#304 30 June - 6 July 2006 16 pages Rs 30 Explosive legacy There may be a ceasefire but not a week goes by without children and women dying from bombs scattered across Nepal. On 25 June, the anti-landmine group Geneva Call organised a seminar in Kathmandu that brought together Maoists and the victims of their bombs. On the podium was socket bomb victim 13-year-old Ashok Thapa Magar, sitting next to Maoist leaders Ailman and Ekraj Bhandari (pictured, right). After hearing Ashok’s mother relate how her son was wounded, the audience bombarded the Maoists with questions. Used to getting their way with the gun, the comrades have not yet learnt to engage in public debate. Their response was: war is not a picnic, people are killed and injured. After we attain victory, there will be no more violence, etc. But these answers didn't seem to satisfy Ashok’s mother about why her son had to suffer.

Weekly Internet Poll # 304 Q... Do you think the seven party alliance has given in too much to Maoist demands? Total votes: 5,236

Weekly Internet Poll # 305. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q... Which among these is your favourite team in the 2006 Football World Cup?

KIRAN PANDAY Parallel government Everywhere we look, we see double

olitical transitions are a for bids resolution rejecting it. aparliamentary proclamations time of confusion. But the The government has a police This is a direct challenge to between 7-16 June to demote the P post-uprising interregnum force, the Maoists have their militia the Maoists and their strategy to king, delink him from the army is looking more and more bizarre. walking around openly get into government by passing an and declare Nepal secular, every The Maoists are no longer a The country has two armies: the interim constitution. thing has come to a grinding halt. rebel group, they are effectively a Nepal Army and the ‘People’s But a joint The political parallel government: Liberation Army’ government will be Editorial p2 momentum unleashed There are DDCs and ‘People’s delayed because the Turn down the volume by the April uprising Maoist people’s courts are District Governments’, VDCs and drafting of the Nation was dissipated by the dispensing summary justice even ‘Village People’s Governments’. interim What's the hurry? p10 eight-point agreement in the capital, side-by-side with Which is the real government? constitution is on 16 June in which government courts Perhaps this is why parliament's itself delayed. The deadline was the Maoists forced the government Maoists are issuing tenders Law and Justice Committee on Friday, 30 June but the committee to agree to dissolve parliament. for construction work sometimes Thursday condemned the eight- started work on it only on Since then, not a single piece of for projects for which the point agreement and moved to Tuesday. far-reaching new legislation has government has also called get the full house to pass a After a flurry of dramatic been passed. 2 EDITORIAL 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304

Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Desk Editor: Marty Logan Design: Kiran Maharjan Web: Bhushan Shilpakar Vicepresident Corporate Affairs: Sneh Sayami Advertising: Sambhu Guragain [email protected] Subscription: [email protected] Hatiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur [email protected], GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu Tel: 5543333-6, Fax: 5521013 Hint, hint, wink, wink www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 5547018 Decompressing the Maoists can’t be done with ambiguous private guarantees TURN DOWN THE VOLUME Conflict resolution is an art. It has to start with the political will for he eight-point agreement has commitment from Pushpa Kamal open debate and public peace on both sides, a willingness to reconcile differences, heightened optimism for Dahal to the seven party expression from all sides, and confidence-building and trust. Only after that can a monitored T peace as well as raised leadership about disarmament those who participate should not ceasefire lead to demobilisation and decommissioning of weapons concern about what many have and multiparty competitive be branded “conspirators” (Dahal’s right up to rehabilitation and reconciliation. termed to be an ill thought-out parliamentary system. Thus the language), nor should they be Experience of peace processes elsewhere show that these appeasement plan. ambiguity in the 8-point called naysayers. In a democracy, interventions must be carefully sequenced. Disarming a rebel group can be a serious hurdle. If you insist on it too soon, you risk The main concern is that the agreement has been defended as public debate and criticism are breakdown. If you leave it for too late, future elections may be tainted. sudden dissolution of the hard- being necessary. essential to generate pressure to You have to get the timing right, and a neutral third party can be of fought and newly restored The idea of a privately form better public policy. help. conducted privileged This may not be too obvious to Despite Maoist grandstanding, we can be fairly certain there is conversation is a necessary someone like Dahal who has been political will on the part of the leadership to join peaceful competitive GUEST COLUMN Alok K Bohara element in a negotiation, and any underground for so long. Similarly, politics. The pace at which this happens is dictated by the internal such exchanges between Dahal forcing five -ear militia training on dynamics within the Maoist party and the comrades want to be careful their rebellion doesn’t unravel. and Koirala are perfectly Nepali people can’t come through But even if the Maoists hadn’t mired this country in 10 years of parliament and the incorporation understandable. But an excessive fiat. Policies like this and others war, our democracy needed to be fixed to make it more meaningful of the Maoists into the interim reliance on ambiguity can also such as our international trade and inclusive. The peace process is a good opportunity to address government is happening without backfire. Too much of an open and treaties, economic policies, these structural issues. However, the fact that the Maoists are joining any resolution to the issue of space for the Maoists can and the rule of law must be debated mainstream politics doesn’t automatically guarantee that democracy Maoist arms. But then, other strengthen their hand in carrying and deliberated in public and will be protected or that marginalised groups will have a voice. In politicians have gone as far as to out Dahal’s “October Revolution”. voted by an elected parliament. fact, recent inflammatory statements by Maoist leaders give reason to doubt their sincerity, commitment to democracy and the protection term it a peaceful transfer of power The more we engage the Local Maoists must also learn of fundamental rights. to the Maoists. Maoists the harder it is for them that in free society, people have a The peace process and the constituent assembly election is a Granted, a perfectly drawn out to pull out. This is both a good right to property. Recent coverage project that aims at more equitable power-sharing. It seeks to change plan is not a guarantor of peace, thing, and wishful thinking. But, of a militia handing over keys of a 237 years of status quo and allow a mechanism for Nepalis who were as the renewed fighting in Sri if the negotiation fails amid such house to its rightful owner is as left out of decision-making a future share in it. The present haggling Lanka and East Timor have shown. high expectations and fanfare, it blatant as honouring a husband is about who is to decide on this mechanism and how. Similarly, keeping a loophole in would be easier for Dahal to once for not beating his wife. Now that we’ve come this far there are some self-evident truths: a state can’t have two rival armies the agreement can also spell more mobilise his troops and Decompression of the Maoist the paramilitary group needs to be disbanded within an agreed disaster as in the case of Angola, carry out his October Revolution. cadres to face such realities in a timeframe where the rebels with their arms The likelihood of such a new Nepal should begin in a caretaker government can’t include a party that still espouses intact renewed fighting after losing revolution will be high, especially earnest. This is now Dahal’s violence in elections and plunged the if he is allowed to continue with responsibility. Civil society and a hardline split within the rebel movement has to be prevented country back into civil war. his current high-octane proletariat the media have so far been very elections can’t be held without first deommissioning an armed That said, much can happen, rhetoric sometimes laden with patient with the Maoist leadership group’s weapons behind the scenes between gratuitous remarks. Should he not and given them an unprecedented So far, our transition from conflict to ceasefire to a new Prachanda and Koirala. Some be forced to break the bad news to platform to articulate their constitution has happened relatively smoothly. But the road ahead is claim there is a sincere verbal his troops starting right about position. The post-summit press treacherous because now? conference at Baluwatar impressed post-conflict At some point, we need to put some of our own civil society elections, if they some onus on Dahal & Co to members so much they even aren’t properly deliver too. To convince his declared him to be a visionary and handled, can re- ignite violence. cadres to abide by some of our dynamic leader comparable to B P Worse, polarised expectations should be ‘his Koirala. Well, let history judge that. campaigning for problem’. Any supposed private For now, disarmament before such polls can guarantee (hint, hint, wink, wink) the elections is the single most turn a to some of our leaders and civil vital issue. Creating a government comparatively society members should not be with two armies will be a colossal tame class-based taken as proof of a Maoist mistake. struggle into a much more commitment. What matters is vicious ethnic or public accountability both in Alok K Bohara, Ph D, is professor of separatist conflict. words and deeds. economics at the University of New At least, we should allow an Mexico, USA. SAGAR SHRESTHA Higher they go, further they fall We need a stop-gap statute for checks and balances during this political interregnum

On 25 June, two sons of the once all- through these occurrences. It will be a long their infinite wisdom decree. must be bound not by the oath taken inside powerful honorary ADC to the king, Gen haul before the king and commoners will be This is the reason the Maoists parliament but by the provisions of a Bharat Keshar Simha, tendered an official governed by the same laws, but an leadership’s promise to abide by the commonly agreed statute. All that apology to Ang Dawa Sherpa, the irreversible process has begun. decisions of a constituent assembly has parliamentary supremacy implies is a motorcyclist they beat up in the middle of Just a year ago, Gen Simha had given rise to optimism. It implies that they regime run by the laws. The distinction the road at Lainchaur last week. thundered in public that the authority of a are ready to discard the logic of the gun. between these two different concepts of legal They also agreed to compensate him for the Hindu king couldn’t be confined by any Like monarchists, someday the Maoists will supremacy shows that all forms of costs involved in treatment and repairs. constitution. Giri had similarly argued in a also be held accountable for their deeds. governments are equally likely to This week, Tulsi Giri deposed before the tv interview that the king acquired Their loyalists too will be asked to testify, degenerate into tyranny if not kept constantly High-level Investigation Commission legitimacy to rule from the loyalty of his depose, and accept responsibility at on their toes by a watchful and informed headed subjects who anointed him at the time of his investigation, truth or reconciliation public. by ascension to the throne. commissions that will be formed by the An urgent promulgation of an interim STATE OF THE STATE former This was the divine right theory that constituent assembly or subsequent constitution is thus not just a concession to C K Lal Supreme justified the supremacy of the king which in parliaments. the Maoists but a legal necessity to Court turn was used to create special privileges Meanwhile, excesses that may be institutionalise democracy during this Justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi. Giri told for royal lackeys. Simha and Giri were committed in the name of the supremacy of political interregnum. reporters he had full respect for the rule of notable beneficiaries of royal munificence. the parliament also must be kept in check. The job of the Rayamajhi Commission law. They appear to have reconciled themselves As it happens, the restored house has will be a lot easier if Laxman Prasad Aryal Media reported that the finance ministry to the changed circumstances of the declared itself sovereign at a time when and his team succeed in making its had asked Narayanhiti to show sources of country. there is no institutional mechanism to recommendations binding upon the interim funds that will be used to import a SUV Now it’s the turn of the Maoists to ensure the checks and balances so government. If that happens, the commission costing about Rs 5 million. The royal family pledge that they too will be bound by the essential for the healthy functioning of a will have no hesitation in summoning the will no longer be tax exempted. laws of the land. Feudal lords, military democracy. chairman of the royal council of ministers for juntas, and armed revolutionaries have To conduct the affairs of the state questioning. The dream of one nation under There is a common thread running identical views on the law: it is what they in according to the rule of law, all officials one law looks tantalisingly close. 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 3

LLL ETTERS

TRUST Pushpa Kamal Dahal. In the SPA-M allow me to pose the following challenge: unlike now. But just who is going to ‘Mainstreaming the Maoists’ seems to be democracy everyone except the army The prime minister, ministers and deputy organise this? The effectiveness of dog the buzzword these days and your seems to get the right to express an opinion. prime ministers should replace their soldier sterilisation has, of course, been proved editorials are not immune. But what does It seems that the army can’t defend its bodyguards with Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s by various programs throughout the it mean? Changes to Nepal’s political image even when it is being singled out for weaponless henchmen. Will the concerned world, including the one in Jaipur. landscape require ownership by the attack. Prachanda had the right to give his authorities take up the challenge? ‘Lobbing a rock or two’ is merely an Maoists, the political parties, civil opinion and the army had the right of reply. J Basnyat, email effective and cruel way to move them to society and the Nepali people-at-large, So why all the fuss? Our politicians are just someone else’s back yard. Great! Yes, as victory in their own terms. It even hardwired to make a mountain out of a I don’t agree with your editorial (#303) there are always more pressing things to requires recognition from Nepal’s right- molehill every time. that we should ignore Maoist rhetoric deal with—what is your community doing of-centre that the attainment of lasting Evan Shrestha, email because they are talking tough to placate about these? peace, is a win as well. As you note in their cadre. Concessions from all political Helen Palmer, Kathmandu ‘Why should we trust you?’ (Editorial, As usual, your editorial (‘Why should actors can only happen in an atmosphere of #303) concessions to the Maoists have we trust you’) is balanced and persuasive. moderate rhetoric, which by way of public GOAL! to be tailored to meet their leadership’s Just as the state needs to accept the notion record will define the mainstream going into I’m a New Zealander living in Nepal, and I challenge of assuaging the Maoist cadre- of including the Maoists in the power constituent assembly elections. read with empathy Kunda Dixit’s dismay base. Similarly, what the Maoists offer in A peace process means at the appallingly low scores of the return must also qualify as substantive compromise. An equitable and current round of soccer matches (Under reciprocity to allay the concerns of sustainable political solution depends My Hat, ‘Moving the goalposts’, #303). political and apolitical actors in Nepal as much on including Maoist demands Excluding his points 3, 4 and 8, might I and abroad. This is why rhetoric requires as it does on ensuring that every voice suggest that his final 8-point agreement responsible moderation. Writing off in Nepal has adequate political with Sepp Blatter beautifully describes a inflammatory language as necessary to representation. This includes the right- game called rugby. In rugby, you have 30 alleviate the concerns of radicals, as you of-centre (without royal liability), the huffing and heaving men (in dreads or seem to imply in your leader, is akin to centre, the left-of-centre, the Maoist crew-cuts) slogging it out for 80 condoning the escalation of counter- army (or militia) and members of the minutes. High scores are usually evident rhetoric for the sake of equilibrium. It state’s security forces. A peace agenda when the New Zealand team (the All would be most unfortunate to equate the that is premised on meeting Blacks) step onto the field to thrash their process of mainstreaming the Maoists unconditional demands from one party opponents senseless. All good, mindless with the act of defining the mainstream apparatus, the Maoists also have to accept runs the risk of undermining the entire fun, with no sissy-boys prancing around itself. that their integration requires a behaviour process. While the exhibition of willingness after scoring goals. If at all possible, do I agree that during the run up to the shift. Negotiating with the government on on the part of the Maoists to enter the you think that the cable tv poachers could constituent assembly, it is very important one hand while trying to ‘talk tough’ to their mainstream is a realistic pre-condition to perhaps extend their reach beyond for the Maoists to publicly renounce cadre with unrealistic aspirations is not peace, it is also a concession that serves Myanmar and further into Australia or violence and educate their cadre on the helpful to anyone. Issuing provocative their legitimisation just as much as it serves New Zealand to steal air time for some of generally accepted version of liberal statements against the state’s security the national interest. the major rugby games? I’ll pay an extra democracy. This is just as paramount as forces that detract debate from substantive Name withheld, email Rs 5 per month as my share. it is for advocates of a liberal democratic issues and drive a wedge amongst the Maurice Lee, email set-up in Nepal to extend flexibility to the seven party alliance is counterproductive. Re: Guest Column by Dipta Shah (Why, Maoist leadership’s plight. Soon, the Maoists will learn the when and how? #303) How exactly did LETTERS The onus of rectifying the over- consequences of making empty promises. It ranting such as this one even get the Nepali Times welcomes feedback. Letters inflated expectations they set for their is as critical for the Maoist organisation to exclusive op-ed space on Nepali Times? I should be brief and may be edited for space. own cadre-base, is primarily the remain intact as it is for the seven party have never read such an appalling article in While pseudonyms can be accepted, writers Maoists’. The idea here is to mainstream alliance to hold. This is in the best interests your paper. Am I out of the loop or was it who provide their real names and contact not just the Maoist leaders and a of all Nepalis. Civil society leaders who just plain bad writing? details will be given preference. Email letters segment of sympathetic elements but the advocate the Maoist position and tolerate Sabeena Shree Rana, email should be in text format without attachments entire Maoist mass. inflammatory rhetoric as a necessary evil with ‘letter to the editor’ in the subject line. Dipak Singh, email must also realise the consequences. A DOG’S LIFE-3 Dev Sharma, email Andrew Steele (#303) misses the point, Email: [email protected] I was surprised by how the which is a NIMBY (not in my back yard) Fax: 977-1-5521013 government and our political leaders took Keeping in view the present elasticity attitude. By all means, shoot street dogs in Mail: Letters, Nepali Times, GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal. the army’s reaction to the statement from and fluidity of politics, as an ordinary citizen the head, at least they would die quickly, 4 NATION 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304

Including Janjatithe leaders say thatexcluded sharing powers will fortify Nepal

MARTY LOGAN different ethnic groups into a single territorial nation-state, or into a multi- or more than a decade Sitaram ethnic nation-state,’ Bhattachan writes. Tamang and his colleagues have If so, federalism shouldn’t be such an F discussed how they would revive alien concept for Nepal. their ancestral lands: Tamsaling. Now However, rulers since Nepal’s they believe the time has come. formation in the 18th century In the wake of the people’s have twisted the notion to ensure movement, Nepal’s indigenous people domination of the Bahun-Chhetri elite, finally believe they will have Bhattachan says. proportional representation in their Not all Janjatis are convinced that country’s governance. autonomy, or even a restructured state, are That means “in 10 years we will have priorities. “Yes we need more rights but the majority of seats in parliament,” first you need to have a vision of what to predicts Tamang of the Nepal Tamang do with those rights. And before we can Ghedung, “but we have no time—we have develop that, the Newars all need to come to join with Dalits, Madhesis and women together, stop fighting among themselves,” to pressure the government.” says one Newar restaurant owner. While almost all agree it’s time to But it’s not only Janjati leaders who restructure Nepal so that Janjatis and DANDA GURUNG think it’s time to share power. “We think other ‘disadvantaged’ groups need a larger Janjatis and other excluded sectors argue activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar. “Ethnic that more freedom will make a stronger say in running the state, there’s no that the time has passed when their people groups want their own regions so they can Nepal,” says the UML’s Amrit Bohara, “but consensus on how to achieve that. should depend on the largesse of the ruling have their own language, education in their we have to make sure we don’t go against Conservative voices argue that political ‘upper’ caste elite. Not only do they want mother tongue, their own culture.” our own national interest.” parties themselves should first start to mould the country into a federal state But Tuladhar says even the Maoists Civil society leader Devendra Raj having members from excluded groups. with a central government and provinces, don’t understand this. Among the tens of Panday sees autonomy for Janjatis creating Once they are elected, this logic goes, they say that those smaller units should be thousands of posters that the party printed a threat from within. "The biggest these individuals will make decisions based on ethnicity/language and should be to advertise its recent giant rally in faultline is how we handle the question that favour their own. autonomous. The Maoists go even a step Kathmandu, none was in Newari, he of ethnicity. The challenge is to create a “The parties should ensure further, saying that autonomous regions points out. federal state that addresses, ethnicity, representation within themselves,” KB should have the right to become Academics like Krishna Bhattachan geography and development issues,” Gurung, NC general secretary told us, independent countries (see interview). argue that Nepal wasn’t so much unified by he adds. “Janjatis must be provided their language, “The whole nation is talking about a King Prthibi Narayan Shah but various But Sitaram Tamang is matter-of-fact: religion and traditions. That must be new constitution...it is the proper time to regions were given autonomy under a “We don’t want to take over, we’re given by the government and parties.” discuss all the national problems, of the federal structure. ‘The king’s idea of demanding only our fair share. We think Many outspoken, senior leaders of ethnic people, the tarai people,” says rights internal autonomy (was) to bind the that’s democracy.” z “From feudalism to federalism” The Maoists shocked the nation when they redrew the map of Nepal in 2004 basing it mainly on ethnicity. Their senior leader Deb Gurung talked to us about exactly how these autonomous regions would function.

Nepali Times: Under the autonomy that you has made the society dependent on others. Due to propose would each region be allocated complete the misuse of local resources by the centre, local political powers or would it be like a federal system production has not developed nor have markets. where the regions get some powers and the centre Proper management of those resources would other ones? solve this problem. Deb Gurung: We have practised both systems in our Although your party has now own way. The autonomous agreed to participate in multi- regions have a constitution, party politics, your ultimate judiciary and other state aim is a socialist or Marxist organs. Foreign affairs, state, which is a centralised national defence and money one. How can you reconcile matters are vested in the that vision with autonomy? federal government. Other In our evaluation of the powers, like schools, history of states, including language, culture, natural Vietnam, China and Cuba, we resources and many other have observed certain things are vested in the problems they had, autonomous regions. concerning state power, the army and other entities. Then how do federal and Prachandapath, or autonomous systems differ? democracy of the 21st We have guaranteed the right century, is the outcome of of secession to the this deep study with a view to autonomous regions. If they matching form with reality. feel oppressed they can KIRAN PANDAY Only on the basis of full detach themselves from the central government. democracy do you produce a unified state, not on the basis of dictatorship. So it’s possible that the country could split apart? They have the right to secession but nowadays the Many Janajatis and other oppressed peoples died trend of globalisation is that strength is found in for your vision of liberation via an armed struggle. unity. Now you are telling them to put the gun aside and use the political process to achieve liberation. Where would the resources come from for each When the people’s war started that was also a region to run its own affairs, particularly in the political process, war is a continuation of politics west, the poorest part of the country? through other means. The Nepali people are ready The main resources are people’s capability and to participate no matter what form of struggle we hard work. But Nepal’s feudal economic system choose. NATION 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 5 How we can make it to the World Cup ANFA must recast it role to invest on three critical priorities

n article in the latest issue to invest resources on three of Himal Khabarpatrika critical priorities. A asks: If the war-torn African Hunt for talents: If you nation Angola could be a visit the ANFA’s ill-updated web contender in this year’s World site, it’s clear that the Cup soccer tournament in organization’s focus is not really Germany, why not Nepal? on promoting football. There are But what it neglects to no photos of players or matches. mention is how Angola became a Nor are there web links to the contender in the first place. sites related to the present World Angolan national football squad Cup. Instead, ANFA’s emphases members have been playing are on spending years on erecting professionally for clubs in half-finished buildings (hostels, office complexes, etc) and sustaining its own committee- STRICTLY BUSINESS swollen bureaucracy. NEPALNEWS.COM Ashutosh Tiwari That leaves room open for any Nepali football fan to worry that extent of its partnerships with the road to mastering World providing credible public countries such as Kuwait, Spain the deeper ANFA sinks into the corporate houses, event Cup-calibre confidence starts leadership on matters related to and the UK. Last year, Angola business of creating infrastructure management firms, from playing with, for and football. It can do that by gathered their talented but itself – instead of having it municipalities, youth clubs and against international clubs and reordering its priorities, reaching internationally scattered players, completed within deadlines by schools. Doing so will help it coaches in and out of Nepal, it’ll out to partners, getting the right and fielded a team which played third parties– it’s going to find it increase the number of local, be difficult for our players to people on board (instead of old successfully in the qualifying hard to concentrate on its number regional and national gain the physical, technical, sportsmen who know little about matches. Indeed, to any narrative one priority: Identifying young tournaments. In this, it should tactical and psychological working effectively with about their World Cup debut, football talents at grassroots build up on the success of some strengths that the game demands differently-skilled professionals), Angola’s war-driven political matches all over Nepal. In this Nepali clubs that are now being in the global arena. After all, and completing activities one history serves only as a poignant context, it helps if ANFA officials professionally managed and scoring goals only at the Dashrat by one. backdrop. It’s the individually think of themselves as talent whose players are actually starting Stadium – sans international Doing so consistently well for skilled players with international scouts—and not bureaucrats to make money from playing exposure — will continue to a number of years will help take exposure who have provided the wasting time on procurement football. consign our players to the Nepal closer to the goal of playing dazzle to Team Angola. issues and internal quarrels. Internationally, it’s time to dustbin of global mediocrity. and winning qualifying matches How can Nepal too aim to Market the talents: To develop and deepen relations Lead the talents: ANFA’s in 2014 and 2018 before, who produce a team for a World Cup cater to the rising global demand with Asian, African and European core business of promoting knows, bringing home the World debut? For answers, it’s worth for top football talents, ANFA can clubs, no matter how daunting football has many interlocking Cup trophy in 2022—100 years suggesting that All Nepal Football adopt a two-pronged strategy: such tasks look at the present. elements. Putting politics and after this beautiful game was first Association (ANFA) recast it role Domestically, it can raise the Unless our sports leaders see that quarrels aside, it needs to start played in this country.

Jumla crash probe

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Even while a CAAN investigation team begins its probe of the crash of a Yeti Airlines Twin Otter crash in Jumla on 22 June that killed nine people, aviation experts have called for stricter flying codes. Eye- witnesses said the Twin Otter was trying to be ahead of a Sita Air Dornier also flying into Jumla, but found its air speed too high for a landing. The pilot then flew on to the other end of the runway for another approach. The plane stalled and crashed while making what eye-witnesses said was an excessively tight turn. Preliminary findings of the Jumla crash point to several possibilities: crew fatigue, movement of cabin cargo during tight turn, inexperience of one of the pilots. There have been seven Twin Otter crashes since 1998 in Nepal killing 85 passengers and crew, nearly all have been due to pilots flying into mountains in bad weather. CAAN said this week it was investigating two other pilots for reckless flying.

Single-digit poverty

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Attracting more investment and boosting workers’ productivity could help South Asian nations cut poverty rates to single digits in less than a decade, says the World Bank in Economic Growth in South Asia, released on Tuesday. But governments must ensure that the cut is not accompanied by a growing gulf between nations’ haves and have- nots, warns the bank. Accelerating growth to 10 percent a year until 2015 would reduce poverty rates to single digits and also reduce the number of South Asians living in poverty by two-third. In Nepal, 10 percent growth would produce a 9.4 poverty rate by 2015. In 2003 poverty here was estimated at 31 percent, said the Bank.

Hyundai to hike prices

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) recently announced that it will hike prices of all Hyundai models, including the flagship ‘Santro Xing’, this month due to surge in the oil prices which has lead to increase in freight and logistical costs. Prices of raw materials like plastic and rubber have also risen in the recent past, pushing up production costs. The increase will be in a range of 1-2% of the most entry-level compact cars. This price hike will also affect the prices of Hyundai vehicles in Nepal.

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We haven’t yet reached that stage. It will be decided on the The interim government will be a division of powers that basis of a mutual agreement between the parties and civil will take us to the constituent assembly? society in the same manner in which the movement was It should not be taken as a division of power. The made successful by the three powers after the 12-point movement has given its mandate to the political and agreement. organised powers, those who were active during the movement including civil society. We should move You’ve argued for a leadership role for your party. forward using these powers. Instead of calling it a That is the usual practice. The ground reality is that people division of power it should be better understood as a believe a full-fledged democracy, peace and progress will provisional administration. only be possible if the leadership is in the hands of the Maoists. But we don’t want to make this the major issue and Thirteen thousand people have died, how will there be a argue about it. republic? The people’s movement which happened based on the What place will the king have in the interim constitution? support of the peoples’ war and with the support of the We feel there is no need for the king to have a place 12-point agreement, brought the country towards a because the Nepali people have already abandoned the republic. Had the political parties not given in to monarchy. The movement was proof of that. Likewise, the pressure from the king and foreign powers we would parliamentary parties have made proclamations which are have had a republic by now. Still, instead of heading proof that they want to head the same way. What we have directly into a republic we will go through an interim proposed is to declare a democratic peoples republic when system. There is no way to stop the republic now. Ninety forming the interim constitution and to give it a structure percent of the people are for a republic. If you can’t even through the constituent assembly. accept that, then there is no use calling yourself a democrat. KIRAN PANDAY Looks like the NC doesn’t want to go along with this. That will be clear during the process. We feel there is a Will your cadres accept this bourgeois republic? Or is Interview with Baburam Bhattarai, chairman of the strong faction within the NC which is for a republic. Other there dissatisfaction within the ranks? Maoist United Revolutionary Peoples Council, Radio major parties are also going for a republic. Our proposal is That is our program. There is no question of not Sagarmatha Ajaka Kura, 17 June not to keep the king as head of state. accepting it. That is the constitution of our party and the revolution. Our constitution and programs are clear: that Radio Sagarmatha: Is it now confirmed that your party will The national political convention that you had been the bourgeois republic will be formed under the be joining the interim government? demanding will not take place now? leadership and participation of the proletariat. Baburam Bhatarai: This is more about the interim After the dissolution of parliament and the creation of a constitution rather than just about just joining the interim representative system by the constituent assembly, the Couldn’t you have worked with the 1990 constitution? government. We will join the interim government, but issue will arise of where do sovereign and ruling powers You have to understand that a democratic republic is not other things need to happen: date for the constituent lie. We feel that an interim structure must be created, which a parliamentary republic. Our understanding is that a assembly elections, dissolving parliament. is why we have put forth a proposal for a national political democratic republic is an interim provision slightly convention that includes the seven parties, us, civil society above a parliamentary republic but which has not Can we expect a tussle about who will join the and various fronts representing regions, ethnicities and reached the level of people’s republic. This could not government? castes. happen through the 1990 constitution. It will be brought FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 7 republic” by the present struggle and movement for formation of new laws from the constituent assembly.

There is a rumour that your party will be excluded from communist organisations like RIM and COMPOSA if you join the government? No. RIM and COMPOSA are our participatory organisations so there is no question of us being excluded from them. Different parties have their own programs and differences in opinion will exist. We are MIN BAJRACHARYA KIRAN PANDAY KIRAN PANDAY in various committees of RIM and COMPOSA and no one can take us out of them.

What is the nature of your democratic republic? Girija, Gyanendra and Prachanda In a democratic republic there will be no monarchy and the people will have complete power. Second, the army which has been loyal to the monarchy for 237 years, Disanirdesh, 25 June Maoist leadership and King Birendra. How many Maoists really got must be democratised, restructured and a new force During that time, efforts were being martyred during Janandolan II? How raised. Third, the present form of government is There are so many reasons why the made through Gyanendra and many of their cadres really got feudalistic and Brahminised. A government that parties and people feel skeptical Dhirendra to unite with the Maoists injured? When Gyanendra assumed represents everyone, the exploited, the ethnic castes, about the Maoists: Prachanda’s often and destroy the leading parties like direct rule, the Maoists said that he various regions will be formed. Basic democratic norms such as competitive state system, rule of law insulting remarks against other Nepali Congress and UML. Soon after betrayed them. Until then, the and human rights will be an integral part of this system. political leaders, his utter arrogance the royal massacre, Prachanda and Maoists had still not had any serious The rights of women, Dalits and basic rights to unsuitable for a senior leader like Baburam had praised kings from talks or reached an understanding. education, health and employment will be secured. In him, his clever attempts to opt out Prithbi Narayan Shah to Birendra. On the other hand, the parties were the economic front revolutionary land reforms will take seven parties from decision making They started the extortions and criticised for not showing courage to place. For a long time, Indian investments in Nepal process, and the continued violence, killings of hundreds of leaders, organise mass protest against the have been under a semi-colonial style monopoly. This abduction and extortions at the workers, teachers, journalists and king. will end and, Nepal will be developed as an hands of his cadres, abductions and many police and army personnel By the time, the Maoists had been independent democratic republic. lack of guilt about the past mistakes. while during off duty and visiting attacking many districts, brutally Many questions are being raised their families. After this, the Maoists destroying the infrastructure and You say you are against personality cults, yet you about the intentions of the Maoists: took refuge in India and mobilised buildings in the cities and towns. glorify Prachandapath. It’s not about not keeping Prachandapath. I was the one are they really serious about giving up their militia and then came to the But when they realised that it was who proposed Prachandapath. It was natural for us to their one-party stance and joining the country to start destruction of public not possible to capture Kathmandu name the ideology after the chairman of the party. I have multiparty system or is it just their and private properties. and win a decisive war in the capital, never been against Prachanda’s leadership or political diplomacy to win the hearts The whole country and the people the Maoist leaders eventually thought Prachandapath itself. of the mass? Is their alliance with the had been suffering at the hands of the of the proposal for talks by the seven parties genuine or merely a way palace in the cities and Maoists in the parties. It was only after the to use them? The Maoists had not jungle. Thousands were killed for janandolan got stronger that they

Bhutani refugees organised any political struggle extortion and not supporting the started the drama of trying to have ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ during the Panchayat regime. They rebels. The properties of tens and talks. Now Prachanda is saying that Editorial in Samaya, 30 June took up arms only when the thousands of families were looted the parties did not have much to do communist party formed a and over 100,000 displaced. The with the 12-point understanding. World Refugee Day came and went this week, and it was government following general Maoists believed that the whole It’s good that he has started to just a formality. For the 100,000 plus Bhutani refugees elections and had started to country was under their control. But talk a lot about the Buddha. But it’s who have been living in camps for the past 14 years in undertake new progressive activities. it was only after their alliance with time that he started sounding like a Jhapa and Morang there is no hope of any positive There would have been a lot of the parties especially NC and UML responsible leader, wholeheartedly developments this year. progress if all the leftist parties had that led to huge assemblies of the accepting multiparty system, The UNHCR which has been trying to get the formed a majority in the government. mass. But Baburam now says this was publicly admitting the past mistakes refugees repatriated to Bhutan or assimilated in the host But it seems very clear now that there possible due to the Maoists. He added and liberating from old stereotyped country Nepal is now also working on third country were very close relations between the that only few supported the parties. thinking. resettlement. For the refugees, this can be a good option but not the best one. The UNHCR blames mainly Nepal for opposing resettlement in third countries. Nepal’s position is that Bhutan needs to take back some of its people as per the bilateral agreement. The Bhutani refugee leadership agrees with this. Obviously, the issue of refugees is closely linked to the protection of human rights and democracy in Bhutan. A royal dictatorship can perhaps heap injustices on a minority for some time. But ultimately the people will be victorious, and this has been proven by the recent events in the refugees’ host country. Unfortunately, the lack of an organised pro-democracy movement has bolstered the harsh crackdowns by the Bhutani regime. Neighbouring democratic country India and the UN have been indirectly helping the anti- human rights and anti-democratic crackdowns by the Bhutani king against his own minority peoples. It may appear to be in the short-term interest of some of the refugees, especially women and children, to be resettled in third countries. But to be forever torn apart from their country, community, culture and families can only be a last resort. It is important to Peak: Summit talks restart the bilateral ministerial-level talks between Men: Seven-party map Nepal and Bhutan to resolve the issue. Nepal must also The talks over! Return! remind New Delhi that its neutrality has helped the Abin Shrestha inSamaya, 29 June

Bhutan king to continue with his activities against the refugees. Such repressive behaviour will be a challenge QUOTE OF THE WEEK “ in efforts to fight terrorism in South Asia. It is also a test for King Jigme who seems to want to devolve his Who will take the responsibility of the killings of 13,000 people if you want to talk about killing? power and usher in democracy. He must remember that “ democracy isn’t possible by violating the basic human - Nikshya SJB Rana , former royalist minister on Nepal One, 27 June rights of his minority population. That will just set back democracy. SELECTED MATERIAL TRANSLATED EVERY WEEK FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 8 OLD AGE HOME

GREETING: “Namaste, aram?” That is how Sankule Lati, LAUGHING: Til Kumari Khatri, 71, and Yadongba Tamang, 70, laugh and play like children. Til Kumari has been here since 1998. 77, greets strangers with a namaste and a quick tilt to her Her daughter-in-law brought her to the shelter one day and left saying: “I’ll be back soon.” She never came back. head. These s

BATHING: Dhana Kumari Ranabhat, 99, takes a bath with the help of her husband Dil Bahadhur Ranabhat, 90. The couple is lucky, few here still have their spouses. Dhana Kumari was forced here after her husband died but married Dil Bahadhur, a retired soldier. are fam

PHOTOS and TEXT b

ost people find shelters for senior citizens depressing and avoid visiting them. But working on this photo feature at the Pashupati Bridhashram M over the past six months, I have been inexplicably uplifted. I forget the stress of living in Kathmandu and my homesickness for my native Bangladesh. I feel fortunate that I have a family, as many of the senior citizens once had. But what gives me hope is CHATTING: Tirtha Maya Thapa, 75 and Man Kumari Thapa, that even though they have lost families and possessions, they still care. They care for 75, sit and chat. Tirtha Maya was so busy taking care of her each other and they retain a deep sense of humanity. The story of how they landed up parents, she never married. But after they died, her relatives evicted her from her house. Man Kumari’s long lost son came and took her home a few months ago.

EATING: Bishnumaya Lati, 72, takes her evening meal with COOKING: Kanchi Khatri cooks food in the shelter. She was PRAYING: Laxmi Thapa, 68, prays to a wall full of pictures of the god her two favourite dogs in attendance. She lives here with the maid servant at the home of an astrologer and when she she was married very young. Laxmi worked as a domestic all her life her husband. was no longer able to work nine years ago, her employer arm, her employer abandoned her so she came here. Now she prays brought her here. there is no one to help me.” 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 9

RECITING: Shanti Tuladhar recites a poem from her book, Unko Samjhana. She loves poetry and is still CHANTING: Every morning and evening residents gather for bhajans. Those who can’t walk to the prayer room chant from writing. Married at 30, her husband was in the army and their own beds. when he died 12 years ago, she was sent here. Shanti doesn’t like to talk about her son. She reads us her favourite poem:

a[4sf ] afWotf zflGt tnfw/' ca t 5f/fx?] 7nf' eP kfNg ] kfNg] ] cfzf eP ‰'Kkf| 3/x? cUnf eP Ps Ps ub {} tNnf a8] hlt hlt 3/sf tNnf a8] trangers a'9f–a9L' ‰g–‰g\ \ tn ‰/] lr;f ] 58L] s'g{} k¥of] 5f/f] a8/] vf]O{ s ] u¥of ] < 5f/fx?nfO] { ef/L eP/ a[4f>fddf 5f]8] NofP/ k/fO { eOuP{ ;Gtfg cfˆg} mily now k/bz] eOuof{ ] 3/af/ cfˆg} In my old age by SHEBAB UDDIN Shanti Tuladhar My sons have grown up Huts have turned into high-rises here is almost always the same: in their old age they became a burden on their families They’re adding floors one by one who dumped them at Pashupati. For the elderly, it’s sometimes a relief that they are in For me, there is just the pyre left

such a holy place and don’t have to bear the taunts of a home where they are no longer As the house grew taller welcome. None of them came here willingly and no one has anywhere to go. The Pashupati We were pushed lower Bridhashram is run by the government so its budget is limited, it is congested, Lower than the staircase dark and dank My son has grown up but what has he done? short-staffed and shows signs of mismanagement. There are 230 residents, 140 of them women. I became a burden and he brought me here My family is foreign forever, These strangers are family now.

ods. She doesn’t remember where she was born or her family since FEEDING: Dipa Thapa, 75, has two pet cats in the shelter. COMBING: Ratna Maya Katiwada, 68, has kept to ife. Her alcoholic husband used to beat her up. When she broke her They are her only friends. She used to sell flowers in herself since she came here three years ago. No one ys all the time. “I spent all my life helping others,” she says, “now Pashupati and when her husband died, she came here. knows the whereabouts of her family or where she is from. 10 NEWS 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 South African model Why the hurry? So far, the South African model for a constituent assembly seems to fit the Nepali situation best. Seats in this type of assembly are elected by a system of proportional representation and allocated on Even ministers are unhappy at the haste with which the government the basis of the percentage of votes that each party gets. Each and Maoists are drafting an interim constitution party appearing on the ballot will submit a rank-ordered list of candidates. have been violating the 25-code of The assembly will then replace the parliament and have the dual conduct agreed in Gokarna last role of framing a new constitution and governing the country until a month to tone down the rhetoric, government is formed. party leaders say. “We have to decide on three crucial things: methods of The Maoists, meanwhile, are representation, electoral areas to be determined and methods of election,” explains Bhimarjun Acharya, a constitutional lawyer on a public relations offensive working on proposals for the best model of a constituent assembly. meeting party leaders and “If we go by general parliamentary election style, there will Kathmandu-based diplomats. definitely be a tussle for power,” explains Acharya. “We hope that the Maoists So far, the parties and the Maoists are reported to be positive will live up to their about the South African model and indigenous groups are also said commitments, which we to be onboard. “There should be proportional representation by 50 reminded their leaders of again percent women candidates and 38 percent adivasis without any recently,” explained Koirala, who conditions,” says Malla K Sundar, president of the Newar National met Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Organisation. Baburam Bhattarai on Tuesday in But people we talked to caution it shouldn’t be done in a hurry the capital. like the interim constitution. South Africa tookfive years to pass its new constitution. The Maoists have not returned

KIRAN PANDAY property they seized and have refused to allow party workers NARESH NEWAR armed struggle to peaceful back to their villages. “In several between the eight parties,” said expected. At a time when both politics. places, our cadres have been political analyst Krishna Khanal. sides are supposed to focus on While senior rebel leaders are constantly bullied and threatened Both the parties and Maoists the key issue of making a clear he Maoists felt left out and going around the capital by local Maoist cadre who are also are disseminating their own road map and finalising the demanded the dissolution constantly criticising the parties not ready to return the property propaganda and naturally there modalities of a constituent Tof parliament on 16 June, and underlining what they say looted in the past even of poor are differences in opinions. assembly election, there has been but this has brought flak from the was their crucial role in the people,” said Pradeep Nepal of In addition, the party cadres little homework (see box). seven party alliance. movement, local commanders in the UML, who has been sharply are not really going to the people Women’s groups are enraged Leaders of the SPA are getting the villages are intimidating critical of Maoist behaviour. in the remote villages so it is a that there are no women in the increasingly frustrated with party workers, especially of the But citizens groups claim that false claim that the Maoists are committee made up to draft an Maoist stubbornness and are NC and UML. the situation is not so dire as to o posing a threat to them. interim constitution. Party saying so openly. The level of “We are working really hard jeopardise the understanding Maoist leaders say the peace leaders, even from within the mistrust and scepticism is towards building a positive between the parties and the process is moving too slowly and cabinet, have started to criticise growing and the parties blame political environment and the Maoists. the government is dragging its both the government and the this on the arrogance of Maoist Maoists should reciprocate,” says “There is no feet on the setting up of an Maoists for rushing to dissolve cadres who don’t seem to know Sushil Koirala of the NC. With misunderstanding at all but interim government but the parliament and go for the interim how to make the transition from their belligerent talk, the Maoists merely an internal competition parties say the pace is more than constitution. z Gross national distress n the late 1980s, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck decreed that Gross National However much it tries, Bhutan will never be able to brush I Happiness (GNH) was more important to its refugee crisis under the carpet his country than Gross National Product (GNP). to let Thimphu scot free by resettling He then promptly started evicting them in third countries. As Tek Nath Rijal, Nepali-speaking Lhotsampas in a ruthless the indomitable Bhutani freedom fighter campaign that can only be described as rightly insists, such a move is tantamount ethnic cleansing. So far, because of to surrender and will imperil other complicit India and the international minority communities in similar community, he has got away with it. situations elsewhere. His regime has used every trick in the The NHD Report 2005 needs to be read book of predatory diplomacy to detract as an account of potential rather than the international attention from the very reality of a country that wants the world existence of the refugees—more than to see it in soft focus with rose-tinted 110,000 of its citizens in makeshift camps glasses. If an honourable settlement of the in eastern Nepal. This glossy bhutan refugee issue is made, Bhutan still has the national human development report 2005 prospect of emerging as an inclusive and (lower case from the original) pretends the prosperous nation. If it doesn’t, King refugees don’t even exist. Which is quite Jigme will go down in history as someone convenient because if you reduce your who needlessly alienated a large segment population by one-sixth, obviously your KIRAN PANDAY of his people because of racial paranoia. per capita parameters suddenly look much by government edict. Aidocrats and somewhat special race. On 20 June when the rest of the world rosier. journalists extol the virtues of this virgin Compared to the dispirited diplomacy was celebrating Refugee Day the Like its celebrated postage-stamps, land. Learning from their hosts, they love of poor democracies, dictators in the Third Lhotsampa in Nepal marked their 14th publications of the Royal Government of to say how great Bhutan is by pointing out World manage to attract the best and year away from their country and yet Bhutan are meant for display. This report is what a mess Nepal is. The hypocrisy of brightest to push their agenda. Democracy another Black Day in their unending saga not an exception. It is crafted, designed, New Delhi-based diplomats is breath- is defined by private sector excellence and of displacement and despair. z and produced in bleached chlorinated paper taking: they will not tolerate dictatorship, public sector mediocrity. It’s the other way CK Lal to impress. The text bristles with press curbs, ethnic cleansing or round in well-entrenched autocracies contemporary catch phrases: environmental chauvinistic politics anywhere else in where a combination of hope and fear sustainability, good governance, cultural the world. But because Bhutan is so cute, keeps some outstanding professionals tied heritage. But like all police states, the more it’s ok. with the regime. The Bhutani government the regime tries to convince readers that the To get the true picture of Bhutan, you has managed to project itself as the likely bhutan national human government is doing great, the more you have to visit the camps in Jhapa or spend victim and has succeeded in hiding its development report 2005 doubt its real intentions. time with the refugees camped out last crime against humanity of evicting over ISBN 99936-675-0-1 Bhutan has notched notable successes week at the UN in Kathmandu. Just as one-sixth of its population. Royal Government of in rural development, hydropower, package North Korea has the Juche Idea, Bhutan has Instead of working for resettlement of Bhutan, Thimpu tourism and public health. It is the only GNH. It comes out of the same dangerous Lhotsampas in their homeland, even country so far to have become tobacco-free ideology that sees itself as a superior and international bureaucrats have now begun NATION 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 11 In search of lost time “My heart belongs to Dang”

something to do,” says 23-year- democracy. Older businessmen old Raju Panthi. “I don’t support also didn’t foresee things everything that the Maoists say, changing for the better. Everyone but at least they are saying is focused on the here-and-now, something,” he adds. Sankalp deeply suspicious of anything the from Ghorahi refused to come with Maoists have to say. me to the rally and is far less Seeing the family I lived with enthusiastic. “I hate them,” he again and visiting the school that I says, “they are terrorists. They taught at after so many years JOSH LUSTIG in DANG them is clearly very painful. I ask authorities. Nowadays in Dang have done nothing good for our brought back a whole string of them about the Maoists. These you don’t stumble upon a Maoist people, only killed them.” highly charged feelings. The s the bus hurtled down the are the people, after all, that the meeting, you follow crowds of I wish I could say that vibrancy, warmth and generosity East-West Highway I tried Maoists are fighting for. I am met thousands. On the third day of my loktantra has brought new hope to of both the people and the place A desperately to apply some with a surly silence and some stay last month, the Maoists held the people of Dang. But I couldn’t have stayed the same. semblance of order to my racing harsh looks. “We don’t know a program attended by up to see it. All the people I spoke to The mountains are what bring thoughts. As we entered Rapti anything about the Maoists,” 200,000 people. gave me a funny smile when I people to Nepal and I love the Zone and passed the barren says Geg Bahadur. I ask some of the young suggested that things now are mountains. They are where my landscape of the inner tarai, Five years ago I had people there what their feelings really going to change. The young head belongs. But my heart? My involuntary memories swarmed stumbled across a Maoist are towards the Maoists and am people especially seemed heart belongs to Dang. z around my head. meeting and was forced to stay met with surprising indifference. sceptical, with no faith in their The scent of ripening mangos there all day in case I notified the “We are here because it’s politicians or the mechanics of www.joshlustig.com and the luminous green of the rice fields. Suddenly the name of the eldest daughter of the family that I lived with, a name I had been trying to remember ever since arriving again in Nepal, came back to me: Sumila. Images and feelings long dormant came back to life. Dang is not the first place that comes to most people’s mind when they think of Nepal. It has been a Maoist stronghold and Ghorahi was the first place where the Maoists attacked the army in November 2001. That was when I was here last, volunteering with Student Partnership Worldwide teaching English and environmental education. The people and culture of this part of the country would leave an indelible impression on me. The family that I lived with for five months and the school and community in which I worked, are what brought me back. After three years of university and two years struggling in London as a freelance photographer, I’ve finally made it back to Dang. Back to the heat and the parched terrain, back to the vibrant colours and the most generous people on the planet. I didn’t know what to expect as the bus pulled into Ghorahi. As I checked into my room at the Rapti Super Lodge, I was both relieved and a little disappointed to find it in the same state as when I used to stay here occasionally five years ago. My room is like a sauna, fully equipped with a painfully slow-moving fan whose motor generates more heat than the cooling power of the blades. About 20 minutes out of Ghorahi is the Tharu community of Syani Ammapur. The Tharus are landless, and looked down upon by neighbouring communities. When I ask Geg Bahadur Thapa, the community leader, to tell me about the problems the families here face everyone laughs. “We have all the problems,” he says, “We have no water, no toilet, not enough food to eat, none to sell, we cannot clothe ourselves or our children and we cannot send them to school.” The adults are uneducated but acutely aware of the need for education. The thought that their children will be no better off than 12 SPORTS 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304

1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990

Despite the goalies’ grumbles, the new Adidas world Cup ball is setting new sales records Having a ball at

correspondents flocking to has even higher expectations of Nürnberg, who led the +Teamgeist Germany remembered that Adidas the +Teamgeist. design team for Adidas as senior made startlingly similar It is harder to understand why development engineer. statements four years ago when it designing a soccer ball should be The new ball has two layers, unveiled the Fevernova ball for so daunting. After all, it is a ball. inner and outer, with a new the 2002 tournament. How hard can it be to design a thermal bonding technology used How has the +Teamgeist round object of a specific size and to create a seamless surface. performed since the World Cup weight? The challenge is to Adidas’s rationale is that this started? Is it living up to Adidas’s produce a ball in so robust a form makes the ball more consistent claims? Goalies are still that it enhances, rather than because the impact of the player’s grumbling but to the surprise of inhibits, the quality of play by foot will be the same wherever it cynics, the new ball does seem to behaving in exactly the same strikes the surface. As there are no be livening up the game. way wherever and whenever it seams, the ball does not absorb “It’s always tempting to is kicked. moisture during the game and dismiss innovations in ball From the late 1800s to 1970, thereby stays the same weight. design as marketing hype but this soccer balls consisted of 18 hand- Adidas subjected the one is creating more excitement,” stitched brown leather panels. +Teamgeist to intensive said Jack Huckel, director of During the 1966 World Cup, laboratory and field tests before museum and archives at the viewers complained they could putting the ball into production National Soccer Hall of Fame in not follow the ball on their black- last July. Nürnberg said it Oneonta, New York. “It can be and-white television screens, and exceeded expectations in the shot from longer distances with FIFA commissioned Adidas to tests, which included repeated ALICE RAWSTHORN voicing concerns about the greater impact and bent at greater design a television-friendly kicking by a robotic leg to official ball, Adidas’s speed. You see it exploding off alternative. The result was the replicate the 2,000 kicks it would hings did not bode well. multimillion dollar +Teamgeist. the players’ feet. As a former Telstar with 32 leather panels - 12 endure in a typical World Cup The German goalkeeper Burdened by a pompous name goalkeeper, I understand why black pentagons and 20 white match and rotating the ball 250 T Jens Lehmann complained (the German word for team spirit) they don’t like it.” hexagons. Launched at the 1970 times under water. Even so, the it was ‘unpredictable’. His with a silly + as a prefix and The commercial importance of World Cup in Mexico, it has been toughest test for a soccer ball is its counterpart from England’s team, Adidas’s lofty claims that it was the World Cup ball to Adidas is the default design for soccer balls performance in a match. Paul Robinson, dismissed it as the smoothest, roundest and most obvious. Adidas pays millions of ever since. After the first stage of the ‘goalkeeper unfriendly’. Brazil’s accurate soccer ball ever, the dollars to be the official ball “After so many years of 32 World Cup, observers are strikers found it so tricky that +Teamgeist seemed set to become supplier to the World Cup in the panels, we decided to try convinced that the +Teamgeist they scheduled extra training the joke of the 2006 World Cup. hope of creating a bestseller. something completely different can be kicked more powerfully sessions. Even before the World Its prospects were not helped by Having sold a record six million for 2006, and chose a 14-panel from longer distances. Similarly, Cup had started, players were the fact that many of the of the Fevernova ball of 2002, it structure,” said Hans-Peter the swerve of the ball is

TV stations’ ‘piracy’ of their broadcasts was a good PR move. On the popular Arab news channel Al Arabiyah, only freeze frames of the games are being shown during sports news World Cup watchers revolt bulletins. Normal people using the net to hack Citizens are finding innovative ways to bypass FIFA’s tv monopoly satellite feeds is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what people can do to AHMAD HUMEID circumvent the monopolistic powers of in JORDAN mainstream media. User generated content in the form of pictures and videos shared on he 2006 World Cup in Germany is the web is starting to become a more visible the first time that people in the Arab media byproduct of the tournament. T world have felt the overwhelming I can easily imagine a situation in the power of FIFA and its absolute control of tv near future where people in the stadium images from the world’s greatest sporting would be shooting the live event with their event. camera phones and ‘webcasting’ them to Want to watch the World Cup? Then friends, family or even a wider audience. Of you’d better pay something like $300 to get course such video stream would be no a satellite dish and receiver from the Arab match for the ‘official’ professional, multi- Radio and tv Network (ART). And you angle, professionally directed video. But in can’t just buy a month’s access to watch an age where the organisers of major, the games. You’ll have to get a full year of popular, global events are so aggressive in access to ART’s ‘bouquet’ of channels protecting their broadcasts, this form of whether you want it or not. citizen media might become a viable In a country like Jordan, where many Those screens are not the only internet where they find satellite hacker alternative. people are barely able to make ends meet, solution. Many Jordanians have become forums that provide the latest codes. Traditional media companies will not charging them to watch their favorite experts in satellite receiver hacking. In Palestine, local TV channels are re- disappear overnight because of the power of global sporting event has created a lot of Everyone, including the country’s top broadcasting the games on terrestrial people to generate content. But user- bitterness. That’s why King Abdullah cartoonist Hajjaj, is talking about waves. ART has assured these generated content is a factor that no one can ordered the setting up of 30 public viewing breaking the codes for certain European broadcasters that they will not be sued. afford to ignore anymore. z screens across the country for people who satellite channels. Even with the codes Amongst all the negativity directed at ART, cannot afford PayTV. changing daily, people are flocking to the the company’s tolerance of the Palestinian Excerpted from Ahmad Humeid’s weblog SPORTS 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 13 1994 1998 2002 2006 Starry-eyed Learning the night sky is just like getting to know a new city

f you are new to astronomy, perhaps one of the most difficult and daunting parts about beginning is learning all those stars. Relax! I It’s a lot easier than you think. Just like moving to a new city, everything will be unfamiliar at first but with a little help from some maps, you’ll soon be finding your way around like a pro. Once you become familiar with the constellations and how they appear to move across the night sky, the rest is easy. And what better time to learn STAR GAZING it than in the monsoon. It may be usually cloudy, but clear the World Cup Kedar S Badu monsoon nights are dust-free and clear enough to see the milky way if you’re lucky. Anyone even vaguely interested in the night sky should own a pair of binoculars. While they will never BALLS THROUGH THE AGES: reveal the heavens in quite as much detail as even a small During the 1966 World Cup, telescope, their availability, ease of use and portability make them viewers complained they could the perfect night sky companion. not follow the ball on their black- Now is the perfect time to try out those new binoculars because and-white television screens, and as if to celebrate the change of the seasons, four of our solar FIFA commissioned Adidas to system’s bright planets are putting on a parade at dusk during the design a television-friendly last week of June. One of them — giant Jupiter — gleams brilliantly alternative. The result was the overhead as it gets dark. You can’t miss it; it’s the brightest point of Telstar with 32 leather panels: 12 light in the sky these evenings. You might easily overlook the other black pentagons and 20 white three worlds — Mercury, Mars, and Saturn — which are much hexagons. Launched at the 1970 fainter and setting in the west during twilight. Thankfully the waxing World Cup in Mexico, it has been crescent Moon comes to the rescue, pointing the way to the the default design for soccer balls planetary trio. And your eyes are all you need to enjoy the spectacle ever since. The 2006 ball (left) — no telescope required! has two layers, inner and outer, Mars currently shares Cancer with Saturn. Hope you enjoyed the Mars-Saturn conjunction in mid June as Mars approached very with a new thermal bonding close to the ringed-planet. technology used to create a seamless surface. accentuated as it bends to the left the +Teamgeist’s lightness, which have rough surfaces. The felt on or right. “The bend is more makes it harder to catch. “It’s so tennis balls and dimples on golf dramatic,” affirmed David James light that it slips out of your balls improves their of Sheffield Hallam University’s hands,” Huckel noted. aerodynamics and helps them to sports engineering department. The +Teamgeist also has a move faster.” “This ball is great for players like tendency to confuse goalies by Despite the goalies’ grumbles, David Beckham, at least it should wavering as it hurtles towards the +Teamgeist has proved even be.” Another factor, analyzed by them. James attributes this to the more popular than Adidas his colleagues, is the +Teamgeist’s aerodynamic complexity of its expected, setting a new sales tendency to swerve from side to shape. “We’re at the cutting edge record of 15 million balls so far. side before hitting the back of the of science here because we Nürnberg’s design team is already net when it is kicked straight understand more about the working on its successor. “We without spin. aerodynamics of airplanes and need to erase the imperfections in All of this makes life tougher Formula One cars than of its structure,” he said. “Although for goalkeepers, as they face spheres,” he said. “A perfect we can’t expect to produce stronger shots and unexpected sphere moves through the air something as revolutionary as swerves. As matches progress, with considerable difficulty, the +Teamgeist for every Among constellations, Scorpius is now highest near the end of these problems are aggravated by which is why sports balls tend to World Cup.” z evening twilight. This magnificent constellation is a favourite of serious sky watchers. You might wish to see the bright reddish star Antares at the heart of the scorpion. Another prominent star, Spica, of the constellation Virgo, lies close to an imaginary line through the zodiac known as the ecliptic which represents the plane of the Earth’s orbit projected against the stars. Late July, after evening twilight, the Milky Way Galaxy bubbles up from the southern horizon, traverses high across the eastern sky and dips down in the north. Look south and you stare into the Sagittarius Spiral Arm and the centre of our galaxy. Don’t Miss the Great Hercules Star Cluster (M13) through binoculars on 29 July after the moon sets.

Other July highlights:

The Sun & the Earth: The Sun is in the constellation of Gemini at the start of July, moving into Cancer on the 20th. On 4 July, Earth reaches aphelion, ie, the point farthest from the Sun, at about 94,512,000 miles. If you still hold the notion that summer occurs Nepal Pashmina because the sun is closest to us, this is the perfect occasion to revise that idea. Mercury: Mercury is moving closer to the Sun and on 18 July it will go through inferior conjunction (in front of the Sun) to become a morning object, visible early August. Venus: Venus is a brilliant morning star, coming up about two hours before sunrise. It is easy to pick out even in the dawn twilight. Mars: Mars may be seen low in the western sky at sunset but it slips steadily downwards into the evening twilight. Jupiter: The giant planet Jupiter is overhead at dusk and sets after midnight. On 5 July, the gibbous Moon will appear directly below Jupiter. Saturn: Saturn is almost behind the Sun, and won’t be visible this month. Meteors: For meteor enthusiasts, the Delta Aquarid meteor shower reaches its peak on 29 July, producing a meteor every 4 or 5 minutes on average. But its peak is broad, lasting a week or so and overlapping with the beginning of the well-known Perseid shower. 14 CITY 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304

ABOUT TOWN Sean Boswell is a loner whose only connection to the world around him is through illegal street racing — which has made him unpopular with the local authorities. To EXHIBITIONS avoid jail time, Sean is sent out of the country to live in a cramped apartment in a low- ™ Journey to Nan Guinin by Krishna Thing and Siddhant Thapa rent section of Tokyo. There a simple street race has been replaced with drift racing, from 27 June at Gallery Nine, Lajimpat. 4428694 a deadly combination of brutal speed on heart stopping courses of hairpin turns and ™ Sarangi Exhibition by master Sarangi maker Purna Nepali switchbacks. For his first unsuccessful foray in drift racing, Sean unknowingly takes 28 June- 4 July at Arto Muse Creation, Putalisadak. on the ‘Drift King,’ with ties to the Yakuza, the Japanese crime machine. The only ™ Pillars of Hope paintings by Gobinda Prasad Sah ‘Azad’ at way he can pay off the debt of his loss is to venture into the deadly realm of the

Siddhartha Art Gallery 30 June- 20 July. 4218018 Entertainment Tokyo underworld. ™ Innovative Art by Sri Lankan painter Deneth at New Orleans Café, Thamel. 8-20 July. 9803002631 Call 4442220 for show timings at Jai Nepal www.jainepal.com ™ Bagmati River a photo exhibition at Gallery Café, Lajimpat till Quest 11 July.

EVENTS ™ Movies at Gallery Café, Lajimpat, Oliver Twist 4 July and The Curse of the Were Rabbit 6 July. ™ Japanese Tanabata (Wish ) Festival food, actvities for the kids, live music and more at U Café, 2 July, 12PM. 5524202 ™ Soccer Night partying the football way at Megha Malhar, Soaltee Crowne Plaza, 7 July 7.30 PM ™ World Population Day 11 July. ™ Travelling Film South Asia ’06, Kathmandu fifteen outstanding documentaries from the Subcontinent, 14-16 July at Yalamaya Kendra, Patan Dhoka. 5537408 ™ World Cup Action at Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Rodi bar 9 June- 9 July. 4273999 ™ Bagmati River Festival till 20 August. 5011013 ™ Sunsilk Nepal Fashion Week at Hyatt Regency 10-14 August. ™ Alcoholics Anonymous problems with alcohol? 9851016079

MUSIC ™ Heartbreakers live every Friday at Rum Doodle Bar & Restaurant ™ Cadenza Collective live every Wednesday and Saturday 8PM at Upstairs, Lazimpat. ™ Live Music at New Orleans Café. 4700311 ™ Uncork the good times with Ciney and Par-e-jat playing every Friday from 7PM o at Fusion bar at Dwarika’s Hotel. 4479448 ™ Jatra Friday nights, live music by Siron. 4256622 ™ Unplugged sessions with Strings, Jatra Saturday nights. 4256622

DINING ™ Floats and Fantasies mocktails and desserts at Juneli Bar till 24 June. ™ Brunch from the east weekend brunch till 29 July. ™ World Cup at K-too! All matches available and a free Irish coffee with every main course. 4470043 ™ Mezza and Margarita at Dwarika’s Fusion- the bar every Wednesday, Rs 555 ™ Mango Masti at all restaurants in Soaltee Crowne Plaza. 4273999 ™ Wet & Wild Summer Splash at Godavari Village Resort, a special package of Swimming & Lunch. 5560675 ™ Breakfast at Singma Restaurant. 8.30 – 11.00AM daily. 5009092. NEPALI WEATHER by MAUSAM BEED GETAWAYS g]kfn slifk[ wfg| d'n's xf ] . ™ Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge, relaxation and massages in Looking at this satellite picture of the subcontinent taken on Wednesday oxfsf+ *) kltzteGbf| Pokhara. 4361500 afternoon, it is clear that the monsoon ™ Junglewalks rafting, elephant rides all at Jungle Base Camp a9L hgtf slif[ k;fdf] KATHMANDU is now clearly established across the Lodge, Bardia. [email protected] region. This week Kathmandu got as cfwfl/t 5g \ . sn" /fli6«o ™ Park Village, Budhanilkantha, Full room Rs 1,600. 4375280 much rain as the whole monthly quota, ™ Nature Retreat at Park Village Resorts & Spa. 4375280 so the rain gods are making up for lost cfosf ] ‰G8 } $) kltzt| ™ Escape Kathmandu at Shivapuri Heights Cottage. 9841371927 time. The Bay of Bengal arm of lx:;f clxn ] klg slif[ southwest monsoon is now mature and strong. The pressure gradient chart Ifqn] ] g } cfu6] sf] ] 5 . l;Ëf] confirms a line of trough in place along the southern Himalaya and implies that d'n'ssf ] cflys,{ ;fdflhs the country is getting a substantial d]?b08sf ] ?kdf /xsf] ] amount of rainfall this weekend, mostly during night. This system has several s[lifIfq] pklIft] x'g' x'Fb}g . monsoon pulses that could bring cloud s[ifsx¿ bzsf] jf:tljs bursts along the foothills. gfos x'g\ . pgLx¿nfO{ KATHMANDU VALLEY ;Ddfg / sb/ ugk5'{ { . Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue s[ifsx¿n ] klg cfˆgf] kl;gfdfly ljZjf; ugk5'{ { . gof F gof F slif[ k0ffnL| 29-1966 28-18 6 29-196 30-20 30-20 cjnDag ugk5'{ { . k9\b}df v]tL ug '{ gx'g] xfOg] . ‰g\ s[lifIfqnfO] { cfwlgsLs/0f' ug { lzlIft / ;r]t ssifssf[ ] vfrf ] 5 . g]kfnL To;}n] slif[ k;fnfO] { cfb/ Daily 2045-2115 on 102.4 u/f,}+ sisnfO[ { ;Ddfg u/f }+ . Radio Sagarmatha P.O. Box 6958, Bakhundole, Lalitpur, Nepal Tel: ++977-1-545680, 545681, g]kfn ;/sf/ Fax: ++ 977-1- 530227 ;"rgf tyf ;~rf/ dGqfno [email protected], ;"rgf ljefu www.radiosagarmatha.org HAPPENINGS 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 15

KIRAN PANDAY TO HIS MEMORY: Deputy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli gets refreshed during a program at City Hall to mark the fifth anniversary of the Madan Bhandari College on Wednesday. MIN BAJRACHARYA A school for Kristi n 22 August 2002, 19 people a German journalist who has been their kitchens. died when a Twin Otter flight visiting Nepal for the past 15 In the end, the villagers decided O from Jomsom with 16 years. They decided to combine a what they needed was a primary German tourists on board crashed memorial for the victims with a school so their children would no just before landing near Pokhara long-term project to help the longer have to make a two hour airport. village. Subedi contacted the roundtrip every day. The Social Among the dead were Renate villagers of Kristi to find out what English School opened in 2002 with KIRAN PANDAY Rockstroh and her husband they needed the most. 15 students and now counts 111 SHOOT IT LIKE THIS: Singer Ani Choying Dolma poses for a picture Rainer, both teachers and on their Although it is five km outside pupils up to Class 3. during the release of her new album Inner Peace at Everest Hotel on first trip to Nepal. Renate’s brother Pokhara with stunning views of One of its buildings is the Tuesday. Proceeds will go to the Nuns Welfare Foundation of Nepal's Marcos travelled here to take the city below and the Annapurnas Gunter Hauser Memorial School Arya Tara School. home the bodies and met Pokhara beyond, the road to Kristi is rough Building, supported by Dentists tourism entrepreneur Laxman and it’s common to see locals Without Limits and German Subedi. The two discussed ways pushing and pulling stuck vehicles journalists led by Schmelzer who to commemorate the deaths and out of giant potholes or from the visit Kristi every year. lives, of the Rockstrohs and river bed. “The people are very happy with thought of helping the local Kristi’s 5,000 inhabitants are a the school and with the help they community in the village of Kristi self-sufficient lot with a relatively get from the Germans every year,” where the crash took place. high standard of living because of says Subedi, “they never expected Marcos went back to Germany cash crops like oranges. They that sometimes such a good thing and threw around some ideas with willingly embrace new ideas come out of such a horrible friends, including Rolf Schmelzer, and many have biogas to fuel tragedy.” Min Bajracharya

KIRAN PANDAY LADIES ON THE TOWN: Sneha Rana chats (left) with two of her friends at the Midnight Ruby Ladies Night at the Radisson Hotel on Wednesday.

KIRAN PANDAY RIDING THE WAVE: The Media team poses with the Wave Kickoff Cup after defeating the Celebrity team 7-4 at their match at Dashrat Stadium on Saturday. Funds raised were donated to Mayadebi Orphanage. 16 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 2006 #304 2050 World Cup in Kathmandu

iven the rapid pace of renovation and beautification taking place

in the nation’s capital these days, we can be fairly certain that www.nepalitimes.com G Nepal can make a successful bid to host the 2050 Football World Cup. One of the most important criteria that FIFA attaches to cities applying to organise the games is whether or not the host metropolis is self-sufficient in crazy hats. And as the world’s major supplier of lunatic hats for the last three World Cups, the city has assured FIFA’s Site Selection Committee that there is no danger of Kathmandu running out of headgear in the run-up to the 2050 games. There is, however, one small problem: Nepal may cease to exist by then. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. So that just leaves us with the knotty question of ensuring that the multi-billion rupee Tinkune Intersection Reconstruction Project will see completion by January 2050. The Transportation Sub-Committee of the World Cup Organising Central Committee (Unfed Marxist-Leninist- Stalinist) is optimistic that this should be possible, given the breakneck speed at which the UNDER MY HAT Metropolitan Authorities are Kunda Dixit turning the intersection into a lake during this current monsoon season. It should be able to accumulate enough water by 2050, it is hoped. Similarly, Rani Pokhari, Ratna Park and the Khula Munch are being unified into a single park-cum-parking lot to accommodate World Cup fans. Since pedestrians have refused to use both the overhead walkway and the underground passageway at Asan intersection, Kathmandu Metropolitan City will put up a booby-trapped barbed wire fence so no pedestrian from Bag Bajar can cross the road to Asan and vice versa. The work is expected to be completed in the next 44 years. According to a timetable made available to mediapersons this week, potholes of diameter 1m and more along Sat Dobato, Balkhu, Lajimpat, Jorpati and Bhaisepati are scheduled for repairs by 2010. All zebra crossings will be repainted by 2025, field trials and simulation exercises to untangle gridlocks at major bottlenecks are expected to be completed in late 2032 and the traffic light synchronisation will go into effect by 2049 in time for the big event. Asked if Nepal had enough stadiums for the qualifying and knockout rounds of the 2050 games the Organising Committee said: “Ummm, hadn’t thought of that. But we’ll have plenty of pubs and they’ll be allowed to remain open after 10PM.” Kathmandu and Patan have traditionally had healthy competition ever since the Malla period when the two kingdoms fought vicious wars over which one had tastier buff momos. Today, this competition is manifested in the way in which the Patan Sub-Municipality has made sure that not a single halogen street lamp installed during the 2000 SAARC Summit is in working condition. And once Kathmandu Metropolitan City found out that Patan streets were dark, it decided to be one up by switching off all street lights between Babar Mahal and Min Bhaban until further notice. This sense of camaraderie and healthy competition will be carried into the World Cup when Patan co-hosts the 2050 games by which time, the mayor’s office has assured us, tree stumps along Pulchok will be finally removed and replaced with hoarding boards. Going by the speed of past reconstruction, we have no reason to doubt that the work will be completed in time. z #98 ISSN 1814-2613