By C. G. Shrestha

The Global war on terrorism appears to be an American and British campaign to address terrorism against their land and people, calling on the world to support their fight against the terrorists. American foreign policy designed to muster international support for their fight against terrorism appears to be limited to bumper stickers with campaigns such as “You’re with us or with them” and “smoking them out” the famous/infamous terminology US President George W. Bush used when he said American would take out the terrorists in Afghanistan following the 9/11 terror attacks in New York. It appears that American policy is clear on terrorism when it comes to their own interest and the interest of weaker and smaller nations where they have little interest; there will be no compromise when it comes to George Bush’s war on terror and extremism. They will not compromise and negotiate but will ask others to do so. Democracy, civil liberties and human rights will become second best if they need the support of other countries, but will be a priority and a strong condition for Nepal as its leadership wants Washington’s support to fight the terrorists. The only consolation Nepal has from the Americans in its fight against terrorism is moral support; declaring the Maoists a terrorist organisation.

The British now know the pains of terrorism caused to their people following the London tube bombings in July this year. The bombings in the tubes re-enforced Prime Minister Tony Blair’s resolve to fight terrorism to protect the lives of its citizens. Individuals who caused terror on innocent British lives instantaneously became terrorists, but the British government’s representative in Nepal finds it hard to see an organisation, which has killed thousands of innocent civilians, political party activists and abducted school children as part of their indoctrination of extreme communist values as terrorist.

It appears that global war against terrorism is limited to American and western interests only as we ordinary Nepalese have been forced to witness. The committed supplies of arms by the United States and the British government to fight against terror perpetrated on innocent children, civilians and political party activists in Nepal have failed to arrive in the name of setting condition for democracy, human rights and civil liberties. Are we not witnessing double and triple standards on issues of terrorism and democracy to suite American interests since 9/11? Why are we forced to negotiate with terrorists when countries in the west have strict policies not to negotiate?

Who will be better informed and conscious than the Americans and the British of the motives of terror organizations whose belief systems are based on violence, causing terror and attacking vulnerable and innocent people and public utilities? Terror for the Americans and the British or the Indians in Kashmir in the north and states in the northeast is no different than what we Nepalese face each day of our lives. The families of soldiers, their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters do not know if they will see the day of light tomorrow due to the fear and terror instilled on them because their husbands, sons and brothers choose to protect this nation. Is it hard for the International community to see how terrorism has taken its cruelest and inhumane form in Nepal or do they choose to discount Nepal from the “Global War on Terror”? Where are the international champions and leaders of this so called global war on terror in Nepal?

Parties’ silence

But how can we as a fractured nation expect much help from the international community when responsible political forces choose to sit across the negotiating table with terrorist outfits who continue to terrorize and kill the same people who voted for them. How can we as a nation expect others to help us when we are inept to even raise one unified voice against terrorists who are bent on destroying the state? The terrorists have been operating without impunity for the last ten years denying people’s right to live and work. More than twelve thousand Nepalese (innocent civilians, children, security personal and political party activists and terrorists) have been killed, and thousands of helpless civilians have been displaced from the social and cultural fabric of their homes and once peaceful villages.

Since the Maoist war against the state and its people started more than a decade ago, all political parties when they were either in the government or supported it from outside in the presence of parliament or in its absence have declared the Maoists as terrorists. And they were right to do so. The break down of three rounds of talks, following the unilateral decision by the Maoists to pull out of dialogue has aggravated the political and security situation in the country. In recent months, the Maoists have become brutal amidst mounting pressure from the common people and the state’s security mechanism. They have viciously targeted their terror attacks on innocent civilians such as the incident in Chitwan when they blew up a passenger bus killing 38 people, the killing of six children and women in Kailali and forcing industries to close down and burning down two biggest spinning mills Reliance and Jyoti Spinning Mills which directly employed more than four thousand people.

Despite these terror attacks on civilians and the country’s economic infrastructure, the political parties do not see the Maoists as a terrorist outfit anymore but see them as a political force to be reconciled with because they are not represented in the government. All political parties when they were in government branded the Maoists a terrorist outfit and issued Red Corner notices against its leadership to Interpol. But the people who have been victims of Maoist terror, violence, murder and destruction find it hard to accept that political parties want to partner with the terrorists on behalf of the people whose lives have been shattered by the terrorists. Where is justice for the people from the parties who are supposed represent them? Today, the common people feel they need to fend and help themselves against the terrorists who continue to perpetrate terror on their everyday lives. This has forced the Nepalese citizens to feel that political parties have distanced themselves from the common people’s fear and fight against terrorism.