KATHMANDU: Different blocs of Nepal's Maoist movement have begun to come together to counter cases registered against them involving the decade-long civil war in the region. The Maoist splinter groups are now making a common cause on the issue with UCPN (Maoist) and chairman Pushp Kamal Dahal.
Leaders said their unity process will be completed within a week and that they have prepared an 11-point joint strategy paper for the bid. Maoist leader Dev Gurung said that after various lower courts and the Supreme Court started digging out various civil war-era cases against Maoist leaders, different groups were forced to come together and unite under the UCPN. There was international pressure saying serious cases of human rights abuses should be handled by courts while others could be considered for pardon.
Dahal and other senior party leaders have been accused of wrongdoings in several cases. Just last month, the six splinter groups demanded withdrawal of civil war-era cases against Dahal and other leaders from regular courts and repeal of the Supreme Court verdicts, citing conspiracy to derail the peace process.
Maoist rebels had launched an armed insurgency against the parliamentary and monarchy system in Nepal, in 1996, a war that lasted till 2006 and only ended with the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed on November 21, 2006. As per the accord, two transitional justice mechanisms, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Enforced Disappeared Persons, were set up to hear out complaints from victims. Also agreed, was that all war-time cases would be dealth by the TRC and not by regular courts. The end of the war also resulted in the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) which became the single largest party in the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections. However, internal politics forced the party to split into six factions.
