As the government is being praised for ‘catching big fish’ in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam, demand is also building from various quarters for an impartial investigation into alleged corruption in Maoist cantonments.
The
case dates back to 2007 when the then government had decided to provide Rs5,000
a month to as many as 19,602 former Maoist combatants camped in seven
cantonments and 21 satellite camps set up across the country. The provision was
to be continued until the time the combatants were either integrated into
security agencies or chose volunteer retirement.
The distribution of money to former rebels courted controversy
as Maoist leaders allegedly pocketed a big chunk of the fund. In 2013, of the
total 19,602 combatants registered by
the United Nations Mission to Nepal (UNMIN), 1,460 were integrated
into Nepal Army while some others chose a rehabilitation package offered by the
government.
Other
parties have been accusing the then Maoist leadership and top commanders of
profiteering from the funds that should have gone to the combatants. They were
also accused of accepting salaries and allowances on behalf of thousands of
combatants who had already left the cantonments.
Although
some Maoist Centre leaders said Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was positive
on probing the alleged corruption in cantonment funds, no prominent leader has
talked about the issue in public.
So
there is a question of whether the Dahal-led government will ever undertake the
probe.
Leaders
from rival parties claimed that Dahal cannot do so because that would put him
in a difficult situation.
“Both the prime minister and Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba
could be indicted in the cantonment case,” said Raghuji Pant, a standing
committee member of CPN-UML. “I don't think this government will probe it.”
The
main opposition party UML, through its three-day central committee meeting that
concluded Saturday, demanded that the government investigate all corruption
cases, including the one related to cantonment funds.
However,
the Maoist-led government and leaders of the Maoist Centre have so far been
tight-lipped on the issue.
Even
within the Maoist Centre’s rank and file, dissatisfaction is palpable over the
alleged corruption, in which the party leadership had allegedly misused a large
amount of money collected from the combatants.
Around
a decade ago, a corruption complaint was filed at the Commission for the
Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against Maoist leaders, including
Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai, charging them of pocketing government funds
allocated to pay salaries and allowances to former combatants by producing fake
combatants.
The
complaint also charged the leaders of embezzling the amount meant to procure
rations for the combatants. In the complaint, the Youth Association Nepal,
UML’s youth wing, had accused the Maoist leadership of misusing at least Rs4
billion.
Notably, the Office of the Auditor General had cleared the
budget allocated for cantonment operation and management including the salary
and allowances of former Maoist combatants.
Some
Maoist Centre leaders, however, have started speaking up, prodding the party
leadership to explain the issue to the public. They say that the party
shouldn’t hesitate to investigate the matter since it hadn’t embezzled as much
money as has been rumoured.
In
a recent Facebook post,
Subodh Serpali, the chair of the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing
of the Maoist Centre, said that as the party keeps facing accusations every now
and then, the party leadership should settle the issue.
He
added that if any of the commanders are found guilty, the YCL will hand them
over to the government and help the authorities take necessary action.
“The
UML and the Congress have benefitted the most by the sacrifice of Maoist
fighters, but they have also been accusing the party of misappropriating the
funds meant for cantonments,” said Serpali. “Why didn’t KP Oli or Sher Bahadur
Deuba initiate a probe when they led the government?”
He
said the UNMIN-led joint monitoring and coordination committee was responsible
for distributing the funds to the fighters living there and the well-audited
reports are now shelved in the Home Ministry following the integration of some
Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army.
“Anyone
can see the files there,” Serpali said. “UML leaders like Ishwar Pokhrel,
Bhanubhakta Dhakal and Gokul Baskota should be given the responsibility to
probe it.”
The
YCL chief said Dahal’s government should minutely probe the case and
‘enlighten’ the public.
“I
am sure that our leadership and commanders are not involved in any such
corruption,” Serpali said. “If anyone is found guilty on this front, the YCL
will hand them over to the police.”
Former
chief of the YCL Ram Prasad Sapkota, who goes by nom de guerre Deepshikha, also
said the issue should be probed so as to clear the air.
“Fighters
were given cheques individually and as such there was no room for corruption,”
Sapkota told the Post. “But even to convince the people, the government should
initiate a probe.”
Sapkota
claimed that his party’s rank and file also wants an investigation as the
opposition parties often exaggerate the matter to vilify the Maoist Centre.
Some
Maoist leaders, however, believe that the UML and the Rastriya Prajatantra
Party are trying to divert the people’s attention from the ongoing
investigation into the fake Bhutanese refugee scam after the arrest of some of
their top leaders.
“Other
parties raised the already closed cantonment issue to divert public attention
after the Maoist-led government started getting praise for its anti-corruption
efforts,” said Hitraj Pande, chief whip of the Maoist Centre. Our party is not
involved in any kind of financial embezzlement.
0 Comments