WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 267 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 27.6 C -1.0 C Wednesday, November 25, 2020 | 10-08-2077 Bhairahawa Jumla Commissions lobby for term extension as justice eludes conflict victims The term of the present set of commissioners ends in February but experts say without a political will to settle the tens of thousands of cases, there can be no progress. BINOD GHIMIRE “The process won’t move ahead KATHMANDU, NOV 24 unless there is a political will,” said Govinda Bandi, a human rights law- The commissioners at the Commission yer. “Political parties still aren’t seri- of Investigation on Enforced ous about concluding the transitional Disappeared Persons and the Truth justice process.” and Reconciliation Commission, man- Incumbent commissioners at the dated to look into the conflict-era two commissions are the second set of human rights cases, are already lobby- office bearers after two two-year terms ing for the extension of their terms of the first ended in 2019 and they that end in three months. were appointed in early 2020. But they And this time, they want an exten- have not made much progress and the sion of four years saying that it will Covid-19 pandemic has come as a wel- take at least that long to complete the come excuse. investigations. The duration of the ten- The commissions took four years ure is at the government’s discretion. just to receive the complaints from the But without political commitment, victims. it is unlikely that the investigations Human rights defenders say the into the 2,506 complaints of disappear- existing leadership cannot make any ances and 63,718 cases in the truth decision against the parties’ will commission will ever be completed. because they are political appointees. “Finding out the whereabouts of According to spokesperson the disappeared from years back is a Adhikari, they have already put forth challenging job,” Ganga Dhar their demands for a four-year term Adhikari, spokesperson for the disap- extension of the commissioners before pearance commission, told the Post. Minister for Law and Justice Shiva “The commission needs at least four Maya Tumbahangphe, Nepali Congress POST PHOTO: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA years to complete the investigation.” President Sher Bahadur Deuba and People work alongside a thresher after a paddy harvest at Dayarampur in Rajapur, Bardiya. Use of machines in farm work, particularly in the Tarai plains, is making agriculture more productive. The Comprehensive Peace Nepal Communist Party deputy parlia- Agreement was signed fourteen years mentary leader Subas Nembang. ago and had envisioned making public The two commissions have received information about the disappeared or complaints against Nepal Communist those killed during the decade-long Party (NCP) chair Pushpa Kamal armed conflict within 60 days of sign- Dahal, who was the commander of the With winter here, respiratory infections will ing of the deal. rebel force, and Deuba, under whose But it took over nine years just to prime ministership an emergency was establish the two commissions. And imposed in the country at the height although it’s over five years since the of the conflict. The highest number of transitional justice commissions were enforced disappearances is reported surge and so will virus spread, doctors warn formed, not a single case has been during Deuba’s tenure. investigated so far. >> Continued on page 2 Cold, dry air, low humidity, indoor stay and poorly ventilated rooms are likely to facilitate transmission of the coronavirus in a country where winter is deadly even at normal times. ARJUN POUDEL was only at the end of March. dry, which may render mucus ineffec- KATHMANDU, NOV 24 Doctors say it is yet to be seen how tive to remove foreign invaders like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the virus, including SARS-Cov-2. Winter is here. And for the virus, it is Covid-19, will respond during this “Winter is always a tough season, as a godsend. winter. But since Nepal does see a surge we see a sudden surge of respiratory Doctors say the Covid-19 pandemic in viral infections—seasonal flu, rhino- illnesses. This winter is likely to be could get worse during cold months, virus and adenovirus, which infect the more dangerous as we have Covid-19 as conditions that exacerbate other lungs and respiratory tracts—during this time,” Dr Somnath Arjyal, former winter-related respiratory infections cold conditions, concerns are valid, chairman of Nepal Medical Council, a also apply to SARS-CoV-2. they say. Winter months mean people regulatory body of medical doctors “Cold, dry air facilitates the spread are more likely to stay indoors most of told the Post. “Risk of the spread of of the virus,” said Dr Niraj Bam, an the time with closed doors and win- virus and loss of lives depends on how associate professor at the Institute of dows, thereby increasing the chances well we implement safety protocols Medicine, Tribhuvan University. of virus infections, according to them. and make our preparations better.” “There certainly are concerns about In just about a month, Nepal will Social distancing and use of masks the rise in Covid-19 infections during mark the first year of its first Covid-19 have been highly effective in con- the winter.” case. trolling the virus spread worldwide. According to Bam, with the start of As of Tuesday, the country’s Covid- But cold weather is likely to force winter, around 150 people are visiting 19 tally has reached 224,078 with 1,361 people into poorly ventilated rooms the TU teaching hospital’s out-patient deaths. without masks and social distancing. Concerns have also grown over the decision to open schools outside Kathmandu Valley. “If we start formal classes without ensuring safety protocols, the virus is likely to penetrate each and every household,” Dr Baburam Marasini, for- mer director at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, told the Post. “What happened in Humla recently should be a wake-up call. The authori- ties must strictly enforce safety proto- cols and prepare multi-layer monitor- ing mechanisms before making deci- sions to resume classes.” Authorities in Humla shut down schools and colleges and restricted the movement of people from outside into the district after 56 people including 32 students of Mahabaudha Secondary School in Yalbang in Namkha Rural Municipality tested positive for Covid- POST PHOTO: BEEJU MAHARJAN 19 10 days ago. With surge in other viral infections in the respiratory tract in winter, doctors are worried. Doctors are also worried about more people contracting the coronavirus at department seeking treatment for res- So far 204,858 people have recov- hospitals during winter. More people piratory diseases. ered. frequent hospitals during winter for “This is a five-fold increase com- But there is no room for complacen- cold-related respiratory problems. pared to a month ago,” Bam told the cy, say experts. Dhungana says Covid-19 patients Post. “Among them, the number of “If the second wave of coronavirus may be deprived of beds as well dur- people infected with Covid-19 is signif- in European countries—the United ing cold months due to an increase in icant.” Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain— the number of patients with respirato- Nepal woke up to the pandemic a and a rapid increase in new cases and ry illnesses. little later than other countries. Even death rate in the United States of “I am worried about an increase in though the first Covid-19 case was America are anything to go by, coming Covid-19 mortality rate,” said detected in Wuhan of China, Nepal’s days will not be easy for us,” said Dr Dhungana. northern neighbour, in mid-Novem- Ashesh Dhungana, a pulmonologist Doctors say it could be a double ber last year, Nepal reported its first and critical care physician at Bir whammy, as safety protocols prepared coronavirus case in the third week of Hospital. “Chances of getting serious- by the Health Ministry before the end January, a winter month. The next case ly ill will be high if patients infected of the lockdown on July 21 are also yet with any other virus contract the to be fully implemented. coronavirus.” Since the lifting of the lockdown, Studies suggest there are some most of the offices have reopened, reasons why the virus spreads public vehicles are operating and res- faster during winter. taurants are welcoming guests. A drop in temperatures means “With the opening up of public plac- low humidity, which is consid- es, the risk of infection surge has ered the virus’ best friend. And increased,” said Dhungana. “I am per- when the weather gets cold, air sonally not against reopening offices gets drier. People staying indoors and academic institutions, but we also tend to use heating systems should strictly put in place safety pro- to keep themselves warm. This tocols, and we have to focus more on makes the air as well as the tis- this, as the virus spreads faster during sues lining the respiratory tract winter and in closed places.” C M Y K WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Only isolation centre in Rolpa closed despite several Covid cases KASHIRAM DANGI of Rs3 million, had started providing servic- ROLPA, NOV 24 es in June. The centre was run with the financial support of Rolpa Municipality The only isolation facility in Rolpa has been and nine rural municipalities in the dis- closed down by authorities despite the dis- trict. Around 200 coronavirus-infected peo- trict having many active cases, according to ple received health services from the centre the health and population ministry.