Kathmandu, March 15:

Former Indian ambassador to Nepal KV Rajan said today that the root cause of conflict in the South Asian region is poverty, absence of democracy and lack of development. He made this remark while addressing a seminar organised by Universal Peace Federation Nepal on Regional Conflict in South Asia: The Human Dimension.

“Whether the Maoist demand for constituent assembly is necessary or not, it is up to the Nepali people to decide, but the real cause of conflict can be attributed to rampant poverty, deficit of democracy and lack of development,” Rajan said.

Rajan viewed that each sides of the conflict is “partially right” or “partially wrong” but it is the tendency of both sides of conflict that they are “totally right”. He said that the King may think that democracy made mistakes in the past 12 years and the parties and the Maoists may think that the King made mistakes.

“Everybody may have made mistakes in the past. So, it is time to communicate with each other and have compassion, tolerance and positive views of either side to find peaceful solution to the crisis,” he said.

There seems to be a complete breakdown of communication between the parties to conflict, he said. Nobody is thinking about the consequences of the conflict about the future of the country, he said, adding, “It seems that everything is failed but I am still hopeful that leaders of the political parties and the civil society will find a solution to the conflict.”

Former minister Nilambar Acharya said the two-pillar theory of democracy had been redundant as the King, which is merely a part of the whole, is trying to dominate the whole, the people, who should be let to decide how they want to resolve the crisis.

Saying nothing can be indispensable than the people and the territory, Acharya rapped the royal regime for putting democratic leaders behind the bars who tirelessly tried on their part to bring the Maoists into the political mainstream through 12-point understanding. He said Nepal would not be able to restore peace, democracy and economic prosperity without international support.

CPN-UML leader Sahana Pradhan said it was the women and children who have become ultimate sufferers of the conflict. She said that the insurgency broke out in Nepal, as people were deceived even after the restoration of democracy in 1990.