Maoists capture resort in south Nepal

KATHMANDU: Four years after they signed a peace pact pledging to return the public properties they captured during their decade-old armed insurgency, Nepal's former Maoist guerrillas have now grabbed a wildlife resort in the southern Terai plains and begun running it themselves after the owners decided to sell and clear out, allegedly due to Maoist threats.
The Baghmara Wildlife Resort in Chitwan, the southern district famed for its national wildlife park where tourists flock to view the one-horned rhino, crocodile, tiger and the elephant, has been taken over forcibly by the Maoists since Monday, owner Shivaram Subal said. "This is the climax of a three-year-old enmity," the Kathmandu-based entrepreneur told TNN. "In 2007, the Maoists sought to open a trade union in our resort and threatened us with dire consequences if we opposed them. The feud forced us to shut down the resort for three months that year."
This year, with the backlash still continuing in the form of threats, Subal says his family advised him to sell the hotel and he asked the nearly two dozen employees to look for jobs elsewhere. However, the move to sell the hotel was opposed by the Maoists, on the ground that Nepal was gearing up to celebrate 2011 as tourism year with the goal of bringing in one million tourists. Subal says the threats started once again and several rounds of talks, held in the presence of the umbrella organisation of hotels, the Hotel Association of Nepal, broke down. He also says he has petitioned the tourism ministry, the law ministry and the tax authorities but to no avail.
The resort owner claims that the Maoist trouble was sparked by a local leader, Surya Baral, who however is not part of the Maoists' hotel workers' union. Baral, he says, is part of the Maoists' local transport union.
The beleaguered resort, Subal says, is close to one of the main camps of the Maoists' guerrilla army, the Shaktikhor cantonment of the People's Liberation Army. It is the same camp where in 2008, Maoists beat a businessman to death and the murderers are yet to be punished. The proximity of the PLA camp makes it easy for the Maoists to intimidate the hotels in the neighbourhood, Subal says. There are also tales of the Maoists seeking donations from the resorts in Chitwan for their upcoming extended plenum starting from Nov 21, which is estimated to cost between NRS 200-300 million. Baghmara was said to have been asked to donate NRS 500,000.

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