| U_2 |
Posted
on 27-Jun-02 11:26 PM
The Maoists know they are under pressure. It is perhaps the reason this senior Kathmandu political commander, a wanted man, agreed to risk coming out of hiding to speak openly to Dateline.
REPORTER: You say that the movement is about making the people equal. Then why are you killing the people?
"GYANENDRA", MAOIST COMMANDER (Translation): Accusations of killing people have been spread about. We don't agree with this. I've said this before. This killing is not for show and entertainment. When the royal authorities give orders to shoot on sight, in the process, things happen.
Calling himself Gyanendra, the name of the current king, he took me on a taxi drive through the streets of the capital. Our meeting had been furtively arranged after weeks of negotiations. But this drive was a bold attempt to show that he can still operate freely, even here in the city.
"GYANENDRA" MAOIST COMMANDER (Translation): We are very safe. Even in the capital city itself there are thousands of our people living safely with the general public and struggling to survive.
In the countryside, they don't trust anyone any more. Less than two hours by road from the provincial capital, Nepalgunj, is the village of Banke. It's deep in Maoist territory. People here are caught in the middle. Fearful locals are forced to feed both soldiers and rebels when they come to the village.
NEPALI VILLAGER (Translation): But if someone asks for food I'm obliged to feed him. I'll fry some corn or cook rice. Either way, it looks as if I'm taking sides. So I have no choice and we're all stuck in this.
The nightmare for this woman's family was the day a group of soldiers turned up.
DATNA (Translation): They said they would rape and kill my daughters. They said they would insult my daughters and kill them. For no reason they would say just that. I would say, "No, my daughters aren't Maoists. We're not Maoists."
Datna took us home to meet her daughters, Dilmaya and her two sisters. The day the soldiers came calling, their father was away and Dilmaya was upstairs studying for exams. The soldiers didn't carry out their worst threats, but they beat the girls.
DILMAYA (Translation): We thought the army was patrolling to protect the public and us women. Or I wonder if they were patrolling to harass us.
The Maoists may stand accused of the worst of atrocities, but the security forces are also not above murder. Hera Maya Dangol knows only too well.
HERA MAYA DANGOL (Translation): My son was the source of my income, but now he has gone.
Her eldest son was one of five men picked up by police at random from his village on the outskirts of the Kathmandu valley.
HERA MAYA DANGOL (Translation): I don't feel like eating or doing anything. All I do is cry. If my son were here, he would know exactly what to do and so much work would have been done. What am I to do? Now everything is just left as it is. It's three months since I last visited our farm. And today I decided to have a look but when I went there, it just reminded me of my son and that's why I started to cry.
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