Agreed, the Home Minister should have begun with consensus-building rather than putting the plan together first and ´seeking´ an endorsement later on. But there was also equally a chance that the political parties would have asked him to come with a plan rather than just ask for a blank cheque. Implementation of the plan as it now stands hasn´t begun, so the parties should come together and suggest any amendments that they deem necessary. They can even caution the government not to trample on basic human rights while beefing up security. But support the plan they must as growing anarchy is our common enemy, and it´ll grow out of control if we fail to act in unison, and on time.
MPRF´s Chairman Yadav is wrong in his blanket opposition to the plan and in his allegation that it´s an attempt to suppress the Madeshi people. He may have conveniently forgotten that this is a coalition government participated by all Madhes-based parties except his own. To try to extract political mileage out of such a sensitive issue is not only morally wrong, it may actually prove counter-productive. After all, it´s the people in Madhes who are bearing the brunt of the reigning lawlessness. It´s the local economy that is suffering the most, and in recent times, as most people of hill-origin have migrated elsewhere, the criminals have turned to the Madhesis for extortion, kidnapping and murder.
Yadav would have sounded more plausible if he had urged a balance between maintaining law and order and the upholding of human rights. This is always a delicate balance but we want to remind the state and the political parties that they cannot ignore one while pursuing the other. Recent allegations that the police have resorted to killings of armed insurgents after their arrests are too serious to be shrugged off. The state should form an inquiry commission to investigate such allegations and stop any future possibility of extrajudicial killings by state agencies.
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