Price of conflict costing state in excess of Rs. 2.5 billion

The Himalayan Times - Price of conflict costing state in excess of Rs. 2.5 billion - Detail News

Added At: 2011-03-31 6:07 PM

Last Updated At: 2011-03-31 6:07 PM

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LEKHANATH PANDEY

KATHMANDU: As the saying goes, conflict comes at a cost. Nepal’s post-conflict approach to assuage the decade-long conflict-victims reflects it truly.

The state coffers have already been depleted by at least Rs. 2.5 billion just to give a nominal relief package to some of the thousands of victims of the Maoist insurgency, and the cost continues to rise.

Data prepared by the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR) showed that it has delivered an amount of Rs. 1.4 billion as relief to the kin and kith of 14,064 people who died during the rebellion. It is yet to allocate relief to the remaining 2655 people who suffered the same fate. It means that the state would have to pay at least another Rs. 265 million to the remaining victims’ families.

Relief and Rehabilitation Unit at the MoPR has set a criterion of allocating Rs. 100,000 to the family of every single person killed during the conflict. A total of 16,719 people have been reported dead in the conflict.

“We have already sent necessary relief fund of 14,064 deceased persons to District Administrative Offices concerned to provide relief to their families,” said RRB Division Chief at MoPR Ganesh Prasad Upadhaya. “The remaining will soon get the relief package.”

The relief package costs the state more than Rs. 1 billion for those affected by the conflict, including disabled, disappeared, abducted, dependents, including children and widows. Only 29,000 internally displaced persons out of 78,675 have received nominal relief and compensation from the government and have been resettled in their own place. It has already cost the state at least Rs. 340 million, and the remaining two thirds will certainly cost nearly twice the amount.

At least Rs. 100 million has been used as compensation for some 11,775 cases of physical infrastructure destroyed. Likewise, Rs. 130 million has been expended as relief to the kith and kin of 1302 people who disappeared. The amount has been mobilised through Nepal Peace Trust Fund, a donor-funded Trust to address the post-conflict relief and rehabilitation issues.

An account of the victims in different categories had been prepared by the RRU, based in MoPR, with the help of inter-governmental agencies and the relief fund has been distributed through the local channel. Upadhaya, however, said that RRU had faced the challenge of identifying the true victims of the conflict.

In addition to the relief package, a whopping 5,560 physical infrastructure had been destroyed during the conflict. Only 1,968 has been rebuilt at a cost of more than Rs. 3.7 billion from the coffers.

Nepal revises civil war death toll to 17,265+

Mar 29 07:55 AM US/Eastern

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KATHMANDU, March 29 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The Nepalese government said Tuesday the death toll from the country's 10-year civil war was almost 1,000 people more than the figure released two years ago.The government said the conflict has left 17,265 people dead, citing figures compiled by an official taskforce responsible for ascertaining the loss of life and property during the Communist insurgency.
In 2009, the government put the death toll at 16,278.
The conflict, which ended in 2006, has left an additional 1,302 people missing, 4,305 disabled and 78,675 displaced, according to Peace Ministry data.
Nepal's Maoists fought an armed insurgency demanding a new Constitution and an end to the monarchy.
The Constituent Assembly, elected in 2008, abolished the country's monarchy the same year, while the Maoists emerged as the country's biggest political force.
A new Constitution has yet to be written, largely because of a power struggle that led to the formation of three governments in as many years.
The Constituent Assembly is supposed to promulgate a new Constitution by May 28.

Progress in Constitution drafting work remains slow, and Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, who was elected by parliament on Feb. 3, has yet to announce a full Cabinet.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9M8SH781&show_article=1

Govt calls armed outfits for talks

Added At:  2011-03-29 11:51 PM  

Last Updated At: 2011-03-30 11:51 PM

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HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Amid serial blasts that gripped the Tarai in the past few days, the government today formally invited armed outfits operating mostly in Tarai districts, for talks.

The government, however, made it clear it would sit at the table only with those groups that are political in nature.

Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Barsha Man Pun said some outfits operating in the Tarai and eastern hill districts had already approached it for talks.

“The government sits for talks only with groups having political nature,” Pun said at a press conference, insisting that groups involved in criminal activities would not be spared.

Criminal acts like murder, abduction, and extortion, are the biggest security challenges in the area bordering the Tarai and eastern hill districts. Government data shows as many as 100 armed groups active there, many of them criminal.

In the last four days, four blasts were reported in various districts — Rautahat, Banke Rupandehi and Kavre — which police claim were perpetrated by armed outfits.

At least one person died and dozens of others were injured in these incidents.

Asked who was responsible for the recent blasts, Minister Pun said investigations were under way in this regard. He, however, did not give details about progress in the investigation, saying it was out of his jurisdiction.

Pun did not disclose which groups had approached the government for talks, saying the “dialogue would be kept secret until it bore fruit”.

Earlier, the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led coalition government had held talks with 22 groups and had forged at least two dozen agreements with them, according to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR)

During the press meet, he presented details of people who were killed, abducted, disappeared and displaced during the decade-long armed rebellion and the figures of those who did not get relief package from the state.

According to the MoPR report, family members of 1,444 out of 17,265 people who died during the conflict were yet to get relief from the state. The report says the state would provide relief to family members of 2,283 conflict victims in the running fiscal. Among the 78,675 displaced persons, almost two third, 50,675 are yet to be resettled in their own homes, according to the report.

Pun also presented a whopping figure of 5,560 physical infrastructure destroyed by the conflict. Only 1,968 have been reconstructed at a cost of more than 3.7 billion rupees from the state coffers. Around 981 police posts destroyed during the rebellion were constructed with the Nepal Peace Trust Fund. He informed that the stalled process of distributing allowance to Maoist PLA combatants had resumed.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/rssReference.php?headline=Govt+calls+armed+outfits+for+talks&NewsID=281892

SC respite for Maoist lawmaker

EKANTIPUR REPORT

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KATHMANDU, DEC 13 -

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday issued an interim order, asking police not to arrest Maoist lawmaker from Okhaldhunga Keshav Rai until the defendant produces written answers before the court.

A single bench of justice Abadesh Kumar Yadhav issued the order to this effect responding to the writ field by Rai on Wednesday. In his writ, Rai had demanded intervention in the arrest warrant against him in connection with a murder case that took place five years ago.

On July 2 this year, Okhaldhunga District Court had issued an arrest warrant for Rai on the charge of killing Nepali Congress cadre Padam Bahaur Tamang on Aug. 3, 2005. It had ordered police to produce Rai before the court within 70 days.

Rai, in his writ, argues that the arrest warrant for his arrest is against the norms of the Interim Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which have proposed special transitional provisions such as Truth and Reconciliation Commission to deal with cases that took place during the decade-long conflict period. After SC's interim order, Rai said the decision fell in line with the Interim Constitution and CPA.

Posted on: 2010-12-14 03:46

http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullTodays.php?headline=Khumbuwan's+peaceful+plan+for+separate+state&NewsID=269379

११ वर्षमा आयो छोराको खबर

• युद्धमा मारिएको घटना माओवादीले समेत लुकाएछ

कृष्ण आचार्य

पालुङटार -गोरखा, मंसिर ६ -
माओवादी विस्तारित बैठक पालुङटारमा नभएको भए ११ वर्षअघि बेपत्ता भएका विकास गन्धर्वकी आमाले वर्षौं सम्म पनि छोराको अवस्था सायदै थाहा पाउँथिन् । उनका लागि 'माओवादी प्लेनम'

छोराको खबर लिएर आउने 'हुलाकी' पो बन्यो ।

बैठकमा सहभागी हुन आएका प्रतिनिधिबाट समुन्द्राकुमारीले बेपत्ता छोराबारे थाहा पाइन् तर त्यो खबर दुःखद थियो । छिमेकी घरमा बसेका बैठक माओवादी प्लेनम प्रतिनिधि अर्जुन लिम्बूले गोरखाका गन्धर्व थरका साथीबारे कुरा गरे र फोटो देखाए । त्यो फोटो विकासको थियो ।

नौ महिना गर्भमा राखेर जन्माई/हुर्काएको छोराको मृत्युको खबर कसरी पो सहन सक्छिन् आमाले ? जब अर्जुनले आफूसँगै युद्धमा गएका विकास सहिद बनेको बताए तत्कालै समुन्द्राकुमारी बेहोस भइन् । शनिबार साँझ बेहोस भएर अस्पतालमा उपचार गराई घर फर्केकी समुन्द्राले कान्तिपुरसँग भनिन्, 'जुन कुरा वर्षौंदेखि मलाई माओवादी नेताले भनेनन् । सायद अहिले यहाँ बैठक नभएको भए छोराको अवस्थाबारे थाहा नपाई मर्थे पो कि !' जेहोस् उनले छोराको मृत्यु भएको छ वर्षपछि भए पनि थाहा पाइन् ।

'कैयौंपल्ट माओवादी पार्टीलाई कहाँ छ भनेर सोधें । उनीहरूले न त मेरो छोराबारे जानकारी दिए, न बेपत्ताको सूचीमा नै राखे,' छोरा बितेको खबरपछि शनिबार साँझयता भोकै रहेकी उनले रुँदै भनिन्, 'श्रीमान्ले छाडेको २० वर्ष भयो, बुढेसकालको सहारा त्यही एउटा छोरा थियो । आउँछ भन्ने आशा पालेर बसेकी थिएँ तर..!' घर परिवार र आफन्तमा यतिखेर रुवाबासी छ ।

विकास कक्षा ८ मा पढ्दै गर्दा १४ वर्षको उमेरमा ०५६ सालमा माओवादी बनी घरबाट निस्केका रहेछन् । समुन्द्राकुमारी एक छोरी र आमाका साथ पालुङटार-९ मा अर्काको घरमा बस्दै आएकी

छन् । नातिको मृत्युको खबरले समुन्द्राकी आमासमेत अचेत अवस्थामा छिन् । दुवैलाई सामान्य उपचारपछि घर ल्याइएको छ ।

विकास ०६१ मा भोजपुरको झोवापोखरीको सशस्त्र प्रहरीको भिडन्तमा सहिद बनेका रहेछन् । भिडन्तमा पर्दा सेक्सन भाइस कमान्डर थिए रे । उनको छाती र पेटमा गोली लागी मृत्यु भएको सँगै युद्ध लडेका अर्जुनले जानकारी दिए । 'विकासको परिवारलाई थाहा दिने वा नदिने भन्ने हाम्रो योजना थिएन । अहिले मलाई राखिएको घर पनि गन्धर्व थरको भएकाले कुरा निस्किएको हो,' लिम्बूवान राज्य समितिका सदस्य उनले भने, 'उनको घर र ठेगाना थाहा नभएर त्यतिबेला हामीले जाकारी गराएका थिएनौं । अहिले जसरी थाहा भयो, यो अकल्पनीय संयोग हो ।' विकासबारेमा माओवादी तथा राज्य पक्षले कतै पनि तथ्यांक राखेको देखिएको छैन ।

'आफन्त भन्ने कोही पनि छैन । एक दिन म आउँछु भनेर गएको छोरा फर्केन,' भावविह्वल समुन्द्राले भनिन्, 'माइती पनि छैनन् । आमालाई आफैंले पाल्दै आएकी छु । दाजुभाइले वास्ता गर्दैनन् । अब कसरी बाँच्ने हो ?' उनीहरू चर्चले बनाइदिएको घरमा बस्दै आएका छन् । गन्धर्व परिवारको जग्गासमेत छैन ।


प्रकाशित मिति: २०६७ मंसिर ७ ०९:३४

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