KATHMANDU, March 9: Former prime minister and coordinator of Naya Shakti Party Nepal Baburam Bhattarai has urged the international organizations working in foreign countries to first understand the ground reality.
“In Nepal some doubts have been raised at times about 'outside interference', about the legitimacy, mandate and utility as well as lack of financial transparency of international organizations and their domestic partners,” said Bhattarai addressing the Regional Conference on Humanitarian Access and Negotiation in Asia held in Jakarta of Indonesia on Thursday. “One should also take into consideration the genuine desire of a nation and its people to not become dependent on international organizations for resolution of political conflicts or even for humanitarian assistance.”
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He said that if organizations are not sensitive to the general mood of the host nation, it may lead to negative public perception and that too many offers of assistance may raise people's doubts.
He was of the view that there was a need for impartial, autonomous bodies that cater to humanitarian needs and rights and that humanitarian organizations must carve out space for such neutral, non-partisan actions to fulfill this need.
“I myself had drafted a special letter addressed to the international community during the heyday of the people's war. We had made an appeal to not be misled by the one-sided propaganda imparted by the then ruler of Nepal, Gyanendra Shah to hoodwink the international community and justify its brute military dictatorship,” he argued.
He also emphasized that Nepal's peace process has been both led and driven by Nepali themselves. “It was truly homegrown and not mediated by any international actor. The role of external actors is contributive, not conclusive,” he claimed.
