Let’s call a spade a spade here: This case deserves police investigation, for any life is precious and whoever violates the sanctity of life should be brought to book. But that in no way justifies a banda—much less the humiliation of common people. We want to remind the Maoists of several past incidents and ask some critical questions in the hope that their leadership will listen and take heed. There are several proven cases of cold-blooded murder committed by the Maoists—those of Ram Hari Shrestha at a Maoist cantonment and of UML cadre Prachanda Thaiba are two that hogged media headlines and evoked national outcry— but in none of these cases did the Maoists take action against the suspects or cooperate with law enforcement authorities to nab the guilty. With what moral standing then are the Maoists enforcing their latest banda to protest the dubious death of one of their cadre? Has Nepal become an Orwellian Animal Farm where some (read Maoists) are more equal than others? A party that never believed in the sanctity of life and killed thousands of innocents during the armed rebellion should be the last to be calling a Nepal banda to protest the death of one party cadre.
We call on the political parties, civil society leaders, professional bodies and ethnic organizations to seriously consider banning the banda altogether as a political tool. Bandas have done nobody any good and only humiliated the people and also dampened their faith in the country’s future. Someone must take the initiative—be it one of the political parties, civil society leaders or professionals— and launch a movement for consensus to end the banda culture so that people can cling to the belief that something good can still happen in Nepal. Otherwise, the common man will see us - that includes the media - as a self-serving, good for nothing bunch.
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