Commander Baldev of the Maoist´s People Liberation Army bade farewell to 258 combatants who returned home with Rs 22,000 cash. Of this, they received Rs 10,000 from United Nation Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) and remaining from the PLA. [break]
Although, 587 combatants in the cantonment were disqualified, others were absent and would be released from another cantonment, according to the assistant commander Udaya Bahadur Chalaune.
Joint Secretary at the Peace Ministry Bishnu Nepal, OHCHR-Nepal chief Richard Bennett and Maoists commanders were present during the release.
Bennett appealed to the disqualified combatants who avoided the farewell to facilitate the peace process by contacting the cantonment.
Meanwhile, some disqualified combatants expressed dissatisfaction over the release. “If Nepal Army can recruit a 16-year-old, how can I be disqualified for being 17?” Roshan Karki of Dolakha questioned. “UNMIN is not fair.”
He warned: “Bomb and gun is in our brain; if the peace process is not concluded, no one can stop us from launching a revolt.”
Sindhupalchowk´s Pratima Acharya claimed she was a qualified combatant. “If we were not qualified, how did we fight the war?” she asked, adding that they would watch UNMIN closely.
“Our body is out of the cantonment but not our soul,” Ashika Khati of Dhading added.
Similarly, the release of disqualified combatants also meant tragedy for some of the couples.
Bimala Nepali of Chitwan was released -- something that her husband Avinash swallowed hard. “We spent seven years together,” he said. “It´s hard to be separated.”
Bimala, who is among 15 per cent woman combatants leaving the cantonment with children, left with a son.
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