The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) are yet to return land and property of more than 500 people in five districts of mid and far west Tarai alone, a government report sent to the parliament says.
The Cabinet Secretariat stated this in its report sent to Commitments Implementation Parliamentary Special Committee on the progress made so far toward implementing Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s commitment, two months after the deadline set by him expired. As per the PM’s commitment made in the parliament on November 11, the Maoists were to return all the property by mid-December last year.
“More than 200 people are yet to get their property back in Kailali district alone, followed by Bardiya district with over 100 such cases,” said a member in the committee who has access to the report. “About 100 such cases are in Dang and Banke and more than 15 in Kanchanpur.”
Kailali, Bardiya, Dang, Banke and Kanchanpur have the highest number of people who have not got their property back. These people include Nepali Congress Central Working Committee member Binay Dhwoj Chand, several Nepali Congress leaders and descendants of the former kings of western Nepal principalities that existed before Nepal’s unification two and half centuries ago.
Maoist leaders below the party chairman Dahal seem to have their own views.
They have said the lands and property “distributed to peasants” would not be returned.
These leaders have also claimed to have returned seized properties and lands and have said complete return of such lands is possible only after making alternative arrangement of livelihood for the tenant peasants.
Owners, however, claim Maoist commanders are receiving income out of such lands on regular basis. “Except a few new tenants added by the Maoists, all the farmers in my land are same,” said Chand. “But the Maoist commanders have been taking the half share of the produce that I had been receiving in the past.”
In eastern region, Saptari and Dhanusha have the highest number of such cases with over 75 people yet to get their property back. In western Tarai, Rupandehi district has highest number of people who have not got their property back.
The report, however, claims there was no land and property captured by the Maoists in 20 districts and the captured property in 24 other districts have been returned to rightful owners. The Maoists still hold on to seized private and public properties in 31 districts.
The report, however, has not been distributed to the members of the Commitments Implementation Parliamentary Special Committee officially.
The Home Ministry prepared the list of the cases of property return and sent it to the Cabinet Secretariat. The secretariat has included in its report the progress made on forming local peace committees, enforcing youth self-employment programs, among others.
yuvraj@myrepublica.com
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