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Strike has ‘jeopardised’ peace
KATHMANDU, DEC 20 - The government has said the violence that occurred during the first day of the UCPN (Maoist) nationwide strike will pose a serious threat to the ongoing peace process. A high-level meeting convened by Home Minister Bhim Rawal, which included Cabinet ministers and police officials, on Sunday evening said that the Maoist banda had breached the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
“The nature of violent activities carried out by Maoist activists today (Sunday) is a breach of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” Home Minister Rawal told reporters after the two-hour-long meeting. “The intensification of such acts will put the peace process in peril.” He said the security forces exercised maximum restraint in the face of Maoist provocation.
“I appeal to the Maoists to withdraw their nationwide strike,” said Rawal. “It’s time to focus on taking the peace process to a logical end and drafting the statute within the stipulated time.”
On the other hand, Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai accused the government of acting against the Interim Constitution by using excessive force against the demonstrators and said the three-day banda would continue. He demanded the release of
Maoist supporters taken into custody and free treatment for the injured.
“Instead of addressing the genuine concerns of the people, the government wants to remain in power by suppressing the demonstration with guns and sticks,” reads the statement issued by Bhattarai on behalf of the United National People’s Movement-Nepal. “It is an undemocratic exercise and the violation of people’s fundamental right to peaceful assembly.”
The ruling Nepali Congress has also come out strongly against the banda, which it said was carried out despite NC and various other parties’ call for withdrawal. “The Maoist agitation is against the spirit of the CPA. The banda has inconvinienced the general public and the attacks against DSP Dilip Chudhary, journalists, and public vehicles show that the Maoists scaled up their violence,” said NC’s Chief Secretary Ram Chandra Pokharel. “We condemn these incidents and ask the Maoists to immediately stop them.”
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