Kathmandu, June 3
Nepali Congress President and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that state security forces are not to blame for human rights violations that occurred during the decade-long insurgency.
Deuba, speaking at a programme organised on Friday, argued: As the security forces mobilised as per then government’s decision, they should not be made accountable for conflict-era cases.
The Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force are security forces of the state and not that of any particular party, Deuba said, taking exception to human rights campaigners’ demand to throw security personnel accused of human rights violations behind bars. Deuba was prime minister when Maoist rebels launched a people’s war and the state of emergency was clamped when he was PM. Through their attacks, the Maoists forced the national army out of the barracks, Deuba said, adding: That’s why the Maoists are to blame in this case.
The Maoists were holding talks with then government under the leadership of Baburamji (Baburam Bhattarai), Deuba recalled, adding: All of a sudden, the Maoists quit the talks and started attacking the army.
It was the Maoists, who forced a ceremonial army into battlefield, Deuba opined. The decade-long insurgency is Nepal’s internal problem, Deuba claimed, stressing the need to embark on the path of reconciliation.
At the programme, Surya Kiran Gurung, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said granting amnesty to those involved in conflict-era rights violations is unacceptable. He said: Yes, creation of an environment conducive to reconciliation is the objective of the commission. But granting clemency without the victims’ consent is not acceptable to the TRC.
Leader of the CPN-Maoist Centre, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, said TRC does not make sense if all conflict-era cases are not brought within its purview.
