Party acquitted me of Ram Hari murder charge: Kham |
GHANASHYAM OJHA
Kali Bahadur Kham, the main accused in the May 2008 abduction and subsequent murder of Kathmandu businessman Ram Hari Shrestha and still wanted by police, says his party has acquitted him of the murder charge. Kham, 35, who hails from Rukum district, in an exclusive interview with myrepublica.com at an undisclosed location in Kathmandu this week said that "a team formed by my party to probe the incident has already cleared me of all the charges”. Following the acquittal, Kham has been named a member of the central committee of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Kham, a division commander of the Peoples´ Liberation Army (PLA) at Shaktikhor cantonment in Chitwan, says the PLA would revolt if its combatants were asked to undergo qualification tests for integration with the national army.
Excerpts from the interview:
myrepublica.com: How do you defend your involvement in the murder of Ram Hari Shrestha?
Kham: When the unfortunate incident occurred, I was not at the Shaktikhor cantonment. Actually, I had no knowledge whether or not Ram Hari was brought to Shaktikhor cantonment. If I were there, or if I had any knowledge that Ram Hari was brought to the cantonment, I would have prevented the incident.
myrepublica.com: How can you say that you had no clue of such a serious incident, when your men abducted Ram Hari from Koteshwar?
Kham: Since the men who were under my command committed such a serious mistake, I should take moral responsibility. But I knew about it only when I was returning from Rukum. As soon as I knew it, I reached Shaktikhor cantonment, and asked Govinda Batala about it. I then received an order from HQ (Maoist party´s headquarters) to immediately find out who are involved in the incident. Batala told me everything and I felt so sorry that I can´t express it in words now.
myrepublica.com: Do you mean you are not involved in the entire incident?
Kham: Yes. I am not involved. If I were involved, why would my party acquit me of the charge? A three-member probe team of my party headed by Post Bahadur Bogati reached a conclusion that I was innocent. I hear people are pointing the finger at me. Some have even compared this incident to the disappearance of 49 alleged Maoists from the Bhairabnath battalion of the Nepal Army. But I don´t care about it because I know it is all politics. People are giving political color to this incident.
myrepublica.com: Why and how was Ram Hari killed?
Kham: One day, Rs 1.5 million and a pistol were stolen from my room at Ram Hari´s house. It was stolen in a dramatic manner and the circumstances proved the theft was carried out by professional people. I first suspected the involvement of Keshav Adhikari, Ganga Ram Thapa, Nabin Kumar Roka and Jiwan, who were staying with me. I was one hundred percent sure that it couldn´t be stolen without the involvement of any of my men. I then asked Batala (Govinda Batala, who is currently in police custody on the charge of his involvement in Ram Hari´s murder) to investigate the incident. We later reached the conclusion that Keshav Adhikari and Gangaram Thapa were involved in the theft. In the course of the investigation, we also got hints about Ram Hari´s involvement.
myrepublica.com: But the money and your pistol were found later.
Kham: Yes. They were found in the toilet. Then, my assumption of my men´s involvement became stronger. In the meantime, Batala took Ram Hari to Shaktikhor for interrogation. According to Batala, Ram Hari, during the interrogation, said he, Keshav and Gangaram were involved in the theft. When Ram Hari exposed the matter, Keshav and Gangaram became angry because we later found Keshav and Gangaram had asked Ram Hari not to expose the issue, no matter how painful the punishment was. In fact, it was a mistake on the part of Batala to put these three people in one room. Keshav and Gangaram beat up Ram Hari on the charge of revealing the secret. Unfortunately, nobody knew about it as it occurred inside a room. When Ram Hari was in a critical situation, they (Keshav and Gangaram) informed Batala about this. But it was too late.
Kali Bahadur Kham Bikash Karki/MyRepublica.com
: Actually, Batalajee couldn´t think properly when Ram Hari died on the way to Kathmandu. He was mentally disturbed and threw the body into the river. I know Batala. He is a very nice man. Unfortunately, those donkeys (Keshav and Gangaram) ran away. We are still looking for them. Recently, we have heard they are in contact with their family members. But it´s responsibility of the state to find them. I also strongly feel that these bad guys must be brought to justice.
myrepublica.com: But the PLA didn’t admit the crime in the beginning.Kham: No, no. We immediately admitted that our men were involved and also handed Batala over to the police.
myrepublica.com: If your narration is correct, Batala is also not directly involved in the murder of Ram Hari. Do you think Batala should be released?Kham: I know Batala very well. He could never commit such an act. He would prevent the incident if he had known this before. The real guilty people are Keshav and Gangaram, who are still absconding.
myrepublica.com: Do you think Ramila (Ram Hari´s wife) got justice?Kham: I have deep sympathy for Ram Hari´s wife, but the whole issue has been politicized and she is running after that. There are interest groups who are trying to play in the murky water. She should understand this.
myrepublica.com: Now, let´s change the topic. What is your opinion on army integration?Kham: The current discourse on army integration is against the spirit of the PLA. I hear people making reference of other countries regarding army integration, but they can never be guidelines for army integration in Nepal. We should have our own model of integration. It should be of Nepali character.
myrepublica.com: So, what does the PLA want?Kham: All should understand that the PLA never accepts the military concept of the current Nepal Army (NA), and I think the NA also won´t accept our military concept. This means we will never join the NA, because joining the NA means accepting its rules and regulations. Since the PLA and Nepal Army have equal status, it´s not wise to ask one force to stay under another. The PLA wants integration of all combatants into the national army without any condition.
myrepublica.com: Doesn´t the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) state that the qualified PLA combatants will be integrated with the Nepal Army (NA)?Kham: Nowhere in the CPA is this mentioned. The current discourse on qualification of PLA is based on the Military Act of the Nepal Army, but it is completely wrong perception. We never accept the Military Act of the Nepal Army. If the issue of our qualification is raised now, we also should have the right to judge the qualification of Nepal Army personnel. Such discourse will never settle the problem. If we are sincere in seeking better solutions, the PLA thinks a new Military Act should be promulgated for both the armies. It is not integration of one force with another. It should be seriously taken into consideration that the nation will collapse if all cantoned PLA combatants are not judicially managed. Their patience is petering out. They are gradually becoming frustrated by such public discourse.
Kali Bahadur Kham Bikash Karki/MyRepublica.com
: The PLA wants physical integration of general staff of both the PLA and the Nepali Army in the beginning. Then, a new Military Act should be promulgated in the next six months to one year for the integration of other junior-level armies, including foot soldiers.
myrepublica.com: How do you think the officer-level armies are integrated since they have different ranks in their respective forces?Kham: All officers of the PLA must retain their position after the integration. For example, I am division commander of the PLA and should be chief of divisional headquarters (Pritanapati) after integration. PLA deputy commanders will be brigadier generals in the national army.
myrepublica.com: Since you are saying you are only a SLC (School Leaving Certificate) graduate, do you think you qualify to be chief of divisional headquarters (Pritanapati)?Kham: I already said we all are qualified people. In politics, we have seen many leaders who don’t have any academic qualifications are in higher positions. If academic qualification is not required for a politician, why is there such a debate in the case of armies now? Once a new Military Act is introduced, we can discuss downsizing the national army. Suppose, we need 50,000-strong national army, we can adjust the remaining combatants into either the Nepal Police or the Armed Police Force. Otherwise, we can also form a special force for the security of national infrastructure. Some of our injured combatants should be sent home with a proper retirement package.
myrepublica.com: How many injured combatants does the PLA have?Kham: We have some 3,000 injured combatants.
myrepublica.com: Your leaders have agreed that the PLA combatants should be given first choice whether or not they prefer to join the national army. And those who prefer to join the national army will be integrated, isn´t it?Kham: You should understand that the PLA will never accept such condition. We will revolt if our leadership signs any agreement against our spirit. We want integration of all PLA combatants with the national army without any condition, and all should understand not a single combatant would prefer even to go to America if given a choice. All want to stay as army soldiers.
myrepublica.com: Are you inferring that only those 19,602 (verified by UNMIN) PLA combatants should be integrated with the national army, or all PLA combatants including those disqualified by UNMIN verification?Kham: The UN played politics while verifying PLA combatants. They intentionally disqualified those combatants who met all criteria provisioned by the parties and the UN. Even if we accepted the result of the UN verification, all should understand that those disqualified by the UN as minors have now become mature. They now meet all criteria for qualification, so there is no problem to integrate them with the national army.
myrepublica.com: So you don’t have any plan to release all disqualified combatants, including the minors, do you?Kham: It´s not possible to release more than 4,000 combatants for their disqualification on age grounds. They will shoot at everybody, including me, if released from the cantonments. They should be either adjusted in the national army, or the state should guarantee their livelihood before making any decision to release them.
myrepublica.com: Do you think the integration process will move smoothly if a PLA man becomes chief of the current Nepal Army?Kham: Actually, the PLA doesn´t accept the military doctrine of the current Nepali Army. Therefore, this is a non-issue. But we naturally hold claim for the chief of the national army after integration of the two armies. Psychologically, it will be more comfortable for us if a PLA man becomes chief of the national army, because we are very confident we can easily handle Nepal Army personnel, while I don´t think the Nepal Army can comfortably handle PLA men.
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