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Govt-Maoist word war hits a new peak |
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The Times of India
Suman Pradhan
Thursday, March 24, 2005 11:18:23 PM
KATHMANDU: An ongoing propaganda war between Nepal's security forces and the Maoists took a new twist on Thursday when both sides issued conflicting statements. The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has, since early this month, issued statements citing Maoist sources as saying that a split between top Maoist leaders Prachanda and Dr Baburam Bhattarai has weakened the party.
RNA statements have said the split grew out of Prachanda's refusal to hold peace talks with the royalist government while Dr Bhattarai is arguing for talks. A Maoist spokesman denied the reports terming it 'ham-handed propaganda'.
But on Thursday, the RNA issued fresh statements challenging the Maoist assertion. At a press conference at his headquarters in Kathmandu, RNA's public information director Brig Gen Deepak Gurung, citing fresh reports, said Dr Bhattarai has been stripped of all his responsibilities in the Maoist party. "All his responsibilities have been transferred to another Maoist leader, Dev Gurung," he said. He said Bhattarai's wife Hisila Yami, an architect-turned-revolutionary, had also been stripped of party membership.
Another Maoist leader, Dinanath Sharma, is under disciplinary action for writing articles without permission, Brig Gen Gurung said. "We have information from various sources that Bhattarai and his wife are being held in detention at a secret location by the Maoists."
"The split is causing resentment in the party rank and file, and some Maoist cadres supporting Bhattarai have fled from the eastern districts to Darjeeling and Sikkim in India."
But to confuse the matter further, the Maoists promptly issued a rebuttal, this time signed by Dr Bhattarai and his wife Yami themselves. The statement sent to news organisations denied any rift between him and Maoist chairman Prachanda.
"There is no personal rift between chairman Prachanda and ourselves," the statement said. They said normal discussions and debates in the party have been overblown as a split by the RNA to score propaganda victories.
"We are not under detention and we have given our full support to the party leadership to face the current challenges. There is no question of holding peace talks with the government at the moment," the joint statement said.
While there is a general reluctance to believe the RNA's assertions at the face value, independent journalists who have contacts with the Maoists say there are some differences in the leadership but not to the extent as propagated by the RNA.
"The truth is somewhere between the two extreme positions. Some Maoists have told me that Bhattarai and Prachanda do have their differences," a journalist said on the condition of anonymity. |
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