KATHMANDU, Sept 13: The already slow peace process in Nepal was on the verge of receiving a severe blow, when a volatile situation erupted within the country. Maoists rebels came on to the streets to protest against what they claim an influx of weapons by the muti-party government for the army.
It is claimed that a number of tankers and trucks carrying arms and ammunition were stopped by them at Gaujari village town, 70 km west of Kathmandu late on Tuesday night. The Maoist’s claim that the weapons’ influx was a direct violation of the terms of the ceasefire.
Traffic was blocked by the demonstrators on all highways throughout the Country on Wednesday morning. Protesters marched out and reports of arson on intersections were received. However, there were no reports of loss of life and property.
The incident that took place today holds importance in the milieu of the reports that a cache of arms and ammunition had landed at Ahmedabad, India, on a Ukrainian airliner, recently.
These claims however, have been refuted by authentic media sources that claim that this is nothing more than mere propaganda.
Mr Dina Nath Sharma, a Maoist leader and also a member of the Negotiating-team asserted that his supporters had found tankers and trucks at 9 pm on Tuesday night. He claimed that no arms and ammunition were found, but, “Maybe these had been shifted to a safer place.”
“If the army has imported the cache, we will not allow it to enter the capital,” Mr Sharma said resolutely. He claims that four mine protected vehicles, 20 mini-trucks, two trucks and five jeeps loaded with Israeli-made weapons entered Nepal via Birgunj and arrived at the Nepalese Army barracks at Gajuri, Dhading district, on the Prithivi Highway.
Nepal’s Defence Secretary Bishnu Dutta Upreti refuted these claims and told the media that the trucks at Gajuri did not carry any ammunition. Ramesh Lekhak, member of the government’s negotiating team, maintained the same stance and said that these were just rumours.
A fact that was supported by a report submitted by the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee that inspected the trucks parked at the NA barracks in Gajuri. The report asserted that nothing but “non-lethal” cargo was found inside the trucks.
Brig N.B. Chand told Dawn that this was nothing more than a routine logistic movement of army vehicles that were being sent as a convoy to be re-painted. These vehicles, he said, would accompany the peace keeping mission that is to be sent to Lebanon. A strike call by agitating Maoists was however called off as a result of negotiations between Maoist chief Prachanda and Nepalese Prime Minister Mr Girija Prasad Koirala.
