Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Wednesday that he would hold meetings with leaders of other parties to increase the number of the Maoist combatants to be integrated into the national army. [break]
“The combatants have demanded to increase the number. This issue will be resolved through discussions among political parties,” said Dahal, who arrived here along with the prime minister and other political leaders, to inspect the categorization of the Maoist combatants in Talband.
In a historic deal on November 1, the UCPN (Maoist) had agreed with other major political parties that up to 6,500 combatants will be considered for integration. Political leaders had not expected such a large number of combatants to opt for integration. Though the exact number of the PLA combatants opting for integration is yet to come, around 60 percent of the combatants have intended to join the national army.
“We are concluding a historic task. So increasing the allocated quota by one or two more thousands will not be a big deal,” Dahal told media persons.
General Secretary of the CPN-UML and Special Committee member Ishwar Pokharel, who was also in the monitoring team, also said that the issue of increasing the integration quota would be discussed at the political level once the completion of the categorization.
Prime Minsiter Baburam Bhattarai, Ishwar Pokharel, Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Gupta, Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara and PLA chief Nanda Kishor Pun had visited the seventh division, Talband on Wednesday morning to witness the progress in the categorization of the combatants.
In the meantime, disgruntled combatants demanded with visiting leaders a special package for injured and handicapped combatants. In response, Dahal assured them of preparing a special rehabilitation package.
According to our correspondent in Rolpa, Kamal Thapa, combatants at the Dahaban cantonments submitted their demands, including special package for injured and handicapped combatants, to the visiting prime minister and Maoist chairman, warning them of struggle if their demands are not addressed within a week.
Responding to their demands, the prime minister assured that the government would develop a special package for injured and handicapped combatants.
PM assures to return land within 15 days
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Wednesday claimed that the seized lands will be returned to the rightful owners by the end of Mangsir (December 15).
Bhattarai, who arrived here to monitor the PLA categorization in Kailali, said the government will address the problems of squatters and landless people and return the seized land as per the seven-point agreement.
“A committee will be formed to resolve the problems of landless squatters,” he said, adding, “The comprehensive peace agreement states that the seized land will be returned to the rightful owners and the problems of squatters and landless people will be addressed simultaneously.” He reiterated that the aforementioned tasks will be completed within 15 days.
Though the political parties reached an agreement to return the seized land by November 23, the Mohan Baidya faction has been consistently protesting it.
Around two thousand bighas of land that belongs to 240 families is still under Maoist control.
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