Editorial»
Robbing the starved
OCT 25 - Maoists have issued a number of draconian directives in the poverty-stricken Dadeldhura district in West Nepal. One is
that every single family in the far western hill district has to donate eight pathi (approximately 4 kilograms) rice to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) every month. Effective for some time now, this measure has already led to severe food shortages in the villages. Add to this the fact that the government food depots have already closed due to poor security situation in the district.
The Maoists have also warned the village youth not to leave the district, apparently with an eye to their dwindling ranks. A high number of the district residents head across the border to India to work as migrant workers, many of whom seasonally return home during plantations and harvests. Increasingly, this group of people is keeping away from their conflict-ridden homes, which has adversely affected the farm production and limited economic activities of the pocket. These directives, which are still in vogue, strangely run counter to the spirit of the last statement issued by Party Chief Prachanda who said there would be no extortion from the people. But this apparent move to improve the rebels’ public image has already run in tatters due to unchecked attacks on ordinary people, infrastructures and extortion. If anything, many of these attacks appear to be the handiwork of ‘renegades’, bringing to question whether the Maoist leadership has at all any control over armed cadres. So far the Maoist leadership has virtually owned every bit of crime committed by the cadres. The Maoists should also realise that their party has no legitimate claims to governance. They have not been put into office through transparent and democratic electoral process, nor has their claim over certain areas been recognised by the international community.
The Maoists should, therefore, review their decisions in Dadeldhura, much like they did this week, before the situation goes out of hand in the food-deficient regions in mid western/western Nepal and avoid a situation where people feel forced to retaliate. Even before the insurgency started in 1996, 39 districts — mostly affected by the insurgency now— were suffering from chronic food shortages. Surveys in food-deficient villages in mountainous districts show that 50 percent of all households are not self-sufficient in food for nearly half a year. Inhabitants of another district in the region, Humla, for example, rely heavily on government food depots since the local produce of potato, barley and buckwheat only last for a few months. While an ICRC Nepal survey conducted in areas worst hit by the conflict concludes that although the food supply situation has still not hit the crisis mark, an alarming possibility cannot be ruled out. Whether a family has any food on its plates, after all, depends on whether it has access to goods and whether it can afford to buy it. In mid-2002 the UN World Food Programme (WFP) suspended its “Food for Work Programme” in Mugu and Jajarkot after the Maoists looted food stores there. In deprived areas people look up to the government and the political parties. But while the government presence is yet to be felt, the Maoists have only tried to steal the share of the deprived lots. Posted on: 2003-10-25 12:29
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