The War in Nepal is Over!

2006 November 22

Dear friends,

8.29 PM on November 2006 was a great historic moment in the history of Nepal and probably in the whole world, at least in the first decade of the 21st century! At this moment the government of Nepal, represented by Prime Minister GP Koiral, and the Communist Party of Nepal (maoist), represented by its Chairman Prachanda, signed the histroric Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the prsence of Ministers, political party leaders, members of the civil society, members of the diplomatic community, including US Ambassador James Moriarty, heads of constitutional bodies, members of the human rights community and the media. It was indeed a great moment as it ended the 11 year long conflict in the form of the people’s war launched by CPN(M) and it opened a new door for peace, democracy, and development.

As a member of the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee I had the honor and privilege to be present at the ceremony and witness this historic event.

The National Council of Churches of Nepal (NCCN) has played a very important and crucial role in the peace process by mobilizing the Churhces and Christians in Nepal and challenging them to be actively involved in the peace building task, networking with the human rights and civil society movements, mobilizing the religious groups in Nepal and playing an active role in the formation of the Inter-Religious Council, and by creating awareness at the international level through the number of visits I personally was able to make to countries like Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, UK, USA, India and many other countries. I recall one friend from Germany, who has been actively involved in Nepal’s peace process and has played crucial role in mobilizing Churches and the public in Germany, told at a meeting that my visit to Germany over the past several years had played an important in bringing the UN Human Rights Commission office in Nepal which was originally headed by Mr Ian Martin who has now, in the capacity of the personal representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, has played significant facilitating role in the signing of the CPA.

The CPA has the following to say on secularism and religious freedom:

7.1.5 On the basis of secularism, both the sides shall respect social, cultural and religious sensitivity, and shall respect the religious conscience of a religious place or an individual.

This needs to be included in the Interim Constitution in order to fomally and legally guarantee full religious freedom to every Nepali citizen.

On behalf of the Christian community in Nepal, the National Council of Churches of Nepal has issued a press release welcoming the historic Comprehensive Peace Agreement and assuring of every support and cooperation in the implementation of the points agreed in the CPA.

On behalf the people of Nepal, the Christian community in Nepal, the National Council of Churches of Nepal, and myself I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who have prayed and played some role in the peace building process in Nepal which has set a new model and example of conflict resolution and peace building.

It is very unfortunate that even when all the political parties, the human rights community, civil society organisations, professional organisations, the media, the religious community, many countries of the world and the people of Nepal have accepted the Maoists as a legitimate political party, the US government has not still changed its attitude and treatment of the CPN Maoist. It is good that the US government has at least welcomed the historic peace deal. We should continue to pray and put pressure on the US government to respect the decision and will of the Nepali people in making a new Nepal. It has been the perception of the Nepali general public all along that the US government’s position on, attitutde towards and treatment of the Maoists has been a big hindrance and obstacle on the path of peace process. Let us hope that US government and the US Embassy in Kathmandu will take timely steps to change this perception of the general public in Nepal and will let the Nepali people to decide their future.

The 11 year old war is now over and Nepal has entered into an era of peace and development.

I am sharing below a portion of the future plans and programmes of the National Council of Churches of Nepal (NCCN) and CEPJAR.

In the changed political context, the activities of NCCN and its Peace and Reconciliation wing CEPJAR will be more focused on peace building, reconciliation and healing at the grassroots level. To achieve this, the institutional capacity of the District and Regional level Christian Councils will be strengthened by helping them to set up office, recruit support staff and by providing training to the Executive Committee Members of the Councils. Also an inter-religious Peace and Reconciliation Groups (PRG) will be formed at the local level by involving members of the civil society, and representatives of the political parties. Once such PRGs are formed in different places across the country, training on peace building, reconciliation, healing, trauma counseling and inter-religious living together will be provided to members of these groups.

NCCN will also continue to strengthen and consolidate inter-religious cooperation by strengthening the institutional and organizational capacity of the Inter-Religious Council Nepal which has been officially registered with the government of Nepal as the first such inter-religious body with full and active participation of Christians.

Another important area of work of NCCN will be to contribute to policy formulation through policy advocacy and active participation in policy making process. Activities on policy advocacy will be to focused to contributing to poverty reduction, empowerment of women, Dalits, ethnic groups, and other disadvantaged groups, formulation of policies that will remove the regional, ethnic, linguistic, religious and economic disparities currently prevalent in the Nepali society and create equitable and just society.

Your cooperation, support and partnership in achieving these objectives and goals achieving real and lasting peace through the meaningful implementation of the peace agreement will be greatly valued.

Together we can make a difference.

With best regards

Dr. K. B. Rokaya

General Secretary

National Council of Churches of Nepal (NCCN)

22 November 2006