“I fought in Myagdi, I fought in Khara. I even lost many of my colleagues who collapsed in the battlefields. Now I have been termed disqualified,” says Ramesh Karki of the fifth division at Dahaban cantonment in Rolpa. [break]
Karki is one the 268 combatants who packed up and left the cantonment on Monday.
Most of the combatants deplored the fact that they were disqualified despite their involvement in fierce battles with the security forces during the insurgency. “Suddenly we were given the list of disqualified personnel and I was one of them,” says Karki.
UNMIN had disqualified the combatants who joined the Maoist People Liberation Army (PLA) after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement or were below 18 years during the time of verification.
Many of them claim they were genuine combatants. “I fought for six years,” says Rupa Chaudhary of Dang. “My husband who also fought for seven years was also disqualified,” she says.
Some combatants also threatened that the move to evict them would cost the country dear.
“The hands that are accustomed to playing with weapons will not plough, rear pigs or work in poultry farms,” says Tek Bahadur Budathoki. He argues that the government and the UNMIN would be responsible for the possible consequences.
Immediately after they shook hands with Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the disappointed combatants left the podium and threw away the garlands put on them by PLA chief Nanda Kishore Pun and Deputy Commander Chandra Prakash Khanal.
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