Replace peoples war with armed conflict: SC
Replace âpeopleâs warâ with âarmed conflictâ: SC
Published: 07:48 am Aug 27, 2015
Kathmandu, August 26 The Supreme Court today issued a writ of certiorari and mandamus against peace directives formulated by the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to the issuance of identity cards for the conflict victims. This means the government will now have to change the directives to replace the word âMaoist peopleâs war,â with âarmed conflict.â The writ petitioners, including Suman Adhikari, a conflict victim, and advocate Gyanendra Aran, had objected to the use of phrases, such as âMaoist peopleâs warâ, âthose who diedâ, âpolitical movementâ, and âpolitical conflictâ. Aran argued that Maoist war was not a political movement or political conflict as stated in the directives. He said all other documents, including the Interim Constitution and Comprehensive Peace Agreement, used the phrase âarmed conflictâ to refer to the Maoist war, and therefore, the government should use the same in the directives as well. Aran said the directives used the phrase âthose who diedâ, but that was not an appropriate phrase to refer to those who were killed during the conflict. âVictims were either killed by the Maoists or the security forces and therefore the phrase âthose who diedâ is not an appropriate phrase,â Aran argued and added that the use of the phrase âthose who diedâ would humiliate the families of those who were killed by the Maoists or security personnel. The writ was issued by a joint bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha and Justice Om Prakash Mishra. Earlier, the court had issued an interim order in the case.