PLA out of cantonment

About two dozen Maoist combatants cantoned at Krishnasen Memorial Brigade in Rupandehi have been arrested in Kapilvastu district along with about a dozen automatic weapons. Four vehicles carrying the armed combatants were stopped and taken into control by the police at the Pipara security checkpost, while one vehicle is learnt to have fled the scene. Maoists have claimed that the combatants were out of the cantonment to provide security to Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who was supposed to travel to Kathmandu from Butwal by road. They have also claimed that the incident was not a breach of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Chief of People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Nanda Kishore Pun alias Pasang, even alleged that the arrest was a “conspiracy of the reactionaries to provoke the PLA and invite confrontation.”



Let’s set the record straight first. Article 5.1.5 of the CPA says, “The armies of both sides shall not bear arms or show their presence wearing combat fatigue during any public program, political meeting or civil assembly.” Similarly, Article 4.1.2 of the Agreement on Monitoring of Management of Arms and Armies (AMMAA) says,”Each main cantonment site will be allowed 30 weapons of the same make and model to be used only for clearly defined perimeter security by designated guards, with each satellite allowed 15 such weapons under the same conditions. These weapons will all be properly registered with make and serial number and locked in a guardhouse when not in use.”



As these articles clearly articulate, movement of cantoned Maoist combatants, in combat fatigue and with arms, is blatant violation of both the CPA and AMMAA. Maoist’s argument that the combatants were out to provide security to Chairman Dahal is also equally flawed because separate contingent of Maoist combatants and necessary weapons have been provisioned for the security of the Maoist leaders. So no additional combatants can leave the cantonment in combat fatigue or with arms under any pretext. Such an unfounded argument will only undermine Chairman Dahal’s credibility. Post-Shaktikhor videotape revelations and his failed attempt to remove the army chief, notwithstanding stiff opposition from almost all major parties in the parliament; there are serious questions about Dahal’s commitment to the peace process. This incident will further cast doubt over his willingness to abide by the past agreements.



Finally, this incident also once again raises questions about the effectiveness of UNMIN’s monitoring of the cantonments. UNMIN may, as it often does, argue that it is beyond its mandate to forcefully stop the combatants leaving the cantonments. Maybe yes. But the very fact it even didn’t have a hint of the combatants leaving the cantonments with weapons until they were arrested by police shows the sorry state of UNMIN’s monitoring and vigilance at the cantonments.

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