Indian Express: Kishenji’s Death not mourned by Prachanda

Kishenji was ‘contact’ of Nepal Maoists

By Yubaraj Ghimire

Kishenji was apparently the main contact person with the Nepali Maoists, but the ruling Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M) has preferred not to publicly mourn his death.

A senior Maoist leader, who did not wish to be named, told The Sunday Express that the UCPN-M has several times assured the Indian government that “the two Maoist parties have no link any more, and any official statement will give India fresh reason to doubt our statement”. But there is pressure from the ranks and file to take cognizance of Kishenji’s death in a ‘fake encounter’, he added.

“Normally, the statement should be issued by UCPN-M chief Prachanda or party spokesperson Dinanath Sharma. But while Prachanda is now busy mending his relation with India, Sharma is a minister and any statement by him would be seen as a government view,” he said reported Indian Express.

Kishenji, who was well-versed in Nepali, was popular among Nepali Maoists. Kishenji and C P Gajurel Gaurav, UCPN-M secretary, facilitated the merger of MCC and PWG in 2004, party sources said.

They admitted that Kishenji was the contact person for the ‘top level’.

(Indian Express)