KATHMANDU - Nepal’s King Gyanendra reviewed two recently-formed battalions and new military hardware in the capital on Sunday as the army predicted victory against Maoist rebels. Boots were polished and medals were on display as the king, standing on a dias in central Kathmandu, presented the new battalions with their colours.In return he was saluted with antique cannon, helicopter flypasts and firing displays during a ceremony to mark Army Day and the important Hindu festival of Shivaratri. The army was “heading towards the path to victory” against the Maoists, the state-run Rising Nepal reported. “Our history is testimony to the fact that all crises that have come across the nation since the unification of the Kingdom of Nepal have been resolved through the joint effort of the king, people and the army,” the newspaper quoted army chief Pyar Jung Thapa as saying.
Since the Maoists began their “people’s war” just over a decade ago some 12,500 people have been killed. The conflict has crippled the economy and badly affected tourism, formerly a major money earner for the impoverished Himalayan nation.
Kapil Shrestha, a politics professor and human rights activist, questioned the claim that the Maoists were on the way to military defeat. “The fact is the army does not have the capability to win the ongoing insurgency,” said Shrestha, a professor at Tribhuvan University.
The Maoists, a small, rag-tag collection of fighters with homemade weapons a decade ago, now effectively control large swathes of the countryside. Analysts have said the army cannot defeat the Maoists militarily in their rural heartland, just as the Maoists cannot take and hold the well-defended capital and surrounding valley.
The army comes under the direct control of the king but should be accountable to government, said Shrestha. “The Royal Nepalese Army should be controlled and operated under civilian government. They should be responsible to parliament,” he said.
| Kapil doesn't realize how short his life will be the moment the Maoists take power. |