The controversial visit by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-mooon in April to Nepal to attend a function in Lumbini with Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been “rescheduled”.
The visit was opposed by civil society members and political parties which felt that the leader of a Maoist party who had not yet given up violence as an instrument of politics and who was openly seen in the presence of those accused of war crimes would send the wrong message.
Supporters of the visit, which included Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal said the visit would help transform the Maoist party and bring them into the mainstream of democracy.
Making the announcement on Wednesday morning, the UN’s resident coordinator for Nepal, Robert Piper, tweeted: “UNSG’s visit to be rescheduled to allow more time for preparations for Lumbini meeting and to avoid distracting current key peace negotiations.”
Former UN under-secretary general and once the seniormost Nepali in the UN system, Kul Chandra Gautam, wrote in this paper last week that Ban’s visit should go ahead only if Pushpa Kamal Dahal first agreed to abjure violence, conclude the peace process and address serious concerns about impunity for those accused of war-time atrocities.
In an op-ed titled ‘Wrong visit at the wrong time’, Gautam wrote: ‘It would be most unwise for Ban Ki-moon to lend his name and the prestige of the United Nations to whitewash the image of a political leader who continues to believe that political power flows out of the barrel of a gun… Mr Ban is welcome to visit Lumbini any time for a pilgrimage, but without hobnobbing with Maoist leaders who refuse to fully abide by Buddha's teachings of peace and non-violence.’
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