Unified CPN Maoists chairman and Prime Minister
Pushpa Kamal Dahal has reportedly said that the real strength of the
People’s Liberation Army was around 8000 and not 35,000 as earlier
claimed by the party. The news became public after a video was run by
Image Channel which shows him reportedly addressing PLA commanders at
Shaktikhor. The channel claimed that the video was recorded on 2^nd January 2008.
The video shows Dahal as saying that after the
verification by UNMIN the total number of PLA fighters had gone up. He
says in the video that had we given our real numbers, our strength
would have come down to 4000. Talking about establishing total control
over the Nepal Army he says that even a ‘small number’ of PLA fighters
was enough to take control of NA and that army chief Katawal was
against the integration. Video also sees him talking about a revolt and
says that all the leaders were working towards it. The video also shows
Prachanda saying that the party needs money from the persons who had
been declared ‘martyrs’ and said that out of 10 lakhs they were
supposed to get, 9 lakhs should come to the party which will help them
to further their goals. Interestingly the video was made public by the
channel immediately after the resignation of Prime Minister Dahal.
Maoist leader Mohan Baidya 'Kiran' said that this tape was genuine but
it was a Maoist strategy two years back. He added that now the
situation had changed and Maoists had adopted a democratic way of life
and these comments were irrelevant. He also said that it should be
investigated why the tape was made public after such a long time. He
however did not comment on the claims of Prachanda on inflating the
number of PLA fighters.