#252 17 - 23 June 2005 16 pages Rs 30
NARESH NEWAR
hutan's celebration of its UN-sanctioned concept of A Gross National Happiness in Canada next week will coincide with World Refugee Day on 20 Bamboo curtain June. It will have to answer for the misery of nearly 110,000 Bhutani refugees in Nepal. Bhutani refugees wait for their fate to be decided Canada is one of the western countries pushing a new formula to resolve the refugee crisis with third country resettlement. Under the proposal, Photo Feature p8-9 once EXILE Bhutan takes back a proportion of refugees, a majority will be ‘locally integrated’ in Nepal and the rest will be given citizenship by some western governments. There is compassion fatigue after 15 years, and also concern that frustration among refugees in camps in eastern Nepal could easily be exploited by extremists. Hence the hurry to find a quick solution. Continued p4
Weekly Internet Poll # 252 Q. Is the continued crackdown on the media by the state justified?
Total votes:549 Weekly Internet Poll # 253. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q... Is it now time for the Maoists to give up violence and join the political mainstream?
ISSN 1814-2613 ASHOK R SHAKYA 2 EDITORIAL 17 - 23 JUNE 2005 #252
Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Desk Editor: Abha Eli Phoboo, Aarti Basnyat Design: Kiran Maharjan Web: Bhushan Shilpakar Advertising: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Subscription: Anil Karki, [email protected] Sanchaya Kosh Building, Block A-4th Floor, Lalitpur GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 01-5543333-6, Fax: 01-5521013 [email protected], www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 01-5547018 Ironies abound The twilight zone of Nepali politics is full of paradoxes
TRIAL AND TERROR here is a limit to which you verdict. Ditto for journalists. This is like letting the fox guard Past cruelty is always eclipsed by headlines of more recent brutality. can bend logic. Take this They are demanding the right to the chicken coop. Indian media Time blunts the jagged edges of pain. We have to keep reminding T example: When a leader is free expression. What we do not report that officials who have ourselves of the horrific new year massacre of villagers in appointed twice as prime see are signs of greater objectivity labelled the Maoists as terrorists Nawalparasi by Maoists hunting vigilantes, the murder of popular minister under certain situations and ethical responsibility in are facilitating a dialogue with preacher Pandit Narayan Prasad Pokhrel last month, the recent abductions of children and teachers in Kaski, Dadeldhura and Dang. prevailing in the country it is journalism. With the media’s political leaders. This is Memories of these atrocities were pushed aside by news of the considered constitutional. Under rights come responsibilities. beginning to look like a love deliberate and pre-meditated terrorist attack on civilians in Madi and the same set of conditions when All this, of course, doesn’t triangle. Kabhre in the past week, the senseless murder of Campus Chief an anti-corruption body is absolve the state from blame. And So-called Indian experts on Ganeshman Palikhe in Pokhara and on Tuesday the slaughter of six formed to investigate corruption one of the most glaring and Nepal are given more importance family members of two policemen in Dhangadi that included a year- symbolic lapses is the way in Nepal than our own scholars. old baby. GUEST COLUMN Maoist victims are being treated, Their utterances have more There are signs the revolution is now using terror for terror’s Bijen Jonchhe allowing them to be politically influence on our political leaders sake. It has lost what remained of its social and political reform exploited. The government has than Nepali experts. What makes agenda and has degenerated into criminality. Even by the terrible cases and implicates this same not been able to refute, deny or a JNU professor or an ex-general standards of its own past cruelty these recent killings can only be person in a scam, the body as correct the negative press the from the Indian Army a ‘Nepal described as crimes against humanity. Yes, 12 armed soldiers in mufti were travelling in the Madi bus but anyone (especially the comrade well as the move to control country is receiving domestically expert’? Can we not learn to trust with his finger on the detonator trigger) could have seen from a mile corruption becomes and internationally. The ground ourselves on matters that concern away that the bus was piled high with civilians. unconstitutional. reality is far removed from what our destiny? Does a nation not An elderly Madi farmer said it for all of us Nepalis: “You can’t ask Prime Minister Deuba used appears in the media, yet the have the right to choose a polity forgiveness for something that is unpardonable.” Just as the Great his constitutional prerogative to authorities make no effort to set suitable to its own needs and Helmsman himself intended, support for the movement now comes dissolve the house in 2002, a the record straight. Why is the strengths? Must we blindly ape mainly from the barrel of the gun—it is no more a genuine espousal move validated by the Supreme state only talking to a handful of the west to please the west? of the cause of revolution. The political base of the cadre has eroded, Court. When the same person was sycophantic state media? There is And of our political the chain of command is in disarray and the leadership rift is showing charge-sheeted on corruption no point preaching to the leadership, the less said the fissures right down to the grassroots. charges his followers have taken converted. The government seems better. When their anti-king street To be fair, the comrades are in a dilemma. Moderate elements to the streets demanding to be dithering on the media agitation fails to ignite because of within the movement that now see the futility of further violence are incapable of braking or steering this runaway juggernaut. And there restoration of the house that he ordinance. Why is it hesitating? lack of political support they is every sign the hardliners are dominant. Indian and Nepali politi- himself dissolved. The RCCC sets the original bail rush off to India to cry on the cians tried in New Delhi last week to convince Maoist ideologues to The political parties oppose amount in the Melamchi case at shoulders of their mentors in join the mainstream through a constitutional compromise. But the the choice of the NHRC members Rs 570 million. A few months New Delhi. It is easy to see who comrades know that as soon as they put down their bombs, they will because their candidates have not later, the bail amount is reduced the political parties regard as be chased out of the villages. been included as they were in the to five million. Has the quantum their constituents. The biggest While we wait for the broader political agreement necessary for previous commission. Why of corruption suddenly shrunk? irony of all is the unseemly sight restarting the peace process, the Maoists would do well to reclaim should the NHRC be a bunch of India has been up to its neck of Nepali politicians acting like their political agenda by unilaterally announcing a moratorium on use political appointees? in the region’s crises: Sri Lanka, birds on a wire to fly off to New of landmines, booby traps, assassinations of unarmed civilians and Professionals such as lawyers Bangladesh, Bhutan. The Delhi to meet Indian officials. abductions of school children. For its part, the security forces could are expected to function without Americans and the Europeans Our idea of nationalism has respond with a reciprocal freeze on offensive action. You don’t need to agree on a ceasefire to begin such confidence-building measures. bias or prejudice. But legal have now given it the lead role in been limited to wearing the And whoever does it first attains the moral high ground. Such practitioners are taking political solving the situation in Nepal national dress, speaking our gestures will build the trust necessary to begin the more challenging issues to the streets even on even though New Delhi is language and boasting of the fact work of sustainable peace-building. But it needs visionaries. matters on which the Supreme implicated in destabilising that we have never been a British Court had previously given its activities here and elsewhere. colony. Is this all there is to it? z How about those who didn’t pass? requent felicitation syndrome is a It is the state’s responsibility to give those who didn’t make it another chance social disease. The more starved a F society is for achievers, the more system that isn’t designed for them in the felicitation ceremonies it holds. From the first place. The SLC Board has neither the neighbourhood kid who makes a robot to a intention nor the ability to evaluate mountaineer who climbs to the top for the individuals of vastly varying backgrounds 16th time, we really overdo the garlanding with different life-skills. and vermilion. The best fish-farmer from Saptari, the Given our collective addiction for ablest vegetable grower in Dhading, the adulation, all 83,747 students who passed most skilled carpenter of Doti and the SLC this year are being feted. Private sector most experienced mountain guide in Plus Two schools woo graduates, Manang may have all failed their distinction-holders are showered with exams. They have nothing in common scholarships, there are full-page ads from with the Bahun-Chhetri-Newar elite schools whose children overwhelmingly STATE OF THE STATE showing passed. It is impossible to change CK Lal off power-relations in Nepali society their without overhauling the school system. toppers. Those who excelled distribute Even though the structure of schooling sweets and repeat ad nauseam that they is unfair to the unprivileged, dramatic KUMAR SHRESTHA/NEPALNEWS.COM want to be doctors, engineers or chartered improvements in national education aren’t Rehabilitating ‘SLC-failed’ school working facility with language and accountants. possible in the short-term. It will be dropouts is much more challenging. Lured arithmetic but not the ability to memorise In all the celebrations, few will think unrealistic to do away with the entire by the promise of a better life after school, answers to literature and social studies of the 132,556 students who couldn’t make examination system immediately. Perhaps the students suddenly discover that the questions. ‘SLC-failed’ youths are best the grade this year—a staggering 62.28 we need to tinker with the structure and doors of opportunities have been slammed candidates for trade courses and since they percent of all those who appeared for the introduce gradual changes to maximise on their faces. The temptation to take up are the majority, we must invest in them high school exams. There is something returns from investments in the public the gun and run into the jungles must be rather than on those that passed who have morally wrong with an examination system school infrastructure. hard to resist. other options. Current donor-funded that declares a majority of its students as The first thign to do is discard the Training school dropouts in efforts to provide a vocational safety net to failures so early in life. We say it every year ‘failed’ tag. Certification should employable skills is an option that has the backlog of SLC cast-offs from past years and we say it again–stigmatising school emphasise the strength and weak- failed to grab the national attention. Nepal must be taken up as a national campaign. children like this is dishonourable and a nesses of a student. Based on test has dozens of medical and engineering Instead of addressing these urgent national tragedy. The SLC certificate is a performance, for example, the examin- colleges for those who can pay their way issues we have a government that is piece of paper, not an explanation of the ing authority can say that Indra’s but training schools producing carpenters, obsessed with ‘nationalist education’, abilities and possibilities of a student. competence in English is excellent plumbers, glaziers, electricians, auto whatever that is. The successful will take Our education planners are incapable of while he needs to improve his math. mechanics, nurses, housekeepers, bakers, care of themselves, they don’t need praise. understanding the trauma of rural students Chandra did well in science but must tailors, dyers and painters are rare. It is the state’s responsibility to give those who struggle for years but can’t crack a work harder to improve her Nepali. Occupational training requires a who didn’t make it another chance. z 17 - 23 JUNE 2005 #252 3
LLL ETTERS
SORRY? lecturing us on giving the reins back to the Kanak Mani Dixit’s piece on Madi’s mass murder political parties who messed it all up in the first (“Sorry.”, #251) made me emotional, angry and place? Our party leaders all deserve Oscars for frustrated at the same time. Being a strong being such good actors, pretending they are not believer of the idea of social justice and having responsible and putting all the blame on the suffered from the same viruses of ’anti-feudalism’ king’s court. They better wake up otherwise they and ‘egalitarianism’ that most of our intellectuals won’t even know their time is up. suffer, I extended my ‘moral support’ to the Maoist Sujata Uprety, email movement from the very beginning. Finally, there was emerging a force capable of shattering the TB very foundations of feudal institutions including In reply to Ian Harper’s letter (#250), we wish to the autocratic monarchy. Against the backdrop of bring to the notice of readers that there is what the mainstream political parties were doing evidence and research produced by the National in Kathmandu, the Maoists appeared to be Tuberculosis Program (NTP) to support genuinely fighting for a just cause. I took them as conclusions in Naresh Newar’s article (TB or not a part of our political evolution. But then just like TB, #248). We would like to respond to the three their countless global counterparts, they gradually central comments of Ian Harper’s letter. First, the became dacoits, murderers, kidnappers or plain NTP has presented strong empirical evidence terrorists. BP Koirala has eloquently written about (from individual patient data) that during the last this ‘phenomenon of the degradation of revolution’ few years the program has grown in conflict in his memoir. Today I mourn not only the death of affected mid-western districts at least as fast as the innocent victims of the horrible crime in Madi in the rest of the country. So far the program has but also the Maoist revolution that seemed so had minimal difficulties operating and expanding promising at one point in our history. I feel in conflict affected areas although the conflict is embarrassed to have associated my dreams of an throwing up logistical challenges, and we need, egalitarian society with them. Like hundreds of and are preparing for an ever more challenging Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s militants, I was young and context. We appreciate Ian Harper’s argument I was naïve. that the operating context requires quality Dr Jugal Bhurtel, Moscow monitoring, which NTP will endeavour to provide whilst remaining confident with the evidence and Thanks to Kanak Mani Dixit’s description of analysis provided to date. Ian Harper’s assertion the aftermath of the Madi bomb. It saddened and that ‘many health posts are closed or are angered me. Your front page showed that you too understaffed as a consequence of the current were struck speechless by the carnage. I agree conflict’ is probably true—but the evidence of this with Dixit’s conclusion that the Maoists should (that Ian Harper would agree is needed) is small ‘first, stop attacking civilians and ‘next, drop the scale and largely anecdotal. A deeper apprecia- guns’. Giving up violence is the only solution to tion of the conflict’s impact on health service the chronic barbarity of the past nine years. In functioning is needed. these four words lies the solution to this bloody Second, Ian Harper writes about ‘a truly conflict. Prachanda’s “sorry” is ridiculous. prolific growth of TB control in the private sector’. Thanks indeed for the coverage. There is evidence that suggests the contrary. Name witheld Research carried out recently in Lalitpur by the NTP and Nuffield, Leeds University, suggests After killing innocent people in Madi, the that where the TB program is working well, the Maoists have exposed that they don’t have a private sector treatment of tuberculosis political agenda. By killing people who did nothing diminishes rapidly and TB drugs become much wrong and by picking on those who couldn’t fight less available in private pharmacies. The NTP is back, the Maoists showed they are just notable, in relation to other areas of the national assassins. The mass murder in Madi was a health program, for its active engagement with heinous crime and the Maoists are indeed the private sector. A mature, and ever-growing, terrorists. partnership is established resulting in the private Kapeed Joshi, Seattle, USA sector partners adhering to NTP’s diagnostic and treatment protocols. Kanak Mani Dixit’s ‘Mass murder in Madi’ Third, DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment proved that the Maoists do not respect minimum strategy piloted in Nepal in the 1990s) has standards of human rights and the Geneva proved to produce better cure rates than the Conventions. The people must now rethink of the unsupervised model. The current NTP patient Maoists not as a political force but as terrorists. If cure rates of over 85 percent suggest that this they want to prove themselves to be a political has been the right strategy to follow. Finally, force it is not sufficient only to say sorry. They claims about the relative success of the NTP must hand over the perpetrator of the Madi bomb come from international TB experts who have to the Interntional Court of Justice to be tried for frequently visited the NTP during the last few crimes against humanity. years. The NTP is satisfied with their verdict and Anchan Bhattarai, Sindhuli is willing to share more information with inter- ested professionals. As a Nepali citizen living abroad, it is very KB Shrestha, NTP Program Director humiliating to see and hear about all the political Susan Clapham, Health Adviser, DfID parties heading for India to solve our problems Christian Gunneberg, WHO Nepal instead of sitting together at home to find a solution. It is a shame that our leaders have to ANIMAL KINGDOM rush off to New Delhi. What do they think we are, In ‘All beings in the kingdom’ (#251) there is an Sikkim? As long as Nepali politics is ruled by error that needs correction–Animal Nepal does self-centred, short-sighted and uneducated not have the objective of establishing a ‘Bureau leaders, democracy in Nepal is just like a coconut for the Prevention of Animal Sacrifice’. Our in a monkey’s hand. By now, we all know that the objective at this point is not to completely abolish Maoist is not a political party, it is a terrorist this religious practice, even though we hope group. If the Americans, British and Europeans animal sacrifice, like human sacrifice, will soon want to look at Nepal through India’s perspective, be a thing of the past. Our focus is on the they should move their embassies to New Delhi. treatment of animals while they are alive, as well You have no right to sit in our territory and play as humane killing. At Animal Nepal we are with Nepal’s independence. We have to save this committed to projects that help animals as well country from cowardly leaders, unfaithful friends as people, such as the Pet Products for Poverty and terrorists. Reduction plan that was mentioned in the article. Usha Sharma, email Jigme Gaton, ANPO