To achieve their goals of removing the king and establishing a secular communist republic, the Maoists resorted to mass underage recruitment, particularly of young students, usually between 12 and 16 years of age. At the conclusion of the war, an estimated 12,000 Maoist soldiers were below 18 years of age.
For over a decade, the Maoist People's Liberation Army inducted children, including girls, as soldiers, messengers, cooks, porters and suppliers. Children between ages 10 and 16 were initially recruited in the militia on a part time basis. They were used to carry out propaganda activities, distributed Maoist newspapers or served as spies; they were deployed in combat situations, often to help provide ammunition or assist with evacuating or caring for the wounded. Only children over 16 years were 'officially' able to join as 'whole timers', though many were much younger. 'Whole timers' were trained for one month on personal security, military tactics, and political ideology and were equipped with crude weapons such as home-made guns and pressure-cooker bombs. They were kept away from their families and were deployed in areas far away which eliminated any possibility of attending schools.
For the most part, Maoists recruited children by conventional, violent tactics like kidnapping and abducting them from schools and rallies that the children were forced to attend. They also benefited from Nepal's social and economic factors given that many girl soldiers voluntarily joined the Maoist struggle since they considered it their only option to escape the gender discrimination and sexual violence of traditional Hindu culture in Nepal.
Maoists capitalised on their firm hold in the insurgency heartland of Nepal and at the height of civil war during 2004 and 2005, they operated a “one family, one child” programme whereby each family had to provide a recruit or face severe punishment. Media reports, citing high-level Maoist leaders, suggested that it was called the “Special People's Military Campaign” and involved training secondary and higher secondary students from many villages in “secret camps.”
Not only were these children psychologically traumatised by being involved in a war beyond their understanding, but many a times the Royal Nepal Army tortured captured Maoist child soldiers for information or forced them to become government spies. There have been numerous accounts of police and army abducting, raping, and killing Maoist girl soldiers. What made it worse was that the US identified these atrocities against children as necessary actions in the War on Terror.
The 2006 ceasefire between the political factions did not create change and even though 6000 child soldiers were sent back, this time they faced another fight; that of readjusting to society. Many former child combatants suffered from trauma and stress and required psychosocial support. In addition, they faced social stigma; their families and communities were often unwilling to accept them and at times they were mocked by a society which refused to acknowledge their own hidden fears.
Months after the CPN-Maoist won the elections in April 2008, Nepal's then Prime Minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal agreed to release the remaining 3000 former child soldiers from Maoists Army camps. Even after the resignation of Pushpa Dahal over an army row earlier this year, the Nepalese Government remains committed to discharging the children with cooperation of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). But though an agreement has been reached, the plight of these young boys and girls remains unresolved, with many fearing time – for their proper reintegration into society is running out. With no jobs, no education and no proper rehabilitation plan identified, these child soldiers remain the unwanted spoils of war in Nepal.
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed