Chitwan, October 19:

Spokesperson for the CPN-Maoist and coordinator of the Maoist talks team Krishna Bahadur Mahara today said that the ongoing talks between Maoists and government wouldn’t be hampered by the Tihar festival.

He flayed the King’s reluctance to respond to the high-level investigation commission, adding that the Maoists’ donation collection would go on until a political solution to the country’s problem is found.

Speaking at a press meet organised by the Chitwan chapter of the CPN-Maoist here, Mahara said: “Talks won’t be hampered by Tihar, it can be held even on the day of Tihar.”

Mahara said the failure of King to reply to the high-level Investigation commission within the given time-frame shows that the King was not being responsible to the people or the government.

Mahara said the Maoists would continue to collect donations until a political way out was achieved. He claimed that the Maoists’ donation collection was not forcible. Terming the donation collection as “tax imposed by the state”, Mahara said: “Maoists are collecting tax as they are not merely a party but a force parallel to the government.”

Answering journalists’ queries, Mahara said the main objective of the ongoing talks was to achieve a political way out. He claimed that other issues would be secondary if a political way out was achieved.

Mahara said the CPN-Maoist was ready to separate its army from the weapons if other parties agreed upon a political solution. He added that the royalists would surface again if the Maoist army was deprived of its weapons right now. “This could endanger democracy,” he said. Mahara also said that the Maoists’ arms could be managed if the the government assures that the Nepali Army will be restructured.

He said it was not only the Maoists’ responsibility to make the ongoing talks successful but everybody else’s input was also necessary.