The nine year-long Maoist insurgency in Nepal has claimed over 10,000 lives and has rendered several thousand more homeless. The unending cycle of violence has severely disrupted rural life and education and has crippled political institutions across the country. <br /> <br /> Following an attack by the Maoist insurgents on November 20, 2004, in Salleri, Dailekh district, that left three innocent persons, including a child, dead 500 villagers from Naumule, Toli, Salleri, Baluwatar, Kalika and Dwari Village Development Committees (VDC) fled to Naumule bazaar and sought protection from the security forces. In September 2004, the Global Internal Displacement (GID) Report said over 200, 000 people have been displaced in the ongoing insurgency in Nepal. A vast majority of the displaced are poor rural folk. Among the displaced are school children, teachers, government employees, land owners and political activists. <br /> <br /> Routinely, accusing the elected people's representatives of VDCs and District Development Committees of corruption and financial misappropriation, the Maoists have ordered them to resign from their posts; on November 1, the Maoists issued a 15-day ultimatum to VDC secretaries in Bara district to resign. Separately, a media report of November 21 said that secretaries of 62 VDCs in Parsa district resigned citing threats from the Maoist insurgents. Since August 2004, fearing violent retribution from the insurgents, nearly 200 secretaries and officials of local bodies in Lamjung, Parbat, Rautahat, Parsa and Bara districts have resigned. <br /> <br /> Besides, they have injured or murdered political activists and government employees. The insurgents' tactic is to create an administrative vacuum in rural areas and occupy that space. Also, with a disturbingly recurring frequency, the Maoists have attacked and damaged schools and VDC offices, police stations, hydro-power stations and other government installations. On November 9, the insurgents had blasted the Internal Revenue Office in Bhaktapur and Employees Provident Fund office at Sundhara. <br /> <br /> On November 14, the insurgents hanged a civilian to death accusing him of theft and murder. The negligible presence of security forces and government agencies in the rural areas has left the Maoists free to implement their own laws and rules. Therefore, the helpless civilians are compelled to flee their homes. The violent and strong-arm methods of the Maoists have, thus, forced thousands of school students, teachers and youth to flee to towns and district headquarters, while a significant number have crossed over to India. The large scale arrival of internally displaced persons into towns and district headquarters is exerting pressure on the infrastructure, which is unable to provide basic amenities like healthcare, education sanitation and water supply. <br /> <br /> The impact of the displacement of the Nepalese is being felt in India, too. Although the Nepalese, owing to agreements between India and Nepal, are free to seek employment in India, their numbers is steadily increasing in the face of escalating violence by the Maoists and the ongoing uncertainty there. Reports from border police posts in Nepalganj and Kanchanpur districts in western Nepal alone suggest that more than 10,000 people enter Indian from Nepal in a of three months. <br /> <br /> In the long-run, the continued migration of Nepalese to India has the potential to radically effect changes to the demographic landscape along the India-Nepal border. It is in the interest of both India and Nepal that a lasting solution is found to the Maoist insurgency problem. <br /> <br />
<br /> <br /> (Courtesy: Pioneer, New Delhi, December 1, 2004.) <br /> <br /> <em>* Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Observer Research Foundation.</em>
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