#647 15 - 21 March 2013 20 pages Rs 50 NOW WITH
SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME Khil Raj Regmi glances at his watch after arriving for his fi rst day at work in Singha Darbar on Thursday after being sworn in as the Chairman of the Interim Election Council of Ministers. His fi rst order of business is to set up an 11-member cabinet, appoint an Election Commissioner, and carry out day-to- day governance. In its fi rst meeting, Regmi and two technocrat ministers decided to enforce fi scal discipline, ensure petroleum supply and work towards holding “fear-free” elections later this year. BIKRAM RAI Pre-poll poll
ow that the political parties have handed Nover power to a government led by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi, the focus shifts to voters. What do they think? Who will they vote for? Which parties do they prefer? What do they think of ethnicity-based federalism and a presidential system? What are their main concerns? Find the answers in the results of the annual Himalmedia Public Opinion Poll 2013 inside. page 3-5 Let’s face it Our opinion poll result shows that half the 3,508 respondents interviewed nationwide last month either couldn’t care less about elections, or didn’t want any of the current parties or candidates. HIGH Editorial page 2 Rabi Thapa avoids the new highway ROAD on the Annapurna Circuit by hiking on more scenic alternative trekking trails. page 10-11
DIWAKAR CHETTRI 2 EDITORIAL 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 LET'S FACE IT ation states come with user manuals, they are credo. But for the reactive NC and UML to agree to called constitutions. It is a trouble-shooting guide The only take home such an unconstitutional and anti-democratic course of Nto tell us what to do when things go awry. message for party leaders action sets the wrong precedent. Nepal came with a fairly complete user manual in The main message from the Himalmedia Public 1990, but since the politicians never read it, they deemed is: reinvent yourselves, try Opinion Poll 2013 (summarised in this edition on pages it necessary to write a new one. We held elections to 3,4,5) is that the public standing of the political parties set up an assembly to draft a new constitution in 2008, to regain the public’s trust has plunged drastically. The NC and UML, especially, but after several extensions the CA was allowed to lapse before elections knew no was going to come out into the streets against because we couldn’t agree on new rules in the rule book. the Maoist plan. So they did the next best thing: agree We were still using a dog-eared interim constitution to to the CJ to get the PM to step down in the hope that run the country, but we threw it out on Wednesday night. tomorrow will be brighter than today. From here on, it is uncharted territory. Elections for the sake of elections is not the answer. The powers that be inside and outside Nepal devised Polls are important, but not enough to safeguard a clever plan: in order to get the truck to start they put democracy. There is the danger that the new CA will the conductor in the driving seat. Not only is this against be mired in the same row over federalism and state the rules, it is also fraught with all kinds of dangers, the structure. foremost being that the conductor isn’t trained to drive. Our opinion polls results show that more than half The deed is done and Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi the population either couldn’t care less about electionsor has been sworn in as head of polls later this year. We doesn’t want any of the current parties or candidates. violated the constitution to write a new constitution. The Respondents have also clearly said they are not going to justification for choosing the chief justice is that there decide on whom to vote for based on slogans, platforms, was no other option. You hear this from lifelong freedom or ideology, but will use performance criteria. fighters in the democratic parties, from the diplomats So the only thing left for us to do is to repeat what representing democratic countries, from civil society we wrote in this space last week. We need a complete stalwarts who used to believe in democracy. Actually, Election Commission to lay down the rules and there was no other option because the political parties empower the state apparatus to enforce them so that the never tried hard enough to find a solution, mired as they elections in June or November are clean and violence- were in their petty power games. free. We never expected anything better from the Maoists As for the political parties, the only take home who were the architects of this plan because democracy, message from their voters is: “Re-invent yourselves, try pluralism, and non-violence were never a part of their to regain our trust, and show us that you can deliver.”
DIWAKAR CHETTRI
ON THE WEB www.nepalitimes.com
NEPAL’S GENDER APARTHEID I hope Deepti Gurung’s powerful and governing leadership skills, which #646). Luckily I found your paper lying glasses that a section of the West Thank you Deepti Gurung for an article is an eye opener to policy almost all politicians speak of during around in a coffee shop and after going does, and label Nepal as pariah excellent article (‘Nepal’s gender makers. Much more has to be done elections, but seem to forget as soon as over this piece, I knew I just had to nation. apartheid’, #646). It’s very sad to to eliminate discrimination against they are in power. make a trip. Thank you for information NBS see how the attitude of the state women. Werner Meyer on buses, I didn’t know where to look has changed so little. The right to Radhika because there are just too many THE RUSSIA RETURNS citizenship through the mother is WHOSE LUMBINI IS IT ANYWAY? contradictory info on travel websites. There are other notable fi gures accepted as a fundamental right What makes me really angry is the I loved the few days I spent in Lumbini Jessica Chen among the members of Mitra Kunj in most countries and does not new rule that requires students to show during last year’s autumn (‘Whose who deserve recognition (‘The even need to be debated. The fact their birth certifi cates to register for Lumbini is it anyway?’, Trishna Rana, FOREIGN DOMESTIC POLICY Russia returns’, Sunir Pandey, #646). that the bureaucracy is still afraid SLC. Imagine all the stateless children #646). I was left with limited choices in You are a pariah state if you deny Here are some names: Hari Man of some kind of mass settlement who will never get to sit for the exam choosing souvenirs: ‘made in China’ rightful entry to an internationally Shrestha (propagator of 84,000MW of Indians in Nepal and continues and not get to go to college as a result. plastic miniature Buddha statues or regarded spiritual leader like the Dalai capacity hydropower in Nepal), to use that as an excuse to deny Nicole Thkuri Wick ‘made in India’ om, marijuana, and Lama to a land that we claim is the former ministers Hari Bahadur Basnet citizenship simply defi es belief. Buddha pendants. There is so much birthplace of Buddha, just to please a and Nilambar Acharya, former vice- Even if the father is an Indian (or My maid is stateless even though potential here for local businesses and state that has no respect for any global chancellors of Tribhuvan University other) citizen, it is the right of the both her parents were Nepalis. The local people. How about local home-stay rules and values (‘Foreign domestic Madhav Sharma and Govind Sharma. children alone to decide whether parents died a long time ago, nobody programs? policy’, Anurag Acharya, #646). When Bijaya they take their fathers’ or mothers’ knows where their papers are, and at Easterngurl your old friends are in trouble, you citizenship. the time she was born there was no stand by them, not turn your back HOP ON MS birth registration process especially against them NT seems fed up with Nepali politics in remote areas like Charikot. Her in the pretext and its new interest in sex and sex Children born in Nepal to children all have citizenship through of some toys is interesting. Why not supply either Nepali mothers or Nepali their father, but she on the other hand made up some to our leaders (Gadget review, fathers, who live in Nepal should is a non-Nepali. ‘balancing act’ #646)? immediately be eligible for Nepali Sangeeta R propaganda Joshi Prakash Chandra citizenship, as simple as that. I invented by don’t see why things have to be so I am extremely curious to know the Shah NT please focus on news, issues diffi cult. how Sujata Koirala pulled it off. Deepti kings who people can connect with and don’t use Kalpana Lamichhane should write to Sujata and ask for had to come this topic as an excuse to sleaze your some pointers since she so deftly to terms with way around sex shops. I fully support Deepti Gurung's overcame the citizenship law to make their own Marc cause. However, I was sad to her daughter and grandchildren Nepali egos and read the last paragraph where she citizens. This clearly shows, there is prejudices argues that the state should allow a way (presumably a legal one) to get with their kins Nepali women to pass on their Nepali citizenship through a mother. down south. Weekly Internet Poll #647 citizenship to their children under C Thapa I think Lumbini Development Trust Krishna S Q. Should there be local elections in June even if general certain circumstances. Why this offi cials have been doing a good job in elections can't take place? clause? I understand changing a FRESH FACES recent times despite the compromises Countries have national interests, law seeped deeply in patriarchy Good editorial (‘Fresh Faces’, #646), they have to make with the party not some sanctimonious notion of Total votes: 874 is mighty diffi cult, but if we are but the tragedy of our country is that no in power and a local community elevating international image. And demanding change why not demand one in power listens to public opinion unsympathetic to Buddhist cause and if Nepal had failed in diplomacy complete change and not some polls. concern. for six long decades, then it would token half-hearted gesture from the John Chatgoer have ceased to be a state long ago. government? Both Nepali mothers Very often western educated Nepali and fathers should be allowed to Thank you Kunda Dixit for providing Great job Nepali Times. I’ve been commentators (who are largely pass on their citizenship to children, an excellent summary of a realistic time in Kathmandu for one week and trying oblivious of Nepal’s own historical no ifs or buts, no strings attached. frame and a vision of requirements to decide whether to go to Lumbini or connections and dealings with Tibet) Weekly Internet Poll # 648. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q. Do you think making Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi prime Renu Shrestha including good governance, integrity, not (‘Destination peace’, Trishna Rana, see Tibet through the rose-tinted minister has set the wrong precedent for Nepal’s judiciary?
Publisher and Editor: Kunda Dixit Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd | Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur | GPO Box 7251 Kathmandu | Desk Editor: Trishna Rana | Design: Kiran Maharjan [email protected] | www.nepalitimes.com | www.himalmedia.com | Tel: 01-5005601-08 Fax: +977-1-5005518 Director of Corporate Events: Anup Prakash | Marketing: Arjun Karki, Surendra Sharma [email protected] | Advertorial/features: Ram Krishna Banjara | Subscription: Santosh Aryal [email protected] Nepali Times on Facebook Printed at Jagadamba Press | 01-5250017-19 | www.jagadambapr.com Follow @nepalitimes on Twitter HIMALMEDIA POLL 2013 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 3 What are the three main problems the country faces at the moment?
Inflation 62%
Unemployment 44.8%
Corruption 37.2%
No constitution 36.7% Poor roads, power, water, phones 30.5% Weak governance/ administration 10.3% Parties wrangling 9.8% federalism, which was the main plank of the Maoists. The Strikes 8.7% proportion of those who think Crime and insecurity 6/9% this is a bad idea has stayed consistently above 70% for Shortage of basic needs 6.0% the past three years and this year hit 77%. Like previous Impunity 5.5% polls, disaggregated data Extortion 2.3% shows a majority of indigenous respondents reject identity- Don’t know/others 2.2% based federalism. On the other hand, the proportion of respondents who favoured the Maoist-backed idea year, its excesses in power, and of a directly-elected presidential protection of war criminals. system grew from 31% last Although all political year to 37% this year. “This is parties have a negative image, proof that the people are sick Up for grabs the NC pips the others among of political instability and want those who had a preference a leader that they can elect for a particular party. This directly,” explains political The field is wide open in the next election could be an anti-incumbency analyst, Manmohan Bhattarai. advantage and also because The result that most for any party that can prove it can perform people believe the NC should highlights the mismatch lead the government because it between the media’s obsession is its ‘turn’. Respondents seem with politics and the people’s KUNDA DIXIT the performance of the parties incumbents. to prefer the dour Sushil Koirala concerns was when respondents or candidates and not so much The fall from grace of Pushpa not because of his personality, were asked to name three main on the ideology, platform, or Kamal Dahal, who was the most but because his candidacy may worries. They were: inflation, ow that Chief Justice slogans of the political parties. trusted and popular political have untangled the political corruption, and unemployment. Khil Raj Regmi has been Which is probably why personality till the 2011 poll, deadlock. Politics came way down on their Nsworn in to head a new when asked which political has continued with his ratings The other factor at play list, even though only through election government, everyone's leader they would want as now down to 3.4%. His party seems to be the continued stability can the other problems focus will shift to voters. prime minister, the highest has taken a hit from its split last unpopularity of ethnicity-based be solved. But electorate is seriously number of respondents (21%) disillusioned, apathetic, and answered ‘There is no such couldn’t care less about the person’. All the other leaders parties and candidates on offer. are in the single digits and The results of the the most remarkable rise is of Himalmedia Public Opinion Kamal Thapa, leader of the Poll 2013 were expected and monarchist RPP. Thapa has followed the trends of polls for got more votes than veteran the past 12 years, where Nepalis politicians like Pushpa Kamal have been exhibiting increasing Dahal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, or impatience with the behaviour KP Oli. The NC’s Gagan Thapa, of the political leadership. What on the other hand, gets more is different this time is that votes than his boss Ramchandra the level of disenchantment is Poudel. much greater and widespread Says civil society activist than ever before. and former Assistant Secretary- In answer to a question General of the United Nations, asking them to name the Kul Chandra Gautam: “The political party that they would survey is a clear message to vote for in elections, nearly the NC and UML to shape up 55% of the respondents said and stand up for fundamental they didn’t know, wouldn’t say, principles rather than accepting hadn’t made up their minds, or second best compromises. If ticked ‘none of the above’. (See they play their cards right, they page 4-5) Most Nepalis seem to have a fighting chance.” either not care about upcoming The most dramatic result elections, or want fresh has been the fall from grace of faces. The field is wide open the Maoists. Baburam Bhattarai, for anyone with new ideas, who commanded 32% of votes integrity, and a performance in the 2012 poll this year fell guarantee. to 6.2%. Despite high-profile “The results show that the populism, blatant corruption of outcome of the next election his coalition partners and close will be unpredictable,” says family, appears to have tainted analyst and former Maoist him. But analysts say the longer Mumaram Khanal, “those who he is out of power the better his won’t vote or say they want chances to recoup support. to vote for an independent Another reason for the candidate may change their prime minister’s slide could minds by election day if be his perceived pro-India the parties can reinvent tilt. An overwhelming 85% themselves.” of respondents among those But that is a big ‘if’. The who felt there was foreign parties may want to examine interference, named India as the response to another question the one meddling. In answer about the criteria voters will to another question, 56% use to cast their ballots. Nearly of respondents felt that the half the respondents said they state of the country is getting would base their decision on worse with the blame going to 4 HIMALMEDIA POLL 2013 A WIDE OPEN FIELD
he results of the Himalmedia Public Opinion carried out in April 2012, just before the dissolution because it leaves the field wide open for a demagogue. Poll 2013 give the clearest indication yet of the Constituent Assembly. Last year, too, there The political parties represent an essential function Tof the widespread public disillusionment was scepticism about the commitment of the political of a healthy democracy, they are the political entities with the main political parties and their leaders. leadership about writing the constitution. But it was that ensure representation, accountability, and The euphoria of the ceasefire and the peace when the CA’s term was allowed to lapse that the delivery. At election time the people have a choice, agreement seven years ago have all but evaporated. public’s trust collapsed. At no time since the 1990 based on the political platforms and the ideologies Although the polls in previous years also showed People’s Movement has the public’s faith in the of the various parties. But this year’s poll shows that disenchantment with politics, it has never been as political parties been as low as it is now. the people believe democracy in Nepal is under quantitatively stark as it is now. The people either don’t care, don’t know, or won’t threat from the behaviour of the political parties The last Himalmedia Public Opinion Poll was say who they will vote for. This apathy is dangerous themselves.
Which party would you most trust to establish THE LONG TAIL a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Nepal?
Three questions in the 2013 Poll tried to gauge the relative popularity ratings Don’t know 25.0% of the political parties and their leaders. The questions were designed in such a way that they cross-checked each other. The results were consistent in proving Won’t say 14.8% that the level of apathy, indifference, disenchantment, and cynicism has grown in the past year. No such party 4.7% More than half the respondents don’t trust the present crop of political Others 0.5% leaders, whose ratings are all negligible and in the single digits. Combining all those who don’t know, won’t say, feel there is no such leader, prefer others, or NC 18.5% want an independent prime minister totaled an astonishing 56.2 per cent. UML 13.4% 21.2%
UCPN (M) 9.7%
17.4% RPP Nepal (Thapa) 3.8%
RJM (KC) 1.9%
Which leader would you now like to be prime minister CPN-M 1.8%
Forum Nepal (Upendra) 1.3% 10.1%
8.5% TMLP (Thakur) 1.3% 6.9%
6.2% RPP (Pashupati) 1.1%
4.7% Forum Democratic 1.0% (Gachhadar) 3.5% 3.4%
2.9% 2.9% RJP (Surya B) 0.9% 1.5% 1.3% 1.4% 1.4% 1.0% 0.7% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% NMKP 0.8%
Monarchy 0.5% KP Oli Others Won’t say Don’t know Kamal Thapa Gagan Thapa Sushil Koirala The split in the Maoists appears to have cost both splinter Mohan Baidya No such leader Upendra Yadav Upendra Yadav Jhalnath Khanal Bijay Gachhadar Mahanta Thakur Gyanendra Shah parties dearly. The relatively high approval rating of the NC Baburam Bhatarai could be a combination of an anti-incumbency factor to a Ram Bahadur Thapa 0.5% Ramchandra Poudel Pushpa Kamal Dahal Sher Bahadur Deuba 3.2% Surya Bahadur Thapa Madhav Kumar Nepal desire among many to see an end to the political deadlock Independent candidate since it was seen to be the NC’s ‘turn’ to lead an election government. Despite this, a full 45% of the respondents were noncommittal and didn’t express their preference.
In the coming election, the representative of which party will you vote for? OTHER POLLS Paradoxically, even though the parties and their leaders have Won’t vote for anyone 16.9% lost their standing among voters, most respondents still haven’t given up completely on them. Previous polls also showed people Don’t know 16.1% expect the most from the three big parties, like this Himalmedia Won’t say 12.7% Poll in 2011.
Independent candidate 8.2%
Others 0.2%
NC 14.9%
UML 11.3%
UCPN (M) 7.3% The results of the Himalmedia poll also correlate precisely with RPP Nepal 3.2% similar nationwide polls with sample size of 3,000, like this one carried out by Interdisciplinary Analysts (IDA) in 2011. Madhesi parties 2.9%
RPP 2.1% Although the NC, UML, and Maoists show only between 7-15% in the popularity ratings of the political parties, CPN-M 1.9% there is widespread apathy among respondents with RJP 1.6% 54.1% saying ‘none of the above’. This result should be a wake up call to all, but especially for the Madhesi parties RJ 0.5% which appear weak even in the Tarai. Any party that can show it means business and can grab even half the NMKP 0.3% undecideds, could win the June election. 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 5
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS BASIS FOR VOTING THE FOREIGN HAND
Himalmedia has been tracking the people’s main Contrary to popular belief, most respondents did not The perception that foreign intervention is common preoccupations for the past 10 years and the think ideology, party platform, or ethnicity was very in Nepal is growing. And for the first time, most polls have consistently shown that most people important in deciding whom they vote for. The most respondents pointed their fingers at India’s role over are concerned about inflation, corruption, and important criteria for nearly half the respondents was all else. unemployment. The common perception is that performance. compared to a few years ago things have got worse Says analyst Mumaram Khanal: “The outcome and more than 60% are not satisfied with the of the next election will be unpredictable. The performance of the Bhattarai-led government. undecideds may change their minds by election day, They say there is foreign intervention so the parties have time to reinvent themselves.” in Nepal, do you agree?
Compared to a few years ago, On what basis will you vote for a party or what is the situation in the country? candidate in the elections? Don’t know 14.7 February 2013 Performance 48.7%
56% April 2012 2011 Ideology 19.8% 46.2% Don’t know/ 39.4% 12.7% Won’t say 36.6% 36.6% No 28.1% Candidate 8.9% 18.7% 23% 23.2% 19.9% 18.9% Platform 4.0%
Relationship 4.1% 2.4% Yes 2.5% 2.0% 66.1% Ethnicity 1.6% Bad/Worse Good/ OK/May Don’t know/ than before Getting get better Won’t say better
If you think there is foreign interference, DEMOCRACY IN PERIL which power is meddling?
After 2006, Himalmedia Public Opinion Polls showed that the people’s faith in democracy had been restored and Don’t know/ Won’t say/ fewer thought that it was under threat. But the proportion of respondents who think that democracy is once more Others 4.9% threatened has grown steadily to exceed 60% in the 2013 poll. EU 3.6% Earlier, it used to be the absolute monarchy or the Maoists who were seen to be the main threats to democracy. US 3.6%
Now the blame goes to all political parties for their inability to work together. China 5.1%
Is Nepal’s democracy under threat? If you think democracy is threatened, by whom?
Wrangling political parties 39.4%
UCPN(M) 15% Don’t know 16.3% Foreign interference 9.1%
CPN-M 8.2% India 85.3%
NC 5.7%
Madhesi parties 5.6% No 22.4% Yes Ex-king 5.3% 61.1% THE METHOD Ethnic organisations 2.3% The annual Himalmedia Public Opinion Polls are conducted by a team of professional psephologists, Army 0.4% statisticians, enumerators, and analysts led by Hiranya Baral and Balkrishna Khadka. The 2013 1.4% Poll was carried out over a period of one week in All parties mid-February in 38 districts and a total of 3,508 Don’t know/ 5% respondents refl ecting the proportionality of Nepal’s Won’t say/Others ethnic, geographic, gender, age, and literacy were interviewed. The demographic breakdown of districts and VDCs refl ected the results of the latest 2011 census. Leaders of the main political parties and political analysts were briefed and consulted before the poll. The complete disaggregated results will be available online on WHAT KIND OF CONSTITUTION? www.nepalitimes.com by end March.
As in the previous three years, respondents overwhelmingly Should future provinces be On what basis should the provinces be demarcated? blame politicians for the inability of the CA to write a new demarcated along ethnic lines? constitution, they feel disagreement over federalism was February 2013 the main reason for its dissolution. Like earlier years, the April 2012 45.4% 45.4% 45.1% 45.1% majority of respondents think an ethnicity-based federalism 2011 is a bad idea. Until last year, they preferred geographical February 2013 demarcation based on Himal-Pahad-Tarai, this year the April 2012 31.7% 31.3%
majority seem to have gone back to turning existing 30.4% 77.1%
2011 28.9% 76% 72.7% 72.7% anchals into provincial boundaries. 23.8% Cross-tabulated data show that 78% of Madhesi caste
groups and 58% of Madhesi ethnic groups were against 18.7%
ethnic federalism. The proportion of respondents from the 11.8% 12.4% 11.6%
Newar community who think ethnicity-based federalism 16.6% 14.3% 12.2% 13% 4.1% 10.7% 10.3%
is wrong is over 80%. The more educated the respondents, 4% 0.4% the more likely they are to disapprove of federalism based 0.2% on identity. The highest proportion of support for ethnicity- based federalism is seen in the far-west, where double the No Yes Don’t know/ North-South Existing Economic Separate Don’t know/ Won’t say with Himal- anchal viability out Himal- Won’t say/ number than elsewhere feel it is desirable. Pahad-Tarai boundaries Pahad-Tarai Other 6 OPINION 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 No country of their own Every citizen has a right to vote in the next election, but what of the stateless citizens of Nepal?
BY THE WAY Anurag Acharya
he interim constitution of this land, or what remains of it, provides that no citizen will be discriminated upon based on Tsocio-economic identity and that legal inadequacies will not hinder their protection, development, and empowerment. But what if an individual has been denied these fundamental rights due to the unwillingness or sheer negligence of those in power to issue a citizenship certificate? Last week in this paper, single mother Deepti Gurung highlighted her own futile personal saga of trying to get her children citizenship papers of a Nepal steeped in patriarchy. There are hundreds of thousands of others in the Tarai who have also been denied citizenship just because of the absence of the state or because they don’t have their own documents. Three generations of a poor Madhesi family have been denied citizenship - this is not just a political issue, it is also a humanitarian one. Disowned and abandoned by their own nation and ignored by local officials, 21 Madhesis from five Tarai districts are in Kathmandu to highlight their plight in the political power centres of the capital. On Tuesday, the men and women, mostly students and workers in their 20s and 30s submitted a memorandum at the prime minister’s office and offices of major political parties including Madhesi Morcha. It was either good timing or the timing couldn’t be worse. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai was getting ready to step down and the Madhesi parties in the coalition were all distracted.
Kari Thakur (pic, front row first from left), 36, was born in India but has been working as a wage labourer in Matihani VDC of Mahottari district for the last 25 years. Thakur worked hard at menial jobs, but couldn’t make enough money to educate his children. But now, with some savings, he wishes to educate his young grandson so that the family can finally get out of the vicious cycle of poverty and hardship. But Thakur can’t get his grandson citizenship. “My son’s birth could not be registered because I did not have citizenship and his marriage was not registered for the same reason. Now, my grandson is being punished,” Thakur told me with tears streaming down his wizened cheeks, “how long do we have to live in Nepal before my decedents are recognised as citizens?” The Madhes movement may have subsided, but the citizenship issue could re-ignite it at any time because of the sheer scale of the problem. Silent acquiescence is turning to seething anger and could erupt in the coming months as families like Thakur are denied the right to vote in elections. Sangeeta Chaurasia, 22, from Kapilvastu had to give up her dream of enrolling into a nursing college because she does not have citizenship papers. “My father is a citizen, but I am stateless,” she says, “don’t you think that’s odd?” Ram Bechan Mali (pic, centre holding placard), also 22, from Sarlahi has the same problem. Their fathers were among thousands who acquired citizenship in 2007 after the Madhes uprising, but writ petitions filed in the Supreme Court didn’t just stall the process, but prevented children of those who had acquired citizenship by birth from obtaining their own citizenship. “I cried, begged, and dropped at their feet, but in vain. I had to drop out of college and herd cattle now,” says Mali, her voice quivering with bitterness. Sceptics within and outside the Madhes contest such claims and are convinced that there were massive anomalies in the distribution of citizenship after 2007. They also argue that many who have acquired citizenship may be taking undue advantage of legal loopholes. On Wednesday night, the four main political forces agreed to form a CJ-led government to hold elections and allowed voting even without citizenship papers. Among others, they have agreed on constitutional changes to make citizenship distribution more transparent and accessible. But until many like Thakur, Mali, and Chaurasia don’t get that laminated card that makes them citizens of Nepal, even this accord will have been in vain. The minimum temperature is now climbing into double digits, and the maximum has stayed above 25 Celsius. Windblown dust from the Thar desert combined with affl uence smog from the Indian plains has fi ltered KATHMANDU sunlight, and this will continue into the weekend. Some partly cloudy days in store in central FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Nepal with afternoon build-up 26° 27° 26° and possible brief isolated #647 15 - 21 March 2013 showers in the higher valleys. 12° 11° 10°
TEAM WORK: The Seven Summits Women team with South African actress Hlubi Mboya (fourth from right) and three other Tanzanian climbers. WOMEN ON TOP Four down, three to go for seven Nepali women climbers
fter climbing Mt Everest in 2008, seven Nepali women have been trying Ato scale the seven highest peaks in seven continents and last week they summited Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa. The seven Nepalis, accompanied by three Tanzanian women climbers and South African TV actress Hlubi Mboya, reached the snow-covered peak on 5 March. “Anything is possible,” Nimdoma Sherpa, the youngest member of the Seven Summits Women team, is quoted as having exclaimed after she made it to the top of Kilimanjaro. Team leader Shailee Basnet told Nepali Times by email after coming down: COURTESY: SHAILEE BASNET “As we neared the summit at Stella Point, all of us broke down, and started crying, who wants to be like Nim, dozens WAVIN FLAG (l-r): Chunu Shrestha, Nimdoma hugging each other, and remembering our of hands go up in the air,” admits Sherpa, Pujan Acharya, Shailee Basnet, Asha Kumari Singh, Pema Diki Sherpa, and Maya challenges.” Shailee. The challenge has brought the Gurung gather for a picture after summiting The team has already scaled Mt Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Kosciuszko in Australia and Mt Elbrus in seven members in a sisterhood of Europe in 2010. They still have to climb Mt climbing and social activism. Team Aconcagua in South America, Mt Denali in member Asha Singh says there is a Alaska, and Mt Vinson Massif in Antarctica. strong bond between the members: Face, and Panchakanya Group. The team is Nimdoma, who became the youngest “With strong-headed and helpful heading next to Mt Aconcagua after they find woman to climb Everest in 2008 and held spread through school visits in Tanzania girls around, we barely have time to more support. Says Shailee: “Look at us, we the record till last year, is a former recipient as it travels from one school to another think about the difficulties.” have everything we need to complete the of a World Food Program (WFP) school meals in remote villages of Karatu and in South The Africa climb is being supported seven summits challenges: a strong team, project in Nepal. “I want to tell kids that if I Africa. “The response has been great. The by WFP, Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal proven track record and capabilities, the only can climb Everest, anybody can,” she says. students are very curious to know about Mountaineering Association, Trekking thing we are short of is funds.” It is this message the team hopes to Mt Everest and Nepal and when asked, Agencies Association of Nepal, The North Tsering Dolker Gurung 8 EVENTS DINING MUSIC
Bombay Masala, transcend the limits HUMAN RIGHTS FILM of geography with a wide variety of SERIES, screening powerful cuisine. Pulchok documentary throughout the month to create awareness on Mulchowk, the blend of culinary human rights and gender issues. expertise and charms of a bygone 7 to 31 March, 7pm, Attic Bar, era. Babarmahal Uttar Dhoka, www.hrff n.org
ALICE, the Swiss duo jams with Kiran Nepali, Hari Maharjan, and Rizu Tuladhar. 21 March, 6.30pm, Moksh, Himalayan rush, run, swim, or cycle 21 to 22 March, Nepal Tourism Board, YAK RESTAURANT, serves DRAGON CHINESE Jhamsikhel around Begnas Tal and promote 10am to 5pm, free tickets available at authentic Chinese food, try the mala RESTAURANT, try the Kung Pao healthy, community-based tourism the Royal Thai Embassy tofu, chicken with fungus and spicy Pork if alone and the Mai Cao if with Sundance music festival, celebrate around the lake. pork spare ribs. company. the arrival of the summer with great 30 March, Pokhara, Chintan chautari, calling people from Boudha, Kathmandu Lakeside, Pokhara musicians from around the world 9851021852/9851102046 all walks of life to gather and follow and dance the night away. Rs 4000, the argument wherever it leads. The Village Cafe, authentic Newari 16 to 17 March, The Last Resort, Backyard screenings, watch great 15 March, 5pm, Sattya Collective, food that comes straight from the Sindhupalchok cinema while enjoying delicious food. Jhamsikhel, 9843241490/9851053064 heart. Pulchok Rs 100, 2 to 28 March, every Thursday, Live at Cafe 32, live music and 6.30pm, Backyard Café, Jhamsikhel Garage sale, funky clothes, good delicious food every Friday. 6pm food, lucky draw, and a kids’ corner. onwards, Cafe 32, Battisputali, Thai fi lm festival 2013, watch award- 16 March, 2 to 5pm, Home (01)4244231 winning fi lms that observe and Guesthouse, Jhamsikhel, (01)5000044, SAIGON PHO, spacious interior explore Thai culture and society. [email protected] with authentic Vietnamese dishes. PUNK ROCK Lajimpat FRIDAY, have a PRANAMAYA YOGA, escape the cacophony of good time with Kathmandu and head for a three-day Yoga retreat with Kasi, spread out over a large terrace the bands Rai ko Sati in the hills of Pharping. BAGAICHA, serves Nepali, Indian, overlooking Phora Darbar, Kasi Ris, The Doltish, 18 to 20 March, Neydo Monastery Resort, 9802045484, Chinese, Continental, and Thai dishes. off ers a delectable plate of Newari and Squirt Guns, [email protected] Jawalakhel delicacies. Darbar Marg whose albums will also be on Little Italy, turn vegetarian at this Himalayan Pizza, this Italian sale. Rs 100, 15 Italian food chain and don't forget to restaurant has enough options to March, 7.30 to end your meal with the chef's special keep both adults and children coming 10pm, House of chocolate bomb. Darbar Marg back for more. Thamel Music, Thamel
15 March, 6.30pm, Chez Caroline, In the Kantipur TV BONJOUR! 18 March, 6.30pm, Palet Breton, steps Alliance Française, Teku of their ome celebrate French language 19 March, 6pm, Soiree Karaoke, Cand culture this week at Alliance Alliance Française, Teku fathers Française. Francophone Week will see 20 March, 2.30pm, Flash Mob, . concerts, parties, karaoke, flash mobs, Civil Mall, Sundhara very year 10,000 young Nepali men vie for the 200 or so openings in the British exhibition, and many festivities taking 21 March, 6.30pm, Alice and guests EArmy which has been recruiting soldiers from Nepal for 200 years, ever since the place in Kathmandu. This unique event live, Moksh, Jhamsikhel end of the Anglo-Nepal Wars of 1814-16. will be a way to discover or re-discover 17 to 23 March, an exhibition of Kesang Tseten’s documentary Who will be a Gurkha looks at the selection your love of all things French. Francophone comics, Alliance process where the boys, attracted by the myth and glamour of Gurkhas, seek to go Française, Teku for glory in spite of the dangers of death in the battlefi elds of Afghanistan and Iraq. The fi lm won the top award at Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival 2012 and also featured at the International Film Festival of Amsterdam. It will hit theatres next week making it the fi rst Nepali documentary to be screened in cinemas. Who will be a Gurkha showing at QFX cinemas from 15 March onwards 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 9 GETAWAYS DANCE Swagatam
he Circus Kathmandu DANCE Tgroup welcomes you to yet another performance of high-fl ying acrobatics. DANCE Following the popular- ity and critical acclaim of 'contemporary circus' he eighth annual Sundance Music festival is upon us and will once throughout the world, Tagain bring together music lovers and musicians to the lush green Nepal's talented acrobats, setting of the Last Resort near the Tibetan border. aerialists, and physical per- Established eight years ago, the Sundance Festival is still the only formers will work together LAST RESORT, canyoning, hiking, overnight open-air live music event in Nepal. The festival has been rock climbing, rafting, mountain on a contemporary circus extremely popular with both tourists and locals alike, and gives Nepali of their own to regale you. biking, bungee jumping – test your bands a chance to jive with international groups. limits at the Last Resort. Some of the perform- This year's edition will feature Joint Family international, What The ers were victims of child- Bhotekosi, Sindhupalchok, Funk- We are Soul’D out, Drummer’s Circle, Subani Moktan, Albatross, (01)4700525/1247 traffi cking and as they will Confusion, Triplicity, EnVivo, The Boys Next Door, Dj Rabbit, and Dj BPM, astound you with their all of who will make sure you won't get a minute's sleep. originality, energy, and It will be an early morning departure on 16 March and guests are skills and tell the stories of requested to bring their own sleeping bags. their past and present. Some artwork and jewellery will be available for purchase at the shows and Rs 4,000, 16 to17 March, The Last Resort part of the proceeds will go to the anti child-traffi cking charity Freedom Matters. Tickets at the Last Resort Office, Thamel, and Moksh, Pulchok (01)4701247/4700525, [email protected] Rs 500/1,000/1,500, 15 to 16 March, 1pm and 6pm TEMPLE TREE RESORT AND SPA, DAV School, Jawalakhel, 9841549811 a peaceful place to stay, complete Tickets at Cafe Soma, Top of the World Cafe, Backyard Pub, and Summit Hotel in with a swimming pool, massage Lalitpur, and Nepal Music in Thamel parlour and sauna, it'll be hard to leave once you get here. Gaurighat, Lakeside, (061)465819
Hotel Heritage, enjoy the exquisite architecture and traditional ambience, but make sure to book your rooms online with NepalSutra. Bhaktapur, (01)6611628, info@ nepalsutra.com
POKHARA GRANDE, a swimming pool to escape from the sweltering heat, a massage parlour and spa to loosen up, and a gym to release stress, all in all a great place to unwind. Lakeside, Pokhara, (61)460210
Charikot Panorama Resort, enjoy mountain views and local culture in the historic town of Charikot. Special packages on off er. Charikot, Dolakha, 01-5529463, [email protected] 10 OFF THE Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where the
RABI THAPA
he army man ran full pelt, flailing his arms, shouting. Seconds later PICS: RABI THAPA 1 Naiche at harvest time, blessed relief after a fruitless slog up from Taal. he reappeared on the far side of Tthe field, in the wake of a galloping white horse. Travellers gathered behind us, impatient to be on their way. When the man returned, panting, he had to restrain a dog from trotting into the blast zone. “Hyaaa let that good-for-nothing die!” muttered an older man, just before two sharp explosions plumed up from the forested ridge obscuring the new road. A hundred metres away an excavator brushed rocks away in a constant clatter. It was just another day on the Annapurna Circuit. The 18-day classic around the Annapurna massif is fading into history. Trekkers still lug their packs over the 5400m Thorung-La, but their numbers are much diminished. council of villagers. But two days of teetering Tourism entrepreneurs are no longer able up and down grassy cliffs behind our local to ignore the impact of the ragged scratch guide, many a nettling scratch and tingling of a road the Nepal Army has blasted up on nerve later, we could still espy the rusty tin either side of the horseshoe circuit. With roofs of Taal along the Marsyangdi River. other trails opening up across the country It was a disappointing payback for our (notably, the Manaslu Circuit next door), efforts. Water was scarce, the paths were ill there’s no doubt the region’s crown jewel of defined, and there was nothing to see that a trek has lost its lustre. you couldn’t see from the riverine route (and
2 Twin towers loom above our picnic spot on the way to Namkye Bhanjyang. Manang district’s first pilot, Tripple P future road) to Naiche – which would have Gurung (see box), has spent years talking taken five hours instead of the fifteen for to the villagers about the need to adapt our detour. to the new ground realities. Last June, Naiche’s charm and chicken curry with some support from the Annapurna soothed our tired limbs as, once more, we Conservation Area Project, he led a survey of gathered the villagers round. This time, we potential routes in the eastern reaches of the were to veer right off the Annapurna Circuit, Annapurna Circuit. visit Duna Lake, then cross a pass down “It’s like this, buwa,” he tells the elders of to Guo to join the last leg of the Manaslu the settlements we pass through. “The road Circuit. The villagers delighted in having us is here, whether you like it or not. There will laboriously copy out Gurung place names in be less people doing the 18-day circuit. But lieu of the Nepali-language variants forced there are different kinds of tourists, so you upon their landmarks and the next morning have to be open to the idea of promoting we split into two groups. different kinds of treks. Some of these will The ‘easier’ route was a long slog up to even be made possible by the road.” Krom (Alubari) and down again; the lower From Taal, the first village in Manang route cut through thick subtropical jungle, district, our amateur survey was to follow a with a few very rickety ladders and steep ‘hunter’s trail’ to Naiche (see map). The route scrambles thrown into the mix. Reunited was meant to be difficult but passable and late in the day, we overnighted in a cave and was described to us as a viable alternative pushed on through pine forests and late with a great many approving nods by a summer blooms to turquoise Duna Lake.
3 Lamjung Himal (6932m) flanked by the Annapurnas from Namkye Bhanjyang. KANCHA TAMANG
4 The free-flowing Duna Lake, below Manaslu. Locals downriver, nervous and misinformed following the Seti floods, wondered if a glacial lake outburst was imminent. 5 Slippin’ and slidin’ to the pass into Namkye Bhanjyang. KANCHA TAMANG 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 11 Nature’s bounty
ravelling as we did with knowledgeable local guides, the Tsurvey team had an excellent opportunity to identify a plethora of medicinal herbs in the jungles and high plateaus between the Annapurna and Manaslu Circuits: Padamchal, Banlasun, Nirmasi, and Satuwa, to name a few. Passing through yarsagumba territory below Kangaru Himal it was evident how crucial these herbs are to the livelihoods of the mountain E ROAD peoples, especially those who do not benefit from the ere is no path and leave a trail - Ralph Waldo Emerson tourist dollar and how overharvesting may jeopardise the future of the entire region. For our part, we indulged in a little wild harvesting for the dinner pot – Lasunsaag, a garlic-scented green, was a favourite. Not so much a chewy fungus whose Gurung name, wild strawberries, and into the shadows we belatedly discovered, translated of gigantic grey monoliths. Past yaks to ‘skin mushroom’. and horses seemingly abandoned for the duration of the grazing season, we then moved up through misty mountains to a 4900m pass, skittering over rock and 5 ice to finally behold the burnt sienna of Namkye Bhanjyang, frequented 1 4 exclusively by yarsagumba pickers. 2 3 6 Orange and blue tarps dotted the 7 lower reaches of the plateau and soon Blazing trails we encountered yarsa pickers scouring the earth for the caterpillar fungus so beloved of Chinese medicine. We braved another pass – where two members of our party slid off the trail onto the snow before coming to rest short of an abyss – and eventually arrived at a mist-drenched temporary settlement where scores of pickers huddled around fireplaces dispensing burnt yak meat Then we backtracked towards camp below and raksi. It was the perfect setting for Kyampu Danda. My first sight of an impeyan the next morning’s crystal clear vista pheasant – a splash of a rainbow against the reaching from Lamjung Himal (6932m) forbidding alpine terrain – made up for the to Annapurna III (7555m). Our survey exhausting trudge in the evening drizzle. concluded with a long descent to Meta, Surveying the monsoon-smudged where we joined the Annapurna Circuit panorama from the top of the 4400m pass at Koto. the next morning, we felt, palpably, the It was a quick walk back to Chyamche potential of linking up the Annapurna and and a jeep, stopping only to observe the Manaslu circuits. All we had to do was heave damage wrought by a landslide close to ourselves down to Guo, down by the Dudh Taal. The road was here, but it wouldn’t Khola. The only problem was no one had be fully functional for a good many years, crossed from Naiche to Guo in at least even if it was already affecting the entire 150 years. region. RABI THAPA Despite the best efforts of our guide, we “If you really want to know if locals ripple Gurung (pic, above at Guo Pass) is adamant that words be followed by got hopelessly lost. Stumbling from ravine want the road, you’ll have to interview action on the part of locals as far as tourist routes are concerned – action to to gnat-infested jungle to ice-frosted trails everyone in the village,” young Dudh Jung T build, mark and maintain trails, set up water sources, teahouses and camping spots, and back again, it took us nearly 10 hours Gurung declared to us en route. and market new routes – underpinned by government funding. For this to happen, to descend two kilometres. When we finally Whatever one’s opinion, it seemed though, all stakeholders have to be convinced of the feasibility of a new route. got to Guo and gasped out where we’d clear at least that the demise of the The fact that locals walk from A to B doesn’t mean the world can follow. Our come from, a hotel owner cracked a gold- Annapurna Circuit wasn’t synonymous survey team deployed GPS (Global Positioning System) units to map out the routes toothed smile and accused us of pulling her with the demise of trekking tourism. walked, noted where trail improvement would be needed, and used its collective leg: “Dhaateko?” Rather, it could be seen as launching pad experience to gauge the suitability of the routes for future hikers in terms of The final leg of our survey, from the for a more variegated tourist industry. difficulty, camping spots, and water sources as well as natural and cultural wonderfully picturesque village of Taiche, As we dusted down our weary limbs and highlights. was a three-day hike through the badlands packed away our GPS units, we hoped that The good news is Gurung has secured funding from the Trekking Agencies’ below Kangaru Himal (6981m), to the east the paths we’d trodden would one day Association of Nepal for a professional survey of the route this April. The expedition of two villages recently incorporated into graduate into trails of discovery for those will confirm the viability of trails to Duna Lake (the ‘rhododendron trail’) and the tourist trail, Nar and Phu. We pushed seeking more than a ‘reboot’ of the beaten through Namkye Bhanjyang (the ‘yarsagumba trail’). vertically up from Taiche, through forests track. Wild Nepal lives on, just not where running with streams and dappled with we’ve grown accustomed to finding it.
6 Lamjung Himal (6932m) through a long lens. KANCHA TAMANG 7 Enroute to Duna Lake from Naiche. 12
as he sets out to interview two Cape GIZMO by YANTRICK Town fans who decided to track down their idol in the late 1990s. SEARCHING What follows is an extraordinary story about a singularly original musician for SUGAR MAN and the power of his music. The As I mentioned, the film is a detective story at heart and to elaborate further would killer be to give away the mystery. However, there is much to say about mouse the documentary regardless. Filmed with stunning scenery traversing Cape Town, California, f you’re a professional or even and Detroit, this documentary an occasional gamer you makes full use of all the tricks of probably own at least one the trade when faced with trying to I Razer device. Best known for its high- reconstruct a story. Bendjelloul does performance mouses, the ‘for-gamers, by-gamers’ company has just added not hesitate to use animation, and DeathAdder 2013 to its arsenal. his reconstructed scenes are shot on Unlike other mouses, Razer DeathAdder is ergonomically designed grainy 8-millimetre film to evoke a for a right-hand grip. Apologies to left-handed gamers, but most games, certain era. especially fi rst person shooters, are designed with the right-handed player Sometimes Searching for Sugar in mind with the left-hand being used to control movement and secondary Man is a bit slow, conclusions commands. The curves of the mouse allow your hand and fi ngers to grip coming together much later in the it naturally and comfortably, which is a huge bonus for those all-night film than in the viewer’s mind, but marathon sessions when other mouses would cause your hand to cramp we are willing to sit through the up. Thanks to the design, my refl exes remained as quick as ever even after film for the beauty of Rodriguez’s hours of use. songs that are cleverly woven into The other main feature of DeathAdder is its lethal accuracy and lightning the narrative thread and of course fast tracking speed. Boasting a 6400 dpi optical sensor which enables speeds the desire to know what really of up to 200 inches per second and 50g acceleration, the mouse obeys every his record label dropped him as a happened. command almost instantly and gives you instantaneous reaction times. consequence. Sixto Rodriguez, a I took the DeathAdder for a spin by playing Team Fortress 2, the wildly talented musician with epic MUST SEE massively popular fi rst-person shooter from Valve Games. The speed and song-writing skills, disappeared responsiveness of the mouse was a welcome advantage, as it enabled me to Sophia Pande off the face of the North American track the movement of my enemies and line up shots with great accuracy. In music scene. a game where every second is crucial, DeathAdder certainly made its mark. Strangely, however, For slower paced games like the real-time strategy Command and aking a documentary after Rodriguez’s music reached Cape Conquer 4, DeathAdder once again scored high points thanks to its most of the major events Town, South Africa, not long after. programmable side buttons easily accessible by thumb. You can program up Mhave already taken place There, his first two records Cold to fi ve separate commands on the side buttons, lessening your dependence far in the past is a difficult matter. Fact and Coming from Reality on the keyboard and a decided advantage during large-scale battles where Usually, the filmmaker is stuck spread across the young white quickly issuing commands is the key to victory. with trying to reconstruct the community like wild fire, speaking In addition to its sleek looks, including improved rubber grips at the side story around interviews, but using with its youthful lyrics about for enhanced control, DeathAdder also features something called the Razer people as ‘talking heads’ to tell a change and anti establishment- Synapse 2.0, which automatically syncs your mouse to a cloud server every story is never very successful. It ism to a community censored by Most of the time documentaries time you log on to a game. This means you don’t have to waste time keying is not cinematic, occasionally very apartheid politics and yearning are difficult to make. It is easy to in your preferred settings and user options each time you log on, the mouse boring, and, most people do not for something that would catalyse fall into the trap of sensationalising does it for you. come across well on film. their growing dissatisfaction with events, manipulating your key DeathAdder is fully compatible with both PC and Mac computers as Searching for Sugar Man, the status quo. characters to simulate drama, and long as you have a USB port. It works on Windows XP and higher systems, this year’s winner in the ‘Best As his popularity spread, so getting the essential bits from hours while for the Mac it functions on OS X 10.6 and above. You’ll need a working Documentary’ category at the too did the mystery surrounding long interviews. Most of what we see Internet connection to activate your Razer Synapse service, but other than 85th Academy Awards faced him. Rumours claimed that today which is labelled documentary that you can plug and play straight away. this very problem. The film Rodriguez has self-immolated are often facile pieces of work, put In Kathmandu, Razer DeathAdder is available from Shizuku Tech, reconstructs the search for an on stage, another claimed he had together in a hodgepodge manner an electronics store beside Madan Smarak Higher Secondary School in elusive musician called ‘Rodriguez’ shot himself in the head after a for maximum effect. Pulchok. At Rs 7,499 a piece after taxes, it will empty many wallets but it’s who was discovered in the early disastrous performance. All of Searching for Sugar Man is an defi nitely a worthwhile investment for us hardcore gamers. 1970s singing in a smoky Detroit these stories had something in exception. Watch it for its amazing Yantrick’s verdict: Razer DeathAdder is one of the best, if not the best bar. The producers who found common: no one seemed to really content and the integrity of its gaming mouse available in the market today. Its ergonomic design and him were convinced they had know anything about this hallowed subject matter. It will change your nimble optical sensor are a welcome addition to every virtual warrior’s found the next Bob Dylan, only musician. notion of fame, whatever it is. Watch armoury. better. Mysteriously, his first Malik Bendjelloul’s it too for its creativity. Rarely has www.razerzone.com album hardly sold, the second documentary is thus a kind of film a filmmaker made so much from one suffered a similar fate and version of a classic detective story being given so little to work with. 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 13 “I feel like I’ve come home” The return of the native Lil Bahadur Chettri is 80 and hardly knows the country of his ancestors, even though he has written with hen Lil Bahadur Chettri published his slim novel, Basain, in 1958 it emotion and accuracy the pain of migration in his famous novel, Basain. He visited Dharan recently for a Wevoked a powerful response among Nepalis in Nepal and abroad. literature conference where Nepali Times’ Sita Mademba interviewed him. Chettri, a descendant of Nepali immigrants, wrote the book in Assam where he still lives basing his portrayal of rural Nepal on interviews with Nepali Times: What is the situation This isn’t new, Nepali settlers in Are there Nepali books being more recent Nepali migrants to India. of the Nepali language in India and India have been trying to keep their published in Assam? Basain went on to become a best-seller because its heart-wrenching Assam? mother tongue alive. Now, there If you count from the beginning, plot was familiar to almost every family in Nepal who has a relative Lil Bahadur Chettri: There is a are even more Nepalis and there are there must have been about 40 working abroad. It also became a prescribed text book in high schools, language movement going on to more language related activities. books published so far and up to and every literate Nepali has read it. In 2005, Basain was made into a try to pressure the Assam state If nothing else, Nepalis in India are 250 books of Nepali poetry. The Nepali feature fi lm and fi ve years ago it was published in translation government to make Nepali a writing books in Nepali. There are quantity is going up, but we have to by Michael J Hutt, professor of Nepali at the School of African and subject in schools and colleges. The also other activities to conserve folk preserve the quality of writing. The Oriental Studies in London with the English title Mountains Painted government has in principle agreed songs, dances, and culture. Nepali state of newspapers and periodicals with Turmeric. The caste and gender discrimination, poverty, and and if this happens it will strengthen was included in the 8th Schedule and is not good. They are hard to sustain injustice that spurred Chettri to write the book 55 years ago still exist the role and position of the Nepali accepted as an offi cial language. It because of the lack of readership and and some would say are even more entrenched. But so is the fortitude language in India. People of Nepali is possible to get a degree in Nepali advertising. and generosity of the Nepali spirit portrayed in the 70-page novel. origin yearn to learn the language through distance learning and there Entrenched oppression forced generations of Nepalis to migrate to the and literature of their mother is interest in doing masters in Nepali. How does it feel to be back in Madhes or Muglan, now they also go to Muscat and Malaysia. country, we are trying to publish Nepal? The story is set somewhere in the multi-ethnic hills of eastern Nepal. more books. Is it true Nepalis used to be My ancestral home is in Sudap of Dhane’s family lives a precarious, but contented existence. A family reluctant to speak Nepali in Assam? Terathum district and my father tragedy and the weight of subjugation by powerful village loan sharks They still are. Mostly in areas where went to India when he was a boy. I force him to migrate. This misery and mystery is the story of millions of there aren’t too many Nepalis, was born in Guwahati in Assam and Nepali families through history. and they study in Assamese, live I based the plot and characters in Today, Nepal’s rural youth are selling off ancestral land to pay among Assamese, and marry my book Basain on my father and middlemen to take them abroad, but the wrenching dislocation is the Assamese. The children of grandfather’s personal experiences same. That is also the reason Hutt says he chose to translate Basain: “The my own younger sisters that forced them to migrate. I don’t way a family’s dispossession and fl ight from Nepal are represented [in can’t speak Nepali. come to Nepal that often and there the novel] tells us something about the historical Others are ashamed to aren’t many links with the larger fact of migration from the Nepalese hills, as well as speak Nepali in public family. But when I meet Nepalis, or reveals the author’s attitudes to the fact.” even if they know it. come to Nepal, I feel like I’ve come Kunda Dixit But since Bhupen home. It feels like I am cured of the Hazarika wore the stress of exile. Whenever Nepalis Mountains Painted with Turmeric (Basain) Nepali cap we are come to Assam, I take them around Lil Bahadur Chettri more accepted. We myself in my scooter. Meetings like Translated by Michael J Hutt even started calling this one in Dharan will build bridges Columbia University Press, 2008 ,Pages 144 the Nepali cap, the between Nepalis in Nepal and Nepalis Hardcover ‘Bhupen Cap’. in India.
stale or under-cooked, but it came to us lukewarm, definitely not what we wanted on a rainy day. Golden Dragon With cubes of deep fried chicken, that hadn’t been seasoned well we were given fortune cookies and flavours seeping only to the to warn us of the impending bad outer skin, the sesame chicken was food, we would have left the red another bad choice. sea with minimal damage to our The only dish that didn’t eyes and tummies. have us, a trio of hungry women, We began lunch with a complaining was the cabbage and bowl of vegetable hot and black mushroom stir fry, which SOMEPLACE ELSE sour soup (Rs 175) that looked surprisingly was served in a bigger appetising on the photo on platter and prepared well. the menu. In reality, it could Golden Dragon migrated from be mistaken for a simple egg its base in Thamel to Jhamsikhel soup. With no vegetables and three months ago, but there were the overpowering hotness of only two other customers besides ith every inch decked chillies, the soup was just a us during rush hour lunch-time. out in red wallpaper, taste of what awaited us. We If the restaurant served more Wred paper lanterns, and dug into our second order of generous portions and focused on Peking fish fritt (Rs 225), fried its cuisine rather than unnecessary red carpet, Golden Dragon ticks BHRIKUTI RAI all the boxes for the ultimate pieces of fish sautéed with ‘Chinese’ details, it could attract Chinese restaurant stereotype. spring onions, carrots and Spicy Chinese style pork (Rs eaten with rice. a larger share of the food-loving It even has a fish tank, a giant garnished with red chilli flakes, 225) was another let down because For mains we ordered pak Jhamel crowd. statue, and a seven page long with much enthusiasm, only rather than pork meat, we were choy with black mushroom (Rs Tsering Dolker menu offering everything from to be disappointed again. More served a few thin slices of pork 255), sesame chicken (Rs 280), and chicken chilli to Peking fish spring onions than actual pieces skin stir fried in sesame oil with bowls of steam rice (Rs 80). Golden How to get there: Golden Dragon fritt to the grander hot pot to of fish decorated the plate and garlic and coriander. Although oily, Dragon even manages to spoil is opposite Roadhouse Cafe in complete your ‘authentic’ the dish was nothing to write the gravy pleased our taste buds good old simple steamed rice. I Jhamsikhel in the alley that leads Chinese experience. Perhaps if home about. and we saved some for later to be still can’t decide if the rice was towards Alpha’s High School. 14 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647
the country. The HAPPENINGS World Health Organisation was immediately notified and officials in the 13 countries have been trying tirelessly to track down thousands of people the detainee may have come in contact with to see if they were infected with TB. Just reconstructing his exact path must be a daunting task. Although TB rates in Nepal have fallen in the past decade in large part due to the DOTS Travelling TB (directly observed treatment) program introduced by the government in the early 1990s, is a multi-drug resistance (MDR) it is still one of the biggest DHANVANTARI TB, but XDR is deadlier as it is killers of Nepalis. What is more resistant to many more drugs. worrisome, however, is the rise Buddha Basnyat, MD During his three month in MDR and XDR cases because ordeal to reach the US, the man patients are either misusing or travelled by air, car, boat, and not completing their treatment. n November 2012 in the US- foot across 13 countries. TB While countries like the US Mexico border at Texas, the can be transmitted from person spend millions trying to prevent IBorder Patrol detained a Nepali to person through breathing the spread of TB, we in South BIKRAM RAI man who was trying to get into the so every time he coughed he Asia have focused largely on TROUBLE COMRADE: PM Bhattarai and Pushpa Kamal Dahal chat after the four country illegally. This would have could have possibly spread life- treatment. There have been parties failed to come to an agreement in Baneswor on Saturday. been just another case of illegal threatening bacteria across the no efforts made to detect the entry if the detainee had not been world. This particular strain of disease within households of coughing constantly. XDR TB had been identified once TB patients or hospitals. Luckily The police made him undergo a before in the US and the patient new detection technology like health examination which showed was again a Nepali. the WHO-endorsed GeneXpert he had tuberculosis (TB), not the XDR is uncommon in the machine (pic, above), now regular, drug-sensitive TB, but the US. In 2011 only six cases were available in Nepal, will help resistant kind. In fact the organism identified. So these two cases detect resistant cases so that was super resistant, known as XDR: of the same strain from Nepal therapy can be started early to extensive drug resistance. There caused a great deal of alarm in strengthen the DOTS program.
BIKRAM RAI GETTING STRONGER: A group of women protest in front of Baluwatar on International Women’s Day on Friday in solidarity with Occupy Baluwatar movement.
KRISHNA SINJALI BOOK WORM: An elderly man looks over books at the Art and Literary Festival 2069 in Kakarvitta organised by Readers Jhapa.
READERS’ PHOTO
SATHAPORN KAMKONG BRICK BY BRICK: An aerial view of Bhaktapur with the familiar sight of a brick kiln in the centre surrounded by a cluster of houses. 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 REGION 15
till now on what constitutes a moral pressure on them to non-violent movement. For long, transform themselves and rectify its proponents have concentrated their mistakes. These principles on debating the legitimacy of guided Mahatma Gandhi in Eye for an eye means/methods to achieve his endeavour to convince the goals universally valued – for British about the immorality of instance, independence from the enslaving a people. Perhaps the The protests in Dhaka’s Shahbag foreign yoke, or ushering in of a Bangladeshis should recall the LOOK OUT Square use non-violence as a strategy democratic rule by overthrowing fast he undertook to stop the Ajaz Ashraf to achieve a violent goal a dictator. They argued that communal rioting in Noakhali a goal, however cherished and Kolkata, demanding neither and valued, did not justify all imprisonment nor hanging for he protest the conceivable methods to realise it. the perpetrators of violence, Bangladeshis have Some were deemed outside the quite content at its cessation. Tmounted at Shahbag pale. Truth and peaceful protest Obviously, it could be argued Square in Dhaka raises several were considered as important that in a democracy, which perturbing questions, which as the avowed goal, which an Bangladesh is, the popular we in our understandable glee illegitimate method – violence will must prevail. Though over Islamists being cornered, – could sully and debase. we can’t tell for sure whether have ignored to ask. The first: Shahbag seems to have Shahbag expresses the majority can we describe as non-violent reversed this equation: does sentiment, the overwhelming a movement which peacefully a peaceful protest become victory of the ruling Awami pursues a goal essentially violent illegitimate because its goal is League in the last election in nature? violent? This question assumes which it fought on the promise The goal of the Shahbag importance as the Shahbag of bringing war criminals to protest demands the hanging protesters neither want radical expeditious trial, could be cited of all those arrayed in the change in the judicial process as an expression of the popular International Crimes Tribunal nor a more skilled battery of will. What would we say if (ICT) for killing people during WWW.SHAHBAGPROTEST.COM prosecutors. Irrespective of the the Jamaat, acquiring power Bangladesh’s war of liberation surprised no one to see them people protest peacefully, not quality of evidence presented 10 years from now, were to in 1971. It was sparked off at the erupt into thunderous applause even lifting a hand or issuing – which David Bergman, who gather thousands of Islamists at ICT awarding life imprisonment at the news that another Jamaat dire threats, yet demand death manages bangladeshwarcrimes. Shahbag to accuse the current to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul leader, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, for their opponents, as those blogspot.com, believes is crop of leaders of conspiring to Quader Mollah, goading a had been sentenced to death. accused of war crimes are questionable on many counts send their leaders to the gallows disappointed people to bay It would seem the protestors for Shahbag. No longer do – Shahbag adamantly wants the in 2013 and demand they be for his death. The trial and at Shahbag won’t return home goons or revolutionaries want accused hanged. It’s a demand hanged? subsequent protests also have until all the nine accused of war to mow down their rivals. decidedly unreasonable, even We secularists are delighted lessons for Nepal, where a crimes have been sent to the Even peaceful protesters, our murderous, which, in turn, because Shahbag appears to Truth and Reconciliation Bill to gallows. modern-day Gandhians, desire renders the peaceful protest us a blow for secularism and address war crimes has become Whether or not the the death of their opponents. likewise. moderate Islam. But, really, a vital bargaining point over Bangladeshis succeed in Indeed, Shahbag marks the A non-violent movement, do the Bangladeshis need to the formation of an election achieving their goal, they have appropriation of non-violence historically, doesn’t seek consecrate the progressive idea government. certainly turned the philosophy as a strategy to achieve a violent vengeance. In fact, it aims to of secularism in blood? This As the gathering at of non-violence on its head. goal. break the cycle of violence- doesn’t mean the wounds of Shahbag swelled to mammoth Nobody had ever thought that Perhaps the celebration of vengeance, persuade the Bangladesh should be allowed proportions, death became there could come a time or a Shahbag without reservation is oppressors about the illegitimacy to fester. the leitmotif of the protest. It movement which would have linked to the nature of debate of their method, and mount [email protected] 16 REGION 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647
weekly of 32 pages, until it lost registered members and attracts, so much money the staff quit to on average, 1,500 visitors every start Sunday and The Journalist, day. in 2009. Bhutan Times is still One of the most visible Bhutan, Inc continuing with the help of indications of Bhutan’s Media struggles to survive in the Land of the Thunder Dragon media company K4, which also democratisation has been supports Drukpa, a monthly the opening up of the media, news magazine launched in especially after the 2008 RON AUGUSTIN in THIMPHU Dorji, as its editor-in-chief 2009. election. But with another who succeeded in changing Bhutan Observer is struggling election due on 23 April, it into a professional weekly for its share in what it calls Bhutan’s media is using its hutan’s Prime Minister newspaper in its present ‘the already heated, hostile, new freedom to cover the five Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley tabloid format. The second has and half-sized bajar that is the contesting parties. Bcould not have been been Kuensel’s transformation Bhutanese advertising market’. Lily Wangchuk of the new more blunt. He reminded into an autonomous public It has recently upgraded its Druk Chirwang Tshogpa party newspaper publishers last sector enterprise in 1992 online edition with dynamic, is worried that the media week that their poor financial and the paper becoming the multimedia content. space is constricting. She told performance was not the country’s only daily in April In 2008, Bhutan Today was The Bhutanese last month the government’s problem, but 2009. launched as a morning eight- media was vulnerable because their own. Radio came to Bhutan as page daily but has since gone it depended on ads on the Since Bhutan embarked on late as 1973, with an amateur bi-weekly. Business Bhutan, government and few corporates. a policy of media liberalisation station of the National Youth the country’s first financial This year Bhutan dropped 12 in 2006, ending the era of only Association which was newspaper, started as a weekly points to 82 in the global Press one newspaper, the number eventually upgraded and, in 2009. All periodicals have a Freedom Index. of newspapers has increased in 1986, formalised as the main edition in English and a Most new media seem more twelve fold. There are now national Bhutan Broadcasting thinner edition in Dzongkha, or interested in revenue than eight weeklies, a daily, and Service (BBS) which was also have Dzongkha pages. Since 2010 building content or developing four monthly newsmagazines OLD NEW NEWSPAPER: The Journalist turned into a public sector three Dzongkha weeklies were a reader base. Based on a satirses the Bhutan government’s in a country of less than 700,000 corporation in 1992. It started tv started, Druk Nyetshul, Druk circulation audit conducted last decision to restrict ads in a front-page people about half of whom are cartoon. broadcasts in 1999, four months Yoedzer, and Druk Gyelyong. year, a Government Advertising illiterate. More than 80 per cent before foreign satellite and cable And in 2012, a bi-weekly Policy has been prepared with of the total $5million annual tv were allowed and the advent broadsheet, The Bhutanese, also guidelines for a more targeted advertising in Bhutan is from stay in business. of the Internet. In the past few hit the stands. media approach. The Election the government. None of the new publications years, six private FM stations Kuensel is still the most Commission, however, has “The responsibility of a have more than 2,000 readers have gone on air and with more professional and effective revoked its earlier decision to government in a democracy is to and will not survive without than 100 productions so far, the newspaper and one of the few supply election ads only to create an enabling environment government ads. Bhutan’s oldest local film industry seems to be with a clear vision of its role government media. where the independence newspaper, Kuensel, was the thriving. in Bhutan’s social and political For private media, this will and freedom of media are first modern media when it In 2006, two privately owned transformation. It is financed by bring temporary respite, but it respected,” Thinley said, “we started in the early 1960s as newspapers started publication: subscriptions, advertising, and looks like the road to a viable have given you that.” a small government bulletin the Sunday newspaper Bhutan printing works for third parties, business model is long. He added that the state had issued by the Department of Times and the Bhutan Observer, since government funding done more than it needed to Information. a 14-page Friday weekly stopped more than a decade Ron Augustin is a print media by providing advertisements to Kuensel has undergone two published from the border town ago. With a total circulation management consultant based publications without relevant radical transformations in the of Phuentsholing. of over 12,000 in English and in Brussels who worked for circulation and private media last 50 years. In 1986, it got a For three years Bhutan Dzongkha, it reaches 130,000 printing projects in Bhutan in should make a greater effort to fresh Columbia graduate, Kinley Times managed to churn out a readers. Its website has 15,000 the 1990s. 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 NATION 17
Feminine FM Women-run community radios promote grassroots democracy and help fight domestic violence in Nepal
ANNIE O’KAIN in UDAYPUR PICS: ANNIE O’KAIN
adio in Nepal is a medium that come home, having wasted his wages transcends literacy, load shedding, on alcohol, he would beat me. From the Rpoverty, even geography. It radio, I learned that his treatment of me provides information, news, and was violence. From the radio, I learned entertainment to the public, but above of my condition and that I had the right all else, radio is a success because it is not to be treated this way.” truly a democratic medium. Coverage at these stations is not Women-run community radios limited to domestic violence. In embody democracy because they Biratnagar, Radio Purwanchal works provide access, opportunity, and closely with community groups to draw education. With Nepali society in a attention to cases of sex trafficking. state of flux, women-run FM radios play “Women understand women’s issues. a pivotal role as both models for their So women-run radio is in a position communities and mediators of change. to understand the plight of women in Many of these stations provide access this country,” says Bishnu Sharma, and opportunities for women to be of the group, ABC Nepal. “It gives us RADIO ACTIVE: Women gather in Tanki village knowledge producers and disseminators, a place to be heard, an opportunity of Morang for a Radio Purwanchal focus group giving them freedoms that they have for employment, a place where the (top). Radio Udaypur announcer Uma Baniya never experienced before. stories of women and sexual violence prepares to interact with listeners live from her There are five women-run are important, headline news.” ABC studio (left), the radio receives at least one bag community radio stations. Three in the receives three to four cases of sex of audience feedback letters a week (above). Tarai (Biratnagar, Udaypur, and Butwal) trafficking or sexual violence a day and two others in Parbat and Jumla. and reports these daily on Radio Radio Purwanchal in Biratnagar and Purwanchal. women must struggle and fight to prove system where politicians have failed, Radio Mukti in Butwal were two of the Throughout Nepal many women that we are worthy… most people in our radio has continued to be a functional first women-run stations. While Radio experience violence every day, be community see this and respect us for outlet of democracy. Over the past 16 Purwanchal allows men to sit on its it through the physical violence of it.” Radio allows women to give voice years, radio has been a vehicle for access, management committee, every level of leering stares and sexual assault, or to their experiences. It serves as a safe opportunity, and education in Nepal Radio Mukti is completely women-run. the structural violence of poverty and space for these issues to be heard, while and women-run community radios have Women-run radio is a vital forum for a lack of education. Like most women simultaneously spreading knowledge and been playing an essential part in building discussion and information. Since its in Nepal, the staff at women-run radio awareness. an inclusive and working democratic inception, women-run community radio stations understand violence and With elections around the corner, system. programming has tackled hot topics discrimination firsthand. the importance of community radio such as violence against women. “I have “Men have had the opportunity to becomes all the more vital in Nepal. nepalitimes.com learned a lot from the radio,” says Mina, do radio work for a while,” says Rupa, Multiple elections have brought little, Women on air, #449 a listener of Radio Udaypur in Udaypur a staff member at Radio Didi Bahini if any, substantial change since the Radio active women, #373 district. “Before my husband would in Parbat. “In order to do this work, monarchy was sidelined in 2006. In a 18 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647
NEPALI TWEETS
Iron-gate exam for the kids, election exam KRR to the rescue for Khil Raj Regmi.
Editorial, Rajdhani, 14 March convince the CPN-M and other Editorial, Annapurna Post, 14 March parties. Faced with so many If Khil Raj had disagreed at the last s the four parties have challenges, Regmi’s government fter months of deadlock, it looks like moment it would have been like the terrifi c Aalmost reached a positive has to be very sensitive about Athe path to elections has finally cleared climax of a Nepali fi lm. conclusion on a CJ-led how it moves ahead. At up. It would have been better if the parties government, the 20 fringe- the same time, it has an had settled on a candidate from within. parties led by the CPN-M took Had the NC and UML agreed to be part no time to announce protests of the Baburam Bhattarai-led electoral against Khil Raj Regmi’s government, we would have been talking government. Governments may about poll results by now. But there is no I was just getting used to calling BRB be replaced amidst opposing point crying over spilt milk. At least the prime minister, now I need to practice voices but what does this latest political consensus has taken us saying Prime Minister Khil Raj Regmi. discontent mean for elections? out of the dark. Since the next polls will The same man who did not extend elect both the parliament the Constituent Assembly’s term and Constituent Assembly, now has the keys to the electoral no party big or small should government. And his biggest challenge be left out of discussions will be to hold polls on time. He How about Khil Raj start his own party? His own government, his own court, and on critical matters like state will also have to convince the fringe his own party. How does that sound? reconstruction. As it stands, parties, who have been against him there are huge differences from day one, to participate in the election. The within the NC and UML about Nepal Bar Association and civil society have expressed this electoral government and immense opportunity to change serious concerns over the principles of power separation and it will be difficult for them the future course of the country. independent judiciary. It will be crucial for Regmi to establish to head to elections in such However, this latest agreement himself through action amidst widespread criticism. to make Regmi lead the electoral A sure-shot question for our children divided conditions. It is crucial The parties have handed Regmi the responsibility to at quiz competitions: ‘Who became that these parties stem their government will only be implement the people’s right to vote. If he succeeds, the country the prime minister and chief justice in own leaders’ dissatisfaction meaningful if he can restore will certainly head in a better direction. The parties deserve a pat Nepal?’ before polls and also somehow Nepal’s derailed democracy by on their back and good luck to Regmi. holding polls on time.
DIWAKAR CHETTRI Editorial, Nagarik, 14 March
he biggest achievement for Tthe CJ-led government would be to hold free and fair elections. But if it tries to tackle other problems faced by the country, elections will be sidelined. The current government was formed on the basis of political consensus and it will be answerable to the same. It will lose meaning the day parties lose Dipak Gautam, Kantipur, 9 March belief in it. If this CJ-led government, QUOTE OF THE WEEK
which came into being after
amendments were made to the constitution, can hold elections, The agreements that was reached after “ it will have made an important “misinterpreting Article 158 make a joke contribution. We hope that out of democracy and party politics. Regmi and his team forget all previous biases and lead our politics towards healthy electoral Press statement by the Nepal Bar Association, 14 March competition in the future.
WEEKLY BAZAR POLL #4
Himal Khabarpatrika asks 375 respondents in 14 cities across Nepal every Monday for their opinion on contemporary issues. This week’s result:
1. What do you think of the country’s current economic condition?
Bad: 59.2% Okay: 28.2% Don’t know: 11% Good: 1.6 1.6%
2. What do you think of employment prospects?
Bad: 77.7% Okay: 19% Good:1.3%
3. How do you assess your current income?
Okay: 75.6% Bad: 12.3% Good: 11.5% 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 NATION 19 Rules of engagement Nepal’s donors are hesitant to work with the government on local development because of lack of accountability and political will
NARESH NEWAR
ebate about the efficacy of foreign aid in Nepal is as old as foreign Daid itself, but often talk about effectiveness of aid doesn’t go beyond a blame game between aid agencies and the government. Lately, this debate has become more complicated because of the assertiveness shown by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Planning Commission (NPC), and the Finance Ministry about where aid should go and a new scrutiny of NGOs and INGOs which operate here. The government wants aid to focus on infrastructure, health, and education and less on human rights, democracy, inclusion, and constitution writing. Donors have also come under criticism from politicians, civil society, and the media for stoking ethnic tensions by pushing identity-based federalism. Donors, meanwhile, are increasingly bypassing the government to work directly with non-state actors and local delivery agencies. They say they need to NARESH NEWAR do this because the lack of general and local elections has hurt accountability weak and donor financing is done in an directly in the villages,” says Gopal GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Both donors and local and oversight. ad hoc manner. But old habits die hard Yogi, senior vice president of the NGO government end up using the same community Then there are the usual problems and aid agencies also do less to enhance Federation. networks like this female health volunteer of aid duplication and mismanagement. national capacity by being project-driven For donors, however, the most visible in Humla. DFID is planning to implement its After the Paris Declaration of 2005, there and focusing on delivering basic services weakness in delivery is the lack of strong project directly because it says there are no skilled government workers. But since donors was hope that ODA to Nepal would be themselves. local governance in the absence of local more efficiently managed, but critics choose their own priority, agriculture is now Krishna Khanal, professor of political elections. There also is no Parliamentary under-funded and the government’s budget for say, not much has changed. science at Tribhuvan University, says Accounts Committee and the CIAA and agriculture this year was down by 15 per cent. “The National Planning Commission aid agencies haven’t taken much of an the Auditor General’s office have been is the last to know when projects initiative in capacity-building of national headless, so there is no oversight at all. have already been signed. We are not institutions. He faults the government Swiss Ambassador Thomas Gass, consulted from the proposal phase on,” with weak coordination and creating who heads the donor group in the Nepal bodies and there is no clear direction,” complains NPC foreign aid department unnecessary obstacles in implementation, Peace Trust Fund, says: “As long as says Dominic O’Neill, head of DFID director, Rabi Sainju. especially by line ministries. “There is development cooperation is needed, Nepal program, which is increasing The NPC’s role has now been a need to improve on local autonomy, we also have to assess on a case-by-case its aid level to GBP 100 million this restricted to coordinating with but that doesn’t mean donors should be basis the implementation capacity of the year. Donors believe that there should individual donors on specific issues, in the business of delivery,” Khanal told state agency we plan to work with and be a more accountable interim body rather than as an institution dealing Nepali Times. how effective it is in the field.” and structure at the village and district with aid management. Officials want DDC and VDC offices are still But he added that the state is not the council level until local elections are the Ministry of Finance and NPC to functional, albeit without elected only provider of services in any country held. phase out project-based implementation councils and they use the same and non-governmental organisations There is a clear hesitation among and increase the proportion of aid community networks as the aid agencies can complement the government’s work donors to hand over implementation channelled ‘in cash’ through the while implementing projects in remote as a partner and watchdog to ensure to the government due to political national budget. villages. “There are rules of engagement accountability. instability, disinterest of politicians in The problem, however, is that for donor agencies and they should stick “At the moment, there is a vacuum at poverty alleviation issues, and the lack of coordination among line ministries is to it by not implementing their projects the local level in terms of local elected accountability at the local level. 20 BACK SIDE 15 - 21 MARCH 2013 #647 www.nepalitimes.com www.nepalitimes.com
Chief Justice + Prime Minister = Chief Minister Who will hold my hand? lot of people are a bit confused have a political mechanism works by about late-November elections is being about how to address Hizzoner night and sleeps by day. But it would be out of power means their funding will A Regmi now that he is both CJ an insult to compare our politicians to dry up and they can’t fi nance elections. and PM. The title of Chairman of the owls because they are wise. Good thing Where are they going to steal from, who Interim Administration (CIA) may give the Prez had the good sense to let out is going to bribe them? people the wrong idea and so would a big yawn on Wednesday night and tell Antarim Pradhan Punch. Couple of everyone: “That’s it, I’m going to bed.” After the signing ceremony Wednesday permutations have come up: Chief night top leaders were all sitting around Minister or Prime Justice to preside The reason all big decisions here are stiffl y until photographers shouted out over an all-Bahun cabinet. taken in the dead of night is that our to them to hold hands. That is why the politicians and bureaucrats have learnt photo-op looks a G-8 summit. Jhusil Last month, Nepal’s bird wallahs held from bitter experience that agreements Da, bit uncomfortable with all the touchy an Owl Conference in Chitwan to draw made in the evening are usually feely stuff, refused at fi rst to hold hands attention to endangered nocturnal avian overturned by morning because of calls with anyone in public. But he fi nally life. They needn’t have worried, we from unnamed diplomatic sources. relented and reluctantly took JN’s right hand. But poor Gutch, no one wanted to Now we know why BRB was in such hold his hand. a tearing hurry to step down. He just couldn’t wait to get rid of that damn Speaking of whom, the new Chinese Mustang Max. No sooner had he ambassador hit the ground running resigned, he drove out of Shit All Niwas and complained to Comrade Awesome to Sanepa in a Scorpio and tweeted about Gutch not being cooperative in en route: “I’m a free citizen!” Which rounding up Tibetans. begs the question: he wasn’t free as PM? Who took away his freedom? A We’re all waiting to see what Chairman miniature stuffed donkey to the fi rst 10 Regmi is going to do about convicted correct answers. war criminal Bal Krishna Dhungel whom he sentenced to life imprisonment Those who say elections are not and who followed BRB like the lamb possible in June haven’t factored in followed Mary while Laldhoj was PM. the effect of climate change on the monsoon. Meteorological records show By the way, if KRR hasn’t stepped down the monsoon has been retreating every as CJ does it mean that the Ass can be year, and now starts in early July. The hauled over the coals for contempt of Mao-Baddies don’t want elections in court? June, which is why they insisted on KRR’s term being valid till December So, it’s fi nally offi cial. Nepal so they have time to wash off all the dirt is back to having a partyless collected during their tenure in govt. system of government after The only reason parties are hesitant 23 years in the wilderness.
CDO Regd No 194/056/57 Lalitpur, Central Region Postal Regd. No 09/069/70