Cheque-ing Out

At this point, the combatants appear helpless to protect their entitlement against the organized action of the Party that is tacitly supported by the government. The drama of cheque-snatching of the former Maoist combatants choosing retirement takes a new turn after the combatants in different camps have started to form 'struggle committees' to fight against what they call' a new form of feudalism', imposed by non other than their own alma mater, UCPN-Maoist. Unquestionably, the cheque snatching form the combatants could not have taken place without the knowledge and instruction from the UCPN-M high command and it is not uncommon for any communist party or regime to behave in that way.

Truly, any communist outfit is autocratic or feudalist by design and every exploitation done in the name of the people is spent for the luxury and comfort of the 'leadership'. This is indeed a universal experience. Therefore, it is useless to make news headlines on how the UCPN-Maoists Party has behaved in this particular case as it has in fact done exactly what it is meant for. The first question here is why did the entire nation-including other political parties, intelligentsia, media and civil society- at the first place agree to pay 'filthy lucre' to the combatants who had made not 'investment' but 'sacrifices' in the interest of the motherland ? If it were to be paid for their time spent in 'peoples' war', how could it be a sacrifice ? Nowhere in the world putative 'freedom fighters' are paid by the state in this fashion. But in Nepal, UCPN-M pushed politics to such a point that nation had no alternative than paying cash in the name of these 'national heroes'. But now it turns out that the party had some ulterior purpose of creating such an irretraceable situation.

But the second question is more excruciating. Why did the All-party Special Committee Secretariat overseeing the entire issue of arms and army management choose to distribute the bank cheques instead of directly depositing the money entitled to each fighter in their bank accounts ? It appears that the parties involved in the process deliberately wanted to have a demonstrative effect of their 'grand work' by creating a long queues of combatants in all camps sheltering these ex- Maoist fighters. The UCPN-M leadership has remained tight-lipped on the issue and not any other quarter has asked the party strongly enough to take responsibility of this clumsy show of political violence. So far not a single voice has been heard that the party contribution from the 'earning' of the combatants should be made not mandatory but voluntary. At this point, the combatants appear helpless to protect their entitlement against the organized action of the Party that is tacitly supported by the government.

So that it is high time time that the political forces other than the UCPN-M, civil society and international community spoke for protecting the rights of these combatants that appear grossly violated by indiscriminate and coercive extraction of cheques from the combatants. The Secretariat must devise some other alternative to ensure that the money is not snatched away from the combatants against their will. Also, this episode should provide an important lesson for the combatants to understand the value of personal earnings and importance of state-ensured rights on private property.