“All of us were ready for integration. We thought after the integration it will be like winning another war,” Manju said, adding, “But after the collapse of the government, I am worried if that will happen now.”
Manju joined the Maoists at young age of 16. She is also an injured combatant of the insurgency.
“We had forgotten everything during the war. But now a lot of excuses are being made,” she lamented.
Stating that the ex-combatants have been neglected, she said, “The Maoist party could not give any relief to the injured combatants. The state ignored us while it spent huge amount of money on those injured during the people´s movement.”
Manju questioned, “I wonder sometimes what we have actually fought for? Why are we being treated like this after having fought the people´s war for over a decade?” Manju sustained bullet injury to her left leg while fighting the security forces in Khairikhola in Dang district. Her husband too was injured during the war. “Both of us are handicapped. The government has not helped us. We are worried about our future,” Manju complained, adding that they are now facing tough time raising their children as well.
The ex-combatants living in temporary camps are now extremely worried about their future, especially after the fall of the Maoist government. They have remained in the camps for over two and a half years now. The Maoist leaders had been assuring them of the integration in the national army. But since they see no sign of immediate integration, they are not only confused, but are also agitated at the government and the political parties.
Commander Pratik of the PLA sixth division, who has just been transferred to the fourth division, said, “By blocking the integration process, some people are trying to derail the entire constitution-making process. But we will not let that happen.”
The combatants feel that the peace process, army integration and the constitution-making process will be at stake if Maoists remain out of the government.
On the one hand, the combatants are worried what would become of them if the integration does not happen, and on the other, there is rising frustration among them regarding how long they are going to wait aimlessly and remain jobless. Except for the regular morning exercises, the soldiers spend the entire day doing nothing. They, however, claim that the present time is very sensitive. “The situation brought by the change in the central politics is sensitive,” Commander Pratik said.
For the first time after the situation of the Maoist combatants started getting serious, Samuel Tamrat, the special representative of the UN secretary general, visited the camps and requested the political parties and the combatants not to quit the peace process, which has reached halfway, in a limbo. During the time spent in the camps, many combatants have married and now bear children. Also, those who have been handicapped during the war are in no position to work elsewhere.
Manju, who has been living at the Dasharathpur sixth division cantonments said, “We cannot work to earn a living. If the integration does not happen, we won´t survive.”
The Maoist government had raised the monthly allowance of the combatants from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000. But the party levies a certain amount from the allowance. The new government announced that it will pay the combatants directly through personal ba
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