#103 19 - 25 July 2002 16 pages Rs 20 Lal Darbar 8-9

Nepal’s girl footballers 15 KUNDA DIXIT EXCLUSIVE South and North It is still as King Prithvi Narayan Shah said: Nepal is a yam between two stones. This week, his descendant, King Gyanendra has completed important visits to Sick of war ARUNA UPRETYin DOTI ○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○ Western Nepal faces a food emergency he woman had visited the health post with her sick and a health emergency. Women and Tbaby. The health worker children are affected the most. gave her some tablets and told “We don’t know what will her to give them to the child ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ happen when the potato and after meals. Two days later, the also run a health clinic. (See grains are exhausted.” health worker asked her how the “Women are dying in the far- Most health workers say they India and China. The king has baby was doing. “I haven’t been west” by Aruna Uprety, #52). will abandon their health posts sought and got support from bothable to give her the medicine for the government’s counter- Thirty-five health workers from once food supplies run out. They insurgency campaign. “China because you had told me to give Accham and Doti were to take have no choice. This could create a supports the efforts of King it after food,” the woman part. Only half of that number humanitarian crisis in a region Gyanendra and the Nepali replied. “I have no food at home, attended because they just where services were poor even at government in cracking down onand we haven’t eaten for days.” armed anti-government forces,” didn’t get the message. The the best of times. Even by Nepal’s Chinese president Jiang Zemin The Maoist insurgency in phones are down, the postal dismal human development said after meeting the king on western12 Nepal is taking its toll service doesn’t work, the buses standards, the west is the worst. July. Chinese leaders refuse toon the health of villagers, and the don’t ply. The far-west has traditionally had call them Maoists, and say the rebels are besmirching the nameconflict is eroding many of the And then the poignant the poorest maternal and infant of the Great Helmsman. gains of the past decades in question put to us by a nurse mortality statistics in Nepal. The immunisation, maternal and from Achham, for which we status of women in society is lower child health. But the crisis goes had no answer: “As a health here than elsewhere, and female beyond lack of medicines and worker, am I of any use in this literacy is only nine percent. So, vaccines: there is a danger of situation? Most of my patients although no one is healthy here, the widespread malnutrition as the don’t need medicines, they need burden of disease tends to be conflict makes food scarce, with food.” The mule trains that heavier for women because of lack repercussions on children and traditionally transported food of access to health care. All this is their mothers. to Accham are stopped by both now made much worse because of No grass, no roots We were in Doti to organise the security forces and the the conflict. The cabinet decision on Mondaya follow-up training of auxiliary Maoists. “They should leave the not to extend the terms of electedmidwives and staff nurses and locals alone,” said one nurse. village and district councils has made a lot of people angry. They Girl in Doti see the hand of Deuba’s all- see p5 KUNDA DIXIT powerful home minister, Khum Bahadur Khadka, to gerrymander elections. The UML, which dominates local bodies has the most to lose, and the party’s Rajendra Prasad “The answer is no.” Pandey can barely hide his fury: “This is what the Maoists wanted all along, Deuba has done it for them.” In a candid interview Donors are also livid. One with the Nepali diplomat told us: “This decision Times, Ken Ohashi, creates a vacuum, it is clear the Maoists are going to fill it.” Last World Bank director Friday, donors jointly wrote a terse letter to Deuba warning him that in Kathmandu, such a decision would only help discusses his the Maoists. concerns about UNDP, German GTZ and Dutch SNV work at the budgetery support, VDC level in 60 banking reforms, and districts, as well as the Norwe- decentralisation, and gians and the Danes who support the Bank’s priorities. these programmes. The projects will be directly Editorialimpacted by p2 the dissolution of localAct bodies.locally “It is a problematic decision,” the UNDP’sNEPALI TIMES: What do you make of the governmentís spend- Henning Karcher told us guardedly.ing plan for 2002/03, vis-‡-vis the goals and policy statements? “The best solution now would be to KEN OHASHI:Commenting on HMG’s spending plan has been a have both elections together.” hazardous exercise, because the actual spending typically has differed much from the budget. However, this year, HMG has gone through quite a serious process of prioritising expenditures in most sectors. The 2002/03 budget reflects this effort pretty well. So I feel it is consistent with HMG’s poverty reduction objective. Of course, the proof of the budget is in actual spending.

But is it good enough for donors to extend budgetary support? Well, no matter how polite I try to be, the answer is no. The budget is only a plan. We cannot assume that the actual spending will be close to the plan. In a pre-election period, there may be a lot of pressure to Weekly Internet Poll # 43 divert funds to lower priority projects that are nonetheless politically Q. Should it be a national holiday each time attractive. To Prime Minister Deuba’s credit, he did overcome severe His Majesty the King leaves or returns from a political resistance to cuts in unproductive spending. The true test, state visit? however, will be whether he and HMG more generally can stick to their guns, in a manner of speaking. There are two basic requirements before donors will consider budget support seriously. First, HMG must show that it is now able to keep actual spending close to the budget. Spending it well is quite another matter. The basic problem of public spending in Nepal has been the quality of spending, more than its quantity. The second requirement is effective implementation of the Immediate Action Plan. If these two things happen, then I think donors should get ready to offer budget support.

Total votes: 2456

Weekly Internet Poll # 44. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q. Do you approve of the cabinet decision to dissolve local government units? see p7 222 EDITORIAL 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES NATION 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 333 Nepali Times is published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor:Kunda Dixit Editor:Anagha Neelakantan ANALYSIS by PUSKAR GAUTAM Design:Kiran Maharjan [email protected], www.nepalitimes.com Advertising:Sunaina Shah [email protected] Subscription:Anil Karki [email protected] Sales:Sudan Bista [email protected] Sanchaya Kosh Building, Block A-4th Floor, Lalitpur GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 01-543333-7, Fax: 01-521013 Printed at Jagadamba Press: 01-521393 One great leap forward, two leaps back? he long-awaited Maoist party The government response since The Maoists have used the political confusion in Kathmandu to re-strategise their plenum during the first week of July November has been to launch a nationwide ACT LOCALLY Twas, from all we can tell, not so cordon and search operations. However, “forward leap”. But there may be factors they haven’t taken into account. smooth. To begin with, there were there are logistical and numerical limita- o, what if the Maoists started with their destruction of one- logistical hurdles caused by impaired tions to an operation of this size and third of all VDCs in the country, this government has extra-judicial killings in the media finished off. It has gone ahead and done exactly what the communications between between local duration. The result is that the security and delays in foreign support could S cells. All signs point to the plenum being forces have been forced to spread them- Maoists wanted. change things. held in secret safe havens somewhere in selves thin, and not been able to take the Then there is the India wild-card. Through a cabinet decision this week, it dissolved elected northern India. The conference itself battle to the Maoists too often. councils at the village and district levels. That the government is appears to have brought out sharp Indian home miniser Lal Krishna It has in fact been the rebels who Advani’s statement on the eve of the legally entitled to take that decision is not the point. The point is divisions about both strategy and tactics in that after dismantling parliament to save his own skin in re- determine where and when to fight. The royal visit that Islamic militants were view of recent political developments in sponse to an intra-party feud, prime minister Sher Bahadur Maoists have made best use of the terrain, sheltering in Nepal was one of the most Kathmandu, especially the dissolution of Deuba has now effectively dismantled democracy at the climate and the open border with India. direct statements by a senior Indian parliament, the split in the Nepali grassroots as well. After the Congress split, this has not just There appears to be a strategy to keep the leader. The timing was interesting, given Congress and the announcement of general become a partyless government, but a country without elected security forces on a reactive mode, and to that high on the list of King Gyanendra’s leaders (except the house speaker). And how can VDC secre- elections in November. keep them guessing about where the next talking points with Indian leaders was taries run village councils when one third of them have fled From the hardline statement made by because of Maoist threats? curbs on activities of Nepali Maoists in Maoist supremo Prachanda after the The government had a lot of other options, the most dhakka (strike) will be. The rebel leadership India. plenum, we can conclude that the rebels Then last week the Indian envoy in logical being the legal extension of the term of local bodies have kept their long-term strategy of relies on decentralised campaigns with Kathmandu, Ashok Kumar, said point- by another year. Since local officials are so important at “encircling the capital”, and continuing central planning, decentralised implementa- election time (for the wrong reasons) Deuba kangresis edly in Bhairawa that Nepali politicians major morale-boosting raids on military tion of centralised policy-making. The probably think it will help them to have bureaucrats in government’s approach seems just the knew where the Maoists were hiding in charge. Such narrow, short-term thinking is just what garrisons. Prachanda predicts with some bravado that he can cut the army down opposite: centralised command and India since they all went to meet them we have come to expect from our politicians. centralised implementation. there. In that sense, this is nothing new. It is nothing new to size “in two months” if Britain and the US do not come to the govern- Even CDOs say they come to know of New Delhi’s strategy of using the that state radio and television have become the blatant propaganda the day’s incidents in their own districts Maoists as a bargaining chip vis-à-vis arms of the faction-in-power. It is nothing new that a plane carrying ment’s aid. Intriguingly, Prachanda members of a rival faction is not given clearance to land. We don’t doesn’t mention what would happen if through Radio Nepal bulletins. The government. Party politics is in disarray, theKathmandu doesn’t seem to have really need any more proof about the pettiness of our politicians, but India came to the rescue. other factor that hobbles the government public’s trust in government at an all-time changed. From a military point of view, recent testimonies to their petulance has crossed all norms of campaign is its inability to use the mediasuperior intelligence is key to getting an low. Few believe free and fair elections can the open border will mean that however STATE OF THE STATE by CK LAL decency. UNDERCOVER to its advantage, despite the fact that theupper hand inthe war. be held in November, and most people effective the government’s campaign PHOTO MONTAGE Deuba’s cronies are now going around using the disingenuous All this could be posturing. After all, the Maoist propaganda machine has been The Maoists are on the defensive in generally blame parliamentary parties for against the rebels, the Maoists have argument that the UML came to dominate local bodies because then- Maoist rank-and-file are taking a beating. effectively silenced. the central region. They have declared taking the country down. The confusion instrategic depth and will always have a home minister Bam Dev Gautam rigged the local elections of 1997. If With the army's undercover work, senior The Maoists are now concentrating Kathmandu Valley a zone for “legiti- government has provided space for Maoistsplace to hide. this reasoning was not so specious, it would be quite funny. Because central committee members have been their presence in the mid-western mate” struggle and one ripe for making to re-strategise and begin political activities. it essentially means: “They cheated, now it’s our turn to cheat.” killed, the latest being Rit Bahadur heartland. They have used superior the decisive forward leap. But the The party plenum seems to have CLOUD COVER We have in this space given Sher Bahadur Deuba a lot of Thaibenefit lessonswhich has been over-run by urban sprawl. Khadka, popular political cadre from knowledge of terrain and local support tosecurity forces have conducted successfuldiscussed the option of extending new peaceIn the field, the army’s limited use of air of doubt. But the decisions he has taken in the past months really Japanese contractors expect to complete the Dolakha who was taken out by operatives slip out, attack a base, disperse, and slipintelligence breakthroughs in the valley, feelers to the government, taking part in a power will be further curtailed by cloud force us to question his motives. We have also argued that if thereJottings was from a junketjob within innext threeBangkok years. Presumably, with lameduck mayors. at the border while re-entering Nepal back to their base areas under cover of and extracted valuable information future constituent assembly or even an cover for the next two months. Besides, one thing that worked in Nepal after 1990, it was grassroots democracy.○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ this city of 10 million people will be still ○○○○○○○○○○○○ after the party plenum. In central Nepal,darkness. They follow the Maoist from detainees. interim government. The Maoists have alsoMaoists now have captured weapons that can threaten low-flying choppers. Party-based village and district-level elections had generally forced local liveable enough for the millions of visitors the middle and top echelon leaders of dictum: “Keep the enemy away from For the present, the Maoists are cashed in on the public outrage of the political leaders to focus on development rather than on raw power. Although time is on the side of the BANGKOK - For Asian junketeers, the that the new airport hopes to handle. can simply let things linger, just as it has village and district peoples’ committees your base.” avoiding local-level confrontations. They disappearance and probably killing of pro- Siamese City of Angels is a favourite Many Nepali passengers rush through been doing with every other major decision and local commanders have either been But lately the Maoists have started tend to suffer casualties because of the Maoist journalist, Krishna Sen, and has Maoists, they now need to give a destination these days. The rich of South the transit at the Bangkok airport to catch and disclosure in recent months. captured or killed. making mistakes. The two botched army’s superior firepower and air support. declared a concrete time-frame for their “forward Asia find Thai private hospitals reasonably their connecting flight to Malaysia where It’s almost midnight when we finish, This is why it is conceivable that the attempts to over-run the ISDP outpost They reason this would also delay them in leap” since they cannot take the military priced. Middle-class East Asians come herethey hope to find work. But there is no but on the car ride back we notice the Maoists are preparing for a high-profile in Khara in early June could have two their objective of a final “forward leap” pressure, the shortage of food and money to release their tension at health spas dearth of junketeers like us. Keshav Sthapitwholesale fruit-market is bustling. The Thai showcase attack. And it is logical that they reasons: either their communications which they think will propel them to for much longer. The Maoists will need offering tactile pleasures of all varieties and of Kathmandu, Budhhi Raj Bajracharya of economy seems to have put the recession of would target garrisons or bases in the with the central command were severed,capture state power. They are quite to make their presence felt, and they will shades of grey. The poor of Indochina flockPatan, and Balaram Sharma of Surkhet are 1997 behind. Construction cranes, the central region or near the Valley where or they were trying to create a diversion confident—maybe unrealistically so—that want to do this sooner rather than later here to escape the drudgery back home in indicators of the bubble economy are back. by bringing the conflict to the capital. here for the Asian Mayors’ Conference they have suffered heavy losses. This wouldwhile targetting some other base. they can do this with a careful selection of bandh on 16 August. Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. And the organized by ESCAP. Accompanying them The classified section of boost the morale of their own cadre, as The Maoists were pushed back from targets, careful preparation, and concen- For their part, the security forces will The Bangkok For the army, hardware support has want to make some intelligence break- Burmese are here in force, escaping their are their administrators and a clutch of well as deliver a psychological blow to the Khara largely because of timely and trated strength. become a matter of some urgency. But throughs to capture top leaders and nation’s time warp. But for everyone from consultants. Strangely, all the three mayorsPost has no distress sale ads. What it has in government by exposing its vulnerability. adequate aerial support. All these have The weak link in all this is the civil everywhere, this is the metropolis of abundance are job openings and package perceptions of democracybad governance function and corrup- morebreak the movement’s momentum. are from the opposition party, and none is useful lessons for the army: the Maoists efficiently, so that it is truly mammon. This is where you go into a mall sure of the fate that awaits them back hometour promotions. The Thai economy is tion, and the government’s inability to are difficult to beat on the ground and assure donors ofrepresentative reforms that have of delayedthe overall and waste three hours instead of wasting it with local polls in limbo. running a surplus, and the baht is getting needs of Nepal’s majority popula- this support. The morale of the security in a traffic jam. At a Nepali evening hosted by Bhabani stronger. Buoyed by signs of recovery, the tion that is poor, neglected and forces is still high, but publicity about Thais take very seriously the impor- Dhungana, an ESCAP official and a long Thai premier talks about Asian Cooperation marginalised. That is the only cation both used to justify their way. A rightwing dictatorship tance of tourism to their economy. Every time resident here, the mayors’ entourage Dialogue to generate more trade within the positions. Both are honest, region. Malaysia’s on-again-off-again Prime now, will only hasten the day effort is made to make visitors feel comfort-has a gala time. Mayor Sthapit is joking and committed politicians who should when we will have a leftwing able in this awfully uncomfortable place. And Minister Mahathir Mohamed was so be able to rise above petty dancing. Mayor Bajracharya chooses to sing. democracy, a balance to the dictatorship. quarrels within their party. this is not a forced effort, Thais don’t have to But Mayor Sharma’s mind seems to be backalarmed by Thailand’s new-found confi- LETTERSsocietal structure. The power of Hari Gautam, Kathmandu It doesn’t matter in Tinpiple VDC if you are UML, Nepali Congress, TREE POACHERS contaminated tubewells to makeHowever, Dr Mahat and Mr Rana exhortation to take the country be forced to be nice to tourists, everyone dence that he hurried to dismiss the idea the people also functions due to in Nepal where the future of the local the public aware that water fromboth show that they cannot. And forward. The palace would also RPP (or even a Maoist), the citizens want the same thing: safe with impolite haste last week. Further to Lhakpa Sherpa’s self-interest. Therefore, it is only intrinsically knows that it is their lifeline. government units remains uncertain. such tubewells should not be therein lies the tragedy of the do well to take domestic royal drinking water, a health post with a doctor in attendance, schools article on theth 25 anniversary of natural for the people to either MIN BAJRACHARYA MIN The floating market must have begun A Thai friend reads my mind and tries used for drinking and cooking Nepali Congress, which is also image-building more seriously by with roofs and text books, or roads to provide access to market for Sharma says it is a heads-I-win, tails- support or acquiesce in the old or Congress triumverate: Khum Bahadur Khadka, Sher Bahadur and Chiranjibi Wagle. to reassure me, “Don’t worry. If you work the Sagarmatha National Parkpurposes. But it can be used forthe tragedy of this country. presenting the affable, ap- local produce. Locally elected leaders had started deliveringout these of necessity in an area prone to you-lose situation for the UML, which any regime that can provide (“Sagarmatha National Park washing. It is therefore not Namely, no one can see beyond proachable and friendly image of services because they were judged, and re-elected, on the basisflooding. of Farmers of the Mekong basin must hard and save money, you can build better stability. The average Ram, controls most of the VDCs, DDCs and turns 25”, #99), I offer documen-necessary to close down arsenictheir own narrow self-interest. King Gyanendra that was their performance. have had no choice other than taking their sky-trains and motorways. But no matter Shyam, Hari, Rita or Sita does not municipalities at present. He says that the tary proof of the timber poachingcontaminated tubewells. But projected in the Indian media Lalita Sharma, New Delhihave the luxury of thinking of the Now, with one cynical and politicised decision in Singha Darbar,produce to the market in canoes or bamboogovernment can neither extend the term of how much money we have, we can’t build people need alternatives for during his recent visit there. merits of democracy. They are callous national-level politicians have wrecked what took 12 floats.years But to the things that the vendors sell Mount Everest or Lumbini in Thailand.” drinking water, and the best Also, the royal couple are the existing bodies nor let them lapse merely interested in having food build. They may have suffered for democracy, but these fellowsduring the traffic-jams in the network of Had such a comment come from a option is to find arsenic-free already grandparents, but the without shooting itself in the foot. But what in their bhancha. obviously don’t believe in it anymore. They only believe in stickingcanals these on days are tourist trinkets. Sharma doesn’t seem to realise is the abilitywesterner, it would have sounded patronis- tubewells nearby. It is therefore public hasn’t yet seen them, or necessary to test all the It is not the sovereign power the girl’s parents for that matter, to power by hook or by crook. Mainly the latter. Thai entrepreneurs have turned of the present government to make the ing. From a fellow rice-eater, it’s reassuring to The federation of DDCs, grassroots leaders and the opposition hear that our destiny is what we make of it. tubewells. Household level of the people that is at risk here, with the little princess. What a apparent disadvantages into assets of touristimpossible look routine. The government arsenic removal techniques have it’s the political elite and the boost it would do to the royal parties are understandably up in arms. You would expect theattraction UML to by careful infrastructure improve- Thais have made mistakes in the past by also been tested using locally parties of the multiparty system.MORE HOLIDAYS image, especially after last oppose this move, since they are the ones who would politically going on outside the park ments and intelligent marketing. The water trying to achieve too much too fast. It’s available materials for distribution The leaders have committed In case the powers-that-be year’s tragedy, if their majesties stand to loose the most. boundaries to feed the demand military and police personnel aren’t in those communities, where hara-kiri to democracy. The missed it, buried in Under My Hatwere to be seen in public in the canals that once made Bangkok for logs in Namche Bazar and Ignoring everything else they have done, if there is one action of arsenic free tubewells are not sovereign power of the people(“Crooks R Us”, #101) was a carrying or holding on to their known as the Venice of the East is now universally loved—their image is associated other towns. Here is a picture I available nearby. Of the 20 tarai like the all mighty bear is in serious point. A barb aimed at granddaughter. What a powerful these fractious kangresis that shows extreme hypocrisy anddirty myopia (let’s not compare it to the Bagmati, with the atrocities and corruption of junta recently took at Phakding of districts studied so far, HARA KIRI hibernation—it will rise up againthose yes-men bureaucrats whomessage that would send in it is the fact that after saying local elections are not possiblethough) because but its legends continue to be rule. There is still much socio-economic timber for sale in Namche and of the security situation, they did not hesitate for a moment to dis- Nawalparasi, Rautahat, Parsa,Your editorial “Déjà vu” (#102)when there is hunger and the waste two full working days forNepal’s patriarchial society about repeated during guided tours in air- disparity, and corruption must be as Khumjung. The logs are all fromBara and Kailali have the highest right season. the importance of the girl child. solve parliament and call for general elections. Legally, Deuba could laments the slow choking death of this nation when King Gyanendra the Ponya forest in Jubing. incidence of groundwater have extended the term of parliament also by a year. conditioned coaches. Even a ride on the rampant as the editorials in the daily democracy in Nepal. Yes, the Subarna Bhattachan,travels abroad. Can this country Rupa Joshi, Kathmandu sky-train is suggested not as a necessity, testify. Thais look towards Korea for Pasang Gelzen Sherpa,contaminated with arsenic. sovereignty lies with the people, afford this sort of waste? Who If general elections are going to be held, as the Deuba govern- Kansas, USA but as a tourist experience. It’s so hot inspiration, and have begun to plan the Solu-Khumbu Nirmal Tandukar andhowever, our leadership whether decides about such things? ment is saying, then we strongly urge that the delayed local andelections humid that the entire city is big way the Koreans did in the seventies. Amar Nekuradical, left, centre or right of the Maybe the king himself should put now be held in conjunction with general elections in November. It country have failed us gravely.Thank you for your daring a stop to this sort of nonsense. sauna at this time of the year, but For harder lessons, we in Nepal DWSS, Panipokhari editorial. I couldn’t agree with you would be the logical thing to do: it would save money, it would restore In the natural state, people Amar Thapa, Lazimpat hotels boast of the sauna facilities at more that it is not democracy that the peoples’ faith in local leadership, and it would give the polity back must look towards countries that have strive for security and stability, their premises. KANGRESIS has failed, but politicians who its legitimacy. recently gone through with what we are then, only the people will exercise ARSENIC I read the opinion piece by Dr Ram have handed this country over to Thank you,Nepali Times, But maybe logic doesn’t work here anymore. After Singapore’s Changi, it’s the experiencingnow. As a monarchy, as a their fundamental rights and duties Sharan Mahat (“Cheques and the Maoists. So, the answer to We are engineers at the as a polity. Security and stability is for being bold and professional turn of the Thais to dream of a regional former dictatorship, as a country that balances”, #100) and then Sagar the Maoist problem is to make hub. Once complete, Subarnabhoomi, Department of Water Supply & the key to growth and develop- The bureaucracy is turningin telling us readers what is depends on tourism and agriculture, Nepal Sewerage (DWSS), and wereSJB Rana’s rebuttal (“Deuba was really going on in the countryside ment of an economy. Growth sycophantic. The government Bangkok’s new international airport, will could learn a lot from recent Thai history. glad to read “Poisoned Wells”given by no choice”, #101) and I was during these difficult times. Your leads to employment and income should not declare holidays on the be one of the most modern in the world. Maybe the Mayors’ Conference will turn Avidit Acharya (#102). We impressed with the legal sophisti- role during the emergency is for the people. When people’s day that King Gyanendra leaves would like to clarify a few much like what Indianthe Being built at a breakneck speed, it will out to be more than a junket, our elected income rise, then, there is growth or returns from a foreign trip. If points. The National Steering replace the overcrowded Don Muang, city fathers have realised the importance of of the middle class which is the the king himself took that practicalExpress did in India during their Committee on Arsenic has looking east. back bone of a functioning decision, his “no nonsense” emergency. Please keep the light decided to paint black cross on attitude would be lauded by theburning. white background on arsenic public who want to respond to hisMangal Shrestha, Bangkok 444 NATION 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES NATION 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 555 6,500 cases are filed anually in the from p1 DOMESTIC BRIEFS district court at Rajbiraj compared to 3,500 cases in neighbouring districts and a mere 150 in the Former MP missing after ‘arrest’ There is peace in western○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ hills. “This illustrates the myopic In an appeal to the National Human Rights Commission dated 17 July, mindset of the people in Rajbiraj. the family of Tsewang Lama, former MP from Humla, has asked the They prefer to go to court over commission to look into Lama’s disappearance. A 14 July news item in PRASHANT JHA in RAJBIRAJ The Kathmandu Post says that Lama was arrested by the Chinese ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Nepal, a deathly peace. petty issues instead of resolving Rajbiraj revisited authorities while in Tibet on suspicion of being associated with Maoist he stagnation and neglect of disputes amicably and working activities, and was handed over to the Royal Nepal Army. the Nepal tarai is best towards development,” he says. Lama’s family and friends don’t buy it. They say Lama, who also goes symbolised by the one town Despite the general gloom and T There is an epidemic of by the name Chakka Bahadur Lama, had returned from Kailash to Humla that once had so much promise: despondency, there may be a gynaecological problems, but district headquarters in Simikot by helicopter on 11 July with an Indian Rajbiraj. glimmer of hope if immediate either there is no health care, or tourist group. There, they say, he was apparently asked by local security It was the first township in action is taken. Kuber Sharma, a the hospital is not accessible, or and government officials to stay for a few days in Simikot before return- Green Party member whose family ing to his home in Torpa village. There has been no official news about Nepal to have urban planning, it women hesitate to visit male Lama, and his family has not heard from him since. Lama’s son Rinjin had one of the first airfields in the is from Rajbiraj, suggests the doctors. But today, all these has appealed to the commission, human rights organisations, and tarai. And while other border following steps may revive the problems have been made far political parties, asking them to help ensure his father’s safety. cities like Birganj and Biratnagar sagging fortunes of his town: worse by the direct and indirect A former member of Baburam Bhattarai’s Samyukta Jan Morcha, surged ahead, Rajbiraj was effects of the conflict. The one Lama gave up politics in 1994 and was managing an NGO, the Humla bypassed by the east-west with the most serious implica- Conservation and Development Committee. Before his disappearance he was also preparing to visit Kathmandu to launch his guidebook on highway and became a backwater. tions for health is the food Humla,Kailash Mandala: A Pilgrim’s Trekking (Bookworm, Guide #101). You wouldn’t know it when Begin a management school of shortage, which is reaching crisis visiting this sleepy, dusty town in excellence in Saptari, which would proportions. “Helicopters bring the vicinity of Biratnagar that attract students and improve the in food for government officials Rajbiraj is the zonal headquarters general state of education. and security people, but there is nothing for us,” says a midwife of Sagarmatha Zone, named after Strive to make Rajbiraj a the world’s highest mountain. It is from Achham. Constituency update software centre by supporting ○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Among the women at the also an indication of Nepal’s entrepreneurs. The Constituency Delineation Commission has reduced the number of vertical topography that Mt health camp is a woman who used constituencies in Palpa to two from the previous three, and in Jhapa the Develop local agro-industries, Everest, 8,848m high is barely 150 to run an eatery last year at ALL PICSARUNAUPRETY number is down to six from seven. The changes, which come into effect in km from this town, located at for instance fish farming Mangalsen. “I closed it,” she told the November mid-term polls, also include an increase in the number of barely 100 m above sea level. Get the Indians to bring a us. “The Maoists kept asking for constituencies in Udayapur and Kailali by one each. The Election Area Farming fares no better. Ideally, Downtown Rajbiraj Delineation Act requires that constituencies be redrawn every ten years to railhead at Kunauli, across the money, and the security people Anju Jha, a resident of Rajbiraj with its fertile soil, access to incorporate the changes in population distribution, and the diversity of for more than two decades was borderd in Bihar. accused us of feeding the Maoists.” the population. The present changes are based on the findings of the Rajbiraj has been a lot slower irrigation, and its location on the “Operating an industrial area It is the same story everywhere: as Census 2001. recently confronted with an thanThe it should tarai have been.” townborder that Rajbiraj missed should have been the a agonising dilemma: whether to stay along with institutionalising better the conflict drags on, ordinary There seems to be a consensus major hub for trade in cash crops. people like her are caught in the on in her ancestral town or escape bus. Is a revivalBut harvests possible? are stagnant and there co-ordination among various in search of better opportunities. here that the construction of the government agencies is a must if middle. Most of the time at the east-west○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ highway which by-passed is very little innovation.○○○○○○○○○○○ Dirt-poor health clinic, we were counsellors Clockwise from top, left: young The absence of proper educa- peasants are just struggling to any revival is to take place,” says Humane image played a major role in the town’s and not doctors. Listening to the mothers line up for their check-ups ○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ tional facilities for her growing survive from season-to-season. Sharma. But even more essential children coupled with lack of decline. Renu Yadav, MP from the seems to be a commitment by the patients’ problems with the lack at Doti, women recovering in the The Royal Nepal Army headquarters has set up a human rights branch Municipal officials, for their under the Department of the Adjutant General to look into adherence to future prospects for her husband area, believes that Rajbiraj would local leadership and the citizens to of food for themselves and their wards at the district hospital, and be a thriving economic centre if the part, blame discriminatory policies or violation of the prevailing human rights and humanitarian laws that compelled the family to migrate work unitedly for progress. children, all we could suggest patients thronging the health post. might occur during military operations, and handle public complaints. to Kathmandu. the cradle of the democracy road had passed the town, instead itof the central government for slow If that does not happen, were simple remedies and movement, where the anti-Rana went through the tiny village of development. Citing prejudice prevention methods. Anju is not an isolated example. Lahan, to its north. Lahan has now against the tarai, Mayor Das sees Mishra at the zonal hospital agitations began with the jail break foresees Rajbiraj once more Travel has become difficult one social worker from Kailali, and With general stagnation in Rajbiraj,byRenu political Yadav, prisoners MP of the nearby sprung up as a major township and the capital-centric attitude of Jagannath Das, mayor of Rajbiraj Spinal drive missing the bus. “We could and dangerous. There are adds with a hint of sarcasm in her ○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ more people from diverse back- Hanumannagar Prison. How could highway junction. Kathmandu-based bureaucrats and grounds have been moving out of “Unfortunately, there has been become the development hub of checkpoints everywhere. There is voice: “No emergency is more urgent On 14 July, after driving for two days over 1,200 km from Kathmandu to a place, which had everything going The town used to have an politicians as the main reason for no food, so you have to carry than the state of emergency.” Dhaka in a VW Beetle, editorHimal of South Asian magazine Kanak town for over two decades. Though this neglect. “Development is a shortage of leaders committed the region, but we will be for it, fall behind so dramatically? industrial estate, which has now pushed to near anonymity if we your own provisions. But there is Mani Dixit and his team were greeted by 100 disabled men, women and this phenomenon is prevalent confined to the valley,” Das told us.to development in our town,” children at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in elsewhere in Nepal, Rajbiraj is an Even northern Bihar has better been reduced to a cowshed. don’t act,” he told us. no guarantee that your food (Dr Aruna Uprety is Industrialists are reluctant to invest While these might well be says Dr Ashokanand Mishra at Dhakasee ( pic). “I have two missions—to raise awareness about spinal extreme example. health and education services, so the Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital. While this may be an won’t be confiscated at a women’s health and people of Rajbiraj have moved in Rajbiraj because of the lack of contributing factors, Rajbiraj’s injury in Bangladesh and in my country where a lot of people, mostly The district headquarters of This rings true in the face of extreme scenario, it reflects the checkpoint. There are unofficial reproductive rights poor, suffer from it. Second, to tell people that driving from Kathmandu across the border. While newer infrastructure, and other basic intelligentsia is quick to point to Saptari, Rajbiraj was the earliest glaring political squabbles. pessimism of the residents and dawn to dusk curfews in every activist.) to Dhaka isn’t all that difficult,” Dixit was quoted as saying in Bangla- tarai towns like Birganj have services. This is a Catch 22 the failure of the political leadership desh’sThe Daily Star. planned township in the country. Member of parliament, Yadav andexplains why more people like town, “unofficial” because it they grown and thrived, Rajbiraj plays situation: there will be no need to locally as well. aren’t announced anywhere, news Dixit drove to Dhaka to raise funds Systematically designed in 1938, it invest in highways, electricity and Mayor Das, for example trade Anju are migrating. To stop this, a peripheral role in national allegations of incompetence, and there is a need for a concerted of them travels byword of mouth. for the Spinal Injury Rehabilitation was declared a municipality in water unless there are industries. Centre in Jorpati. He has already raised politics and economy. Jagannath pass on the blame for Rajbiraj’s effort by civil society and Curfew violators are taken in, even 1959. Rajbiraj served as a trade Das, the Rajbiraj mayor admits: Rs 800,000 of the Rs 1.2 million the decay on each other. government to launch multi- shot. The lodge-owner in Doti centre needs for a year. Opened by centre, occupying a prominent “The pace of development in place in the economy due to the Kumar Upadhyay, a consultant pronged interventions. However, warned us to eat and go to bed by Edmund Hillary on 7 April, the centre draws on the experience of the 20-year- THE DAILY STAR Hulaki highway. Rajbiraj was also who has worked extensively in the the big question remains: will 7PM. Outside there is a deep silence punctuated by a barking old CRP in Bangladesh. Dixit survived region believes that the citizens of Rajbirajans themselves rise up to a serious spinal injury in a 60 m fall in Rajbiraj must take a share of the the task? dog, and the rustle of leaves. There Lamjung in 2000. (See “Standing up to spinal injury”, #91.) blame. Citing statistics, he says that is “peace” here in far-western Nepal, but it is a deathly peace. And as in all conflicts every- where, it is the women and children who are most vulnerable. COMMENT by BHASKAR ROY At last year’s clinic in Doti, we Matching donations for HIV ○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ were swamped with 2,000 patients. The Save the Children (UK) country office says that for each donation The VDCs had been mobilised to made by an individual Nepali donor to PRERANA, an NGO initiated in spread the word, and sick women 1997 by HIV/AIDS positive people, it will offer a matching donation. This pledge lasts until 25 came from surrounding districts, July and is valid for donations up to Rs 100,000. some walking or being carried for PRERANA works to create greater awareness about HIV/AIDS, and also India’s Maoists 10 hours. Others came all the provides counselling and support for positive people. Due to financial way from Dailekh district, constraints, PRERANA is faced with closure. Interested donors can contact ndia, a nuclear power and satellite manufacturer, is grappling with anThe Indian state is ignoring a peril that will not just die out. carrying their own food. the organisation at 412912. armed political campaign that best belongs to another era, and is Instead of a large-scale campaign to seize political power, he directed This time, with the VDC admittedly an outcome of the unresolved contradictions of a backward I his followers to create liberated zones by armed struggle. The “secret network all but non-existent, word agrarian society—the continuation of the ultra-left violence in several active groups”, the fourth document said, would play a crucial role in of the camp couldn’t get around. parts of the country, despite the ban on the People’s War Group (PWG) organising “revolutionary violence to counter reactionary violence” and And even if it did, the difficulties of and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). fight the police forces. travel kept most sick women at Though violent left-wing politics has spread over a large part of the Mazumdar surmised that it would be impossible for the police to zero home. The logistical difficulties in country and its neighbourhood, successive regimes in Delhi have been in on the workers participating in the secret groups. In the fifth document, getting to us, and the lack of reluctant to address the questions of land alienation and rural exploita- he directly attacked the mainstream communists, accusing them of using communications meant that we tion, particularly in the tribal belt. Had a similar extremist movement unarmed people as “cannon fodder” instead of training them in guerrilla were able to treat less than 600, all erupted in Delhi’s vicinity—say, Haryana or western Uttar Pradesh—the warfare. In the remaining three documents he criticised the established left people from nearby villages. It’s not political bosses would have undoubtedly reacted much earlier. for adhering to the path of parliamentary democracy and participating in that there weren’t more sick The Maoist movement, fed by rural deprivation, has been significantly the non-Congress coalition governments in some states in 1967. people—they just couldn’t get to different from the violent agitations if Punjab and Assam in the past. It is Charu Mazumdar’s call for area-wise liberation armies and eliminating us. We brought back half our based neither on religious fundamentalism nor on any sense of regional or “class enemies” had an adventurous appeal for a section of youths and farm medicine supplies to Kathmandu linguistic injustice. Sustained by the theory of class struggle and linked to workers. Though the uprising was brutally crushed by the state machinery because we could not dispense social and economic inequities, the Naxalite movement is unlikely to die with active support from the cadres of the mainline communist parties, them to the sick and needy. down with the ebbing of any momentary madness. So long as feudal Mazumdar’s documents survived as pointer to an alternative political In the government’s scheme of exploitation continues and the local administration sides with the affluent route for the future. things, the security emergency landlords in their dispute with the landless poor, the cause for such ultra- Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The radical thesis More than 35 years after he wrote his first radical document, takes precedence over medical left extremism will exist. The ongoing bloody confrontation between thesowed the seeds of a million mutinies and expectedly caused acute Mazumdar’s idea of revolutionary violence, liberated zones and armed emergencies. “We just pray to god Maoists and the authorities in Nepal attests to this. unease in the mainstream communist movement. campaign are still being put into practice by the MCC and PWG activists. that nothing happens to anyone at Against the backdrop of a worsening food crisis and political unrest, a Rejecting the agitational aggression of the established communist Despite the heavy toll of lives exacted by this violence, and its threat to night when there is a curfew,” says lean communist activist, still recovering from a heart attack in a small parties, Mazumdar proposed that every party worker form a five-man secretparliamentary democracy, we have seen no perceptible urgency anywhere in town at the Himalayan foothills, came out with a radical thesis in 1965. group as part of revolutionary activity. Laying major emphasis on under-the political establishment to understand the cause of this warfare and That man was Charu Mazumdar. He drafted the first of his eight ground political training, he prepared an outline of revolution on the basisevolve an effective response. political documents in his Siliguri home on 28 January that year. The of agrarian inequalities, borrowing heavily from Mao Zedong’s experiment document he prepared still has its echoes in every act of daring of thein China. In these theses, he made a radical departure from the established CPI (ML) factions in the tribal belts of Jharkhand, Bihar, practices of the conventional left by dismissing trade union activity and (The Times of India) farmer’s agitation as a mere way of getting marginal economic benefits. (Daniel Lak is away on holiday and will return next week.) 666 NATION 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES ECONOMY 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 777 SOMEWHERE IN NEPAL by PUSKAR BHUSAL BIZ NEWS OPINION by RAJENDRA S KHADKA The core flaw in Nepali espionage is information overload. NRB directives There is more than meets the eye in Kathmandu these days. ○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has issued new directives to govern the operations of 34 co- operatives with permission that have been permitted to do limited banking. The 12 July central bank directives require these institutions to hold on to 10 percent of their capital. Sevent a recent percent social event, I saw a of the deposits are for capital adequacy, one percent in an account with the central bankhandsome, and elegantly-dressed the remaining two percent as total liquid funds in vaults or in current accounts atNothing a commercial is what it seems The return of the spooks man stepping out of his bank. European car. He looked vaguely achievements simply reaffirms the he state of emergency may have can’t expect real moles to infiltrate familiar, one of those faces one recalls whether one was a humble, fussy pervasive flaws of our Hindu- turned statecraft into an overt hostile territory. (Even if the more from a momentary flash on TV. Whenpundit in a powerful household or dominated tradition and culture, the Tart of subterfuge, but it has enterprising special agents had Paid vacation IA asked an acquaintance to identify the had a grandfather who’d been a most conspicuous being caste division. minor functionary in the Rana Many bahuns and chhetris can’t brought our private eyes under full precious nuggets to offer, would the ○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ man, he looked incredulous. “You bureaucracy. public scrutiny. Count the column Home Minister be ready to listen Nepal Tourism Board and the tourism industry department at the don’t recognise him?” He turned out stomach the achievements of those inches newspapers and magazines have to the same set of supporters he did ministry are pushing to activate a 1998-idea to send government to be a celebrated doctor whom I’d Today the educated person doesn’tfrom the lower caste and class who have now “made it” by, say, going devoted to Nepal’s espionage so much to silence?) officials on weeklong paid vacations to boost domestic tourism. The indeed heard about but never met. have to rely upon government service, abroad to work and earn. And so when capabilities in recent months, and you Sections of the intelligence proposal has been sent to the Finance Ministry, and is likely to be I was saying something sincerely and family connections to secure a included in the 10 position. A well-qualified person can the son of a hardworking get a clear sense that snooping around th appreciative about the doctor when my community yearn for the predict- plan. Government officials use examples from pick and choose among a variety of is on its way to becoming a promising ability of the Panchayat decades. acquaintance narrowed his eyes and sarki returns India and China to justify the idea, and see it as a way to keep the whispered conspiratorially, “He’s madeavailable professions, especially in the career option. Spymasters then scouted college tourism industry running in bad times. For now, no one is talking about private sector. The Kathmandu elite after a few years of hard labour in a Not that nosiness was ever campuses to recruit the best and tons of money. Enough for three Gulf fiefdom, buys land and builds a productivity issues, or about the unsustainably long list of public generations.” I remonstrated weakly isn’t as tiny and incestuous as it was the brightest. With most ideologi- holidays our government employees are already entitled to. Does this home, to his upper caste neighbours really sneered at in a society with an that I had heard the doctor was a self- 30 years ago. Its monopoly over cally attuned students either in jail, mean productivity will go up because civil servants will come back he isn’t a role model, but that insatiable appetite for who-did- made man who’d worked very hard to power, status and wealth have what-to-whom political prattle. For exile or underground, it was easy to rested and fresh from a vacation in Olangchunggola? loosened. When it has resisted, wretched sarki’s son showing off. achieve his material and professional Few will admire the fact that the decades, New Road’s indoctrinate the rest in the virtues of status. But for my acquaintance, the audacious people have simply crashed young man worked hard and earned peepal bot partylessness. Countless second- doctor’s unforgivable sin was that he through its enclosure. generation panchas honed their skills transcended his rural childhood It is true that in these times of his wealth honestly, amidst tremen- was the pre-eminent source of in the only legal student organisation, NBL reforms dous hardships. The horror, contempt ○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ poverty and was now strutting about chaotic anarchy, masquerading as coarse information. True, some of the Rastrabadi Swatantra Vidyarthi and avoidance of physical work have the things that came your way were The Bank of Scotland of which the ICC Bank is part began work aimed at turningthe around nation’s capitalthe with too much of democracy, corruption, graft and Mandal (RSVM), adapting some of “source-force” remain powerful agents led us to scorn achievement. Cor- wild rumour, informed speculation Nepal Bank Limited this week. The management consultants will replace the bank’severything—wealth, top status and, surely, the Gestapo’s virulent methods to the to propel one towards wealth and rupted by our deep-rooted culture of and outright innuendo. But you management and take over the day-to-day functions, while also updating accountshealth. and trying to nation’s needs. Some former status. So, walking by a gaudy, patronage, we seem totally unable to were bound to get all the news that shore up the ailing bank. The management consultants are required by contract to Iprepare used to think a that such corrosive ‘mandales’ are leading luminaries in detailed action plan within 45 days of beginning work, which will be implemented after it is imposing residence, one instantly accept that there are many among us wasn’t fit to print in the two envy (if not character assassination) was who have indeed pulled themselves up the criticism is unfair. For one today’s multiparty politics, which is approved by the central bank. Similar reforms at the Rastriya Banijya Bank remainon theup declinein the among air the Kathmandu thinks that the owner must be a government dailies published right following the decision of Deloitte Touche Tomahatsu (DTT) to not take up the job. by their bootstraps and worked to information overload. Local thing, the department has become not something to be terribly worked sophisticates, and so was disturbed by smuggler, a crooked businessman or a next door. Professional sleuths the principal dumping ground for up about. The former Cold War rivals corrupt politician. How else could he achieve their dreams, even if what they comprised a sizeable section of the politicians and officials had my naiveté. During the pusillanimous have achieved may appear to many cautioned the government well in supporters of the home minister of are today led by a former KGB agent Panchayat era, such caustic observa- (rarely ever she) afford such a evening assemblage, many ready to luxurious lifestyle in perpetually vulgar and kitschy. advance that something was afoot the day. With that kind of person- and a son of a former CIA director. tions were daily fare, especially test their latest disinformation impoverished Nepal? We can’t accept The next time you’re going in and around Mangalsen and nel policy, even the most chronic It’s important, though, not to ADB/N stats regarding the mandarins of the strategy. Agent provocateurs used a ○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ insomniacs would have little Panchayat regime. Nepali society that people with such possessions walkabout in Kathmandu and you see careful mixture of whispering and Satbariya earlier this year. The over-rate the panchayati intelli- The Agricultural Development Bank Nepal (ADB/N)—a government-run bank whose books are worked hard to achieve what he so a magnificent mansion or some sleek security forces went on to suffer motivation to keep their eyes wide gence apparatus. It went into remained caught in the culture of VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT bravado to start conversations on open. Perpetual funding and to be scrutinised by foreign auditors this year—reports profits for two consecutive years. Early proudly flaunts. When confronted chap in a shiny new car, stop, think heavy blows from the Maoists decline after restive students forced this week, its general manager said that profits in 2000/01 totalled about Rs 93 million, slightly sensitive subjects. The transparency logistical problems force intelli- with conspicuous wealth, our visceral about your thoughts. For there is more Helvetas is looking for a Programme Officer to join the of 12 years of democracy hasn’t because the state saw little reason the government to ban the RSVM higher than the figure for 1999/00. The government owns 93.7 percent of the ADB/N’s equity of reaction is to think it is subterfuge, than meets the eye in Kathmandu these gence gatherers to adopt the Rs 1.45 billion. The rest is owned by the Nepal Rastra Bank, co-operatives and individual small central country programme office team diminished the grapevine’s popular-to investigate the sudden increase in in 1979. (Which establishes, albeit and thus deserving of contempt. days. Or you might be blinded with suspicious human movements. creativity of fiction writers. When tentatively, the student-sleuth shareholders. The ADB/N, like the Rastra Bank and the Rastriya Banijya Bank, the two other envious rage, echoing the words of an (PO) in Kathmandu ity. The juicy spoken word still allegations of being an informant large banks that involve government, is said to have a backlog of unpaid, politically-motivated Our instinctive contempt for commands greater consideration The National Investigation linkage.) A decade later, middle- material/professional observant writer are enough to invite the death ranking leaders of the people’s loans, poor bookkeeping and excessive government influence in day-to-day operations. The The PO is responsible for providing support and guidance to all than the most creatively drafted Department (NID) and other spy bank’s rural branches and outreach projects have also come under Maoist attacks in recent who remarked, “It Helvetas projects in Nepal, including many civil society partners. penalty in the Maoist rulebook, youmovement could not only evade Home Ministry clarification. agencies have come under fire for months. ADB/N employs 4,615 people in its 546 offices. chakari and isn’t enough to A team of three professional staff design and monitor programmes arrest but also contact the supreme This directly leads us into the their soporific tendencies. Much of patronage. succeed. Others and various organizational policies across the country. We are commander under house arrest must fail.” looking for a fourth team member with rich proven hands-on core flaw in Nepali espionage: for instructions. Back then, experience and clearly demonstrated leadership qualities. The panchas thought all those one’s ambition and upward mobility, (Rajendra Khadka is a Major responsibilities: top comrades in jail were senior China aid freelance facilitator in ○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ especially in His Q Provide a proactive backstopping role for social, economic functionaries in the Marxist- Majesty’s Government Kathmandu.) and technical activities in the sectors of Rural Infrastructure; Leninist hierarchy and tried to China has announced it is giving Rs 780 million for three projects in Nepal—the 18 km Green Sector; Skill’s Training and Business Promotion. Rasuwa-Syabrubesi road to the Tibetan border, a hospital for government employees,service, was and linked a to know this is not necessarily a popular position in Kathmandu, where many instigate them against the Kangresis. polytechnic institute in Banepa. one’s family background people view Melamchi as the solution to all their water problems. We Q Facilitate practical learning/complementary linkages within Days after the fall of the partyless and between own progammes, and with other actors. and/or connections, believe that important options have not been explored to utilise the edifice, Madan Bhandari surfaced in a water resources available within the valley. First order of business is to Q Take responsibility to the continuing development and fix the distribution system, and start charging prices to reflect the management of a Learning Through Monitoring System four-column New Delhi-datelined interview in The Times of India. He scarcity of water. Only then, one can find out how serious the alleged (LTM). water shortage is. was followed by a bevy of little-known Q Act as watchdog and support person for qualitative vectors It may turn out that a shortage does not exist, at least for many years. names that would go on to adorn his across all programmes. Besides, without fixing the distribution system, Melamchi water will have and will have a hard time coming up with the “counterpart funds” for many Q Continue to improve and manage support modalities for central committee roster. no place to go but into the Bagmati River. Now you may ask why the donor-assisted projects, I also think the projected levels of aid inflows may civil society, private sector and government partners. To be sure, the challenges have World Bank is reluctant to fund rehabilitation of the system. You need “Dissolvingbe toolocal high. This leads us to thecouncils perennial concern of an unrealistic is a serious setback…” Q Work with the programme team in developing new con- only to look at the history of the four projects we did try to support over grown enormously since the days development budget. As in the past, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) may the last two decades to realise that it was money down the Bagmati. The cepts and programmes for the organization. have to impose the real budget constraint by limiting the “release” of when rookie special agents spent question that begs to be asked before spending about 10 percent of GDP Q Provide other forms of conceptual and managerial support, budget, thereby making the budget figures fairly meaningless. Are we back hours pretending they were playing on this project, which benefits arguably the richest 5 percent of the as required. to business as usual? Not quite. HMG has come up with a sensible and population, is about its necessity and priority relative to the vast needs of cards in front of the homes of leading important innovation. This budget specifies a small number of priority the poor who live outside the valley. Some have argued that higher water Qualification and Experience: pro-multiparty leaders. Gone are the projects (“P1” projects), which amount to only about Rs 17 billion. This charges will pay for Melamchi and hence this project does not affect Q Good common sense, good judgement and an ability to days when sniffing out Kangresi should give MOF a tool to allocate limited money on important develop- HMG’s ability to implement more poverty focused projects. I question think logically. ment projects on a priority basis. bombs from bales of vegetables was that assertion. This project costs over $400 (Rs 31,000 ) per valley Q Willing and able to work long hours, independently and Are you satisfied with the numbers, quality of projects and considered the most hazardous beat. resident. Do you really think people are ready for that kind of invest- productively. An NID team travelled to the prioritisation in the budget? ment? Also, in 2002-03 budget, inclusion of Melamchi as P1 did Q Flexibility to take on new responsibilities when required, I think the list of 100 P1 projects is good. One can argue about whetherdisplace Rs 1.8 billion worth of other priority projects. and openness to help other colleagues at all times. United States last month to learn certain projects should be really P1, but my sense is by and large this is a How are donors reacting to the governmentís decision not to extend Q better ways of anticipating terrorist credible list. I understand that some donors are unhappy that “their” Ability to liaise, and support partners and Helvetas projects, the terms of local councils? in a mature and highly professional manner. attacks. An ambitious endeavour, you projects are relegated to P2 or P3. There is also speculation that some ministries deliberately put some donor-assisted project in P2 or IP3 think lists donors are deeply concerned. DDCs and VDCs are meant to Q At least 5 years experience in a similar position, and at might say, considering how American and their favorite projects in the P1 list, figuring that donors wouldrepresent put the interest of the people through local electoral processes. least 3 years full time work directly in the village. agents failed to figure out why flight- pressure on government to fund their P2/P3 projects anyway. Many donors have supported DDCs and VDCs precisely because they believed that such processes are likely to make them more accountable Q Good negotiating skills and smart strategic thinking. school trainees from a particular part Well, this is a learning process. Ministries may make mistakes. They Q A Master’s degree would be an appropriate qualification for to the people. Although the process of decentralisation is far from of the planet were so listless about may play games. But the best response by donors is to respect HMG the post. complete or satisfactory, there is evidence it has been changing the take-off and landing procedures. But decisions. Even if HMG makes some mistakes, unless donors respectgovernance its dynamics locally. The latest development is a serious Q Excellent knowledge of English and Nepali, both written and there’s the first lesson: never forget priorities, HMG will never become accountable for its own decisions.setback in this process. spoken. from p1 to connect the dots even when it Generally, the World Bank seems to have become very selective about Q How has DTTís no show delayed the financial sector reform program? Excellent knowledge of computer application, or willingness the projects you fund. to learn. seems they’re not there. There’s a What other expectations do you have for budgetary support? We are exploring with HMG alternative ways to address the problems of reason why intelligence, in the We are looking for evidence that HMG is substantially improvingI am its gladability that you have noticed how selective we have become.RBB We want(Rastriya Banijya Bank). The introduction of an external manage- Candidate Profile: to deliver public services and is implementing some key reformsto to fund which broadly it two types of projects. First, projects where, thingsment are team at NBL (Nepal Bank Limited) is in itself a very important step lexicon of espionage, is both a happening in the way of reform. Second, we want to fund community- Q In order to balance the current team, we will be giving had committed. I think there are three sets of actions we look for. First, the in reforming the ailing commercial banking sector. So, DTT (Deloitte, quality and a commodity. based projects on the belief that empowered communities will make things preference to women (especially) and men from less vigorous implementation of the Immediate Action Plan, including the Touche Tomahatsu) or not, we will be prepared to support HMG. transfer of the first batch of at least 100 public primary schools happen.to full We hope to be able to fund three or so new projects: a financial represented ethnic groups. community management and putting a certain number of sub-healthsector postsreform project; to support the reform of RBB and NBL; and a rural Interested candidates should send their C.V., two references and under community oversight. The Plan also includes important waterfunding project, which promotes community-based water schemes and a power project, to support reform of NEA, creation of a system to bring a passport size photograph to Helvetas. Only short listed rules for development expenditures whereby the release of budget for P1 is tied to performance indicators and P2 and P3 projects will get fundingprivate poweronly generators on a competitive basis, and community-based candidates will be called for interview. Telephone enquiries will after funding of P1 projects are assured. Second is bringing RBBmicro (and hydro NBL) schemes. If conditions are right, then a budget support not be entertained. under external management teams. This has been the key “trigger”operation. for raising the overall lending level by the World Bank. Without HMGWhat following about Melamchi? Why arenít you involved? through on its commitment in this area, it will be difficult to considerWell, those are exactly the questions we have been asking ourselves. I P.O.Box 688 budget support. Third, strong and concrete actions to demonstrate HMG is Kathmandu truly committed to fighting corruption. With elections coming, there is a heightened concern about abuse of public resources. What about projections on revenues, foreign aid and loans? It’s never been easier to subscribeNepali to Times. I think the projections are still on the optimistic side. In 2001-02, revenues Just dial this number and leave your address. grew a meager 3 percent, because of a sharp economic slowdown. The new

budget projects revenue growth of 13 percent, which implicitly assumes a

fairly healthy economic turnaround. I hope that will happen, but I do not think it is wise to assume that. Since HMG will be short of cash in 2002-03

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Inclusive of Kathmandu-Shanghai roundtrip airfare seven nights eight days full board in three star GREAT WALL TOUR OF CHINA hotels. Tour of Shanghai, Beijing For Nepali tourists Rs. 60,000 only and other places with English speaking guide. and protecting the walls of the is quite a juxtaposition with the stucco Darbar from the insidious dampness

and vaguely baroque décor of the rest SOPHIA PANDE For details contact Mr Shree Prasai at: that would otherwise have wreaked of the room. Natraj Tours & Travels havoc on the walls, which are works There’s something about this Kamaladi, Kathmandu of art themselves. décor that positively encourages Tel: 222532, 222906 The history of Lal Darbar is like a fairy tale with legends, rumours of gold, and resident ghosts. project took as their inspiration the The Yak & Yeti Hotel has annexed slightly over-the-top behaviour. Of Fax: 227372 SOPHIA PANDE the famous 300 Club. The Yak & Yeti The Dynasty Room is still more Email: [email protected] original façade of the Lal Darbar, and restaurant was where the most the palace to the modern part of the course, there’s no telling what things rebuilt it to complement the new hotel by means of a clever passageway dizzyingly beautiful. The chandeliers nce upon a time there important people in Nepal, as well these walls and mirrors have seen, anddoesn’t think too highly of their functions of the rooms, in addition to as members of the royal family dinedthat houses exotic, intricately-worked are even more lavish, the ceilings are these wedding-cake light fixtures have was a Maharaja. His adding an extra wing to both sides and jewellery and textiles to tempt alive with patterns in gold and other baroque ornateness. As Pashupati name was Bir Sumshere, on borsht and other exotic Boris illuminated, but it seems that the Sumshere JB Rana says in his book restoring the interiors of Bir concoctions. susceptible tourists, and connects the colours, and there are mirrors all ghosts of indiscretions past have not and he had three palaces. Sumshere’s beloved residence. lobby with the atrium that is in turn around, each crowned with the Kathmandu: A Living Heritage, Maila Budhathoki, a waiter who yet been laid to rest. The people who The marble for his palace was The Dynasty Room, Bir connected to the Lal Darbar complex picture of a wife or mistress. Quite a “Whether they conform to one’s brought from Italy, the mirrors from has worked at The Yak & Yeti since work in the Regency and Dynasty Sumshere’s private bedroom back in that now houses the Casino and the treat for the eyes, though you might rooms swear that the very heavy doorsparticular taste or not, the Rana Belgium, and the crystal for his its humble restaurant beginnings, and come away feeling a little disoriented. palaces are a part of our cultural chandeliers from Murano. One of the day, is lavish to the extreme. The something of a trend after Jung who joined Boris at the Royal Hotel, beautiful lush pink marble was Bahadur went on his famous trip to The Naachghar is a well-equipped heritage.” Ignoring or destroying these palaces was called Lal Darbar says that his boss would put a dash of reminders of history are not a way of because of its red façade, the others shipped all the way from Italy to England and France in 1850, where he alcohol in everything he cooked and modern theatre with a raised stage Calcutta and transported from the met Queen Victoria, cried copious and lots of very interesting lighting dealing with it. were Seto Darbar (The White that he made his own peach and plum The Yak & Yeti hotel has found Palace) and Phora Darbar (The port all the way to Kathmandu by tears at the opera, and developed a wine. Boris had a knack of flamboy- devices. In Bir Sumshere’s day the Palace of the Fountains). Lal Darbar armies of porters. And it doesn’t just taste for high living. Suddenly there antly carrying on the extravagant room was a little more primitive. The a perfect way to live with its physical stop at Italian marble—Bir Sumshere full of gold bullion, one other with surroundings. They have restored was built in 1890, the days when cars was a spate of palaces all built in the silver and the third with jewellery. traditions of the Ranas (and the didn’t carry men in Kathmandu, but also had a hankering for Belgian neo-classical style, most with well- Romanovs?), and he added his own their building to its former glory and mirrors, which are in evidence still, proportioned columns ornamenting The palace also housed an aviary, men carried cars, through the hills stables, cowsheds, numerous rooms touch to what he deemed the surrounding the Valley. and all of the chandeliers are from the elegant white stucco façades “Kathmandu Baroque” of the old Murano. Walk into Bir Sumshere’s housing the maharajas, their wives, and dressing rooms for the various Lal Darbar remains a prime men and women living there, a Rana Darbars. The present chandeliers bedroom and you see what an extrememistresses and numerous progeny. in the Naachghar restaurant were example of the decadence of that era, concentration of riches and indulgent although it presently exists as bits and Lal Darbar, probably the best naachghaar (theatre) and a separate brought from Belgium and installed tastes can do: this is where the example of this kind of thing, is luxurious garden for the wives and by Boris, and the magnificently pieces of the Yak & Yeti Hotel. The nation’s money went, all of it. That remains of the palace now enclose a surrounded by its fair share of tall concubines to saunter in. A pity carved Nepali windows in the said, the combination of marble, stories and anecdotes. It is said that that the mongrel phrase Chimney restaurant are also a part casino on the lower level, the crystal and glass is sheer brilliance, and high Regency Room on the second floor Bir Sumshere built the palace for his sancho hadn’t been invented by of Boris’s legacy. makes the rooms glow with a kind of favourite son Indu Sumshere, the and the Dynasty Room on the third, grandeur that we will probably never then. It would have described the And thus were sown the seeds of top floor. The engineers and offspring of his oldest legal wife. When style of living perfectly. what is now the Yak & Yeti Hotel. see attempted in our lifetime. it was built, Indu Sumshere is believed architects working on the restoration Building somewhat over the top, The Lal Darbar’s fascinating Eventually Boris would withdraw from to have got more than just a palace— cooking at the restaurant, and the super-luxurious palaces became on the grounds were three wells, one history does not peter out with the end of the Rana regime. The palace hotel would continue towards it lay derelict and unused till 1970, and growth as a five-star property. The Regency and Dynasty rooms. The have this curious propensity for it was only with the birth of the hotel acquired the remainder of the atrium itself is gracefula structure swinging shut, all by themselves, as the restaurant called the Yak & Yeti, Lal Darbar in the early 1970s, but didadorned with portraits of the various last man of the cleaning crew leaves which was housed in what is presentlynot start renovations on it until 1994. after a function that has taken place called the Naachghar, that the Today, the Yak & Yeti uses the there. The Naachghar has its own eccentricity and decadence came full Lal Darbar as a conference room and ghosts. Either that or the crystal banquet hall. The thorough restora-

circle. The restaurant was founded by floor was mud, and there was a chandeliers vibrate of their own SOPHIA PANDE a Russian émigré called Boris tion is a remarkable job, and remains shallow rectangular pool in the middleaccord. The Naachghaar staff tell us Lissanevitch who has generated as faithful to the original details and where Bir Sumshere could take a dip that even when everything else is still, are using it in a modern context—as many rumours and myths as some of make up. The restorers who work for to cool himself down during the and there is nobody in the room abovea casino, banquet hall and to the more infamous and oddball Rana the hotel report that the rooms summer as he watched the entertain- the restaurant, the magnificent promote tourism. Projects like this, rulers. They say he was a ballet themselves were in surprisingly good ment. In the evenings he would sit at chandeliers shake, making tinkling Babar Mahal Revisited, and the dancer, a cook, a soldier who ran condition and only needed a few one end while the entertainers stood sounds. Keshar Mahal Garden ( “Garden of away from the Russian army, and that careful touches of paint in order to be across the room performing their It’s a shame that such graceful dreams”, #43), are good markers for he had been recruited by King brought back to their original various dance and song routines. It is architecture, through no fault of its the future of Kathmandu’s aesthetic Tribhuvan himself who brought him splendour. The chief engineer at the Shree Tiin Maharajas. easy to imagine Bir Sumshere turning own, comes to be associated with the and commercial life. from Calcutta where he had founded Yak & Yeti, Devasis Basu, credits the The elevators that take unsuspect-in his grave when one hears that todayexcesses of the Rana rule and a time of original architects of the Lal Darbar ing visitors up to the Regency and the Naachghar hosts day time discos oppression. Actually, these buildings with making the job of restoring the Dynasty rooms are wonderful glassed-inand other such activities. People who are worthy of preservation even if one rooms much easier,“The foundation showpieces. As they ascend you get awork at the Naachghaar swear that of the Darbar goes incrediblydeep view of the atrium, but when the they have moments when Bir into the ground” he says. Some say doors open on the first floor there areSumshere glowers down at them from that it was meant to be as deep as the more treasures. The Regency Roomhis portrait. One also wonders what Darbar was high. Whether this is is impressive, with ceilings he would think about the distinctly actually true ornot, the foundation ornamented with gilt paint and odd ceiling mural – a circle depicting does indeed run very deep, as 15 ft, chandeliers that turn the ceiling intoall the different signs of the zodiac. It providing the Darbar with an a garden of light. Step out of the incredibly strong base. In addition, room and into a marble grove—this Available at all there is a series of vents running is the infamous Italian marble, and it through the foundation aerating it is possible to just stand there, rooted to the spot. It almost makes you leading pharmacies condone the extravagance that brought it to Kathmandu.

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101010 WORLD 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES ASIA 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 111111 COMMENT by SOLI OZEL The right to say ‘I do’ A proposed Thailand stays in the game ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ security and OTTAWA - Rights activists celebrated last Friday as a panel of senior BANGKOK - Thai trade officials are cautiously optimistic about the EU judges unanimously ordered the government of Ontario, the country’s emergency Historical presentMainichi decision last week to reform Europe’s hefty farm subsidies, saying Thai most populous province, to register gay and lesbian marriages. It was Modern, Muslim Turkey newspaper has said that the two farmers stand to gain from the move. They are especially relieved by the first such decision in Canada and is expected to set a precedent bill in Japan information bills “weaken the the EU proposal after worrying in the wake of the passage of the US throughout the country. The panel of the Ontario Superior Court, Farm Act in mid-May. While the EU’s announcement aims to cut by 21 ecently, Turkey assumed from brings back media’s watchdog authority”. But percent its current $39.45 billion a year in farm subsidies, the new US which has jurisdiction over 10 million people, said prohibiting gay the bills are arousing more deep- couples from marrying violates the Canadian constitution’s Charter Britainof command of the law would give $180 billion in subsidies to American farmers over the Rights and Freedoms. While the court does not have jurisdiction International Security Assist- unpleasant seated fears. Hiroko Mizuhara, next 10 years. “If the EU reduces R subsidies to farmers, it would boost the beyond Ontario, the unanimous ruling will likely be taken intoance Force in Afghanistan. Typically, spokeswoman for the Japanese account in similar actions across the country. Canada already memories. Consumers’ Union, which is export prices of agriculture products hardly anyone noticed. Turkey’s from Thailand to the EU market,” recognises some rights to same-sex benefits, but not gay and lesbian leading a movement against the marriages. The court has given the federal government, which troubles—behas they financial crises or Suvarn Valaisathien, deputy commerce the current illness of Prime Minister bills, says: “I was ten and remember minister, said in the English-language jurisdiction over family law and the definition of marriage, two years the hardship (during military rule to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. Judge HeatherBulent Smith Ecevit—grab headlines. Its dailyThe Nation Friday. acknowledged that parliament needs time to redefine “marriage”successes in and contributions, when during the World War II) vividly. Thailand has of late been express- applicable legislation. reported, get buried in the back pages No Japanese wants their country to ing concern, especially about the EU of the world’s newspapers. descend into that tumultuous retaining its Common Agriculture period ever again.” Policy (CAP). “There is no economic But in the world forged by the Despite the Peace Constitution, justification for CAP. It is part of the (IPS) terrorist attacks on America last ‘Fortress Europe’ policy of unfair changes have come to the SDF in protectionism that co-exists with EU September, the identity, and the pollution, says that the emergency bill choices and alliances that Turkey made the last few years. For instance, it demands that the developing countries Zero tolerance? Not quite reminds him of the past fascist Japan has been allowed to participate in lower barriers in their manufacturing ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ in its historical quest to become whose military government forced peacekeeping activities overseas. In and services sectors,” argued an CANBERRA - Frantic attempts by the New Zealand governmentmodern, to have acquired greater violence. The government’s emphasis Guard shooting of a suspected North citizens to support the Tokyo war editorial inThe Nation last week. The significance than ever before. Turkey’s Korean spy ship in the East China Sea. Pearl Harbor 2000, Japan and the US signed a defuse a politically damaging crisis over the import of genetically on Turkey’s secular state and Islamic machine. He adds that any attack by a new security pact that expanded CAP allows European farmers gain from modified (GM) corn seed have unravelled, with the conservativeleadership of the peacekeeping forces Turkey, which lies in both Europe and Asia,tradition might resonates be deeply,the andmediator there SUVENDRINI KAKUCHI By April, the government had selling their products at prices that do opposition party backing calls for an inquiry into the affair. In the foreign power on Japan can be dealt SDF support for the US military. in Afghanistan, something hugely Iraq. But at the end of the day, few is a strong feeling that Turkey can in TOKYO submitted an outline of a set of three not reflect the true cost, and European-subsidised produce in the world bookSeeds of Distrust by New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky between Islam and the west. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ with by the SDF as it is now. Keizo In October, Japan enacted an anti- popular among Turks, highlights once Turks doubt that if the US decides to mediate between the west and the bills designed to allow the SDF to cope market drives down prices. Similar trends would arise from the US Farm Nabeshima, who writes on defence for terrorism bill that allowed the SDF Act, a move that many developing countries are livid about. Hager, he cites government documents showing that in Novembermore the fact that Turkey is the only send ground forces into Iraq, Turkey Islamic world. Islamist parties, their apan’s ruling coalition govern- with an external military attack. 2000, a 5.6 tonne consignment of sweet corn seeds imported by Kyodo News Agency, points out that to assist the US military in the war Muslim member of NATO. Turkey’s wing secular opposition to US policy will provide the launching pad, and political fortunes reviving as secular ment is determined to push The proposed laws would be the Rice is the mainstay of Thailand’s agriculture sector.The country is Novartis from the United States was contaminated with GE seeds. (In through parliament a set of bills Japan already has the third highest against terrorism. the world’s leading rice exporter and shipped some 6.5 million tonnes mid-November 2000, Novartis merged with AstraZeneca to becomestraddling of Islam and the west makeskept the debate from focusing solely may even participate. parties suffer yet another crisis of J first time post-war Japan has attempted defence budget in the world following the country’s domestic and interna- on Islam. At the same time, Turkey aimed at expanding the country’s Katsuhiro Shigemoto, head of last year. Over 3.5 million in this country of 63 million people are rice Sygenta.) New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark initially favoured Elsewhere in the Middle East, public confidence, have been careful to lay the framework for how the nationthe United States and Russia—an farmers. the removal of the plants and the non-use of the remaining seed in hosted a two-day “dialogue of military powers, but opposition the 1,300-strong Foundation for tional politics intriguing. Many Turks Turkey’s generally positive relations not to exploit popular resentments should defend itself during a security annual $43 billion dollars. the shipment. But before they could be destroyed, a major lobbyingview their country’s development as a civilisations” last February between the that may have developed since 11 parties and activist groups are as set to Global Peace and Environment, says campaign led by the public relations lobbyist for Novartis persuaded with Israel have come under strain as a crisis. Critics say that the proposed The public uproar has also been compelling rejoinder to any idea of an Organization of the Islamic Confer- September. Tayip Erdogan, the leader thwart the move. Four opposition of the draft emergency law: “It is the government to backtrack on its earlier plan, Hager says. result of Israel’s “Operation Defensive laws encourage Japan to get entangled over the accompanying bills that also inevitable “clash of civilisations” ence and the European Union. of one Islamist party, argued that parties are already boycotting time for Japan to stop following the Stunned by these revelations just two weeks away from the 27 July Shield”. In the face of public anger with US military operations in Asia, a demand full cooperation from citizens between Islam and the west. Participants from both sides found attacks on innocent civilians could deliberations on the bills, which clear shift from concerns of mere United States and make clear its role election, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has denied there with Israel, Turkey’s military to ensure the smooth working of the The logic of Turkish support for common cause expressing their doubtscontinued building its security never be justified in religious terms. would give the country’s Self-Defence defence of the country as enshrined in to promote peace,” he says. was any cover-up or that GM contaminated crops were illegally Forces (SDF) sweeping powers to deal SDF in a “security crisis”. The bills Nabeshima, for his part, says that (IPS) allowed to be grown, harvested and used in food products for domes-America’s war against terrorism was about American policies. relationship with the Jewish state, and Of course, the Islamists are kept the country’s Peace Constitution after with emergency situations during a mean that once the government the proposed laws must be carefully tic and export markets. A spokesman for the Minister for Environmentquick to appear. In the terrorist attacks Turkey remains concerned that recently awarded Israel a lucrative tank under careful watch by the military, the Second World War. Debate has Marian Hobbs, told IPS that the government had a ‘zero tolerance’ Iraq may be America’s next target. Iraq foreign military attack. Observers like declares an emergency, citizens can be reviewed against the recent changes against the US, many Turks found modernisation contract. which has repeatedly intervened in also zeroed in on a clause in the ordered to evacuate their homes Bureaucrat power policy on GM contamination and that while the tests revealed ‘low’vindication of their decades-long effort is the single issue on which American media commentator Koichi Ishiyama emergency bill that says authorises the involving the SDF, that legislators ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ levels of contamination, there were legal considerations that it could A May public opinion poll found Turkish politics to defend Turkey’s without being provided information as to draw the world’s attention—and in and Turkish interests diverge sharply. predict that the bills will probably be premier in an emergency situation to should talk to and involve neigh- NEW DELHI - Ten days after the power supply in India’s capital was not be proven to be GM contamination. “What it comes down to is nearly two-thirds of the public secular political identity. But the shelved considering the widening to why this is being done. Privately bours like South Korea and South- particular European attention—to the Neither the Turkish military nor the Islamist parties also recognise the override any local government’s or handed over to private companies to tackle the serious problem of that officials could not stand up in court and say ‘we have evidence opposed Turkey’s stance on the public unease over them. owned land can be confiscated for SDF east Asian countries, to assure them theft, it is apparent this attempt at privatisation will be very hard. that this seed is contaminated therefore it must be destroyed’.”scourge of terror. By supporting Turkish government nor public Israeli-Palestinian fighting. But this is strength of popular support for public organisation’s opposition to The proposed laws consist of the activities in the name of protecting of Japan’s benign intentions. These were 10 trying days and nights for Delhi’s 13 million residents. America’s operation in Afghanistan opinion supports an American mitigated at times by public revulsion Turkey as a modern country, poised mobilise the SDF to ensure public Many of them are beginning to walk around like zombies for lack of campaign against Iraq. The best the main emergency bill, and the so-called citizens. The government can also Remarks Nabeshima: “Given and at the same time speaking out over suicide bombing attacks in Israel. to represent Islam’s modern face in safety. It also calls for fines or jail time order a media clampdown and sleep in July’s sweltering, heat-wave conditions unrelieved by the whirr against efforts to vilify Islam, the Turks could get from Vice President support bills on information for those refusing to support the SDF. Japan’s historical militarism, it is of fans. A further element that caught the today’s world. withhold information from journalists. better the government expand the government managed to reconcile Dick Cheney, during his visit last disclosure and freedom of informa- Tamotsu Suzuki, the 77-year-old Even employees of the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), the government (IPS) public’s eye was the lethal assault in emergency security law to a Turkey’s strategic interests and its March, was a tepid assurance that no tion. In February, Koizumi had urged utility privatised early this month, are saying that there is a serious Hebron against an international head of a group of people that is suing comprehensive system to include religious sensitivities. American military attack was observer team that included two the Diet to adopt the bills not only in the US Atsugi Air Base for noise move on to scuttle the privatisation plan. “Many of us simply can’t do other Asian countries.” without the illegal incomes to be made by looking the other way as Endless talk show debates on imminent. Turkish officers. The Turkish military the wake of the 11 September attacks, AIDS vaccine? but security concerns such as the people steal electricity,” an employee told IPS. Some $300 million ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Turkish television demonstrated that Officially, Turkey is concerned believes that the attack, which killed December 2001 Japanese Coast worth of the electricity—over 50 percent of the capital’s supply—is BARCELONA - An experimental “therapeutic” vaccine against thereAIDS, was plenty of reflective thinking that Saddam Hussein’s fall could Major Cengiz Toytunc, was carried siphoned away to industries and upmarket colonies, in theft facilitated produced and tested with some success in Spain, was presentedtaking last place. To the extent that some result in the irreparable fracturing of out by Palestinians. Most of Turkey’s by corrupt officials and politicians. week at the th14 International AIDS Conference in this northeasternIslamists did not reject outright the Iraqi state. Below the surface lurk public objects to drawing links (Project Syndicate) (IPS) But Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and the state’s Power Spanish city. The head of the immunology service at the Gregorioviolence against civilians, they seem to longstanding Turkish anxieties about between Islam and mindless terrorist Minister Ajay Maken swear that there is no going back on privatisation Kurdish nationalism, and how this because power reforms were an election promise made to users who Marañón Hospital in Madrid, Eduardo Fernández Cruz, reportedhave the lost public support, and left- (Soli Ozel, professor of positive results obtained so far in Phase II of clinical tests involving might threaten Turkish unity from COMMENT by IAN URBINA pay for their electricity. The government is also working towards “anti- international relations at Istanbul 243 patients in 13 hospitals in Spain over three years. The Remune across the borders of a newly-shattered theft” legislation as demanded by the Tata Power Company and the vaccine developed by the US-based Immune Response Corporation Bilgi University, edits the Turkish- Bombay State Electricity Services (BSES), the two companies that would be especially useful in the developing world, as it would be less language edition of Foreign have taken over electricity supply from the DVB. costly than existing antiretroviral drugs, and would be easier to Policy.) Meanwhile, there are signs that unless the power companies do administer, while it checked the advance of HIV, the AIDS virus, the something drastic about ensuring steady power supplies, riots could researcher told participants in the conference. Fernández Cruz Re-occupying Palestinebreak out. Recently police had to intervene recently to save officials of explained that Remune was the first “therapeutic” vaccine—in other COMMENT by MARK SOMMER the former DVB from being beaten up by consumers angry because words, a treatment option designed to boost the immune systems of they were not attending to their phones. people already infected with HIV, in combination with antiretroviral JERUSALEM - The Israeli military raid on 9 July of Al-Quds University and drugs. the closure of the offices of the president, Sari Nusseibeh, is an extreme measureThere are no plans for peace, only and yet another worrisome indication of the scope and direction of the currentviolent coercion and isolation. (IPS) Israeli military operation. Nusseibeh is one of the most outspoken moderates No final solutions among prominent Palestinians, criticising suicide bombings and asking his (IPS) BERKELEY- In their frustration with the maddening inconclusiveness of the people to give up their long-standing demand for the right of all Palestinian Britain gets charitable conflicts that bedevil their nations, politicians from Washington to Jerusalem,Millions of corpses later we still can’t refugees to return to their original homes in Israel. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ New Delhi to Karachi, Paris to Amsterdam are being inexorably driven by forcessee that there is no ‘end’ to history. With tank-enforced blockades on seven of the eight major West Bank urban LONDON - The British government has decided to increase its aid centres, Israel has reoccupied more Palestinian cities than in the prior military budget to 0.4 per cent of its GNP from 0.32 per cent. Chancellorboth of within and beyond their control to demand final solutions. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ the Exchequer (finance minister) Gordon Brown announced the raiseIndia’s Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee calls for “decisive victory” in his campaign, placing 700,000 citizens under house arrest, essentially turning the in London Monday. It means that aid to combat global povertycountry’s will be half-century argument with Pakistan. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel territories into massive open-air prisons. Nevertheless, “Operation Determined hiked over the next four years to $7.7 billion a year from the current thought and imagination as effectively as any other orthodoxy. One can Path”, which began on 18 June, is portrayed as a kinder, gentler action than its $5.2 billion a year. The announcement was welcomed by NGOsSharon in seeks total destruction of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. indeed be brown, black or yellow and still play the game, but one must Radical Islamists call for jihads to cleanse the planet of infidels. Even social predecessor, “Operation Defensive Shield”. Britain, but they said the aid budget is still short of the 0.7 per cent of unfailingly embrace the privatisation of the planet. Unlike the reoccupation in April, this time the Israeli army is here to stay. GNP recommended by the UN. George Gelber, head of publicdemocratic policy Western Europe finds its progress towards a multicultural society The challenge of these distressingly uncertain times is to resist final solutions. with the aid group CAFOD said, “It is particularly significant thatsuddenly the disrupted by disaffected “losers” who fear being further marginalised by Sharon is well on the way to obliterating the eight years of Palestinian self-rule UK increases its aid budget when other rich countries such as Not in deference to the hopelessly compromised politics of the “vile centre”— under the Oslo peace accord. Settlement construction continues apace, with over enterprising immigrants. Most influential of all, President Bush sets the tone whose abandonment of principle only breeds cynicism and a desperate search for Denmark and Ireland are cutting theirs.” with an apocalyptic politics that demands an irrevocable 35 new settlements built in the last seven months. Sharon’s government has The $2.5 billion increase means that the British governmentchoice will between US and Them. The terms and contexts absolute answers—but by embracing a truth that includes resumed its policy of political assassinations, sanctioned a massive military his being thoroughly corrupt, but also his being overly compliant. In all have substantial new resources to support a wide range of aid projects.vary, but the aim and obsession are alike. Out of a world both self and other, us and them, in a restless, imperfect onslaught in Gaza, approved in principle the deportation of families of Palestinianprobability, a newly-elected leadership would be from the resistance, not one that NGOs are demanding careful planning of where the additionalof disconcerting change and blurring boundaries emerges but indissoluble union. Like it or not, we are bound suicide bombers, and begun construction of a “security fence” that effectively intends to squelch it. money is spent, and a renewed focus on front-line services like health together in a common fate. Final solutions are not annexes parts of the West Bank to Israel and reinforces the ongoing closure of the For many Palestinians in the camps and elsewhere, widespread demorali- and education. BOND, a network of some 260 British NGOs in an irrational yearning for certainty and finality. possible, but fundamental reframings of the relationship Occupied Territories that is crippling the Palestinian economy. sation seems to have given way to a self-imposed discipline and tacit international development, welcomed the increase. But said CliffWe should know better. The most massive and are essential. And out of them may emerge final settle- Allum, BOND chair, “Following recent attempts to link aid to othermonstrous social experiments of the 20 The current reoccupation has been far easier than previous efforts. Most resignation toward the reoccupation. Outraged indignation had spread across political agendas, it’s imperative that any additional aid resources ments balanced and flexible enough to withstand the fighters from Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades are either dead, on theRamallah to greet the April arrival of Israeli troops, but now Ramallah th century, fascism not be siphoned off and spent on foreign policy, security or anti- buffeting of history. run, or among the 1,700 Palestinians who were rounded up during the last residents were quick to show off their stocked pantries, bragging of the immigration policies.” and communism, were based on the pernicious premise The difference between final solutions and final campaign. The Israeli forces have avoided dramatic standoffs like those at the preparations they had made ahead of time. that there was an end to history, a final solution to chronic settlements is fundamental. Any final solution based on Church of the Nativity and Arafat’s compound. The first thing the Israeli forces The lingering question for many Palestinian and Israeli anti-occupation social conflicts. And this wasn’t always dictated by the annihilation of the other or denial of legitimate needs did when they entered Bethlehem this time, even before they dispersed troopsorganisations is whether Sharon’s so-called Determined Path actually has an exit historical inevitability but by the personal delusions of a will fail, and curse both parties for generations. But a final throughout the city, was to seal off the Holy Quarters. While clamping downto it. There is a hint of an answer in Gilo, a massive settlement on the southwest (IPS) power-driven individual or cabal that brooked no dissent. settlement based on meeting the core interests of each party on journalists, the military also turned away at the airport hundreds of side of Jerusalem. At the rim of a line of spectacular new houses, a crew of Tens of millions of corpses later, we emerged from the and achieving an equitable balance between their sacrifices internationals who have arrived over the last two weeks, coordinated by thelabourers are working tirelessly to extend a several hundred metre-long barricade. rubble of their false promises to realise that any such final and benefits rewards both and all. So it was that Hitler’s International Solidarity Movement, which aims to obstruct and publicise Builtthe of the same type of ten-foot-high concrete slabs that made up the Berlin statement on history is bound to do catastrophic violence Final Solution brought ruin to his nation and the world ongoing offensives. Wall, the barrier provides security for the settlers by physically separating them to the innate disorder of human evolution. while the enlightened self-interest of the postwar Marshall Among Palestinians throughout the West Bank, the prevailing reaction to thefrom the neighbouring community metres away. If extended much further, the So it is all the more ominous that in a moment of Plan produced a durable peace between a democratised initiation of Operation Determined Path and Bush’s subsequent speech was barricade will also isolate Beit Jala from the rest of Jerusalem. The painful irony is unbearable uncertainties, politicians and certain factions Germany and its former enemies. When George Bush declares a grand reprise of demoralised shock. When the speech was broadcast, the joke among Jenin the colourful mural on the inside of the wall. With elaborately decorated houses among their own peoples are again demanding total solutions based on danger-the triumph over fascism in his self-styled terror war, he reveals an absolutist residents was that the real reason for the delay in Bush’s speech was that it firstbut few actual people, the mural depicts Beit Jala. ously partial understandings. The opening of the new millennium is marked byimpulse of his own, as the final solution he pursues is based on a fatally arrogant had to be translated from Hebrew. Few could discern the concrete ingredients of the emergence of two competing totalist ideologies—religious fundamentalismassumption of exclusive moral rectitude. We would all do well to distance the US plan for peace. Even fewer could understand why President Bush believes and corporate capitalism. In its fierce rejection of all other beliefs and cultures,ourselves from such delusions and seek instead the balanced final settlements that that free and democratic multi-party elections in the West Bank and Gaza, religious fundamentalism is more readily identifiable as a dead-end final solution,are the sole basis for an enduring peace. currently impossible within the context of the reoccupation, would under any whether it takes the form of Islamic, Christian, Jewish or Hindu zealotry. circumstances ever produce a more acquiescent Palestinian leadership. It is far (IPS) Corporate capitalism views itself as inherently tolerant, inclusive, (IPS) more likely that if Palestinians did remove Arafat, it would be a result not only of flexible, multicultural. But in a post-cold war era dominated by a sole superpower, it has become increasingly airtight, suffocating independent (Ian Urbina, associate editor of the Middle East Report, is with the (Mark Sommer, author and internationally syndicated columnist, focuses Middle East Research and Information Project, an independent on new approaches to long-standing global challenges.) think tank in Washington DC.) Lisne Lek attack when they inter- cepted a letter addressed to the around, the court’s opinion was central committee requesting that Rs sought by the then king.] The FROM THE NEPALI PRESS THIS PAGE CONTAINS MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 192.5 - 25 million JULY be released 2002 NEPALI immediately. TIMES CULTURE AND SOCIETY 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 121212 ruling upholds the powers of the 131313 The local produce in the hill prime minister under Article 53 (3) front of the strength of morals. A districts of mid-western region cannot Khoi ke bhayo of the constitution as not fully NEPALITERATURE by MANJUSHREE THAPA ENCOUNTERS by MEGH RANJANI RAI ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ bullet may be able to kill me but not sustain even the local needs, and so discretionary—at least not against could attack it to degrade my spirit. the objectives and goals I am fighting obviously limiting the supply from the Khabar Sansar the right of the MPs to seek a for. When we’re proceeding with this outside would directly affect the I thought, as a feminist, that it would be special session of parliament… Children in war moral strength, neither the sword can Maoists’ supplies. Moreover, in these easy for me to get over that incident, but the Excerpts of Girija Prasad Koirala’s kill us, nor can the pen.” districts the security forces have madness of other damaged men kept Khim GhaleKantipur in , 13 July speech, 14 July preventing me. A few months later, a familyLetter from already confiscated large stores Misogyny amidfriend who had heard of the threat began to stockpiled by the Maoists. This is drop by my apartment and, in between ... A number of children started to be affected directly by the“In conflict a constitutional monarchy we after the start of the armed insurgency. And the numbers have 39 speakers why political analysts believe that pretending to sympathise, ask me pointed grown faster after the government declared a state of emergencyuphold thatin ‘the king does not err” ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Maoist guerrillas are suffering questions about sex. A well-known septua- and we take responsibility for any Black Mesa November last year. Samacharpatra, 14 July hardships due to shortage of food, and genarian made a very unwanted pass at mistakes made. We should not expose Troubled rebels me (I was 26), and even after I told his uck Greyeyes is the medicine man of the Navajo nation at black Many children are suspected to have been killed in clashes ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ also suspect that there might be a the monarch and say the king did this; rebellion brewing in the guerrilla friends about this, they abetted him in Mesa, Arizona. In Nepal, he may have beenjhankri a . But he is between the Maoists and the security forces after the emergency There were 39 speakers at the Sanghu, 8 July ‘Intellectuals’phoning me. One of my supervisors spread at least the prime minister should stop was imposed, but the government has not commented on this. meeting chaired by Prime Minister ranks, a situation of rebellion might Hmore than a shaman, he is the soul of a people pushed to the edge. saying that. The prime minister came salacious gossip about me. A few years Although officials have admitted that some children in the Maoists Sher Bahadur Deuba in Biratnagar on have occurred due to the frustration He was my soul father, we bonded as soon as we met at a UN conference ranks may have been killed, there are no concrete numbers.to see me at my house after dissolving It is learnt that Rit Bahadur Khadka, later, a man began to stalk me, upset that I Saturday. It may be a record for a caused by a paucity of medical t was the Fourth of July reception at the had refused to meet him after a single on indigenous peoples a few years ago. He was conducting the opening According to Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), in 1996 threeparliament and declaring the mid- central committee member of meeting to have that many speakers supplies. Our sources claim that there US embassy, and women’s rights telephone conversation. There is, it seems,prayer in New York, in the cavernous General Assembly Hall where it is children were “affected” by the conflict, which grew to eightterm elections. in I asked him, ‘Sher Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) advocate Sapana Pradhan Malla was Like most Nepali from the welcome address to the final and chief of the Dolakha District has been an increase in the number of I no dearth of men who get off on makingusually heads of governments in suits and ties who get up to speak. I felt 1997, 64 in 1998, 48 in 1990, 48 in 2000, 55 in 2001 and Bahadurji,so far what have you done. I had vote of thanks. The entire program guerrillas defecting. flush with victory at the recent Supreme women regret that they are women. that kinship of spirit. He looked like us, and he prayed like us. this year, 50. said that you should keep the Jana Sarkar (“people’s government”), Court interpretation recognising rape women writers, lasted for eight hours. In order to Now, as a writer, I keep encountering I feel his sorrow now, when I get this email appeal from his people. ...Children are killed or disabled in all conflicts and as bad are the has been killed in an encounter with within marriage as a punishable offence. government running. I had told you insidious reminders not to get too uppity. A make sure that the speeches at the plainclothes Nepal Army soldiers in (See also “One small step for woman- His sadness and despair represents the sorrow of Native American peoples. long-term effects that conflicts have on the psychology of children.not to extend the emergency activists, doctors, year or so back, I was privy to a conversa- Birendra Sabhagriha were heard at Parsa. News of the death has not, kind”, #99.) This interpretation came as a Huck Greyeyes’ people are a proud nation, but a dying one. It is the They do not only affect them only at the moment, but tend toimmediately, also that we now have the tion that a few male writers were having have longer-term impacts, psychologists tell us. Koirala Niwas (Girija Prasad Koirala’s milestone in a country where demands for plight of indigenous peoples everywhere, struggle to save a way of life Terrorism and Disruptive Activities however, been confirmed by the lawyers, about an established woman writer. The home), a 200 m-long wire was women’s rights get easily derailed by (at ...During the Holleri incident (July 2001), the Maoists’ Rolpa district security forces or the Maoists. About men had had a few drinks, and they wereagainst a creeping global monoculture, a process accelerated by a corpo- (prevention and control) Act and best) Hindu paternalism and (at worst) committee had organised a brief needed to hang up a loudspeaker. two weeks ago, a Defence Ministry speaking with the alcohol-induced rate thirst for water and minerals. we should try and implement it … unapologetic misogyny. News of the rulingprofessionals, I public meeting where a child Sixty-four vehicles were reserved forrelease was released which claimed braggadocio of fallen Bahuns. One of themThey are asked to parade in we can impose the emergency if had met with sensationalistic press around 10 or 12 years old was bringing in cadres to the meeting, said, “I was at a party at which P_ went up to that does not work … how could that a few “high level” Maoist leaders coverage, mocking cartoons, snide jokes ceremonial costumes as token seen sitting down, clutching a and another 42 government vehicles know that no the woman and said, you think I don’t know Huck Greyeyes had been arrested in Parsa. Political and derision. Malla had even heard, in gestures to a cause. Across the muzzleloader. He was also you declare elections. everyone who’s bedded you, whore? He were used to ferry ministers and analysts think that the arrests and the Giving it all up passing, that some men felt so enraged world, indigenous peoples are sporting a cap with a red star. He said, “ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ matter what my literally called her a whore, and said that he looked like us, and other government officials. alleged death of Khadka in Parsa by the ruling that they wanted to shoot her. Later someone who was Budhabar, 17 July would expose her past.” displayed in colourful clothes, as if introduced to us as Comrade could be more than mere coinci- She is a clear-thinking, experienced what they wear were all-important.he prayed like us. Khoi ke bhayo, ke achievement, I too “And what did she do?” another male Gambhir told us, “The boy dence. Our sources cannot give lawyer, though, and she was confident of As if these outer trappings could save the culture. Actually, it does not might have borrowed his bhayo” [Well, I don’t know what details as to exactly when, where and The government decision to not the value of this interpretation, prompted writer asked. matter if Huck Greyeyes wears Levis. Identity means recognition of us as a brother’s cap and gun, he is by a public interest litigation case can be cut down to happened.] Later I met Chiranjibi how Khadka was killed, but we have renew the tenure of the local “She went red in the face. She couldn’tpeople, human beings and citizens with equal rights. not our soldier. We don’t have Nepal on Sen government representatives has launched by her and Meera Dhungana. (Wagle) and told him “You are well ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ confirmed that the incident took reply.” The first male writer went on to count,Here is an appeal from Huck Greyeyes in Black Mesa that I pass on child soldiers, we have a rendered 3,913 village development Then she met someone who knocked size by name- policy not to have them educated and have done much Chalphal, 14 July place after the second week of June. with relish, the men that the female writer committees, 58 municipalities and the wind out of her sails. At the reception, a had slept with, by his count. to readers: Sometime later the humanpolitics, but you converted the Similarly, Rabi Bogati, alias meeting into a General 57 district development committees very august man said to her, without calling and It was bad enough that these men wereWe wish to submit this open letter to the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe rights activists with us asked (Excerpts of an interview with Anant, the son of Maoist politburo blinking, that some men were so outraged Convention…at least you could have non-functioning. This mindless speaking so contemptuously of a womanand the US government to demand corporate accountability in light of the a girl who brought us water member Posta Bahadur Bogati, alias by the court’s ruling that they said that they Madhav Kumar Nepal) decision, motivated by the Deuba insinuation. whose literary accomplishments clearlyBush administration’s decision last week to relax air-quality rules govern- how old she was. They werecollected the signatures of those Diwakar, was killed at Kumari in should rape Malla. That was about the On Krishna Sen’s alleged murder: outshine theirs. But by conducting this ing older coal-fired power plants, the Enron scandal in Black Mesa and the given an instant response: “17present and petitioned the centre government’s political selfishness, extent of the conversation between Malla Nuwakot district on 20 June. Anant conversation in my presence, these men years”. But no one present (Congress Party), which would have“It shows now narrow-minded and has helped the Maoists come closer and the august man. But in this brief current drought disaster. held a high rank in the Nuwakot Jana were also giving me a not-so-subtle believed her, and estimated prevented this problem.” I asked insensitive to the national interest this to their long-cherished goal of exchange, the man had managed to Can’t you see we are suffering from the effects of corporate greed Sena (“people’s army”). In an message: no matter what my achievement, that she was most probably government is. A gentleman like Sen, eliminating local governance. The convey a veiled threat to her, while appear- in collusion with the US and tribal governments? “Grandfathered” 15 years old or under. him why, he said, “Well, I don’t interview given to the Internet I too can be cut down to size by means of even though a Maoist, is not the type ing to chat amicably over canapes and know what happened.” That is why people, for their part, have been name-calling. I know, from conversationscoal-fired power plants in our region constitute the largest source of Two years ago when edition of drinks. everything that has happened is still who would have taken up arms. Even deprived of their representatives. with other women writers over the years,greenhouse gases in North America. Fossil fuel emissions impact human rights organisations had people like him have been murdered. Speaking recently at Martin Chautari, said that the Maoists were unexplained. “Deuba’s undemocratic that this kind of threat prevents many global climate change. using child soldiers, party And now the Nepali Congress He was arrested and mercilessly decision is politically motivated and Malla spoke of this incident, her voice women writers from writing openly about beaten to death, and then cover-up Jana Awaj [a Maoist ringing with emotion. “I was so shaken by women’s experience and especially about Chairman Prachanda issued a statement saying that his groupshould was get out of that ‘who knows driven by self-interest. The prime party mouthpiece], a high-ranking what I had heard, I couldn’t even tell my women’s sexuality: the personal risks are against recruiting children as soldiers. what happened’ mode. The Congress efforts are made. This reflects the minister had assured that the local commitment of this government guerrilla leader Rajesh confirmed husband at first.” For a week she suffered just too great. We might be branded as Professor Kapil Shrestha, a member of the Nepal Human Rightsmust pull its forces together to governments many times that their towards respecting human rights. that 32 high-ranking guerrillas, anxiety attacks, depression and doubt. “I having ‘bad character’, or be called whores. Commissionwho has visited the insurgency-hit districts severalprotect democracy; I personally do tenure would be renewed,” CPN- And it is not ready to change, or including a very influential thought of giving up my work. I thought— Our husbands, parents, children might not want anything out of it. There is UML secretary general Madhav why not go and work abroad, instead of feel humiliated, or might stop loving or times,estimates that as much as 25 percent of the Maoist forces company commander Roshan, nothing left for me to achieve, no find out where the mistakes have Kumar Nepal said. putting up with such attitudes?” respecting us…people might overlook our could be children. It is difficult to confirm this, he says, but based on been made. Corruption is increasingwere killed during the encounter travelling with them and observing them, we can say that aboutplace 25to step down to, and so my only In the absence of representa- Malla’s talk at Martin Chautari accomplishments and see us as figures at Gam on 2 May. The Maoists percent are children. He adds, “I have seen students in schoolobjective is to protect democracy. in the same manner. of ridicule. have already confirmed the tives, the people will be deprived of prompted several women in the crowd to uniform providing security to the Maoist commanders.” Protecting democracy is about …The government has failed in come forward with their stories of humilia- Such experiences are, I believe, typical deaths of central committee fundamental facilities such as birth Besides, many more children are associated with the Maoistspreserving the future of the youth of both war and peace (talks). And the tion, sexual threats, harassment and of the experience of women in Kathmandu’s ‘intellectual’ circle: advisor Ajab Lal Yadav and registration, and recommendation as cooks, security guards, and messengers, as well as inthis the country. If there is no democ- government speaks so irresponsibly, rape—all in front of perfect strangers. I sexual threats lie just below the surface, and erupt when any alternative member in the Western for citizenship certificates and role of members of their cultural troupes. The repeated abduc-racy, our youth will age, wasted, saying that it will not talk with passports. Data from the Ministry marvelled at the opening she had created. crazed man feels the impulse to harm. I would wager that even the tions of school students [by the Maoists] and also the attraction region Yam Prasad Banjade. And, as though given permission by her, I most established women journalists, NGO workers, political and others will come and ask them Prachanda or Baburam but with Ram of Local Development shows that that the rebels have for students also testify to the presence of Bahadur Thapa (lower down in the However, the Maoist leadership thought of several incidents in my own life, activists, doctors, lawyers, and professionals in Nepal have child soldiers. to step aside (as has happened to 1,200 VDCs do not even have the incidents that have had the effect of received such threats, veiled or open, at many points in their lives. me). I believe a moment is coming Maoist hierarchy). It has not realised has kept silent about the government secretaries who carry out simple, claim that alternative politburo controlling my behaviour, making me Many of us talk about these incidents in private, but hesitate to in the history of the party where it what will happen if the Maoists day-to-day procedures at the local fearful, and instilling in me deep ambiva- bring these stories out in public, thus helping to hide just how will take a major step, I am provided a similar response.” member Khoj Bahadur Kandel and level. lence about my identity as a woman. prevalent misogyny is among Nepal’s ‘intellectuals’. alternative central committee We are directly affected because our ancestral homeland contains working to make that happen… “The Maoists used barrels to The first incident came during an Sapana Pradhan Malla broke an important barrier by talking …Even the power of the sword member Lekh Raj Bhatta have both major deposits of coal which are being extracted by Peabody Coal been killed. The Maoists have also make the people’s representative election campaign in which I was helping openly about the recent threat to her. Perhaps if the rest ofCompany us owned by Lehman Brothers. The coal from Peabody’s Black or guns or the pen cannot stand in leave their offices; some have my father run for office. I was not happy followed her lead, we could make it more difficult for damaged not reacted to the death of Eastern doing this, as it meant giving up my men to prey on the vulnerabilities of less advantaged women.Mesa mine is transported to the Mojave Power plant through a slurry region militia commander Ras already been manhandled, others pipeline owned by Enron Corporation that pumps 3.3 million gallons of The Chief’s stance have been killed. A single unwise independence to my family; but I had ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Kamal at Nepalthok in Kavre a chosen out of filial love to do so, and I was willing to face the pristine water from our sole source aquifer each day. Stop the corporate Deshantar, 14 July month ago, news of which was decision by Deuba has made the consequences, I thought. I did not realise that in politics, the waste! In a region where water is extremely scare, our only source of publicised by the security forces Maoist dream a reality. The consequences get brutal. On voting day, as the Congress party’s drinking water is being depleted and contaminated to transport coal with photographs. On the other achievements of the 1990 move- workers became more and more confident of winning, some without any permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). QUOTE OF THE WEEK On three previous decisions the Chief ment have been erased in a Congress sympathisers told me, apparently with good intent, that I Justice of the Supreme Court has hand, president of the All-Nepal And all this is happening during a drought emergency. Free Student’s Union (Revolution- moment,” says UML central should not be walking about, because their ‘Congress boys’ were “Please carry on with your good work. I am in a great hurry, I am leaving right away.” stood on the side of the people’s looking for me so that they could strip me in public. We pray you will act now to fulfil your trust responsibility to us and ary), Devendra Parajuli, has alreadycommittee member Rajendra representatives. In 1994, when Girija Prasad Pandey. I was out in an open courtyard when I heard this, surrounded demand corporate accountability by Peabody, Enron and Lehman Prasad Koirala dissolved parliament, confirmed the deaths of five Brothers who are operating in collusion with the US government. We pray —Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba during his regular monthly meeting with government Difficulties in the villages will by perfectly ordinary people, many of them of good heart, and I he [the Chief Justice] upheld with the student leaders, including you will stop looking at the $45 million in revenue you receive each year secretaries, quoted inJana Astha, 17 July. The prime minister is required to attend these meetings, compel people to move to the suddenly felt extremely unsafe. A few women around me reacted opinion that the dissolution of vice president of the Union, Advocate Sapana Pradhan Malla from them, long enough to see that water is more precious than gold and although he did not do so on 15 July. district headquarters, where they with indignation; but others turned away in fear, as though they parliament by a prime minister who Benoj Adhikari. had not heard this. I went to seek shelter at a nearby house, and not a drop should be wasted. will crowd around the Chief had resigned in order to obstruct the Instead of acknowledging the from that moment on I came to see my body as a liability: any man Our distinct identity as a people is crucially linked to the lands we District Officers, which would possibility of another government deaths of their commanders, Maoist have occupied since time immemorial. Displacement from our territories being formed was unconstitutional— leadership has been issuing releases certainly make their job more difficult. “When the people means death and the destruction of our identity, culture and way of life. even though that was a minority claiming that their opponents have Without water we cannot survive. decision. In 1995, when then UML faced “heavy casualties and defeat”. overcrowd the headquarters, with them we will start a campaign,” We believe our human rights should not be denied and should take Prime Minister Man Mohan AdhikaryPolitical analysts believe that the precedence over national sovereignty—whether it be the sovereignty dissolved parliament, the present Maoists have been denying their Pandey said. The government decision to of independent nations or the dependent sovereign status accorded to Chief Justice sided with the decision casualties for fear that acknowledg- tribal governments. of former Chief Justice Biswonath ing them might frustrate their discontinue the tenure of the local Upadhyay. That majority opinion fighters on the ground and make representatives is an attempt to fill ruled against the decision to dissolve them become defensive, or even the gap within its own political parliament, saying that it was taken surrender to the government. cadres. This will cost the govern- after a quarter of the parliamentarians We have also learnt that the ment the little sympathy the people had initiated a move to act against the Maoists are facing severe shortages of had for the prime minister and his government. Similarly, in 1997, when medicine and food in remote areas of functionaries. The prime minister’s Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa Rolpa, Rukum and Jajarkot, mostly recent move has also made his petitioned the king to dissolve due to the government-imposed limit connection with the Maoists clear parliament—after one-fourth of the on the amount of food-grain that can to the public. More, the people will MPs in parliament had petitioned to be supplied to these districts. The become victims of bureaucratic red convene a special session of the security forces learnt about this, and tape, inefficiency and House—he [the Chief] went along the fact that the Maoist guerrillas unproductivity. with the decision of then chief justice were running low on funds during the Om Bhakta Rana, which favoured the ....The tree will be ours! If not, the branch will be ours! If that doesn’t happen, the leaf will definitelypolitical representatives. [This time be ours! Divine Gorkhapatra, 15 July Collection Tel: 230369 Fax: 977-1-229622 Babarmahal Revisited 141414 CITY 19 - 25 JULY 2002NEPALI TIMES CITY 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 151515 ART REVIEW by SOPHIA PANDE ABOUT TOWN YAK YETI YAK by MIKU and how, initially, the work encapsulated only the essence of EVENTSEVENTSEVENTS the model. He then used layers of Michael Hutt speakson Bhutanese Refugees: Some Reflections on the Past and paper, and overlapped his work with different materials in order to Present. 19 July, 5.30PM, Baggikhana, Patan Dhoka. Social Science Baha and the Insti- Nepal’smake the subjectbest his own.Hijo “ art tute for Social and Environmental Transformation. 542544 samma oon thhiyo,” he saysaaja “ Presentation skills and public speakingTraining provided by UK charity ELD. 20-22 July. concentrated and intense. ma bhaen.” (“Until yesterday, the Details at [email protected], www.eld.org.uk. 524202 Shashi Shah’s works, all titledmodel was the work; today, I made “Terrorism”, are almost scary in theirit mine.”) intensity. Obviously, they have Uttam Nepali’s works display a MUSICMUSICMUSIC particular resonance in these times, similar depth of thought and but even seen out of this context Momos and musicThe Heartbreakers at Nanglo Bakery Café starting 19 July, 6.30 PM on. perception. Collectively entitled the images of horses foaming at “Feelings”, these are lovely, Fridays in Teku, Saturdays at the Nanglo Café and Pub, Darbar Marg, Sundays in the mouth and trampling on luminous, airy works of art. Baneswor. 434554 screaming, disembodied heads are Abstract and whimsical, they are enough to disconcert even the most full of elusive, intangible objects hardened. Shashi Shah has floating around and seeming to DRINKDRINKDRINK BOOKWORM dedicated his whole career to wink at you cheekily. Also abstract painting horses, and he is a master Happy Hour at the Splash Bar 5.30& Grill PM-7.30 PM, buy one get one free. Live band are Krishna Manandhar’s set of The New Lahures: Foreign Employment and Remittance Economy of David Nepal at manipulating his horses to fit Wednesdays and Fridaysbarbeque, with Radisson Hotel.411818 paintings called “Rocks”. Seddon, Jagannatha Adhikari, Ganesh Gurung any theme. The result is a startling, This is a show worth seeing. It Business lunches, poolside parties, romanticAll dinnersat the Fusion Bar, Dwarika’s Nepal Institute of Development Studies, Kathmandu, 2001 old, stunning colours, all thought-provoking set of paintings. Hotel. 479488 manner of textures and Navindra Rajbhandari’s isn’t often that the some of the Rs 250 best-known names in Nepali art thought-provoking messages.“Naturescapes” are dramatic, The authors explore the impact of remittances on rural livelihoods and the national economy. They B exhibit their work together in a All this and more awaits you at theexpressionistic depictions of FOODFOODFOOD discuss the structure of access to employment, regional patterns and linkages, and variations joint effort to promote contempo- current show at the Srijana Art nature. He uses bold, harsh, rary Nepali art. Chances are, Authentic Thai food Everyday at Yin Yang Restaurant. 425510 between villages. They present analyses and case studies from the western and other hill areas and Gallery, a group exhibition of thebrushstrokes, and dark colours— you’ll go back for a second ask how migration from the tarai is being affected. They end with policy recommendations at the works of nine contemporary Nepalipredominantly blacks, browns, La Soon Restaurant and Vinotheque Lunch, tea and dinner taste. international national, regional, district and VDC level. artists, including veterans such asgreens and reds. Peer into his with European and American food, fine wines. Pulchowk. Kiran Manandhar, Shashi Shah,abstracts and you just might see 535290 and Uttam Nepali. The subjectsbirds sitting on lush dark green(The show, Recent Paintings by Patan Museum Café Mixed menu, garden seating. Lunch Lives and Work of Nepalese Children: A View from Below range from nature, and culture, pines,to and jagged rocks with treesContemporary Nepali Artists, runs terrorism, individualism, and clinging to their sides. until 27 July at the Srijana Art only, 11am—2pm. 25 percent off with Summit Card. 526271 Aino Askgaard, Kathmandu, 2002 feelings. Seen all at one go, the Kiran Manandhar’s set of Gallery, Kamaladi, from 9AM- Improved Singaporean and Malaysian New food dry noodles Rs 250 work can be rather overwhelming. 7PM everyday. 247889) Askgaard spent two years in Kathmandu working with a small group of Nepali children, many of paintings, titled “K I” through K with wonton soup, better nasi lemak, satay, and more. Sing The mixed media pieces by V”, are the highlight of the Ma, the Food Court, Jawalakhel. 520004 whom work as domestic help, ragpickers, and porters, and some who are in school. This volume Sharada Man Shrestha are highlyexhibition. They are instantly contains testimonies of the children about their lives and dreams, as well as photographs the children textured, detailed depictions ofidentifiable as part of his oeuvre, Tukche Thakali Kitchen Buckwheat, barley, bean, and dried took under the guidance of Askgaard and Nepali photgrapher Mani Lama. Nepali culture, especially festivals.with their sure, bold, black strokes meat specialties. Also brunch with porridge and pancakes, all raw material from Tukche Some of the more striking piecesand vibrant colours. He talks of village. Darbar Marg. are a combination of rich, luxuri-how he used a model when he Pioneer Nepali Students in Japan a CenturyHarendra Ago ant, dark colours on jute and started to paint this particular set, Cuisine du jourRs 700, two for one, and free use of pool. Hotel Shangri La. 412999 B Barua plaster of paris that make the work Regional cuisine at the Fun Saturday Café Brunch with buffet of cuisine from Ireland, three-dimensional. The effect is Mandala Book Point, Kathmandu, 2002 Mexico and more. 12 noon-2.30 PM, Rs 600, Radisson Hotel. 411818 Rs 650 Friday Continental BBQat Dwarika’s Hotel 7PM on. Rs500 per person, includes a free Barua traces the adoption in the early 20 beer or soft drink. 479488 th century of Japan as a model of development Pasta Mania Choose from a variety of pastas for Rs 111 plus tax at lunch and dinner, and and growth for Nepal’s rulers, who decided to send a certain number of Nepali youth 20 percent off bottled wines. La Dolce Vita, Thamel. there to study. The students who made the arduous journey were welcomed in Japan. SandwichesInnovative fillings on home-baked breads. 12-27 July, The Café, Hyatt This trilingual volume (English, Nepali, Japanese) contains reproductions of documents Regency Kathmandu. 491234 pertaining to these students, as well as period photographs. Fine dining and table top cooking Dinner at The Chimney, Hotel Yak & Yeti, starting 6.30 PM everyday. 248999 Courtesy: Mandala Book Point, Kantipath, 227711, [email protected] Wood fired pizzasat the new Roadhouse Café. Completely redesigned with separate bar seating and coffee bar. The Roadhouse Café, Thamel. CLASSIFIED Girls’ goals Paddy Foley’s Irish APub wide range of drinks and food. Live music on Wednesday, Our under-16 girls are off to play Visit Ground Zero Fine wines, designer candles,○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Nagarkot Special at NakedBed Chef and Thursday and Sunday nights. 416096. competitive football in Norway. The girls themselves are over the moon. They are Special Thai cuisineat Ban Thai Restaurant, Darbar Marg. 243271 cards, silver jewellery and more. Darbar Marg,breakfast, three-course gourmet dinner, Rs 800 per opposite Hotel de l’Annapurna. person. Room Rs 300 only. For Nepalis and expatri- Back home, they need a budget,focused, dedicated, and excited, even if they do worry about ates. 680006, 969107153 events and an audience.how tall and strong many of their competitors will be. GETAWAYS When we visited them at a practice session last week, they Wanted Sales manager-cum-designerKnowl- KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA were clearly enjoying themselves thoroughly, although they For pilgrims and holidaymakers Dakchhinkali Village Inn ○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○ overlooking Dakchhinkali Temple and Pharping’s Buddhist edge of western and eastern clothes design. FrenchHouse for rent Ground floor: living room, kitchen, played with grim concentration. “It’s great to be a national language a plus. Divine Group and Co. Tel: 230369, here’s good news for everyone who gave up on Nepali monasteries. Weekend Rs 1,300 per person on twin-sharing with dining room, one bathroom. First floor: master football disgusted with the power struggles between player. Everyone dreams of making it. I’m proud that I fax: 229622. Email: [email protected] bedroom with attached bath, one bedroom, bath- half board. Children from 6-15, Rs 800. [email protected]. the two factions of the All Nepal Football Association.represent my country all over the world,” said 15-year-old 710587 room, pantry. Second floor: one bedroom with T Pashupati Rana, who has been playing on various national- attached bath, store, lobby. Third floor: terrace and There’s a Nepali team off for the first time to play in Europe, Foot - Reflexology: stressed or tired? UPLIFT level teams for five years. But the most experienced player Special Offer Buy one $99 overnight package, get the second night laundry room. Location: Galfutar. Tel: 412094. at the 30-year-old Norway Cup. The national under-16 on the squad knows only too well how hard it will be to YOUR SPIRIT FROM YOUR TOES UP. girl’s team. And even better news, the team has members keep her passion alive. “People are still discouraging and at 50 percent. Valid for single or double occupancy at Dwarika’s email: [email protected] or ring 425931 from all over the country, and not only Kathmandu. There’s Hotel. 479488 disrespectful to players,” she shrugs. Her teammates agree, Stupa iewV and Restauranterrace & T at only one player from the capital; the others come from as far Monsoon at its best Walk in the rain through the pristine country- but say that their love of the game is a suitable enough Flowerlovers don’t miss our special FUCHSIABaudhanath Stupa. Well-appointed restaurant and away as Jhapa and Kailali. retort to most naysayers. side. $35 per person per night on full board basis at the Horse Shoe exhibition!!!More than 60 new and very beautifulterraces with views of stupa and Himalayas. The girls haven’t had much time to prepare for the The girls met for the first time when they moved into Mountain Resort, Mude. [email protected] International vegetarian specialties, pizza from clay varieties of FUCHSIA, recently imported from tournament, which begins 28 July, but they’re working oven, ice cream, soft guitar tunes on Fridays, the ANFA hostel, but they’ve managed to get into real team The Great Godavari Getaway Special weekend packages including room with breakfastEurope, are on sale now, for the first time ever in hard at the closed camp being run at the ANFA hostel in Saturdays, Sundays from 5PM on. Special events spirit. They say they are like a very close-knit family now, Nepal. Only at THE BISHALNAGAR NURSERY, tel. Satdobato. After three rounds of selection following the and dinner, 25 percent discount on health club facilities. Godavari Village Resort. 560675 on full moon. Open daily 11AM-8.30PM. 480262. sharing their sharing their problems and helping each 431797, five min from Bhatbhateni Supermarket, two agreement signed between the Norwegian Embassy in Nepal Writing Retreat Full board package. Aesthetic living, innovative thinking, creativemin writing from Bishalnagar Chowk (turn right and down- other. And despite the rigorous training, they remain and the ANFA in April, 16 players were chosen from 70 young girls in their early- and mid- and nature at Park Village Resort, Budhanilkantha. 375280 hill). candidates. The team has been training in Satdobato since, K-Too! Beer and Steakhouse not the “longest”, teens who like to loosen up after practicing for an hour-and-a-half two times a day, no matterpractice. They laugh and tell us “highest”, “first” or any other superlative. Just a what the weather. For inclusion in the listing send information to [email protected] about singing in theshower, Landrover Defender 110 1990, 146,000 kms. Dutyrelaxed, easy-going bar and restaurant with the The terms of participation in the Norway Cup require coldest beer and juiciest steaks this side of the playing cards, reading books and not paid. Price negotiable. Contact 521105 between Picking apart Pakistan’s moon. By the Kathmandu Guest House. 433043 that girls’ teams be accompanied by a female coach. The onlyswapping family stories. They say 10AM-12 noon. licensed woman football coach in Nepal, Lalita Shrestha, wasthey will train hard here, and do engaged elsewhere, so for the moment the team is workingtheir best and learn all they can in political economy in the July Himal For insertions ring NT Marketing at 543333-36. with coach Milan Hada, who has been a coach for seven Norway. When they return, years. He says the team is a good one, but acknowledges thatthey’re desperately hoping that they aren’t yet battle-tested. “There is lack of competition forthey can keep playing. Plus: the girls. You can’t guarantee performance without competi- tion,” he says. Without regular competitions and matches, APJ Abdul Kalam: India’s there’s no avenue for the team to develop their skills, ballistic president-to-be confidence and strategies. “There are five or six players with 91.2 on FM 102.4great potential, and they should have the opportunity to (Kashish Das Shrestha is a continue with this,” says coach Hada. staff writer with Wave.) Sexuality and obscenity in NEPALI WEATHER by NGAMINDRA DAHAL Unfortunately, it is likely that this under-16 South Asia DSES-17-07-2002 02:00 GMT Mon-Fri 0615-0645orld BBC Today W team won’t even be a team after the Norway Cup. We are now waiting for this next low pressure zone Hada and Sanjiv Mishra, manager of the team, aren’t hovering over the northern Bay of Bengal that we see in too hopeful, although Mishra tells us that Geeta Rana’s this satellite picture taken on Wednesday morning. If it Sat 0615-0645 BBC Science in Action doesn’t bring substantial rains to Nepal, then this year’s Women’s Football Committee is trying it’s best to Sri Lanka’s eastern question monsoon can be officially declared to have failed. ensure the team’s survival. The major hurdle here is Western Nepal, and northwestern India are under severeSun 0615-0645 BBC Agenda the matter of social acceptance. Nepalis are finding it drought. The rain that has fallen has come down in huge hard to come to terms with the idea of women cloudbursts like the one that triggered the landslides in Daily 2045-2115 BBCg] kfnL ;]]jf]]] playing football. “Society, the way people think, is the Khotang this week. The approaching monsoon trough is now supported by two distinct lows over the tarai. Expect biggest enemy of women’s football. There are still these heavy rains by Monday. Fingers crossed. Daily 2245-2300 BBCg] kfnL ;]]jf]]] traditional ideas about girls staying home and performing chores,” says Hada. “The team is almost entirely supported by ANFA right now, but they will definitely need more support from other sports organisations, the media and KASHISH DASSHRESTHA KATHMANDU VALLEY Radio Sagarmatha maybe even individuals,” Hada said. The team needs proper budget for everything from training to housing to Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue P.O. Box 6958, Bakhundole, Lalitpur, Nepal food to education. Tel: ++977-1-545680, 545681 Fax: ++ 977-1- 530227 E-mail: [email protected] Coming in August: Eelam dalits, women’s work in Pakistan, www.radiosagarmatha.org 31-21 30-22 30-22 29-21 29-21 /]l8of ] ;u/dfyf the Gangetic dolphin, bridging the IT gap and much more. 161616 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES Under My Hat

by Kunda Dixit Irony, Steel and Industriousness

top me if you’ve heard this one before, but we the incumbent general-secretary’s faction of the former have just received a piece of breaking news that president’s bloc of the youth wing which states, and I Sthe All-Nepal Association for Satire, Parody andquote, “The more is always the merrier,” it is quite Sarcasm (Election symbol: 1,000-rupee note) has splitpossible that both factions will be represented to into two factions with one accusing the other of not present a joint working paper titled “The Importance of having a sense of humour. Irony and Steel in National Industriousness, Property In a more serious vein, the president ousted the Alleviation, and Sustainable Human Debasement”. incumbent general-secretary and made himself secre- This is a hefty document that charts out our tary-general of the rump faction, promising equal mirthstrategy in unleashing the forces of mockery, derision and merriment for all Nepalis and scorn in a nationwide by the year 2020. Meanwhile, campaign so that we will all in the oustee incumbent general- the not very unforeseeable secretary is not taking it lying future be able to laugh our down and has already started guts out and, I might add, to providing immediate entertain- our hearts’ content. In doing ment by embarking on a so, we will all be able to better nationwide roadshow to survive our ongoing trials and perform skits at all Zonal tribulations and collectively Headquarters of the Kingdom. emerge from them better For those outside the human beings. ZHQs, it doesn’t really matter Mr Chairman, Ladies that one bunch of clowns has and Gentlemen, allow me been replaced by another now a few more minutes of bunch of clowns, because both your indulgence to delve are equally good. They should into the vital importance of both turn professional. As a journalism and journalists in result of all this fun and this great endeavour. As we amusement, the whole country set about on this path of is in stitches, which is just as national deconstruction, we well because, as we all know, a stitch in time saves nine,need to keep a watchful eye on the lapdog role of and, lest we forget, he who laughs last laughs best. the media. We cannot allow the pen to be mightier Now that the youth wing of the All-Nepal Associa-than the ploughshares that we turn into swords. tion for Satire, Parody and Sarcasm has also followed Since it is all fun and games, there cannot be even a the adult wing and split, it has becomeknotty a issue moment of seriousness. deciding which juveniles will represent the country In conclusion, with permission from the Chair, I at the XII International Congress of Under-19 would like all of you gathered here today to stand Jokers which is being held in Ouagadougou later thisup on your seats, lampoon the person standing next month. to you, and observe a minute’s laughter. You may But going by the preamble of the constitution of now start chuckling.

she wanted to help other women like her stand on their own feet with income “It’s helped me understandgeneration and skills NEPALI SOCIETY training. “My mother would people’s attitudes,” says an always feed and clothe introspective Meera about the people who came to our people she meets everyday: door, she never turned small craft producers, mostly anyone away,” she recalls. low-income women, sophisti- cated international buyers, But as Meera learnt over Meera’sbusinessmen (and they are the years, kindnessworld and ext time you drive up almost always men) wantinggenerosity are not enough. Kupondole towards to cash in on the handicraft Continuous charity makes NPatan, look at some trade, bureaucrats from the people dependent, her idea of the classy handicraft labour department, and mostis to give people fishing shopfronts on either side ofrecently—and bruisingly— nets, not fish. Today, her the road and you may just dogged trade unionists. organisation helps women see Meera Bhattarai visiting Meera says she has strike out on their own, develop craft and manage- her retailers. inherited her strong sense of ment skills, self-confidence, Meera has broken awayaltruism from her mother, and and a sense of ownership from the mould of women- over their products. headed crafts production for The group helps women charity, and plunged head- long into the management develop product ideas and and marketing style of hard- marketing arrangements nosed business, embrac- that allow a sufficient ing competition and rigor- margin to provide not only ous quality standards, and competitive incomes, but a catering to the latest trends. wide array of fringe benefits not common in Nepal today, Watching Meera func- including an emergency tion, you’d think she was in welfare fund, annual the corporate world, and not bonuses, and a retirement the founder of the Associa- plan. There is even an tion of Craft Producers. As “educational allowance executive director, she has benefit program” to help been able to balance female children go to business with social school. The finished obligations, developing products are displayed at what she calls a “socially– Dhukuti, the ACP’s trendy oriented, commercially Kupondole outlet. viable enterprise”. Meera has come a long way since she first started managing women’s skill development at the Nepal Women’s Organisation 25 years ago. As a psychology graduate, she has used her academic background and learnt over the years that the only way is to combine charity with entrepreneurship. MIN BAJRACHARYA MIN CDO Regd No. 194/056/57 Lalitpur, Central Region Postal Regd. No. 04/058/59