By IANS,
Kathmandu : As the Maoist-led government completed a month in office, their former comrades Friday gunned down a senior government official in the restive Terai in southern Nepal, proving that the smouldering violence in the plains was still far from over.
The Samyukta Janatantrik Mukti Morcha, led by Jay Krishna Goit, former senior-most Maoist leader from the plains, killed Mohan Mainali, the district administration chief in Parsa district, along the India-Nepal border.
This is the first political killing since the Maoists came to power.
The Morcha and its different factions, which broke away from the Maoist party and began armed movements in the plains demanding “freedom” and the right to self-rule for Madhesis, people of Indian origin, have refused to lay down arms even though the Maoists ended their 10-year armed war two years ago.
Newly appointed Home Minister Bamdev Gautam this month urged the armed groups to come to talks and warned that if they don’t do so, security forces would try to put them down by force.
Political analysts say in some ways the armed groups in Terai resemble the Maoist insurgency at its infancy and if the government tried to resolve the problem by force, it can spark yet another “People’s War”.