A leading human rights activist and an observer of the current peace talks between the government and the Maoists has expressed concern over the un-systematic peace process
Padma Ratna Tuladhar

Padma Ratna Tuladhar
(File photo)

Speaking at a program in the capital, Padma Ratna Tuladhar, who was a facilitator of the government-Maoist peace talks in 2001 and 2003, pointed out the need to form a standing peace council at the center and peace committees at district levels by involving all actors in order to ensure smooth progress of peace talks.

“Till now, we have seen that talks between PM Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chairman Prachanda has been able to break deadlocks. What if, they, too, cannot break deadlocks in future? We must have such peace committees to overcome impasses likely to crop up in future,” Tuladhar said, at a program organized to launch a book report “Nepalese Private Sector: Waking Up To Conflict.”

He also complained that the current peace process was ignoring other smaller parties. “There are no parties except the seven party alliance,” he said.

Tuladhar lamented that neither the government nor the Maoists have been able to define the role of ‘observers’ in the peace process. “We have heard about summit meeting through media. We have not been informed about it,” he said.

Speaking about the political issues, Tuladhar said he failed to understand how everything will be resolved once the constituent assembly is held or once the summit meeting is held. “The Maoists have launched their movement based on political issues and philosophy. So, it is difficult to say how simple meetings could resolve the whole thing.”

Meanwhile, the report “Nepalese Private Sector: Waking Up To Conflict” which is authored by Ameet Dhakal details the interface between business community and conflict in the country. It talks about the reasons why conflict affected business and how the latter are coping with it. The report prepared with the help of International Alert states that domestic private sector can and should play constructive role in conflict management and peace building.