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TIME FOR SERIOUSNESS

The Kathmandu Post
23 September 2016
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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