The message from the 47-day-long fast-unto-death of Nanda Prasad Adhikari and his wife Ganga Maya is loud and clear. The state can’t afford any further delay in the formation of the transitional justice mechanisms envisioned in the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accord and the 2007 Interim Constitution.
The hope among the political actors seems to have been that with the passage of time, the issue of transitional justice would dissipate. Or when the civil war was a distant memory, they could collude on toothless transitional justice mechanisms. But as signature cases like Ujjain Shrestha, Dekendra Thapa, Maina Sunuwar and now Krishna Prasad Adhikari suggest, so long as the victims of the war feel that justice has not been served, it will be incredibly difficult to consolidate peace. [break]
The much-celebrated integration of ex-Maoist combatants earlier this month was only a part of the peace process, which cannot be completed without the formation of credible transitional justice mechanisms.
It must be said that the way the state treated the Adhikari couple is horrendous. Fasting was not their first option. Far from it. For nearly eight years since the murder of their 18-year-old son by the Maoists in 2004, they have knocked every door for justice. Nowhere was their cry for help heeded.
When they protested in front of the PM’s office at Baluwatar earlier in the year, they were thrown behind bars, kept there for a month and a half without any warrant. For protesting the murder of their son, their ancestral properties in Gorkha were confiscated by rebel forces and the helpless couple was chased away. Their tale of suffering is heart-rending. As are the stories of all those who have been waiting for a closure to their suffering following the formal end of the war seven years ago.
Yet there is also the much bigger picture. The country is passing through a very difficult time as it struggles to heal conflict wounds. It was with the intent of peaceful settlement of the bloody war that claimed 17,000 lives and left thousands homeless and crippled that the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed. If the country is to emerge from this difficult transition, it is extremely important to honor the letter and spirit of the CPA.
The transitional justice mechanisms will help remove the grey area that is at the heart of the controversy surrounding the Krishna Prasad Adhikari killing: Was what happened to him a purely criminal offence, or should it be treated in the context of civil war? Who decides if something that happened during the conflict is a war crime? What kind of rights violations will be liable for amnesty? Although the answers might seem straightforward for some who are comfortable taking sides in this extremely sensitive matter, there really are no clear-cut answers.
We believe it is extremely dangerous to try to settle conflict-era cases piecemeal. They must be settled once and for all through credible transitional justice mechanisms. Formation of TRC and Disappearance Commission will involve some tough compromises no doubt. No post-conflict society has settled war-time issues to the satisfaction of all, nor should such an ideal solution be sought here. The goal should be helping the country heal and goad it along the progressive path it started on in 2006. The danger is that enmeshed in the seemingly endless right and wrong debate, we might completely overlook any reasonable settlement of war-time cases—while we still can.
Related story
RSP acknowledge death of 4 years old girl during election campa...
