#101 5 - 11 July 2002 16+4 pages Rs 20 in KHANDBARI EXCLUSIVE MOHAN○○○○○○○○○○ MAINALI ○○○○○○○○○○ onsoon mists slide through the One Congress too many forests. In the valley below, the M Arun river flows placidly south- The Election Commission is having a wards, and the terraces sway with ripening tough time figuring out which is the real corn. It is hard in the idyllic hills of eastern Congress. One of the reasons is that Nepal to imagine that fear and death stalk the three commissioners have political The east is red soft spots for three different political the villages. And it is even more difficult to imagine how the November general A firsthand account of the insurgency from Sankhuwasabha district. entities: Deuba, Koirala and the RPP. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ The EC also has a history of taking time elections can be held here. to decide: it took three months to rule on The usual bustle of Khandbari’s bazar is of political party offices here in the district and spread towards Taplejung. Even though but his cadres are still in the villages. the Baburam Bhattarai vs Lila Mani gone. Small groups huddle in the teashops, headquarters of Sankhuwasabha. But the their presence here is not as strong, one- Some UML party workers have dealt Pokhrel tussle in 1994 over the Jana whispering and warily scanning the streets offices are deserted. Everyone we spoke to fourth of the villages are under the sway of with Maoists, and because of that have Morcha split. outside. The town has been under a dusk to last week is just trying to get by: survive Maoists. VDC officials have been forced to been picked up for questioning by All this dilly-dallying is making the dawn curfew since 26 November. from day to day, maybe catch up on the resign, and many have moved to Khandbari security forces. two factions of the Congress very “You might be an informer, or even a World Cup. An election is the last thing on or Chainpur. VDC buildings have been Now, the elections will make the nervous. The deadline for registering Maoist, why should I talk to you?” asks a people’s minds. torched, and all records destroyed. UML a target of the Maoists, many of new parties expires 9 July. The rump young man at the local inn, his eyes averted. “I don’t think we can hold elections if Most local members of the Nepali whom are ex-UML themselves, and will Congress will therefore need a ruling Four months ago, Maoists beat and the Maoists oppose them,” DDC chairman Congress and the RPP have already been have scores to settle. Senior officials like by Monday morning at the latest, and at threatened to kill him. The boy fled his Tulsi Prasad Neupane told us bluntly. killed or have fled. “Some of those still Basu Shakya, Badri Hang Lingthepu and the pace things are moving, many say Barabise home and came to Khandbari. “He “Even if the military guards voting centres, I around can be seen at the fortnightly all- Netra Regmi in the Maoist’s “district that is unlikely. Both Deuba and Koirala still hasn’t gotten over it,” his lodge owner don’t think people will come out and vote.” party meetings, and that is about all the people’s government” are all ex-UML. have been issuing vague threats of a explained. “His wounds have healed, but his Sankhuwasabha is the equivalent of political activity happening around here,” boycott if they don’t get the party’s all- mental scars are deeper.” Rolpa in the east. This is where the Maoists says Dambar Khadka of the UML. Khadka see p6 important tree symbol. But both also Lonely party flags flutter over the roofs began organising their eastern command, says it is getting difficult for the UML, too, have fall-back options of joining two of the four new parties that have been registered with intriguing names like Rastriya Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress Party. Meanwhile, the EC has asked security agencies to begin assessing the requirements for the polls, based on which it will decide how to hold the elections—phases, polling centres, etc. But there is another “what if” before that: the Supreme Court verdict on litigation demanding that the dissolved Editorial p2 House be reinstated. Animated suspension More Indians First, the good news. For the first time since June last year, the number of MOHAN MAINALI Indian tourists has gone up—doubled, in fact. Arrivals were 8,480 in June, up from the 4,101 in the same month last year. Now the not-so-good news: there were fewer third country visitors. Their numbers slid about 13 percent to 5,300. Overall, the tourist arrivals are down 40 percent compared with 2001. Surrealist history on canvas Hari Prasad Sharma lives in the oils, and while they are loosely ‘realist’, there is a past. He can imagine in minute slightly off-kilter perspective, colours either muted or Weekly Internet Poll # 41 detail what community life in a exaggerated with an almost crayon-like boldness, Q. Is it possible to hold general elections as scheduled Patan baha might have been corners, hills and clouds sometimes deliberately in November? like 400 years ago (right), or cartoonish that force the Viewer to meditate on the enter into Jaya Prakash Malla’s plasticity of the work. It is this lack of pretence to dreams of Taleju Bhawani. And authenticity that gives Sharma’s scenes their he can put this imagination with immediacy and emotional resonance. They are more extraordinary skill into “real” because they are so highly individual. breathtaking three-dimensional paintings. This show is an important step for the 65-year- Sharma, in his extensive research and old Lagan Tole native whose career has been meditation on Kathmandu Valley’s lives and times, marked by a nuanced understanding of tradition and seems to have absorbed something of the quality its place in contemporary life. that has made it what it is—a combination of deep Total votes: 1079 knowledge of history and tradition and technical (Kathmandu Valley: Down the Ages is on at the Weekly Internet Poll # 42. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com expertise, and the vision to innovate, based on Nepal Art Council Gallery, Babar Mahal until 10 July, Q. Which faction of the Nepali Congress should get to these two. All the works in Sharma’s current from 11AM-6PM everyday.) keep the party name and symbol? show, Kathmandu Valley: Down the Ages, are see p15 222 EDITORIAL 5 - 11 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES NATION 5 - 11 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 333 Nepali Times is published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Editor: Anagha Neelakantan STATE OF THE STATE by CK LAL OPINION by SAGAR SJB RANA Design: Kiran Maharjan [email protected], www.nepalitimes.com Advertising: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Subscription: Anil Karki [email protected] Sales: Sudan Bista [email protected] Sanchaya Kosh Building, Block A-4th Floor, Lalitpur GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 01-543333-7, Fax: 01-521013 Lessons from another emergency Printed at Jagadamba Press: 01-521393 Deuba was given no choice The Right to Freedom is enshrined in Clause 12 of Part 3 of the he Constitution of Nepal (1990) is The battle against the terrorists shouldn’t get bogged down in politics. him to even call a meeting of the central NIMATED SUSPENSION Constitution of Kingdom of Nepal (1990). a remarkable consensus document. committee to discuss Deuba’s letter, A ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ T Representatives of the monarch although, with a clear majority of the ll this is getting to be like one of those movies where you can choose and from all major political parties, committee members being his nominees, the plot as you go along. There are choices we will make in the y coincidence, the Indian press was Advani once rued that the Indian press and a litterateur. (Full Disclosure: I was including some from the far-left, agreed he could have been assured of a decision A months ahead that are going to shape the destiny of this nation. Will commemorating Indira Gandhi’s shamelessly crawled on all fours when all often the target of the editorial witch-hunts on the fundamental concepts of a in line with his wishes. our freedoms stay? Will democracy prevail? Will the rule of law and the B dreaded “Never Again” Emergency they were asked to do was bend a bit. It in Janadesh for being a consistently vocal constitutional monarchy and multi-party By this time, the Election Commis- constitution be safeguarded? The question is: which buttons will our rulers when King Gyanendra arrived in India. is an irony of history that Advani is today critic of the Maoists.) democracy. sion had announced 19 June as the last press? Will they make the wrong turn and take us deeper down the path Here was a foreign dignitary whose deputy prime minister of a right wing But that hardly matters. But those of us who welcomed the date for the renewal of party registra- towards absolute anarchy, or will we start to see the end of this long dark country was also in an internal emer- government in New Delhi that is hound- Pamphleteering is no sin in any civilised constitution need to face the reality that tion. It then came to Deuba’s notice tunnel? gency, visiting during the anniversary. ing Time’s Alex Perry and tehelka.com’s society, much less a crime in a democracy. the nature of politics today has changed.