• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

2 EDITORIAL 10 - 16 JUNE 2016 #812 PLAYING FOR TIME Eight months into his term, Prime Minister Oli seems to have settled for just one objective: not being overthrown rime Minister Oli is looking more and more like a man Even so, there is a tendency in Kathmandu to read too just trying to buy time for his political survival. He much into Indian micromanagement of our polity. Certain Pcame to power with an ambitious game plan of reviving things are for us to resolve, and in this we find the Oli the economy, putting relations with neighbours on an even administration deliberately lethargic and uncaring when keel, and resolving the Madhes crisis. Eight months into his it comes to addressing Madhesi demands on amendments term, he seems to have settled for just one objective: not being to the constitution and moving ahead. This obduracy is overthrown. prolonging instability, escalating the Indo-Nepal Cold War After having stemmed a coup attempt last month by with great opportunity cost to this stalemate. his own coalition comrade Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the Half the problem faced by the Madhesis is how they are opposition Nepali Congress, he is going all out to prolong perceived. That the people of the plains are treated as second- his tenure in office so he can go down in history as being class citizens, looked down upon, discriminated against and the leader who stood up to India. He is also mindful that he called ‘Indians’ by the hill folk. Successive governments in is living on borrowed time in terms of his personal health. Kathmandu have not done much to redress these notions, With nothing left to lose, Oli is stoking New Delhi’s paranoia and the current rulers are no different. The Indian Blockade about China, knowing fully well how Indians get rattled even has, in fact, further embedded the mistrust. as talking heads work themselves into a frenzy on television The other half consists of demands for changes in over ‘Chinese inroads’. the constitution so there is demographic proportionality Leaders can fool some of the people some of the time, but in representation of Madhesis in the Upper House, for they cannot fool all of them all the time. Oli is playing the boundaries of future provinces, and for the removal of nationalism card to the hilt, but that stratagem has a limited discriminatory provisions in citizenship. The clause about shelf life. The Chinese will go only go so far in provoking citizenship of children of Nepali mothers is directly related the Indians, as we saw during the Blockade. And for Nepal to Kathmandu’s irrational phobia of cross-border marriages there is no option but to come to terms with our southern and the spectre of 'Indians' occupying positions of politcal neighbour’s insecurities. power. Oli is also walking a tight rope between rival power centres Given the growing gap between hills and plains and in New Delhi — balancing and taking advantage of conflicting the radicalisation of Madhesi youth, it is the responsibility signals coming from BJP-RSS politicians and the intelligence of the national government in Kathmandu to be proactive bureaucracy over Nepal policy. Ever since Prithvi Narayan in defusing the crisis — first with confidence-building Shah compared Nepal to a yam between two boulders, the measures, and then subsequently engaging in meaningful conventional wisdom has been that we are squeezed between attempts to address Madhesi demands while they are still the two giants, to the north and south. We may have to do-able. BHANU BHATTARAI modify the analogy: today Nepal is instead trapped between This is now a nation divided, and delay tactics can no the interests of the Hindu-right and the rest in New Delhi. we detect moves to try to dismantle the three -isms: roll back longer work. The longer the stalemate drags on, the higher There used to be a time when India had a ‘twin pillar’ secularism, rework federalism and possibly even restore the the chances of extremists and the religious right setting strategy to simultaneously back the monarchy and democracy monarchy. The ‘twin pillar’ policy has been replaced with the agenda. Prime Minister Oli is dragging his feet, using in Nepal. It would have worked to ensure stability, but ‘twin contradictions’ being played out between proxies on speculation about regime change as a distraction so he does somewhere along the way that policy lost currency. the ground in Nepal. not have to take the bull by the horns. He would be well- Republicanism, secularism and federalism were somehow One cannot analyse the Machiavellian manoeuvrings in advised not to tarry, lest he suddenly find that his time has slipped into the new constitution. After the rise of the BJP, Kathmandu without factoring in that gorilla in the room. run out. YOUR SAY www.nepalitimes.com THIS WEEK WHEN MELTING MOUNTAINS SHAKE Dipendra Sunuwar any coalition. Irrespective of who is Climate change is real, and it is happening using whom, the political game that is (“When melting mountains shake”, Kunda CATCHING UP going on in Nepal is not good for the Dixit, #811). The sooner we realise it, the I would like to congratulate Sanjay country. faster we can act on it. Organisations like Sada for becoming the fi rst Musahar to KK Sharma ICIMOD have been conducting research. pass the SLC exams from his village in However, more community engagement is Mahottari district (“Catching up”, Santa THE ROYAL MASSACRE required. We have to start small — make Gaha Magar, #811). I come from the When will we know the truth behind the locals of the area aware of what they eastern Tarai region, and I know what the mysterious massacre of the might be doing right or wrong. They should it means to be a Musahar, to be from royal family (“Three kings in four realise whether their actions help or harm the most oppressed, excluded and days”, Kunda Dixit, #811)? It is a the environment. Unless they are alerted voiceless community. Musahars die real opportunity for anyone wanting and made aware, relying on big research early, and their literacy rate is probably to make a name in investigative projects or only funding is not going to help the lowest in the country. But they are journalism. reverse this catastrophic phenomenon. not demanding a province like other Anuroop Manandhar Maya oppressed communities. Amar Pokhrel PAWAN JOSHI We were lucky that no glacial lake burst MADHES AGITATION Weekly Internet Poll #812 during last year’s earthquake (“Mountain Yes, the game goes on (“The game Most reached on Facebook goes on”, Navin Jha, #811). India Q. Did you like the government's decision to double the Shreejana’s world of make-believe by Smriti Basnet people paying price for climate change”, allowance for the elderly? Shreejana Shakya, the Nepali special eff ects makeup artist who took the internet #811). But we might not be as lucky is using the NC, which is using the by storm. (6,914 people reached) when the Big One strikes us. If we do Madhesi Front, and the Madhesi Front Total votes: 290 not begin mitigating the risk right away, is using the Janajatis to overthrow the we will certainly regret wasting time. The KP Oli government. If it were China that persuaded the Maoists to not pull the Most shared on Facebook Most visited online page government has fi nally begun lowering Shreejana’s world of make-believe Three kings in four days by the water level in Imja Lake, but there are rug, the Oli government would survive by Smriti Basnet (59 likes) Kunda Dixit (2,100 views) many other vulnerable glacial lakes that longer. But if China were not behind the Weekly Internet Poll #813 can burst anytime. People living on the political drama that played out in May, To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com banks of snow-fed rivers are at risk, and then Oli would be ousted sooner than Most popular on Twitter Most commented Q. Who is responsible for the lack of dialouge Climactic change, Editorial The game goes on by Navin Jha the government needs to act sooner rather later. The Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal between the government and the Madhesi parties? (65 retweets, 89 favourites) than later. Dahal is the most unreliable partner in Publisher and Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Associate Editor: Om Astha Rai | Online Producer: Ayesha Shakya | Design: Kiran Maharjan Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd | Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur | GPO Box 7251 Kathmandu Nepali Times on Facebook [email protected] | www.nepalitimes.com | www.himalmedia.com | Tel: 01-5005601-08 Fax: +977-1-5005518 Follow @nepalitimes on Twitter Marketing: Arjun Karki, Surendra Sharma [email protected] | Advertorials: Ram Krishna Banjara | Subscriptions: Santosh Aryal [email protected] Follow @nepalitimes on Instagram Printed at Jagadamba Press | 01-5250017-19 | www.jagadambapr.com 10 - 16 JUNE 2016 #812 3 4 NATION 10 - 16 JUNE 2016 #812 10 - 16 JUNE 2016 #812 BUSINESS 5 GUEST COLUMN Bineeta Gurung 6 NATION 10 - 16 JUNE 2016 #812 ONE TO MANY Bidushi Dhungel KATHMANDU SMRITI BASNET nepalitimes.com Watch Trailer NEPAL WHEREVER YOU ARE. in your lap or palm. www.nepalitimes.com 8 AYESHA SHAKYA IN SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco USA USA Kathmandu BRAZIL Kuala Lumpur MEXICO GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA COSTARICA PANAMA COLOMBIA ECUADOR PERU BRAZIL BOLIVIA São Paulo 10 - 16 JUNE 2016 #812 9 An increasingincreasing nunumber of NepalisNepalis risk theirtheir lives and fortunes to sneak into the ED LAND USAUSA via CentralCentral AmericaA ON THE RUN: An X-ray photo showing migrants inside a truck heading towards the US near a checkpoint in the state of Chiapas in Mexico.

Load more

  16

Copy Link