Peace Efforts by Religious Leaders in Nepal

Peace Efforts by Religious Leaders in Nepal By: Hari Bansh Jha Nepal is passing through the most critical phase in its history of 238 years. Ever since the internal conflict erupted in the country in 1996, 15,000 people have been killed. Nearly 270,000 people are believed to have been displaced and 1.5 million youth have been forced to migrate to various countries for security, safety and livelihood. Besides, 1,500 Village Development Committee (VDC) buildings have been partially or completely destroyed. Several rural bridges, schools, communication installations, district level government offices, police posts and private properties were damaged. However, the country was able to restore peace, though of uneasy nature, during the people's movement of April 2006. During this movement, the Seven Party Alliance and the Nepal Communist Party (NCP-Maoist) together were able to regain most of the people's power that was lost to the monarchial institution. The Nepalese parliament was restored. It is now the people's representatives who are in charge of running the government and the country. Yet many believe that the present phase of "no war" and "no peace" in the country in which open warfare has ceased to exist is unpredictable. The internal situation of the country during this period is tense with major chances of large scale violence to erupt again. Fundamental issues like arms management is unresolved, though the United Nations (UN) has been invited to mediate. The UN representative virtually does not adequately know what it has to deliver in the absence of clear-cut mandate, which ought to have been given to it by the concerned groups. The government wants the Maoists to surrender the arms to facilitate the process of Constituent Assembly Elections for which it is committed, but the latter wants "several changes" in the political structure to take place before they surrender the arms. As the country obviously appears to be on the cross roads, lapse in ceasing the opportunity by the concerned groups might flare up violence to a still greater dimension. But careful handling of the situation could help restore peace. In such a situation, the appeal made by the Inter Religious Council (IRC) in Nepal to the Seven Party Alliance, the NCP (Maoist) and the Government of Nepal (GON) to implement in letter and spirit all the understandings/agreements developed among them, including the 12 point agreement, 5 point understanding and the 25-point code of conduct appears to be most timely and crucial. The IRC is a NGO established in Nepal two years ago by the representatives of all major religious groups like the Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and Bonn act for conflict mediation and peace building. Since the people in Nepal are mostly religious-minded, the appeal made by the religious leaders for the restoration of sustainable peace in the country should not go unnoticed. As per the 2001 Census Report, of the total population of the country of nearly 23 million, the Hindus constitute 80.6 per cent followed by Buddhists (10.7 per cent), Muslims (4.2 per cent), Kirat (3.4 per cent) and Christian (0.5 per cent). In the past, the IRC is believed to have exerted pressure on both the government and rebel sides to reach amicable settlement of the conflict, which had certain positive results. Considering the immense potentiality that the religious groups have in spreading the message of love, kindness, compassion, and brotherhood among the common mass of the population, their role in resolving the conflict cannot be undermined. Therefore, the national and international agencies need to consult and act closely with the religious bodies while they make efforts for conflict mediation and peace building in this land of Buddha.