This is about what Maoists are: terrorists. Terrorism has no nationality. That they happen to come from Nepal is no excuse for not giving them their just desserts. This is not about the army and how many of one’s relatives are employed by the institution or about their competency. With the destructive influences of the monarchy removed, the army, even with its current imperfections, is certainly capable of taking them on and defeating them à la the LTTE in Sri Lanka. In our region, the tide is slowly turning against this menace and our neighbours to the North and South both have serious terrorism issues of their own. Time and again, it’s been shown that terrorists do not change their goals even if they make tactical adjustments every now and then. So why kid ourselves about this? The only logical outcome is their elimination, the sooner the better. In the case of Nepal, this will have both an external and an internal component. That’s just the way it is. Again, in the end it doesn’t matter how it happens, but that it does happen. The next phase will be costly, long and arduous, but it will be worth it in the end. The other alternatives have been tried and they have not worked.