UN Minimum

The Government has decided to extend the tenure of the United Nations Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) by six months after its current term expires on July 22. The mission had been engaged two years ago and assigned two specific roles: managing the arms and armies of the government and the Maoists and observing polls to the constituent assembly. The ruling alliance has come to the conclusion that UNMIN somehow needs to get involved in the process of integrating the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in the national army.

Although no change has been made in the earlier terms of reference for UNMIN continuation, political parties are clear that it will have a much smaller size and role in the country.

The governments of Britain and Norway have already come forward to provide necessary assistance in the reintegration process, something the Nepal army is still resisting. Army Chief Rookmangad Katawal has been saying that he will not welcome the politically indoctrinated cadre in the army. But with the prospect of Maoists heading the new government and with the party’s total control over the proposed security council, Gen Katawal’s options are limited: to fall in line or quit. But so far his stand does carry weight.

A Department of Foreign Investment Development (DFID)-funded workshop scheduled in Bangkok last week on the subject was called off following objections by Prime Minister G.P. Koirala that the issue of reintegration should best be left to the Nepalis. Moreover, there are some faint voices that the British who face the charge of discriminating against the ‘Gorkhas’ should not be involved in the process which calls for inclusivity and reforms. Britain’s reputation on the issue has remained dubious as it is yet to recover from the findings of a high level probe body (Sir MacPherson) that claimed ‘institutional racism’ was rampant in the country, including in government agencies.

But the Nepal army was abandoned by all, including India. After the Royal takeover in Feb 2005, India and Britain, the two countries with whom Nepal’s military has had a long history of fraternity and dependence, cut off all supplies of arms and ammunitions, which is yet to resume. The US was however, still sympathetic to it. In August 2006, with the arrival of UNMIN, the 93,000-strong army was confined to the barrack and treated at par with the PLA.

Even after the army was brought under parliament with the prime minister as the supreme commander, it continued to be vilified as the king’s private army. It was projected as the sole violator of human rights all through the years of insurgency which began in 1996, although it deployed against the Maoists only since November 2001 onwards. Both UNMIN and the special office of the UN Human Rights (OHCHR) that was set up in Nepal during the king’s regime to oversee the human rights situation are the target of quiet fury from section of the army and the government, who claim that they are less sensitive to violations committed by the Maoists during the years of conflict.

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