Insurgency toll 13,000: Siwakoti

Bara, January 19:

Children under 18 years of age comprise 40 per cent of the militia of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Gopal Krishna Siwakoti, chairman of the INHURED International, said today at an interaction organised in Kalaiya today, adding that the Maoists were developing new techniques of punishment.

The Networking for Human Rights, Bara, had organised the interaction. “The Maoists are applying three different laws in the same village of Makawanpur,” Shiwakoti said.

Internal democracy and openness are lacking in political parties, he said.

Citing statistics, Siwakoti said 13,000 people have been killed in the armed conflict and 2,000 have been missing.

“About 214,000 people have been internally displaced. Between 4,000 and 5,000 youths leave the country every month.”

Purushottam Poudel, an alternative central member of the CPN-UML, also spoke at the interaction, which was chaired by Shree Krishna Subedi, coordinator of the networking.