NA, PLA don’t see eye-to-eye
Security sector reform
Kathmandu, Jan 25 - At a time whem reform in the national army—as outlined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)—has become inevitable, Nepal Army has suggested that the Security Sector Reform (SSR) practised internationally does not apply to Nepal.
“The SSR applies to a failed state. It is a concept applied in war-torn countries to form a new national army by merging the country’s army with armed groups,” said a general.
Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Chhatra Man Singh Gurung and senior generals offered a hardline position against SSR at a briefing organised by Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari on Sunday. The defence minister heads the Cabinet Committee on Democratisation of the Army, a key component of the CPA.
Chief of the Staff Gen. Toran Jung Bahadur Singh, Director General of Military Operations Gaurav Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana and head of the Army’s Legal Department B. A. Kumar Sharma, among others, attended Sunday’s briefing.
The senior Army officials also maintained that Nepal Army is an inclusive institution, though there is less representation of women and Madhesi communities.
Meanwhile, the main opposition UCPN (Maoist) has opposed the Army’s stand on SSR, saying SSR is the core element of the CPA, agreed in 2006 by Maoist and non-Maoist parties. “We support security sector restructuring. It brings together two armies on the basis of new standards to form a new national Army,” said PLA Spokesman Chandra Prakash Khanal.
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