According to reports, a sizeable number of district-level party leaders and cadres/workers of Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist have begun seeking refuge in the safety of the district headquarters and the capital Kathmandu.
It must be recalled that on Sunday CPN-UML General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel and some other senior leaders were also attacked in Ramechhap district by Maoist cadres. One can very well imagine what must be going through the minds of the lower-rung cadres/workers of other parties when they know that even their high-profile leaders are not safe from Maoist violence.
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Have the Maoists gone back to their old ways of terrorizing and intimidating anyone who do not toe their party line? Their action certainly point toward this but if top party leaders, including PM Dahal, are to be believed, such incidents do not reflect the party’s official policy. If this is true, then there is a serious problem of misplaced cadres within the party, which calls for urgent attention.
However, if this is happening on the instructions of the party leadership, it’s extremely unfortunate and something that must be stopped right away. It’s impossible to discern why the Maoist leadership does not realize that brute force will take them nowhere in a world that is increasingly becoming intolerant to violence and, more often than not, coming together to crush it.
Interestingly, the Maoist cadres are unleashing terror in the name of civilian supremacy, which is highly ironic. For these indoctrinated cadres, does civilian supremacy just mean supporting ideas floated by their party? It’s high time someone told them that we are in a democracy and everyone has the right to hold differing views and opinions.
Following the release of PM Dahal´s sensational video, the level of trust in the Maoists have already sunk to an all-time low. Such actions by its cadres will only further undermine its image among the Nepali people and the international community. Without any delay, the UCPN (Maoist) has to demonstrate in action that their repeated commitment to peaceful politics is not just a sham to hoodwink Nepalis and the world community. Over to you, comrades!
