No to arms

EDITORIAL

It is with a certain amount of apprehension and despair that we learn that the CPN-Maoist are going ahead with the formation of a military structure. This reminds one of the People’s War which took a tragic toll of thousands of human lives. The decision taken by the CPN-Maoist party defies logic. It is presumably being done on the assumption that the ‘revolution’ is not yet complete. What does this party want

—more bloodshed. The country has seen enough of it and it is now only that the country is trying to find the future course for its citizens in a peaceful and secure manner in this difficult transient period. The referred to military wing is supposedly to constitute of former PLA combatants who had chosen voluntary retirement. Also to be recruited are unverified fighters who had been discharged from the cantonments in 2010. No doubt, the CPN-Maoist is trying to take advantage of the disgruntled former fighters and make the most of the opportunity to take steps to please the former combatants.

The Baidhya faction of the Maoists is indeed fishing in troubled waters and by their speech and actions it shows that they are hell bent in making life difficult for the people by taking steps such as the setting up of the military structure although the party says they have no immediate plans to resort to armed struggles. The party had split from its mother party only a few months ago and its ultra-leftist policies are seen by many as a bid to destabilize the country. It has come up with one ridiculous campaign after another, including the banning of the movement of Indian vehicles and the screening of Hindi movies. These steps will only serve to antagonize our friendly neighbouring country. The Baidhya faction must be aware

of this, yet they continue to make one campaign after another which are to the detriment of the country and its people, which will take the country many years back. Even the Maoist people’s war of a decade has brought neither any tangible benefit to the country nor to the people,

What is disconcerting is that CPN-Maoists

already posses lethal arms which increases the

possibility of further conflicts taking place in the

future. This faction, according to government sources, already possesses 120 pieces of weapons that had been registered with the UCPN-Maoist.

It also has with it about two dozen small arms

that were used for the security of the leaders of the

UCPN-Maoist. The path that the Baidhya faction is taking could take the country down to further strife and violence. The CPN-Maoist must be well aware

of the great harm they would be doing to the

people by opting for armed conflicts. Clearly, the

ultimate goal of this party is to grab state power

and they will go to all extent to achieve this goal,

although they are unlikely to succeed given the

stiff opposition they will be meeting from the

people at large. Instead, the party will be further alienated from mainstream politics lacking

support and a sound base. The party should by all means attempt to achieve realistic goals through peaceful means.

Cycle city

Despite all the hullabaloo over the road widening spree, no thoughts ever went for the construction of separate lanes for the cyclists. It seems as if the planners and ministers who move about in chauffer driven vehicles think that there are no cyclists in the Kathmandu valley. The roads are being widened just for the sake of providing pathways for the teeming gas guzzlers of all sorts. And, the green vehicles that are the cycles are being disregarded.

The lack of separate lanes forces the cyclists to vie for space with the threatening bigger motorised vehicles. It is quite common that cyclists are hit, and their deaths and injuries are regular news. Once there was some news of constructing a separate lane for cyclists from Maitighar to Teenkune, but that seems to have faded away. Even now when the road-widening works are moving, a little thought could go to making the roads safer for the cyclists by allocating a part of the widened road specially for the cyclists. It is worth remembering that the cycles are non-polluting and the cyclists gain a lot of muscles by using this mode of transportation.