The meeting, held at PLA office at Nayabazaar, also decided to respect the Supreme Court order on recruitment of armies in both the Nepal Army and the PLA.
“We will discharge minors from all cantonments as per the directives of the Army Integration Special Committee (AISC),” said Kali Bahadur Kham, division commander of Shaktikhor cantonment.
He, however, said the AISC should come up with a process for discharging the minors.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal heads the AISC which comprises representatives from all major ruling political parties — Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and Madhesi People’s Rights Forum — and the main opposition Nepali Congress.
The AISC has the authority to deal with the issues related to both the Nepal Army (NA) and the PLA.
Kham said the PLA is ready to discharge minors respecting the prime minister’s pledge to the UN Secretary General.
Prime Minister and Maoist Chairman Dahal had assured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the latter’s visit to Nepal in October last year that the minors would be released soon.
The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) had disqualified some 2,000 PLA members saying they were below 18 years.
Although various national and international rights bodies including National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), UNMIN and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal have been repeatedly asking the PLA and the Maoist leadership to release the minors soon, the PLA hasn’t yet taken initiative for discharging the minors.
PLA division commander Kham said, “Since some of our colleagues had some confusion over releasing minors and recruitment, the meeting was called to brief them on the PLA decision concerning these issues.”
During the meeting, Maoist Chairman Dahal addressed the PLA division commanders and asked them to respect the court order on recruitment.
ghanashyam@myrepublica.com
Related story
Japan hands over medical equipment for surgical eye camps to Hi...
