A minister out of reins
- UMA SINGH
One of the influential leaders of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (now Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)) Matrika Yadav always draws attention once he joins the government -- sometimes by seizing red sandalwood, and at other times by locking Local Development Officer in toilet. Most recently, his seizure of land belonging to Birendra Sah, an ordinary citizen at Mirchaiya, Siraha district, has become a topic of hot discussion. In his effort to prove that he is different from the others, Yadav has come to believe that he is above the law, which is his illusion.
His relationship with his party and the party's Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has soured over his act of seizing a citizen's land. He had to resign even from the cabinet after his party asked him to apologize on behalf of the party over the case. After being relieved from his ministerial responsibilities, Yadav is busy participating in programs organized by his party's sister organization, Madhesi National Liberation Front, in various parts of Siraha and Sarlahi districts.
The then Minister for Land Reform and Management Matrika Yadav seized the land belonging to 75 locals including Sah with the help of Young Communist League cadres on September 14, 2008. He has distributed 11 bigahas of land and a house with 16 rooms to his party's 200 dalit activists as part of his campaign to nationalize the property of former royal family members. He has alleged that the land actually belongs to former King Gyanendra's brother-in-law Mohan Shahi.
Yadav has ordered local dalits and squatters of Malhaniya, Raghopur, Kuthanama, Jiwa, Mirchaiya, Matiyawa, Rampur, Birta and Prayagpur to build huts and settle over the seized land.
The land seizure was initially done by Maoist cadres led by the party's district in-charge and Matrika's own son-in-law Dilip Sah, Constituent Assembly member Mahendra Paswan and local Maoist leader Jagat Yadav on August 30.
The land was freed under the directives of Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam. But the land was captured again under direct orders from the then Minister Yadav in less than 24 hours.
"Home Minister interfered in my jurisdiction without informing me," Yadav had said. "I went there to help them [dalits] settle as before. What I have done is hundred percent right."
During the people's war, Maoist activists used to run a people's court in the house spread in a 25-kattha area. Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) activists had chased away the Maoist cadres from the house during Madhes movement.
Money scam
It was revealed that financial dealing was the main reason behind the Maoist cadres' seizure of the 11 bigahas of land and the house at Ramnagar Mirchaiya-3. One of the victims, Birendra Sah, has claimed that the property was seized as he failed to pay donation as demanded by the Maoists. Sah has claimed that he has already given Rs 4 million including a bank check worth Rs 1 million and Rs 3 million in cash in donation to the Maoists.
Sah has claimed that he paid Rs 700,000 to Maoist Constituent Assembly member elected from Siraha-5, Mahendra Paswan, Rs 1.8 million to Siraha district in-charge Dilip Sah, Rs 1 million worth check to former district in-charge Surya Nath Yadav and Rs 500,000 to former district secretary and district coordinator of a Maoist sister organization Abinash. He claimed that Maoists were demanding additional Rs 1 million and that the land was seized as he failed to pay the amount.
The former Maoist district secretary Abinash has confirmed that Birendra Sah of Kalyanpur VDC-6 had provided a total of Rs 4 million as donation to the party. Secretary Abinash has revealed that the amount was taken by the party activists as per the internal understanding that they would pay back the amount to the party.
Such activities on the part of former Minister Yadav have already crossed all limits. The public is asking the question whether Matrika who gained little knowledge of parliamentary affairs even after assuming the portfolio of a minister has any mental problem.
Yadav's latest act of seizing land has strained his relationship with Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam, who represents CPN-UML in the cabinet. The Maoist leadership is also saying that it would take action against Yadav. These activities of moody and eccentric Yadav have dealt a blow to the politics of consensus.
1,200 bigahas of land seized by Maoists in Siraha
The Maoist have not returned the seized land in Siraha district even three months after Maoist chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal directed his party cadres to do so. Some 1,200 bigahas of land captured during the People's War is still under Maoist control.
The 12-point understanding between the then Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists on November 22, 2005, has stated that the seized land and houses would be returned to their rightful owners. Likewise, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the government and the Maoists on November 21, 2006 also pledges return of seized land and property and creation of conducive environment to help the displaced return to their respective villages. Above all, the agreement also states that a committee comprising government and Maoist members would be formed for the purpose.
But the committee has not taken shape yet due to political bickering among major parties, says a Chief District Officer. Though the 25-point Code of Conduct developed after the first round of negotiations between the government and the Maoists last June clearly states that the displaced should be able to return to their villages and receive their properties seized during the insurgency, this has not been implemented in the case of displaced people in Siraha district.
During the insurgency, 225 people were displaced from the district. According to Informal Sector Service Center (Insec) Representative Devraj Pokharel, Maoists seized land belonging to 80 families here during the insurgency period. The Maoists did not take the process of returning the seized land and houses to their rightful owners to a logical end, Pokharel said. Likewise, the people displaced due to several other armed groups are not able to return to their villages either, he added.
According to Ram Chandra Gupta, vice chairman of Human Rights Organization Siraha, though Maoist cadres have not returned property belonging to commoners, they returned all the land at Karjanha VDC belonging to Russia-based renowned Non-Resident Nepali Industrialist Upendra Mahato on the condition that Mahato would provide a big amount of money as donation to the Maoist party.
During the insurgency period, Maoist cadres seized 89 bigahas of land belonging to Upendraman Prajapati's family of Mahadev Portaha, 125 bigahas of land of Satyanarayan Shrestha of Madar, 300 bigahas belonging to Manoj Shrestha from Arnamapipra, 25 bigahas belonging to Mahendra Yadav from Siraha and 125 bigahas of land belonging to former District Development Committee President Umesh Chandra Das.
Likewise, they seized 81 bigahas belonging to Lava Bikram of Sirloha Pachhwari VDC, and 40 bigahas of Laxmi Bahadur Niraula. Similarly, they seized 80 bigahas of land at Nahara Nigoul VDC-4 from Chaturbhuj Singh of Rajbiraj, 85 bigahas of land belonging to Krishna Chandra Jha of Arnama Bangthiya, 60 bigahas at Bariyarpatti belonging to Kiran Pradhananga, six bigahas belonging to the sons of renowned poet late Siddhicharan Shreshta, garden spread in seven bigahas of land belonging to Nepali Congress Siraha district President Sita Devi Yadav and other 30 bigahas of land belonging to Sita Devi's family.
But, the information availed by the District Police Office Siraha shows that Maoists have seized only 374 bigahas of land. Maoist Coordinator in Siraha, Dilip Sah, claimed the Maoist party has so far not issued any instruction regarding returning the seized land to the rightful owners. Sah claimed that the seized land would be returned only after the government forms a Land Reforms Commission.
(This article written by Uma Singh was published in the October 2008 edition of Nepali Sarokar monthly, and reproduced on Tuesday by our sister news portal in Nepali, dainikee.com. Uma was murdered at her residence in Janakpur on Sunday.)
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E Kantipur, Nepal -Jan 13, 2009
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E Kantipur, Nepal -
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राजेन्द्र महतोसंग-04.01.09