Spread the love

News Analysis

Kathmandu, March 15: Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is facing a trial at the International Criminal Court, in the Hague, days after his arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to the deadly “war on drugs” while in office.

The 79-year-old Duterte appeared on a video screen from the detention center where he is being held.

During Duterte’s presidential term in the Philippines, he is accused of killing more than 6,000 people alleged for drug trafficking, the national police have reported and up to 30,000, according to numbers from human rights groups.

Duterte was arrested Tuesday amid chaotic scenes in the Philippine capital after returning from a visit to Hong Kong. He was swiftly put on a chartered jet and flown to the Netherlands. After a series of medical checks on arrival, he was taken to the court’s detention center.

Prachanda’s fate:

What about Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda, who is responsible for killing of above 17 thousand innocent people and also involved in billions of rupees worth of corruption charges?

Political observers believe Prachanda is scared about possible legal action against him if he remains out of power.

Prachanda’s colleague Baburam Bhattarai once alleged Prachanda of manipulating billions of rupees allotted for the settlement of former PLAs.

Presently, Prachanda is highly embarrassed by the increasing threat to the present republicanism and also his declining strength in Nepali politics.

Is Prachanda also going to face the fate of Duterte, this is a burning question in the Nepali intellectual circle at present.

Currently, we see debates on Nepali politics in the Indian TV channels that the then-Indian intelligence RAW and the South Block were actively involved in sponsoring the decades-long Maoists’ bloody “people’s war” in Nepal. They provided safe shelter to the Maoist leaders Prachanda, Baburam Bhattarai and others in India. The then regime of the Indian Congress and the Left parties dominated Indian politics. Sitaram Yachuri was the main driver of the coalition government which had supported the Maoists and other communist forces in Nepal to impose the present political system. However, the then regime in India has been changed and the communist forces in Nepal are unlikely to get Indian support. This has also become a big headache for the communists including Prachanda, observers say.

People’s News Monitoring Service.