On my way home from dinner the other evening, I ran into a traffic jam in the heart of Nepalgunj. As the truck drivers angrily honked, motorcycles and bikes weaved through the maze of stopped vehicles. I dismounted my bike and walked it through the mess.

I soon discovered the source of the problem, a political rally. It was the ubiquitous YCL (Young Communist League.) Their crowd filled the traffic circle, the sidewalks and the roads. Once in place the crowd would not budge, leaving traffic stuck. While this YCL rally was more subdued than the one Jeff and I had previously seen in Kathmandu, the mood was still pretty agitated. Apparently the YCL’s district office had been raided by police to gather evidence for an investigation into alleged corruption by an YCL local government official. Naturally this displeased the YCL and so they called for this rally to protest the police action.

These two groups, the police and the YCL, are both playing a large part in keeping Nepal unstable. While the police had all but abandoned most of the country during the civil war, they are now returning to their posts across the country. While their return is a positive step, once in place they are not actually doing much policing outside of their trucks or police stations. This is partly caused by concern for their safety, another cause is distrust between the communities and the police combined with animosity from the YCL and other groups towards the police force. With these factors combining with poorly trained and unmotivated police forces, it is clear why most of the country suffers from a lack of effective policing and security.

As for the YCL, their actions have been widely criticized and discussed in Nepal, and it is clear that they need to be reigned in. Unfortunately the communist political leaders either do not have the control or the desire to stop the YCL from being aggressive and disruptive actors in local and national politics. YCL members have been accused of all sorts of violence and intimidation, especially in smaller towns, and seem to view themselves as a pseudo-police force that punishes criminals and even immoral people outside the justice system.

In a statement released on June 22, the departing the head representative for the UNOHCR (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) in Nepal detailed the stability and trust issues the recent actions of the YCL and the police have caused and exacerbated. I think the statement offers a solid overview of the human rights situation in Nepal without being ridiculously long like so many of the UN agency’s reports (to download it go here and it is titled Final Media Briefing by Lena Sundh.)

Back at the rally in Nepalgunj, I did not really linger to see how it went. I was drawing a little more attention than I wanted. Since I couldn’t blend into the crowd I decided my best option was to disappear all together. No doubt some stirring words were spoken and shouted, the crowd cheered, chanted some slogans and then the crowd dissipated and traffic was allowed to pass. Finally politics and life was back to normal for the citizens of fair Nepalgunj…I think…that is at least how I imagine it happened…