| Anti-Maoist Nepali group trains suicide bombers |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Wednesday, 27 June 2007 | |
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Called the Nepal Defence Army, the group is headed by a former policeman who says he joined the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist as a schoolboy but has now begun waging war on his former comrades. The ex-cop, who today calls himself 'Parivartan' (change), claims his band has nearly 1,200 trained soldiers who possess arms and have the expertise to manufacture explosives. Earlier this year, the Nepal Defence Army made its debut with a couple of blasts, including at the well-guarded office of the Maoists in Kathmandu. Leader ‘Parivartan’ in a recent interview said that Nepal Defence Army has been founded to fight for Hinduism. He added that "Hindus worldwide support us, including the families of top Maoist leaders. Our soldiers are being trained across the border in India and we get the ingredients for manufacturing explosives from India”. Parivartan ended with a dire warning. "We have trained five suicide bombers who can go anywhere, including Singh Durbar (the seat of administration)”. The CPN-Maoist first fired its salvo of ‘People’s War’ on February 12, 1996 seeking to destroy constitutional monarchy and aiming to establish a Maoist people’s democracy. Maoist guerrillas followed the strategy of ‘people's war’ in which they attempt to take gradual control of the countryside to encircle the cities, only fighting with government forces on their own terms when they can significantly outnumber their enemy. In 2001, the Nepalese Army began a military campaign against the Maoists, especially in the western areas of the country, although there have been intermittent ceasefires. More than 12,700 people were killed; over 4,000 by Maoists and 8,200 by the government, and an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people were internally displaced as a result of the conflict. About 600 child soldiers had died during the Maoist insurgency. There are four categories of people killed in the process: Maoist guerrillas, police, alleged informers of police, and innocent civilians. Maoist insurgency has left a lot of families still searching for their loved ones. The new revolutionary leader said his group had no links with King Gyanendra nor the group wants to be a mainstream political party. There sole aim is to form a Hindu state. The group feels that though, during their 10-year war, the Maoists destroyed and desecrated temples and attacked priests, it will never destroy any church or mosque. Share & Bookmark             |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 29 June 2007 ) |
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