YCL gaining ground; aims to take its cadre strength to 1 million
Maoist aligned Young Communist League (YCL) are pitching their camps in
not only abandoned buildings and warehouses but now in buildings of
defunct government-run corporations also, Kantipur Daily reports.
The youth organization, which was famously termed Young Criminal League by
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala some time ago and which has been
denounced for their highhandedness including roughing up rival political
party cadres, has been giving "political training" to new recruits at the
Minbhawan located garage of Trolley Bus Corporation in the capital city,
which is adjacent to BICC complex which is being spruced up in war-footing
for the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly.
Kantipur Daily reported that on Tuesday YCL's "regional chairman" Akash
Maharjan was giving political training to few youths wearing YCL costumes
inside the garage of the near defunct corporation.
The young commies with the YCL area 1 were also there discussing their
future strategy including their one-month long campaign set to start from
Wednesday. Although various political parties are putting concerted
pressure on the Maoist leadership for the dissolution of this outfit, the
cadres there seemed without any cares.
Half of the 40 YCL cadres who were there call this trolley bus garage"home" as they also sleep here.
"After the night sets in, 20 of us go to sleep in Maoist headquarter in
Buddhanagar and the remaining of us sleep here," one cadre who had
recently joined the outfit told the daily adding, "we go to Dashrath
Rangashala (national stadium) in the morning to learn Judo and Karate."
A small vacant piece of land in the premises of the Trolleybus office is
also being used by them and where they aim to grow vegetables for their
comrades living in Kapan, the Balaju head office of YCL and to the Maoist
party headquarters in Buddhanagar. The trolleybus workshop has also been
turned into a pond to spawn fish, only that they need pour water into it
now.
The trolleybus garage has now become the temporary residence of YCL cadres
just like few other companies and factories that have closed down,
government offices, warehouses including abandoned buildings in the city.
Kantipur Daily quoted one of the cadres as saying that their friends are living
in 50 to 60 places like this scattered around the capital city, and it is
set to grow as the YCL is busy in a one-month long people's campaign to
extend its organizational influence.
To recall, YCL's central meeting had concluded last week deciding to
increase its strength to 1 million members within a year.
"We saw it necessary to build an outfit comprising of young volunteers so
as to realize the dream of a civilized and highly cultured Nepal in a 100
years time," Maoist central member cum YCL in-charge Kul Prasad KC told
Kantipur Daily.
YCL general secretary Dilip Kumar Prajapati said that if their parent
party, CPN-Maoist, goes on to form the government, then YCL would actively
involve itself in security including other areas. He said that they would
also commit themselves to big government projects to help bring about the "economic revolution" the party has promised.
"We would determine our strategy based on the kind of government that
would be formed," Prajapati told the daily adding, "for that the central
working committee meeting would take place once the government is formed."
YCL claims that till now more than half a million people have already
taken its membership. Among them some 450,000 are said to be ordinary and
around 50,000 are active cadres. Some 6 to 7 thousand among them are whole
timers.
nepalnews.com ag May 14 08
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