Kathmandu: The Thapa establishment got a major jolt when the insurgents violently attacked the Headquarters of Bhojpur last week and killed scores of the security personnel.
The Bhojpur attack came at a time when the Prime Minister himself had been crying that the insurgents had become pretty weak and that they would be pushed on the wall time permitting. However, this did not happen. On the contrary, the insurgents did exhibit that they were not a spent force still.
The Bhojpur sad incident does tell that the unified security command is yet to understand the strength and the strategic policies acquired of late by the Maoists in order to offer surprises to the former.
What is also being talked in the Nepali academic circle is that the government under Thapa tried to belittle the strength of its declared enemy and consoled itself with the myopic thinking of having already acquired an edge over the military strength of the other camp. This was a Himalayan blunder that Thapa government committed in the recent days.
The fact is that the Maoists had been airing of late that that they will henceforth acquire new strategies that would concentrate their efforts on attacking district headquarters with full force. The government apparently took their would be moves in a different manner and hence the set back in Bhojpur.
The Bhojpur incident also tells that the Maoists are up now to attack such other headquarters that becomes politically and militarily significant for them which ultimately weakens the establishment’s security system. The assumption could be that if the State is attacked from all the possible sides, it would be much easier for them to take control over the district headquarters wherein the state machinery is in strength.
To recall, the Maoists until now have declared scores of their own people’s government in several districts. However, it is an altogether a different matter that the nation’s security forces dismiss such claims advanced by the other camp. But then the stark reality has been that since the remote villages and the districts stand bereft of their “representatives”, the areas thus automatically go in the hands of the insurgents.
Nevertheless, the fact is that the Maoists are every where. They are in the remote villages, in the remote districts, in the urban areas, in the rural areas and needless to say they are very much in the capital district as well.
All that they wish apparently is to corner the establishment with acts of violence here and there so that the state gets nervous and their goals achieved.
What is yet boggling the minds of the intellectuals is that the unified command had apparently received the information that the insurgents were up on attacking Bhojpur or any such other district in the periphery. However, the fact is that with the advance information in hand, the incident took place . What is even more surprising is the fact that around the time the incident took place in Bhojpur, practically all the heads of the security agencies were on leave. What a terrible coincidence indeed? The army sources say that this is being investigated.
Kathmandu is also under the target of the Maoists. This gets reflected from the fact that practically on a daily basis, the Maoists have been exploding gelatines in prime areas of Kathmandu thus creating panic among the Kathmanduites.
Should this mean that lack of coordination among the activities or in the processing of received information in and among the various security agencies is the real issue?
Unsubstantiated reports reveal that the Maoists in thousands from Rolpa, Rukum and Jajarkot have proceeded already on a long-march towards the country’s North-East direction in order to achieve what they call “strategic counter attack”.
If this is true then what could be summarized is that they are in the west and now they wish to show their very presence in the extreme North-East part of the country. Add to this that they have their strong presence in the Terai plains as well.
Should this mean that they wish to encircle the “old regime” and impose a sort of blockade so that the establishment yields to their scheme of things?
The fact is that the Maoists have already declared imposition of blockades in various districts, which is soon to come into effect. If this does happen then what is for sure is that the capital district will have to suffer on many counts.
This is not all. The Maoists have already declared that a three-day bundh will be observed next month around this time. Prior to the Bundh next month, the Maoists plan to attack those commercial enterprises which has the investment from the Rana and Shaha families.
Putting it all together, what could be concluded is that the insurgents are not yet a spent force; are in a mood to go in for an endless fight with the state; and that the insurgency is politically benefiting from the differences that exists in between the King and the political parties.