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16 ON TENTERHOOKS By Suresh Pradhan MAY 30, 2004 But it took 14 days after Prime VOL. 1, NO. 6 Minister Thapas resignation COVER : Kishor Kayastha (98510 52778) for the King and the parties to www.nation.com.np start talking. First, though, came the frantic rounds of consultations with everyonefrom former prime ministers to diplomats to civil society representatives to Palace insiders. 24 Alls Not Well In Mao-land By Binaj Gurubacharya in Musikot In Rukum, one administrative chief is only 20-years old but rules 35 villages. He says he was elected district chief in a ballot. All the candidates, however were believed to have links to the Maoists. This, after all, is the Maoist heartland; there is no political opposition. 26 Withdrawal Symptoms COVER STORY By John Narayan Parajuli in Damak UNHCR has made it clear that come what 18 Collateral Damage may, any likely extension of its December 2005 deadline for the pullout from the By Sushma Joshi camps may be stretched by six months at The repercussion of bandas goes far beyond economics. most. But refugee leaders are apprehensive about the proposed pullout. While television footage of truckloads of okra being discarded by farmers in protest on our highways capture the ARTS & SOCIETY level of damage to the national economy, what goes 30 Worldly-wise unreported are the small, micro-level effects on Nepals Compassion most vulnerable citizenswomen, children and old people By Tiku Gauchan Arya Tara School takes in girls from poor families, ordains them as nuns and COLUMNS provides them with both a Buddhist and 34 Of Witchcraft a secular education. 11 Unchain My And Witches 32 Tell Me A Story Education By Deepak Thapa By Satish Jung Shahi By Suman Pradhan It is a thin line to cross from believing Maithili storytelling culture is still I happen to be one of those growing that the stars rule our lives to being vibrant, primarily because women number of people who do not see any convinced that someone is the cause of storytellers have kept up the tradition. meaningful purpose the politicians-in- our misfortunes. students-disguise serve. 36 Objection Overruled DEPARTMENTS 28 Rape Seed By Jogendra Ghimire 6 LETTERS By Samuel Thomas Appointments of Anup Raj Sharma 10 PICTURE OF THE WEEK As the west rejects genetically modi- and Balram K.C., none of them fied crops, they are being dumped in Appellate Court judges, to the 14 CAPSULES the South. This is one such story. Of Supreme Court Bench have come 35 CITY PAGE how canola, the Canadian oilseed, is under fire from the establishment. 40 KHULA MANCH: MILAN RAI invading our own Khokana, once But Sharma and K.C. both have solid famous for its mustard presses. track records. 41 BOOKS 42 LAST WORD 5 Letters Nepal is in a worse state Nation Weekly, The Media House, Tripureshor, Kathmandu, Nepal (Regd. 113/059-060). Tel: 2111102, 4229825, 4261831, 4263098 now than it was 19 EDITOR: Akhilesh Upadhyay [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Suman Pradhan months ago when the COPY EDITOR: Tiku Gauchan STAFF WRITERS: Sushma Joshi, Satish Jung Shahi PHOTOJOURNALIST: Sagar Shrestha King assumed executive DESIGNER: Raj Kumar Shrestha AD & CIRCULATION DIRECTOR: Krishna Shrestha MARKETING EXECUTIVES: powers... Sarita Gautam and Rameshwor Ghimire SANJEEV M. SHERCHAN [email protected] MARKETING CONSULTANT: Kreepa Shrestha CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Nripendra Karmacharya Bush begone! I too sincerely hope that the Iraq crisis SUBSCRIPTION: Bipin Raj Ojha WHILE I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY will serve as an eye-opener for the [email protected] agree with the main thrust of Samrat Americans and that they will choose to PUBLISHER: The Mirror Media Pvt. Ltd Upadhyays article (Bush Begone! fire Bush out of the White House come AD ENQUIRIES: Tel. 4229825, 4261831, 4263098 Sense & Nonsense, May 23), I am also November. People like him do not de- COLOR SEPARATION: ScanPro, Pulchowk, 5548861, 5552335 PRINTING: Variety Printing Press, 4278869 tempted to soothe his perplexity over serve to lead 250 million-plus Ameri- DISTRIBUTION: R.B. News, 4232784, 4244679 the question: how can one support the cans who are otherwise generally open- Nation Weekly is published every Monday by The Mirror Media Pvt. Ltd. minded and warm-hearted. All Rights Reserved. The reproduction of the contents of this troops while, at the same time, oppose publication, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the ANIL J. SHAHI prior consent of the publisher. the war? NEW YORK Vol. 1, No. 6. For the week May 24-30, 2004, released on May 24 CONTACT The King and them KING GYANENDRA HAS MAIN- www.nation.com.np tained that he removed the popularly elected government of Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002 to prevent further dete- We prefer to receive letters via e-mail, without rioration of the Nepali state. More than attachments. Writers should disclose any connection or relationship with the subject of their comments. a year and half later, nothing could be All letters must include an address and daytime and further from the truth. Nepal is in a evening phone numbers. We reserve the right to edit On the other hand, we have to un- worse state now than it was 19 months letters for clarity and space. E-mail: [email protected] derstand that the American foot soldiers, ago when the King assumed executive Fax: 4216281 mainly composed of young men and powers and installed his handpicked gov- Mail: Nation Weekly women in their late teens and early twen- ernment The Media House, GPO 8975, EPC 5620 Tripureshor, Kathmandu, Nepal. ties, did not volunteer to go fight in While the political parties and their Iraqthey were merely being good sol- leaders must also shoulder their share of SUBSCRIPTION diers and following the orders of their responsibility for the worsening situa- E-mail: [email protected] Nation Weekly, The Media House, GPO 8975 Commander-in-Chief, the president. tion in Nepal, the need of the hour is for EPC 5620, Tripureshor, Kathmandu, Nepal Therefore, by supporting the troops the King and political parties to work Tel: 2111102, 4229825, 4261831, 4263098 Americans are only hoping that their together to put democracy back on track. Fax: 4216281 loved ones do well in what they were The Nepali polity is still maturing and trained to do and return home not in to discredit it by penalizing the very coffin boxes. democratic process is foolhardy. If anyone detests what is going on in Iraq The time has come for the King to and vociferously opposes the war (and I stop blaming the political parties and happen to be one of them!), he, instead leaders for all the countrys ills, and to of putting the blame on the troops, make way for an all-party government as should put the culprits label squarely the first step in restoring democracy and subscription on the handful of men who ordered them securing peace and prosperity in Nepal. into this quagmire: President George W. For the political parties, the time has [email protected] Bush and his team of extremely narrow- come to let bygones be bygones, discon- minded, heartless zealots who seem to tinue daily street protests to reciprocate be unaffected by the deaths of human the Kings gesture (if he stops playing 2111102 beings, both of their obedient soldiers one party against another, agrees to the formation of an all-party government SEE PAGE 22. and their enemies. 6 MAY 30, 2004 | nation weekly and does not violate the norms of the constitutional monarchy) and uphold the spirit Rashtriya Mel Milap, the policy of the late B. P. Koirala that brought the King and the parties together. SANJEEV M. SHERCHAN, ASIA SOCIETY, NEW YORK Were committed Genesis of leaders to you SWARNIM WAGLES TAKE ON Nepals leaders (Leaders Classified, Writing on the Wall, May 23) was an in- teresting read. He seems to have a sound Here at Nation Weekly the very same care and attention that grasp of Nepals modern political his- go into our magazine go into customer service. This means that if tory. But what about a closer look at the genesis of individual leaders? Sher youre a Nation Weekly subscriber, your complete satisfaction Bahadur Deuba, Girija Prasad Koirala, is guaranteed because its our top priority. Madhav Kumar did not shoot to star- dom overnight and a lot must have gone into their emergence as national lead- We’re always n When you have ers. Perhaps Mr. Wagle can help trace suggestions where the fault lines liewhy did these here to help…. or comments - especially about ways gaints fail when it mattered most: post- n When you have a in which we can improve subscription 1990? Perhaps its the parties undemo- question service - we welcome them. cratic traditions, Nepals own deeply about your subscription, such as entrenched feudalism, or perhaps its undelivered issues, duplicate n When you want the leaders failure to educate them- invoices, your subscription uninteruupted delivery - selves to the requirement of modern expiration date, or anything else guaranteed leadership. Or a combination of it and please dont hesitate to get in please be sure to renew your or more? A similar piece on Nepali touch. Be sure to include your subscription early. We'll notify you in monarchy would shed light on the Full Name and Address when advance, so you needn't miss a peoples leaders even better since they you contact us. single issue. do not operate in a political vacuum. So far, my knowledge of our kings is based only on social studies books in the Write or telephone: school curricula. PRABIN PRADHAN BHOTAHITY E-mail: [email protected] TIKU GAUCHANS LUNCH Telephone: 2111102, 4229825, 4261831 Hour Rush (May 23) is a welcome Fax: 4216281 breather in a newsmagazine that gets Mailing Address: Nation Weekly overly serious at times.