By the BBC’s Rabindra Mishra
Originally Published on news.bbc.co.uk | A senior Nepalese Maoist leader has said the insurgency will continue until the monarchy is abolished, despite the intensifying of the army operation against the Maoist rebels.
In the first ever radio interview by a senior Maoist leader, Mr Dinanath Sharma, told the BBC that his party was not against peace talks if the government was ready to form a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution, which they believe would lead to the establishment of a republic.
A state of emergency has been in place in Nepal since late November after the rebels unilaterally broke a four-month old cease fire by attacking an army barracks.
That prompted the government to use the army to quell the rebellion which has claimed over 2,000 lives in the past six years.
Mr Sharma, a politburo member of the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), said his party was determined to defeat what he called reactionary forces.
He rejected the government demand to surrender arms.
However, he added that if the government withdrew the army and agreed to the formation of a constitutional assembly, resumption of peace talks was possible.
Casualties ‘exaggerated’
That demand was categorically rejected by the government last week.
It is believed that there are around 5,000 armed militia involved in the insurgency.
Some 500 of them are reported to have been killed since the army operation began.
However, Mr Sharma said this number had been highly exaggerated by the authorities.
He also denied recent reports in the Indian press that two senior Maoist leaders, one of them the main military strategist of the party, had been killed in an army operation.
The Maoists want to replace the country’s constitutional monarchy with a communist republic.
But because of their growing use of violence, intimidation and looting, their support lately seems to be waning.
There has been a broad national and international consensus in favour of the government’s use of force.
This may be encouraging news for the authorities.
But observers say that, with the Maoists set to continue with their struggle and the government determined to defeat them, peace in this impoverished nation of 23,000,000 people still looks a distant prospect.
You can read more of Mishra’s column-essays on his three books, Raajnitisangai Raajkaaj, Khana Pugos Dina Pugos and Bhumadhyarekha. Please go to the BOOKS section to find out more about the books and where to purchase them.
