Kantipuronline reports that the Unified
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M)
Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka
Prachanda on April 11 remarked that the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) combatants
were handed over to the Nepal Army (NA)
in haste considering the possible
disruption to the integration process. He
termed the move to hand over Maoist combatants,
their arms and the cantonments to NA a “bold
decision”. Dahal remarked that the protests
by his party hard-line faction led by senior
Vice Chairman Mohan Baidya over the decision
to hand over the combatants and arms do
not hold water. “The protests by the faction
of Kiran ji [Baidya] was part of their responsibility,”
said Dahal, hinting at the hardliners. “This
[protest] is like their regular job. But,
now petty issues should not be bickered
over.”
Further, the Army Integration Special Committee
(AISC) on April 11 formed a taskforce to
settle the technical issues of Army integration,
reports Nepal News. The four-member
taskforces comprises AISC members Barshaman
Pun of UCPN-M, Bhim Rawal of Communist Party
of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML),
Minendra Rijal of Nepali Congress and Jitendra
Dev of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Loktantrik).
The team has been asked to present its recommendations
in the AISC meeting to be held on April
12 (today). Even after deciding to hand
over the PLA cantonments to the Nepal Army,
the parties are yet to agree on the ranks
for the combatants going for integration,
standards of integration, training period,
formation of the selection committee and
the composition of the general directorate
to be formed under the NA. |
