Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Top Scoops

Book Reviews | Gordon Campbell | Scoop News | Wellington Scoop | Community Scoop | Search

 

US Ambassador Instigating Nepal’s Criminal Groups

US Ambassador Instigating Nepal’s Criminal Groups

14 June 2007
by Mohan Nepali,
Kathmandu

The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) on 13 June murdered two Maoist leaders in Rupandehi district. The MJF murdered Binod Pant and Seshmani Lamichhane, both district level Maoist leaders, while going to inspect a dam unilaterally built by India. According to online Independent News Service, the victims were going with journalists and human rights activists to the dam area touching Indian border. The dam for years has been destroying Nepal’s bordering villages and displacing thousands of Nepalis. But the Indian side has never shown any humanitarian sensitivity towards the sufferings of the Nepalese. Analysts observe that the MJF attack on those trying to assert Nepal’s sovereignty implies a psychological threat to all other Nepali citizens who want to defend their nation.

The Forum, though it chants some regional slogans, has not to this day clarified about its mission, vision and ideology to the Nepalis. It began its organized criminal offensives exclusively against Maoists immediately after they entered the national peace process. When the Maoists entered the peace process by depositing its weapons and guerrilla fighters in cantonments
A teacher of Indian origin affiliated to Tribhuwan University expressed his gladness over the emergence of the MJF because he thought it would obliterate the Maoists away from the Terai region.

The MJF murdered one senior district level Maoist leader on June 12 in Saptari district. On March 20, the MJF had murdered 29 Maoist cadres in cold blood Rautahat district. The carnage is globally known as the Gaur massacre.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

The European visitors to Nepal have been expressing their excitement over speedy progress in Nepal’s peace process because both the traditional parties and the insurgent party have been running the country jointly with a view to restructuring the country politically, economically and socially. But more than eight armed groups have threatened to disrupt the ongoing peace process. Almost all of them are based in the Terai region of Nepal. None of those armed groups have demonstrated any political character so far. They have murdered civilians, looted people, and kidnapped children for money.

The MJF leader Upendra Yadav is reportedly working in collaboration with extremist Indian leaders, Nepal’s king Gyanendra and American ambassador to Nepal James F. Moriarty. Moriarty had said that if Maoists can catch smuggled goods and warranted criminals, other groups can also take actions against Maoists. This seems to have a clear purpose of instigating criminal groups. In the meanwhile, diplomatic experts have criticized the American ambassador Moriarty for indulging in Nepali politics by means of his regular political vituperations against those ideologically differing from him. Indeed, ideological intolerance found with an ambassador representing the White House is extremely embarrassing. Equally objectionable is the gross violation of all diplomatic etiquette.

Because of political protection of the MJF by Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian leaders and American Administration, Nepal’s administration does not even accept the information report about murders submitted by the side of victims. One proof of political protection of the MJF by the state is that the MJF has on the one hand been registered in the Election Commission and on the other, it has been conducting guerrilla warfare exclusively against the Maoists who have deposited their weapons and fighters under the monitoring the UN and human rights groups. This implies that the MJF has been used as a tool by all kinds of criminals who fear a new Nepal based on ethics and rule of law. Other parties have little considered the long-term consequences of the ongoing criminalization of Nepali politics.

The MJF has now obviously challenged the historical mass movement of April 2006. After King surrendered to Nepali people, the MJF has been playing a reactionary role against the goal of republic and state restructuring.

If Maoists, who have committed to pursue the path of pluralism, peaceful politics, individual freedom and press freedom, are serially killed by well-protected criminals, and if the state remains deaf to such crimes, Nepalis may still have to go through some more decades of more intense civil war. The preliminary symptoms indicate the possibility of the formation of small terrorist groups led by warlords (mainly feudal lords) like in Afghanistan. Perhaps because of this possibility, most of the Nepalis want the immediate abolition of feudal monarchy that has been fighting to restore its lost paradise. As people’s calculation is based on their experiences and sufferings, it would be wise to follow respect their message.

*********

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Top Scoops Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.