WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR

Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 339 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 27.5 C -4.5 C Friday, February 05, 2021 | 23-10-2077 Biratnagar Jumla Seeking to change narrative, Oli resorts to show of force Despite leading the government, Oli is holding a mass gathering in front of Narayanahiti, once the seat of kings, raising concerns if the communist prime minister is taking the country on a regressive path.

BINOD GHIMIRE KATHMANDU, FEB 4

Even though Nepal earned its Confrontational politics could lead much-cherished democracy in 1990, it took the country yet another people’s movement—in 2006—and two constit- to uncertainty and instability uent assemblies to achieve a “people’s constitution” that established a secu- lar state under a federal republican The way Nepal Communist Party factions are at each system. Nepal’s constitution is now a other’s throat bodes ill for all, analysts say. little over five years old. A govern- ment that was installed by the first TIKA R PRADHAN when the country was going through elections under the new constitution KATHMANDU, FEB 4 political upheaval and instability, the was about to complete its third year. Dahal-Nepal faction went ahead with And then Prime Minister KP Sharma The Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav their general strike. Arson, arrests Oli took a step that left everyone Kumar Nepal faction of the Nepal and vandalism were reported. stunned. Communist Party had been taking to The general strike on Thursday was Despite leading a nearly two-thirds the streets for the last one and a half called just a day before the Oli-led majority government, Oli on months, organising demonstrations Nepal Communist Party is holding a December 20 dissolved the House of and mass gatherings in various parts mass gathering in Kathmandu. Representatives, in a move that many of the country, including the Capital, Later in the day, the Oli faction say does not authorise him to do so, to protest against Prime Minister KP organised its own rally intended at not raising the spectre of a political insta- Sharma Oli’s House dissolution move. only defying the Dahal-Nepal faction’s bility against which the country was Then on Wednesday, the Dahal- general strike but also at making an fighting for so long. Nepal faction decided to call a general appeal to the people to join Friday’s Oli has decided to seek a fresh man- strike for Thursday, prompted by mass gathering at Durbar Marg. date on April 30 and May 10—a year appointments of 32 individuals to 11 Reports of clashes and scuffles and a half before the scheduled elec- constitutional bodies. between the two factions filtered in tions—making the term “stability” Despite criticism of and opposition from various districts throughout farcical. to the form of protest they chose, the day. But what is more concerning, POST PHOTO: BIJAY TIMALSINA which was known as “Nepal banda” >> Continued on page 2 observers say, is that Oli appears bent A view of Durbarmarg on Thursday night as the venue in front of Narayanhiti Palace is prepared for the Oli faction’s Friday mass gathering. on destroying the hard-earned gains like the constitution, secularism and Political analysts say Oli of late has now a gathering of his party in the Oli, however, does not seem to be Analysts say Oli seems to be in a bid gathering,” Pandey told the Post. “It’s federal republicanism. been making every attempt to win Narayanhiti area indicate that he is in much concerned about the Congress to prove the legitimacy of his govern- Parliament or press conferences from In what his faction of the Nepal over the pro-Hindu, pro-monarchy a bid to woo the pro-Hindu, pro-mon- or Samajbadi Party’s protests. ment, which he himself has reduced where a government defends its Communist Party says is a “show of constituency and his party’s plan to archy constituency.” By his own admission, Oli is trying to the caretaker status by dissolving actions.” strength”, it has planned a mass gath- hold a mass gathering in front of the Ever since Oli dissolved the House, to counter the Dahal-Nepal faction by the House. There was, however, a time when ering in Kathmandu on Friday. And former royal palace just buttresses the other faction of the Nepal organising the gathering. According to Devendra Raj Pandey, the Panchayat regime organised such the venue the party has selected is that theory, even though some may Communist Party—led by Pushpa But many are left wondering. a civil society member, the govern- mass meetings to “tell” people how Durbarmarg, the Capital Kathmandu’s call it a conspiracy. Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal has gone through political ment of the day proves its legitimacy good it was doing for the country and posh downtown in front of the former “There is a symbolic meaning in Nepal—has been holding protests and upheavals over the past two decades, through its actions—good governance, the society. palace of the monarchs. holding the gathering at Durbarmarg,” mass demonstrations in Kathmandu but it has always been a case that public welfare works, development, Pandey said once such an event on After Gyanendra, the last of the said Surendra Labh, a political com- and various parts of the country. those out of the government organise and service delivery. behalf of the establishment was monarchs of the over two centu- mentator. “His visit to Pashupatinath Political parties like the Nepali protests or gatherings against the “I am hearing for the first time after organised during the Panchayat era ries-old Shah dynasty, on June 11, 2008 temple to offer a special puja, his dec- Congress and Janata Samajbadi Party establishment. Oli’s party, however, is 1990 that a party in the government is by then prime minister Marichman had declared from the same palace laration that he will turn Ayodhyapuri too have taken to the streets to protest in a bid to stage a show of strength showing its strength from the streets Singh Shrestha. that he was abdicating. in Chitwan a Hindu pilgrimage and against Oli’s House dissolution. despite it being the establishment. and through a demonstration and >> Continued on page 2

POST PHOTO: ANGAD DHAKAL Cadres of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav Kumar Nepal-led Nepal Communist Party stop a motorcyclist at Satdobato in Lalitpur during their nationwide shutdown on Thursday. Plan to procure 4 million Covid-19 vaccines in final phase, ministry says Those above 60 will get vaccines after a month. Nepal began its drive to inoculate 430,000 frontline workers last week and 158,487 people have received the jab so far.

ARJUN POUDEL preferred choice of Nepali authorities KATHMANDU, FEB 4 since the existing storage and trans- portation infrastructure used in the With the plan to procure four million country to immunise children can be doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from utilised for its use. India in the final phase, the govern- Covishield vaccines have to be ment intends to immunise those above stored in plus temperatures between 2 60 years after a month. and 8 degrees Celsius. “We will start inoculating people India on January 21 gave a million above 60 after a month,” Dr Roshan doses of Covishield as a grant with Pokhrel, chief specialist at the which the government planned to Ministry of Health and Population, inoculate 430,000 people. The govern- told the Post. “We will extend the ment began the Covid-19 vaccination

immunisation centres to the local level POST PHOTO drive in Nepal on January 27 and to immunise the targeted population.” hopes to complete administering the The government hopes to first dose by Saturday but only 158,487 administer the first dose of vac- of the targeted people have taken it cine to those above 60 along with until Thursday, according to the the second dose to the health Ministry of Health and Population. workers and other frontline They were vaccinated at district workers who have been getting hospitals and primary health centres. the first dose since last week. The second dose has to be adminis- The additional four million tered after 28 days after the first dose. doses are also of the Covishield On Wednesday, the World Health vaccine developed by the Organization’s COVAX facility University of Oxford and phar- announced that it will provide maceutical giant AstraZeneca, 2,256,000 doses to Nepal by the end of which is being produced by the February. Serum Institute of India. It is the >> Continued on page 3

C M Y K FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Seeking to change narrative ... General strike affects life nationwide >> Continued from page 1 Many say Oli, however, still wields the abil- Now the venue Oli’s party has chosen to ity to turn on the charm because of his way Five trucks were vandalised in Chitwan on Thursday; vehicular movement disrupted in many other places. blow its trumpet too has baffled many, as of changing tack according to the situation. Narayanhiti, until Gyanendra was forced to Baburam Adhikari from Gadhawa Rural RAMESH KUMAR POUDEL gas canisters to contain the situa- abdicate, was viewed as the source of power Municipality in Dang is one who refuses to CHITWAN, FEB 4 tion. for the monarchs and the emblem of “Hindu believe that Oli is going on a regressive In Bara, police detained eight kingdom” with kings regarded as an incarna- path. The nationwide general strike strike enforcers for trying to van- tion of lord Vishnu. The 35-year-old decided to travel to called by the Pushpa Kamal Dahal- dalise a government vehicle and Analysts say if what Oli has been doing Kathmandu for Friday’s event to show his Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction disrupt transportation. and how he has been doing things are any- support for Oli. of the Nepal Communist Party In Dhangadi, Kailali, the thing to go by, it is becoming apparent that he Adhikari said he has always been loyal to affected daily life across the coun- supporters of the Oli faction was never committed to the secular federal the CPN-UML, the party Oli led before the try on Thursday. took to the street in protest of the republic. May 2018 merger with the Maoist Centre. The strike was announced after strike. “It is very much clear by now that Oli is “Other leaders might have left him, but I the KP Sharma Oli government, In neighbouring Kanchanpur trying to woo the pro-monarchy, pro-Hindu am still with the Nepal Communist Party which has been reduced to a district, a journalist was manhan- constituency,” said Rajendra Maharjan, a that is led by Oli,” Adhikari told the Post over caretaker state following the dled by the demonstrators. The political commentator for the Post’s sister the phone. dissolution of the House on strike supporters burnt tyres on paper Kantipur. “His real face has now been Adhikari believes Oli is the one leader who December 20, made appointments the roads and obstructed traffic exposed.” could protect nationalism, which by exten- in various constitutional bodies POST PHOTO: SANTOSH SINGH throughout the day. Whether Oli will make a big announce- sion meant a leader who could stand up to on Wednesday. Protesters clash with police in Janakpur, Dhanusha. In Sunsari district, three cadres ment at Thursday’s gathering is still not India. Supporters and workers of of the Dahal-Nepal faction were clear but his opponents have already started “During his first stint as prime minister, the Dahal-Nepal led faction of Nepal faction, also joined the pro- Sindhuli district remained tense detained from Bhanu Chowk area making speculations that he would try to do he was forced to resign because he signed a the Nepal Communist Party testers to enforce the strike. throughout the day when the sup- in Dharan, for obstructing the something that could take the country on a slew of deals with China, including the assembled on main streets and city Shahi and two other ministers porters of Oli took to the streets, traffic. Earlier in the day, the strik- regressive path. transport and transit agreement,” he told the and town centres from early Bimala KC and Nanda Singh claiming that the strike enforcers ers had clashed with transport Oli’s opponents say since Oli has left the Post. “This time, the Dahal-Nepal faction Wednesday morning to enforce the Budha rallied with the protesters. assaulted its central member workers. Communist ideology long behind, it won’t be started pulling him down ever since he decid- strike. The strike affected life in all 10 Shantiman Karki. In Morang, the strike enforcers a surprise if he tries to play a Hindu and ed to incorporate Kalapani and Lipulekh into In Chitwan, the strike enforcers districts of Karnali Province. Eleven people were injured in a vandalised an eatery at Biratnagar. pro-monarchy card. Nepal’s map.” vandalised five trucks for ‘defying’ In Birendranagar, Surkhet, the clash between police and the strike Protests were also reported in “There are talks about Oli announcing a Oli’s 2016 Transport and Transit agree- the strike. supporters of Oli took out a motor- supporters at Shiva Chowk in Butwal and other parts of campaign for a Hindu nation on February 5,” ment was aimed at reducing Nepal’s depend- DSP Surya Thapa, spokesperson cycle rally to defy the strike. Janakpur. Rupandehi district. said Surendra Pandey, a leader of the Pushpa ency on India and he was prompted to do so for the District Police Office, said “Despite the concern of possible Former ministers Ramchandra Vehicular movement was affect- Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal-led in the wake of 2015 Indian blockade. It was the strikers vandalised five trucks confrontation, no major incidents Jha and Matrika Yadav, Mayor of ed in major areas while small Nepal Communist Party on Sunday during a Oli’s tilt towards Beijing that had given for defying the strike. took place in the province,” said Sahid Municipality Udaya vehicles plied the inner parts of sit-in at Maitighar. “He now can move on this him an edge over his contemporary leaders, Many cargo trucks were left DSP Ram Prasad Gharti. Barbariya and party activist the town. Security was upped in path [Hinduism].” ultimately earning him votes to return to stranded near Pulchowk and on In Nepalgunj of Banke district, Pradip Sah sustained serious inju- the city, according to DSP He added that the royalists, who once sup- Baluwatar. the Narayani River bridge because shops and businesses, which were ries in the incident. They were Pratit Singh Rathour of the Area pressed the communists, are now heaping Adhikari still believes that Oli was forced of the general strike. open in the morning, were forced taken to Kathmandu for treatment Police Office, Butwal. praise on Oli, which clearly shows which to dissolve the House because the prime min- In Karnali Province, Chief to pull down their shutters by the in the evening. path he is going to take. ister was not allowed to function properly. Minister Mahendra Bahadur strike supporters. Security personnel fired six (With inputs from our local Many are also baffled at some pro-Hindu, “Couldn’t they [Dahal and Nepal] wait Shahi, who is close to the Dahal- The town of Sindhulimadi in warning shots and lobbed 12 tear- correspondents) pro-monarchy advocates deciding to argue on until the party general convention? Oli had behalf of Oli at the Supreme Court which is said he would hand over the leadership,” said hearing his House dissolution move. Adhikari, who has come to Kathmandu along Sushil Pant, Surendra Bhandari, with his 300 “fellow comrades.” Balkrishna Neupane and Bishnu Prasad Adhikari refuses to admit that by dissolv- Confrontational politics could lead to uncertainty ... Bhattarai—some of the lawyers who have ing the House Oli had made an assault on the never hidden their tilt towards a pro-Hindu, constitution and that his leader was trying to >> Continued from page 1 itics murky, the Dahal-Nepal faction is doing no more organised groups with Mahesh Basnet, pro-monarchy state—are trying to justify appease new constituencies now, including “The two factions of the Nepal Communist good. At a time when the country is expecting one of his confidantes, leading one such group why Oli’s House dissolution move is right. those whose agenda is a massive reversal to Party now are clearly in a confrontational some sanity to prevail, both factions are baying that is on the forefront of not only organising Many say since Oli has exhausted all the democratisation. mode,” said Krishna Pokhrel, a professor of for each other’s blood in such a way that they the mass gatherings but also making inflamma- topics, including nationalism and develop- And he is not alone. political science at Tribhuvan University. could throw the country into the abyss of an tory speeches. ment, he is now focusing on the issues that Most of Oli’s supporters consider him to be “Today’s strike is the result of bulldozing the unending uncertainty, according to them. “I would like to tell them [Dahal-Nepal fac- were consigned to history by the recent polit- a “statesman”. On Thursday, Oli’s supporters appointments to constitutional bodies, and the “Oli by now has proved himself to be a reck- tion] not to dare interfere with our rallies on ical movements. organised a rally with the “I love you Oli” Oli faction is surely going to react in an aggres- less leader,” said Lokraj Baral, a former profes- Friday,” said Basnet while addressing a coun- Oli returned to power through the 2017 slogan. sive manner [tomorrow].” sor of political science at Tribhuvan University ter-rally in Kathmandu on Thursday. general elections, largely riding on the People loyal to Oli say there is nothing After months-long crisis in the Nepal who also served as Nepal’s ambassador to India On Wednesday also, the Oli faction’s youth nationalistic plank in the wake of the Indian wrong for a ruling party to organise a mass Communist Party, born out of a merger between from 1996 to 1997. “When he should have been wing had organised a motorcycle rally in border blockade following the promulgation meeting. They also urged all not to read too Oli’s CPN-UML and Dahal’s Maoist Centre in pulled up for his wrongdoings, the other faction Kathmandu. of the constitution in 2015. much into the venue chosen by the party to May 2018, Oli on December 20, in a drastic and is resorting to a general strike, which will only “Oli has surpassed king Gyanendra in using Last year in May, when India opened a new organise the gathering. unexpected move, dissolved the House of provoke the Oli faction.” all the wings under his faction to provoke par- road link via Lipulekh to Kailash Mansarovar Anand Pokharel, chief of the [Naryanahiti] Representatives. He has called snap polls for The Oli and Dahal-Nepal factions are already ties and the society,” Khimlal Devkota, a central in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, it mass gathering organising committee, said April 30 and May 10. in a legal dispute over the legitimacy of the member of the Dahal-Nepal faction. “We have was a godsend for Oli. the place was chosen because no other place Five days before he dissolved the House, Oli party, as both of them are claiming the Nepal been protesting peacefully against his House Bilateral relations with India had soured in Kathmandu could host over 150,000 people on December 15 introduced an ordinance to Communist Party as their own. dissolution move, as we have the constitutional- since November 2019 when India published they are preparing to bring in on Friday. amend the Constitutional Council Act and the Elections are less than three months away if ly guaranteed right to express our dissent.” its new political map placing Kalapani with- “I have heard comments and conspiracy same day, a meeting of the Council, which he the court decides to uphold Oli’s House dissolu- But the Dahal-Nepal faction’s Thursday pro- in Indian borders. theories that choosing Narayanhiti as a heads, recommended 38 individuals for various tion. Observers wonder how nasty the confron- test did not go well. Some demonstrators set a But by the time the May incident hap- venue for our mass gathering is an attempt to constitutional bodies. tation could turn in the lead up to the elections. taxi on fire and vandalised some vehicles. Many pened, Oli was so cornered in the party that undermine republicanism,” said Pokhrel. Oli’s ordinance and House dissolution moves If the court overturns Oli’s decision, politics complained of inconvenience caused by the he decided to employ it to ratchet up his “But such comments are so worthless that I are sub judice in court. will return to Parliament and within the consti- sudden general strike which was announced nationalist rhetoric. don’t think they deserve a clarification.” As many as 13 writs against the House disso- tutional framework. But with the Nepal less than 24 hours ago. However, when relations started to improve But analysts say it’s those in power who lution move are being heard by the Constitutional Communist Party divided, the country is likely Police rounded up around 100 cadres of the with India, Oli’s nationalist image started to are answerable to the people the most. Just Bench. Not even a single hearing has been con- to see a hung parliament. Dahal-Nepal faction. fade away. because a party leading the government is ducted for the writs against Oli’s ordinance Streets protests and parties calling out each The Dahal-Nepal faction, however, blamed the He quickly started to build a Hindu faced with some challenges does not mean it move as of now. Despite that, 32 individuals other could be the order of the day, according to “other side” for torching the taxi so as to pro- narrative. brings people on to the streets, according to were administered the oath of office and secre- observers. voke the situation. Oli on January 25 visited Pashupatinath them. cy on Wednesday. President Bidya Devi Bhandari “It has by now become apparent that the two “Yes, confrontations are very much likely, but Temple and performed a special puja. Pandey, the civil society member, then appointed them to their respective posts. communist forces will head for confrontations, it’s all because of Oli. Incidents like torching of Four-days later, addressing a mass gather- said Oli and his party have made a mockery The appointments are seen as Oli’s one more which is evident from their actions so far,” said taxis early in the morning seem to be aimed at ing in Chitwan on Saturday, Oli announced of democracy, governance and rule of law. bid to wield control over key constitutional bod- Baral. “We are in for uncertainties.” fuelling conflict,” said Devkota. “Oli is prepar- his plan to develop Ayodhyapuri in Thori of “It’s strange that the government is trying ies which are meant to keep the government in Incendiary statements are already flying ing grounds to impose a state of emergency, as the district as a religious site for the Hindus. to prove its legitimacy through streets,” said check. between the leaders of the two factions. he is getting weaker and his government is fac- He has been claiming the area to be the birth- Pandey, “after dissolving the most legitimate Analysts say while Oli has turned Nepali pol- The Oli faction seems to have comparatively ing a legitimacy crisis.” place of lord Ram. place to do so—Parliament.”

C M Y K 03 | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2021 NATIONAL All eyes on Nepali Congress As citizens bear the brunt of strikes, for joint agitation, but it’s they ask who politicians are serving Six vehicles were vandalised in the Capital during Thursday’s general strike called by the not ready to commit Dahal-Nepal faction. Their fault—going about their lives to feed their families. Parties opposed to Oli’s House dissolution move are prodding the Congress to jointly launch protests, but they are perplexed by Deuba’s reluctance.

ANIL GIRI Baburam Bhattarai made a similar Court comes, we will keep on holding KATHMANDU, FEB 4 statement on Thursday in the agitation of our own. As we believe Sankhuwasabha. in democracy, constitutionalism and The issue of joint agitation among the “The main leadership of the Nepali have faith in the rule of law, we should major political parties against House Congress is the sole obstacle to hold- not put pressure on the court.” dissolution and the announcement to ing the joint agitation,” Bhattarai Nidhi also said that the Congress hold snap polls in April and May has said. “The Nepali Congress has shown would go for a joint agitation with a gained prominence again as leaders an oscillating character against Oli’s party, not with a faction, hinting that stress the need for joint resistance to move.” there must be a clear cut split in the what they call Prime Minister KP Nepali Congress, which has been Nepal Communist Party. Sharma Oli’s authoritarian moves. holding the agitation in phases alone, But pressure is building on Deuba, Nepal Communist Party chair has described the House dissolution according to party leaders. Since Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday as “undemocratic and unconstitution- 32 individuals including some said major political parties were dis- al”. The party has already declined to Congress supporters got appointed to cussing the plan to hold joint protests hold joint agitation as offered by several constitutional bodies on from the third week of this month. Dahal. Wednesday, Poudel has urged Deuba Major parties Nepali Congress, The main opposition in the dis- to call a meeting of the party’s Central Janata Samajbadi Party, and the fac- solved House has two different view- Working Committee as soon as tion of the Nepal Communist Party points among its leaders on the House possible to discuss Oli’s undemocratic led by Dahal and Madhav Kumar dissolution decision. Party President moves and the emerging situation POST PHOTOS: KESHAV THAPA Nepal have been holding separate agi- Deuba holds the view of waiting for in the country. Kumbha Narayan Shrestha says two strike enforcers approached him posing as passengers and set fire to his taxi early Thursday morning. tations since the day after Oli decided the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Dahal’s statement on Thursday was to dissolve the House on December 20 constitutionality of the dissolution. strategic, the Standing Committee ANUP OJHA fees,” said Gopi. the office for a new passport. but they have failed to launch a joint Another faction of the party led by member said, as the faction has the KATHMANDU, FEB 4 When the Post met the duo near “We were planning to return home movement. senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel challenge of keeping the morale of their rented room in Bijulibazar, to Nawalparasi today, but due to the Immediately after Oli decided to insists on holding the agitation until leaders and cadres high. Second, When Kumbha Narayan Shrestha’s Kumbha Narayan was still in shock strike, we are stuck here,” said Thapa dissolve the House of Representatives, as Oli is also preparing to host a taxi was set on fire by two unidenti- and unwilling to talk. “The owner of who plans to go to Dubai for the Dahal-led faction reached out to major rally on Friday, it is his strategy fied men in Gongabu on Thursday the cab has ordered me not to talk to work. “For nearly a year, I have been mainly the two parties—Nepali to motivate party workers not to leave morning, his wife Gopi was watering the media. The taxi cost Rs 3.2 million, jobless due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress and Janata Samajbadi his faction. The third motive is, her vegetables at a farm in how am I going to pay that money?” now the political parties have started Party—and members of the civil soci- obviously, to put pressure on the Okharpauwa, Nuwakot. said Kumbha Narayan, a patient of their strike. It’s only the poor that ety to hold the joint agitation but due Supreme Court that is likely to deliver “He [Kumbha Narayan] called me hypertension. suffer here,” said Thapa, 25. to differences between the parties its verdict only after the February- and told me to turn on the TV. I told Kumbha Narayan’s family was one The Dahal-Nepal faction has been over their perceptions of Oli’s move, end, the NCP leader said. him I don’t have time to watch TV. He of the victims of Thursday’s strike-re- agitated ever since Oil dissolved they could not arrive at a conclusion If a joint agitation is held nation- cut off the line,” said Gopi, 43, a moth- lated vandalism. The family is not the House on December 20 last year. and the joint struggle has failed to wide, it might put psychological pres- er of three children—a daughter and affiliated with any political party, all The faction had been holding take off. sure on the Supreme Court on House two sons aged 14, 9, and 7. Kumbha Narayan was doing was mass gatherings and demonstrations “We are planning to launch a mas- reinstatement, the NCP standing com- Shrestha’s taxi (Province 3-01-002 working to put a meal on the table for in various parts of the country, sive and powerful protest,” Dahal said POST FILE PHOTO mittee leader said. Ja5881) was set on fire at 6 am by his family. including Kathmandu. on Thursday while addressing jour- Pressure is building on Deuba to come to a As the confrontation with Oli in the alleged protesters enforcing Five other vehicles, including two Doctors and virologists say the nalists in Lalitpur amid their nation- decision on House dissolution issue. factional dispute intensifies further, Thursday’s strike. When the men pos- more cabs—one in Kalanki and the country is still not out of the wide shutdown. “We are in touch with Dahal could be looking for a more sus- ing as passengers stopped him at other in Swayambhu—were vandal- woods when it comes to the danger of all major parties to hold the joint pro- the House is restored. tained way to counter Oli’s move, the Gongabu, Narayan had already had ised on Thursday, according to transmission of coronavirus. test from the third week of February Two Nepali Congress leaders told leader added. two fares after leaving his rented room Metropolitan Traffic Police Division. According to the Ministry of Health so that the movement will sweep out the Post that Dahal and Nepal have According to Pant, if the Nepali in Bijulibazar early in the morning. Thursday’s general strike made life and Population, Kathmandu Valley the regressive and antidemocratic separately visited Deuba recently to Congress gets ready for the joint agita- The men asked him to take them to difficult for people across the country reported 78 new infections in the past forces once and for all.” offer him the post of prime minister tion, it will also pave the way for the Gaushala, and then hurled a Molotov with many reported cases of vandal- 24 hours. They say it will take time “As Oli is hatching one after anoth- for the two years of the House’s Janata Samjbadi Party to join the cocktail at the vehicle before fleeing ism and arrests all across the country. to vaccinate the masses, but people er regressive move, we have felt the remaining term if it is reinstated. movement. Gradually, others could the scene. Kumbha Naryan barely As vehicular movement was disrupted are taking part in protests need to launch a powerful agitation to This is the third offer to Deuba from join along with civil society, building managed to unfasten his seat belt and from early in the morning, members without taking precautions against defuse his plan,” said a standing com- the Dahal faction to hold the nation- momentum against what the protest- come out of the vehicle to save of the public were forced to walk to the virus. mittee member from the Dahal fac- wide joint agitation and put pressure ers call Oli’s regressive move, said himself. reach their destinations. According to Superintendent Sushil tion. “Therefore, we have once again on Oli, state organs, and the Supreme Pant, expressing doubt over the “He was shaken. When I called him “I had my appointment with the Singh Rathour, spokesperson for called for a joint agitation so that we Court on the agenda of House rein- Congress’ reluctance to go for a deci- back, he said that the taxi was on fire,” doctor for my eye check up, but with Metropolitan Police Office, could finish the struggle as fast as statement and to take the post of sive protest. said Gopi who rushed to Kathmandu no vehicles on the road, I had to walk Ranipokhari, 84 people were rounded possible and cause less trouble for prime minister after the restoration A senior Janata Samajbadi Party on a water tanker—as there were no all the way from Satdobato to up on Thursday, including Neal the general public and restore of Parliament but Deuba has not leader also voiced the need for a public vehicles on the road due to the Tripureshwor,” said Bhagwati Communist Party leaders Asta Laxmi democracy too.” accepted yet, the two Congress leaders joint agitation but admitted it was general strike enforced by the Pushpa Chaulagain, 37. Shakya, Hitman Shakya, Krishna KC, But leaders other than those from told the Post. impossible without the participation Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar “It was afraid of walking on the and Himal Sharma for enforcing the Dahal’s party said there is no progress Congress Vice-president of the Nepali Congress. Nepal faction of the Nepal Communist road as protests were going on at strike. on holding the joint protest. And even Bimalendra Nidhi confirmed the “The country seems to be headed Party. Lagankhel, Jawalakhel, and Meanwhile, protesters manhandled if that happens, it won’t be possible to recent meeting between Deuba and for a serious political confrontation Gopi along with her three children Pulchowk. They were attacking Keshav Raj Joshi, a journalist associ- stage a decisive protest without the Nepal but did not divulge the details. and that leaves us worried about left their ancestral home in Dhading a motorists,” said Chaulagain. ated with Shilapatra online at participation of the Nepali Congress. “But if you ask me about the possi- the country’s future,” Janata year ago after selling their house and Meanwhile, a crowd of people was Koteshwor where the protesters “We are in talks with several parties bility of holding the joint agitation, I Samajbadi Party Chairman Upendra land for Rs 1.5 million to seek treat- seen at the passport office at cooked food and served participants to hold the joint agitation but the prob- must say no,” Nidhi told the Post over Yadav said. ment for Kumbha Narayan, who had Narayanhiti—most of the people of the demonstrations. lem is Nepali Congress President Sher the phone from Janakpur. “We have Yadav admitted that without the to be bedridden with paralysis for walked long distances to get there. For Kumbha Narayan, there’s no Bahadur Deuba,” Raghuji Pant, a neither received such an offer nor are participation of the Nepali Congress, over six months. “We came here walking for an other option but to vent his frustra- standing committee member of the we going to lead the agitation at a time any movement or agitation cannot “He would drive the taxi, and I hour from New Bus Park and again we tion. “I don’t know why they are pro- Dahal faction, told the Post. when a case against House dissolution reach a decisive point. “But we do not would grow vegetables on our leased need to walk the same distance testing and for what. But at least they Former prime minister and senior is pending in the Supreme Court. know why the Nepali Congress is not land in Okharpauwa. That’s how we when we return,” said Rajan Thapa, should let us work and earn our Janata Samajbadi Party leader “Until the verdict of the Supreme leading the movement.” were paying our children’s school 25, who along with a friend, came to bread,” said Kumbha Narayan. Plan to procure 4 million Tenure of two transitional justice bodies to be Covid-19 vaccines ... extended but it is not enough, conflict victims say >> Continued from page 1 million Covid-19 vaccines and the “Procurement process is in the final vaccine provided by the UN’s health Law that allows amnesty for rights violators must be changed first, victims and activists demand. phase to buy four million doses of agency under its COVAX programme. Covishield vaccines, and the UN After inoculating people over 60, BINOD GHIMIRE months is an extremely short time for Court ruling. national and international human health agency also will provide us those over 55 will be immunised. KATHMANDU, FEB 4 us to do anything,” Ganga Dhar “I am also in favour of abiding by rights organisations. They blamed the with the same vaccine,” added People in the 40 to 55 years age group Adhikari, spokesperson at the disap- the Supreme Court’s verdict,” said chairpersons of commissions and Pokhrel. “It will not be a problem for are the third priority and those under The government has decided to extend pearance commission, told the Post. Shrestha. “However, this is a serious members were appointed without us to run an immunisation pro- 40 are fourth priority. the terms of the Truth and “No matter, the government continues issue which cannot be decided solely transparency in the appointments. gramme for an additional population The Health Ministry said that Reconciliation Commission and the our team or brings the new one, it by the government without a consen- In the last year the new teams too along with those who already received 2,256,000 doses of vaccines will come Commission of Investigation on should be given ample time to sus from the Nepali Congress and the have not been able to work towards the first dose, as the same vaccine will in the first phase and the rest of Enforced Disappeared Persons and function.” then Maoists.” providing justice to the thousands of be used for both groups.” the jabs (16.7 percent) may come in the tenures of the commissioners of The disappearance commission has The two transitional justice com- victims. The disappearance commis- According to the first interim distri- different lots. the two commissions by around six sought four-years to complete its job. missions were formed in February sion has completed a preliminary bution forecast published by COVAX “As per our understanding, once the months. The government, however, remains 2015 with a two-year mandate to com- investigation of all the complaints on Wednesday, the UN health agency vaccine starts being delivered The tenure of the two commissions undecided over the amendment to the plete investigations into the conflict while the truth commission has done will provide Covishield to Nepal. [under the COVAX facility], the gap formed in 2015 to investigate the con- Act as per the 2015 decision of the era cases of human rights violations the primary investigation of around The vaccines to be provided by the will not be too long,” Sharma added. flict-era cases of atrocities is expiring Supreme Court to remove the provi- and recommend reparations. However, 5,000 complaints. UN health agency will be sufficient for Doctors say that authorities should on February 9. sions related to giving blanket amnes- the commissions couldn’t even collect However, they haven’t completed an 3.3 percent (around one million) of continue enforcing preventive Minister for Law and Justice Lila ty to those involved in gross human the complaints during the period. The investigation into a single case. Nepal’s 30 million population, as measures including use of face masks, Nath Shrestha said after the consent rights violations like torture, rape, government, through a revision in the Victims say the government’s move around 10 percent of the doses tend to social distancing, and hand washing of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, on and murder. Act extended their terms by another to extend the terms of the commis- get wasted in general, according to to stop the transmission chain of Sunday he submitted a proposal to Conflict victims from the dec- two years. sions portrays the government’s doctors. the virus, as it will take a long time to revise the Enforced Disappeared ade-long Maoist insurgency between In its four years of tenure, the previ- insensitivity towards them. Vaccines for 20 percent of the popu- immunise all eligible Nepalis. Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation 1996 to 2006, the human rights defend- ous truth commission received 63,718 “Shouldn’t the government evalu- lation will be provided by the UN “Along with the immunisation, Act-2014 for the extension till July 15. ers, and the officials at the commis- complaints and completed a prelimi- ate their one year’s performance health agency under its COVAX pro- curbing deaths and infection of the “As I was not present at Monday’s sions have been demanding the nary investigation that involved the before giving them an extension,” gramme. virus is equally important,” Dr Cabinet meeting, I formally cannot amendment as per the apex court’s recording of statements from only Maina Karki, chairperson of Nepal needs to vaccinate 72 percent Prabhat Adhikari, an infectious say if it was endorsed,” he told the verdict which directed the govern- 3,787 of the complainants. the Conflict Victims Common of its people against Covid-19, as chil- disease and critical care expert, told Post. “However, I believe it got ment to revise the amnesty provisions Similarly, between 2015 and 2019, Platform, told Post. “We are against dren up to 14 years of age constitute 28 the Post. “Authorities should also pay through because the ordinance was in the Transitional Justice the disappearance commission the extension.” percent of the population and no vac- attention to it.” prepared with consent from the prime Commission. received 3,223 complaints from family Karki said rather than giving exten- cine against Covid-19 has been trialled The Health Ministry said that the minister.” “The chairs and members appoint- members saying their loved ones had sion, the government should bid fare- as of now on individuals under 14. first phase of vaccination will be The terms of the two commissions ed on the political sharing cannot disappeared during the decade-long well to the chairs and the members Covishield, however, can be admin- concluded on Saturday. “We will will be extended once President Bidya provide justice to the conflict vic- conflict. Of these, the commission seg- and start a new appointment process istered only to people above 18 years complete this phase even if all people Devi Bhandari authenticates the ordi- tims,” Charan Prasai, a human rights regated 2,506 complaints saying the after amending the Act as directed by as it has been trialled only on those of the targeted group do not seek nance issued by the government. activist, told the Post. “The extension rest didn’t fall under its jurisdiction. the Supreme Court. above this age. immunisation,” added Sharma, chief Shrestha said the government is just an illusion to show to the inter- The government in January 2019 Suman Adhikari, whose father was “We will make necessary prepara- of the Child Health Section. decided to extend the terms till national community that the govern- revised the Act yet again with the pos- killed by the Maoists in 2002, said he tions to roll out vaccines to wider “Those who were on the first mid-July with a view that it would be ment is working to provide justice.” sibility of extension of the commis- along with families of other victims populations,” Dr Jhalak Sharma, priority list but did not take the jabs better for the new government, that Ganesh Datta Bhatta, chair of the sions by two years. However, following of the decade-long conflict had for a chief of the Child Health Section at will only get vaccinated later at their will be formed after the snap poll, to truth commission was appointed their failure to deliver, the terms of long time been trying to meet the Oli the Family Welfare Division under the convenience but along with the make the long-term decision on issues under Nepali Congress quota while the chairpersons and members of the and Shrestha to put their concerns as Department of Health Services, told general population.” like transitional justice. The Oli gov- Yubraj Subedi was picked as the chair commissions were extended only till the terms of commissions neared the Post. “Next phases of the immuni- When all Nepalis will get ernment on December 20 dissolved the of the disappearance commission on April 15, 2019. expiry. sation programme will be extended to vaccinated against Covid-19 remains House of Representatives and Nepal Communist Party quota. New sets of office bearers in the However, they had been avoiding the ward level and immunisation unclear. announced midterm polls for April 30 Prasai said no matter how many Truth and Reconciliation Commission different pretenses. “They had been workers will be trained accordingly. “We will immunise the people as and May 10. times the terms of the commissions and the Commission of Investigation ignoring me because they wanted an We will immunise the people as per per the priority lists we have made,” The officials of the commissions are extended, they won’t deliver jus- on Enforced Disappeared Persons unconditional extension of the com- the priority list we have made.” Sharma added. “But immunisation said six months is too short for them tice unless the victims’ community is were appointed in January next last missions,” he told the Post. “We have The Health Ministry says those over depends on the availability of the to make any moves towards the inves- taken into confidence and the Act is year despite the reservation of the lost our faith both on the government 60 will be immunised with the four doses of vaccines.” tigation of the complaints. “The six amended as per the 2015 Supreme victims, human rights defenders, and and commissions.”

C M Y K FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2021 | 04 OPINION EDITORIAL A state of permanent revolution Anarchy let loose Democracy today is not Their intent does not seem to be to bring threatened by those who the democratic process back on track. oppose a government, but by the government itself. ‘Loktantra kanoon ko raaj ho, bal michyai haina’ (‘Democracy means the rule of law and not misuse of brute force). This makes for a great opening sentence for students mugging up AMISH RAJ MULMI punch lines for a school-level speech contest. Except that the line was spoken by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Thursday while taking aim at his fellow comrades who had called for a nationwide general strike to protest Oli’s shakti pradarshan—in other words, a chest-thumping festival—in front of Narayanhiti Palace, scheduled for Friday. But great punch lines do not take a second to fall flat My first ‘political’ memory is a bit hazy. depending on who is speaking. What Oli has done in the past I remember a mashal julus going past several months towards undoing democracy is enough to our home in Pokhara during the 1990 turn a forceful philosophical adage into a joke. Each citizen revolution. There would have been slo- of the country has witnessed the undemocratic and unconsti- gans, I am sure. But I was not more tutional moves Oli has made to consolidate his power and than six years old, so I can’t really say. downsize his comrades within the party. The 2006 revolution, however, is Oli’s nemeses within the party have proven to be no better. more permanently etched in my mind. It was April, and anti-monarchy was If there was any doubt about the intention of the two factions the flavour of the month. Mahendra of the ruling Nepal Communist Party, it is now clearer than Pul and Chipledhunga were the centres ever before. Their intent does not seem to be to bring the of protests; one day, we heard a protes- democratic process back on track. Rather, it is to consolidate tor had been shot dead. Eventually, the their power and downsize the other faction within the party. agreement between the mainstream Both the warring factions of the ruling party have exposed parties and the Maoists, and interna- nothing but criminal intent to create an environment of con- tional pressure by way of Indian nudg- frontation so that they can put the blame on the other. ing, forced the king’s hand. The dec- This race is certain to lead them nowhere except a political ade-long civil war was over; the Maoists emerged out of hiding as a revolution- dungeon full of chicanery and deceit. That dungeon has little ary force that had brought the monar- space for humility and humanity. Once inside, it is difficult to chy to its knees. step out, for the filth inside is too comfortable to make you Then, Pushpa Kamal Dahal over- want to desert it and adapt to the civility of the outside world. played his hand after the Maoists’ vic- This is evident in the way leaders make a daily spectacle of tory in the 2008 Constituent Assembly their intra-party feud, so replete with filthy language that elections. Girija Prasad Koirala’s ambi- their speeches should come with parental guidelines. tion to become republic Nepal’s first Having weathered years of instability, leaders across polit- president was scuttled, and the politics ical parties should now have been working towards strength- of consensus that had brought the Maoists above-ground was over. When ening democracy and making a better society. However, they Dahal tried to fire the Army chief, he have shown no inclination to do so. What they are exhibiting, found himself opposed not just by the instead, is a consistent attempt to ruin whatever is left of the Kathmandu intelligentsia, but by inter- political culture and create anarchy. They have shown little national actors as well. The Maoists POST FILE PHOTO regard for the political culture that is the hallmark of a were accused of attempting ‘state cap- and take Nepal out of the convoluted But his ouster will only be a part of the of the quake itself, the revolutions of mature democracy. ture’—and Dahal had to resign, eventu- post-conflict transition period. So when solution. Will the politics of kleptocra- the past gather dust. Worse even, they have shown close to zero concern for the ally. Protests and daily strikes marked the 2015 constitution was ‘fast-tracked’, cy and patronage change if Oli rein- Representative democracies now lives of the people who have to toil hard to eat two meals a the day. despite violent protests in the Tarai states Parliament (which he will not) or seem to believe they are majoritarian day. They were nowhere to be seen when the people—their One day, during the week-long pro- and far-west, people began to celebrate. elections (the new magic word, just as autocracies, as we’ve seen not just in tests called by the Maoists, I met with ‘Stability’, that long-lost dream, now ‘sambidhan’ was in 2015) are held once Nepal but in neighbouring India and voters—walked hundreds of kilometres home and went to protestors who had come all the way seemed a reality. Folks believed the again? Can any party be distinguished the US as well. The checks-and-balanc- bed hungry in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic from Rolpa and had been put up at a country needed a constitution first; from another at this moment in time? es that are supposed to keep autocrats when the government imposed a nationwide lockdown dingy monastery in Patan; they had no everything else—representation of Can we forget the betrayals that result- in control, such as the legislative and abruptly. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs and drinking water, and several of them marginalised people, justice, federal- ed in the violence and deaths of 2015? the judiciary, have been co-opted. By means of livelihood as the pandemic—and the lockdown— were suffering from dysentery. That ism, etc.—could be resolved later. Or are we simply going to sweep them any standard, Oli’s coercing and co-opt- continued to keep people inside homes and ravaged the econ- same week, I fled from the riot-police They, in turn, placed their hopes in Oli, under the rug and hope for a magic ing of state instruments is far too omy. The leaders, though, showed little interest in easing the while on my way to work at the Post; the irony in choosing a man who wand named elections or reinstate- malign than the ‘state capture’ the lives of the people. the police charged protestors who tried hard to scuttle the post-conflict ment to go back to ‘normal’? Maoists attempted in their first attempt Ditto on Thursday, when the Dahal-Nepal faction of the threw stones at them, and even my transition in every way lost on the Politics in Nepal has come to be at governance. Social justice has taken press ID card wouldn’t deter the officer Nepali electorate. imagined as a continuation of the sta- a backseat; the will of the majority is ruling Nepal Communist Party organised the nationwide who nearly hit me. Here we are now, six years later: that tus quo: there is a deep desire among now the guiding light. The threat to general strike. The strike may have been prompted by By the end of the week, I wore a same constitution celebrated by thou- the elite to become close to the powers- democracy today does not come from Wednesday’s appointments for 11 constitutional bodies. The ‘white shirt’ and took part in a rally for sands in shreds. Here we are now, possi- that-be. The existing system works for those who oppose a government; it appointments were outright wrong, unconstitutional and peace, the same one Dahal called a bly at the beginning of a Third People’s those who play the game; inevitably, comes from the government itself, provocative, but the Dahal-Nepal faction seems to have fallen gathering of Kathmandu’s ‘sukila Revolution. Forgive me the cynicism individuals calculate in favour of and its many supporters and influenc- to the bait to the liking of Oli. mukila’. By next week, I regretted my when I ask: Is Oli the cause of the cur- short-term gains than long-term stabil- ers who believe only they represent A taxi was burnt to ashes here, a shop was vandalised participation at the white-shirt protest; rent instability, or is he only a symp- ity. One doesn’t have to go beyond a nation. there. And to observe how well their cadres were carrying on despite my privileged upbringing, I tom? Does the fault not lie with our Nepali Congress’ wait-and-watch So here we are now, the ‘world’s best the vandal act, Dahal toured the city in his Land Cruiser was never a member of the Kathmandu existing political system, which the approach to the anti-Oli protests to wit- constitution’ in tatters by the very men elite to start with, and the calls for previous revolutions gladly retained ness this. Look at Oli himself, trying to who made it, in a fledgeling republic so Prado while Nepal rode pillion on a scooter even as KP Oli’s peace and stability while negating the despite a change in the head of state? cultivate a wide audience with his disillusioned that a section wants to go cadre led a march-past, chanting ‘KP Oli, I love you’. So much demands of representation seemed to And will it be adequate to simply Pashupati visit and his wooing of back to the feudal age of kings, for their professed allegiance to the rule of law! me to be another way of saying the demand Oli step back from the brink ex-Maoist combatants. And who can while another argues in favour of a status quo must be preserved. and reinstate Parliament? For, forget his great anti-Indian national- man who did not contribute to republic I left Nepal a year later. The constitu- as my friend, the Kantipur columnist ism now tempered down by the need to Nepal and bamboozled his way into tion-making process entered an Ujjwal Prasai, has written, ‘Can the survive? Then there is Dahal, once a becoming an elected king. The opposi- impasse. Another CA election was held, Third People’s Revolution succeed revolutionary, today just another politi- tion is in disarray, and we are back to Correction but the constitution itself showed no unless it challenges the ideology cian trying to claw back to power. In the daily rallies and strikes that signs of emergence. Then, in the after- of the influential community that Oli between are the pro-monarchists, who demand much but disillusion others. The headline of an article published on Pg 1 on Thursday misstated the math of the 2015 earthquake, suddenly represents?’ believe it is once again time for a Hindu Once again, we are back in a state of number of doses of Covid-19 vaccine Nepal would receive under the everyone came to believe a constitu- Oli, after all, is an elected auto- samrat. Among the ruins are the permanent revolution. Where do we World Health Organisation’s COVAX facility. Nepal is expected to tion—no matter what the document crat—a people’s representative who has dreams of a federal, inclusive and rep- want to go from here? Sadly, I don’t receive 2.25 million doses, not 2.5 million doses. said or did—would solve all our issues subverted the very idea of democracy. resentative Nepal. Just like the debris have the answers.

After Myanmar’s coup

ical transition over the last decade, ing students, allowed them to operate Although Myanmar’s have made clear their distaste for their resistance movement from with- democracy. Last November’s general in India (with some financial help), democracy was a work in election resulted in another landslide and supported a pro-democracy news- victory for Suu Kyi’s NLD, which won paper and radio station. progress, that progress has 396 of 476 contested parliamentary But then China made inroads into seats and limited the army’s proxy Myanmar, and Pakistan warmed to now come to a jarring halt. political front, the Union Solidarity the generals. Chinese port construc- and Development Party, to just 33. tion and the discovery of large natu- Although the humiliated military ral-gas deposits in Myanmar, as well SHASHI THAROOR promptly alleged voter fraud, the elec- as the SLORC’s support of ethnic tion result did not fundamentally insurgencies in India’s troubled threaten its power. Myanmar’s pre- north-east, all posed tangible dangers 2011 constitution guarantees the army to India. As a result, Indian leaders one-quarter of the seats in parlia- reached their own accommodation ment, grants it control over key minis- with the regime in Yangon. tries, and disqualifies people with for- Today, China has moved closer to eign spouses or children from becom- Suu Kyi, while India takes comfort in Until recently, the last time Myanmar’s ing president, which prevented Suu the wariness of Myanmar’s military military supervised a general election Kyi from assuming the office. toward China, long a patron to some whose outcome it didn’t like was back Under these conditions, a modus of Myanmar’s own ethnic insurgen- in 1990. On that occasion, a military vivendi of sorts had emerged: the pre- cies. While many in India believe the junta refused to recognise the results, vious elections in 2015 brought Suu country must stand up for democracy arrested the democratically elected Kyi and her party—full of former and human rights in its next-door leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi’s over- political prisoners—to power in a de SHUTTERSTOCK neighbour, others counsel pragma- whelmingly victorious National facto coalition with their former jail- and even allowed the army to tary campaign against the Rohingya est award in 2018, and to calls for her tism and caution as the most effective League for Democracy (NLD), and ers. Myanmar’s democracy was thus intercede in government decisions as ethnic cleansing and even attempt- to be stripped of her Nobel Peace way of avoiding a repeat of the set- continued to rule the country via the clearly a work in progress. But that when it judged this to be in the nation- ed genocide. In defiant testimony to Prize as well. backs of the 1988-2001 period. State Law and Order Restoration progress has now come to a jarring al interest. the International Court of Justice in Following Suu Kyi’s recent arrest, ‘I have a sinking feeling that no one Council (SLORC). halt. In fact, the military staged its It was an uneasy co-existence, fur- The Hague, she refused to utter the the recriminations have ceased. Many will really be able to control what The same thing happened again on coup on the very day that the newly ther complicated by the contrast word ‘Rohingya,’ thereby implicitly governments have expressed concern comes next,’ the distinguished February 1, when Suu Kyi, now the elected parliament was scheduled between Suu Kyi’s goddess-like image endorsing the majority view in and called for her release and the res- Burmese historian Thant Myint-U country’s de facto leader, and other to convene. among the people and the army’s Myanmar that the victims were ‘inter- toration of democracy. The military, tweeted following the coup. ‘And politicians, including NLD ministers, Recent events in Myanmar are stone-faced unpopularity. But it lopers’ from Bangladesh rather than on the other hand, stresses that its remember Myanmar’s a country were arrested in a pre-dawn swoop. hardly unprecedented. Since the coun- seemed to be working. Suu Kyi made an ethnic minority. actions are constitutional. awash in weapons, with deep divi- The military took charge, declared a try gained independence in 1948, the compromises with her uniformed Critics accused Suu Kyi of Myanmar’s neighbours are treading sions across ethnic & religious lines, one-year state of emergency, and military, now known as the Tatmadaw, political partners, even at the price of everything from appeasement to chau- warily in the coup’s aftermath, and where millions can barely feed them- promptly transferred power to the has held power for far longer than tarnishing her halo by supporting vinism and racism, while admirers there may be some curious reversals selves.’ It’s a sobering reminder for all army’s commander-in-chief, General civilian leaders have. Suu Kyi herself them in the bitter global debates over argued that her pragmatism was the of earlier stances. For a long time, in the region. Min Aung Hlaing. Vice President spent a total of 15 years under house the persecution of Myanmar’s Muslim only way to advance democracy in a India unambiguously sided with Myint Swe, a former general, was arrest between 1989 and her release in Rohingya minority. country still under the military’s democracy, freedom, and human Tharoor, a former UN under-secre- named president, but yielded power November 2010, and was awarded the Suu Kyi seemed to be growing in sway. Her acquiescence in arrange- rights in Myanmar—and not just rhe- tary-general and former Indian to Hlaing. 1991 Nobel Peace Prize as a celebrated power at home even as she fell from ments that left hundreds of political torically, like the regime’s Western Minister of State for External Affairs Once again, Myanmar’s men in uni- resistance icon. After her release, she grace abroad—in the eyes of her prisoners in jail and continued critics. When the SLORC violently and Minister of State for Human form, who ruled the country from 1962 exercised authority under constitu- Western admirers, and especially to punish ethnic minorities disillu- suppressed a popular nationwide Resource Development, is an MP for to 2011 and had co-existed with civil- tional power-sharing arrangements those in the human-rights community, sioned many, leading Amnesty uprising in 1988, the Indian govern- the Indian National Congress. ian leaders in a slowly unfolding polit- that entrenched the military’s clout who regarded Myanmar’s brutal mili- International to strip her of its high- ment initially offered asylum to flee- —Project Syndicate

C M Y K 05 | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2021 MONEY

FOREX US Dollar 117.03 Recovery in sales of fast-moving consumer goods slow Euro 140.35

Pound Sterling 159.06 Demand is still down in rural areas despite a surge in orders from e-commerce platforms in urban centres, firms say.

Japanese Yen 11.12 KRISHANA PRASAIN diversification can be an opportunity Chinese Yuan 18.11 KATHMANDU, FEB 4 to gain market demand in the current situation. Qatari Riyal 32.14 Overall demand for fast-moving con- Noodles sell well in the domestic Australian Dollar 89.28 sumer goods is still down due to slow market even when sales of biscuits, rural sales despite a surge in orders confectionery items and beverages Malaysian Ringit 28.84 from e-commerce platforms in urban slow down. Consumption of dairy areas, firms said. products has decreased. Saudi Arab Riyal 31.20 Market demand is yet to reach “People are still avoiding going on Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank pre-lockdown levels even though six long tours, and hotels and restaurants months have passed since the end of are having a hard time with tourism Shares the lockdown, and the government has still immobile. These reasons have hit allowed businesses to operate freely, the consumption of fast-moving con- Nepse 2,475.26pts 0.34% they said. sumer goods,” he added. A follow-up survey conducted by Nepal’s largest fast-moving consum- HIGHEST GAINERS Nepal Rastra Bank from October 29 to er goods company, Unilever Nepal, SLBS SMFDB JSLBB MSLB USLB NMFBS 10% 9.99% 9.99% 9.98% 9.97% 9.97% December 9 showed that 54 percent of posted a 66.64 percent drop in net prof- the factories and companies had start- it in the fourth quarter or fiscal 2019- MODERATE GAINERS ed full-fledged production or opera- 20. The company said its net profit KLBSL SMB GBLBS SPDL MHNL RADHI 9.96% 9.96% 9.9% 9.88% 9.87% 9.87% tion since the stay-home order was decreased from Rs1.06 billion to withdrawn. Rs355.3 million due to the lockdown MODERATE LOSERS PFL SBI SHL CFCL GFCL UFL Employment in these companies enforced by the government. -1.86% -1.86% -1.89% -1.95% -2.04% -2.39% has recovered to 87.51 percent of According to the Trade and Export

HIGHEST LOSERS pre-lockdown levels. Promotion Centre, exports of noodles MEGA NBF2 NFS CORBL EICPO PLI According to Tikendra Kumar soared by 63 percent in the first six -2.43% -2.54% -2.74% -3.02% -3.13% -3.46% Shiwakoti, country sales manager of months of the current fiscal year. Asian Biscuit and Confectionery, SHUTTERSTOCK Nepal shipped noodles worth Rs954 there was negative growth in overall With educational institutions closed and many people working from home, demand for packaged foods has dropped, industry insiders say. million in the first half. Traders said PRICE PER TOLA food production like biscuit, noodle, that exports increased because all BULLION confectionery and beverage in the Nepalese Chambers of Commerce prevented from border hopping to do the prices of our products, but it has stocked goods during the lockdown first half of the fiscal year compared and Industry. their shopping during the lockdown. become a challenge to operate with were delivered. Fine Gold Rs 91,100 to the same period of the previous “Factories were operating at 30-40 “When the border was closed, peo- the high cost of production. It will be Nepal’s imports of sweet biscuits year. “Overall, sales have declined by percent of capacity, and this figure ple had to consume domestic prod- difficult to remain in business with- swelled to Rs984 million in the first six Silver Rs 1,300 25 percent,” he said. has now gone up to 60-70 percent,” he ucts; but Nepali fast-moving consum- out increasing prices in the coming months from Rs712 million in the Normally, demand for fast-moving said. “Food consumption has declined er goods have always faced stiff com- days,” Shiwakoti said. same period in the last fiscal year. SOURCE: FENEGOSIDA consumer goods swells following the as people were making less money, petition from Indian products. The “A decade ago, you could buy three Chewing gum imports were valued harvest season of key crops in rural resulting in slowed demand in the raw material supply chain has been packets of Preeti noodles for Rs20, at Rs329 million compared to Rs269 areas, but industry insiders say sales market.” impacted internationally, and prices now a single packet costs the same million previously. GASOLINE WATCH have not picked up in rural markets. With educational institutions closed have risen with a spike in global amount. The price of noodles has The country imported Kurkure, Anjan Shrestha, executive director and many people working from home, demand, pushing up the price of fin- risen, but biscuit prices have not Kurmure, Lays and Cheese balls of the Laxmi Group, manufacturer of demand for packaged foods has ished goods,” said Shiwakoti. increased in the same ratio as con- worth Rs358 million in the first six confectionery and dairy products dropped, Shiwakoti added. The pur- “As there is no authentic data sumers still prefer imported biscuits months of the current fiscal year, up under Sujal Foods, said that consump- chasing power has also gone down, regarding prices with private organi- compared to domestic brands,” from Rs355 million previously. tion patterns were impacted by the and people have been forced to cut sations or the government, it is diffi- Shiwakoti said. During the same six-month period, pandemic with consumers focusing on extra expenses, he said. cult to say by how much prices have Most factories are running at chocolate imports totalled Rs769 mil- buying essentials. Asian Biscuit and Confectionery, increased,” Shrestha added. half of capacity due to the slow sales, lion compared to Rs929 million previ- With the situation gradually maker of Goodlife biscuit, 2pm noo- Manufacturers say the cost of pro- he said. ously. Nepal imported non-alcoholic improving, demand will likely bounce dles and Rum Pum, Imli Bomb and duction has increased as raw material In a bid to diversify its product line, soft drinks worth Rs1.47 billion in the back by the end of this fiscal year, said Chocho Luv brands of confectionery, prices, transportation charges and Asian Biscuit and Confectionery first six months of the current fiscal Shrestha who is also vice-president observed a rise in demand in regions factory expenses have swelled due to launched 2pm Ramen which is selling year, down from Rs1.72 billion during (commodity) of the Federation of near the Indian border as people were the pandemic. “We have not increased quite well, Shiwakoti said. Product the same period in the last fiscal year.

India lines up deepwater port for rice, exports to surge amid global shortage

REUTERS from Andhra Pradesh alone will dou- Singapore Airlines MUMBAI, FEB 4 ble to 650,000 tonnes, Rao said, adding that rice shipping would begin in the posts $106 million India’s southern state of Andhra deepwater port within days. Pradesh will use a deepwater port to India’s rice exports this year could export rice for the first time in dec- rise to a record 16 million to 17 million third quarter loss ades amid a global shortage of the tonnes from last year’s 14.2 million, grain, according to a government Rao said. REUTERS order seen by Reuters, which could The government also thinks rice SINGAPORE, FEB 4 raise shipments this year by a fifth. exports, excluding the premium bas- The order, issued late on Wednesday, mati variety, could rise by 2 million to Singapore Airlines Ltd on Thursday allows Kakinada Deep Water Port 3 million tonnes this year, said Pawan posted a S$142 million ($106.36 mil- to handle rice until more capacity is Agarwal, special secretary, logistics, lion) net loss in the third quarter as created at the adjoining Anchorage at the federal Ministry of Commerce passenger numbers plunged by 97.6 Port. and Industry. percent due to the pandemic, though Congestion at the Kakinada “We are also investing to expand its cargo business held up better given Anchorage Port, India’s biggest capacity at the old Anchorage Port,” a tight freight market. rice-handling facility, had led to a Agarwal told Reuters. The loss compared with the prior waiting period of up to four The South Asian country has a year’s S$315 million profit in the quar- weeks compared with the normal wait massive surplus for export and ter ended December 31. Revenue fell of about a week, raising costs for ship- prices are competitive, but some 76.1 percent to S$1.07 billion. pers and limiting exports, said international buyers switched to The bottom line loss was slimmer B V Krishna Rao, president of the Thailand and Vietnam because of than its S$331 million operating loss Rice Exporters Association of India. the shipping delays, said a Mumbai- due to a tax credit. Broker UOB Kay The government blamed the conges- based dealer with a global Hian had expected it to report a core tion on a surge in demand, driven by trading firm, who declined to be loss of around S$470 million for the production shortfalls in other rice-pro- identified because of the sensitivity quarter, excluding any impairment ducing countries. of the matter. charges, while UBS had forecast a net Thailand and Vietnam are the other India’s 5 percent broken parboiled loss of S$330 million. The airlines big suppliers, but their production has variety is being offered at $402-$408 operated around 19 percent of its fallen in recent months because of per tonne this week, significantly pre-pandemic passenger capacity in excessive rains or drought, sending lower than Vietnam’s $510-$515 and December and said it expected to their prices to multi-year highs. Thailand’s rate of more than $540. reach around 25 percent of normal More shipments from the world’s India mainly exports non-basmati levels by the end of April as it adds biggest rice exporter could cool rice to Bangladesh, Nepal, Benin and flights amid the spread of more trans- global prices. Senegal, and basmati rice to Iran, missible variants of the coronavirus. The move means monthly exports Saudi Arabia and Iraq. IMF says vaccines to fuel Mideast recovery, tough path ahead

ASSOCIATED PRESS Africa. However, the countries that DUBAI, FEB 4 have access to the widest number of vaccines likely will fare better than Broad access to different coronavirus those without, Azour said. He pointed vaccines remains crucial for an eco- to Bahrain and the United Arab nomic recovery in the Mideast, the Emirates, which so far have some of International Monetary Fund said on the highest vaccination rates per capi- Thursday, warning the path ahead ta in the world. remains “long and winding” for coun- The pandemic has decimated the tries already struggling with corrup- travel and tourism industry, major tion and debt. employment drivers for the UAE. The IMF revised its 2020 economic Lowered demand saw companies outlook upward for the Mideast and across the region slash staffing. North Africa, now predicting only a The UN’s International Labour 3.8 percent contraction as higher oil Agency says about half of the workers prices boosted budgets for producers in the Arab states now live in coun- and some countries suffered less than tries with Covid-19 workplace restric- anticipated during the pandemic’s AP/RSS tions, down from nearly 100 percent first months. A medic administers a Covid-19 vaccine to a between April and June. Across 2020, However, war-torn and debt-mired fellow medic at the health ministry, in the the region lost some 9 percent of its nations could be further hurt by a West Bank city of Bethlehem. overall working hours, the equivalent delayed rollout of Covid-19 vaccina- of 5 million full-time jobs, according tions, further slowing any regional Middle East and Central Asia depart- to the ILO. In Iran, Azour said the IMF economic recovery from what the ment at the IMF, told The Associated continues to look at the country’s $5 United Nations has called the worst Press. “This hinges on the speed of billion assistance request, which crisis to strike global employment vaccination and the risks of a third would be its first loan since 1962. since the 1930s Great Depression. wave of new mutations.” Tehran continues to struggle with “This is a year of reset where we The IMF forecasts economic growth inflation, US sanctions imposed by the are in a race between the virus and the of 3.1 percent in 2021 and 4.2 percent Trump administration shrinking its vaccine,” Jihad Azour, director of the in 2022 for the Mideast and North oil sales and the pandemic.

C M Y K FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2021 | 06 WORLD BRIEFING World faces around 4,000 Fake accounts gain Prominent Lebanese activist, publisher found dead in his car traction as they praise ADDOUSSIEH: A prominent Lebanese coronavirus variants publisher and vocal critic of the Shiite militant Hezbollah group was While thousands of variants have arisen as the virus mutates on replication, only a very found dead in his car on Thursday China, mock US morning, shot multiple times at close range, security and forensic officials small minority are likely to change the virus in an appreciable way, researchers say. ASSOCIATED PRESS America was “running naked in front said. Lokman Slim, a 58-year-old long- CALIFORNIA, FEB 4 of the world” in the wake of the time Shiite political activist and REUTERS Capitol siege. Three videos Graphika researcher, was found in his car on a LONDON, FEB 4 A pro-China network of fake and identified described the riots as a rural road near the southern village imposter accounts found a global “beautiful sight to behold,” mimick- of Addoussieh. A forensic coroner on The world faces around 4,000 variants audience on YouTube, Facebook and ing the language used in Chinese state the scene said Slim was shot in his of the virus that causes Covid-19, Twitter to mock the US response to the media reports around the news, the chest, head and neck, killing him on prompting a race to improve vaccines, Covid-19 pandemic as well as the dead- report found. the spot. A security official at the Britain said on Thursday, as research- ly riot in Washington that left five Relations between Washington and scene said Slim’s ID, phone and gun ers began to explore mixing doses of dead, new research published on Beijing worsened under former were missing. the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots in a Thursday found. President Donald Trump, who world first. Messages posted by the network, launched an aggressive diplomatic Thousands of variants have been which also praised China, reached the and economic offensive against China. Iran envoy sentenced to 20-year documented as the virus mutates, social media feeds of government offi- That tension has played out on social prison term over bomb plot including the so-called British, South cials, including some in China and media, where Chinese state officials ANTWERP: An Iranian diplomat African and Brazilian variants which Venezuela who retweeted posts from have aired pointed criticisms of accused of planning to bomb a meet- appear to spread more swiftly than the fake accounts to millions of their Trump. Chinese Foreign Ministry ing of an exiled opposition group was others. followers. spokesman Zhao Lijian has been one sentenced to 20 years in prison on British Vaccine Deployment The international reach marked of the most vocal critics of the US on Thursday in the first trial of an Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was new territory for a pro-China social social media. Iranian official for suspected terror- very unlikely that the current vac- media network that has been operat- ism in the European Union since cines would not work against the new ing for years, said Ben Nimmo, head Iran’s 1979 revolution. Belgian prose- variants. of investigations for Graphika, the Even after Trump’s cution lawyers and civil parties to the “Its very unlikely that the current social media analysis firm that moni- prosecution said Vienna-based diplo- vaccine won’t be effective on the vari- tored the activity. exit, the fake network mat Assadolah Assadi was guilty of ants whether in Kent or other variants REUTERS “For the very first time, it started to attempted terrorism after a plot to especially when it comes to severe People get off the bus on Ealing’s high street where the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus variant get a little bit of audience interac- continues to push bomb a rally of the National Council illness and hospitalisation,” Zahawi originating from South Africa has been located, in West London, Britain. tion,” Nimmo said. anti-US posts. of Resistance of Iran near Paris in told Sky News. The network’s messaging aligns June 2018 was foiled by German, “All manufacturers, Pfizer- SARS-CoV-2-has killed 2.268 million viral vector vaccine, Russia’s Sputnik closely with posts and comments French and Belgian police. “The rul- BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford- people worldwide since it emerged in V. The British researchers behind the made by Chinese state officials. But it ing shows two things: A diplomat AstraZeneca and others, are looking China in late 2019, according to Johns trial said data on vaccinating people is unclear who is behind the fake But even after Trump’s exit from doesn’t have immunity for criminal at how they can improve their vaccine Hopkins University of Medicine. with the two different types of vac- accounts, which posted more than office on January 20, the fake network acts ... and the responsibility of the to make sure that we are ready for any Israel is currently far ahead of the cines could help understanding of 1,400 videos in English, Mandarin or has continued to push anti-US posts. Iranian state in what could have been variant—there are about 4,000 vari- rest of the world on vaccinations per whether shots can be rolled out with Cantonese, Nimmo said. One of the Some of the accounts have now piv- carnage,” Belgian prosecution lawyer ants around the world of Covid now.” head of population, followed by the greater flexibility around the world, Twitter accounts, which had a follow- oted to attacking the Democratic Party Georges-Henri Beauthier told report- While thousands of variants have United Arab Emirates, the United and might even increase immune ing of roughly 2,000 users mostly from by accusing leaders of having a ers outside the court in Antwerp. arisen as the virus mutates on replica- Kingdom, Bahrain, the United States responses. Latin American, also tweeted the mes- “one-party mentality”. tion, only a very small minority are and then Spain, Italy and Germany. Matthew Snape, an Oxford vaccinol- saging in Spanish. Other fake accounts have ques- likely to be important and to change Britain on Thursday launched a ogist who is leading the trial, said The posts appear to target social tioned the safety of American- Australia says 81 homes lost the virus in an appreciable way, trial to assess the immune responses mixing different shots had media users outside of America, gain- approved vaccines for Covid-19. according to the British Medical generated if doses of the vaccines proven effective in Ebola vaccine ing traction in Hong Kong, Taiwan “The safety of the ... vaccine was in due to fires in country’s west Journal. from Pfizer and AstraZeneca schedules, and though the new trial and Venezuela—places where Chinese doubt, but it was quickly approved,” CANBERRA: Australia said on The so called British variant, are combined in a two-shot schedule. mixed vaccine technologies, it could and US diplomatic or financial one of the pro-China videos posted on Thursday 81 homes have been known as VUI-202012/01, has muta- Initial data on immune responses also work. interests have increasingly come into January 21 claimed in a headline. destroyed by fires across the tions including a change in the spike is expected to be generated around “Ultimately, it all comes down to the conflict. Other posts praised China’s response country’s west, as strong winds protein that viruses use to bind to the June. same target—cells making the spike “The overall message is: America is to the pandemic, while criticising hamper efforts to extinguish the human ACE2 receptor—meaning that The trial will examine the immune protein-just using different plat- doing very badly. China is doing very America’s ability to contain the blazes. No deaths have been reported it is probably easier to catch. responses of an initial dose of Pfizer forms,” he told reporters. well,” Nimmo said. “Who do you want deadly virus. from the fires, the origins of which “We have the largest genome vaccine followed by a booster of “For that reason we do anticipate to be like?” “There’s this cherry-picking of nar- are still unknown, although the sequencing industry-we have about 50 AstraZeneca’s, as well as vice versa, that we’ll generate a good immune The network used photos of Chinese ratives and events that make the US blazes are a reminder of the scores percent of the world’s genome with intervals of four and 12 weeks. response with these combinations.” celebrities on the accounts and, in one look really bad,” Nimmo said. of fires that razed large swathes sequencing industry-and we are keep- The trial will be the first of its kind Public Health England’s head of case, hijacked the verified Twitter Last month, YouTube announced of Australia’s east coast last year. ing a library of all the variants so that to combine a mRNA shot—the one immunisation Mary Ramsay said account of a Latin American soap that it had removed more than 3,000 Western Australia state Premier we are ready to respond-whether in developed by Pfizer and BioNtech— there was a lot of precedent for such opera show to post messages, channels in December that were iden- Mark McGowan said firefighters the autumn or beyond-to any chal- and a adenovirus viral vector vaccine work, as vaccines against Hepatitis A according to Graphika’s report. tified as part of Graphika’s investiga- have managed to curtail the biggest lenge that the virus may present and of the type developed by Oxford and B were interchangeable from two The fake accounts seized on the tion into influence campaigns linked of the seven fires still alight, but he produce the next vaccine,” Zahawi University and AstraZeneca. different manufacturers, and similar January 6 insurrection in Washington. to China. Other Facebook and Twitter warned strong winds had the poten- said. AstraZeneca’s shot is separately being work has been undertaken for human One video described the US as a accounts identified in Graphika’s tial to escalate the danger. (AGENCIES) The novel coronavirus-known as trialled in combination with another papillomavirus. “failed state” and another said that report were also removed. Thousands of arrests necessary Myanmar blocks Facebook response to protests, Kremlin says as resistance grows to coup

ASSOCIATED PRESS Peskov said in a call with reporters. arrest—without access to the MOSCOW, FEB 4 Massive protests erupted after internet—for two months as part of a Mobile operators and internet service providers had received a directive from the Navalny, a 44-year-old anti-corruption criminal probe into alleged violations The Kremlin said on Thursday that campaigner who is Putin’s most deter- of coronavirus restrictions during communications ministry to temporarily block Facebook. thousands of arrests at protests mined political foe, was arrested protests. Sobol was formally charged against the jailing of opposition lead- January 17 upon returning from his on Thursday. er Alexei Navalny were a necessary five-month convalescence in Germany Protests have spread across Russia’s response to the unsanctioned rallies from a nerve agent poisoning, which 11 time zones over the past two week- and strongly rebuffed Western he has blamed on the Kremlin. ends, drawing tens of thousands in criticism. A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered the largest show of discontent with Asked about the harsh treatment of Navalny to prison for two years and Putin’s rule in years. thousands of detainees, many of eight months, finding that he violated In a no-holds-barred response to the whom spent long hours on police the terms of his probation while recu- protest, police arrested over 10,000 buses and were put in overcrowded perating in Germany, a ruling that protest participants across Russia and cells, Russian President Vladimir caused international outrage and trig- beat scores, according to the OVD-Info Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, gered new protests. group monitoring arrests. Many said that they have to bear Following Navalny’s arrest, author- detainees had to spend hours on police responsibility for joining the unau- ities also have moved swiftly to silence buses after detention facilities in thorised protests. and isolate his allies. Last week, a Moscow and St Petersburg quickly “The situation wasn’t provoked by Moscow court put his brother, Oleg, ran out of space and later were law enforcement, it was provoked by top associate Lyubov Sobol, and cramped into cells intended to accom- participants in unsanctioned actions,” several other key allies under house modate far fewer inmates.

AP/RSS Pedestrians pass by a graffiti reading as ‘don’t want dictatorship’ in Yangon, Myanmar, on Tuesday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS concerned the order was a breach of failed 1988 uprising against military YANGON, FEB 4 human rights. dictatorship. Myanmar was under “Telecom providers in Myanmar military rule for five decades after a Myanmar’s new military government have been ordered to temporarily 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi’s five years as has blocked access to Facebook as block Facebook. We urge authorities leader is its most democratic period. resistance to Monday’s coup surged to restore connectivity so that people Videos posted on social media amid calls for civil disobedience to in Myanmar can communicate showed medical personnel especially protest the ousting of the elected with family and friends and access turned out to sing the song civilian government and its leader important information,” said a “Kabar Makyay Bu”—or “We Won’t Aung San Suu Kyi. Facebook spokesperson. Be Satisfied Until the End of the Facebook is especially popular in The political party ousted in World”—which is sung to the tune of Myanmar and the ousted government Monday’s coup and other activists in “Dust in the Wind,” a 1977 song by the had commonly made public Myanmar have called for a campaign US rock group Kansas. announcements on the social media of civil disobedience to oppose the The protest movement seemed site. takeover. In the vanguard are to have gotten a boost from the Internet users said the disruption medical personnel, who have declared government’s treatment of the began on late Wednesday night, and they won’t work for the military highly popular Suu Kyi, who was mobile service provider Telenor government and who are highly detained along with other government Myanmar confirmed in a statement respected for their work during the leaders on Monday. Her party said that mobile operators and internet coronavirus pandemic. Wednesday she was being charged service providers in Myanmar had For a second night on Wednesday, with possessing illegally imported received a directive from the residents in Yangon engaged in walkie-talkies—believed to be used by communications ministry to tempo- “noise protests,” with people banging her bodyguards—that were found in rarily block Facebook. pots and pans and honking car her house in the capital Naypyitaw. Telenor Myanmar, which is part horns under cover of darkness. And The charge would allow her to legal- of the Norwegian Telenor Group, said the recent protests have revived ly be kept in custody until at least it would comply, though was a song closely associated with the February 15.

C M Y K 07 | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2021 SPORTS | MEDLEY BRIEFING Champions Liverpool’s title CAN calls 32 players for Dembele tests positive for virus MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s on-loan preliminary training French forward Moussa Dembele has tested positive for Covid-19, making defence on brink of collapse SPORTS BUREAU Cup Qualifiers while the bottom four him the Spanish side’s fourth player KATHMANDU, FEB 4 will compete in the World Cup affected by the novel coronavirus in Man City visit Anfield on Sunday, and a win for Pep Guardiola’s team may effectively knock Qualifiers playoff set to take place in the last week, the La Liga leaders Cricket Association of Nepal on Zimbabwe in June and July of 2023. said on Thursday. Dembele joins fel- the Reds out of the title race—with more than three months of the season remaining. Thursday named a 32-member prelim- Nepal have so far played four match- low forward Joao Felix, defender inary squad for the closed camp train- es in the three-year League 2 cycle and Mario Hermoso and winger Yannick ing for Nepal’s ICC Cricket World Cup have two wins and defeats each. Oman Carrasco who have all tested positive League 2 matches against hosts Oman lead the standings winning eight for the virus. The 24-year-old Dembele and the United States of America. matches from 10 games played. USA is isolating at home in line with the Nepal, who stand sixth in the are second with six wins from 12 league’s protocol, Atletico added. The League 2 table, are set to play four matches played and PNG are at the four players will now miss Monday’s matches in the second series of the bottom of the standings having lost all home game with Celta Vigo. tournament—two each against hosts eight matches played so far. Oman and the USA in March. According to CAN, the players were Players called for closed camp England’s Crawley ruled out called on the basis of their perfor- Bikram Sob, Rajesh Pulami, Rohit NEW DELHI: England top order bats- mance in the recently concluded Paudel, Sushan Bhari, Sandeep Jora, man Zak Crawley has been ruled out Prime Minister Cup and past records. Sunil Dhamala, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit of the first two Tests against India The closed camp would begin from Narayan Rajbanshi, Hari Shankar with a wrist injury, the team said on Saturday. Sah, Ramnaresh Giri, Arjun Kumal, Thursday. Crawley, who was likely to The League 2 features seven teams Krishna Karki, Paras Khadka, Sompal bat at number three in the opening comprising Nepal, Oman, USA, United Kami, Karan KC, Kushal Malla, Test from Friday, injured his right Arab Emirates, Scotland, Namibia Sandeep Lamichhane, Prithu Baskota, wrist after slipping outside the dress- and Papua New Guinea (PNG). Nepal Aasif Sheikh, Saurav Khanal, Shahab ing room in Chennai on Wednesday. will play four matches in Oman, two Alam, Bibek Yadav, Kamal Singh “Following the results of last night’s each against Oman and the USA and Airee, Khadag Bahadur Bohora, Anuj scan, England top-order batsman Zak 36 ODIs in total when the event con- Chunara, Pawan Sarraf, Sharad Crawley has been ruled out of the cludes in February 2023. Vesawkar, Abinash Bohora, Binod first two Tests,” the tourists said in a The teams that finish in the top Bhandari, Dipendra Singh Airee, statement. “Scan results have con- three will secure berths for the World Aarif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla. firmed that Crawley has jarred his right wrist, which has sprained the joint and led to local inflammation.”

Lille retain top spot in Ligue 1 AP/RSS Babar and Fawad rescue Brighton’s Steven Alzate (centre) scored the winning goal to condemn Jurgen Klopp’s team back-to-back losses at the Anfield on Wednesday. PARIS: Lille retained top spot in Ligue 1 with a 3-0 win at mid-table ASSOCIATED PRESS Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling 13. By taking 10 points from a possible Girondins de Bordeaux on Wednesday LIVERPOOL, FEB 4 scored first-half goals as City won a 12, Brighton climbed two places to thanks to second-half goals from Pakistan from rocky start 13th straight game in all competitions 15th and are 10 points clear of the rel- Yusuf Yazici, Timothy Weah and After going 68 Premier League games — a run of victories stretching back to egation zone. REUTERS Jonathan David. The northerners unbeaten at the Anfield, Liverpool December 15. While City have conced- Jesse Lingard is looking to resur- RAWALPINDI, FEB 4 moved to 51 points from 23 games, have slumped to back-to-back losses at ed just two goals in 13 league games, rect his Premier League career at leading second-placed Olympique the stadium that was their impenetra- Liverpool’s issues in defence continue West Ham. After scoring two goals in Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Lyonnais by two points and Paris St ble stronghold for nearly four years. as they struggle to overcome the likely West Ham’s win at Villa, the on-loan Fawad Alam put on an unbeaten cen- Germain by three after both their The latest defeat—to lowly season-long absence of Virgil van Manchester United midfielder might tury stand to rescue the hosts from main rivals also claimed three points. Brighton—left the champions’ title Dijk. They weren’t helped by goal- not be too far from a return to the early trouble and lead them to 145 for Lyon had Lucas Paqueta to thank in a defence on the brink of collapse. Just keeper Alisson Becker missing out England squad, either. Lingard made a three at the close of a rain-shortened 1-0 win at second-bottom Dijon while like against Burnley two weeks ago, against Brighton because of an illness stunning debut for the Hammers on first day of the second Test with South champions PSG, who were without Liverpool were beaten 1-0 by a team and a muscle problem keeping Sadio his first league game since July, scor- Africa in Rawalpindi on Thursday. the suspended Neymar, eased to a 3-0 battling to avoid relegation. Jurgen Mane out for a second straight game. ing their second and third goals to Babar won the toss and chose to bat victory at bottom side Nimes courte- Klopp’s team dropped seven points The title might soon be gone for build on the opener by Tomas Soucek. as Pakistan look to close out the two- sy of goals by Angel Di Maria, Pablo behind leaders Manchester City, who Liverpool, and a place in the top Ollie Watkins replied for Villa. match series and he is not out on 77, Sarabia and Kylian Mbappe. have a game in hand and are on a nine- four is hardly guaranteed. The Everton have won four straight having so far put on 123 for the fourth match winning streak. Reds are in fourth place but only two away games in the league for the first wicket with Fawad (42 not out) to frus- Dzeko stripped of captaincy City are the next visitors to Anfield, points ahead of fifth-place West Ham, time since the club’s glory years in the trate the tourists. on Sunday. A win for Pep Guardiola’s who won 3-1 at Aston Villa. Everton mid-1980s. And it’s Dominic Calvert- South Africa had made inroads into ROME: Edin Dzeko has been stripped team may effectively knock Liverpool are two points further back in sixth Lewin’s goals which are leading Carlo the Pakistan top order when they of the AS Roma captaincy but out of the title race—with more than after beating Leeds 2-1. Leicester Ancelotti’s team toward a finish in the reduced the home team to 22 for three, resolved his differences with coach three months of the season remain- moved above Liverpool into third European places. with left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj AP/RSS Paulo Fonseca, the Serie A club’s gen- ing. “The only explanation now is that place with a 2-0 win at Fulham thanks Calvert-Lewin struck his first goal (2-51) striking early with the new ball. Babar Azam (in picture) and Fawad Alam led eral manager Tiago Pinto said on we are a fatigued team,” said Klopp, to goal by Kelechi Iheanacho and in eight league games and is now on 12 He had opener Imran Butt (15) Pakistan to 145-3 at the close of first day. Wednesday. The 34-year-old trained whose squad has been badly hit by James Justin. for the campaign, making him the caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de separately from the squad after a dis- injuries this season, especially in From seemingly nowhere, Brighton second highest-scoring striker after Kock when the batsman tried to steer overs with a laceration to the small agreement with Fonseca, and Italian defence. “City are flying and we have have turned into one of the form Harry Kane. Gylfi Sigurdsson opened a delivery to third man, before trap- finger on his left hand. Scans revealed media reports said the club consid- to find solutions.” teams of the league, with the win at the scoring for Everton before Calvert- ping the dangerous Azhar Ali leg no fracture but Linde is likely to be ered selling him during the January Seeking to regain the title they the Anfield coming three days after a Lewin’s ninth headed goal of the sea- before wicket for a duck. Seamer impeded for the rest of the Test, which transfer market. But Pinto revealed relinquished to Liverpool last season, victory over Tottenham by the same son made it 2-0 before the break. Anrich Nortje picked up the third will be a blow for the visitors. that while the dispute has been set- City produced another dominant dis- score. Raphinha reduced the deficit soon wicket as Aiden Markram took a The rain started to fall as the play- tled, Dzeko would not continue to play in overwhelming Burnley in a 2-0 Steven Alzate scored the winner in after halftime. superb one-handed diving catch at ers went off for tea, with the entire lead the team. “On the captaincy, a victory at the Turf Moor. That restored the 56th minute for his first Premier “This is a result of this season,” short leg to dismiss Abid Ali (6). final session lost. club must rely on discipline,” he told City’s three-point advantage over sec- League goal, and Brighton held on Ancelotti said, explaining why his But Babar and Fawad then set about Pakistan are unchanged from their a news conference. “At the moment ond-place Manchester United, who relatively comfortably to make it four team have won seven times on the restoring the innings as the wicket seven-wicket first Test win, while Dzeko isn’t the Roma captain. We will won 9-0 over Southampton on Tuesday. league matches without conceding road. “All the teams have more possi- lost some of its early morning venom. South Africa included all-rounder work for the interests of Roma in the City have played a game less than since running Man City close in a 1-0 bility to win away because there is no South Africa’s second spinner George Wiaan Mulder in the place of Lungi future.” (AGENCIES) United, too. loss at the Etihad Stadium on January crowd there in the stand.” Linde was forced off after just 2.5 Ngidi. HOROSCOPE ARIES (March 21-April 19) **** CANCER (June 22-July 22) *** LIBRA (September 23-October 22) *** CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) **** You can enjoy a surge of power today, which might You’re starting to take on a role as supportive men- Keeping in touch with your inner self is extremely Surround yourself with people who are down-to- cause some problems with one of your relationships. tor to the rest of your crew. This might feel a little bit important right now. You need to start listening earth and grounded today. You know, the people who This person thought they were the one in charge, and uncomfortable for you, but it’s the right way for more to that nagging voice in your head. It knows might not always know what the hottest trends are. it’s going to be a bit painful for them to face reality things to be evolving. You are better at connecting who you really are, and it will lead you to what you These people have the right kind of focus, and you today. with others than anyone else. really need in life. could really benefit from it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) *** LEO (July 23-August 22) *** SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) *** AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) *** Experiment in your relationships today. Switch roles You have a great insight into events going on right A friend’s curiosity might be driving you a little bit Everyday events and typical conversations take on with the other person and mix it up a bit. If you’re now, and a lot of people would love to know what you crazy today. They might want to know things that more significance today. You are able to see the hid- usually the one who drives the discussion or organiz- know. Sitting in the catbird’s seat gives you a great you don’t want to tell them. This prying act of theirs den meanings just under the surface, which will put a es all the plans, ease up and let them do all the heavy feeling, and you are coming to a place where you can is fairly new, and since you’re not really liking it, you whole new slant on what is happening on the surface lifting for a day. value your position in life. need to nip it in the bud. of things.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) **** VIRGO (August 23-September 22) **** SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) *** PISCES (February 19-March 20) *** Take each hour as it comes today. Let the day unfold Be encouraging and help others ride the wave of One of your authority figures could be a little diffi- Your new relationship has more twists and turns as it will, and try not to push things in any one direc- good energy that you’re on. It’s easy for you to create cult to deal with today, but you probably won’t be than a Hollywood thriller. Put this crazy relationship tion. Resist the urge to fill up your free time with good times for your people because you’re feeling interacting too much with them. When you do, just on pause and take some time apart. Find out what life errands or tasks. Being busy just to be busy is no way exceptionally generous and warm toward the people smile while you listen to them talk and then go right is like without them. You might just end up agreeing to exist right now. you care about the most. back to what you were doing. to disagree, which is a solid solution. CROSSWORD SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

C M Y K FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2021 | 08 CULTURE & LIFESTYLE (C.R.P.D.) - 3/052/053 With ‘Mank’ and ‘The Crown,’ Netflix dominates Globes noms The 78th Golden Globes Awards was delayed about two months due to the coronavirus.

JAKE COYLE Prom,” “Music” and “Hamilton.” NEW YORK Chadwick Boseman was nomi- nated posthumously his perfor- fter a year where mance in George C. Wolfe’s August the pandemic Wilson adaptation “Ma Rainey’s nearly emptied Black Bottom,” as was his co-star, movie theatres, Viola Davis. Other acting nomi- Netflix dominated nees included Andra Day (“The nominations to the United States vs Billie Holiday”), 78thA Golden Globe Awards on Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Wednesday, with David Fincher’s Woman”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas “Mank” leading film nominees and the Black Messiah”), Leslie with six nods and “The Crown” Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami”), topping all television series. Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”); The Globes, delayed about two James Corden (“The Prom”) and months due to the coronavirus, the young star of “News of the tried to muster some of the World,” Helena Zengel. awards’ usual buzz on Wednesday Gauging the awards prospects in a largely virtual awards season of most films has been difficult bereft the kind of red-carpet glam- this winter, with none of the usual our the Globes annually feast on. AP/RSS screenings and events happening And perhaps to account for the In this image released by Netflix, Amanda Seyfried appears in a scene from ‘Mank’. Seyfried was nominated for a Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a motion picture. in-person, and a number of the otherwise lack of it, the Hollywood films once expected to be lead con- Foreign Press Association heaped other studio was close. “Palm Springs.” Apple TV+, too, Chloe Zhao’s itinerant drama drummer losing his hearing in tenders postponed. But there were nominations on two lavish period “The Crown” landed six nomi- scored several nods including the “Nomadland,” Emerald Fennell’s “Sound of Metal.” still plenty of choices by the press pieces rich in royalty—both the nations including best series, Jason Sudeikis series “Ted Lasso” “Promising Young Woman” and “You can always find the oppor- association—an always unpredict- Hollywood variety (the black-and- drama, and acting nods for Olivia and the Irish animated film Florian Zeller’s dementia drama tunity in the obstacle.” able group of 89 voting members— white “Mank” dramatises the Colman and Josh O’Connor. The “Wolfwalkers.” “The Father.” A year after fielding no female that nevertheless surprised making of “Citizen Kane”) and final season of “Schitt’s Creek” nominees for best director—or a observers Wednesday. the British kind. trailed with five nominations, best film nomination for any For one: Spike Lee, whose “Mank,” about “Citizen Kane” while Netflix’s “Ozark” (four nods) The Crown landed six nominations movie directed by a woman—the daughter Satchel and son Jackson co-writer Herman Mankiewicz, and “The Queen’s Gambit” (two HFPA nominated more female are Globes ambassadors this landed nominations for best nods) also added to the streamer’s including best series, drama, and filmmakers than it ever has before. year, saw his Vietnam veteran film, drama; best actor for Gary totals. (“Queens Gambit” star King, Zhao and Fennell were nom- drama “Da 5 Bloods” unexpectedly Oldman; best director for Fincher, Anya Taylor-Joy was nominated acting nods for Olivia Colman inated for best director, alongside shut out. best supporting actress for for both the hit show and for the Sorkin and Fincher. Zhao is the The press association also drew Amanda Seyfried; best score; and Jane Austen adaptation “Emma.”) and Josh O’Connor. first woman of Asian descent much criticism for an earlier best screenplay for Jack Fincher, The day belonged to the stream- nominated for best director. decision to consider Lee Isaac the director’s father who penned ing services. Disney+ (“The By splitting up films between Chung’s lauded immigrant drama the script before dying in 2003. Mandalorian”) and HBO Max Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of Netflix doesn’t report box office drama and comedy or musical, “Minari,” about a Korean- “Sometimes you just have to (“The Flight Attendant”) both the Chicago 7”—also a Netflix figures and both “Nomadland” the Globes gave a boost to an American family in Arkansas in think, what does it mean in the notched their first Globe nomina- release, about the countercultural and “The Father” are yet to open awards season wildcard, “Borat which the characters largely whole big scheme of things with tions. Amazon, with Regina King’s clash and subsequent trial beyond a qualifying run in theat- Subsequent Moviefilm.” Baron speak Korean, ineligible for its top this worldwide, global thing going “One Night in Miami,” about a following the 1968 Democratic ers. So the category’s total box Cohen’s “Borat” sequel—one of award. The group instead nomi- on,” Oldman said from London. meeting of four Black icons in National Convention—came in office—a historic low of about the few nominees partially shot nated “Minari” for best foreign “But you know, we want to kind of 1964, and Steve McQueen’s film second among movies with five $265,000—is due entirely to during the pandemic—was nomi- language film. get back to some kind of normalcy. anthology “Small Axe,” landed 10 nominations, including nods for “Promising Young Woman,” nated for best picture, comedy or The Globes will be the first Life goes on.” total nominations—a total best film, drama; best director and Fennell’s acclaimed #MeToo musical, best actor in a comedy for major show of Hollywood’s Netflix, which topped all studios matched by the Disney-owned best screenplay for Sorkin; sup- revenge drama. Baron Cohen and best supporting pandemic-altered awards season, at the Globes last year, too, led Hulu, including nods for the porting actor for Sacha Baron “It’s an opportunity to shine a actress for Maria Bakalova. which will end with the crowning with a commanding 42 nomina- Catherine the Great series “The Cohen; and best song. light on some smaller movies,” Also nominated for best picture of the best picture winner at the tions, with 22 coming in film cate- Great,” with Elle Fanning, and the The other nominees for best said Riz Ahmed, nominated for in the comedy or musical category Oscars on April 25. gories and 20 in television. No Andy Samberg time-warp comedy film in the drama category were his performance as a heavy metal were: “Palm Springs,” “The — Associated Press Japan’s animators in pencil peril over production halt Mitsubishi Pencil said this week it would scale back a long-running line of coloured pencils from June.

CHANG-RAN KIM & SAM NUSSEY Japan’s iconic manga and ing “we’ve enjoyed steady demand TOKYO anime industries have adopted a from a core group of users in the growing range of digital tools, but animation industry.” apan’s animators are many artists still put pencil to Traditional animation domi- losing one of the tools paper during the labour-intensive nates in Japan, in contrast to the of their trade after production process. computer animation popularized Mitsubishi Pencil said Mitsubishi Pencil said procure- by Disney’s Pixar studio. this week it would scale ment problems led to the decision. Although useful for precision back a long-running work like animating and technical Jline of coloured pencils. documents, hard pencils can be Mitsubishi Pencil will reduce Mitsubishi Pencil unforgiving to the amateur. its 7700 line of hard coloured “The 7700 line doesn’t sell any- pencils to a single red iteration said procurement more,” said Naoya Nagatsuma, starting in June. The three the 11th-generation owner of colours to be cut—orange, yel- problems led to Tokyo stationery store Soumaya low-green and pale blue—were Genshirou Shouten. saved from a broader cull in 2015 the decision. His centuries-old business still after an outcry from the anima- carries the red 7700 pencils, which tion industry. used to be popular with architects “The 7700 line is an indispensa- A company spokeswoman declined for drafting blueprints. ble tool for animation production, to elaborate, saying which raw That work has long since been with a large impact on individuals materials are in short supply is a digitised. “I probably sell about REUTERS and companies anticipated by “trade secret.” one 7700 red pencil for every 3,000 Usman Khan, 29, dressed up as Charlie Chaplin, poses for a photo with fans as he performs along the street in Peshawar, Pakistan. the end of production,” the The company, which dates to the regular red colour pencils.” Association of Japanese 1880s, does not disclose sales fig- Nagatsuma said. Pakistan’s Charlie Chaplin aims to Animators said in a statement. ures for the pencils, she said, add- — Reuters raise a smile in bleak times Usman Khan used to sell toys on roadside but during the Covid-19 pandemic has transformed himself into Charlie Chaplin, hoping to spread a little cheer.

REUTERS ter, with fake moustache and a lit- in a local neighbourhood. PESHAWAR tle eyeliner. He takes to the streets, “Making people smile with often accompanied by friends film- silent comedy, winning people’s n the bustling northern ing him, hoping to bring a bit of hearts with silent comedy is a dif- Pakistani city of Peshawar cheer in dreary times. ficult task,” Khan said. a man in a bowtie, bowler In just two months, he has hat and carrying a cane gained more than 800,000 followers flamboyantly weaves on the social media platform Tik through busy traffic, nar- In just two Tok—people, he says, from around Irowly avoiding rickshaws, motor- months, he has the globe who find his comedy cycles and buses in a scene remi- a welcome respite from the pan- niscent of a 1920s silent film. gained more than demic and its lockdowns and Usman Khan, 28, used to sell social-distancing. children’s toys from a roadside 800,000 followers Khan hopes film and television stand but during the Covid-19 producers will notice him as pandemic has transformed him- on Tik Tok. well—and says if he ever became self into Charlie Chaplin, a centu- wealthy he would share his earn- ry after the silent comedian was ings with the poor. propelled to global fame with his His Chaplin visits a gym to The act is also a brief escape for slapstick antics. interrupt a ping-pong match, Khan, who—like the real-life “When the coronavirus was attempting to hit the ball with his Chaplin before he shot to fame in around, a lot of people were in cane, and draws ire from shop- Hollywood—comes from an real stress, some people gave up on keepers as he upends their wares, impoverished family. Hawking life,” Khan told Reuters. “I was coming close to landing himself in toys does not bring in enough to watching Charlie’s videos and trouble, as his namesake often did cover daily expenses, he says. thought, ‘Let me act like Charlie.’” in his films. But he also draws the “When I leave my home, I shut Khan dons the familiar costume laughter of children who gather the door on my own problems and REUTERS of Chaplin’s “The Tramp” charac- round him after he poses on stairs look to bring happiness to others.” Naoya Nagatsuma, 11th-generation owner of Tokyo stationers Soumaya Genshirou Shouten, holds a Mitsubishi pencil in Tokyo.

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