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Indian court convicts 11 Nepali Maoists in absentia
by Kalpit Parajuli
The verdict is in connection with crimes committed on Indian soil during Nepal’s civil war. Two former ministers and six lawmakers are among the 11 people convicted. Nepali Prime Minister Bhattarai calls for amnesty.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – An Indian court convicted in absentia 11 Nepali Maoist leaders for crimes committed in India during Nepal’s civil war. The sentences range between two and six years of prison, plus a fine. The offenders include two former ministers and six lawmakers.
Reached a few days ago, the verdict has caused a diplomatic row between the two countries, already at odds with each other over Kathmandu’s crackdown on Tibetan exiles.
In order to avoid a government crisis, Nepali Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has opened talks with his Indian counterpart to obtain an amnesty.
The ruling by the High Court in Patna (Bihar) refers to crimes committed during the Nepali civil war (1996-2006), when dozens of Maoist guerrillas used India as a place of refuge. Eleven of them were arrested in 2004 in the Indian State of Bihar on the border with Nepal.
After the end of the war and the rehabilitation of the Maoist movement, Indian authorities released the prisoners on bail. However, since then they have not served any time and have instead continued to destabilise India by funding an Indian Maoist movement that has been behind a series of attacks inside India itself.
Nepali Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said he was concerned about the affair because it might undermine the newly established Maoist government, as well as block the ongoing disarmament and peace processes. “India should withdraw the charges as it did in 2006 with the Nepali government of the day,” he said.
The Maoist leaders convicted in India in the current majority are Kul Prasad K, Anil Sharma, Kumar Dahal, Min Prasad Chapagain, Shyam Kishor, Hit Bahadur Tamanag and Yadav Bista. The last two are former ministers in the Prachanda government and now sit in the Maoist Party’s governing council.
The current case is the second of its kind. In the 1970s, Chakra Prasad Bastola, now a Congress Party leader, was convicted by a court in Arariya, Bihar, for his role in hijacking of a Nepali plane.
His case was suspended when he was appointed Nepali ambassador to India in the early 1990s.