Nepal alleges LTTE, Maoists link

Wilson Gnanadass reporting from Kathmandu
The ruling Nepali Congress last week alleged that there was a link between the Maoists and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Top officials of the Nepali Congress who met a delegation of Sri Lankan Journalists in Kathmandu at their headquarters on October 7, said there were indications of links between these two groups.
The visit of the journalists to Nepal was organised by the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka (NPCSL).

When asked whether the Nepali government suspected any connection between the Tamil Tigers and the Maoists, the Nepali Congress general secretary Dr. Ram Baran Yadev said ‘certainly,’ the Maoists had links with several other guerilla groups as well.

During an exclusive interview ‘The Bottom Line’ had with the central working committee member of the Nepali Congress Dr. Minendra Rijal, he said in the past, especially during the insurgency, the Maoists have received most of their training from the Tamil Tigers.

He added that though the government obtained substantial evidence to the effect that the Tamil Tigers were offering help to the Maoists, there was no verification. “But this is the information the government has,” he said.

He emphasised however, that there was no ‘institution to institution’ connection but added that the Tamil Tigers offered their help to the Maoists to fight the war against the Nepali government.
He said that given the close proximity between Sri Lanka and Nepal, the Maoists may have opted to approach the Tamil Tigers for arms training.
He further said that the government had sought to initiate the peace process only after realising the danger the links between the two groups posed to Nepal.

However, the peace process is at a stalemate at present as the Maoists have refused to participate in the scheduled November 22, Constitutional Assembly (CA) election.

The Maoists have demanded that Nepal be declared a republic by the Interim Parliament and a proportional election system be adopted for the CA polls.

He further said that the six governing political parties including the main ruling Nepali Congress are against the declaration of a republic by the Interim Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Military Commander of one of the cantonments of the Maoists, Pratiksha denied government claims that his army had any links with the LTTE.

During a meeting with him at his military base in Nawalparasi, about 150 kilo meters South of Kathmandu, he told the visiting journalists that there was no truth to any reports about the links with the LTTE in particular or any other guerilla groups in general.

He said though the war was not the answer to the present problem, the Military wing of the Maoists- the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) was forced to an arms struggle because of the continued discrimination against the Nepali people by the government and the King.
He said the PLA was trained locally and their weapons were also manufactured locally. “We have collected a huge haul of arms during the insurgency from the Nepal army and the police. That is sufficient,” he added.