Discharge of disqualified combatants starts

DUDHAULI, Jan 7: The overdue process of discharging disqualified Maoist combatants has finally begun. On Thursday, 372 disqualified Maoists of the Sindhuli-based Dudhauli cantonment were discharged. The government gave each of them Rs 12,000 and the Maoist party Rs 10,000 as travel expense back to their homes. [break]



Of the 372 discharged, only 201 attended the farewell ceremony, including 97 women. The rest had already left the camp.



Secretary at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction Punya Prasad Neupane, UCPN(Maoist) leader CP Gajurel, Maoist PLA deputy commanders Nanda Kishore Pun and Chandra Prakash Khanal and United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Robert Piper were present at the function.



Maoist leader Gajurel said the combatants were not in fact disqualified, but the party accepted the UN decision. UN Resident Piper said, "Today marks the first step in the return to civilian life for thousands of Nepalis who have been living in cantonments since 2006."





There are 4,008 Maoist combatants disqualified by UNMIN during the verification process, and the process of  discharging them was long overdue. 

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