| nepalithhito |
Posted
on 24-Apr-04 08:43 AM
its my first time posting my story in sajha. just go through it. i appreciate your valuable comments.
Interviews with the Patriots
Country: Nepal
Background: political rallies against the government in Kathmandu, the capital. Maoist rebels fighting against the government outside capital.
Kathmandu
A small boy.
Age: 13
Found hurling stones at the police van
“Hey, hey don’t look at me like that just because I am a small kid. Does that mean that I am not a citizen of this country? Don’t I have the right to fight for my country? They should know who they are dealing with. I love my country and I am ready do anything for it. They can’t just go on saying whatever they want to do or do whatever they want to do.”
“What do you think; just because I am a child I can’t think. Nobody told me or forced me to come and join this. I am doing it on my own behalf because I felt I too had to do something.”
“No my parents do not know I am here. I was just on my way back from the school, when I saw this procession chanting all sorts of naras, and police coming and beating them trying to catch them. So I just joined them and started hurling stones at the police. I am showing my patriotism.”
A police constable
Age: 56
Found hitting the protestors with their lathis and hurling them into the trucks
“I am just doing my duty. If we stop this feeling sorry for all those people out there, what will happen to the peace and security of our country? They can just march into any place and destroy public properties. I love my country too much to let that happen.”
“Yes, it is absolutely necessary to hit them. If we just sit here doing nothing, and just watching then they will not obey the rules and regulations. We have to be merciless so that they fear us and Anyway they are the one that generally start all these things. They hurl stones at us. We have to protect ourselves and public properties too. Every time there is something we become the target. We are just doing our duties and following our orders. We are just doing service to our motherland and we are the ones those are always criticized.”
“You only see the wounded on their sides. Haven’t you seen that we are wounded too? They have come here on their own will, we were ordered to come here………..”
Somewhere outside Kathmandu valley
A Maoist cardate
Age: 18
Present location: in a jungle in undisclosed location
Interviewed during: At the resting place, resting after attacking an undisclosed place, killing few and taking few as hostages. Going back to their undisclosed location with hostages.
“We are fighting for the betterment of our country, for our people to have a better life in their future. We are fighting so that poor peoples from the different parts of our country will the have a better live tomorrow. We are fighting……………”
“What do you think we are fighting this war because we want to? We have been forced but the old government to raise arms against them. What we need to change this country is a revolution and complete revolution is not possible without violence. We are fighting without caring about our own lives because we love our country and we are true patriots.”
“There has been a ‘little’ destruction if infra structures. But this is all necessary for the betterment of our country. Believe us when I say we are all doing this for betterment of our country.”
“The army is not match with us. We have shown courage and attacked them in their bases and snatching weapons from them, while they have shown their cowardice by pulling sneak attacks on us and killing our brave friends mercilessly. They have no guts to fight.”
An Army man
Age: 28
Background of the interview: back to barrack after going after the Maoist attackers who had attacked the barrack earlier.
“They had come from all over in thousands in number but we fought bravely against them and killed hundreds of them. We can see dead bodies of few around the barrack but most of them; they carried it away so that we will not find them. We then went after them and killed quite a few of them and recaptured few weapons they took away. We are not going to let our country become ruins. We love our country and will fight to save our country from the ones who want to destroy it.”
“Their strength is depleting. There are just few of them left now and are surviving because they are hiding away in the jungles.”
“I admit there have been accidents but we too are humans and make mistakes at times…..”
“Hey, we are risking our lives so that you all can sit down in a chair in your house in Kathmandu and feel safe and you all instead of encouraging us when we fight bravely accuse us of human right violations. How do you tell a difference between a Maoist and a common villager? You just stay in your room watching TV and reading newspaper and accuse us of human right violation. Well go there into the village with us and you will see how a friendly humble looking villager will ambush us and kill us. We can’t always wait for somebody to be killed before we shoot somebody. So what the hell, if sometimes innocents get killed; we have to save our lives too, otherwise who is going to protect our country from these rebels. Who is going to stop them from destroying our country? You? Or that police force, which has ran away from the battlefield terrified with the Maoist. Forgive us but we love our country too much to let it fall in the wrong hands and if while doing that some innocent die, what the hell. They should not have been there on the first place…”
Wherever I went, I found patriots, people who love their country more than themselves. Looks to me, that with everybody thinking what is good for our country, our country certainly has a bright future.
|
