Around two dozen commanders above the rank of brigade vice-commander met Division Chief Tej Bahadur Oli and complained that the provision on education was not acceptable to them. [break]
When Oli could not convince the commanders, he took them to party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at Singha Durbar before the latter left for the USA.
“We told him that if the provision on education is not corrected we would not participate in the entire integration process,” a commander said.
The commanders complained that most of them joined the insurgency when they were very young and had not even completed their primary education.
“We were still at school in the villages when he asked us to join the war. So how could he have agreed to such a provision?” asked another commander who participated in the meeting.
But the Maoist chairman argued that he has not made any such agreement. “It is simply your misunderstanding; the education level you currently have would be counted,” Vice-commander of Forth Division Kal Bahadur Nath quoted Dahal as saying.
CARTOON: RAJESH KC
The seven-point agreement, however, states that the educational attainments of the combatants at the time of joining the PLA will be taken into account, though they will be given a bonus of one level.
The Maoist chairman was very mild in his tone and told the commanders that he was compelled to make compromises under difficult circumstances.
“The situation was such that we could not go back to war and establish New Democracy. So I made compromises for the sake of peace and constitution, making the best of the situation,” the commander also quoted Dahal as saying.
Dahal told the commanders that he was painstakingly involved in the negotiations and tried to get the best deal for the combatants.
“I request you to assist in the integration process; I would do my best to settle things in your favor,” the commander further quoted Dahal as saying.
Back in the days of the insurgency, the Maoists had asked schoolchildren to quit going to school and join the insurgency instead, saying “bourgeois education” would make no difference to their lives until they dismantled the “semi-feudal and semi-colonial” structure of Nepali society and established “New Democracy.”
The PLA top brass is holding consultations separately with the commanders of each PLA division.
Related story
'Security lapse in Tinkune is the result of punishing field com...
