Meaningful dialogue could avert the impending crisis!

June 27, 2001
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Kathmandu: How the entire political parties in opposition treat the fresh re-introduction of the Armed Police Force bill will also determine the tenure of Prime Minister Koirala in the current prestigious chair.

To recall, the same bill had been brought through the use of Royal Ordinance a day prior to the beginning of the previous session could not get through the parliament due to the vehement opposition and havoc created by the opposition then. This ultimately resulted in the collapse of the said bill because it could not take the form of law within sixty days of its announcement through Royal Ordinance.

The opposition maintained then that instead of bringing into effect the said bill aimed at containing the threats of the Maoists, the government should initiate meaningful dialogues with the insurgents.

However, the government rejected the offer for such dialogues with the insurgents, which were facilitated by some HR activists. However, the HR activists must continue their serious efforts aimed at bringing both to the negotiation tables.

The reintroduction of the same bill amply speaks the mind of the government vis a vis the Maoists. This also means that the Koirala regime would prefer guns and bullets instead of initiation of the talks with the Maoists in order to ease the disturbed environment of the country.

Things stand apparently changed from bad to worse after the sudden and unimaginable killing of King Birendra on June 1, 2001.

Deliberate or otherwise the Maoists do not believe the theory that late King Dipendra was the real killer who wiped out his own family and other relatives on the fateful evening of June 1 and appear hesitant in accepting the compilations of the CJ commission which amply hints that it was King Dipendra, then Crown Prince, to have committed this ghastly killing.

High placed intellectuals opine that the Maoists appear to be in a mood to cash in on the current volatile situation of the country since the killing of late King Birendra. In the process, the insurgents have stepped up their activities in the eastern parts of the country more specifically in Prime Minister own hometown district.

Reliable sources say that the Security Council, which met last Saturday, decided to proceed with the Integrated Development project as envisaged. This perhaps also means that H.M.King Gyanendra will offer his green signal for the deployment of the Military men aimed at containing the threats of the insurgents and concurrently for the mobilization of the army in developmental activities in the troubled districts in the western region. However, this remains to be substantiated by the government.

Much will depend on how the opposition takes up the issue this session regarding the mobilization of the army to the Maoists affected districts. If the mood of the opposition remain the same as exhibited in the previous session, then the results are obviously clear.

In the mean time, the Maoists have stated that they would initiate activities aimed against the government the whole of this Nepali month. The activities include lectures, wall paintings, pamphleteering and burning of the new public security regulations in various parts of the nation whose climax would be yet another Nepal Bundh scheduled for July 12 next month.

This means that a determined government and the Maoists both will confront each other resulting in the emergence of a frightening situation in the country.

Intellectuals opine that the impending fierce tussle could be averted provided wisdom prevailed on both the sides and both give preference to dialogue.