Nepal
2007: Facts on the Conflict
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Business
community bemoans worsening security situation |
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Kathmandu,
29 August 2007 (IRIN)
Former
Maoist rebels have been accused of extortion and intimidation
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Nepal's
business community has expressed concern over the worsening security situation:
industries and factories are closing down owing to constant protests, strikes,
threats and extortion by former Maoist rebels and pro-Madhesi groups in
the Terai region of southern Nepal.
Local
entrepreneurs say the environment of fear and violence is costing their
businesses dear, and this in turn has been affecting the livelihoods of
workers.
Some
haulage firms have been unable to operate and many industrial products
are failing to reach the capital, Kathmandu, where over 60 percent of consumer
goods normally end up. According to the Nepal Chamber of Commerce, the
impact has never been so bad.
"It's
a very demoralising situation," Binod Shrestha, a local entrepreneur, told
IRIN on 28 August 2007 in Kathmandu. |
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A
peace agreement in November 2006 ended a decade-long armed conflict between
the government and Maoist rebels. However, the former rebels are not abiding
by the agreement, according to reports by human rights organisations.
"The
situation is much worse today than during the armed conflict because then
we had to deal with only one group of rebels, but now there are many,"
said a local businessman who requested anonymity for fear of being targeted.
Maoists
Former
Maoist rebels joined the interim government in April 2007 and disarmament
and demobilisation are proceeding under UN supervision. However, activists
of the local human rights group Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC)
say many ex-rebels are out in the streets helping the Maoist-affiliated
Youth Communist League (YCL), trade unions and dozens of other Maoist-affiliated
organisations.
"The
Maoists force us to pay donations almost every month and this is extremely
frustrating, with the government being unable to do anything," said an
industrialist who preferred anonymity.
Senior
Maoist leaders have denied involvement in extortion, while government officials
said they have been putting pressure on the Maoists to stop any illegal
activities.
Madhesi
protests
In
addition, protests and strikes by various pro-Madhesi groups in the Terai
region - a densely populated strip of lowland in southern Nepal running
adjacent to the Indian border which is the agricultural and industrial
heartland of Nepal - have been spreading fear among civilians, especially
the traditional ethnic rivals of the Madhesi, the Pahades or hill people
from the region. Many Pahades own industries and businesses and are seen
by the Madhesi as oppressors.
"It's
a traumatic situation for us as there seems to be no solution for dealing
with the worsening anarchy and fear," said businessman Damodar Acharya,
a senior member of the Nepal Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
"We
can't sustain our livelihood any more in Nepal and now many of us are migrating
to India where there is peace," said Ramu Biswakarma, a driver originally
from Banke District, nearly 600km southwest of Kathmandu. "By next week,
we will have nothing to eat at home."
Background
on Maoists and Madhesi
The
Maoists and the Madhesi are arch rivals and are not actively colluding
to bring down the government. For example, 29 Maoists were killed in Gaur
village of Rautahat District, 110km southeast of the Kathmandu, on 21 March
by a pro-Madhesi group called the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF).
The Maoists and Madhesi have separate aims and agendas:
The
Maoists are communists who want to see Nepal become a republic. They have
some sympathy with the Madhesi cause but also campaign for the rights of
other minority groups throughout Nepal, not just in the Terai. Owing to
the attacks on them by Madhesi groups, the Maoists want the government
to ban the MPRF and other militant pro-Madhesi groups like the Janatantrik
Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM).
The
Madhesi, on the other hand, are exclusively focused on winning more rights
for the Madhesi community, which makes up nearly one third of the country's
27 million people. They want the Pahade-dominated government and political
parties to give them greater political rights and allow them to establish
their own autonomous region in the Terai, which does not include Kathmandu,
which is some 200km distant. They want more Madhesi representatives in
parliament, and Nepal to become a federation.
Madhesi
factbox |
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Nepal's largest
ethnic group; make up about one third of Nepal's 27 million people
Concentrated
in the lowland Terai region, southern Nepal, the country's industrial and
agricultural heartland
Traditionally,
their main ethnic rivals are the politically dominant hill people known
as Pahades
Comprised
of various sub-groups with several different languages and dialects and
have only recently developed a political consciousness and unity of purpose
Campaign
for regional autonomy for the Terai, a federal Nepal, and greater representation
in parliament
Militant
factions such as the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) and the Janatantrik
Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) have carried out violent acts
Not
allied in any way to the Maoists who have separate political goals
Include
some of the most impoverished and disadvantaged castes in Nepal such as
Badis (traditional sex workers) and Kamaiyas (bonded labourers)
According
to rights activists, Maoist leaders are unable to control their supporters. |
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Credit
IRIN 2007 Copyright
© UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Integrated
Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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