Hari Bansh Jha, Hinduism Today Correspondent, Kathmandu
KATHMANDU, NEPAL, September 11, 2006: Nepal is passing through the most critical phase in its history of 238 years. Ever since the internal conflict erupted in the country in 1996, 15,000 people have been killed. Nearly 270,000 people are believed to have been displaced and 1.5 million youth have been forced to migrate to various countries for security and economic opportunity. Additionally 1,500 Village Development Committee (VDC) buildings have been partially or completely destroyed along with a number of rural bridges, schools, communication installations, district level government offices, police posts and private properties have been damaged. During the peoples’ movement of April 2006, the country was able to restore peace, however, it has been an uneasy one. During this time the Seven Party Alliance and the Nepal Communist Party (NCP-Maoist) were able to regain most of the peoples’ power that had been lost to the monarchy and the Nepalese parliament was restored. It is now the peoples’ representatives who are in charge of running the government and the country.
Many believe that the present phase of “no war” and “no peace” in the country, in which open warfare has ceased to exist, is unpredictable. The internal situation of the country during this period is tense with opportunities of large scale violence to erupt once again.
Fundamental issues like arms management are unresolved, although the United Nations (UN) has been invited to mediate. The UN representative does not adequately know what it has to deliver in the absence of clear-cut mandate, which ought to have been given by the concerned groups. The government wants the Maoists to surrender the arms to facilitate the process of Constituent Assembly Elections for which it is committed. However, the Maoists want several changes in the political structure to take place before they surrender the arms.
The country obviously appears to be at a cross roads, and the opportunity for violence among the various groups is still a possibility. But, careful handling of the situation could help restore peace. The appeal made by the Inter Religious Council (IRC) in Nepal to the Seven Party Alliance, the NCP (Maoist) and the Government of Nepal (GON) to implement, in letter and spirit, all the understandings/agreements developed among them – including the 12-point agreement, 5-point understanding and the 25-point code of conduct, appears to be most timely and crucial.
The IRC is an NGO and was established in Nepal two years ago by the representatives of all major religious groups – Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and The Bonn Act for Conflict Mediation and Peace Building. Since the people in Nepal are mostly religious-minded, the appeal made by the religious leaders for the restoration of sustainable peace in the country should not go unnoticed. As per the 2001 Census Report, of the total population of the country of nearly 23 million, the Hindus constitute 80.6 per cent followed by Buddhists at 10.7 per cent, Muslims at 4.2 per cent, Kirat, 3.4 per cent and Christian, 0.5 per cent.