The extended meeting of the party central committee was held at the capital-based Royal Singhe Hotel last Friday and Saturday. Similarly, the meeting of the central committee of the party is held at Dahal´s residence at Lazimpat.[break]
It may be noted that those Maoist former combatants discharged from the cantonments and who were disqualified during the verification conducted by the then United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) have been staging sit-in at the party central office since November 27, putting forth various demands.
They have demanded that the word ´disqualified´ tagged on them be removed and they be provided with perks and facilities as enjoyed by those combatants opting for voluntary retirement.
It seems that the UCPN (Maoist) has not held any meeting at the party headquarters to avert the untoward incidents due to the protests by the disqualified combatants.
Around 400 former Maoist fighters have gathered at the UCPN (Maoist) central office to put pressure on the party leadership to address their demands. They have been taking meals in a mess and staying in tents pitched there.
Party Chairman Dahal had once reached the party office to receive a memorandum from a delegation of the party-aligned youth association. Following his arrival, the fighters gathered outside the office chanted slogans against the party leadership citing their demand were ignored. Since then, Dahal has not reached the office, said Lenin Bista, coordinator of the protest programme.
The UCPN (Maoist) is aware of untoward incidents since November 16 when one Padam Kunwar slapped Chairman Dahal during a tea reception organized by the party at Bhrikutimandap in the capital.
It is learnt those disqualified combatants disassociated from the UCPN (Maoist) and who joined the CPN-Maoist led by Mohan Baidya are on an agitation. According to Bista, they are sitting on an agitation just taking one time meal for a week due to lack of food. Women members with babies have been affected the most as their health condition is deteriorating due to biting cold. "Many of our friends have been suffering from diarrhoea," he said.
Some Maoist fighters who were declared disqualified by UNMIN though they were injured during the decade-long armed conflict have also been participating in the sit-in. They are asking how the former combatants were disqualified when they had fought in the war.
Bista said the former PLA combatants vented ire at the political leaders who were together with them during the war but were now living a lavish life style. They said the party did not pay any attention to the ex-fighters even when they are going hungry.
Coordinator Bista said they had been reported that the party leaders began to hold meeting in the hotels instead of party office and warned that the former combatants have been making preparations to organize sit-in even at the hotels.
The government did not bring the 10-point deal signed on December 10 into implementation, said Bista. He said the former fighters have felt that the government has been plotting in the name of the talks with them.
Few leaders including UCPN-Maoist Party Spokesperson, Agni Sapkota, Chief Secretary Hitraj Pande among others come to the party office.
Meanwhile, Pande claimed that it was a wrong to say that UCPN-Maoist Chairman Dahal did not come to the party headquarters due to regular disruption from the disqualified combatants, saying party Chairman Dahal could not come to the party office due to his busy work schedules.
Pande said the demands of the disqualified combatants have been addressed and a deal was signed between the former fighters and the party, adding, "Agreement to address their demands was made, the comrades are just exerting pressure to bring the agreement into implementation."
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