The teachers of Maiwakhola Secondary School have been displaced after an armed group of masked Young Communist League (YCL) cadres surrounded the school on November 18 and threatened to kill teacher Jhalanath Thebe.
“A person calling himself a Maoist activist phoned me as I was preparing to leave for the school. Later, two masked Maoist cadres came to the school at around 1:00 in the afternoon and started searching for me. I was in the teachers´ room. I fled to save my life,” Thebe told myrepublica.com.
He said three more Maoist cadres, two of whom had guns, were on the school premises at that time. The person on phone had said that kid brothers of Maoist Taplejung co-incharge Bijaya Kiranti would be waiting for him at road.
Thebe reached the district headquarters on November 19 with help of security persons after hiding throughout the night. Principal Prem Kumar Poudel and 12 others then shut the school and joined Thebe at the headquarters citing insecurity. The school has remained closed for 15 days since then.
The teachers said YCL cadres Rajeev Banem, Ram Banem, Dipin Banem and other from Dhungesanghu 6 and 8 are involved in the episode. Thebe is baffled by this sudden YCL hostility and says he had no animosity with anyone.
“We can´t work in such difficult conditions. We can´t return back to the village in the lack of security,” said another displaced teacher Kavita Banem. The teachers have held meetings with school management committee but have refused to return as the YCL cadres have not been arrested yet.
They have also blasted the administration for not arresting the YCL cadres despite lodging a complaint. Thebe said the Maoists have refused that the group involved in the case are their cadres.
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