Nepal Asks India to Probe Border Force's Involvement in Dhami
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WI THOUT F EAR O R F A V O U R Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 202 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 32.8 C 12.2 C Wednesday, September 08, 2021 | 23-05-2078 Nepalgunj Jumla Nepal asks India to probe border force’s involvement in Dhami disappearance Foreign Ministry draws New Delhi’s attention to airspace violation by Indian non-military helicopter in Darchula. ANIL GIRI KATHMANDU, SEPT 7 Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested the government of India to launch a detailed investiga- tion into the involvement of Indian security personnel in the disappear- ance of a Nepali youth in the Mahakali A part of a diplomatic note sent to India. river in Darchula district a little over a month ago. The ministry has also No. 2 fell into the Mahakali River near drawn India’s attention to a non-mili- Malghat together with the single rope- tary helicopter using the Nepali sky in way (tuin) that he was using to cross the same district. the River from Nepal to India on July The ministry sent two diplomatic 30, 2021,” reads the note. notes to India, through the Embassy “The ministry has the further hon- of India in Kathmandu, on Friday. our to inform that an investigation The ministry has not made public report on the fateful event surround- the content of the notes, copies of ing Dhami’s missing prepared by a which have been obtained by the Post. committee formed by the Ministry of POST PHOTO: SANJOG MANANDHAR According to the diplomatic note Home Affairs reveals, citing the eye- People dry their goods damaged by floods and inundation following heavy rains on Sunday night along the Bishnumati Link Road in Kathmandu on Tuesday. regarding Jaya Singh Dhami’s disap- witness and analyzing the facts and pearance in the Mahakali, the Foreign circumstances leading to his missing, Ministry has sought a detailed that the incident occurred in the pres- investigation into India’s Seema ence of Sashastra Seema Bal person- Sashastra Bal’s involvement and nel of India.” compensation to his family. The ministry, the note adds, Cases down but current daily average “The Ministry of Foreign therefore, has the honour to request Affairs, Government of Nepal, the government of India to “kindly presents its compliments to the launch a detailed investigation into Embassy of India in Kathmandu the involvement of SSB personnel of 18 deaths still a cause for concern and has the honour to inform, as of India in the incident so as to requested by the Ministry of take necessary legal action against Home Affairs of the Government those involved in the incident and to of Nepal, that Jaya Singh Dhami, provide compensation to the family of a Nepali national, resident of the victim.” Byas Rural Municipality Ward >> Continued on page 2 SOURCE: HEALTH MINISTRY Health Ministry data show that new infections dip on fewer tests and rise whenever test numbers increase. Fewer tests show fewer cases and it would be too early to let the guard down, doctors warn. ARJUN POUDEL and starting last week, almost As the festival season means KATHMANDU, SEPT 7 everything has been allowed to reopen. celebrations and crowding, doctors Schools, malls, cinemas, gymnasi- say preparatory measures should Covid-19 cases may have been declin- ums, temples, zoo, public transporta- be stepped up, just as people should ing in the past few days, but the num- tion and other public places have reo- be made aware of the fact that the ber of daily deaths has remained pened. People are behaving as though coronavirus risk is not over yet. somewhat the same—18 on an average, there is no virus. Experts say what is more dangerous which experts say is quite concerning. The ongoing vaccination campaign than the virus is complacency among Doctors say authorities must pay and declining infection numbers authorities as well as the general attention to testing, contact tracing could give a false sense of security, public. There has been a massive and treatment, as well as the number doctors warn. The vaccination speed, decline in the number of people who of fatalities, before drawing a conclu- however, has remained low. are going for Covid-19 tests voluntari- sion on the country’s Covid-19 status. “Only over 16 percent of the popula- ly, according to records from various “The daily number of new cases tion has been fully vaccinated so far hospitals and labs. may have declined because of fewer and we do not know how long the “Earlier, people used to go for tests tests, but 18-20 deaths a day is some- antibodies last in the body after vacci- voluntarily also because they needed a thing we must be concerned about,” nation,” said Dr Tulsi Ram Bhandari, report to claim the insurance,” said a said Dr Mingmar Gyelgen Sherpa, for- a public health expert, who is also lab technician at the National Public mer director general of the an assistant professor at Pokhara Health Laboratory who did not wish to Department of Health Services. University. “There is no alternative to be named. “These days very few peo- “It’s not a small number.” starting preparations for the possible ple seek Covid-19 tests, as the insur- Amid the looming third Covid-19 new surge of cases.” ance scheme has been halted.” wave, doctors say it would be too early The presence of the super-conta- Besides, the authorities are also not for people to let their guard down, as gious Delta variant makes things look encouraging people to go for tests, and around 20 deaths a day is still quite a even bleaker. the government on its part has not big number. Nepal was hit by the second wave been conducting enough number of In the past 24 hours, 21 people just after India was overwhelmed tests. In May, the government had said died from complications arising from by the sudden surge in cases. At one it would conduct over 25,000 antigen coronavirus infections. point, Nepal mirrored India—hospi- tests a day, but this number has failed Since the number of deaths provid- tals were turning away patients for to cross the 5,000 mark. ed by the Health Ministry on a daily lack of oxygen, oxygen cylinders, ICU The number of polymerase chain basis includes only those reported to beds and ventilators. reaction tests too stands at around the authorities, the daily fatalities With the festival season just around 10,000 on average. could be even more, as some Covid-19 the corner, India is bracing for a third Doctors say vaccines are the only patients might be losing their lives Covid-19 wave. Media reports said way to fight the disease at present, without getting hospitalised. India has scaled up measures to “pre- apart from taking precautionary After the second Covid-19 wave, pare for the worst”. Nepal and India measures to keep the disease at bay. which hit the country in April, slid share a long porous border through But there is a caveat. into a devastating crisis, authorities which thousands of people cross into Infections have been seen in people had enforced strict lockdown meas- each other’s territories and the two who are fully vaccinated; the severity ures. About two months later, the countries also observe some festivals may be low though. restrictions were relaxed gradually, during the same time. >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 08, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Nepal asks India to probe border force’s involvement ... AN IMAGE OF THE DIPLOMATIC NOTE OBTAINED BY THE POST >> Continued from page 1 On July 30, Dhami, 33, was trying to cross the Mahakali river using an improvised cable crossing, known locally as tuin, the only means to get to the district headquarters Khalanga, from where he was planning to travel to Kathmandu. According to local residents and eyewitnesses, a member of India’s Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) had detached the metal cable from a tree supporting the cable crossing just when Dhami had almost reached the other side. The government formed a probe committee on August 1, which submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand on August 31. The government has not made the probe report public. The Home Ministry, however, said in a state- ment that the “incident took place in the presence of India’s Sashastra Seema Bal”. POST PHOTO: ELITE JOSHI The failure of the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government to Vehicles pass through a waterlogged road section caused by heavy rains at Nagpokhari, Kathmandu on Tuesday. take up the issue with India had drawn widespread criticism. The day the probe team submitted its report to the home min- ister, India said that it was unaware of any official communi- cation from the Nepal side regarding the Darchula incident. “We have heard about the incident through some media, but no official information has been shared with us yet,” said Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of Dozens of people registered as disappeared External Affairs, on Thursday during a regular press briefing. That India was not informed by the Nepal government led to protests in Nepal, with protesters accusing the Sher Bahadur Deuba administration of failing to show urgency regarding the incident. during Maoist insurgency found alive Amid the government delay in taking the Darchula youth’s disappearance up with India, reports surfaced that an Indian helicopter had been flying in Nepali skies for days. This In the last six years, the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons has received 3,223 complaints fanned the flames in Kathmandu and elsewhere.