Nepal: Using feudal land to serve the people

Thanks to Comrade Alastair for bringing this to our attention. This article was published on Nepal News.

Properties of 30,000 families still under Maoist control

Sunday, 09 August 2009

Even after three years of joining the mainstream politics by renouncing war, the Unified CPN (Maoist) has not returned properties of about 30,000 families in 72 districts, a parliamentary committee formed to monitor the implementation of Maoist commitments has concluded.

The tenure of the committee itself has ended on July 22. The committee had published public notices seeking information on confiscation of property. It received thousands of applications in the District Administration Offices of 72 districts, according to the committee. No applications were received in Manang, Mustang and Dolpa.

The Maoists have only returned properties belonging to Rastriya Janashakti Party chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa, UML leader Amrit Kumar Bohara and former Chief of Amry Staff Sachit Shumsher Rana.

Nepali Congress headquarter has informed the committee that properties of 28000 families including 2253 NC cadres, mostly in the mid-western and far-western Terai districts, is still under the control of Maoists.

Nepali Congress, which had been raising the issue of returning the seized properties vehemently when it was in opposition, has not been pro-active to expedite the process after it joined the government.

The Maoists have been doing communal farming in the seized lands in various districts.