The recent incidents of abductions, extortions, intimidation and confiscation of civilians’ property tend to cast doubts on the Maoists’ sincerity about fully honouring their unilateral ceasefire announced a month ago. Any ceasefire should also include a halt to abductions, not just the silencing of the guns against the government forces. In the latest incident, the Maoists have kidnapped 333 civilians, including teachers, students and farmers, from Panchthar district and took them to an unidentified location for indoctrination to their revolutionary ideology. The Maoists had similarly kidnapped 105 people, including students and teachers, from Okhaldhunga district last week. Reportedly they also kidnapped a Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) soldier on September 29.

These violations by the Maoists do not, however, give a clean chit to the RNA. Contrary to RNA’s claim, the Civil Society’s Ceasefire Monitoring Committee has held RNA’s unilateral action responsible for the death of six Maoists and a civilian in Bahadurpur of Palpa district on September 24. After an on-the-spot investigation, the panel reported “indiscriminate firing” that injured and terrified the local residents. The army’s firing was without provocation and without any warning, according to the findings. It amounts to a serious violation of human rights for the army to kill the rebels, except in a genuine encounter, instead of capturing them and bringing them to a fair trial.

The warring sides should follow international norms. As they are not doing, the international community should step in. Both sides need to prove their bona fides. The government must put an end to extrajudicial killings in the name of ‘encounters’ and prove to the public that it is not out to prolong its stay in power without a popular mandate. By the same token the Maoists should do a lot more to ensure their compliance with their own ceasefire. Only if both sides are sincere in their commitment to peace, can a conducive environment for talks be created and a political settlement stands a good chance of being achieved.