E-Kantipur

KAVRE, JUL 05 -

Chhoyasang Lama was carrying milk to a dairy when a clash erupted between the erstwhile Royal Nepal Army and then CPN (Maoist) rebels, at Mainadanda in Ghartichhap VDC in the district in 2004.

The Maoists were hiding at the top of a hill while the army personnel were patrolling just below them, said Chhoyasang. Upon learning of the army’s presence, the Maoist combatants began firing and hurling bombs. Then, a full-fledged battle broke out.

Chhoyasang, who witnessed the firefight first hand, managed to escape and save himself. But he returned to Ghartichhap when the fight had ended and helped dispose of the scattered corpses.

“I buried 10 Maoist corpses that the rebels failed to carry off with them,” said the 41-year-old. Eight army men were also killed in the battle, he said.

During the insurgency years, local people had been put to pressure from both the state and Maoist sides.

“Both the Maoists and the army would grill and torture us, accusing us of spying on them,” said Chhoysang, adding that for the 10 years of conflict they lived a hellish life. Sanjib Lama of Ghartichhap VDC-7 also recounted the woes of living through a civil war. “The Maoists would take locals with them on the pretext of a programme and then force them to go to war. The Maoist leaders would stay behind while local people went to the front line,” said Sanjib. “The Maoists would physically and mentally torture people who were against their ideology,” said Dhan Bahadur Astani Magar, Nepali Congress president in the VDC.

Many people suffered during the insurgency, he said. “I wish such incidents do not happen again.” 

Since then, the Maoists have signed a peace accord, joined mainstream politics and are now a major political party, bringing a much needed sense of peace and relief to those who suffered the brunt of the insurgency.

However, many people who were displaced during the decade-long insurgency have yet to return to their villages.

Now, frequent threats from the newly-formed CPN-Maoist and its Chairman Mohan Baidya about starting a new ‘people’s war’ have terrified local people.

“I have heard that a new people’s war might begin again. We wish this wouldn’t happen. We cannot tolerate it,” said local resident Chalan Singh Lama.

Rohit Lama, UCPN (Maoist) in-charge of Area No 6, said the Maoists had left the past behind and were heading towards social and development works in collaboration with all other political parties.

Posted on: 2012-07-05 08:27

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