Bandarmude

The members of the eight party alliance, the general public, the international community, and everybody who is concerned about the deteriorating situation in Nepal have gone hoarse demanding that Maoists respect the rule of law and stop taking the law into their own hands. Instead of abating the spree of violence and highhandedness, the Maoists have been emboldened by the apathy and ineptitude of the government to maintain the security situation in the country. The height of highhandedness has been exposed recently when the Maoists' youth wing Young Communist League (YCL) threatened to kill the people who were injured in the worst-ever killing of innocent people by the Maoists during the insurgency, at Bandarmude of Madi Chitwan on June 6, 2005 in an orchestrated landmine blast: 39 people were killed and 72 were injured.

The threat to Madi victims came for their nine-point demand and also for the dispute about the memorial to be erected. The chairman of the Victims Committee Mukti Neupane, vice chairman Krishna Adhikari and two members Sudeep Niure and Shyam Bista have been threatened with death by Maoist cadres for their strong voice against the Maoists, and the demand for compensation and medical treatment among others. The issue of mentioning the Maoists, as being responsible for the incident, in the plaque of the memorial that is being planned to be erected at the blast site has also created a rift between blast victims and local Maoist leaders. The Maoists, as reported, are creating the scene just to avoid mention of their party's name as the culprits for the blast. The cause of the blast is a crucial issue, so without mentioning the name of the perpetrators, there would be no point erecting a memorial.

The Maoists could have utilized Bandarmude as an example of their changed attitude. Instead, they used the issue to prove that the party has not given up threats and violence to terrorize people and suppress voices against them. The YCL cadres have even threatened victims not to contact journalists, which is an example of their unchanged attitude. Even CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Nepal -- who has been talking of a left alliance -- has been compelled to mention that YCL atrocities against hapless people are actually worse than reported. Nepal has come to the conclusion after visiting different districts. And we believe he is right. It is high time Maoists took the complaints against them seriously, and changed their attitude and behavior. The top leadership is turning a deaf ear to the complaints because they think otherwise the party dissenters would win over the violence-loving cadres. However, the Post strongly believes that if they can convince the cadres to behave well, they could become popular and would be able to erase the negative image of their past.

Source: The Kathmandu Post, June 25, 2007