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The killing fields
KATHMANDU, JUN 11 -
Nijgarh, Bara
The government has termed them ‘most-sensitive’ districts keeping in mind the security situation there. That isn’t too far from the truth. In the eight Tarai districts of Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha, and Saptari, one person is killed every week. In the past ten months, there have been 30 explosions and 25 people have been abducted. Meanwhile, the government’s Special Security Plan (SSP) remains in place without making any difference to the ground situation.
Since the murder of newspaper publisher Arun Singhania in Janakpur on March 1, the government has been constantly questioned on the security situation in the Tarai. But an analysis reveals that Singhania’s murder was just part of a long series of killings, abductions, and terror by non-state actors in the region. Unfortunately, lack of firepower (and budget) has reduced the police force in the region to a mute witness, with locals now refusing to file reports as they believe it is futile to do so. The open border with India has further complicated the problem with armed outfits operating from across the border, and the inability of the Nepal Police to extradite arrested criminals from the other side.
According to Pradeep Jha of the National Human Rights Commission’s regional office in Janakpur, in the last 10 months, more than 50 people have been killed by either state or non-state actors. NHRC believes the investigations into these murders cannot be completed due to external political pressure, which is why nearly no one has been convicted.
Jha’s analysis fits in with what the National Investigation Department (NID), Nepal’s only intelligence body, told the government in a report eight months ago. At the time, it said that most criminal activities in the Tarai are a result of the political clout the perpetrators enjoy, including from major political parties.
failed plan
The SSP, meanwhile, seems to be an absolute failure. Security officials say they do not have enough infrastructure, funds, or manpower to do anything significant—reducing the plan only to paper.
The SSP was put in motion specifically for 19 districts of the Tarai where armed outfits and criminal gangs were operating in an environment of impunity. Since being launched more than a year ago, its achievements seem to be nil, while its list of failures continues to grow.
“Almost all the districts of the Tarai lack the resource, manpower, or the budget,” says Rudra Kumar Shrestha, head of the Regional Administrative Office in Hetauda. He concedes that the situation may not be under the control of security forces in the region due to lack of intelligence about the outfits, and their increasing activities.
chilling state
The helplessness of the security forces is best exhibited by the death of UCPN (Maoist)’s Bhojpura State Committee member Rajesh Mandal. Mandal was shot dead in Lal Parsa village in Parsa district on Jan. 12 this year by unknown people; a police post was only 500m away in Nitanpur of Bara district.
Just a day before, Parsa’s Assistant Chief District officer, Bal Bahadur Malla, was shot at in his own residence. His bodyguard, police constable Ananta Bahadur Khadka, lost his life in that incident. Both incidents were preceded by the murder of three Maoist cadres in Ganjbhawanipur of Bara district the week before.
It’s not as if the police don’t do anything; they arrested five individuals on charges of being involved in the killings. Still, the charges are unproved, says a security official, which means they can be released at any time. The top cop of Narayani zone, Senior Superintendent of Police Keshav Adhikari, says security has been tightened in the area. Up until now, the police had been merely watching the criminal outfits because they were in talks with the government, now that the talks have failed, “we will start arresting them,” he says.
A toothless force
Two weeks ago, the Indian Police in Chaudadano, Bihar, released three individuals who were accused of killing Maoist activists in Ganjbhawanipur. Nepal Police were informed of the arrests, but their failure to extradite the three forced the Indians to release them.
This incident exemplifies how security agencies have failed to make much headway into curbing crime in the region, which has deterred locals from filing complaints with the police.
“Most incidents are related to extortion and enmity between individuals,” says Bara Superintendent of Police Mahendra Kumar Pokharel, “And most criminals use India as an escape route.” But he agrees that investigations have been influenced by political pressures. “We are waiting to arrest hundreds who we know have committed crimes, despite no reports being filed,” he says, not wanting to say why he hadn’t already done so. Instead, he says the police know who the guilty are. “Most people accused of murder are absconding. We haven’t been able to prosecute even one-third of the accused.”
The Lone Officer
Local Development Officer Murari Nepal is an unusual sight in Bara. At a time when most government officers either refuse to come to work, or don’t want a transfer to Bara, even as the head of a government department, Nepal is one of the few officials to sit in his office all day long.
Government officials in the Tarai have been constantly targeted by armed outfits for extortion. In such a situation, the District Development Committee’s office was void of any officials for the previous year. After Nepal’s arrival, locals have thronged the district office to handle their administrative work.
Nepal says as civil servants, they have to discourage the excuse of the security situation. His predecessor had not attended office for an entire year, and as a result development works in the district stalled.
The refusal of government officers to work in districts in the Tarai is a microcosm of the entire Tarai situation. A deepening nexus between the politicians and criminals, and the failure of security agencies as a result of that nexus has led to rising impunity by the day. Even three months after Singhania was gunned down in a busy Janakpur market, his killers are still at large. Other incidents continue on a daily basis, notwithstanding the Special Security Plan, which seems to have failed completely.
Posted on: 2010-06-12 09:35
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