Maoists kidnap 192 students, teachers in Nepal

AFP ^ | February 1, 2004

[Tailgunner Joe]

Nepal's Maoists have abducted a total of 192 school students in western Nepal in recent days and are forcing them to undergo military training, witnesses and officials said on Sunday.

Ramesh Pokharel, a teacher at Bajura district, 340 kilometres west of Kathmandu, said 104 school students and some teachers were taken by the rebels on last Thursday from a school in Rameswori village to an unknown location.

Another 88 students were abducted from a school in Pujyatala village in Achham district, 360 kilometres west of Kathmandu on Friday, a village official said.

Home Ministry spokesman Gopendra Bahadur Pandey confirmed that a number of students had been kidnapped but was not immediately able to provide details.

The security forces had been sent to rescue the abducted students, Pandey said.

Following the abductions, some 45 lower secondary schools in western Nepal have been closed to prevent further such incidents, he said.

Village officials claim the boys and girls are rounded up by the rebels and taken to camps for military training and "communist orientation".

"The Maoist force is dwindling sharply and is needing to recruit more (people) to reinforce their fighting groups," a former Maoist brigade commander said recently.

The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and the uprising has so far claimed more than 9,000 lives.

[xJones]

"The Maoist force is dwindling sharply and is needing to recruit more (people) to reinforce their fighting groups," a former Maoist brigade commander said recently.

That's one fine recruitment system, all right. And that's also the pits of fanatical desperation.

The security forces had been sent to rescue the abducted students, Pandey said.

Those school kids must want to go home, and not be force trained in some paramilitary boot camp by fanatics for a 'cause' they don't know or care about. Let's just pray the security forces can catch up and rescue them in time.

[MEG33]

Communists kidnap to recruit?They sound very popular.God help the students.

[Clock King]

One of those kids will grow, remember their kidnapping and shoot their leaders. I hope.

[kid_in_kc]

one of my very good friends from church now lives in nepal. officially, she is there as a student, because nepal is a closed country. it is a beautiful country, with beautiful people, and to my knowledge, the only officially hindu country in the world. these maoist rebels are terrorizing this nation, and the rest of the world seems to be turning a blind eye.

[risk]

Could it be that India has been successful at cutting off funding from its own communist organizations to Nepal?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

This tactic seems to be common among failed ideologies.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Youth Abducted, and Trained to KillJOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The children had nicknames based on their grimmest deeds - like "Castrator" or "Laughing and Killing."

Some dyed their hair bright orange. Others fought naked to terrify the enemy. Some girl soldiers fought in their underwear because they thought it would make them magical and bulletproof.

They carried the scars of secret initiation rites and wore neck charms that they believed would protect them from enemy bullets, though one 17-year-old, Isaac T., conceded that the magic did not work against larger artillery.

The commanders in Liberia's four-year war deny recruiting child soldiers. But, according to the accounts of child soldiers interviewed by the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch, the government and two rebel groups abducted children as young as nine and turned them into combatants during the past four years. The kidnappings occurred when children were on their way to school or from camps for displaced people, said the group, which protected the children's identities.***

[risk]

Who's funding it? I've heard that India is involved. Accusations are that China had played a role, but the Indian connection is even more interesting if true. Is there a standard excuse given for the abuse, i.e. "distribution of wealth?" Who benefits from either the revolution ongoing, or its desired result?

[risk]

Note: "India" as in parties in that nation, not the nation itself. I'm sure they want no part of this. But are they doing enough to stop it?

[Cronos]

hmmm... who wins with a Nepal in chaos?

Not the nation state of India -- it only loses. The nation state of Communist CHina wins a lot -- it keep the indian troops occupied and it could get a fellow commie country to it's south. Plus, this prevents Tibetans from gettting support and also diverts attention away from Tibet. There could, indeed there must be some help coming from the Commie parties in India who are pro-Maoist and used to be active in Indian until the 70s. Lately the indian army has been crushing these commies, so they might have found Nepal more easier pickings and also closer to their mentor -- CHina.

Is the Indian govt doing enough to stop it? an emphathic No! THey have a large enough army to crush these Maoist terrroists. They did so once when they rescued the Maldives from a coup. They ought to be moving in now. The problem is that if they DO move in then:
a. The Nepalese govt would not accept any aid -- it wants to be sovereign.
b. Even if they did, the UN would say no.
c. Pak would make a big fuss (India trying to act like the regional bully etc. etc.
d. India's smaller neighbours would (justifiably) feel threatened when the big boy of the sub-continent uses force in another nation's territory (even if invited) -- eg. when the Indians helped the Maldives, Sri Lanka objected, even though the Maldive govt and people were very grateful. When the Indians were requested to crush the LTTE in Sri Lanka, they again came under criticism. If the US sent in troops to quell drug lords in Panama and Colombia, they would get the same criticism, even though this was with good intentions and with good results, helping hte locals.

[risk]

international perspective bump!