#411 1 - 7 August 2008 16 pages Rs 30

Weekly Internet Poll # 411

Q. How do you characterise the Maoist decision not to form the new government? Total votes: 5,398

Weekly Internet Poll # 412. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q. At this rate, can the new constitution be written in two years?

ROBIN SAYAMI

z Why not have Ram Bahadur nurturing one’s languages, culture Thapa as prime minister instead and self-esteem. of Prachanda or Baburam? He is Dhirendra Premarshi in Kantipur not tainted, we don’t know of him p5 visiting embassies, he is clean. Torn apart He is even good-looking. z How is Hindi a Nepali Interview with Madhab Nepal language when Pahadis use it to z Let’s face it, it’s not original z President Yadav’s attempt to p2 communicate in the Tarai, but is an anymore to fight just for the rights become a Nepali is admirable, but Indian language when Madhesis of one’s community. The way to many more Madhesis would z I do come from an area where use it to speak to each other or in build a new Nepal is for Pahadis prefer to be known as Nepalis for Maithali is used, my wife speaks public? to also champion the cause of the what they are rather than what Bhojpuri. What language do you Prashant Jha in Plain Speaking Madhesis and understand their they have to become to be think we use to communicate with p10 historical sense of injustice. recognised as such. each other? Editorial CK Lal in State of the State Interview with Paramananda Jha z “I feel that I was stopped from p2 p2 in Naya Patrika heading the new government and p5 participating in the Summit as it was feared that a new message z If taking an oath in Nepali was would be disseminated to the a problem, it should have been world through my address.” taken in the mother tongue. Interview with Pushpa Kamal National identity is not protected Dahal in Gorkhapatra with concrete border pillars but by p12 2 EDITORIAL 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411

Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda Dixit CEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran Maharjan Director Sales and Marketing: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Marketing Manager: Sambhu Guragain Asst Managers: Deepak Sangraula, Subhash Kumar, Tanka Sitaula Subscriptions: Nawaraj Guragain Tel: 5542535/5542525 Hatiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur [email protected] GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu 5250333/845, Fax: 5251013 “They betrayed us” www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 5250017-19 UML presidential candidate Madhab Kumar A MILLION MUTINIES Nepal speaks his mind about the Maoists in This past week of tyre-burning proved, if proof is still needed, just how volatile and unstable the political situation still is. The spark an interview with Nepali Times. of the vice-president’s ill-advised decision to take his oath in the official language of a neighbouring country lit the brush fire. The Nepali Times: Why do you parties. But the Maoists have a fate of mainstream politics? lingering political deadlock fanned it. think the Maoists ditched use-and-throw policy. They used It shouldn’t affect the peace It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The entire point about the you overnight? Gyanendra, and remember process. I will play a positive role political transition of the past two years was to install stability so Madhab Nepal: Pushpa Kamal Prachanda used to say royalists whether I am in or out of politics. that the constitution-making process could go ahead without Dahal accepted me as presidential are true nationalists? I have asked the Maoist leaders to pressure groups rampaging in the streets. Any grandstanding on candidate only a couple of days read the history of Peru and sensitive topics such as ethnicity-based federalism was ahead of the voting in the CA. At What now? Cambodia. Nepali communism is supposed to happen on the floor of the house, not on the 11PM we were told the agreement We have shifted to majority not extreme left, it can’t move asphalt outside. The lesson we haven’t learnt from past riots (Hrithik Roshan, would be signed the following politics from consensus politics. towards totalitarianism. September First) is that any political group that tries to morning. But they betrayed us. I The Maoists started it by breaking orchestrate race-based street unrest will itself be consumed by it. had told Prachanda the issue of off our agreement. There are no How difficult will it be to Nepal’s socio-economic and political undergrowth is too dry to president would be a test to permanent friends and foes in agree on a government? play with fire. improve relations between two politics, so things can change. But It is complicated. There is this Nepal’s ethnicities, caste groups, the marginalised and the Maoists squandered their trend of bargaining for key posts downtrodden all have pent-up grievances that need urgent opportunity, they lost the moral even if parties do not have a attention. Addressing the demand of one community invariably high ground. Today they are claim. I don’t know where the short-changes another. If it is not handled carefully, there can begging for the posts that they bargaining will take the country. be a million mutinies. This is all the more reason for all sides to were earlier offering to other There has to be political stability exhibit restraint and responsibility. parties. Still, we have to give them for two years. It is because the Restraint and responsibility were conspicuously absent on streets of the nation this week. Student unions directed a chance to form the government if Maoists were bad losers that the by their parent parties (some of which are in government) they can. If they form the process got complicated, they have were vandalising property. In their haste to capitalise on government, why not have Ram to learn to get used to defeats. the Hindi issue they failed to foresee equal and Bahadur Thapa as prime minister opposite reaction in the Tarai. instead of Prachanda or Baburam? Why did your party lose the Patriotism today means working for national He is not tainted, we don’t know CA election? unity, ethnic co-existence and racial harmony. The of him visiting embassies, he is First we were too tolerant towards protests died down as suddenly as they started: clean. He is even good-looking. the Maoists and wanted to prevent proof that it was all deliberate brinkmanship by them from walking out of the pseudo-nationalists and adverturists playing The Maoist want the NC- peace process. Second, we were identity politics. UML-MJF alliance too confident about our position. The damage has been done. Once more, the country has been taken to the edge of conflagration for short-term political dismantled. Third, we did not consider the gain. Nepal is surprisingly resilient, but it can’t take this kind Just face-saving rhetoric, it’s a Maoists as our opponents. Fourth, of abuse and uncertainty for much longer. bluff. They can’t wait to form the we didn’t think the Maoists Let’s face it, it’s not original anymore to fight just for the government. This alliance should would resort to violence and rights of one’s community. The way to build a new Nepal is continue and other parties should threat to the extent that they did for the Pahadis to also champion the cause of the Madhesis join in, the Maoists too. The and we were cowed down by their and to understand their historical sense of injustice.The alliance is not unnatural, it is the terror. people of the plains to understand the state’s neglect of the natural outcome of Maoist double- marginalised communities of the hills. Both Pahadis and crossing. Drafting the constitution Then why did you decide to Madhesis to make up for their past role in suppressing is now the goal of all parties, the flirt with the Maoists? the Tharus. Maoists should form the Out party was against the extreme We will know we are on the right track when Janjati groups speak not just for themselves, but for fellow-Nepalis who are government and we should move left and the status quo of the NC. downtrodden. When Bahun-Chhetri-Newars share positions of ahead with the constitution- We concluded that the left parties official privilege with the excluded not just out of tokenism, building process. should come together. Despite but because that is the only way to build a new their totalitarian thinking we tomorrow. With you and Koirala out of thought we could turn them the picture, what will be the around. But they betrayed us. SUBHAS RAI The disparate duo Yadav’s conformism and Jha’s deviance, we need them both ending a hearing in the Supreme to the nation now lies on you. All over Upendra Yadav has apparently chosen Gajendra Narayan Singh tried all his Court, Vice President Parmananda again, every Madhesi is a non-Nepali until to forget and forgive, but others remember life to establish Hindi as an alternate P Jha has clarified that when he chose he proves himself to be someone like Ram that the then secretary general of NC language in Nepal. He failed because few to take oath of office in Hindi, it was not Baran Yadav. Yadav was on the other side of the considered his agenda important enough to his intention to hurt anybody’s feelings. Other questions follow. “Wasn’t Jha a barricades throughout the Madhes resist. With the legitimacy of opposition, He pointed out that he signed the Nepali judge implicated in releasing a notorious Uprising. He often denounced those VP Jha has planted Hindi in the minds of hardcopy of his pledge. The explanation drug-dealer? Hadn’t he spoken Nepali all protesting in the streets, insinuating that those Madhesis who earlier championed seems to have doused the street fires his life as a government employee? When the protestors were either “regressive their own languages. for now. did he discard daura-suruwal?” UML forces” or “outsiders”. Despite disruptive demonstrations over But the question a Madhesi has to face sympathisers ignore that their party wasn’t Yet, most Madhesis are genuinely dhoti-suruwal or Nepali-Hindi, the street at any social gathering these days is: unaware of Jha’s antecedents. NC cadres happy that one of them had made it to the protests weren’t as damaging as they were “Which side are the President or the VP make it sound as if they had propped up top. To expect them to be grateful as well made out to be. But , they proved that the Jha without knowing his politics. would perhaps be rubbing it in. For conceptualisation of Nepal as a nation- Suddenly, everyone loves to hate the Yadav, nationalism means fealty to the state is inherently faulty– it labels over STATE OF THE STATE person that the majority of constituent Koiralas and loyalty to the NC. Naturally, one-third of country’s population as the C K Lal assembly voted for. the rest of Nepal is prouder of President ‘other’. President Yadav’s attempt to President Yadav fits the mould of an Yadav than most Madhesis. become a Nepali is admirable, but many on?” You are expected to reaffirm your ideal kangresi, never hiding his distaste for With the possibility of a prolonged more Madhesis would prefer to be known faith in unity, integrity and sovereignty of identity politics and claiming that he was transition, President Yadav will probably as Nepalis for what they are rather than Nepal by eulogising the chief and a Nepali first and Madhesi second, as if the have a greater role than granted to him by what they have to become to be recognised denouncing the veep. You are required to distinction was necessary. Ironically, he the interim constitution. By contrast, VP as such. rejoice that both posts went to Madhesis now owes his exalted position to a Jha will have a tough time keeping Jha’s deviance probably contributes and be apologetic about the MJF’s choice hyphenated identity. Were he not a himself awake in Bahadur Bhaban. His more to the making of Nepal as a state- of candidate. Madhesi, it was unlikely that the anti- most glorious moments were when his nation than Yadav’s conformism. They are If you happen to admire Jha’s Maoist coalition would have fielded him effigies were burnt in the streets of so different and yet so much alike. We chutzpah, the onus of proving your loyalty against Ram Raja Prasad Singh Kathmandu. need them both, warts and all. z 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 3

LLL ETTERS

POWER OF WATER food security. crisis. People from all regions of Pakistan HELI-TREKKING The Nepali Times coverage on water by Feeding hydro energy from storage continue to fight over representation in the ‘Call of the wild’ (#410) is advertising Prabhu Ghate and Dewan Rai (‘The projects in Nepal with their attendant state. Also political parties have the negative side of mountain tourism power of water’ and ‘Nepal’s energy economic, social, and political risks to a extremely regional biases. Another and not its potential. Helicopters emergency’, #410) was disappointing. system with such holes will soak away example: Belgium. You would think create huge noise, disturbing wildlife The two pieces offered no new insights, electricity that is fundamental to job- Belgium, being the capital of the EU would and humans on ground for pure and reiterated the failed paradigm that creating industrialisation and the be pretty stable. No, debates still break pleasure and comfort. Now you can regards hydropower export to India as a development of the service sector in Nepal. out between the Flemish and French fly helicopter in the Annapurna silver bullet to bridge Nepal’s trade gap. Clearly, we need to confront structural speaking regions that have time and again Conservation Area or drive Calculations of benefits to Nepal constraints that perpetuate poverty as well turned towards talks of secession. motorbikes in Jomosom, but if you need to look beyond revenue alone to as many second generation challenges of Although our neighbor India seems to use a bicycle you have to pay $10 include assessment of forward and have had some progress with linguistic exta each day. There seems to be an backward linkages, downstream states, it is the complex diversity within apparent lack of understanding benefits from regulated water, costs diversity in India that has become a lever among official conservation of altering the character of the for stability. However, there are still authorities about the ecological/ resource base through inundation, secessionist struggles within India. environmental impact of flying economic and social rehabilitation of Ethnic Federalism is a weak way to helicopters. Although the helicopters the displaced population, structure the state because, like Tharu offer valuable support for environmental externalities, and says, animosities will remain between the emergencies and maybe regular incorporating decommissioning costs opposing groups long after a deal has supply flights in remote areas, it to account for storage loss as been reached. These animosities can makes no sense to bring well-paying Himalayan sediment fills up explode in the future at any given time clients up to such remote areas. Why reservoirs. creating newer troubles. They could be not create an alternative trekking According to one study, benefits non-violent as in Belgium or extremely itinerary so that the road doesn’t from the proposed West Seti to Nepal violent as in Baluchistan. interfere with the mountain tourism, scores 13.66 out of a composite index Nishant Acharya, email crucial to the region? of 300. Revenue from the project will Navyo Eller, Chauni go to meet the country’s debt service z So this is what we have come down obligations and not to narrow the trade to, a nation of condescending, ego- gap because the government has centric, pompous bunch of baboons who CORRECTION: already borrowed to invest in the cannot seem to forget their past and toil Due to an editing error, the names project’s equity. Provisions like forward together for their future. of the Indian company and the tax holidays for the developer, receiving Analysing the various kaleidoscope of power projects got mixed up in ‘The money in lieu of 10 percent free energy, Rams, CK Lal (‘A nation of Rams’, #410) power of water’ (#410). It is Satluj and the developer being allowed to defer water pretty much presents the situation of our Jal Vidyut Nigam that has been payments until it has sufficient money and energy development and management. nation. Psychologically the key priorities allowed to develop the 400MW Arun III and GMR that got the 300MW (Clause 2.4 of the 1997 MoU) will Improving access to energy in South Asia are food, family and housing. Amongst all Upper Karnali. further erode benefits to Nepal. needs to identify innovative and sustainable things to create a chaos, we fight about a A recent MIT study of dams in India pathways including selection of energy VP swearing in Hindi which originates suggest that large dams in India have in platforms with low social, environmental from Sanskrit and is written in Devnagari aggregate increased poverty. Will Nepal and carbon footprints and their script. I thought the republican generation LETTERS fare any better with the same paradigm management. had a higher IQ since their acceptance of Nepali Times welcomes feedback. in a trans-boundary context? Ajaya Dixit, a government created in ancient Greece Letters should be brief and may be edited Pushing large-scale storages in the for space. While pseudonyms can be Nepal Water Conservation Foundation with its current avatar of Mao-Marxism. If accepted, writers who provide their real Himalaya to subsidise ‘notoriously what is bothering us is the symbolism of a names and contact details will be given under-priced’ irrigation in India, as MADHESISATION nation-stronger than us, more developed preference. Email letters should be in text Ghate correctly states, makes little I agree with Trib Tharu that ethnic than us, and less reliant than us- then we format without attachments with ‘letter to economic sense. India’s policy of federalism is not a suitable method to have become a nation of bickering babies, the editor’ in the subject line. supplying free electricity to farmers to structure the state (‘Madhesisation’, #410). who tend to show a negative correlation extract groundwater for irrigation not Example: Pakistan, it was divided into with respect to a stimuli. We have indeed Email: letters(at)nepalitimes.com Fax: 977-1-5521013 only depletes the state exchequer but various regions based on ethnicity. After become a country of Rams, a Ram who is Mail: Letters, Nepali Times, also contributes to the lowering of the more than half a century of independence still a Rame. GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal. groundwater table thereby decreasing Pakistan is still deeply mired in identity Pradipta Rana, email 4 NATION 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411

GREENHOUSE EFFECT: Women at the Dabur Nepal nursery in Banepa stoop to tend herbal plants Venturing jointly last week. heads Dabur’s Medicinal Plant Project. For example, one of the traditional ingredients in Chyawanprash is akarkara. It is a traditional Himalayan herb, but Dabur used to import it from Morocco. “Now we are 100 per cent self-sufficient in akarkara here in Nepal,” says Badrinaryanan. The company works closely with farmers cooperatives and government agencies to sell saplings of herbs to farmers at one- third the cost with a 100 per cent buy back MoU at the prevailing price minus two-thirds previous pending. Farmers in Humla, Mustang, Manang, Nuwakot, Kailali, Terathum have benefited, earning up to Rs 40,000 per hectare

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA from this herbal cash crop. Land that was barren is now green with it out in Nepal through thick and investment for us, it is an Marpha, have been involved in endangered herbs like kutki, thin. It has invested in a state-of- important production base. The conservation and research into 25 jatamasi, chiraita and shatavari. the-art juice production facility bureaucracy is very cooperative , species of endangered Himalayan Dabur hopes to set up in Bara, plantations and a accessible and ready to hear us ayurvedic plants. Banepa alone greenhouse nurseries in Bara and network of cooperatives out and we are producing for the produces 6 million saplings of Terathum as well and is throughout the country. local market,” explains Dabur medicinal plants per year, and experimenting with drip irrigation. With an annual turnover of Rs Nepal CEO, Udayan Ganguly. these are distributed to 46 Dabur Nepal’s unique effort to 4 billion, Dabur is one of the conserve nature and empower success stories of the new farmers at the grassroots is the PAAVAN MATHEMA economic policy of the early Dabur sticks by Nepal reason the company was selected in BANEPA 1990s, and one that through thick and thin as the Nepali Times ‘Company of demonstratesthat foreign the Month’ for August. Ganguly uy a mango juice at a investment in Nepal is still a Dabur’s Greenhouse Project for farmers’ cooperatives in 19 said in an interview: “The department store in Delhi viable proposition. Dabur exports Medicinal Plants is the other districts across Nepal, giving contribution to conserving B or a Hajmola in a pan shop 70 per cent of its production and reason the company is in Nepal: direct employment to 5,000 endangered plants and in Dhaka and look at the fine the rest is sold within Nepal— most of its herbal raw material people and indirectly benefiting employment generation in remote print on the packaging. Chances proving that the Nepali market grows naturally in the Himalaya 25,000 others. The Banepa nursery areas is our Corporate Social are, they are both made in Nepal. now has critical mass for and even those that are found in employs 85 workers, all women Responsibility Project. Unlike Except for the first five years manufacturing. Its range of the wild can be cultivated. Just from surrounding villages. charity, it has a strategic fit with since it established a joint products include Real juices, stripping herbs from the forest “Mostly ayurvedic medicine is our business.” venture here in 1991, Dabur Nepal honey and a spectrum of health would be unsustainable, so the derived from the roots of herbs, so Dabur has gone a step further in has never had it easy. First, there products that use herbal greenhouse tries to cultivate them uncontrolled harvesting in the helping farmers with micro- was the disruption of the conflict ayurvedic raw materials to create a sustainable source of wild can lead to their extinction. financing options in partnership years and in the past two years cultivated in greenhouses and by medicinal and aromatic herbs. What we do here is try to find with Nabil Bank giving farmers the instability has affected farmers across Nepal. Since 1998, this nursery in ways to cultivate them,” explains collateral-free loans to buy the production, but Dabur has stuck “Nepal is a very important Banepa, with another one in Dr Sarvepalli Badrinarayan who saplings. z “We are optimistic about the future” beginning that we were here to stay, so we Udayan Ganguly is the CEO of Dabur Nepal. He have intertwined with the fabric of Nepal spoke to Nepali Times about the challenges of the through our network of farmer past 15 years and future plans cooperatives. We have set up nurseries and greenhouses and we train farmers Nepali Times: Why Nepal? local economy, you have a say. in cultivating wild herbs, we help them with Udayan Ganguly: When we first came to microfinance. We have a 92 acre factory in Nepal in 1990, India hadn’t opened up Is marketing a challenge? Bara, which has been cited by Tetrapack yet. Nepal was welcoming FDI and The health revolution worldwide and as one of the world’s top seven production provided a very good manufacturing among the middle class in the facilities in terms of technology and quality base for export to India with favourable subcontinent in the past few years for fruit juices. customs and tax rules. There was means that any product that is proximity to the market and a health-related does well. At Dabur, we How difficult have the past 15 years been cooperative bureaucracy. 70 per cent of have always worked with herbal plants for business? our production is now for export. which means we have a readymade The first five years were peaceful, but market for our consumer health ironically, since the peace process began MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA How is the domestic market shaping up? products. in April 2006, things have been more a bit shortchanged after doing so much Today, one-fourth of our turnover is difficult than during the conflict. The last for economic growth. One thing that is within Nepal, and this gives us all the Have you ever regretted your decision straw was when some activists broke keeping us here is our faith and optimism more reason to be here. This is a big to invest in Nepal? through the main gate of our plant and in Nepal’s future. But the future is advantage because we are not traders. We never came here to be fly-by-night vandalised the building. It is a pity that the uncertain, and this makes us think twice When you provide jobs and add to the operators. We were very clear from the country has to go through this, and we feel about future investments. BUSINESS 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 5

Cow king Kingkow, an international retailer of children’s wear based in Hong Kong, has opened an outlet in Durbar Marg and is soon to open another at City Center Mall, Kamal Pokhari. Kingkow’s clothes, for newborns and up to age 16, are touted to be ‘fun’damentally unique. Rings Awareness Sony has launched an advertising campaign to create awareness among its customers to buy products with authorised warranty. Sony’s authorised dealer Nepa Hima Trade recently opened a of gold service centre at Kantipath. Filipino degree GEMS, in affiliation with Angeles University Foundation and the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines, launched a two year, three semester course of Bachelors of Science. Students complete the first three semesters at GEMS and the last one in the Philippines. Hospitality fair The first International Hospitality and Tourism Edu-Career Fair 2008, organised by Ad Guru and Hospitality Media, will take place at Bhrikutimandap and will continue for three days from 8 August. International and national colleges and consultancies will be showcased.

NEW PRODUCTS

LITTLE STAR: Micro Star International, a Taiwanese manufacturer, has brought in a new line of technology to Nepal including its Wind Net Book U100, mini-PC, P45 series mainboards and hybrid freezer graphics card. The prices range from Rs 39, 000 to 80, 000. And Now, a BIKE: Yamaha’s latest introduction, word from the Yamaha YZF-R15, features liquid cooled, six-speed gear transmission, our Sponsors all-aluminium cylinders and diffuser look-alike under cowls. It is priced at Rs 1.5 million. About 4 billion people are expected to tune in to the Beijing Games, and corporations are willing to pay top-dollar for access to the BRAD R HUMPHREYS mammoth audience. For exclusive international The Olympics are about more than medals, pride, and national ambition. marketing rights at the games They’re also about blatant commercialism and high-paying corporate in Turin in 2006 and Beijing sponsors. Today’s games are designed to make big bucks- and it’s not the this year, a dozen companies – hosts who are walking away with the gold. Coca Cola, General Electric, Kodak and McDonald’s among them–each paid the IOC an A Perfect score average of $ 74 million, nearly The international Olympic Committee (IOC) earned about $ 4.2 billion four times the going rate for from the 2002 and 2004 Olympic Games. The bulk came from lucrative such sponsorships in the broadcasting agreements and corporate sponsorships. Already, the IOC 1980s. Buying good coverage in expects $ 3.3 billion for the rights to broadcast the 2010 Vancouver Games China’s market is a no-brainer. and the 2012 London Olympics, nearly three times the haul in the mid- One recent study found that 1990s. Most of the revenues are funneled to the IOC’s national Olympic more than two thirds of and organising committees, but the IOC keeps hundreds of millions for Chinese said they’d choose overhead–making it the richest international sporting organisation on Olympic sponsors over other the planet. companies. 6 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 “Nationalism is in the heart”

Interview with Vice President Parmananda Jha in now. All those who speak Maithali, Awadhi and Naya Patrika, July 30 Bhojpuri are united by Hindi.

A lot of tension has been created after you took But wouldn’t you agree that the language you take your oath in Hindi. Had you informed the President the oath is a symbol of nationalism? of your intention to do so? Nationalism is not limited to It was not that big an issue that the language and clothes. Nationalism President had to be notified. I is what is in your heart. didn’t think it was necessary, neither was I asked. Were you afraid when the KIRAN PANDAY protestors demanded your Did you think that your actions resignation? would trigger demonstrations at I wasn’t scared at all. They Language politics national level? misunderstood me. Also, I’m well I had never expected it. aware of who is actually inciting Dhirendra Premarshi in Kantipur, 28 July these protests. Why do you think there has been such a huge reaction? You changed into daura suruwal Hindi is used in the Constituent Assembly by Madhesis to prove that I cannot answer that question right when you appeared at the Bhoto they have different identity from the feudal Khas rulers of Kathmandu. now. It may have been politically Jatra. Was it because you were But it has drowned them in Indian identity. The effort to sideline motivated. But what I can deduce under pressure due to the protests? Nepali is being seen by many as a matricidal act. is that even now, languages MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA Such pressure has no effect on me. The MJF has explained to the world that there are problems in the spoken in the Madhes are not given due Dhoti-kurta is the dress in Mithila, it is what I Tarai and the state cannot get away by ignoring these issues any longer. importance. usually wear. When I took the oath as the Vice It took the lead in focussing the Madhesi sense of grievances and Couldn’t you have used Maithali, your mother President, I wore the clothes of my region. But at Upendra Yadav deserves credit for giving it leadership. It was because tongue? the official occasion, I wore formal clothes. of him that the Madhesi identity got a boost and the people of the Tarai I do come from an area where Maithali is used, my finally had a say in national issues. From the Madhes Uprising to the wife speaks Bhojpuri. What language do you think Looking at the turn of events, do you regret taking CA election, the party cashed in on this support. Their leaders pushed we use to communicate with each other? the oath in Hindi? Why would I regret it? If someone yells at you for for recognition of the Madhesi languages and for autonomy. But when You mean to say Hindi is a link language? speaking your language, would you stop speaking the same Madhesi leaders start blabbering in Hindi, even people who Indeed. You shouldn’t forget that according to the it altogether? If someone gives you a hard time for sympathised with Madhesi demands are shocked. 2001 census, 150,000 Nepalis use Hindi as their wearing your clothes, would you stop wearing When MJF leaders are interacting with other political leaders, they mother tongue. The numbers must have increased them? speak in Nepali 90 percent of the time and 10 percent in their mother tongues like Maithili or Bhojpuri. They speak fluent Nepali while giving interviews to tv and radio channels. While campaigning for votes they spoke in their mother tongues. But at official functions or in the CA they suddenly forget their mother tongue and the national language and break into Hindi. One wonders if they have all promised someone somewhere that they will henceforth only speak Hindi. What kind of Madhesi politics is this that does not allow its people to be proud of their own mother tongue, their own culture and identity? When you ask them why they speak the language that’s not even ours, they say that it is the link language of the Tarai. Really? Taking an oath is to promise something to oneself, it is one’s conscience speaking. An oath is not taken to appease foreign dignitaries, it is best done in one’s mother tongue. Why use the language of a foreign country when taking an oath? Hindi may be understood by many in Nepal, but it is still a foreign language. If taking an oath in Nepali was a problem, it should have been taken in their mother tongue. National identity is not protected with concrete border pillars but by nurturing one’s languages, culture and self-esteem.

“First President: Comrade Prachanda” Nepal, 3 August

QUOTE OF THE WEEK The Americans do not“ want the Maoists to be in the government under any circumstances, while “ the Indians will only want us to form the government under the condition that our policies will not be implemented.

Maoist central committee member Barsha Man Pun (Ananta) quoted in Himal Khabarpatrika, 31 July- 16 August. FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 7 Politics of suspicion

Sambhu Shrestha in Drishti, 29 July

Whenever politics is combined with ethnicity and language, it is a volatile mixture. The result is fragmentation and discord. Vice- president Parmanand Jha’s chosen language, for example, is not based on his ethnicity but is part of a conspiracy to bring about disintegration and segregation. Politicians should be concerned about this rather than losing hair over the never-ending fight over political power. When a house is already burnt, what use are the ashes? Nepal is suffering at the hands of politicians who are disloyal and unaware of what they are unleashing. The constituent assembly votes were cast almost four months ago and we still haven’t formed the new government. Spitting into the wind is counter-productive. The only remaining hope is that politicians, who’ve weakened themselves with this bruising fight, won’t go begging for Indian support.

Murdering teachers Govinda Pariyar in Samaya, 31 July

Ever since 1 July ,when Father John Prakash of Don Bosco School in Sirsiya, Morang, was killed by members of the ‘Nepal Defence Army’, concern has grown about security in more than 36 other missionary schools in Nepal. Don Bosco has been closed down after the murder. Father Lawrence, the principal of St Xaviers School and the Jesuit Society warns: “All missionary schools will be closed down if the government doesn’t guarantee us protection.” If that happens, 17,992 students currently enrolled in missionary schools throughout Nepal will be affected. In spite of the evidence that Ram Prasad Mainali from the self- styled ‘Nepal Defence Army’ is responsible for the murder, no action has been taken against him by the Home Ministry or police. Mainali was arrested but released for lack of evidence. Fr John was reportedly killed because he refused to give in to a Rs 1 million extortion demand. The Hindu-extremist ‘Nepal Defence Army’ also accuses missionary schools of proselytising. Fr Lawrence denies missionary schools have ever tried to convert students to Christianity. “In fact, 99 per cent of our students are Hindus,” he says. The perpetrators are using phone numbers stored in Fr John’s mobile to extort money from more schools. Many missionary schools are getting threatening calls and demands for money. 8 INVESTIGATION

PorTechnology is rippingn open Ne palw

olma’ used to run a souvenir shop on Pokhara’s lakeside. A Dutch tourist befriended her last year, and they fell in ‘D J B PUN love. He took her to Goa, gave her $3,000 and proposed to seen in sexually explicit acts in her. 'Dolma', now 30, refused. What she didn’t know was that these videos are no longer just she had been secretly filmed at their hotel room in Goa and s DVD cameras, mobile Thai, Japanese or western women that video is now being openly sold in Nepal and through the phones, computers and but Nepalis. The DVDs have Internet. Says Dolma: “I was really angry, I am really stressed A the Internet become names like Nepali Lovers out and haven’t been able to go to my shop.” affordable and accessible, more Homemade Hardcore or Nepali and more Nepalis are using the Rani. Some of the protagonists are technology for filming and young Nepali women who were distributing pornography. filmed without their knowledge Combined with tourism, the like ‘Dolma’. Personal material trend has made Nepal one of the like that made its way into the points of origin for pornographic public domain by accident films and even paedophilic (See boxes). material on the Web. Many young But some are sex workers who Nepali women have been sexually-explicit content. have willingly serviced foreign unwittingly involved in the AHimal Khabarpatrika customers in their hotel rooms, trade, some being exploited and investigation has revealed that knowing that the camera was blackmailed by their male “blue films” are more widely rolling. ‘Maya’ is a fifth grade partners. available than previously dropout from Syangja and works With globalisation, increased estimated in video parlours, in Thamel with hundreds of other travel, the Internet and the spread mobile phone shops and even young Nepali women. She sees ek’ is from Dharan and lives in the UK where he was of cable, Nepal’s social mores paan kiosks across the country. nothing wrong with being ‘T having an affair with the wife of a friend. They used to have been transformed within Pornographic videos that used to featured in pornographic videos meet in hotels and he had filmed themselves making love. On one generation. Nepalis, who be available only to the urban that are circulated worldwide. a recent trip to Kathmandu he found out on arrival that the used to find Bollywood song upper class or traders returning “My father is illiterate and video was in circulation throughout Nepal. He flew right back sequences “racy”, or hide their from Bangkok now have lives in the village, he is not going to London. The woman’s father tried to commit suicide after faces when Nepali actress Rekha audiences right through the social to see me, and what do I care if seeing the film. The viedo file was copied and circulated by a repair shop where ‘Tek’ had given his laptop for repair. Thapa appeared in a swimsuit, strata and even in rural areas. others do?” asks ‘Maya’ who says are now routinely exposed to What is new is that the people she is paid Rs 70,000 per shoot. 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 9

n palw’s traditionallyave closed society ibacha Yadav was a math teacher in Banke who was J sexually abusing a grade eight student in his school. He The growing frequency with through DVDs. blackmailed her with videos he had taken of them in bed which Nepali women are featured When an increased number of taken with his mobile phone. Yadav is now in jail because the in Internet porn sites also seems paedophilic material started girl reported him to the police. to suggest a surge in sex tourism, appearing on the Internet five especially in Kathmandu and years ago and were traced back to Pokhara. Driven out of their Nepal, Interpol wrote to Nepal home districts by the conflict Police to investigate. Some arrests and desperate for jobs, young were made, but child sex material women easily fall prey to cyber from Nepal is still finding its way pimps. to the net. Cybercafés in Kathmandu and “It is inevitable that when district capitals are setting aside traditional value systems are private cubicles specially eroded by the content of new designed for tandem porn technology, and if new education viewing either on the net, or and culture doesn't replace it, Psychologist Sharmila societal mores are altered,” says Manandhar believes that the sociologist Suresh Dhakal. spread of pornography in Nepal Because of the novelty of the represents just one aspect of medium and the ease with which rapidly-changing interactions in mobile phones can be used for what was till recently a closed, video, there are also increasing traditional society. numbers of cases where women She adds: “But pornography ej Chand in Kanchanpur tempted an aspiring model with are victimised by ruthless also reinforces traditional T a movie career and filmed them in bed together. Chand’s partners. In a way, this seems to relationships because the videos assistant copied the film out of his hard drive and sold it to a be a high-tech extension of the focus on male satisfaction and video parlour for Rs 5,000, which in turn passed the video on exploitation of young Nepali reflect the entrenched patriarchal to a mobile store for Rs 10,000. The DVD is for sale for Rs women trafficked for generations nature of our society.” z 500, can be loaded into mobile phones for Rs 50, or rented in by their husbands, boyfriends or video parlours across western Nepal and even in India. even relatives. Some names have been changed. 10 NATION 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 Manufacturing mistrust This week saw identity politics at its most cynical

ynicism, hypocrisy and insecurity were Commentators who are saying Jha should three key elements of last week’s Hindi have taken his oath in his mother-tongue are the C oath-taking controversy. same people who kicked up a fuss when Matrika There was resentment in Kathmandu at Yadav insisted on taking his oath in Maithili. The Madhesis occupying the top two posts. And there politicians who encouraged protests are the same was counter-resentment in the Madhes. The MJF leaders who go back to their constituencies in was being asked why it had allied with two Tarai and beg and plead for votes in Hindi. conservative forces, and felt the need to reassert Girija Koirala said: “Mujhe aaj aisa lag raha its ‘radical’ image. Upendra Yadav’s formula was hai ki main laut ke ghar waapas aa gaya,” after to tell Parmanand Jha to take his oath in Hindi, signing the eight point agreement, but his party provoke and activists feel Hindi is alien. How is Hindi a Nepali cash in on language when Pahadis use it to communicate in PLAIN SPEAKING the reaction. the Tarai, but is an Indian language when Prashant Jha The Madhesis use it to speak to each other or backlash may in public? have gone It all goes back to our insecurities. Our beyond what the Forum expected, but the plan nationalism is still so fragile that we go back to worked. Nepal’s student politics is crawling with enforcing unitary of dress and language. It will not those who think Madhesis are Indians and Hindi is work. And the sooner the leaders of the bigger only an Indian language. Their latent prejudices parties explain that to their cadre and reinforce only need a pretext to ignite. the message of inclusion, the better it will be for The Maoists, for their part, saw this as an the country. opportunity to play the Nepal is engaged in protector of nationalism an overwhelmingly and get back at the ambitious project of MJF. Pretty soon, modernity: transforming Kathmandu streets this old exclusivist were burning. Madhesi ethnicity based parties held back but nationalism into a their own activists constitutional, Children wanted to retaliate in territorial, political Children the Tarai. Once all sense of citizenship. sides met their political Anyone who swears by objectives, the Nepal’s constitution, cross Nepal, the barbed confrontation fizzled has their citizenship wire perimeters of army out. This was politics at papers, pays taxes, bases are where the grass its most cynical, where participates in the A grows tallest. Children often the parties had no politics and economy qualms risking lives and is a Nepali. sneak in to cut grass for the family and deliberately Whether they speak livestock, oblivious of the fact manufacturing mistrust. Hindi or Spanish or that the area is a minefield. It exposed the gibberish is irrelevant. Besides the continued hypocrisy of those who The country has made suffering of the relatives of the criticised Jha’s oath- enormous progress in dead and disappeared and the taking and took to the that direction in the last daily struggle of tens of streets. There were two years, but events thousands who were wounded, exceptions like ROBIN SAYAMI like these set the the other enduring legacy of the language activist clock back. war are the explosives left behind. Dhirendra Premarshi (see p 6) who have This week we played with fire. Madhesi Explosive remnants of war consistently opposed the use of Hindi and sought residents in Kathmandu were reminded of the to promote Tarai’s native languages. But the Hrithik Roshan riots of January 2001, which was continue to maim and kill long position of others was dubious. the key trigger of Madhesi radicalisation. Levels of after the wars are over. From ‘revolutionary’ intellectuals to anxiety shot up after the MJF office was attacked. Two years after the end of Kathmandu’s street lumpens, everyone seems to Pahadis in the Tarai felt the same this week when hostilities, the army’s landmines have suddenly discovered the love of Maithili and the daura-suruwal was burnt and the UML office and the improvised explosive Bhojpuri. Like the Kathmandu intelligentsia has was attacked. devices (IED) of the Maoists still discovered the alienation of Tharus, Madhesi, It all died down, but the discourse has got bitter lie scattered across the land. According to Luhar Danee, Dalits and Muslims in recent months, after never with long-term consequences. It is clear that key Despite the mine-clearing Mine Action Consultant at having bothered about them in the past. Most of the politicians are happy with this bitterness and operations and an awareness UNICEF, 321 people have fallen recent criticism is just an attempt to delegitimise anger. The task of bridging the Kathmandu-Madhes campaign, people are still dying prey to victim-activated the Madhesi movement. gap has just become more difficult. z and being maimed by explosives. explosives since the ceasefire in Many of them are children. April 2006. 54 of them died. NATION 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #41111

THE GRASS IS GREENER IN THE MINEFIELD: These children were photographed recently (left) collecting grass inside a mine or IED field surrounding the Nepal Army’s Eastern Divisional Headquarters. The explosives have been laid in the area to the righ, marked with signs saying ‘Bomb’ in Nepali.

The three children were about to lift the concertina wire and go into the minefield to cut grass (above) when they spotted the photographer. They seemed to know it was a restricted area.

The soldiers on sentry duty in the bunkers above the minefield either did't see the children, ordidn’t try to stop them.

“More than half the awareness-raising campaigns and causalities are children who mine risk education activities have lost their limbs or lives carried out throughout the playing with or tampering with country, the threat of explosives explosive devices that lie still loom large mainly for scattered in former clash sites,” children and women. says Danee. “Recently, there has “Nepal still ranks quite high also been an increase in the amongst countries where children number of incidents involving are falling prey to victim- women who have entered mined activated explosions,” says Danee, perimeters to cut grass or forage who says more needs to be done for mushrooms and other forest to spread awareness about in a minefield products.” explosives and clear them. z Despite continued Shrinkhala Sharma in Sunsari SHRINKHALA SHARMA 12 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 a consensus to elect Girija Prasad Koirala from the NC and Madhab Kumar Nepal from the UML was not a Nepali plan. It “We don’t take instructions wasn’t the plan of the NC or UML either. When we proposed Ram Raja Prasad Singh as the presidential candidate, Dr Ram from foreign powers” Baran Yadav and Ramprit Paswan were declared candidates overnight. We had been holding a dialogue with the chart out their policies according UML. We asked them to give the to India’s wishes. This is not a candidacy to a Dalit, somebody new phenomenon. The Indian from the ethnic or indigenous establishment helped the parties community, Madhesi or a woman in Nepal to put the 12-point instead of Nepal, to make the agreement in place and post inclusive. Had the UML accordingly backed the efforts of proposed Paswan at the outset, the parties to hold the elections we would have easily agreed. to the CA and move ahead in the Now I wonder whether Nepal’s peace process. The four-month- name was proposed at the behest long lingering on whether the of foreign powers. What stopped Maoists should form the the UML from proposing Sahana government is not because of Pradhan’s name to which we had the NC, UML or India only. There given a nod earlier? is a subtle difference between the class opinion and political What is your comment on a KIRAN PANDAY opinion between the Maoists and caretaker prime minister Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal people’s mandate. It is a party that We did not mean to instruct the foreigners. They have been representing Nepal at the Dahal’s interview with believes in politics based on three parties to dissolve the weighing what they need to do if SAARC Summit? Gorkhapatra editor Vijay Chalise norms and values. Those who alliance, all we told them was that the Maoists are to be allowed to A conspiracy (was) hatched to on 28 July. Translated excerpts: have been dubbing the Maoists as they should clarify the nature of form the government. But I would prevent the new Maoist-led totalitarians are out to push the the alliance. If they want us to like to make it clear that the government to take part in the Gorkhapatra: Some national and nation into a grave crisis. form the government then our CPN-Maoist does not move SAARC Summit. The address of international status quoist forces programs and policies for the next ahead at the instruction of any a Maoist prime minister would seem to be maneuvering to How can we expect to have two years should be reflected in foreign power. Our strength is certainly deviate from tradition appoint Girija Prasad Koirala as consensus politics in this the commitment paper to be the people of Nepal and we will and would be entirely different. I the prime minister once again. situation? signed by the other parties that always uphold their aspirations. had regular meetings with the Sri When will the next government be We called the meeting of the 25 wish to join the Maoist-led Lankan Ambassador to Nepal formed? parties. Of them 20-21 parties said coalition. Was the election of the president and the Sri Lankan Foreign Pushpa Kamal Dahal: Some the Maoists should lead the next influenced by foreign pressure? Minister. They extended their forces from within and outside the government. It was only after this It is said that the new coalition in It has widely been felt that there invitation to me to participate in country having reactionary and that the Maoists put forward the India does not want the Maoists to has been foreign interference in the Summit. I had prepared my status quoist tendencies are still three preconditions in order to rise to power? Nepal’s internal politics. In the address, which would have been not happy with the outcome of the move ahead in a different way I do not feel that just because the later phase, the interference has quite different. I feel that I was Constituent Assembly elections. amidst the changed political communists withdrew their increased. There was foreign stopped from heading the new Hence, different kinds of situation after the presidential support to the Indian government, interference behind the delay in government and participating in conspiracies are being hatched to elections. Thus, we asked the there will be a shift in India’s the formation of the new the Summit as it was feared that not allow the CPN-Maoist to form three parties to clarify whether foreign policy. Nepal’s politics has government and the way the a new message would be the government. Had some other their coalition was only for the always been guided by Indian election of the president was disseminated to the world party emerged as the largest in the elections or would also go ahead. interests. Some political parties held. The proposal for reaching through my address. CA then the government would have been formed within a week. Nepalis know this reality. Nepali people will ultimately emerge victorious. The next government will be of the Maoists as mandated by the people.

One breed of politicians has been terming the Maoist preparations to lead the next government as “totalitarianism”. When Nepalis fought for their rights they were dubbed terrorists. But we joined the peace process, contested the elections and became the largest party by getting overwhelming support from the people. If attempts are made to dub us totalitarians at this juncture then those who make such charges give out the odour of despotic and reactionary rulers of yesterday. The CPN-Maoist waged a struggle for the last three months not to become a totalitarian force but to uphold the REVIEW 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 13 Dark as night August sky The new Batman film is as close as a pop-film will ever get to art

hristopher Nolan’s The being a vigilante, a man behind a doesn’t lust after money, power or Dark Knight might mask, and so welcomes the latest any of the things that interest C possibly be the darkest addition to the ranks of Gotham’s other hoods. He wants to have and most enigmatic superhero crime fighters: the dashing new fun, and his idea of fun is movie to ever come out of District Attorney Harvey Dent, torturing Batman. “You complete Hollywood. With the Batman/ played by an equally talented me,” he tells Batman at one point, Bruce Wayne premise firmly Aaron Eckhart. an eager earnest smile on his lodged by Batman Begins, director Golden boy Dent is exactly painted face. Ledger puts Jack Nolan is now free to explore the what Batman has been looking Nicholson’s Joker in Tim Burton’s characters to the very depth of for, a seemingly incorruptible Batman to shame. This Joker is a their being. One would not expect crime fighter who doesn’t need a maniac. mask and cowl to put the bad Director Nolan has gone back guys behind bars. Helping Dent in to Batman’s very roots, staying PHILM FARE the fight against crime is the true to Bob Kane’s original vision Pranaya SJB Rana infallible police officer Jim and Frank Miller’s cult comic Gordon (a superb Gary Oldman). reincarnation in The Dark Knight With two such shining examples, Returns. There are echoes of trying that a superhero movie (one of the Batman decides it’s time to hang American times, with The Joker Batman franchise’s many avatars) the cape and pursue other branded a terrorist. Nolan KUNDA DIXIT could be more than cheap pop- leisurely activities, namely old questions morality and in one ANOTHER ECLIPSE: A partial solar eclipse, similar to this one entertainment, but The Dark flame and DA assistant Rachel masterful segment, creates a over Nepal in March 2006, will happen on Friday afternoon. There Knight is a thoughtful social Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, filling situation where the morality of will also be a lunar eclipse and a metriotie shower in August. commentary and gripping crime in for mediocre Katie Holmes). the everyman hangs in the saga with the big bangs, car chases But things take an unexpected balance, making you question: and action sequences intact. turn when a psychotic new what would I have done? f the clouds part, Nepalis will see a partial eclipse of the Sun Christian Bale reprises his criminal appears on the scene, a This film is the director’s this afternoon between 16:06 and 17:57. The maxima will be at role as the stoic Batman and garishly made-up psychopath, mediation on good and evil, right I 17:04 when 70 per cent of the sun’s disc will be covered by a billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. who goes by the name Joker and wrong, order and chaos. new moon. Bale is an amazing actor and (Heath Ledger). Batman takes Nolan, who wrote the script with It should be quite a sight, but our customary health warning: looking at the sun without proper protection will blind you. delivers a solid performance second stage whenever the Joker brother Jonathan, gives a new Today’s eclipse is one of two eclipses this month: the other one beneath the titanium armour and appears and he’s a pleasure, and a depth to Batman, portraying him is a partial lunar eclipse on 17 August. This one will be early in the as Bruce Wayne inside the terror, to watch. The Joker is not not just as a superhero battling morning between 01:05 and 04:14, with 80 per cent of the moon Armani suit. Batman is tired of like other petty criminals. He supervillians but one also covered at 02:39. Time to start organising eclipse parties and hope battling his own demons, his for clear skies. own conscience. The 1 August total solar eclipse will start in northern Canada at Nolan brings a pop-film as 09:23 UT then sweep eastwards crossing Greenland and make close as it ever will get to art. It’s landfall in Europe in northern Russia. The greatest eclipse occurs smart, deceptively complex and at 10:21 UT and the maximum duration around that time will be 2 as dark as night. The real star of minutes and 27 seconds. Over the course of the next hour, the the show is neither Nolan nor Moon’s shadow crosses Mongolia and leaves the Earth’s surface in northern China. Here in Nepal, the eclipse will be partial. Batman. The Joker steals each and The other excitement in August are the Perseid Showers, which every scene he’s in. And while is why August is called “Meteorite Month” as the Earth passes you marvel at the amazing through the debris of the comet, Swift-Tuttle. At its peak on 11-12 intensity of Ledger, you can’t August we may see up to one shooting star a minute. The Perseids help but feel a tinge of regret that are a rich and consistent shower and it should be a spectacular an actor of such brilliance died so firework display. Notice that all the meteorites seem to radiate from tragically early. the same point in the sky from the constellation of Perseus (hence The film belongs to Ledger’s called Perseids) which lies to the north of Taurus the Bull. If you Joker, with the cracked and can’t identify this constellation, just look to the northeast direction bleeding makeup, hair stringy and after midnight and you’ll see meteors shooting out of Perseus. dirty, that stretched crimson leer For planet watchers, the predawn sky is kind of dull this month since all the action is at sunset. All the five visible planets are in and his lizard tongue darting in the evening sky after sunset in August: Mercury, Venus, Saturn and and out of his mouth. Don’t take Mars, all in a straight line. your kids. z Mercury sets about half an hour after the Sun. Venus sets almost an hour after the Sun. Saturn sits in Leo and shares this The Dark Knight constellation with Venus and Mercury at the beginning of the month. 2008. PG-13. 152 mins Venus, Mercury and Saturn seem to be having a get-together as Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, the three of them meet close to the sunset twilight on 15 August. Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Jupiter is high in the southeast and is brilliant in Sagittarius, so you Maggie Gyllenhaal can’t mistake it for anything else. z Director: Christopher Nolan Showing at Kumari Cinema, kedarbadu(at)gmail.com 4442220 for show timings. Master of spices f you’re under the notion that Indian food is Nepali which is pretty heavy in the meat department. And with the food a few tablespoons ahead on the spice- aromatic spices in the sabjis, the Nepali palate gets a I continuum, an evening at The Café, Hyatt with Anil distinct sensation that this is wholly different than our Khurana’s exquisite kebabs and curry, and you’re in for a normal dal bhat tarakri fare. pleasant surprise. Khurana has been dishing it out in all kinds of exotic Chef Khurana of Bukhara fame was flown in from places: the Sheraton Royal Orchid in Bangkok and others MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA Delhi especially for the Indian food promotional event till at Singapore, Hong Kong and Delhi–so he comes highly dish is diverse–from the butter chicken, which is as rich 17 August. Start off with chat and panipuri, street style, recommended. A lot of Nepalis are blasé about Indian as its name, to the exquisitely sublime mean molli. that melts in your mouth like an éclair. But go easy on cuisine, thinking “it’s just like Nepali food so what’s the big Khurana hasn’t tasted Nepali food yet, but when you that, it’s just the trailer. deal?” But one spoonful of Khurana’s chick-pea curry that ask him what his personal favourites are he starts, “Nepalis are ready to try new things these days,” is only a dash of mango powder away from our own and you “Chinese, Thai.” and stops with a wink. Chef’s says the executive chef at Hyatt, while Khurana works on know there is a difference. recommended combo for desert is ‘paan-flavoured’ some of his magic kebabs before the main course. The What’s yummy about Indian cuisine is that it reflects ice-cream with gulab jamun. Prepare to surprise your generic ‘Indian Cuisine’ refers to mainly Mughlai food, India in all its diversity. The preparation and flavour of each taste buds!z Roma Aryal 14 CITY 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411

ABOUT TOWN The sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of EXHIBITIONS Bruce Wayne/Batman. In this film, Batman continues his quest to ™ Amalgam-2008 an exhibition of paintings by national and fight organised crime with the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary international artists from 3 August-8 September at Siddhartha Art Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). However, Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited, Sunday-Friday 11 AM-6PM and a maniacal criminal mastermind the Joker (Heath Ledger) unleashes a Saturday 12-4PM. 4438979. fresh reign of chaos and anarchy across Gotham City. For Batman to ™ Connection, solo Charity Art exhibition by Juju kaji stop his most personal and vicious enemy yet, he will have to use Maharjan, until 6 August, 2PM onwards at 1905 Restaurant, every high-tech weapon in his arsenal and confront everything he Kantipath, 9851050299 Entertainment believes in.

EVENTS Call 4442220 for show timings at Jai Nepal

™ The Namesake a film by Mira Nair, 5 August, 6.30 PM, Lazimpat Quest www.jainepal.com Gallery Café, 4428549 ™ Jasmine Woman, a film by Hou Yong, 4 August, 5.30 PM, Rimal Theater, Gurukul, 4466956 sfd ;fgf ] 7nf" ] eGg ] x'Fb}g . kl;gfsf ] s'g} /ª / hft klg x'Fb}g . sfd ™ Dancing/yoga-latey 1-14 September, Rs u/]/ vfg nhfpg' klg x'Fb}g . rf]/]/, 9fF6]/, 5n]/, n'6]/ vfg kf] g]kfn ;/sf/ 300 per session, Yala Maya Kendra, Patan, nhfpgk5' { . hf ] hxf F /x/] hg' sfd u5 { pm To;df} /dfpgk5' { uf/a} ;"rgf tyf ;~rf/ dGqfno 9803673551 ;"rgf ljefu ™ Monsoon madness package at Shangri~la ugk5'{ { / ;dlkt{ eP/ ug5k'{ { . sfd g } zlQm xf,] elQm xf ] / dlQm' Village Resort, Pokhara, Rs 5999. 4435741 xf ] . sfdsf ] OHht u/f,}+ kl;gfsf ] ;Ddfg u/ }+ .

MUSIC ™ The Joint Family, a reggae band at Moksh Live, Pulchowk , 1 August, 8.30 PM onwards, 5526212. ™ TGIF at Jazzabelle Café every Wednesday and Friday from 6.30 PM onwards, 2114075 ™ Ladies night at JATRA Cafe & Bar on Wednesday with live unplugged music by D Shewan ™ HyJazz Club every Friday from 8.30PM, Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu, 4489800 ™ Fusion and Looza Band every Friday night, Bhumi Resto Lounge, Lazimpat, 4412193 ™ Rudra night fusion and classical Nepali music by Shyam Nepali and friends, every Friday, 7PM at Le Meridien, Gokarna. 4451212 ™ Sufi music by Hemanta Rana, every Friday at 7.30 PM at Dhaba Restaurant and Bar, Thapathali.

DINING ™ Indian Food Promotion at The Café, Hyatt Regency from 7PM onwards until 17 August, 4489362 ™ Sixth Annual Wine Festival until September at Kilroy’s, Jyatha. 4250440 ™ New menu at Dhokaima, Patan Dhoka, 552213 ™ Masala, an Indian restaurant in Jawalakhel, St.Mary’s School Road, 4100510 ™ Steak Fare every Monday and Tuesday, 7PM-10.30 PM, Rox Restaurant, Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu, 4489361 ™ Plat Du Jour at Hotel Shangri-la, Kathmandu, Rs 600, 4412999 ™ Asian Food Special, Jalan Jalan restaurant, Kupondole, 5544872 ™ Steak special with free Irish coffee at K-too! Beer & Steakhouse, Thamel, 4700043 ™ Continental and cafè item with live band every Friday at Vintage Cafe and Pub, Woodland Complex, Durbarmarg. WEEKEND WEATHER by NGAMINDRA DAHAL ™ Home-made pasta at Alfresco, Soaltee Crowne Plaza. 4273999 ™ Hot summer spicy food at the Jalan Jalan Restaurant, Kupondole July has passed with below normal precipitation, making it the fifth consecutive Heights. 5544872 month with deficit rainfall this year. The Valley received 260 mm out of the 360 ™ Reality Bites, The Kaiser Café, Garden of Dreams, operated by mm quota for July. This satellite radar image for the subcontinent on Thursday Dwarika’s Group of Hotels, 9AM-10PM. 4425341 morning shows a dramatic jet stream blowing a major cloud front from western ™ Mango étagère mango delicacies 4.30-6.30 PM at the Lounge, Tibet towards East China. So that's where all our moisture ended up. The Hyatt Regency. 4491234 monsoon pulses from the Bay have been weak and far between, and the ™ Steak escape with Kathmandu’s premier steaks available for showers we are getting in the Himlayan midhills are more convection-driven lunch and dinner at the Olive Bar and Bistro, Hotel Radisson. than brought by monsoon fronts. However, a vigorous low pressure system is 4411818 building up over central Nepal and could bring short but heavy showers over the ™ Cocktails and grooves with jazz by Inner Groove at Fusion-the weekend. Expect it to be hot and sticky during the sunny intervals. bar at Dwarika’s, every Wednesday, at Dwarika’s Hotel. ™ Cocktails, mocktails and liqueurs at the Asahi Lounge, opening hours 1-10PM, above Himalayan Java, Thamel. ™ International buffet at the Sunrise Café, and Russian specialties at Chimney, Hotel Yak and Yeti. 4248999 ™ Scrumptious wood fired pizzas, cocktails and more at KATHMANDU Roadhouse, Bhatbateni 4426587, Pulchok 5521755 and Thamel 4260187. with live acoustic music by Sound ™ Retro Brunch Barbeque KATHMANDU VALLEY Chemistry, every Saturday, 12-3PM at LeMeritien-Kathmandu, Gokarna. 4451212 Fri Sat Sun ™ Dhamaka a Nepali style barbeque with pan-Indian fusion at the Splash Bar and Grill, Hotel Radisson,7PM, every Friday. 4411818 6 ™ Starry night barbecue at Hotel Shangri-la with live performance 29-196 28-196 27-186 by Ciney Gurung, Rs. 666, at the Shambala Garden, every Friday 7PM onwards. 4412999 ™ Kebabs and curries at the Dhaba, Thapathali. 9841290619 ™ Lavazza coffee Italy’s favourite coffee at La Dolce Vita, Thamel, Roadhouse Café, Pulchok and Thamel. 4700612

For inclusion in the listing send information to editors(at)nepalitimes.com HAPPENINGS 1 - 7 AUGUST 2008 #411 15

RAM HUMAGAIN/NEPALNEWS.COM MEN IN SUITS: Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat and members of the Nepali delegation at a pre-Summit meeting of SAARC ministers in Colombo on Thursday morning. Prime Minister Koirala left for the Summit on Thursday afternoon via Delhi.

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA MKN AND GPK: Prime Minister Koirala made a rare visit to the residence of UML leader Madhab Nepal early on Tuesday morning to get him to support his participation at the SAARC summit.

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA RECOGNITION: Assembly Speaker, Subhas Nembang, presents the 2064 Prakash Human Rights Award to Free Kamaiya Movement leader, Dukhuwa Tharu, at a function organised by INSEC on Thursday. The award is named after rights campaigner Prakash Kafle, who died in a plane crash on 31 July, 1992.

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

MODEL CONSTITUTION: Speaker Nembang at the launch of a model constitution drawn up by civil society members in Kathmandu on Thursday. I 16 conference, evengettingtheTigers left nostonesunturnedforthe together. TheSriLankanshave Nepalis couldn’tgettheiract have tobepostponedbecausethe the Summitwouldotherwise PKD andGPKatinklebecause Pranab Dadatoagreegiveboth they gotIndianForeignMinister well asthePM-in-waiting.Then invitations toboththeex-PMas safe bysendingformal frantic, buttheywereplayingit speech inHindi!” Parmananda andhecangivehis cynically, “orbetterstillsend logistics meeting,adding Baran,” hetoldaforeignministry reluctant togo.“SendRam the OldManwasatfirstquite his daughter. needs a oxygen. Sincethe Summit withthehelpofbottled leading anexpeditiontoa who hasalreadyresignedis body thataheadofgovernment time inthehistoryofregional Colombo. It’sprobablythefirst the SHARKSSummitin lead a35-memberdelegationto government, andGiprakogotto delay theMaoistformationofa A Summitpushwithoxygen The Lankansweregetting Our Baluwatarmoletellsus Hindistan workedgreatto the VicePresidentof n theend,riotssparkedby caregiver BACKSIDE , hetookalong caretaker PM revision ofnotjustthe1950 Madhes shouldinsistona Those whowantaUnited possession ofthe Excellency eventhoughhetook Majesty tocongratulateHis Nagarjun. Nicegesturebytheex- Gyanuraja’s invitetodineat have totakearaincheckon endorsable. Whichmeanshemay invite toGirjababoowasnotnon- prez thattheoriginalChinese presidential race.Luckyforthe next weekhavingwonthe netas coshe’sofftotheOlympics to hobnobwithSouthAsian worried aboutlosinghischance President Ramwasn’tthat international stage. people’s republiconthe for Nepal’stransformationintoa Pukada fromtakingallthecredit wanted topreventComrade trick wasthatthe come. Butwhatreallydidthe managed toconvincehim called Girjauonthehotlineand make hispreferenceclear.He relatively easyforMukherjijito of thepictureinDelhi,itwas Summit. up inthecapitalduring to agreenotblowthemselves Now thattheLeftFrontisout FG FG royal Jag Old Fox . Bahadur. Eachsideisaccusing but betweenJitBahadurandRam Maoists andtheMJF-UML-NC, disagreement betweenthe government isnotthe real probleminforminganew be widening.Itissobadthatthe comrades andsoftlinersseemsto Maoists betweenhardcore Baddie press,theriftwithin Going bythewrite-upsin One BhitriMadhes can starttheirownandolanfor that ChitwanandDang-Deukhuri there can’tbeOneMadhes.After will neverbecontiguousand return oftheselands,theTarai was aBhitriMadhes.Withoutthe were carvedoutwhereverthere which largechunksoftheTarai Treaty withBritishIndiaafter Treaty butalsothe1816Sugauli FG . Daddy north andsouthaswell BRB hasbeendeclaredpersona in thefoyerofhishouse,and to forgiveandforget.HemetPKD Comrade Makunayisinnomood being stabbedintheback,but Comrade LotusFlowerabout kissed andmadeupwith Comrade Jhalluseemstohave form agovernment. prerogative byaskinghispartyto overstepping hisconstitutional telling theCApresidentwas within aweek,GajurelUnclewas try toformanewgovernment Maoist secretariatwasmeetingto planet. mean the foreign forces,bywhichthey the otherofbeingbackedby On Wednesday,whilethe ontheothersideof Big Brothers CDO Regd No194/056/57Lalitpur, CentralRegion PostalRegd.No 04/058/59 FG tothe Big him thinks aboutpeoplenotcalling broken hissilenceonwhathe fumed toavisitorthisweek. even wanttoseetheirfaces,”he non gratainKoteswor.“Idon’t ass(at)nepalitimes.com Gorkhapatra Entries to the New the to Entries Name Contest: Name named Pokhari from RajuinJamal:“ Contest foraNewNepalcomes The winningentryforNewName Oops. feel thatisveryreactionary.’ my nomdeguerre,Prachanda.I these dayshavestoppedusing lengthy interview:‘Somepeople Comrade Awesomehasfinally Prachanda. 1 -7 AUGUST 2008 Ani Pokhari shouldbe thisweekina FG Hetold Rani .” #411

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