One of the reasons the Maoist rebellion in Nepal attracted global attention was their extensive use of child soldiers. Up to half of the estimated 20,000-odd soldiers enlisted with the Maoist militia, it is estimated, were underage. The birthdates of thousands of (at one time) underage fighters were conveniently tweaked in the process of verification of former Maoist fighters by the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). The focus then was on reconciliation, not nitpicking. The UN conventions on the rights of children, otherwise, outlaw the use of children to fight a war or to drum up political support. There is a simple logic to this. Children are not intellectually mature enough to choose between the right and the wrong. But long after the Maoist guns fell silent, children in Nepal continue to be routinely employed for political purposes. Their extensive use in the ongoing protests in the Tarai prompted the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB)—under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare—to early this week issue an appeal to the protestors to keep children away from harm's way.But the appeal has clearly fallen on deaf ears as toddlers and underage teenagers continue to be employed by Madheshi parties as their foot-soldiers. For instance in Tribhuwan Nagar of Sarlahi district, 12- and 13-year-olds have been given the duty to confiscate any petroleum products that is imported from India. Accordingly, every day, these children confiscate and burn over 1,000 liters of petrol and diesel at Tribhuwan Nagar. They also sometimes take part in arson. They recently torched a motorcycle used to carry petrol into Nepal. It is hard to believe these small children are acting by themselves. For whenever there is a rally organized by the Madheshi Morcha there is always a big contingent of children among the crowd, eagerly waving flags and chanting anti-government slogans. Actually, they have few other options. They cannot go to their schools which have been closed for the past two months. The prolonged absence of their wards form school, panicky parents are starting to fear, could stall their intellectual growth and blight their future academic career.
As the convener of these protests the onus is on the Madheshi Morcha to make sure that children are kept away from any kind of political activism. Madheshi leaders are making a big effort to attract the world's attention to the 'brutal repression' of their protests. They perhaps don't realize that if the global community does indeed take notice, the dark underbelly of these protests will also be exposed: targeted killings of police; extensive use of children; the Madheshi leaders' blatant call for violence; and their use of India as a proxy to fight the Kathmandu establishment. Of course, responsibility is a two-way street: so indiscriminate use of force by security forces must be investigated and the genuine political demands that have been raised in the streets of Madhesh promptly addressed. But with every passing day the excesses of the supposedly peaceful protestors are also getting harder to ignore.
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