On November 22, 2006, the Maoist rebels of Nepal and the government signed a peace deal and stopped the ten year long war that took lives of so many people. Now, the 35,000 Maoist cadres are supposed to surrender their weapons to the local cantonments and go to the rehabilitation center. However, the whole process is not so peaceful and smooth. Still, the Maoists rebels in some places are creating problems. According to the report published in ekantipur.com, in many places Maoist cadres are holding on to the lands of local people and forcefully taking away their crops. In Okhaldunga, the Maoists are holding the local lands and seizing crops from the farmers. Rajkumar Shreshta, one of the inhabitants of Okhaldunga said that Maoist cadres seized his farmland seven years ago but still they did not release it. The cadres are not concerned about the peace deal. In Nigali, Maoist cadres are living in the house of local people and eat in their house.
When in some places Maoist cadres have become a major problem, in some places they have become a big source for income for the local people. As Maoist soldiers are rehabilitating in different camps, many local people are opening up shops in the surrounding areas. At present, each soldier gets 500-600 rupees per month but there would be a total transaction of more than Rs. 1.5 million. For example, the Chure hill area, 12 kilometers north of Mashuriya, is chosen as the camp for Maoist soldiers. Till now, not too many people go there but now people from various places are coming here to open shops. Three thousand Maoists guerillas are staying in this area and three dozen shops have been opened so far. The fighters do not have much money but they are paying in cash. In order to open a shop, a businessman has to apply to the headquarters for permission.
Nepal has started to take baby steps toward establishing pro-people democratic government. The country was under monarchy for hundreds of years. It is natural that this sudden change would not be very smooth. Still, I think it is the duty of both the government officials, local law enforcers and people to jointly make an effort to make sure that peace prevails. Maoist soldiers are human, not all of them have good intentions but that does not make these people bad. May be their way was different but these people also fought and gave their lives to see an independent, prosperous Nepal. I hope that government officials and law enforcers take proper steps to stop the Maoist soldiers who are still creating problems. Related articles:
ekantipur.com
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