Calling for Peace

Peace echo from strange quarters in Nepal--Dr I Arul Aram

‘Shangrila’ – the heaven of peace – is stained with blood, the blood of its heavenly beings. Yes, the traditionally peaceful Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal is facing with a civil war for a decade now. About 13,000 people have been killed so far. Voices of peace start echoing from strange quarters as well. One such is that of Dr Govinda Prasad Thapa, who recently retired as Additional Inspector General of Police in Nepal. Talking at the School of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS) in London in March 2006 under the auspices of the London Chhalphal, the ex-police officer said the Maoists struggle had ruined Nepal. “The issue should not be rejected but addressed. We should take conflict in a positive way. Conflict of any magnitude can bemanaged, if it is not rejected. Socio-economic injustice and exclusion of communities are the fundamental problems of Nepal. We have to address them before the situation gets out of hand.”The ex-police officer, who is influential enough to have a private audience with the King, now wears a cloak of a human rights activist. But he does not wish to be branded as such, lest he is considered partisanin the Nepali sense! He says the conflict has not only marred development but also made the state ineffective in ensuring safety, security and justice to its citizens.The conflict has resulted in the migration of thousands of people, besides inflicting heavy casualties. And, men are kidnapped, women are raped, people trafficked for flesh trade or human organs, children are recruited as child soldiers, gun culture is widely prevalent, corruption is rampant, socio-cultural fabric destroyed, economy is shattered, and democracy is vandalised. Dr Thapa says that the rejection of conflict results in trying to wipe out the parties to the conflict and going for an all-out offensive to gain control over the situation. Alternatively, the much better approach is to accept the dynamics of conflict and move toward a peaceful resolution. The use of arms and ammunition cannot result in a permanent solution. At best, it can do a patchwork. People with arms feel more powerful and they exercise their power by killing innocent people as well. The British legacy of having the police and the military for protecting the rulers, and not the people, continues. “This mindset has to change.”Peace expertise needed. The situation is complicated, says Dr Thapa. Not that the government has not tried out non-violent means of conflict resolution. But peace talks failed because of the lack of expertise. “We do not know the ways to negotiate or we were not serious about the talks. In fact, no notes have been taken during the last two peace talks. We do not know how to carry on a dialogue or to take notes. The United Nations or some friendly government should come forward to help us in gaining expertise in peace negotiations.”Nepal’s main political parties and civil society have urged the government to take part in a mutual ceasefire to decrease the conflict’s toll on civilians and start peace talks. The government rejected the Maoist’s ceasefire, saying the Maoists were using it to prepare for an intensified fight. On 2 January 2006, the Maoists ended its one-sided ceasefire and clashes have returned to pre-ceasefire levels. The government should declare a ceasefire. It did not responded positively to the four-month ceasefire of Maoists. Somehow the government took a different view of the situation. But no definite policy has been set forth. No written agenda or common grounds to channelise the conflict towards peace have been worked out. For instance, about constituent assembly, no one knows what its size and shape should be. No paper workhas been done. No documents are there to base the discussion. There is no vision, laments Dr Thapa.
Civil society should be strengthened as it plays amajor role in development at the grassroots. If the local communities develop, people would gain the capacity to manage their problems. Empowerment of local communities and development are an anti-dote to civil unrest. Coordination even within the government framework is lacking. The army and the police do not coordinate.Home and Defence Ministries function separately. If any one Minister is entrusted with the job of coordination, this will not happen. Lack of coordination between two armed wings leads to erratic violence which needs to be avoided, says Dr Thapa. Asked whether the morale of the police is deteriorating, Dr Thapa says ‘yes’. “The police should have been given an important role in counter insurgency operations as they who have intelligence of remote areas. Whenever there was an attack on police stations, reinforcements should have been sent rather than withdrawing the already available force. Becauseof the wrong decision to withdraw the police from certain remote areas, the government no more has access to intelligence in certain pockets. Declaring a state of emergency on 1 February 2005, the King had promised to (1) usher in peace, (2) restore democracy, (3) control corruption and (4) accelerate development. But these did not take effect. The King cannot do all these as a single man. “Without consolidating all actors in the conflict, the King will not be able to fulfil his promises, says Dr. Thapa.
(The writer is a Visiting Research Scholar at theLondon School of Economics and volunteer with PeaceBrigades International. He may be reached at i.a.aram(at) lse.ac.uk)

Utter failure

1.2.2006. The maoists have again attacked Palpa district police and army headquarters. The security forces do not have intelligence. They have no brain to fight with the guerillas. Utter State failure.

Poor people dying

14 Jan 2006. Maoists attacked two police out posts in Kathmandu. 12 police persons died. Poor people are dying because of the worst form of governance and selfish politics of all political forces in Nepal.

Stand on your feet

One should not be carried away by the whiffs and moods of others. We should not be the toy for others' amusement.People respond to promises and threats. One has to attain capacities--the power-- to promise or threaten. There are, of course, two ways of getting those capacities or power--peaceful or bloodshed. We all know by now that violence does even the justice unjustly. It is during the hours of frustration that one commits more serious mistakes. Therefore there is a need for caution and wisdom to pursue strategically, tactically and technically with speed(we are too slow to act by ourselves and bank heavily on others to do something for us).

Citizens' role in security policy making

25 Dec 2005. Nepal police inaugurated the Post Graduate Diploma in Police Science course today. In fact this is a basic training course designed for fresh inspectors which has been recently endorsed by Tribhuvan University for Diploma level certificate. It could be successful only after some years of efforts on our parts and cooperation of the University family. With the notion that we need to educate citizens in the issues of crime and security management, Nepal police had taken initiatives (proposal for Master’s Degree in Police Science was forwarded to ministry of home through police headquarters by National Police Academy—at that time I was the Director) in 2058 BS (2001AD) to establish a center where matters of crime and security management could be dealt institutionally. In countries where major decisions pertaining to crime and security management—at the level of personal or national-- are prominently dominated by security agencies, such programs are necessary to involve citizen’s participation in policy making and cooperation in implementation. I am of the view that this program should be open for outsiders also. This will have multiple impacts— at individual, institutional and national level. I also dream of having a Police University in coming years—like they have in other countries.

Dedication for mankind

14.12.2005. I attended the marriage ceremony of one of the orphan girls nursed, brought up, educated and solemnized as bride by Indira Rana Magar, Chair person of Prisoners Assistance Nepal. This girl was abandoned by her parents. This organization has been rescuing innocent children from prisons who had to live inside the jails with their convicted parents with out their own faults. Indira had established this organization five years ago. PA Nepal’s mission is to rid prisoners of unnecessary suffering and hardship, in particular the suffering experienced by innocent children and prisoners who are poor and disadvantaged. It wants to help transform prisons into places that work to help prisoners build worthwhile and rewarding futures.

There are fifty five children in her home at present. She is the mother of all these children. Indira was recently awarded Ashoka Fellowship for her dedication and devotion to her love and care for helpless children. She was also awarded Top Fifty Women of Nepal Award. She is also running a primary school for poor and orphan children. Her organization is entirely dependent on the donations of friends and supporters- not on any INGO. Looking at her determination, hard work and dedication, I felt myself very much selfish and petite in front of this great lady who has sacrificed her happiness and whole life for the sake of poor and needy children. My regards and best wishes to such a leader.

Sani Sherpa committed suicide

13 Nov. 2005. Sani Sherpa, 27 years old woman, committed suicide few hours ago here in Kathmandu. She committed suicide out of utter poverty and frustration. She had two children, one two year old girl and the other one a five days old boy baby. Now the baby is sent to the hospital and the girl child is with the police. Her husband had apparently abandoned her with her fate. She was looked after by her neighbors. It is unfortunate that despite of many social organizations to help poor woman like Sani, such incidents keep on happening.