recourse through international measures.”

I don’t know how it will go but the TRC draf bill is more like an amnesty bill because it aims at releasing the perpetrators. It also doesn’t guarantee compensation and security to the victims.

Such is the situation of victims in Nepal but the political parties are engaged in wrangling for power. They are calculating how many seats they will secure in the Constituent Assembly poll, if it is held. But hundreds of Nepalese people, who have lost their kin during the conflict, are living with pains. Who will address their plight? The innocent people were not a part of the conflict but they were the ones to bear the brunt of the conflict. It must be addressed in international level.

Regarding the TRC, I strongly feel that the commanders who ordered the killing are equally responsible in gross human rights violations. Those who killed and those ordered the killing must be duly punished. Otherwise, it’s not a judicious resolution of the conflict.

 

Once again we are likely to fall into a vicious cycle of violence and political instability. Although Nepal’s Interim Constitution mandates that the Constituent Assembly (CA) poll must be held on November 22, none of the political parties are sincerely working on it. This is the second time the CA poll has been postponed in Nepal. The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist has, instead of coming up with its election manifesto, has made public its protest programs for the next two months. It has raised the dead issues, which were already settled in the past. The Maoists are now demanding that the monarchy be abolished through interim parliament and proportional election system be adopted before the CA poll. The two issues are not likely to be settled before the CA poll. The Maoists had actually agreed that the issue of monarchy will be settled by the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly following the poll. The Maoists had also agreed that the parties would adopt the mixed election system for the poll. With the agreement from all political parties, including the Maoists, both these provisions have already been mentioned in the interim constitution.

 Now the Maoists are raising the issues with a clear intention of disrupting the poll. Internal information of the Maoists says that the Maoists confidential observation across the country has given a report that they would secure not more than 40 seats in the poll if it is held on November 22. The report says the Maoist has seriously lost its hold in the terai due to Madhesi forum and other groups. It has also lost its hold in some hilly districts of western terai. The report has concluded that it will be a suicidal attempt for the Maoists to go to November poll. Therefore, they have floated the demands which were already settled in the past. However, the Maoists’ pre-conditions for the CA poll has another meaning. The Maoists are saying that they will go to poll if their pre-conditions are fulfilled. It means the Maoists are planning that they will take these two preconditions as strong issue during the CA poll. They will campaign that the republic and proportional election system were agreed only due to the Maoists. The Maoists have an analysis that this campaign will strongly support their political campaign and can at least become the second largest party in Nepal after Nepali Congress. Otherwise, the Maoists know that the Nepali Congress (two NCs are sure to unite not by will but by compulsion) will become the largest party in the CA poll and if they have strong issue for the poll, they will slide down to the third or fourth political force in Nepal. There is a strong pressure from within the party not to go to poll this time.

But it must be seriously thought that the Maoists will be blamed if the CA poll couldn’t be held on November. The Maoists will definitely launch strong protest programs, which could turn into a revolt. As the Maoists’ protests will turn into a revolt, the deployment of army will be felt a necessary alternative by other political parties. There will be a political bickering- Nepali Congress, UML and other rightist forces will stand on one corner whereas the Maoists will lead the leftist forces. The army will be behind the Nepali Congress, UML and other rightist forces to fight the Maoists’ high-handedness.

The army deployment will not be a choice but it will be a compulsion for the political parties and the army will notice its importance because the Maoists’ protests are sure to turn violent. The army then will start political bargain with political parties. The parties will become helpless and they will have to concede to the demands of the army at that point. Therefore, the army will become a very powerful force in Nepal. It will begin a vicious cycle of violence because the army will begin its fight with the Maoists whereas political parties; especially Nepali Congress, other rightist forces, who will be willingly or unwillingly supported by the UML, will work as buffer zone. It will be a democratic government, ruled by the army from behind the curtain.

So where we are heading…it’s high time everybody have to think very seriously.

 

 

Following consent from the Attorney General, the government is all set to introduce the High Level Probe Commission on Disappeared Persons (HLPCDP).

A senior official at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction said, “The ministry has forwarded the draft of the Commission to the council of ministers for final approval.”

The official, requesting anonymity, said the Attorney General, in response to the ministry’s query, said the mandate of the HLPCDP draft is powerful enough to probe the disappearance cases. “Following, criticism over the jurisdiction and authority of the Commission, the ministry had sought opinion from the Attorney General before formally introducing it,” he said, adding, “The Attorney General has suggested to incorporate the verdict from Supreme Court in its Terms of Reference.”

He said the Commission, which is headed by former Supreme Court justice Narendra Bahadur Neupane, will begin its task immediately after the cabinet passes it.

The HLPCDP, which was formed under the Inquiry Act of 2026 BS, had come under criticism, from national and international rights bodies. The rights bodies had charged that the Commission was formed flouting the international standard.

Krishna Pahadi, a human rights defender, strongly reacted over the Attorney General’s latest suggestion to the government regarding the Commission and said, “The government is planning to release all the perpetrators by forming commission under defunct laws.”

He said the HLPCDP doesn’t have a strong mandate to probe the disappearance cases and will ultimately brush off the whole issue.

Similarly, Subodh Pyakurel, president of Informal Sector Service (Insec), a human rights NGO, said, “It’s regrettable that the Attorney General gave consent to the Commission, which contains numerous flaws.”

He said the Inquiry Act of 2026 BS mandates to probe only incidents of general character. “As the issue of disappearance is very special and vast, it requires separate law,” he said, adding, “But the government is trying to dismiss such a serious issue.”

The Supreme Court in its verdict on June 1 had directed the government to form a commission on enforced disappearances only after enacting a separate comprehensive law. It had stated that the current laws are not powerful enough to deal with the disappearance issue. It had asked the government to enact law in compliance with the UN Convention of Enforced Disappearance.

The official at the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry said the government could not formulate separate law to deal with disappearance issue due to a shortage of time. “The government is planning to introduce the law once the Commission begins its work,” he said, adding, “With the formulation of a separate law in future, the Commission will be restructured and it will function as per the mandate of the new law.”

He, however, didn’t say when the government would formulate such law.

I wonder sometimes when will happen if Prime Minister and President of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala passes away. With the death of such a towering personality, it is sure to invite numerous problems. Maoist Chief Prachanda may not abide by other political leaders because he thinks he is the only most powerful leader after Koirala. Army and the pro-monarchists including the king will lose their center of hope. I am saying Koirala is the center of hope for army and monarchy because he has kept all these forces in a balance. I don’t think army will abide by the orders of Prachanda and his leaders and I am also not much convinced that the army will give as much respect to UML leaders as they are going to Koirala. The Constituent assembly may not happen because it will start the tug of war among the forces.

Monarch will try to exercise power through Nepali Army whereas the Maoists may try to capture power. The unity issue in Nepali Congress may fade away because Deuba wants to be the next president while Ram Chandra Poudel and Sushil Koirala may not agree with it.

I think we will again in a vicious circle of violence. Maoists may resort to armed struggle because the army will try to discourage them. Things will fall apart. So the latest news of Koirala’s falling sick has really worried me. 

 

 

Authorities have stepped up security measures and deployed hundreds of police personnel in Nepal’s capital on Wednesday to prevent possible clash between two rival student groups, officials said.

<p>Chief of Kathmandu police Sarbendra Khanal said police have been stationed at various intersections of the city.

<p>The Nepal Students’ Union (NSU), a student organization of Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s party-Nepali Congress and the All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union –Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), a student wing of former rebels have engaged in clash in Kathmandu and various other districts for a week.

<p>The clash began when the ANNISU-R accused the NSU students of conspiring against the ANNISU-R and beat up some NSU students in Kathmandu’s Thapathali campus on Monday. The NSU in protest, called educational strikes on Tuesday. The student groups of both the unions clashed in various parts of Kathmandu on Tuesday. The NSU students damaged the central office of the ANNISU-R in Kathmandu.

<p>Police arrested some 48 ANNISU-R students on charge of carrying weapons and iron rods during the clash on Tuesday.

<p>The ANNISU-R, in protest of the incident, called a strike in Kathmandu for three hours on Wednesday. The protesters burnt tires and blocked the traffic.

<p>It is common that all political parties in Nepal have their student organizations.