 BENJAMIN BROWN |
Looking at the number of comments under 'Walled in'(#506), it is obvious Mr. Brown struck a sore spot for many people. It is a gutsy article and his questions are valid.
Indoctrination runs deep indeed. It goes far beyond 'I' or 'We' or any rhetorical arguments. Yes, the Maoists caused unimaginable damage and suffering and a murder remains a murder regardless of motivation. However, they are still in Nepal, there are many of them and it seems in reality nobody is doing anything practical about it.
In the pictures, the ex-combatants look like strong young men and women, maybe in their late twenties. Simple calculation suggests that since they have been in the cantonments for four years and the fighting went on for ten years, many of them would have been recruited when they were very young. No wonder the brainwashing goes deep. They were not trained to think, they were trained to obey orders. They came from powerless positions, were given boots and fatigues and guns, which all propelled them into positions of power. They have no concept of decision making or their own wishes or responsibility for their own future. The thinking was done for them.
I once asked my friend Purna about his long term plans for his future. "Didi, an average poor Nepali gets up in the morning and hopes he will have breakfast and a supper," he said. "If he gets lunch too, it was a good day." And Purna is not even a brainwashed Maoist, he is a mountain guide with a better perspective on life than many poor Nepalis. When the poor fellows in the camp were asked about their individual plans for the future, the thought had probably never entered their minds. How would they answer the question?
Why have these people been left rotting there? A lot could have been changed in four years. Is there anything being done to actively de-program them? If there is to be any hope for a re-integration into society, certain steps have to be taken first. Why are there still pictures of old relics such as Stalin and Karl Marx and Mao on the walls? Why is the hammer and the sickle there? Why are they armed and standing on guard guarding absolutely nothing ?