Sunday, February 4, 2007

Nepal: Problems of Madhesh can be resolved addressing demands of Madheshis

Is the Nepalese Maoist Party Chairman in favor of military solution to the Terai unrest? Kantipur media reports, on Thursday during a press meet, Prachanda the supreme of the Maoist Party suggested a joint military operation of the Nepal Army and his PLA to control the violent demonstrations in the region.

There are many people in Nepal who believe that the Maoists seek solutions to every problem through guns, which is impossible. The Chairman’s suggestion is a testimony to conform their convictions.

What can we make out of Prachanda’s suggestion to suppress the Terai movement, which is supposedly for more democratic rights? Some critics labeled the Maoist suggestion as "militant excess" and can lead to further escalation of the violence.

However, the violence in the Terai region has started after a Maoists cadre shot a peaceful nonviolence protester. Since then most of the violence atrocities have been committed either by the Maoists splinters or the state security forces.

In the mean time various party leaders and locals have criticized Chairman Prachanda' s comment to deploy military to resolve the unrest in Terai

Joining the rows of the critics Nepali Congress leader Dr. Ram Baran Yadav was of the view that Prachanda’s irresponsible comment would only fuel the anger of already agitated Madheshi community.

Likewise, Nepali Congress-Democratic leader Bimelandra Nidhi from Janakpur said that Prachanda's comment was against the eight party agreements. "I will be raising this issue within the eight party alliances," Nidhi added that the notion of suppressing the Madheshi movement would be counterproductive to the nation.

Slamming Prachanda's recent comment as "objectionable", CPN-UML central member and Janakpur zone in-charge Ramchandra Jha commented that Prachanda's controversial statement only went to publicise the CPN-M's attitude of Madhesh.

However, it is observed the process of fishing in the troubled waters has begun. A lot of activities in the neighboring Bihar- an Indian state have fueled the violence in the Nepalese Terai region.

The Bihar government’s security measures to stop the flow of traffic transporting fuel and other essential necessities are also becoming counterproductive because they just add up to the misery of the innocent people. This will surly not help to calm down the agitated population.

Still time has not yet passed. Leaders in Nepal from every community should think very coolly. This spiral effect of this ongoing agitation can lead to the catastrophic event, the end of Nepal’s existence.

Problems of Madhesh can only be resolved by addressing the demands of the Madheshi people, not by suppressing them with guns and politicizing each and every positive move for petty group interest