The Kathmandu Post
TIME FOR SERIOUSNESS
It was encouraging to read the news article
(“Serious crimes will be prosecuted: PM” 22 Sept, Page 1) when the country is
currently led by Prime Minister Pushpa K. Dahal who headed the decade long insurgency
against the state. Speaking at a programme organized to mark the International
Day of Peace in the Capital, PM Dahal vowed to bring the perpetrators of
serious crime to book. Doing and saying are two different things. Many promises
were made to the people by the senior leaders of all the major parties at
different times. Most of those promises remain unfulfilled.
It is time for the Dahal led government
also to complete the peace process. Such an opportunity may not come for him if
he does not take it seriously given that he himself is currently at the helm of
the government. Everybody knows that the conflict victims are still waiting for
justice and fear that there could be blanket amnesty allowing the perpetrators
of serious crimes to walk free. If that happens, Nepal will lose its credibility in the
international community for going against the principles of transitional
justice, international law as well as the comprehensive peace agreement that
had brought the warring side into the mainstream political process.
The
government should make every effort to support the two transitional justice
bodies that were formed almost nine years after the peace agreement. They
should be given the liberty of working without undue pressure and influence of
the political parties. Otherwise, the effort of completing the peace process
will remain incomplete creating social disharmony in the country.
Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharajgunj
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