In the last seven months, there have been seven agreements between the government and the Maoists, about which everyone has been happy. What is lost in the celebrations is that these agreements need to be monitored and implemented. Those involved in negotiating the terms of the contracts have forgotten the clauses they agreed upon. The government couldn?t care less about the monitoring aspect, and the Maoists have never followed the agreements in practice. Nepalis in cities and villages feel that there is no rule of law. We are so desperate for peace that no one questions either the government?s inaction or the Maoists? actions. We want peace at any cost.

The government has already given over Rs 170 million to the Maoists, so the ?PLA? is looked after well. But the Maoists continue to collect money from the people saying they need it to take care of their army. Maoist spokesperson and coordinator of the talks committee, Krishna Bahadur Prasad Mahara, has clearly stated that this ?tax collection? will continue until the interim constitution is agreed upon and the Maoists join the government. It is unclear whether this is because the government support they receive is not enough or because they suspect the state will not let them join the government. And what if they do use the latter as a reason? It looks as if Nepalis will always have to live in fear and intimidated.

The parties and the Maoists talk about increasing trust between themselves. Is this trust just based on words? The government and the Maoists have failed to get people excited about the various developments taking place. The international community is not playing the role it could have played in conflict management and rehabilitation simply because it doesn?t trust the Maoists.

To build trust the government has to do something immediately about prevalent lawlessness, admit that mistakes were made in the past, and assure the people that it is committed to peace. And none of these things can be done without the help of the Maoists.