PLA catches youths’ fantasy

Narayangarh, November 22:

Thanks to easy recruitment procedures, many youths, leaving their homes and schools, are joining the people’s liberation army (PLA).

Ramhari Adhikari, the youngest son of Sor Bahadur Adhikari, of Shaktikhor, Chitwan, left his home yesterday and joined the Maoists’ camp at Jutepani VDC.

“My 17-year-old son went to join the PLA twelve hours prior to signing of the peace agreement,” a distressed Sor Bahadur told this daily. Ramhari is a student of the Shaktikhor-based Chaturmukhi secondary school.

Friends of my son told me that he had joined the PLA, said Sor Bahadur, who is a former soldier of the Nepal Army. Ramhari left home after an argument with me, he said.

The headmaster of Chaturmukhi school, Uddhav Prasad Acharya, said economic benefits have lured school kids in PLA. The Maoists are meeting students in rural areas of Chitwan district and alluring them of economic benefits, local guardians charged.