Govt draws fire for apathy towards conflict victims

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: The government came under fire today for leaving ‘genuine conflict victims’ in the lurch.

At a daylong seminar on ‘Problems and Solutions of the Conflict Affected People’, speakers blamed the Maoist-led government for treating only their cadres as conflict victims and providing for them through state coffers.

Resolution of the problems of former Maoist combatants and their arms should not be taken as the conclusion of the peace process, the participants said. According to Nepali Congress leader Govinda Raj Joshi, the seminar, which had National Society of Conflict Victims as the organiser, called for prompt resolution of problems facing the conflict victims.

“All those who got killed, wounded or became disabled, either at the hand of the state or the rebel forces, are conflict victims and this includes security personnel. All of them should be recognised as conflict victims,” the proposal passed at the end of the seminar states.

It urged all political parties to conclude the peace process in a real sense by facilitating the handover of land and properties that the Maoists had captured in course of the conflict.

The proposal calls on statekeholders to realise that there will be no enduring peace in the country until all problems resulting from the conflict are addressed.

The seminar summoned all patriotic and democratic force in the country to unite for peace and the constitution. The proposal also expressed concern about increasing foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs.

Stating that patriotic forces of the country are being made weaker and democratic forces are being sidelined, the proposal appealed to all national forces to unite for the country.

It said the policy of reconciliation and national unity propounded by late Nepali Congress leader BP Koirala is still relevant.