b'NEPAL CHINARiharKathmanduMt. EverestINDIA [The memory] is quite fresh, and I would never ever want those days to return again. RUDRA PUNPun said. I am somebody whopropaganda music for was almost killed. The policerecruitment purposes. We thought I was dead. Eventually,used to make songs, she Pun felt he had to choose a sidesaid, which would suit that to survive.particular moment. We also I was trapped betweenhad to learn the songs, and the Nepalese army and thewe had to teach people.Maoists, he said. ForcedPun oriented new recruits. to make a decision, PunIt was not strenuous work, acquiesced to Maoisthe said. But at times we recruitment. Its better to gethad to carry arms, at times mad than die, he said. we had to carry bags.One of the strategiesThe insurgents moved the Maoists employed wasoften, and when they did, it recruiting children. Accordingwas by cover of darkness. Both to human rights organizations,Pun and Gharti said traveling the group recruited aroundthroughout the night was 4,500 children, sometimesthe most challenging part of control of the country. Inspiredby force. Other times, rebelstheir routine. At the time of by Chinese Communistrecruited children forconfrontation, we usually had revolutionary Mao Zedong, theparticipation in culturalto run away from places and insurgents fought a guerilla warconservation activities likeprotect ourselves, Gharti said. against police and the army indancing or singing, or in theWe had to look for places where the Nepalese countryside. Eachname of education. But inwe could be safe and protected.side routinely suspected thesome instances, the roles of theInitially, Gharti bought people living and farming inchildren would quickly shift toin to the message presented those areas were siding withthe battlefield. to her and her peers. But the other. The Maoists forced Ghartiover time, that faded. They I got severely beaten byto join them when she wassaidpeople like us should police and insurgents both,just 12 years old. She wrotecontribute to the country, we HEIFER.ORG |33'