#79 1 - 7 February 2002 16 pages Rs 20

DANIEL LAK Music ICE SKATING of the in LADAKH gods 8-9 4

NDF QUOTES “The root of the violence is in the villages, that is where we should focus on finding solutions.” - CP Mainali, M-L leaderEmergency urgency

“Heaven is what it is because three Which should come first: peace, or development? Both. women are in charge of three important ministries: Mahalaxmi manages money,KUNDA DIXIT ○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○ into just another buzzword, but experts agree Mahasaraswati is in charge of education ext week, donors from 11 countries and and Mahakali looks after defence. We can that handing decision-making to local bodies is also turn Nepal into heaven, why not?” six multilateral agencies will gather in the only way to begin addressing the causes - Chitralekha Yadav,NKathmandu and Pokhara to hear Nepal’s fuelling the insurgency: lack of basic services Deputy Speakerrequest for additional aid to make up for due to apathetic Kathmandu-centric control. resources diverted to fight the insurgency. Development expenditure has taken a This meeting of the donor consortium direct hit. The government urgently needs to (called the Nepal Development Forum, multitask: stave off an insurgency, accelerate “There are good explanations whyNDF) is taking place for the first time in development, and put its economic house in reforms did not advance as intended.”Nepal, and during an unprecedented order with fiscal reforms, re-prioritisation and BALICA - Lawrence DeMilner,national crisis: a costly counter-insurgency bureaucratic efficiency—all at once. IMF representative war is on, development is at a standstill, and The Finance Ministry and the Nepal the economy is in shambles. Rastra Bank know better than anyone else In the run-up to the NDF last week, the “Pointless talking of good governance: just how serious the country’s economic we don’t even have governance.” government held pre-consultation meetings to crisis is, and are racing against time to raise - Tirtha Man Shakya,fine tune its plans, objectives and expectations. revenue, reform banking and privatise sick Chief SecretaryIt mustered impressive paperwork, but the corporations. But reforms are politically contents failed to dazzle donors or Nepali painful. Does the leadership have the participants. “There was a worrying lack of political will and transparency to wage war “What have we accomplished in theconsensus among Nepali politicians and on poverty and implement genuine reforms? last 12 years? We have produced 11planners about which way the country should That is the big “If” donors will look at next prime ministers. How will we move go,” said one donor rep. week. The Asian Development Bank’s Richard ahead without changing this?” Sure, there is plenty to be critical about. Vokes told us: “If the government is aggressive - Jhala Nath Khanal, UMLBut there are also achievements, like Nepal’s in pursuing these reform efforts, particularly home-grown successes in areas like community improving governance and reducing corrup- would be serious challenges at any time. But ment without peace forestry, decentralisation and the work of tion, and takes rigorous steps to prioritise the insurgency has made everything much (see interview). But grassroots self-help groups to raise income. expenditure, the donors will be more open harder. Security costs are soaring, there are there is a consensus “If it took 50 years to get here, howBihari Krishna Shrestha, a 32-year veteran of to requests for support.” Politicians like indications the military may need more time that the military campaign must go hand-in- many more years will it take to eradi- Editorial p2 development planning, out of government populist subsidies, but the seriousness of and an extension of the emergency to force the handCaught with urgent in the and middle... effective delivery of cate poverty? The models we use havenow, says we know what to do, we just need to not worked.” the country’s fiscal crisis doesn’t seem to Maoists back to the negotiating table. The basic services and jobs in rural areas. - Chakra Bastola,get on with the job. “Everything that worked have sunk in, Vokes adds. longer the war drags on, the longer it will take Krishna Sapkota, chairman of the Kavre Nepali Congresswas domestically-innovated,” he told us. “The Ironically, a cash-strapped government is for investment, tourism and commerce to DDC summed it up last week: “Without most valuable service a donor agency can give at unable to spend the little it had set aside for return to normal. peace there will be no development, and this time of crisis would be to help devolve development, and is diverting this unspent Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba rules without development, no peace. The authority to grassroots stakeholders.” money to security. out resuming talks until the Maoists lay down underlying reason for violence is our “If NGOs have done good work they “Decentralisation” is in danger of turning need to be given due recognition, if not Given the near-collapse of statecraft, these their arms, and says there can be no develop- inability to improve peoples’ lives.” they should be scrapped.” - Gauri Pradhan, NGO Federation

“INGOs would like to see the One Window Policy placed within a power- ful, well-resourced and respected ministry, or within the National Planning Commission." “If the Maoists surrender their arms, we will talk again…” - Robin Needham, CARE NepalWith less than a month to go before the state of national crisis, the standstill in development, and corruption in emergency must be renewed by parliament, we spoke to high places. Deuba explains why he can’t reduce the size Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba about the counter- of his cabinet, and speaks about his rapport with insurgency campaign, the cost of the war, the governance King Gyanendra. Weekly Internet Poll # 19 Q. Should the state of national emergency be extended? Nepali Times: How long will the emergency last? person, I believed (the Maoists) fully when they said they were for a Sher Bahadur Deuba: I cannot say. Terrorism can’t be solved over- negotiated solution. They wanted a constituent assembly, I told night. People are scared to give information, they are killing them I could not give that, but could organise a meeting to suspected informants. It could take longer to discuss it. I told them let’s hold independent control terrorism, but an emergency elections, you have a chance to cannot be stretched beyond one win. Even if you don’t, you will year. But the campaign is have some votes, which would going well despite the difficult favour a constituent assembly. terrain and the lack of informa- But they betrayed me. In hind- tion. Things are improving. sight, it appears they were playing for time to regroup. But if

Is a military solution possible? they surrender their arms, I haveMIN BAJRACHARYA no I have always been for problems talking again. negotiations. I am a simple

Go to p3 Total votes: 913 2 EDITORIAL 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES INTERVIEW 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES 3 Nepali Times is published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Editor: Anagha Neelakantan 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 AUGHTIN THE MIDDLE GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal C Tel: 01-543333-7, Fax: 01-521013 “I am determined to devolve power to the grassroots” Printed at Jagadamba Press: 01-521393 IN from p1 MADHYAGAUN allowed the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Can the insurgency be solved without taking Cross) to visit jails. But what can we do, the jails are adhyagaun is not this town’s real name. But it is aMaoists sign scrawled anti-monarchy graffiti on the village school development to the people? crowded and we don’t have money to build bigger jails of the times that we can’t even identify the townin here. Madhyagaun It two weeks ago, they threatened the school Development is needed, but without peace you can’t begin and detention camps. Mis situated in Nepal’s mid-hills, and it is caughtteacher in the and students with dire consequences if they revealed development programs. We know what has worked. We know decen- for the other side. crossfire between the security forces and the Maoists. theirIt is likewhereabouts. The soldiers came the next day, forced the Money seems to be a major issue. What do youtralisation is the most direct way of doing that. What about investor confidence and efforts to a lot of other settlements across the hills: divided into villagersan upper to erase the slogans and took away the teacher be- It seems to be a Catch-22. Without development plan to tell donors at the Nepal Development I believe fully in decentralisation, and I had in the past check capital flight? and lower town, with a river running below. cause he was too afraid to disclose who wrote them. there won’t be peace, and there will be no peace Forum meeting next week? tried to give as much power as possible to local units, but In more peaceful times, it used to be a bucolic place. PrettyA UML activist from Madhyagaun who for the past three years I have told the business community I am willing to do without development… Our main agenda at the meeting is poverty alleviation. Wemy government was toppled. This time, I am determined and poor, like the rest of Nepal. Even today, its white-and-redhad single-handedly resisted the Maoists, opposed their extor- I cannot say there will be peace if we have development, but anything to help. For investment, I will bring a law that houses with thatched roofs, community forests and thetion himals racket, and survived two assassination attempts, recently hope donors will make some pledges. The meeting is to devolve powers to local government units. what I can say now is that without peace we cannot have taking place in Nepal for the first time, and we are doing will enable us to give infrastructure projects to the private beyond look idyllic. Nobody is well-off in Madhyagaun, fledbut for the safety of a town on the highway. Earlier this month, development. We are looking at a security shield so we can But you have just slashed the VDC and DDC sector under BOT (build-operate-transfer) contracts. This people look after each other, and everyone gets by. the soldiers took him in for questioning as a Maoist suspect. all we can to assure donors that we are serious about introduce poverty alleviation and employment generation, allocations by a quarter. time we will introduce some good, new laws. It is painful, It used to take two days to walk here, but the road from theWhen 18 armed and uniformed Maoists walked through town tackling poverty head-on. Nepal is in deep crisis, and that something like the ISDP. is a fact. We have to control terrorists, and at the same timeWe had no choice. Besides, very little development activity but we are also trying to sell off sick public enterprises. district headquarters is inching closer each year. People onwonder a quiet afternoon several weeks into the emergency, everyone is possible in the villages now because of Maoist activities. what changes the road will bring, and land prices have alreadyknew what to expect. The Maoists explained calmly that they had The leader of the opposition tells us you’re not we have to eliminate poverty and unemployment, which How will you tackle the unemployment that will started to rise in the lower town, near the planned path of calledthe road. a meeting and attendance was mandatory. The band keeping him informed about the security situa- are breeding grounds for terrorists. We need education, But couldn’t you have saved money trimming result from that? Madhyagaun’s biggest concern, though, isn’t land movedprices orslowly through the upper and lower towns and outlying tion. health care, drinking water, roads, we need to moderniseyour cabinet instead of taking money meant for We will give employees a golden handshake, we don’t have the rains or the government, or even the gods. Madhyagaunhamlets, is stopping at every house. in this village.” With that, they walked over the hill andI have vanished.asked the secretaries of Defence and Home to brief agriculture. the grassroots? a choice. We have been suffering huge annual losses. Two in the war zone, and is a contested village in the Maoist The Maoists’ message to the gathered town was simple: “The The fight against the Maoists clearly has far to go, at least in opposition members at an all-party meeting. If they want the The donors probably agree with you on all Yes. That is also a possibility, I am holding consultations. major banks are in trouble and have been unable to recover insurgency. people’s war is progressing nicely. The news from the government Madhyagaun. But this incident should also gladden the hearts billions from defaulters. We are handing them over on army chief to brief them, I am also ready to have him do it. these, but their main concern is implementation.So you’re cutting cabinet size? For five years the people of this town have been caughtis mostly lies. The People’s Liberation Army has killed and captured of the Maoists’ opponents. Mao described a people’s army as management contracts. Royal Nepal Airlines is in the red. I between the police and the Maoists, who alternately visiteda great many soldiers. We will win and we will remember who our moving through the people and countryside like a Therefish throughis nothing to hide, and we are not hiding anything. If I agree that the implementation side is very poor. I am I cannot say for sure. Let me first consult the party. with demands for information and cooperation, and threatsfriends for and enemies were. Think about that.” water. Nepal’s “fish” seem reduced to threatening wetheir made “water” mistakes we are willing to correct them. We have willing to take special measures to ensure that things work. have asked the RNAC to come with a viable proposal if What if the party instructs you to downsize the anyone offering the same to the other side. The people areThen the commander told the silent crowd: “If anyone tells with death. The Great Helmsman might have reminded them I have already started looking into progress reports of they need government support. Otherwise there is no cabinet? caught in the middle, and they are scared. the army or police we were here, we will return and kill everyone what happens to a fish out of water. donor-supported projects. I am monitoring them point putting good money after bad. Look, I cannot tell anything to the press now because there monthly, and am willing to do that every 15 days if that Couldn’t you have waited for parliament to is a chance that I may be misquoted as has happened some will help. I am willing to leave other work, and prioritise raise taxes, why use an ordinance? time back. The cabinet size is a political compulsion. development monitoring. That is our main concern, we We needed spending money, under the law we cannot want to show results. You have to keep them in the cabinet so they divert expenses from other budget lines. We needed I am also working on forming a Commission on won’t rebel? money immediately and had no choice. Women and getting the women’s bill through the UpperI don’t want to comment on that now. But I am ready to You invited King Gyanendra to dinner in House. There will be a foundation to handle the issues cut costs of government. Baluwatar last week. How is your rapport with

MARTIALLEITER facing But you also raised taxes to pay for security. His Majesty? I didn’t have a choice. It was either fight them, or We have a good rapport. We had a very frank, heart-to- surrender. heart talk. He spoke about corruption control, good janajatis, we are ready to implement programs for governance, and economic, social and political reforms. His There is reluctance among donors to bankroll uplifting the situation of dalits. On land reform, I had Majesty wants things to improve, he wants to see the security. How are you going to pay for it? prepared an eight-point program but was not able to country moving forward. I am trying to take some We have been discussing support and I have been assured convince the party. But even with the 11 decisions to make sure that things move faster, you’ll see bigha of help. Donors cannot directly give money to the army some decisions soon. If only we could ensure greater limit, there will be some results. On but they can help in other ways. Our cause is also being efficiency, but in every government office there is dilly- socio-economic programs, I am telling presented to the US Congress. The United States has dallying. opposition parties let us have a promised non-lethal support, training, and communica- consensus on what can be done and tion equipment. Why not start with senior ministers who are announce the programs jointly. said to be corrupt? I am ready to do anything to make But Colin Powell’s main concerns were govern- Anything can be said about ministers, I hear some of them the poverty alleviation mechanism ance, corruption control and human rights… have taken money on civil service transfers. But we have work. Even if that needs putting We are working with our partners to improve governance. not had any big contracts, so there has not been an the entire implementation I am bringing a strong anti-corruption control bill in opportunity for major corruption. But when the project mechanism under the United parliament. You know what happened the last time we were contracts come, I will be watching closely. I will not let Nations system. UNDP discussing the anti-corruption act, there was a tussle anyone take money on large contracts. could help coordinate it, or between parliament and the judiciary. Democracy is Does that mean small-time pickings are okay? we can find 10 or 20 messy, it takes time to get things done. dedicated professionals in I cannot believe that my ministers have taken money on Nepal. I don’t want more On human rights… transfers. It could just be allegations. It is difficult to bureaucratic hurdles in I have allowed the ICRC to visit jails, I have told believe whatever appears in the papers. What I am saying Singha Darbar, but a human rights organisations they can also visit conflict is that if there have been payoffs on transfers then it’s not mechanism to take areas. We are implementing humanitarian law accord- major. I am strengthening the Commission for the development directly to ing to the Geneva Convention. We say there should be Investigation of Abuse of Authority, I am also watching, the people. no extra-judicial killings. We are ready to correct our you in the media should also keep a close watch. I won’t let mistakes if there have been any. But we cannot speak anyone get away with corruption. STATE OF THE STATE by CK LAL MIN BAJRACHARYA

speech that rang with truth, LETTERS themes of “bravery, patriotism president KR Narayanan agonised DIASPORA I do not completely disagree with financial sector just sounded the that women were not safe “even Rajendra Khadka’s “DiasporaRajendra in Khadka, but he has alarm and left it at that. If Guns and roses in Delhiand sacrifice”. There were no dilemma” (#77) seems to be anforgotten the Nepalis living in the optimism is too much to ask, at GURKHAS calls for peace, tolerance and in their mothers wombs”, that outburst stemming from his west and still serving their least a straight-faced “I got the Rajendra Rai in his letter (#78) harmony. Fifty-three years after dalits continued to be discrimi- battalions. The Gurkhas were failure in the United States. Hismotherland as best they can. They letter too, but I am not succumb- says the Gurkhas fought the two NO WINNERS Nepal is not land-locked, it is India-locked. And our nated against. But the official article is an act of frustration.are giving a good impression of ing” type of statement might its independence, how does such probably at the Line of Control, world wars for “freedom”. This is From your recent stories on the He pinpoints only the negativeNepal and Nepalis as hardworking have given something to renew challenges are too big for just our limited means. a martial spectacle sit with a publication of the Government of facing Pakistani guns. I couldn’t laughable, what utter nonsense. Thus men have a lifelong network emergency, there seems to be no aspects of life in the US, and honest people. the herd’s faith in money ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ nation that still regards MahatmaIndia continued to claim that help reflecting that they are The Gurkhas have been exploited of support in place from birth, end in sight to the so-called forgetting what a great and Saroj Joshi markets at home. internally as well as externally for while women, when they get People’s War. But does that mean Gandhi as a national icon? Had “victory, the symbol of su- protecting our neighbour from free country this is. Khadka’s by email Sailesh Tiwari their valour, loyalty, kindness and married, are surrounded by Nepal must continue to suffer from NEW DELHI – India’s first prime few meters, frisking at every he been alive, thesatyagraha Mahatma premacy, is synonymous with another neighbour, while our own sentiments seem to be similar Connecticut, USA simplicity—from the time of Prithivi strangers and live in a strange the economic disaster of the state minister Jawaharlal Nehru point, and sharp-shooters looking to stopwould this public have gone glorification on a of India’s history.” Victory over country is battling an insurgency. to those of Tara Nath SharmaCongratulations to Rajendra edgy that they confiscated even Narayan Shah’s unifying venture, environment... completely depend- of national emergency? This time designed the Republic Day menacing from every balcony in who wrote the book Patal Khadka for his provocative and I am tired of hearing that poverty pens from us as we entered the violence on a day that celebrates whom, for whom? Isn’t the real Like it or not, our fate is as Ram Limbu in the other letter ant on three people (husband, last year, even with the Maobaadi Prabas after he couldn’t settlethought-provoking piece on the is the root cause of the social parade to be a national festival the neighbourhood. viewing stands. At the second the creation of a new republic. threat to India’s security its intertwined with the fate of our points out. mother-in-law, father-in-law). It’s activities, tourists were arriving when citizens would come out on When I called a Dilliwala for Even Nehru would have been own poverty? neighbours down south. If India down here. Khadka shows thediaspora. One thing that distin- the luck of the draw for them. for the beginningdisturbances of the trekking in Nepal. Nepal has check-point, they looked at my same jealousy, frustration andguishes the FoReN is their always had a mostly impover- streets and join spontaneously to an appointment in the afternoon uneasy. His vision of India was of As a Nepali, these shouldn’t moves ahead, we will be pulled Hilary Dirlam season. This year, streets, shops, Nepali topi—my attempt at jest desperation by writing aboutcomplete cynicism and negativity by email hotels, and otherished businesses population, are yet the celebrate the dreams of the young after the parade, her answer was that the space inside was empty dams, highways and railroads— have been my concerns. Besides, along. If India stagnates, we how bad the life of the Nepaliabout their homeland. Things are violence is relatively recent and TM Ghising (Tamang) near collapse. The Maobaadi seem nation. Under his daughter Indira that she was not going to step out monuments to development. many of India’s development stagnate. India-locked, Nepal’s community is. bad in Nepal, yes, but what are getting worse—even after earned me the kind of nasty look by email If you insist on having a bideshi no more ready to lay down their Gandhi, the parade became an of her home as long as the that only Hariyanvis seem capable But then the ruling Bhartiya challenges are also ours—on a challenges are too big for our own I wish I could and come they doing about it besides writer on your staff, why must it weapons and negotiatedecades thanof “development” the imperial display of military Republic Day of giving. Then they waved me in.Janata Party had nothing to do smaller scale. But I couldn’t fail limited resources. So, as the serve my country, but been complaining? I wonder if this is be Daniel Lak? I am embarrassed government. Myefforts. question Some is: if sociologists this and there, done that. because they need to justify their political scientists should try to prowess modelled after the grand tamasha wasn’t The viewing stands for guestswith either the Independence to notice that even though there helicopters showered rose petals on SISTERS by his shallow insights, his rather state of affairs continue, who are Suman Pokhrelunwillingness to return. Thanks to Daniel Lak for his old school thinking, and his false the winners andunderstand who are the what has happened march of Roman cavalry. over. That is what it has come were half-empty. Space especiallystruggle or with the framing of was no contingent of Gurkhas military armour, I made a silent by email Nanda Bahadur Rai and why without resorting to Ever since, the decline of down to: a India’s republican constitution. parading down Rajpath this year, prayer that India gets on with it. column “Sisters are doing it for modesty. It was “Sisters are doing losers? My opinion is that there tamasha. reserved for children remained themselves”.UK Women in, say, it for themselves” (#77) that broke will be no winners.simplistic excuses such as Republic Day parades has been After the suicide attacks on unoccupied. The only children toIn fact it is a party that is there were three Nepali sur- America are economically this camel’s back. His attack on the D Michaelpoverty. Van Some De Veerpoints to consider steady, and festivities have become the Indian parliament on 13 be seen were the ones in the rumoured to have certain names—a Thapa, a Ghale and a advantaged over, say, most men of Nepal does not acknowl- mightHanalei, include: Hawaii overpopulation, a crude caricature of the “bread and sympathies for Gandhi’s assassin, Pun—leading paramilitary women in Nepal. I am fairly sure edge contributions made by many environmental degradation, very December, the security threat is cultural troupes that performed poor education (a little education circus” theory of absolute rulers. indeed real. But there never is a for the president of India and hisNathu Ram Godse. that the women of Nepal who are wonderful, supportive Nepali men. CAPITAL FLIGHT fighting for women’s rights are Women work hard, men work hard, Capital flight is ais seriousa dangerous economic thing?) and last, Billions of dollars of military foolproof security system, and guest this year, the president of The tableaux were kitschy, but not least, awareness of the hardware are paraded in a country and the most bizarre was India’s relatively wealthy. Wealth does children work hard, this is the ill that chokes potential domestic going to the extremes creates Mauritius. Two years ago, the GURKHAS mean advantage in this case. Poor reality of food deficits and agrarian investment andextraordinary growth. Given level the of corruption, where half the population lives unnecessary inconvenience for the guest was the late King Birendra.Agni missile. This was war- women in Nepal (or anywhere economics that dominate the climate of uncertaintygreed inand Nepal dishonesty that prevalent below the poverty line. general population. The air space Despite the militarisation ofmongering on a grand scale: all else, for that matter) won’t have a routine in Nepal’s remote hill has progressivelyin political worsened, circles from top to This year’s parade was even designed to play to the voters in snowball’s chance in hell of communities. If men were to spend capital flight seemsbottom. inevitable. over New Delhi was closed for the parade, one has to admit that Danny Birch more incongruous. Media reportsnearly four hours, public trans- this is a spectacular pageant. Butthe Uttar Pradesh and Punjab changing their lives till they have more time with their children, would That is why I was a little disap- this improve the situation? That is a pointed to read Himalaya New York, USA said New Delhi resembled a port in the city came to a halt, you have to wonder what kind ofassembly elections. an option to marriage. One thing I cantonment. For once, India’s have realised on my visits to rural difficult question, but I believe Mr Sumshere Rana (“Capital ad- and life had come to a complete people get turned on by such a The swagger hides a deep- Nepal is that women all have to Lak’s response would be: no. equacy is going to be a problem,” cable channels were using the standstill. If this was Republic glaring display of military might.seated insecurity. It does not leave their homes when they get J Watson Potter #77). One of the most authoritative language of restraint and under- Day, what kind of a republic was The so-called cultural troupesshow a country that is confident, married, men stay in their homes. by email voices in the nation’s beleagured statement. The city was virtually the government celebrating—a that traipsed past the viewstandgenerous and magnanimous about under siege with barricades everyRepublic of Paranoia? were troubling. Invariably, they its own stature. In a rousing Security personnel were so were centred around jingoistic 4 NATION 1 - 7 FEBRUARY 2002NEPALI TIMES NATION 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES 5 The Indians are coming ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Nepal’s downcast tourism industry is looking forward to a secretarial-level meet between India and Nepal next week, and an eagerly- For victims of trafficking, hope mayawaited decision to roll back thebe passport unconventional rule for Indians visiting Nepal. The Nepali travel trade has blamed the rule, instituted after the hijacking of IC814 from Kathmandu in December 1999, as one of the main SAARC has a tough new convention reasons for the decline in the arrival of Indian instance, 128 Nepali women, tourists to Nepal. on trafficking of women and children. mostly minors, were rescued Indians used to make up 30 percent of What exactly does it mean for Nepal? from Bombay brothels. But less arrivals, and numbers have plummeted after than half of them returned to the rule went into effect. Political instability and the royal massacre, further hurt tourism from Nepal, and that with the help of India. A decision on 4 February is expected to make it permissible for Indians flying into Nepal ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○ Nepali NGOs. to use IDs other than passports. “Making Passports mandatory is one of the reasons why less The convention does not Indians are visiting the country,” says a Nepal Tourism Board NTB official. “We’re hoping that hold states responsible for the other forms of ID, like ration cards, will be recognised.” The NTB is launching a major push for tourists from South India, and hopes that the deci- reintegration of victims into sion will be timed for the promotional campaign. It hopes to be able to announce the new ruling their families and society. when the campaign kicks off in Bangalore on 13 February. Visit Nepal drives will be held in five “Rescued victims need to be South Indian cities: Kumarakom, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore, Chennai, and Cochin till 13- found were prone to trafficking. assistance to prevent human psychologically and socially 20 February. NTB is also trying to bring together the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) and Activists here see the SAARC trafficking, whether to conduct prepared to reintegrate into Royal Nepal Airlines to offer attractive rates for package tours from India. Royal Nepal has bi- convention as a “great step investigations, inquiries or trials. society. Unless they are well weekly direct flights from Bangalore to Kathmandu. forward” in regional co-operation For someone like Jamuna, trained in income generating to curb trafficking in persons— who was first trafficked from skills, educated about their legal

the adoption of the convention, India to Nepal and then back to MAITI NEPAL rights and assured that there is they say, means political commit- India, the violators might find An NGO activist (seated) and a policewoman talking to “potential some place they can go in case of ment and state-level initiations to that it is now harder to get away victims” at the Nepal-India border, Biratnagar. an emergency, there is high combat crime, and this is the first just by simply hiding in a neigh- chance they will either be traf- time South Asian governments bouring country. This is a gain out that the SAARC conven- sation, if any, and services victims ficked again or end up as commer- have said combating transnational that will be difficult to reverse—tion totally ignores the rights- are entitled to from the destination cial sex workers,” says Nirmala, Bench boycott crime is a priority. Article VII of the convention based approach recommended by country. Apart from providing a who spent○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ five years in an NGO ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ “This is a realisation among the requires that in addition to the UN Protocol to Prevent, temporary “protective home” for The Nepal Bar Association, an organisation of professional lawyers, and the Judicial Council, a transit home before she could startregulatory body of senior judges, have launched a campaign to check corruption in the courts. South Asian countries that blaming existing treaties, all future Suppress and Punish Trafficking people rescued from traffickers, the a new life with her family. At a recent meeting senior officials of the NBA and the Council agreed to help one another each other is leading us nowhere, extradition treaties signed in Persons 2000. The UN recipient country has no moral or The convention recognises collect information on allegations of corruption, share the information, and work jointly to build and that regional co-ordination is between any SAARC countries protocol emphasises that the legal obligation to provide any other “prostitution” as the sole reason public pressure against corrupt practices—even to publicise names of corrupt judges. Says needed,” said Bimal Rawal, the must automatically include human rights of the victims services or support for their rehabili- for trafficking in women and Satish Krishna Kharel, NBA Secretary, “It was decided that the NBA would chalk up a long and national project co-ordinator for trafficking in persons as an should be upheld by the countriestation. Under the new convention, children—a definition which doesshort-term policy, which the Council would help implement.” But if Chief Justice Keshav Prasad the ILO’s South Asian Sub- extraditable crime. of origin, destination and transit, victims of trafficking have little say in not recognise that people are Upadhyaya is to be taken at his word—he maintains that the Council should have the final Regional Programme to Combat The convention also tries to but under the SAARC conven- their future. What, for example, are trafficked for cheap and forced say—we may have to wait a while before we see any tangible results of the initiative. Trafficking in Children. address the common charge that tion, the liability of countries the obligations of the recipient labour, and domestic work. The For Nepal, the immediate political and bureaucratic involved in trafficking is slight. country should a woman or child definition of offenders is broader, benefit of this convention is the patronage helps offenders and

MAITI NEPAL MAITI The second World Conference on not want to return to the country citing “a person who keeps, “Rescued” Nepali women being repatriated, Gorakhpur Railway Station. automatic activation of its makes any real crackdown Trafficking in Persons held in of her origin? Durga Ghimire, a maintains or manages, or know- Another test extradition treaty with India, the difficult, if not impossible. It Japan last month concluded that women’s rights activist, believes ingly ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ finances or takes part in the ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ country identified as the biggest clearly identifies as an “aggravat-the most basic tool to control that repatriation should be financing of a place used for the We’ll soon know a little more about the state of our public schools. The government recently HEMLATA RAI ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ To prevent her from going enough for Jamuna to support recipient of Nepali women in the ing circumstance” the direct andtrafficking in humans is discourag-voluntary. “Only 5-10 percent of purpose of trafficking, and launched a school evaluation process in the public schools of Dang district under the Educa- hen she was a ten-year- back to her parents, Jamuna’s herself and her parents. “That man working in Indian brothels. But commercial sex industry. The indirect involvement of public ing demand for them. The the girls trafficked from Nepal to knowingly lets or rents a buildingtion Standard Enhancement and Evaluation Program (ESEEP). A survey team put together by old in New Delhi, husband brought her to looked like a saviour to me, and I nobody knows for sure whether extradition treaty signed between office holders, and the abuse of SAARC convention totally India want to come back, mainly or other place”. the District Education Office will conduct studies in 64 schools and submit a report within ten Jamuna was married off Nawalparasi in Nepal three days was happy to go back to India with this number is increasing annu- the two countries enlists 16 authority to protect or assist days. The outcome of the studies would be used to modify and revise the ESEEP. Apart from W ignores this. because they anticipate social Dang, Banke, Bardiya and Surkhet have been selected for the implementation of the program in to a 60-year-old man as repay- later. Once in Nepal, she was him,” she told us. The “uncle” sold ally, or decreasing. The Interna- offences for which criminals can traffickers. They also identify It is also silent about compen-problems,” she says. In 1996, for (Names of trafficked women regularly abused physically and her to a brothel, for how much, she the Mid-Western Development Region. All four districts performed very poorly in the annual ment for a Rs 600 loan her father tional Labour Organisation in be extradited. The new conven- other aggravating circum- have been changed.) School Leaving Certificate exams—last year, not a single student from Dang passed. The had taken from him. She still sexually by her husband. “He never found out. She worked there Nepal says that 12,000 girls are tion means that trafficking in stances—the involvement of an evaluation process is also expected to single out incompetent teachers, which will aid the vividly remembers her midnight wanted to have children. How for a year, until Indian police trafficked out of Nepal every year. persons is automatically added to organised group, the use of government’s endeavour to investigate the use of fake academic certificates for employment by “marriage”—her hands were tied could I produce one, I hadn’t rescued her in a routine raid. But this is an estimate, not a the treaty. The new regulation violence or arms and victimisation teachers in these districts. The program will eventually be implemented in 33 districts alto- behind her and she was gagged to even started menstruating. I Women like Jamuna were the fact—the ILO’s recent rapid makes it more likely that justice of underage children. gether across the country. stop her from raising an alarm. didn’t even realise what the old centre of concern when the 11 assessment report on Trafficking is done, because the countries of All that is well and good, but Her mother was pushed down the man was doing to me,” she says. If th in Girls with Special Reference to both origin and destination, for there are already rumbles of AN EXHIBITION ABOUT YOU stairs where she lay unconscious this weren’t enough, she was raped SAARC summit adopted the Prostitution came up with this instance Nepal and India, will discontent. “The convention throughout the “marriage” several times by her own uncle. Convention on Preventing and figure assuming that every month now both have extra-territorial overlooks recent international Jamuna’s groom and his friends And then it seemed as if Combating Trafficking in Women five girls each are trafficked from jurisdiction, and be responsible developments in approaching and forcefully conducted. Jamuna’s Jamuna had a way out. A village and Children for Prostitution. the 26 most trafficking-prone for providing legal assistance to addressing the problem of Nepal Bikash Bazaar drunken father slept through “uncle” said he could help her Non-governmental bodies districts identified by the govern- the victim. States are now trafficking in persons,” says find a job in Mumbai that paid everything. estimate that approximately ment, and 2.5 from 11 additional required to grant the widest advocate Sapana Malla-Pradhan. 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM FEB 5-7TH, 2002 200,000 Nepali women are districts the assessment team possible measures for legal She and other legal experts point TALK TO US BIRENDRA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER Naya Baneshwor, Kathmandu HERE AND THERE by DANIEL LAK TALK TO ANYONE Y our concerns about income, employment, health, Inspiration on ice education, communications, environment and more. Get your answers at LEH, Ladakh—Once long ago, starvation and boredom were the hallmarks of winter in this remote, altitudinous place. A bad barley cropIndia’s in Third Annual National Ice Nepal Bikash Bazaar... summer meant that hunger stalked the cold months. The long, frigidHockey Championships have just players for America’s northern reaches along the Canadian border. nights drove people to bed early, after much chhang and raksi. The Live presentation of Nepal's ended and it doesn’t matter who won. Almost Canadian, they were assured more than once. Ladakh pulled out days were to be endured, women’s fingers freezing in the still open all the stops to welcome the men from where the game began. Ladakhi streams as they washed cloths, warmed up later preparing food. Men hospitality and warmth were already legendary, but the shock of stepping achievement, problems and headed for the boozer. off a flight from Delhi into minus 16 degrees—the spectacular scenery Now Ladakh is a model of how to cope with the cold. For centuries, notwithstanding—took a lot of overcoming. The Ladakhis succeeded. prospects in national the winters have been the time for festivals. Before Buddhism, people They also exacted their price. After tea and biscuits, the Canadians languished in idleness. Afterward, they celebrated and partied and took to the ice of a frozen pond in the centre of Leh to play their first development. Come visit worshipped in a warming frenzy of faith and alcohol. As for food, the lowly friendly game against a local squad. With an average age of around 40, potato has transformed life here in untold ways. No longer is roasted and newly arrived from 250 metres above sea level to around 3,500, the and become a partner in barley flour—the tsampa so beloved by Sherpas and Tibetans—a winter North Americans were at somewhat of a disadvantage. But Ladakhis have Learn English at the British Council staple. Countless potato dishes grace the groaning boards of Ladakhi played this game for just two years, whereas it’s in the visitors’ blood. the progress of Nepal. kitchens. For those who can afford it, theoretically daily flights from Delhi Despite some huffing and puffing, the Canadians won. And each game and elsewhere enliven the culinary experience with imports from the rest of brought roars of approval from a crowd that slowly built to 6,000 by the the country. And then there’s ice hockey. final day of the tournament. There were serious matches between local That’s right, ice hockey. The Canadians amongst you will nod teams, and in the intervals everyone cheered on the Canadians, laughing NEPAL knowingly at the allure of this antidote for freezing boredom, but the rest if they fell and exclaiming at the innate prowess of unfit, ageing hockey will need some explanation. Leh, the capital of Ladakh, is also the centre players who’d known the game since childhood. “An inspiration,” DEVELOPMENT of Indian ice hockey. What better place for the beautiful game played on one man told me. “Great fun to watch and next year, we’ll beat skates and frozen water than a high altitude desert region where the them,” said the coach of the eventual champions, the Ladakh Scouts FORUM temperature rarely rises above 0 degrees Celsius between November and regiment of the Indian Army. But all that really mattered was the March. Invented in Canada—probably by British soldiers driven mad byDANIEL LAK camaraderie, the fun and the constructive whiling away of wintry the cold months—the game has spread to the chilly bits of Europe, Russia, I travelled on one of those theoretical flights (cancelled twice, made it days that might otherwise be spent in boredom and bars. Between 2002 Japan and even to warm places like Kuala Lumpur. And now India. Thejust in time for the first game last Saturday) with a team of Canadians from festivals, wintry Ladakh still has time on its hands. third annual National Ice Hockey Championships of India have just endedDelhi. Two token Americans were also grudgingly allowed to join the It’s an inspiration to see how sport—played for fun, not profit or and it doesn’t matter who won. In Leh, a good time was had by all. squad, so long as they could endure the communal abuse and frequent jokes national pride—can inspire such warmth and humanity. Now, if only we about George W hurled their way. They bore the burden well, perhaps could build ice skating rinks in Namche or Jomsom. I know a team that’s because neither thought highly of President Bush and both were hockey ready, willing and raring to come. www.ndf2002.gov.np 6 NATION 1 - 7 FEBRUARY 2002NEPALI TIMES NEPALI ECONOMY 1 - 7 FEBRUARY 2002NEPALI TIMES 7 SOMEWHERE IN NEPAL by PUSKAR BHUSAL INTERVIEW Democracy vs depravity “Tax evasion is a part of Nepali culture”

ith the top diplomat of Nepali Times: How does revenue collection the planet’s sole super- look this fiscal year? Wpower having joined the Bhoj Raj Ghimire: Despite a healthy growth rate of remnants of the partyless order. But understand that, adjusted forover 19 percent at end of the first three months (mid- international donor community in pancha took home. But Nepalis they can’t respond because their inflation, a politician’s net gainJuly through mid-October), if the trend of the first six mobile phones—all this gives some indication about admonishing Nepali officials to curb still want the anti-corruption politics depends on the monetary today is nowhere near whatmonths a (until January) continues, overall revenue potential taxpayers who are not yet in the net. corruption, we must add bite to our campaign to start with the people bark before the next watchdog value they can put on patronage. performance will be well below the projections made they elected. Individual taxpayers still fear harassment at comes out with its latest sleaze Think of the scandals that took at the beginning of this fiscal year. This unsatisfactory One Nepali Congress youth the tax offices. What is the government index. This confluence of global place during the Panchayat decades performance has been attributed to many factors—the activist wants the healing process doing to allay that fear and encourage caution, however, must not be and jot down the faces that come to global recession after 11 September, the deteriorating to begin with the imprisonment of people to file income tax returns? allowed to obscure our own mind. Count how many are in law and order situation in the country, and the half a dozen leaders of his party. In Substantial reforms have been made in tax administra- politicians’ contributions to raising active politics today. Is it just a subsequent slowdown in the economy. a season of conciliation, we need to tion in the past decade, which have resulted in the anti-graft awareness. coincidence that those who devise an anti-corruption campaign procedures being simplified and also ensured a high Even at the height of the Lauda prospered the most during the How about after collections from the Volun- that would satisfy everyone. Many level of transparency in tax administration. The Air allegations he was battling as partyless years happen to be the tary Disclosure of Income Scheme? politicians under clouds of introduction of an account-based self-assessment prime minister last year, Girija ones dominating the Rastriya We have not fixed any separate collection target under suspicion today languished in dark system for income tax has further guaranteed that the Prasad Koirala continued to exhort Prajatantra Party today? Let’s not the VDIS. But collection has been about Rs 440 panchayati prisons for the cause of process of filing returns is simplified. The tax adminis- Nepalis to make a critical distinc- be so adamant about the April 1990 million—that is the income tax collected on previ- democracy. But, remember, they tration has clearly defined the taxpayers’ rights and tion: “People attack democracy by cut-off when we talk about ously undeclared wealth or income amounting to opposed the system knowing that it educated taxpayers about them, and shown its saying it brought along corruption. punishing the corrupt, unless we’re about Rs 44 billion. This has brought 2,200 more was illegal to do so. Perhaps the commitments to fully honour them. The nine-point But if Girija Prasad is corrupt, ready to exculpate the referendum- taxpayers in the tax net and created increased state could order politicians code of conduct directing the behaviour of tax officials Girija should be blamed, not era clique that denuded our forests. awareness among taxpayers. The scheme was primarily accused of financial misconduct to has also been implemented. The Central Monitoring democracy.” Donors complain that scarce put in place to supplement normal revenue collection GODFREY MWAMPEMBWA post bonds equivalent to what they Unit at the Ministry of Finance responds quickly to Around the same time, in his government resources that should efforts, so no substantial changes are expected in received in prison allowances, protect taxpayers from any instance of harassment. All avatar as the chief be funding health, nutrition and overall revenue performance, even after the sizeable Is the price of democracy an eternal tolerance of corruption? education programmespending are being a full investigation. these measures have positively contributed to reducing collection of revenue under the VDIS. MIN BAJRACHARYA This dragnet would also catch ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ squandered. But do they realise However, upon the request of the business the harassment faced by taxpayers at tax offices. But politicians who found themselves Kangresi how expensive it is to acquire community, civil society and others, His Majesty’s more reforms are needed in the tax system, and in the gaol in the 1960s until they In light of the recent Voluntary Declaration of Income dissident, Sher Bahadur Deuba rationalisation creates room for bank politics has had an economic have a good chance of getting away attributes like openness and Government has extended the due date for payment of equally important are changes in the attitude of both recognised the value of becoming attributed the blossoming of bribery confidence. It’s been six months trickle-down effect, seeping all the with it. transparency? Moreover, when taxes on undeclared wealth under this scheme by one Scheme and the cash crunch the government is facing, tax officials and taxpayers. Only that can help to to the people’s readiness to respect since Koirala vacated Baluwatar way down to the village develop- Nepalis aren’t alone in lamenting foreign aid is still influenced by month. From the beginning of Falgun [mid-February], we spoke with BHOJ RAJ GHIMIRE, Joint Secretary of the develop a foolproof system. the rich regardless of the source of darbar, but corruption continues to ment committees, it reeks more of how rising costs of election cam- political and strategic considera- the Department of Inland Revenue, based on informa- There have been a number of positive their resources. Coming from a coarsen the political discourse as cronyism. paigns have allowed commercial and tions, how principledpanchas can the. As policy for those who thrived tion it has, will initiate the necessary legal action Revenue Division of the Finance Ministry, about tax politician, such candour could be abrasively as ever. Every prime minister since criminal elements to influence the performance of the recipient nation against those who, despite accumulating wealth or experiences from around the world with in the partyless decades without evasion and reforms to the collection system. regard to contracting revenue collection considered the equivalent of biting Extending Deuba’s expostula- Mohan Shumsher the Commoner political process. The scale and be? Sometimes you’rehaving forced gone to to prison, well, you income, have not paid taxes. the hand that feeds you. However, tion, each change in the political has spoken of the need for a clean, subtlety may vary, but a coherent wonder whether less corrupt to entities outside the civil service. always could shame them as sinners Would this be a consideration in Nepal? Deuba offered a forthright descrip- system has spawned a new pedigree fair and impartial administration. pattern of political fund-raising flaws governments actuallyof anreceive abominable more epoch. The VDIS has been criticised on the grounds tion of what many experts have of parvenus. They may not be The restoration of multiparty is perceptible in instances from foreign assistance. that the same 20,000 taxpayers are harassed and the advertisement campaigns launched by us leave time using the opportunity they have been offered. There are some instances where revenue estima- The funds raised from this no room for doubt as to the scope of the VDIS. tion- and collection-related functions have been been telling us through turgid feudals in the strict sense of the politics has widened the vista of former German chancellor Helmut A prime ministermandatory who is forced reimbursement scheme every year. Why did that happen? theses: corruption is rooted in the term, but they do share most of the such vigilance bodies as the Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union to begin his day by counting his I would like to make it clear that this scheme does not How bad is tax evasion in Nepal? contractd out from the designated revenue would be modest, but it could help Does your list of suspects include politicians, Frankly speaking, there is no tax culture in Nepal, in authorities. One of the success stories is Singapore, continuing feudal nature of Nepali characteristics. The more transpar- Commission for Investigation of to the soft money/hard money flock in parliamentbreak regardless the culture of the of impunity in target any individual, group or community and is society. ent society is trying to be, the more Abuse of Authority, parliament’s filibusters on Capitol Hill. It seems size of his party’s majority cannot basically intended to provide a one-time amnesty to who are said to be the richest people in this fact, it is almost cultural to avoid taxes, wherever and where the government sets annual revenue collec- which corruption thrives. Of country? whenever possible. If one talks of income tax alone, no tion targets in consultation with the revenue The democracy-corruption conspicuous tainted money has Public Accounts Committee and the price of democracy is eternal be expected to probecourse, subordinates the alternative would be to all those who have accumulated wealth or income correlation is something many become. To be sure, the networks the Special Police Department. tolerance of corruption. with questionable integrity. without paying tax on it, either fully or partially. This The list prepared by the tax administration includes one willingly wants to pay tax on whatever they have authority headed by the Finance Ministry and the wait for Koirala to start blaming all kinds of people, and we have no intention of earned and pocketed. Similarly, if one analyses the latter is responsible for collections. Despite Nepalis wished they wouldn’t have of resource collection and distribu- Even in the midst of an increasingly Today’s politicians must find it Professional solidaritydemocracy would for depravity. But where scheme shall not affect regular and honest taxpayers, to explore. Now that the task has tion that drive organised politics assertive civil society, however, intolerable having to listen to demand that the chief point to but it will not spare the dishonest. The information sparing any group of people or community. Tax volume of business in the country vis-à-vis the revenue significant reforms in the past, our tax system has would that leave the people, administration, on the basis of information gathered generated through VAT, one can easily assess the extent not given high yields. Our present priority should been forced upon us, it is clear that have played a significant part in the court convictions are rare. You can harangues against financial malfea- corruption in the bureaucracyespecially those and who have tried five booklets put out by the Inland Revenue Department neither Koirala’s nor Deuba’s inflation of corruption. While vote- pilfer from the public purse and sance and moral turpitude from other areas of life. Many people from various sources, has identified potential tax of tax evasion in the country. In addition, the lavish be to build up our existing system with reforms— systems in 50 years? evaders of all kinds and is fully committed to lifestyles of people, the high rise buildings and expensive quick changes don’t always pay off. So, it may be initiating necessary legal action if the identified vehicles we see in the capital, how some children go to too early to think about contracting out tax evaders don’t pay their taxes within the stipulated the most expensive schools, the widespread use of collection. FOLLOW-UP

BIZ NEWS Wanted: mountain memorabiliaBPC again ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ t’s taken nearly a decade, but Nepal’s Nepal’s mountain museum is finally taking shape. But what will it display? Interkraft Nepal has outbid the Independent Power Company (IPC) and the Chaudhary Group in the bid to mountain museum is taking final shape. At museum came to a standstill in 1997 after take over the Butwal Power Company, which the government has been trying to privatise for the last three ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○ Ileast the first phase is, a cavernous structure Norbu’s death. Suddenly missing Norbu’s years. The Interkraft bid was Rs 950 million—up from its third round offer of Rs 730 million—against the designed to house the Hall of Himalayas, the piece” #7) Although this is only a soft opening, only fill a corner of the hall, which is massive. prepare exhibits of mountaineeringvision equipment, and fundraising skills—he managed to Chaudhary Group’s Rs 866 million. The Interkraft bid comes in the form of Rs 874.20 million in Nepali money Hall of International Mountains and the Hall NMA officials are expecting some big names to The museum is an ambitious project, and that Dr TB Shrestha will prepare the scriptcollect for funds the from well-wishing alpine clubs and Rs 1 million in US dollars, while the IPC-Chaudhary Group quoted its entire bid amount in Nepali rupees. of Expeditions. attend, including French climber Maurice is why we plan to open it in phases.” botany collection, and Dr Ganesh aroundGurung the will world, particularly from Japan, to get The government has had four rounds of tenders in its attempt to sell its 75 percent holding in the BPC, but Flying into Pokhara, the museum is Herzog, the first person on Annapurna, and For the soft opening, an exhibition of be working out how to display the thewealth museum of off the ground—the NMA was the process has been caught up in one tangle or another. (See “BPC on the block again,” #60) impossible to miss from the air. A massive former Japanese prime minister Ryutaro various ethnic groups, exhibits from local anthropological detail in the mountains.forced After to postpone the museum’s scheduled The IPC-CG combine was disqualified from the bidding in the last round and the government rejected frame of steel, concrete beams, its unique shape the lone bid from Interkraft on a “technicality,” essentially a typographical slip relating to the bid amount. Hashimoto. climbers, and photographs will be on display. the formal opening, which is slatedopening for May during Visit Nepal Year 1998 and aim Government sources later told us the single bid had been rejected because the offer was too small in seems to mimic the Annapurna in the And while alpine clubs from around the The NMA also hopes to have a festival of 2003, the 50 for a soft opening in 2002. dollar terms. How the privatisation of the BPC proceeds will be closely watched by other investors and backdrop. A complex structure, the roof fans world have offered to loan this museum their mountain films in the audio-visual hall. th anniversary of the first ascent of The Rs 300 million museum is the pet Nepal’s donors. out to resemble the mountains. exhibits, to offset Nepal’s own deficient But even though the exhibits comeMt Everest May and the second part of the Destina- project of the NMA, which has already spent Rs While the architecture is impressive, collection and lack of funds to buy or collect will be fairly bare bones, there are sometion Nepal campaign, the museum’s perma- 51 million on the building, with funds mostly museum experts are concerned that the memorabilia, this may not be the perfect impressive names assisting in their nentpreparation. exhibits will include selections from past derived from income by levying fees on medium collection might fall short. “The concept of the solution. The mountain exposition in Salzburg, “Various experts will be preparing scriptsexhibitions, on geological specimens, archival sized trekking peaks (between 5,555 m and mountain museum is great but there’s no Austria preferred Nepal as a first choice to have different topics so we can put up a temporaryphotographs, satellite maps and other para- 6,654 m) in the country. Phase II and III of the collection,” says Jal Krishna Shrestha, director museum, are still at the blueprint stage, and a Easier credit their expo but the cost of the exhibition, exhibition in May,” says Shrestha, whophernalia. is also ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ of the Patan Museum. A long time-member of transportation till Pokhara and the installment the convenor of the mountain museum.About While time, say mountain enthusiasts, who new architect will be replacing the initial The central bank has eased the rule requiring banks to obtain Business Credibility Information (BCI) on the Nepal Mountaineering Association, which costs $2 million. “We can’t afford that,” Shrestha will be responsible for explaininghave been the waiting in anticipation since 1993. consortium to cut down on costs. For museum importers seeking to open Letters of Credit (LC). The Nepal Rastra Bank had decided last week that the has been the driving force behind the musuem, says NMA president Tashi Jangbu vision of the museum and what exactlyThe itproject hopes has been plagued with setbacks, expertise, the NMA has also managed to rope in BCI should be mandatory for imports over $15,000, but has now raised that limit to $50,000. The bank has Shrestha is working hard to put together a Sherpa. “Even if the expo to showcase, Dr Harka Gurung willfinancial prepare troublesthe and bickering. “Sometimes a Japanese museologist, a volunteer from JICA, also decided that the BCI will be valid for a year, against its own earlier requirement that it be verified and temporary collection for the initial launch on were brought to script for mountain history, Tashi youJangbu have the money, the equipment, the to help with the museum come April. The updated every three months. While businesses are generally happy to have got their way, donors are 29 May this year, the International Year of Nepal, it would Sherpa, president of theNMA,support, will everything, but owing to technical museum is expected to get visitors from outside, critical, citing this flip-flop as yet another example of the central bank’s poor ability to assess the market it Mountains and the first part of the Destination hitches, there’s always some delay. This is but is designed primarily to make Nepalis more is trying to serve. They say this is a blow to the bank’s credibility as an institution that frames rules and Nepal campaign. (See “Pokhara’s new museum aware of their mountain environment. sticks by them. Rastra Bank governor Tilak Rawal says the recent decision shows his “flexibility” to adjust Nepal—things still take forever,” says an NMA rules if they are impractical. official. The dream of former NMA president, But now that the museum building is the late Dawa Norbu Sherpa, work on the nearing completion, there are other concerns. Although the museum, designed by a consor- tium of architects from Kathmandu-based Sanday Kentro Associates and Narendra Pradhan German glass and Associates, is visually stunning, observers ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ say it has its shortcomings. “Access to the Yantoriya Company has begun marketing the entire range of Schott’s museum’s location and access to the main Jenaer Glas kitchenware in Kathmandu. The range, which includes entrance is difficult,” says an observer who accessories for measuring, cooking and baking and serving, will be retailed recently visited it. There is also concern that through departmental stores and kitchenware outlets. Jenaer products are urbanisation in the area will block the view of the heat-resistant, microwave safe and dishwater proof, says Yantoriya. Annapurna, now clearly visible from the building. NMA officials admit that some “facelifts” will be required in the future, and have Skin care roped in architect Shankar Rimal to help with ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ changes. Another German brand, Florena, has also hit the stores. Mayur Overseas Traders is now marketing Florena cream with chamomile, vitamin E and extra UV protection, in addition to its range of body and baby care products, including soaps, shaving creams and soaps. The impressive roof lines of the Hall of the Himalaya, which is nearing completion. KANAK MANI DIXIT KANAK 8 MUSIC 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES MUSIC 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES 9 meeting, virtually every other ko mutu dalit community was mentioned Gandharba but not a word about the different,” he says. The commu- (The Heart of the nity is increasingly concerned Gandharba. And that was why Gandharba), which will have 15 Sanu Kancha didn’t attend the about ensuring its future genera- houses of other Nepalis. And month for a dailyoriginal hour-long Gandharba songs.most talented It is oftions the community do not labour under this second meeting. “I was heart expensive, says Sanu Kancha, but broken. Why should we go there though singing is how they would course in playing sarangi. Yogi is to cut an albumhandicap. called Sanu Kancha, for like to continue making their enthusiastic aboutthe the community four- is doing its best to instance, is sending his two sons again? We will survive on our make sure that it works out. own,” he says. The name living, they are forced to take on stringed Nepali violin. “I have to an English school, even if it odd jobs simply to survive. Few always loved the musicMany of the younger members of the means having to get by on only Gandharba is found in numerous community say that preservation Hindu holy texts such as the have land they can call their own, Gandharbas, but never had time one meal a day. and many are heavily in debt. to learn it. I finallyof culturetook time alone out is not enough. GACO, for its part, is sponsor- Purana and the Swasthani, but Education is their long-term goal, mention in holy books is no Sanu Kancha himself has had and it has been worth it.” ing two children in Tanahun district Nepali minstrels want to move with the times, a difficult, not untypical life. People like Yogiand fulfil 23-year-old an Raj Kumar and is planning to institute more guarantor of a good Gandharba says he acutely feels life—although Nearly two decades ago, at the important role. As the GACO such scholarships in the future. Says but keeping their identity intact. age of 13, he started “running” works to preservethe the lack communi- of a basic education. Sanu Kancha: “I hope education Gandharbas are “People call us often offered the streets, first of Basantapur ty’s heritage, its members find it will help them become better food, clothes and then Thamel. “During the heartening when others, especiallygaine, it hurts. human beings, and we hope they and money, early days I just sang and walked other Nepalis, takeWe cannotan active answer back because never forget that they are their caste bars the streets, hoping for a kind ear interest in it. Rightwe are now simple the people. If we were Gandharbas even if they become them from to listen to us and maybe praise organisation is workingeducated, to things save as might have been doctors or engineers.” entering the us and give us a few rupees. But many old lyrics and songs and one day I found that there were record them for posterity. GACO some real admirers, especially has got together the oldest and tourists who wanted to buy the was decided that all the other sarangi. And that was how humans would give a small share everything started for us.” The of their meal to the Gandharbas. Gandharba Art and Culture And that is how it has been Organisation was established in for centuries. 1995 on the advice of a kind- Gandharbas, the minstrels of hearted American. It is the only Nepal, have been singing for their organisation of its kind in Nepal supper as long as anyone can and has 110 members and a remember. Music is not just their branch in Pokhara. The organisa- profession, it is their culture, tion is entirely self-sustaining— their life, their reason for being. members make the four-stringed Unfortunately, while they have sarangi and sell them to tourists, earned much fame from it, the and donate a quarter of the money has been significantly proceeds to the organisation. slower to come. And in these “It isn’t a very dependable or ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEY rapidly changing times, the constant source of income, given ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ challenge facing the Gandharbas the current trends in tourism, but n a cold and rainy day this is not just how to keep their even at times when there are week in Thamel, and culture alive, but how to keep plenty of tourists on the streets, OGandharbas are not to be their community itself going. it is difficult to earn more than Rs seen, nor their sarangi heard. But if No one knows where the 2,000 -Rs 3,000 per week,” says you enter the alley beside the Jump Gandharbas were originally from,Nepal’s folk history. Gandharba,” laments Sanu Sanu Kancha. Other than singing Club and walk up to the two-room but most come from the western Sadly, even those Nepalis whoKancha Gandharba president of Gandharba, the only surviving Gandharba who can play the arbaz, the and selling sarangi, madal (Nepali office of the Gandharba Art and development region districts ofunderstand the significance of the the Gandharba Art and Culture original version of the sarangi; and Sanu Kancha Gandharba, president double sided drum), and basuri Culture Organisation, you’ll always Tanahun, Chitwan, Lamjung, andmusical tradition of the Organisation. At a recent of GACO.Clockwise from far left: A special edition carved sarangi worth Rs 5000; (flute), some Gandharbas have find someone here—laughing, Gorkha. For centuries they haveGandharba community do not meeting, the intellectuals of the the cover of the soon-to-be-releasedGandharba ko Mutu; Mohan started teaching folk dance classes teaching, chatting and, naturally, been Nepal’s mass media, seem to associate the art form capital talked about the role of to curious tourists, or music to singing. travelling through the thousandswith the people, an irony not lost the sarangi but not the man behind the odd Nepali music lover. Bikas To any visitor they will offer a of villages singing oral historieson of the musicians. “Nepalis love the instrument, he tells us. Yogi, a musician, pays Rs 2,000 a kind smile and a cup of tea gods, kings, and commoners. the sarangi but not the At another human rights from the Gorkha Restaurant Their more memorable songs tell below. This, they say, is of King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s where their strength lies, feats that led to the unification of in unity, the same kind Nepal, of the fire that ravaged they say with a little Singha Darbar 30 years ago, and Mother may ask where her son is smile, they have of Jung Bahadur hunting tigers in helped bring about in the tarai. But the allure of House to house, door to door Nepal with their Gandharba music for most They came to recruit Asking whether we would like to have a job songs. There is a great Nepalis lies in the songs they sing dissertation for some Our hearts concurred khoiof chhora loves lostbhanlinAmai and le won, sodhlin of the ni pain The major saab in the corner, he checked ethnomusicologist or and suffering of(“Mother the common may The squint-eyed and the deaf, they went out anthropologist out ask whereperson, her such son asis.”See box for The healthy went to the hospital and were taken in there in exploring translation.) of a man who goes to Six months from that day the significance of battle and is wounded. Knowing We paraded barefoot Gandharba songs in that he is about to die, he sends a Many are wounded in the chest, and many more in the head nation building. poignant letter to his family. When I remember the wound in the head, my heart shakes A long, long time Unfortunately, the changing ago, it is told, before musical tastes of Nepalis are Mother may ask where her son is the gods populated the posing quite a challenge to the Tell her I’ll come later Father might ask where his son is earth with humans, there Gandharba’s music. The minstrels were musicians that Tell him I am still fighting in the battlefields who wandered have already given Elder brother might ask where his brother is entertained the divinities.up travelling through the villages, Tell him his share of property has increased The Gandharbas fiddledand most of them prefer to come Younger brother might ask where his brother is away on their arbaaz, theto cities such as Kathmandu and Tell him the family has decreased original version of the Pokhara. More than just the Elder sister might ask where her brother is sarangi, and the Tell her to return the gift she brought from her house disappearance of an art form, the Younger sister might ask where her brother is decline of the Gandharba’s Tell her there is no gift for her this time traditional livelihood also signals Sister-in-law might ask where her brother-in-law is the loss of a vital source of Tell her to cut a goat and have a feast apsaras My son might ask where his father is Tell him to remove his cap danced to their tunes. My daughter might ask where her father is This idyllic state Tell her to save her honour of affairs continued until the powers that Brothers will talk of me at the family meetings be decided that humans Father will talk of me for six months, a year had outlived their Mother will talk of me forever usefulness in the higher My beloved wife might ask where I am realms, and so would be Tell her to break her bangles and her necklace divided into castes and sent Wipe her sindoor, and that her path is now open down to earth. The banishing of the unsuspecting humans from Childhood was spent in play the heavens was obviously an My youth in the service of the government occasion for great celebration and I wanted to come, the enemy stopped me all were invited to a grand feast. I didn’t come, death met me Each caste was seated in its assigned place and served food and wine by comely apsaras. Everyone arrived on time, except the Gandharbas. They came after all the food had been apportioned to all the castes. They could not be turned away, hungry, and so it ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEY 10 TECHNOLOGY 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES WORLD 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES 11 COMMENT by HAROLD JAMES The middle path ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○ UNITED NATIONS - Rich and poor countries remain polarised on key issues including debt relief, aid and the role of international Can Nepal do IT? The old New World Orderfinancial institutions in the run-up to a development finance conference. Two-week preparatory talks for the International ebates and protests about Historians have a keen sense of déjà vu about globalisation. Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) concluded two globalisation, muted since last days behind schedule, with a consensus declaration to be September’s terrorist attacks, adopted at the conference, slated for March in Monterrey, Mexico. When and how did IT become so central to the are likely to return with normalcy. contagious financial panics that spread The talks were fractious and diplomats considered consensus an When they do, our understanding of from the periphery to the heart of the accomplishment in itself, but many were unhappy with the 14- business and private lives of Nepalis? And where the process will be greater if we look standards. In the centre, a liberal unions, the new Right is a competitivepage document. Developing country delegates said the FfD world’s financial system, and a turn to commercial elite saw the products of challenge for support. For theirprocess has yet to reach its goal of giving them a bigger say in back at history. Among historians, economic nationalism and autarky. is it going? globalisation provokes a keen sense of economic opening or globalisation as members, international competitionmanaging is a the global economy. The preparatory committee again What had before 1914 been safety nets highlighted the obvious, they said privately—that beggars can’t déjà vu: we were here a century ago. wholly beneficial. Instead of a two-part major threat as imports or immigrants ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ against excessive globalisation became, split between Left and Right, there was may cut the wages of less skilledbe choosers. Swedish Ambassador Ruth Jacoby, co-chair of GreatD achievements—material after the war, gigantic snares that the preparatory committee, said negotiations on development progress, dizzying new technologies a triple division between anti- workers. Consequently a demand for the private sector. In fact, many IT maintaining electoral rolls and grew, so did the general public’s strangled the world economy. globalisation conservatives, pro- the exclusion of the products ofassistance “unfair had been the most time consuming. Only five like the automobile, the telephone, the countries—Denmark, Luxembourg the Netherlands, Norway professionals feel they were better administering election results at the appetite for new gadgets. About a The most remarkable characteristic globalisation liberals, and re- competition” is transmitted to off without the additional baggage Election Commission and software for decade ago, everyone started typewriter—existed then, but so did of globalisation backlashes is how they and Sweden—kept their promises to set aside 0.7 percent of MIN BAJRACHARYA MIN protests against a world that seemed distributionist Leftists. When the mainstream centre-Left parties, GNPsuch as to aid developing countries, she said, and Ireland set a Sanjib Rajbhandari of under-performing bureaucracy share market record keeping. assembling PCs—this was, after all, create an odd alliance of Right and Left. extremes of the political spectrum the French Socialists or America’stime frame to meet the target. “One major donor has never that they are now saddled with. At about the time Regmi was a time when you did not need out of the control of traditional In the late 19 political institutions. became radicalised between the wars, Democrats. accepted the target,” she said, taking an obvious swipe at the th United States, which refused to commit to an increase from its BINOD BHATTARAI The first computation machine learning the basics of COBOL on authorised distributors of branded century, Europe’s land- the anti-international Right moved to In the modern centre is something ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Then, as now, the backlash came arrived in Nepal during the 1971 the ICL, Sanjib Rajbhandari names to sell you machines that th current 0.22 percent of GNP and argued against firm targets and chiefly from rich industrial countries, based aristocracy was weakened by the fascism, the Left to communism. similar to centurylate 19 Europe’s magine a scenario in which all census, a second generation IBM- (CHK) of Mercantile Communica- worked, even a high-school graduate competition of cheap grain and other Democratic politics became paralysed.endangered liberal order: an elite that deadlines in the Monterrey document—prescriptions that found rather than poor peripheral countries their way into the draft. NGOs say other developing country land ownership records are on a 1401 that used tape drives for storage tions had purchased his first in the neighbourhood could cannibal- foods shipped across the oceans. As For much of the post-1945 period,espouses globalisation because it nationally networked computer often seen as the objects of capitalist concerns played down or sidestepped included the need to rein I and punch cards for data entry. After computer, an Apple–II plus. ise old machines to build new ones farm prices and rents fell, aristocracy these divisions disappeared as Rightbenefits from it, what cynics call the in hedge funds, the destabilising effects of which were a prime database. And just picture all exploitation. Advanced countries the census was done with, the Rajbhandari took some programming had become fair game. four years he spent marketing IT in imposed tariffs against “unfair” faced decline. So the landed elite and Left fought battles for redistribu-“Davos man.” It is unlikely that such a culprit in the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. applications for passports being government realised the gargantuan classes at a local training centre, At about this time, an initially- Nepal. “I was busy at CANwrite all application the software for mobilised small-scale farmers, artisans tion within national economies. Theprogram, old presented in these terms, can processed online. Now think of the competition from abroad, central machine needed a permanent home which as he tells it today, did not even disinterested electronics engineer time, my own businessesclients suffered, around the world. banks were instituted to manage and producers who shared its belief triple polarisation only returned withever command massive electoral IT park being built in Banepa, and and thus was born the National have one machine to actually work arrived on the IT scene. Bijaya and I could not start the sameThe IT industry is ready and raring disorderly capital flows, migration that unfettered competition was the new wave of globalisation. Again,popularity. The costs of globalisation, the government IT policy that will, Computer Centre, whose mandate on—in those days, TV screens served Krishna Shrestha, who had been businesses I was promoting,”to go. he What it needs, say profes- policy became more restrictive, as harmful. For these groups, there is an anti-international Rightand that the resentments it generates, are too in principle, result in thousands more was to provide data processing as monitors and cassette tapes were selling power back-ups and storage says. Even though he personallysionals, is the all-important push some big recipients of immigration globalisation amounted to redistribu- plays some role in all major industrialobvious. Such a party, committed to tion. On the Left, the growing working countries and tries to defend existing computer professionals in Nepal, services to government agencies. used to record programs. systems, took over the leadership of missed the boom he wasthat in part only government can provide. began to debate selectivity in choosing simple liberalisation and opening, (IPS) growing by over 2,000 every year. Another census, another new In 1983 Sanjib started a the Computer Association of Nepal responsible for, Shrestha remains a immigrants. The process of integrationclass sought to use political power to prosperity and property rights fromrarely the moves beyond the five to ten “We need to create work. If we change economic relations—to advance vagaries of international markets. The For most of us, the former machine, this one a British-made computer division as part of his (CAN) in 1995. His job was passionate believer in thecannot potential get business from abroad, was reversed after WWI and destroyed percent of the vote that Germany’s progressive tax policies, or stop the use Left’s protectionist anti-globalisationliberal Free Democrats attracts. seems fantastic—the government ICL 2950. It was state-of-the-art family’s office automation business. lobbying to put IT on the national of IT in Nepal. He has movednothing on should to stop the govern- in the Great Depression, in a series of Burning bras in Burma of tariffs to protect the old order. impetuses are less visible in political This new politics incites○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ feelings of ○○○○○○○○ owns these records and seems back then: one megabyte of RAM “For me computers were a hobby agenda—CAN was alrady talking different new businesses—fromment from creating it right here,” vicious shocks: tariff protection, unwilling to make them more Progressives also decried international parties than in labour movements,malaise but and helplessness, and 20 Triumph International, a leading European luxury lingerie firm, is and a 640 MB hard drive in that turned into a business,” says about having 100,000 Nepalis using SAFA Tempos to banking—aftersays Regmi. “Such jobs not only capitalism’s undermining of labour these can shape political programs. For pulling out of Burma after coming under sustained pressure from systematic and accessible—and the addition to 800 gigabytes of storage Rajbhandari. “In those early years email and the Internet by 2000, at his stint with CAN. Andprovide yet he employment opportunities th latter, pointless. Nepal lacks an IT TKTK labour organisations and exiled Burmese groups over working drives, which came in four units. we were a handful of people a time when government was remains convinced aboutfor the fresh graduates, they will also century movements are largely conditions. It says it will close its factory success story that people on the People who know their computers groping in the dark, not knowing shutting down the NCC and there importance of the computinghelp make government more exhausted: classic conservatism because there within the next four months and lay off ground can relate to, which is are probably smirking at the too well what we were getting was no ministry or department to industry. “One job in ITefficient.” is worth the world changes too rapidly for about 1,000 workers. Campaigners accused perhaps why people outside the admittedly limited capabilities of into.” Today Mercantile is the carry the torch. Says Shrestha, 10 in traditional businesses,”Nepali says engineers are already conservatism as stasis to be coherent or Triumph of using forced labour and said they industry can’t understand the had proof that child workers were used to the ICL. But it did what it was largest Internet Service Provider in “That goal has become reality Shrestha. “With one computerproducing you world-class software appealing, classic socialism because the upgrade the facilities on the site. They also hoopla surrounding the govern- supposed to do in its day, and Nepal and also the largest employer today.” At CAN Shrestha spent a can add value from Rs 5,000-Rssolutions used by banks, share rapidity of change erodes traditional ment’s new IT policy and the accused the company of supporting the helped the NCC stay in business for in the country’s IT sector. Its good deal of time running between 15,000 per person, withmarket little or managers no and some labour positions in the same way. The military government. Burma has one of the repeated pleas from the sector to another decade or so. software division alone employs government departments either investment.” government offices. Mercantile has bankruptcy of these respectable but now worst human rights records in the world please implement it, fast. “That was the pace at which 100 engineers and many of its pushing policy or doing background Nepal’s IT and IT-relatedrecently introduced banking outmoded positions opens the door for and its working practices have been But a little-known fact about the industry was developing at the former employees now work with policy work for the government, industry already has over 500 a new populism based on an anti- condemned by the International Labour software that uses biometrics for Organisation. In November 2000, the ILO called on its mem- Information Technology in Nepal is time,” says Suresh Regmi, an industry giants such as Microsoft which had no institution that could companies—from smallfingerprint neigh- authentication, and the globalisation groundswell. The new/old that it had enthusiasts—even in politics is inward-looking and likes the bers—governments, unions and employers—to reconsider electrical engineer, who was one of and Cisco Systems. In the mean- take charge of the fledgling bourhood computer assemblynext step is moving into authenti- their ties to Burma because of the persistence of forced government—as long as two about 12 engineering graduates who time, Rajbhandari has decided to industry. “CAN became the IT operations to larger companiescating retinas. Others are specialis- idea of the revival of the nation as a labour. Triumph, which has been operating in Burma since decades ago. But it was the private joined the NCC in 1982. Regmi play up Nepal’s own strengths in NGO, doing all the promotion and that employ over 500 people.ing in airline booking applications, protective bulwark against foreign 1996, has denied that any of its facilities make use of forced goods, migrants, foreign ownership. It sector pioneers who have managed now runs his own software house service industries, and is moving lobbying needed,” says Shrestha. There are over 100 trainingcarpet design tools and web-based labour, insisting that conditions for its employees there are to make the industry a viable one. Professional Computer Services, into high-value software and IT- Ironically, Shrestha’s own firm, institutes, from the small, one- is also dangerous and destructive, and much better than the norm. Activists stepped up their activities search engines, or designing was largely responsible for Europe’s two months ago with the launch of a high-profile campaign in Today, though the government has which has written and administered assisted service exports, such as its Beltronix, does not have a major classroom set-ups to those software for use in income tax hideous politics in the first half of the Great Britain, with the catchphrase “Support Breasts, Not a ministry to oversee IT and is even some large national programs—VAT new call centre in Thamel. computer division or any related providing internationally recog- administration. 20 Dictators”. A statement from the company blamed the increasingly planning an IT park in Banepa, the collection by Inland Revenue Office, As the computing business businesses even today, despite the nised courses. Nepal has moreMany of these individuals and emotional tenor of the debate. But a spokesman added that a industry remains driven largely by than 10 companies that specialise th further reason for the pullout was that the company saw no institutions have earned certifica- century. (Project Syndicate) only in software development,tion from large computer compa- prospect of democratic change within Burma in the near future. He said Triumph was working on a social plan to help employees not to mention the freelancenies such as Microsoft, Oracle, in Burma who would lose their jobs, and this would consist of workers who sit at home and (Harold James is professor of Novel and Cisco, others are top- history at Princeton University and some form of compensation. rated by university run standards author of The End of Globalization: like Carnegie-Mellon’s CMM— Lessons from the Great Depression.) Regmi’s PSC rates a perfect five on this scale. Industry insiders say there are more capable individuals OPINION by JOSE ZALAQUETT and firms that could be certified according to international stand- ards, if the process weren’t so expensive. On average about 2,000 Balancing rights with might Information Technology graduates enter the job market every year, id September 11 mark the end of a period of the expansion of the humanHuman rights watchdogs must never lower their some find jobs locally, others head rights idea and the beginning of a process of retrenchment? Leading guard, permissiveness is a slippery slope. abroad. “If we don’t create work, human rights organisations - Amnesty International, Human Rights D ○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ we’ll have high-level trained Watch, the International Commission of Jurists - fear that this might indeed be graduates heading abroad soon,” the case, and they have been steeling themselves to oppose any attempt to pushrule. Granted, few people expect the U.S. government to try and emulate such adds Regmi. “If nothing, the back their hard-won conquests. crude dictatorships—or American citizens to countenance any such emulation. government can help market the Ever since its inception in the early sixties, the international human rightsBut one can never be too careful. After all, human rights were born from the industry abroad, because individual movement had been steadily gaining ground. It campaigned with increasing need to check the power of governments. Watchdogs must never lower their companies are just too small to effectiveness against political killings, torture and arbitrary imprisonment. It guard, and any permissiveness is a slippery slope. think about penetrating the mobilized public opinion against the abuse of State power; in the process, it got The expectation that governments will tend to abuse emergency powers is markets that we actually have the the sympathetic attention of the international media and enlisted the support ofenshrined in the very text of international human rights norms. Human rights democratic governments. In the years since the end of the Cold War, the potential to serve.” treaties allow for the suspension of some rights only if: (a) there is an officially movement gathered further impetus. The global agenda began to be dominatedproclaimed emergency which vitally threatens the life or security of the nation; by novel initiatives for the advancement of international justice and for the (b) the measures adopted are required by the exigencies of the situation; and (c) protection of human rights: international criminal courts, new forms of universalthe measures are applied only to the extent and for the time that are strictly jurisdiction, humanitarian intervention. demanded by the situation. These last two criteria - called the principles of Yet in the wake of September 11, the focus of the debate has suddenly shifted,necessity and proportionality - also underlie the Geneva Conventions and other and it now revolves around the extent to which it may be justified to suspend orinternational norms for the conduct of warfare. All these principles are rein- restrict certain rights—starting with immigration rights and the rights to due forced by a well-established international jurisprudence which holds that in the process, freedom of expression and privacy—so as to fight the so-called “War ongray areas of the balance between rights and restrictions, judges should lean in Terror” more effectively. Many opinion makers, especially in the United States,favor of rights. have begun to argue openly that unorthodox wars like the battle against Al Qaeda The fight against ubiquitous terrorist networks capable of devastating attacks cannot be won by adhering to the fine print of human rights law or the laws ofagainst civilians may well demand a refinement of traditional concepts such as armed conflict. military necessity, combatant, territory and legitimate targets. What is called for In the face of this trend, human rights veterans can hardly be blamed for is a thoughtful adaptation - rather than a weakening - of well-established legal going on the alert. They sense that they have been though this before. They canprinciples. This is a task that ought to be conducted in the old spirit of healthy well imagine how somewhere in distant Chile, for example, a bunch of retired suspicion, building in all reasonable safeguards against the possibility of Pinochet associates are muttering to themselves that finally they are being governmental abuse. But if the human rights movement refuses to enter this vindicated by history. (“Didn’t we always say that you cannot fight a dirty warline of debate and inquiry with an open mind, it may begin to lose the support without dirtying your hands?”). of honest public opinion, the very source from which it has drawn the moral and Yes, human rights activists have seen enough of that. Invoking a supreme political energy to get as far as it has. emergency - the need to fight a communist threat, the defense of a socialist revolution, the protection of vital national or ethnic interests, or the upholding of God’s will—is the time-honored excuse for the indefinite imposition of tyrannical (Project Syndicate)

Jose Zalaquett is a human rights activist and Professor of International Law at the University of Chile.

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 12 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS THIS PAGE CONTAINS MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES CULTURE 1 - 7 FEBRUARY 2002NEPALI TIMES 13 after meeting with senior UML NEPALITERATURE by MANJUSHREE THAPA Maoist torture leaders, observers say. ○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○ Himal Khabarpatrika, 29 January But Deuba may face a mutiny Individuals [Maoists] who want to surrender from his ministers if he presses ahead, must fill in this form before they canDuradanda, do so. in Lamjung District, is and fanning the flames will be three hours walk from the road at Deuba’s rival Girija Koirala, who is Budhabar, 26 December waiting in the wings to stage a THE AIMLESS LIFE: Besisahar. Muktinath Adhikari, comeback. This is the moment of proven, then it follows that those principal of the Padmini Sanskrit found guilty should be punished— Higher Secondary School, was taking truth for Deuba. Does he have the political will and the confidence to under the very ordinance they an arithmetic class in grade 10 at themselves had recommended to noon on 16 January when armed push through with the commission? Parshu Pradhan His Majesty. Otherwise democracy Maoists arrived and took him away. The CIAA has complained that it has not been able to prosecute the and the rule of law will lose their On a hillside overlooking the town, meaning. How can those giving they tied 45-year-old Adhikari to a corrupt because of the lack of relevant laws. But that is not the donations go scot free when villagers tree with his muffler, thrust a skewer who have aided the Maoists by I nod my head, signalling sign saying “Udaaro premko with the lass who lives across the Then again another horizon only problem—there are questions agreement. I am enrolled as a kainchi ho”—credit is the scissors store. Sometimes she smiles a unfolds. I return to the old city. through his shoulder and chest and giving them food or donations then shot him in the right temple about how the commissioners Khotang’s plight soldier. Training begins. The start of love—but amid winks and crooked smile, and sometimes Many of my own people have themselves are appointed and by ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ under duress and threats have been of an extremely organised life! whispers, credit is granted she’s bold enough to blind me with forgotten me, many have stopped with a pistol. The villagers had been subjected to questioning and other Wake up to the toll of a bell and somehow. The list of items in the the reflection of the sun on a recognising me. The small girls I warned not to remove the body, or whom. It is pretty evident that the Deshantar, 27 January commissioners have been political actions by the security forces? sleep to the toll of a bell. That too I shop starts to dwindle. But the list mirror. In the store there is no left behind have become young they would also be killed. It was get sick of. One night I run away of people in the credit folio cash for her, and no credit: women, and the elderly have been only removed and cremated when appointees. It is this politicisation Villages in Khotang district have been having sleepless nights after riginally from Bhojpur traded in cups of tea and coffee: and reach home. Instead of burgeons. My shop is a central whatever she needs, she is lost. My father and mother too MP Haribhakta Adhikari and Ram that has prevented the CIAA from district and now living in and sometimes I yearn to babble saluting my father, I join my hands meeting point of sorts. Once in the immediately served. The daal and have taken the road that does not Bahadur Gurung flew in on a police taking stern action against those the emergency was declared on 26 Biratnagar, writer Parshuunconscious. I also feel like and make a humble request— morning, once in the evening, the rice stocked for a month don’t turn back. Because of business November. The Maoists who fled O helicopter the next day. Maoists say guilty of corruption. Maybe this is Pradhan is the author of seven sleeping in an open state. That’s “Father, I can do any work, but I boys of the neighbourhood gather even last a week. I keep on debts, the house has gone into the Adhikari was killed because he was why Deuba wants to go for a high-Solukhumbu and Okhaldhunga short story collections and one how it is…. can’t be a soldier. You can feed and talk of the world. Why did supplying. I am pleased to hear my hands of merchants. Now only the level anti-corruption commission. districts after the security forces novel. In the story below, which And then there arises a fancy me only one meal a day. I’ll come Nixon lose the elections and the father and mother comment that city is my own, because I was The Chief District Officer, an informant, had not given 25 The prospect of a special commis- intensified their activities there have originally appeared in the 2050 BSfor a soldier’s life. Some friends back home.” Vietman war and so-and-so’s their son’s habits have improved, born there. But there is no house, District Administration Office, … (1992/93) collection Euta have already become lieutenants, I know that it’s hard to leave daughter eloped: all this is heard business is doing well. But who and no warm room. I am in the …………………………………...... sion against graft is probably what been creating havoc in Khotang. The worries some senior ministers. villagers are caught between the Krantipurushko Janma, he gentlysome brag of having become once you’re a soldier, but my here. Connoisseurs capable of knows what is going on inside me? street. I make myself believe that I mocks the petit bourgeois narratorcaptains, some are in line to father’s reach goes way up. How comparing the taste of booze with There’s great loss in business, it was always in the street. Those crossfire from three sides—the for drifting through life, in a waybecome colonels. I reach home in far up—that I don’t know. the taste of hashish gather here. seems. One night I pick up the lass living on the street I left behind Subject: Surrendering Maoists, the security forces and the that is familiar to anyone the dark night. I know that my Again another horizon Film heroes also show up. A few across the store and take off, have erected buildings, they have activists of the Khumbuwan Mukti observing the youth of Nepal’sfather and mother are already unfolds. One must to business, heroines come as well, on the without any aim. begun to ride cars and rove the I am no longer a member of the Maoist Terrorist Organisation, nor am I affiliated with any of its sister Morcha (Khumbuwan Liberation comfortable classes. He also asleep. I click my heels together the goddess Laxmi graces excuse of buying something. I not As long as the money lasts, five star hotels. I hear that all the organisations. I am not a supporter or a well-wisher. By providing my personal details, and by pledging Movement) in the south of the mocks, just as gently, those whoand salute my father in full businesses. There is much wealth only trade in daal, rice and oil, but there are regular trips between gods and goddesses showered my allegiance to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 from today, I surrender before you. Star gazing district. According to a member of do not drift, but connive fixedlysoldier’s form. Half asleep, half to earn. One must erect huge also step up to exchange the love Calcutta and Darjeeling. We miss them with their love, gave them all Attached is a Rs 5 revenue stamp. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ the District Development Commit- for wealth—even if that meansawake, my father startles—“Since buildings, it’s fun to cruise the letters of friends. Sometimes I am no cinema, we skip no high quality their wealth and headed abroad. Deshantar, 27 January tee, about nine public employees selling their gods. when did you become a soldier?” I three cities at the steering wheel kept up all night by thoughts of hotel. But slowly our dream world No such blessings were show- laugh proudly. of a car. I rent a house on one going to Bombay to star in a starts falling apart. As the money ered on me. If only I’d devoted have been jailed so far, but even “If you want to join the military, side of the street and open a cinema, and at other times by runs out, our undying love story myself to god! I always doubted Personal details about individuals who have surrendered People resort to Tantric soothsaying now security forces have been when they cannot get assurances I’ll call on all the bosses I know. shop. Crowds of customers start thoughts of becoming Toyota’s starts heading towards tragedy. god, I always said one shouldn’t unable to go into the villages, So? But you can’t run away and to form. Cash and credit are both primary agent. Her road and mine separate. She succumb to blind faith. 1. Name, Surname: from relatives anymore, and forcing villagers to flee to the plains come back home….” in use. Not that I haven’t hung a I also start to exchange looks starts working in the vast urban I walk in a city frozen by the 2. Middle name: supporters fail to shore up their or Kathmandu. According to a space of Calcutta. I measure life in cold, and compare myself to 3. Address: Temporary - Zone: District: self-confidence. On 22 January teacher who did not want to be FLASHBACK streets and buses. Sometimes naked trees. My friends aren’t Municipality/VDC Ward No: percent of the Dasain bonus of the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Many years have passed by there is a train station, sometimes willing to recognise me. They’ve school teachers to the Maoist cause, named, even the Chief District Tole: House No: Deuba did the same by visiting Officer has been moving between aimlessly. This is how my life is; crossings and bazaars. Some- already forgotten the past. I Permanent - Zone: District: and continued to teach Sanskrit Jhunjhun Baba at Pashupatinath. Kathmandu and the plains and has yesterday it was the same as the times there are the brothels of remember the past but have Municipality/VDC Ward No: despite warnings not to. Adhkiari day before, or as a few years Sanogachhi, sometimes the forgotten the future. My hair is Tole: House No: The Baba assured the prime told teachers that he is unable to was a member of Amnesty Interna- minister that no one would be able back. Who doesn’t dream of eating Kalighat temple. The city I left graying and lines of old age are tional Group 79. provide them with any kind of well, wearing good clothes and behind scares me from time to sketched under my eyes. Only 4. Father/Husband: to dislodge him from office in the security. Teachers who have tried to spending their days in comfort? time—with the thought that I am one thing is unclear now—which 5. Grandfather: next three months. After that, buy safety by giving donations to That’s how life was, that’s how it abroad. But I placate myself by country am I from? Which soil will I 6. Appearance: Weight: Height: Prime Minister Deuba returned to the Maoists or the KMM, are now is, that’s how life came, and that’s meeting others who share the have to rest upon? I have with me Colour of Eyes: Colour of Hair: his residence in Baluwatar and being taken in for questioning by how it’s moving along. But in the same fate. Sometimes I turn an old coat, given by some Sex: organised a dinner for his cabinet the security forces. past few months it feels like there myself into the dirty glasses and general from the Rana rule. Most 7. Age or date of birth: colleagues. What this shows is that have been changes in me. I look plates at hotels, sometimes I of it is torn; I’ve stitched it in 8. Educational Qualification: outside—the sky has been THE FULBRIGHT & THE EAST-WEST CENTER become a Gorkhali doorkeeper. I twelve places. I can wear it in any 9. Profession: the prime minister is unsure about his own future in government. But replaced, there is no blue in it. It’s 2002 SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION have become capable of compro- heat or cold. How many days I’ll 10. Citizenship/Passport No: No more graft? like a heap of black, the black of a mising with any situation I am met wear it, I don’t know. I’m looking 11. Contact Place, Tel No., Person: ○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○ there is a larger fear among the demon that seems to rise to block The Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States and Nepal with. There is bravado in my mind, for an American hippy to whom I 12. Position held during involvement in terrorist activities: Jana Bhawana, 28 January people in general, that the habit all my roads. For many days I hadn’t and bravery. can sell this antique. 13. Date of surrender: government has of rushing been able to venture out, I still (USEF/Nepal) announces the 2002 competition for the Fulbright and the East-West Center (EWC) Scholarships. Those selected would begin their studies in the US 14. Contact office while surrendering: Some senior ministers in Sher everything may endanger democracy Prisons of the haven’t, I don’t even want to go out. 15. Oath taken while surrendering: Bahadur Deuba’s cabinet opposed to itself… There’s a winter’s chill, but I beginning August-September, 2003. (a) The Fulbright program provides all expenses 16. Surrender mediated by: don’t know how the cold feels. the prime minister’s moves to set up past (including travel) for a Master’s degree program of up to two years at selected U.S. 17. Individual or group handed over to after surrender: ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ There is a city to roam all day universities, in any field except medicine, engineering or computer science. (b) the 18. Name of school, university attended: a high-powered anti-corruption Himalaya Times, 29 January long, and friends to meet. And in EWC scholarships of the University of Hawaii (UH) are available for Masters or doc- 19. Name of office, corporation, private company served in: commission are getting together to the evening if there is a chance I 20. Background: toral-level study in any field offered at UH and cover all tuition and fees, but not travel oppose it. Fearing that they could be The Department of Prison Manage- must visit the campus. What new swept into the dragnet, the senior cinemas have come out, who are expenses. Applicants for either program may be employees in any government or A helping hand ment recently admitted that prisons Applicant ministers are said to have disagreed ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ the hero and heroine? How is their semi-government agency, private business, NGO or INGO. throughout the country are with the idea to give the special Deshantar, 27 January acting? All this I have memorised Name: overloaded 25 percent over their commission the authority to fight by heart. This too I know: whether General Requirements for Entering the Competition Address: ....……………………. capacity. One reason prisons have or not there’s rice at home, there corruption. According to the Terrorism and Signature: (Recommended by) been overcrowded, is that more than will be rice on one’s plate at night. Disruptive Acts (Prevention and Among the ministers opposing 2,000 arrests were made following Whether or not there’s money to All applicants must: the move are said to be Chrianjibi Control) Ordinance, anyone who the declaration of the state of pay the fees, on the 15 1. possess Nepali citizenship; Wagle, Khum Bahadur Khadka, has aided the Maoists in any way emergency on two months ago. 2. demonstrate in all post-intermediate degrees a minimum aggregate marks of: becomes an accomplice and is liable Bijaya Kumar Gachhedar, Bal There are 69 functioning 56% for students in non-technical fields (humanities and social sciences), and Bahadur KC, Sarad Singh Bhandari, to be punished. The Royal Nepal prisons in the country—the district 60% for students in science and technical fields. (The minimum requirements Jaya Prakash Gupta. Deuba is said toArmy, the police and the armed prisons in Syangja, Dang, Dolpa for students under the semester system are: 65% in non-technical fields; 70% police are not fighting the Maoists, be determined to get the special and Solukhumbu were destroyed by in technical fields; or a Cumulative GPA of 3.5/4.0 in either field.) commission to start with the clean essentially because of that law. But, the Maoists. There are 6,200 3. have a high level of competence in speaking, reading and writing English. up within the government itself, and surprisingly, there is also the th persons locked up in facilities meant of the (Applicants who pass the first screening will be required to sit for an English set some high-profile examples. chance that those who ordered the for only about 4,000. “Prisons need month the fees will be paid. On test during the application process. The test requirement will be waived for QUOTE OF THE WEEK Deuba had earlier said he was security forces to fight the Maoists restorations and reforms urgently,” Saturdays, if there isn’t goat meat, willing to give the Commission for using the same the law are also there’ll be buffalo meat to feast those who have a valid TOEFL score of 213 or higher and have submitted says Umesh Prasad Mainali, director likely to be caught in the tangle. At upon. And sometimes in the copies of their score reports with their applications.) “If I were not a Bahun, I would also have been offered a garland every year.” the Investigation for the Abuse of general of the Department. Authority more authority to a parliamentary committee meeting evenings there will be parties to 4. be under 40 years of age as of the application filing deadline date (March 29, The government has formed nine persecute the guilty. He had even last week Member of Parliament throw with companions. There’s a 2002); —Senior politician Ram Hari Sharma, President, Nepal Praja Parishad. Sharma was spared a death jail reform committees in the past, but readymade answer when I reach Lilamani Poudel said he has proof 5. possess either a four years bachelor’s degree; or, if the bachelor’s degree was penalty by the Rana rulers on the virtue of his “superior” Bahun caste. drafted an anti-corruption ordi- none of their recommendations have home late—“I’ve been studying all Budhabar Saptahik, 30 January nance, but this was shunted to the that the country’s prime minister, of fewer than four years duration, then a masters degree is also required, such been implemented due to the cash night at Dhruba’s—I’m sick of all backburner because the same senior ministers and MPs have given that the total number of years of formal education equals at least 16; crunch. The Home Ministry requested this trouble! What do you know donations to the Maoists. The 6. have at least three years (for men) or one year (for women) of post-bachelor’s ministers opposed it. Rs 8.8 million to restore the four about studying?” The censure of When the draft was presented to Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s Jog my aged mother gets squelched degree, full-time, professional work experience in an area directly relevant to prisons destroyed by the Maoists, but the cabinet two weeks ago, Wagle, Meher Shrestha and Poudel both by my father’s voice—“What do the applicant’s chosen field of study as of the application filing deadline date the Finance Ministry could not come Gupta and other ministers vehemently said that they could provide you know about studying, whore? (March 29, 2002) and document this experience by letter(s) from employer(s) up with it. Mainali says that the Home A son is a son. You don’t have the opposed it. The draft was a result of evidence that the prime minister that verify applicant’s position(s) and years of employment; Ministry is planning to request a Rs right to scold him like that.” I sit, discussion between Deuba and the and four other ministers had 32.5 million budget for reforms and always, on the back bench of the 7. be in excellent health, as evidenced by a letter from a medical doctor; and regularly given the Maoists CIAA’s chief commissioner. The repairs in the 69 functioning prisons. classroom. Everything taught by 8. be eligible for a U.S. visa. ministers accused the commissioner of donations and gifts. The issue of All the prisons in Nepal were education is easily understood, Note: Individuals holding master’s degrees equivalent to a U.S. master’s degree being “too ambitious” and said there ministers and MPs giving dona- built during the Rana regime and and just as easily forgotten. The should not apply, nor should individuals who have previously resided in the United tions to Maoists is likely to be memory of any pretty girl on the were enough provisions in the law and because repairs are not a priority States for six months or more during the preceding five years. a new ordinance was not required. discussed in a special committee of street burdens the entire brain. and the security systems are weak, it (Applicants must submit documentary evidence for items No. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7.) Faced with a political dead-end, parliament. The committee is Her eyes give chase when I sit is easy for captives to escape. A Deuba is bringing in the idea of a expected to call in the MPs who down to study. Sometimes I sing a Application Forms & Deadlines: Application forms and detailed information regarding Home Ministry source told us that song, sometimes I compose high-level anti-corruption commis- have offered to make the evidence the competition are available from the USEF/Nepal office at: the American Center in jail management reforms long overdue poems of youth from early in the sion to show that he is serious about available. It was disclosed at the Gyaneshwor; the Ministry of Education; the National Planning Commission; the Rec- were not executed because the morning. There is a whiff of beer committee meeting that the prime tor’s Office, Tribhuvan University; Kathmandu University Rector’s Office; and with Cam- the matter. Even the Left opposition government never allocated a budget in life, and a whiff of romance. At is of the opinion that corruption minister had given Rs 9,000 and pus Chiefs at out of the Valley degree campuses. Applications and information may for it. He also said that the Ministry times life rises like the sun, at cannot be controlled without a “new that others, including some present times it dies like a corpse in a also be accessed and downloaded from the Commissionís website: will persuade the government to list cabinet members and 14 MPs, had graveyard. Sometimes jokes get www.fulbrightnepal.org.np. Application forms must be taken out from the USEF office kind of commission”. Deuba started jail reform under the development pushing ahead with his new idea at different instances given dona- or downloaded from the website by 4:00 p.m. Friday, March 15th, 2002. No applica- budget in the coming fiscal year. This government always talks about begging. We might have to leave this place tions adding up to Rs 1 million. If tions will be given out after this date. Duplicate, hardcopy, completed applications for the ministers one day. must reach the Fulbright Commission (USEF) no later than 4:00 p.m. Friday, March 29th, 2002. Incomplete applications or applications received after this deadline will not Prakash Weekly, 28January be considered. 14 CITY 1 - 7 FEBRUARY NEPALI2002 TIMES 1 - 7 FEBRUARY 2002NEPALI TIMES 15

ABOUT TOWN YAK YETI YAK by MIKU

MOVIES Chinese film festival 7 February, 4.30PM, Zhang Yimou’s The Road Home. 8 February, 4PM, Shadow Magic. 8 February, 5.30PM, The Birth of a Shooting Star. 9 February, 3PM, Post- NEPAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM men in the Mountains. 9 February, 5.30PM, Shower. All screenings at the Russian Cultural Centre, Kamal Pokhari, free passes at venue. Supported by the Chinese Embassy, sponsored by Nepal Himalaya Border Trans Trade Association. Organised by World Cultural Net and The (Selection of comments from the pre-NDF consultations January 21-24, 2002) Kathmandu Film Archives.

EXHIBITION “To my mind there is one major shortcoming to “I find this (Foreign Aid Policy) still rather polite, Spring collection 2002 Watercolour paintings of flowers and botanical art by Neera J the participation here, you know who I am perhaps too polite in dealing with donors. (A Pradhan. Until 25 February, Park Gallery, Pulchowk, 10AM-6PM, except Saturdays. 522307 missing—I am missing half the population of section) says to ‘ensure compatibility and con- Life of Boudha Stupa… and beyond Exhibition of photographs by Susan Stebbins of the Nepal. There a so few women here. If you vergence of foreign aided development activity people and everyday activities that take place around Boudhnath Stupa, and highlights of BOOKWORM want to be realistic, and if you want to be with national development priorities’… I think the Nepal. Until 5 February, 9AM-4PM, Sammelan Hall, Shangri-La Hotel. 435741 more down to earth, you should bring more less polite way of saying this is: many donor The Art of Indian Asia: Its Mythology and Transformations Heinrich Zimmer women.” projects are missing the point…” TALK Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, New Delhi, 1999 Rs 4,800 (two volume set) Ingrid Ofstad, Tantric Buddhism, Sexual Initiation and Monasticism: Are They Compatible? Talk by This volume presents a brief historical outline of the transformations of Indian art as well as a key to Ram Sharan Mahat, Ken Ohashi, Isabelle Onians, Oxford University. 4 February, 3.30PM, Library Hall, Royal Nepal Academy, Finance Minister Ambassador of Norway Country Director, The World Bank Kamaladi. Royal Nepal Academy and the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University. the symbolism of these forms. The text is a guide to the full volume of pictures. Two groups of plates illustrate the anthropological and comparative observations of the text through monuments, and others constitute and independent pictorial appendix illustrating the miniature and Rajput art of the 11 th to EVENTS the 19 th centuries. Mardi Gras and Latin dance lessons Andreas Lehrke teaches samba, merengue and salsa, 4,5,6 February. Carnival celebration with parade, food, music, samba and salsa, 8 February, 7PM onwards. Rs 800 per head with drink and dinner, Rs 1,200 per headChitra: with Cities drink, and Monuments of Eighteenth Century India from French Archives Jean- Privatisation, private sector Decentralisation Aid and development Marie Lafont dinner and classes. Hotel Yak & Yeti. 248999 • • • Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001 The privatisation process is transparent but too cumbersome, atTop the priority should be given to shifting of responsibility andThe Foreign Aid Policy (FAP) tries to address the issues relating fastest pace under existing“We do lawwe notit will qualify take forat debtleast reliefone yearauthority to for social service delivery to local bodies. to aid effectiveness while ignoring earlier donor commitments Himalayan Enfielders Nepal Peace Rally Kathmandu- Rs 1,200 privatise one enterprise.although But we we don’tare one have of theless poorest expensive• eco-Decentralisation should be linked to the establishment of a(made at the 25 th UN General Assembly) to allocate 0.7 percent Kurintar-Pokhara-Bandipur-Kathmandu. 9 &10 February. Bikers Lafont brings together for the first time a collection of 50 drawings and maps of 18h century nomic alternatives to privatisation.countries of the world. A large portion ofdecentralised civil service, their loyalty should be with the of the GDP of developed countries to aid. Nepal does not have Rs 500 per head, non-bikers Rs 1500 each, covers minor Indian cities and monuments, gives the historical background of these collections and links • The state must engageour only internal in core revenue functions, goes establish in servicing rule of locallaw, community, to whom they should be made accountable.

○○○○○○○○○○○ many other options like trade or Foreign Direct Investment, and maintenance charge, consumable spares, meals and night stay them to the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales and the French specialists who entered provide good governance, rather than do many uncoordinated• Decentralised in- agencies should be given control of resources debt, simply because we have paid our foreign aid remains a major source of money. Aid has been in Pokhara. Bus available for family and friends. Himalayan termediate and activist functions. up-front, and not just be asked to plan. the service of the post-Mughal Indian states. India, as seen through its thriving cities and beautiful monuments is astonish- dues on time. We are a good borrower.” dwindling at a time when developing countries need it most. Enfielders and Nepal Tourism Board. • Labour laws are inflexible, there is a mismatch of skills and needs, ingly “modern”, with its own urban dynamics and a flourishing trade with the world. • When there was more aid, Nepal was not really ready and [email protected]. 440462 the government’s welfare objectives must recognise the flexibility capable of using it. Now (with democratisation and the begin- that businesses want, link pay with productivity. Buddhist Stupas in Asia: The Shape of Perfection Joe Cummings and Bill Wassman ning of decentralisation) people are aching for development, • Labour is not against exit policies, but wants alternatives because and any reduction of aid levels would send wrong signals. Nepali classical dance and folk music at Hotel Vajra. Lonely Planet Publications, Australia, 2001] even services like health care and education are privatised. Financial sector • Donors, while stressing effective use, must not completely shift Dances of Hindu and Buddhist gods Tuesdays and Fridays, 7PM onwards, the Great Pagoda Rs 2,850 • Development needs entrepreneurship. The private sector may not • the onus on the government, which means they must not forget Hall. Ticket and tea Rs 400. Nepali folk tunes Wednesdays and Saturdays, 6.30PM onwards, Author Cummings and photographer Wassman spent eight years researching this part-philosophi- have the efficiency we talk about, and there is also a need to breakThe financial sector is not doing very well, in fact it is in a the earlier commitments made to increase aid levels. restaurant, Hotel Vajra. 271545 cal, part-coffee table book. With a foreword by renowned authority on Buddhism, Robert private sector monopolies and improve competitive practices. terrible state. Two large banks are not doing well and because • Aid is a national equivalent of subsidies, and can also cause • Small and medium enterprises are the major drivers of employment.of their dominance in the financial sector, we can conclude Thurman, this volume attempts to explain the essence of a stupa and illustrate the different ways similar distortions by undermining the economic ability of a na- For poverty reduction SMEs need to be a greater focus, becausethat the entire sector is in trouble. Asian Buddhist communities have understood the teachings of the master through the difference in • tion to allocate resources accordingly. Thus there is need to their problems on tax issues and cash flow tend to get neglected.We don’t do what we say, we don’t say what we do. We know MUSIC the architectural design of stupas. move away from donor dependence. • How people access credit is important, collateral-secured creditwhy is the two banks are in bad shape. It is because of non- • Nepal has a poor record of development and there is much for Live music by Catch 22, Tuesday and Friday nights at the 40,000 ½ ft Bar, Rum Doodle not ideal. payment of loans. Ordinary citizens are paying their loans or Restaurant, Thamel. 414336 losing their collateral, but the big houses have not been askedwhich the government is to be blamed, but the donors are also to pay back. Some have even borrowed from governmentresponsible. They stepped in seeing the weaknesses and void Courtesy Mandala Book Point, Kantipath, 227711, [email protected] banks to open private banks. in government, and even tended to substitute for EATING OUT • The present situation is due to the failure of the Nepal Rastragovernment. By doing so have they collectively undermined the institution-building that Saturday brunch combo Swimming, entertainment for children, use of Club Oasis with CLASSIFIED Bank. It did not do what a regulator should have done. The NRB brunch and unlimited draft beer. The Café, Hyatt regency Kathmandu. 491234 was not given freedom, and as an institution it is the singleshould have taken place. reason for the mess we have today. • Foreign aid has increased Nepal’s Valentine’s dinner Special menu, complimentary glass of wine. Rs 650 plus taxesExpatriates’ per Handbook Guide to day-to-day○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ living • The situation of the private sector banks is also scary—theirdebt load. If both donors and recipi- head, 15 percent off for Standard Chartered credit card holders, privilege card holdersin Nepal and with pocket calendar. Available in Implementation non-performing assets may be higher than what we areents told. are responsible for past fail- ures, that is the reason for debt faculty and students of Manipal Teaching College and Hospital. 13, 14 February, Shangri-Lahandicrafts shops and bookstores. • Do we want to cure the problems or just pass around pills• whenBesides cost, there does not seem to be opposition to reforms. relief—because mistakes have Village, Pokhara. 061-22122 we know that a major operation is needed? The people will notWe be don’t have the money, but that does not mean we should The way to Mexico is too far. Botega Restaurant been made on both sides. satisfied with handouts when they are demanding participationnot in implement the program. Singaporean and Malaysian food Satay, rice, soymilk dishes, curry puffs and Specialmore. Chinese language classes for tourismand Tequiladation, Bar is near attached Thamel bath, Chowk. balcony 266433. or terraces, 15 good percent off-season discount. the conduct of state. Between Jawalakhel fire station and St Mary’s School. Sing Ma, the Food entrepreneurs. Orient Centre for Learning, Dhobi food, friendly service. 480262, [email protected]• We need good transparent governance and financial discipline. We Court. [email protected]. 520004 Dhara. 441275 should have a national audit of all aid. • The Borderlands Resort For canyoning, rafting, The problems are well known, we also know what solutions are Strawberries go bananas Strawberry desserts in every restaurant. needed, so the key is implementation. We need clear policies backed Hotel de l’Annapurna. 221711 Reflexology Technique of applying pressure trekkingto the at Tibet borders, Professional Development Program, Leadership Courses and many more. by adequate resources. feet, reduces stress, promotes relaxation and good • Decentralisation has not happened fully for one reason or another— Steam Away Winter Blues Hot soups, noodles, momos. 11AM- 6PM health. [email protected]. 425836/425894. [email protected]. daily at the Splash Bar & Grill, Radisson Hotel. 411818 www.borderlandresorts.com. we need to get rid of excuses and get the process working.Foreign aid policy • The FAP attempts to give a clear sense of direction to both Traditional Sekuwa with live music from Himalayan Feelings fusion For insertions ring NT Marketing at 543333-36. Stupa iewV and Restauranterrace & T at donors and recipients. band and bonfire every Friday night. Dwarika’s Hotel, Rs 555 per head. 479488 • Baudhanath Stupa. Well-appointed restaurant and K-Too! Beer and Steakhouse not the “longest”, It attempts to ensure quality, efficiency and effectiveness of Authentic Thai food Everyday at Yin Yang Restaurant. 425510 terraces with views of stupa and Himalayas. “highest”, “first” or any other superlative. Just a aid. We have tried to institute mechanisms to ensure that, in- Tukche Thakali Kitchen Buckwheat, barley, bean, and dried meat specialties.International Also vegetarianbrunch specialties, pizza from clay relaxed, easy-going bar and restaurant with the Where to start? cluding an attempt to disburse all aid through the Red Book, with porridge and pancakes, all raw material from Tukche village. Darbar Marg.oven, 225890 ice cream, soft guitar tunes on Fridays, coldest beer and juiciest steaks this side of the and request owners to allow audits of aid accounts by the Saturdays, Sundays from 5PM on. Special events onmoon. By the Kathmandu Guest House. 433043 • Let us aim for less (providing primary education, basic health, cleanAuditor General. Barbecue lunch with complementary wine or beer for adults, soft drink fullfor moon.children. Open Satur- daily 11AM-8.30PM. 480262. drinking water), and just do it. The people will do the rest.• All these are indications that government is ready to steer, to days and Sundays at the Godavari Village Resort. 560675 • There must be a program for reducing wasteful expenditure. beThe in driver’s seat. Aid policy is an effort to make the rules of plan should also focus on regulating the regulators, which willthe be game clearer. HMB Mountain Biking Have your bike serviced or another milestone in effective implementation. GETAWAYS Kodari Eco Resort Peace in natural surroundings,repaired by HMB’s Professional Mechanics at the • The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is right because Taste the difference Cosy Nepali-style house on an organic farm in Gamcha,good south views of of Nepal/ Tibet border, jungle-coveredHMB Workshop. Riding gear, accessories and parts it tries to look at all resources, foreign grants and loans, and asks Thimi. Up to Rs 1,200 per person per night including meals. [email protected]. mountains,631766 Buddhist monasteries, ancient Shivaavailable. Second hand bikes bought/sold/hired. New what is the best way to use the resources to achieve results. cave. Hike to villages with various ethnic groups,and reconditioned mountain bikes for sale. Himalayan Escape to Nagarkot Special packages for Nepalis and expats at the The Tea vantageHouse pointsInn. to Himalayas. Comfortable accommo-Mountain Bikes—Tours and Expeditions. 437437. NGOs/ INGOs Singles Rs 800 B&B, couples Rs 1,200 B&B. 410432, 680048 • If NGOs have been doing good work they should be Pokhara Packags with a difference Bows and Arrows with archery contest or Pimms, recognised for their contribution and government Pathways and Picnics with easy guided trek to The Peace Pagoda. Extra bed complimentary Rural development vision should use them for service delivery. We need to for children under 12. 15 percent discount on F & B. Shangri-La Village, Pokhara. For more find ways to make community-based organisa- • details, ring 435741 Nepal cannot develop until the villages develop. Political parties tionsand less reliant on aid by allocating a certain leaders are irrelevant while formulating plans, so they are declaredportion of the government budget for spending irrelevant once the expected results are achieved. through them. • We need a minimum vision as a nation, one that does not change For inclusion in the listing send information to [email protected] • Government must not think of NGOs/INGOs every time there is a new government. Policy has to build on asthat being some sort of social welfare nets vision. in remote areas, the government will also on FM 102.4• Rural people are subjects not objects, empowering them shouldhave be to increase its commitment to de- the starting point in any talk of rural development. Only the empow-velopment of neglected areas. NEPALI WEATHER by NGAMINDRA DAHAL ered can demand services and have the confidence to explore• Aand one-window system for NGOs/ harness local potential. With empowerment there will be participa- DSES-03-01-2002 0500 GMT INGOs is welcome, but that win- This week’s rain was a bit unexpected, but not unwelcome. It tion in decision making. dow should be placed un- • was the first time in the past five years that we got normal rainMon-Fri 0615-0645 BBC World TodayLet us focus on only education, health and employment and writeder a a strong ministry, and rural development policy to address them. We must go for small and snow during the winter monsoon. The second rain-bearingSat 0615-0645 BBC Science in Action not the SWC (Social Wel- westerly front of the season brought heavy snowfall up to 2,700 projects which villagers can do on their own. We must increasefare the Council), which may m all along the Mahabharat and up to a metre of snow in Sun 0615-0645 BBC Agenda capability of local representatives. not be able to handle the Humla and the high passes. The satellite image (left) taken increased level of activ- on Wednesday at noon shows fog in the tarai and the GangesDaily 2045-2115 BBC ity. plains, and another weather front advancing across the • NGOs/INGOs disburse Persian desert. But this is some distance away. The reason for g]]kfnL]]] ;]]jf]]] huge sums of money this week’s surprise rain was the sudden instensification of a and we need a mecha- cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal. Expect a sunny Daily 2245-2300g]]kfnL]]] ;]]jf]]] BBC nism to regulate them. weekend with breezy afternoons, and cold foggy mornings. Women, disadvantaged groups We’ve been unable to • Politicians have lost touch with the common people, they are selfishdo that because poli- and corrupt. This is the real problem of aid and development. Thisticians is and senior bu- why we youth have suffered, we need to be involved in mappingreaucrats have fam- KATHMANDU VALLEY Radio Sagarmatha the development path. It is our future. ily-run NGOs. • P.O. Box 6958, Bakhundole, Lalitpur, Nepal There must be reservations for women, based on minimum qualifi- Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue cations, that has to come out in the government reform agenda. Tel: ++977-1-545680, 545681 Fax: ++ 977-1- 530227 • We have very few people from disadvantaged groups, and few E-mail: [email protected] women in the bureaucracy. Changing this can be a response to the 19-02 18-03 19-02 20-01 19-02 /l8of] ] ;u/dfyf www.radiosagarmatha.org different ethnicity-based separatist sentiments. 16 1 - 7 FEBRUARY 2002NEPALI TIMES Under My Hat

by Kunda Dixit As time goes by ow that the clouds have she, in this day and age, know he cleared, any laymen among is he right gender? Or have the Nyou gazing up at the night right girth, the right length, the sky lately will have noticed that right chemistry? How can she be the moon is passing into the sure he will pass the Lifting-the- seventh house, Jupiter is aligned toilet-seat Test on wedding night? with Mars, and we are living in How does she know he does not the Age of Aquarius. This is snore, or conduct navel manoeu- irrevocable proof, if proof is still vres while slurping bed tea? How needed, that another mating does she know he does not season is soon going to be upon practice animal husbandry? us. It is therefore incumbent upon Since there are so many every Nepali of reproductive age things that can go wrong in an and above to prepare to go forth arranged marriage, the selection boldly where many Nepalis have criteria are very important. This gone before, and begin prepar- is where the newly-set up ing to tie the nuptial knot of “Browse ‘n’ Wed” cyber- holy matrimony as fast as it is matrimonials come in very physically possible. On your mark, get set, go! Andhandy with their thumbnails of partner-to-be. Some they’re off. helpful recent entries: There is, however, a slight problem. As we know from the observations of Frank Sinatra: woman needs man, and man must have his mate—that no one can deny. But how on earth will they know that they are SCION of well-reputed, nationalistic mafia don who made for each other if (as we know from the observa- has been in the smuggling business for generations, tions of the astronomer Copernicus) women are from father drawing six-figure income from fuel adultera- Venus and men are from Mars? Won’t they miss each tion, eight-figure income from illegal brick kilns, and other in the vast rocky maze of the Asteroid Belt? ten-figure income from encroaching on public land seeks latest-model, homely, innocent, tall, slim, fair, This is a question that has bedevilled Man from theclean, boarding-educated, broad-minded girl for end of the last ice age when our hunter-killer forbears immediate induction into household. Women are emerged from their prehistoric caves in the vicinity of encouraged to apply. the Tora Bora mountains wearing nothing but prehis- toric thermal underwear made from the chest hair of NEW HUSBAND needed for polyandrous, well- baby woolly mammoths, and were quickly apprehendedendowed, thrice-married, ex-beauty queen with Green Card and Western Outlook. Candidate must be at the Khyber Pass for trying to smuggle shatoosh human male, currently unemployed, be willing to hidden in their prehistoric crevices. clean dishes and take care of two ex-husbands, be I guess what I am trying to say here is: when does undemanding, ask no questions and expect no she know he is Mr Right? How does she figure out answers. Guaranteed annual home leave, Dasain that, in the first place, he is the right species? OK, say bonus, overtime and other perks. May be made for the sake argument he is the right species, how does permanent after three-month probation period if he can sing like Frank Sinatra.

NEPALI SOCIETY Language no bar for Suruchi

uruchi Maya Tamang read and write. impossible to communicate never went to school. Learning from her own with people and nothing the ButS even as a child she difficulty in grasping the woolly teacher said made sense,” had a yearning for learning. and boring development she recalls. Now reason- When a local group ran adult concepts built into reading ably well-educated, Suruchi education classes,they didn’t materials in her adult-literacy feels it is her duty to make allow her in—saying she was classes, Suruchi Maya learning easier for her not an adult. So, Suruchi got realised language was the Tamang community. “It is her mother to enrol and principle barrier. So, she is much easier for beginners followed her there. You could conducting her classes in to learn to read and write in say Suruchi is (literally) self- Tamang language. This is a their own language. After taught. She is now at unique approach, and they know the alphabet, they college in Bhaktapur Suruchi’s experience so far can move on to Nepali,” she Campus. But in her free shows that it works. “We says. “Learning can be fun, time she has started giving speak Tamang at home, so and not a chore that is girls in her home learning new things in Nepali forced on you.” village of Khoriya was tough. Most of my Suruchi took this idea to Gaun and sur- friends lost interest the Bagmati Integrated rounding dis- because they were Watershed Management tricts the chance intimidated by the Programme which works in that she did not language,” she says. Kavre, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, have to learn to When she first went to Makwanpur, Sindhuli and school, she felt left out, Bhaktapur districts. Half the as her knowledge of population in these areas is Nepali was limited. Tamang, so it made sense “The whole class- to try out Suruchi’s idea. room felt dark—it Today, thousands of girls seemed and women in these districts who would per- haps otherwise not be literate have learnt to read and write. For Suruchi it was just a hunch, but she is delighted that it turned out well. She told us proudly: “There is no greater satisfaction than helping my sisters over- come the hurdles that I overcame.” DILIP K. MUNAKARMI DILIP CDO Regd No. 194/056/57 Lalitpur, Central Region Postal Regd. No. 04/058/59