How Madhan Bhandari was killed:
When on 5 May 1998,
Amar Lama stepped out of prison a free man, his release was greeted with disbelief by the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), and its breakaway faction, the CPN (ML). Lama was no ordinary prisoner. For all of five years his fate had been inextricably linked with an incident that has haunted Nepal on and off during those years. On 17 May 1993, a Mitsubishi Pajero carrying the all-powerful General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), Madan Bhandari, and the Party Organiser, Jeevraj Ashrit, plunged into the Trishuli river at Dasdhunga in central Nepal. The sole survivor of the accident was the driver, Amar Lama.
Lama?s deposition before various investigation commissions was that on trying to wipe the vapour off the windscreen on that rainy day five years ago, he had lost control of the vehicle and it had fallen into the river.
After the initial shock, talk began of the senior communist leaders having been assassinated and suspicion quickly fell on Lama, for the simple reason that he had survived. General Secretary Bhandari?s wife, Vidya Bhandari, immediately after the accident had publicly vouched for Lama?s integrity as a party faithful, adding that he was "like a brother" to her. Her tune, and that of the party that she became increasingly active in after her husband?s death, however, changed soon enough.
The investigative commission set up by the then Nepali Congress (NC) government attributed the accident to the carelessness of the driver. It was not a verdict that the opposition CPN (UML) was willing to accept, for in the meantime, the communists had formed two separate commissions, both of which suspected foul play behind the incident.
The CPN (UML) took to the streets immediately after the government commission submitted its report on 17 June 1993. Luckily for the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala (back in the seat once again today after four years), even as the protests were intensifying, huge cloudbursts wiped out road links with the capital and large parts of the country?s eastern plains were inundated. In the face of the national calamity, the communist agitation lost steam, and was stopped altogether after an agreement was reached to form another commission under a Supreme Court judge. This time the CPN (UML) would have a say in its formation.
However, before the commission could submit its report, the CPN (UML) itself came to power in November 1994 affirming that the "accident was a conspiracy". And when the commission did present its report, the government sat on it for a month before going public with it. The commission, much to the CPN (UML)?s discomfort, dismissed the conspiracy theory. And although the communists officially accepted the report, they made it an article of faith that the Dasdhunga mishap was part of a conspiracy, to be resurrected whenever it suited them.
Meanwhile, the Chitwan District Court charged Lama with murder, sentenced him to life imprisonment, and confiscated his property. This ruling, approved by the Appellate Court, was unprecedented given that under the circumstances the accused should have been tried under laws governing a traffic accident, not murder. In desperation, Amar Lama appealed the judgement in the Supreme Court.
It is interesting to note that, save for one, the various human rights organisations in Nepal did not raise a single voice against the way Lama had been treated by the law. The left-leaning organisations would have nothing to do with Lama given their proximity to the CPN (UML), while the others were inexplicably silent on Amar Lama?s incarceration. The only consistent voice against Lama?s treatment came from the well-known senior scholar-statesman, Rishikesh Shaha.
When the Supreme Court took cognisance of Lama?s appeal and reduced his sentence to two years and a fine of 500 rupees, he had already served four years, 11 months and 19 days behind bars. He was released on the same day of the Supreme Court decision.
The expected protests (which even included a statement from Vidya Bhandari, now a CPN-UML member of parliament) were, however, muted. As a CPN (UML) leader puts it: "Had the Party been undivided and not busy bickering between themselves, the Supreme Court decision would have become a much bigger issue. But now they are making perfunctory statements just to keep the party workers happy."
A self-proclaimed Gandhian, a free Amar Lama says, "CPN (UML) has taken charge of the government two times after the Dasdhunga accident. They used government machinery to investigate the accident. But they could come up with nothing. They have used me and this incident merely to pull down the Congress government."
Lama now plans to enter politics, although he has not yet made up his mind which party (of the left) he will join. He would do well to carefully chose his options.
-Rajesh Ghimire
http://www.himalmag.com/July98/brief6.htm
.png)
