A meeting of the United Nations-chaired Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC) was cancelled on Thursday after the Nepal Army (NA) said it would boycott the meeting if the issue of fresh recruitment into its ranks was not dropped from the agenda.
Three weeks ago, following a Supreme Court verdict that said the issue did not fall under its purview, the NA had announced vacancies for 3434 positions. The Maoist People's Liberation Army subsequently said it would open recruitment as well. The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has consistently called any addition of personnel in either army as violation of the peace accords.
The Supreme Court had also said the JMCC, a body constituted under the peace accord to monitor the management of arms and armies, would be a more appropriate forum to discuss the dispute. But the army has maintained that JMCC has nothing to do with the issue. “This is entirely under the jurisdiction of the Government of Nepal. We are following the interim constitution and Army Act,” said Army spokesperson, Brigadier Ramindra Chhetri.
The NA has also asked the government not to request the Security Council to extend UNMIN's tenure beyond its current mandate which ends on September 15.
In the past few days, Army Chief General Chhatra Man Singh Gurung has met the Minister of Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjong, and the non-Maoist members of the Special Committee on Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of the former Maoist combatants. He is understood to have told them that UNMIN is no longer needed, the Nepal Army must be kept out of any monitoring, and the special committee could monitor the 28 cantonments which have former Maoist combatants.
A Kathmandu daily, The Himalayan Times, also accessed a confidential NA report, which blames UNMIN for “serving the interests of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)”, and accuses it of “double standards and misleading all, including the international community”.
Referring to the hypothetical 60-week timeline for integration and rehabilitation in a non-paper prepared by UNMIN, the NA report is quoted as saying, “The 60 week roadmap has helped the Maoists to delay the army integration process, and the Maoists seem to be adamant on extending the mandate of UNMIN at any cost. It has helped weaken the position of NA.” The report adds, “There is no need to extend UNMIN's tenure as the country is no longer in conflict.”
Keywords: Nepal Army, UNMIN, JMCC, peace accords
Dear Editor,
I appreciate the news analysis about the UNMIN in nepal by Prashant Jha. Not only Nepal Army is against the UNMIN, we all the Nepalese people hate the notorious activities of UNMIN.
Yes,Nepal Army is blaming- UNMIN for serving the interests of the Nepalese Maoist, UNMIN has double standards and misleading all, including the international community. We support the reality.
So, we hate UNMIN suspisious and destructive activities. UNMIN and CIA want to destroy all the Hindu and Buddha's identities. We, it is better-UNMIN quit Nepal.
We Nepalese people request India not to interfere and victimize Nepal, as they were found involved in abolishing Monarchy. The Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy is a factor for the stability of Nepal and is a media for good relationship between India and China. The only way would be the acceptance and restoration of benevolent and people-oriented monarchy to establish peace and save Nepal's sovereignty.In such condition, Nepal and India both can save the identity of their country.
Nepalese people had expected that the UN's role would be impartial. But the UN could not remain neutral. The UNMIN listens only to the Maoist rebels and the corrupt leaders of the so-called big party totally disregarded the aspiration of majority of the Nepalese people. By hatching such conspiracy Ian Martin, special representative of the UNMIN and others like him are working to push Nepal into a bloodier civil war and conflict by keeping even the UN headquarters under shadow. From the very beginning, UNMIN has been demoralizing Nepal Army and supporting Maoist and its rebel by allowing them to keep the weapons with them in the cantonment and let them start the youth force (YCL), who can be the law and order itself as they used to do during their revolution. Nowhere in the world, would a country be able to protect its sovereignty by making the national army weak and powerless?
UNMIN always tries to extend his duration and this could prove fatal to Nepal's sovereignty and national integrity. So, there is no necessary UNMIN in Nepal.
I hope-it will be for international discussion.
Thank you.
Dirgha Raj Prasai
Former Member of parliament,Nepal.
Political Analyst.
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