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BJP questions India’s Nepal policyä nf correspondent

India’s Nepal policy is more guided by theappeasement of Maoists at the cost of pro-democracy forces ignoring its implications onIndia’s security, according to Bharatiya JanataParty leader and its Prime Ministerial candidatefor the next general election, LK Advani.

Advani’s categorical disapproval of thegovernment of India’s Nepal policy, comes in thebackground of interim parliament adopting theresolution declaring Nepal a Republic state, withthe directive to the future constituent assemblyto implement it. Advani said BJP was clearly infavour of preservation of Nepal as a HinduKingdom with constitutional monarchy.

He said the genuine aspirations of the peopleof Nepal like its Hindu identity and constitutionalmonarchy were suppressed by the rise ofMaoists. “Maoism and democracy are acontradiction in terms. The two cannot gotogether. It is unfortunate that they have gainedascendancy in the polity of Nepal,” Advani saidrecently in a paper ‘Democracy and ConflictResolution in Asia’ which he read out during asummit organised by Dainik Jagaran, a popularHindi daily, last week.

Describing what has been happening inIndia’s north as ‘worrisome developments inNepal’, Advani said what has been happening inNepal have grave implications not only forNepal, but also for India given the close nexusbetween Maoists on both sides of the border.“The Prime Minister (Man Mohan Singh) is rightin characterising communist extremism orNaxalism as the biggest threat to India’s internal

India’s duality?security. It is also a threat to our democracy.”

“Why then has the United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) government remained a silentonlooker with communists in India playing therole of a colluder, when constitutional monarchywas disbanded recently under the pressure ofMaoists? The monarchy in Nepal was a symbolof its unique national identity and a source of itsidentity,” he continued.

This is first time that a major political party inIndia questions its own government’s policy thathas virtually abandoned the twin pillar theory,after it mediated a deal between Nepal’s pro-democracy parties and the Maoists in November2005. This also literally challenges the Indiangovernment to clarify, if its approach on NepaliMaoists and the Indian Maoists are different.Singh had recently stated in the context ofNaxalite problem that ‘the virus of terrorism’needed to be eliminated for consolidation ofdemocracy and developmental activities.

“Why did the Indian communists applaudwhen the identity of Nepal as a Hindu kingdomwas erased even before the constituentassembly had discussed it? Would they demandthat Pakistan or Bangladesh cease to be Islamicrepublics?” he asked. “The examples of Israel-Palestine, Afghanistan and Nepal raise twoimportant questions: should India and othercountries in Asia get entrapped in the westernsponsored normative discourse on Asia’spolitical evolution, or should we imbibe from ourtraditional values and norms? The former pathis likely to ensure that we become the playthingsof external powers seeking to shoot guns off ourshoulders,” said Advani. ä

InsideMaoists fear assassination

One million each to MPsfor fair election?

Nepal is a delicate flower,about to die: Interviewwith Prof. Riccardi

page 2

page 5

page 6&7

Bhas

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People from different indigenous groups staging a sit-in programme in front of BICC in Kathmanduon Thursday, urging the government to add 48 more nationalities on the current list which includes59 indigenous groups.

2 21-27 Jan, 2008 News

Coup galoreMaoists fear political assassination

ä nf correspondent

It was only last yearthat Maoist ChiefPrachanda predicted aseries of politicalassassinations that thepalace and the Ameri-cans would be engineer-ing in Nepal. But hemaintained silenceregarding the issue afterthe then AmericanAmbassador, JamesMoriarty, publiclychallenged him toprovide any evidence tosubstantiate hisallegations.

But with Moriarty goneand fresh electionschedule announced,Prachanda is back withpublic reiteration of the fear. OnJanuary 18, he told mediarepresentatives in Kathmanduthat Nepal could witness politicalupheavals, from politicalassassinations to army coup, inthe coming three months Hehowever, chose not to say whowould be engineering suchactivities.

The way Prachanda revealedthe conspiracy theory based oninformation from his partychannels, made it very clear thatthe assassination and thepossible coup would beinterlinked. He said that eventssimilar to the assassination ofBenazir Bhutto taking place herewould not be far fetched. “Somegroups might make attempts tomurder senior leaders, both fromMadhesh and the Maoist groupsto create an atmosphere for acoup.”

Prachanda further said that thefuture Nepal could see a mix ofBangladesh and Pakistan. “Aftersome leaders are removed fromthe scene as in Pakistan, theNepal Army might step up itsactivities to have a ‘civiliangovernment’ in place in the nameof protecting democracy, almostin a replica move of Bangladesh,”

he said.Prachanda’s revelation of his

‘threat perception’ followed twodays after he chose to heapabuses on Chief of Army Staff(COAS) Gen Katawal at a publicrally jointly organised by the rulingseven party alliance in Tundikhel.Prachanda was critical andabusive of Katawal for his publicstance opposing integration of theMaoist combatants in the Nepalarmy. “Who is Katawal to opposethe move?” he said. His subse-quent diatribes were full ofpersonal remarks that even theseven party leaders did not feelcomfortable about.

Prachanda however relented abit when he announced that hisparty would return all the landand property seized by the partyduring the insurgency to therightful owners, something he isobliged to do under the Compre-hensive peace agreement (CPA)and the recently signed 23-pointagreement as a pre-condition toelection. He also said that hisparty would actively cooperate inrehabilitating those who weredisplaced during the insurgency.His party cadres have resistedthe moves in the past to returnthe confiscated property.

Advising self-relianceUnited States of America, Nepal’s

foremost development partner anddonor, has given a piece of advicewhich others have refrained fromgiving so far. The prescription suggeststhat Nepal should not only reduce butmust end its dependency on foreignassistance. And the key to it is strivingfor higher economic growth.

The suggestion was contained in aspeech that US Ambassador NancyPowell gave in a programmeorganised by the Chamber ofCommerce, Pokhara recently. “Withouteconomic growth, Nepal will continueto be dependent on the generosity ofdonor countries to meet its expendi-tures.” She however made it clear thatwhat she was stating was not anindicator of the likely curtailment in theexisting level of assistance by the US.

“Over the past half a century, eversince the US first began its assistanceprogram to Nepal, our principal aidagency, the US Agency for Interna-tional Development, has grantednearly $1 billion to this country. In2007 alone, our total assistanceprogram was in excess of $70 million.We are committed to continuing ourassistance going forward,” she said.“However, it is my hope and mystrong conviction that in the coming

decade, Nepal can end its depen-dency on foreign assistance. And theway to do this, we don’t have to lookbeyond the beautiful, snow-cappedmountains I saw on my flight toPokhara.”

Touching upon the prevailingpolitical situation, Nancy said, the USsupports the upcoming polls and iscommitted to doing its part to help itbecome a reality. “From ourperspective, the election is a key stepin the peace process, but the realwork will begin after the election isover.” She also expressed herfrustration saying, “Many of thecommitments made in the Compre-hensive Peace Agreement and the

other peace accords have yet to beimplemented. True and lasting peacewill require more than an election. Itwill require a national commitment totransform this country’s governmentand its institutions into bodies thatreflect and serve the needs andaspirations of all Nepalis, regardlessof gender, ethnicity, caste, religion, oreconomic status.”

Nancy added that as politicalparties set out for election campaign,their discussions should also focus onNepal’s economic challenges and theway to restore robust economicgrowth that is inclusive and equitable.“Peace will always be at risk as longas Nepal lacks a robust rate ofeconomic growth.” She said theexperience of the last 40 yearsshows that the most successfulnations in terms of economicdevelopment have been the ones inwhich the private sector has been theengine of growth.

The main challenge is to find waysto develop Nepal’s immense hydro-power potential in an environmentallyand socially acceptable ways, whichwill provide affordable energy to thepopulation and provide additionalrevenue through large scale export,said she.

Give up your begging bowl: Nancy Powell

Fake currencyä nf correspondent

As Prime Minister GP Koirala gets embroiledin a major controversy, borne out of his heroicdisclosure that might even cost him his chair, hehas intensified a campaign of blaming the mediafor what he spoke, mainly revealing his involve-ment in counterfeiting Indian currency note whilehe was in political exile in the 70s. The desperatedenial has come since counterfeiting currencynotes constitutes an all time act of terrorism thatno country will be able to condone.

Cleverly, Koirala instructed the council ofministers to deny something that he said in aninterview to Kantipur Television. An officialstatement of the government said, “Nepal

Government refutes media reports that NepaliPrime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was involvedin manufacturing counterfeit Indian currencynotes when he was in political exile in India in theearly 1970s.”

The front page story titled “Three decadeslater, Koirala reveals: I manufactured fake Indiancurrency,” that appeared in Indian Express, onJanuary 17, said that the startling disclosure hasbeen made by Koirala himself in an interview toNepal based Kantipur TV channel. It further saidthat Koirala, in another interview, claimed thatRN Kao, the then chief of India’s externalintelligence agency RAW, had given him thegreen signal to hijack a Nepal Airlines plane withthe promise that nothing would be done to him.

Koirala’s retraction of his earlier statement,that the hijacking took place after RN Kao, gavean assurance that nothing would be doneagainst him, followed after an official of theIndian embassy in Kathmandu reportedlyrequested him to do so.

Giving graphic descriptions of the currencycounterfeit business, Koirala had claimed thathe hired the experts in Bihar’s Forbesganj, andonce he was satisfied with their skills, he tookthem to Patna where they set-up the fakecurrency manufacturing unit at the garage ofBP Koirala’s long time friend, DP Singh, whowas also a member of the Indian parliament’supper house, Rajya Sabha, from the Congressparty. ä

Koirala led a team of Nepali Congress leaderswho hijacked a Nepal Airlines flight

from Biratnagar to Kathmandu in June 1973and captured four million rupees meant for theRashtra Bank. But after the TV interview, the bitabout the RAW involvement was

withdrawn from the programme though thisclaim was made by Koirala himself, the Expressreport said.

But the denial issued by the office of PMKoirala and his council of the ministers onJanuary 19 said that they are, “deeply saddenedby such false news” and they “refute” the news.The PMO also said that a copy of the statementdenying what he said publicly is being sent to theeditor of Indian Express.

Were you or were you not in the counterfeit currency business?

Integration rowThe claim, by Maoist Chief Prachanda and endorsed

by Home Minister KP Sitaula, that Maoist combatantswould soon be integrated in the Nepal Army, has nowsnowballed into a major controversy involving politicalparties across the party lines.

The first salvo against it was fired by Chief of thearmy staff, Gen Rookmangad Katawal who said, theinclusion of the cadres who were politically motivatedand indoctrinated was not acceptable to the army.Katawal’s assertion triggered a furious diatribe againsthim by Prachanda, but there is more pronouncedopinion that goes against the Maoist chief.

In the meantime, senior army officials are likely to meetPrime Minister GP Koirala, asking him to restrain hisalliance partners from making any ‘derogatory andinflammatory’ remarks against the Nepal Army or its chief.

“Nepal Army should not be politicised,” said CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal. HisDeputy Khadga Oli has endorsed Nepal on theintegration issue. And PM GP Koirala, who gave

interview to the media endorsing what Gen Katawal hadto say on the issue, seemed to have backtracked whenMaoist ministers cornered him regarding the issue.

Minister Deb Gurung quoted Koirala having told themthat he was misquoted by the media. But Congressleader, Govinda Raj Joshi says that the integration ofMaoist combatants in the army is not something thatGen Katawal or even the PM or Prachanda can doindependently or on their own.

Speaking to party workers in Sunderijal on January 19,Joshi said the issue has to be settled after building a broaderunderstanding at the national issue, but that should not bringarmy under the influence of any political groups.

Maoist leader, Ram Bahadur Thapa alias Badal, hashowever said that the integration issue is not somethingthat needs to be settled now. “It is something that will betaken up after the election,” Badal said, during his briefchat with media representatives in Mahendra Nagar, inan apparent attempt to let the issue rest for themoment.

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321-27 Jan, 2008News

Newsbrief

Mahato quits Housemembership

Rajendra Mahato,Chairman of theSadhbhavana Party hasresigned his parliamentmembership withimmediate effect. Mahatowho is associated withthe United MadheshiMorcha is the sixthmember from Terai toquit the House member-ship demanding that it bedissolved immediately.

Mahato announced hisresignation at a publicmeeting in Siraha onJanuary 19 asserting thathe will devote his time for the movement for an autonomousTerai region. Mahato had quit Nepal Sadhbhavana Party led byAnandi Devi after she withdrew him from the GP Koirala ledcabinet.

Those who have resigned from the interim parliament fromTerai so far, include Mahanth Thakur, Ram Chandra Yadav,Hridayesh Tripathi, Mahendra Yadav and Jaya Prakash Gupta.Except Gupta all others have joined the newly formed TeraiMadhesh Loktantrik Party. Gupta, like Mahato is associated withthe UMM led by Upendra Yadav.

ExplosionThe explosion in a public transport bus, that resulted in the

instant death of seven passengers leaving at least 22 wounded,eight of them seriously, on January 18 near Pasaha bridgealong the high way in Bara district, still remains a mystery.

Police said the preliminary investigation suggested that theexplosion was caused because the bus caught fire. “We are stillinvestigating into it and hope to have a clearer picture later,”said Yogeshwar Romkhwami. Two people have been detainedin connection with the investigation of the case.

A terrorist outfit called Terai Army had owned the responsibil-ity for the crime that has been widely denounced by manyquarters including the office of the Human Rights Commis-sioner in Nepal (OHCHR). It has appealed to the governmentto bring all those responsible for the crime to justice.

Police said at least three deceased had been identified byJanuary 19. They were Bhakti Bilash Lamichhane (23) fromSindhuli, Kumari Devi (45) from Sarlahi and Mukunda Khanal(60) from Mahottari. The five seriously wounded were broughtto Kathmandu for treatment in an army helicopter while othersare being treated in Birgunj.

Badal to help tracemissing journo

The Maoist leadershiphas at last broken itssilence on the disappear-ance of journalist,Prakash Singh Thakuri,almost six months ago,from his official premisesin Mahendra Nagar.Thakuri’s whereaboutsare not known ever sincehe was abducted by localMaoist leaders in July.

Maoist leader, RamBahadur Thapa aliasBadal said in MahendraNagar on January 19 thathis party would provide all the support and assistance to traceThakuri. Badal’s assurance came when a group of right activists

and the local representatives of the Federation of NepalisJournalists (FNJ) met him to lodge a protest over Thakuri’skidnapping by the Maoists. Badal said his party respectedfreedom of the press and that it would provide all assistance intracing Thakuri.

Maoists had killed journalist Birendra Saha in Bara in Octobersoon after his kidnapping by the local leaders. No action hasbeen taken against the people involved in Saha’s abduction andkilling yet, although both the Maoists and the government hadpromised that the criminals would be brought to justice.

Sitaula grilledHome Minister KP

Sitaula is known to be athick skinned politician,but he is finding it difficultto face his own support-ers who are raising thequestion of law andorder situation in thecountry.

Leaders of the NepalStudents Union (NSU),the student wing of theNepali Congress party,warned him that theywould be boycotting hisprogrammes in future ifhe failed to reign in theMaoist activists and the Young communist league (YCL) cadreswho have been targeting NSU activists in campuses anduniversities.

Sitaula who was in the tour of western Nepal’s Butwal areaon January 19 tried to sidestep the issue by appealing to theyouths to ignore small things and concentrate more on theforthcoming polls to the constituent assembly. But they shoutedat him saying, “Don’t act like the stooge of the Maoists if youcannot act like a home minister.”

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21-27 Jan, 20084 Editorial

LettersRevoke KMC’scommunal deci-sion

I was shocked to readthat Kathmandu MunicipalCorporation (KMC)announced to give priorityto people of Newarcommunity for employ-ment. I also belong to thesame community but Ioppose this move. Ibelieve that this is aimedat dividing and segregat-ing people of the samecountry in the name ofcommunity. The eventualresult will be horrendousfor the stability of thiscountry.

Priority should be givento merit basis and ifpossible on economicbasis to a certain degree.Giving opportunity topeople who are lessfortunate strictly oneconomic basis wouldhelp bridge the gap between the poorand the rich. This should be doneirrespective of caste or community.

I also would like to emphasise that thisis a sinister design aimed at quickelectoral benefits. Thanks to theMaoist’s absurd vision of ‘New Nepal’,we have already seen enough divisionamong Nepalis in the name of caste,culture, creed and language. We can ill-afford any more moves at segregatingthis already divided nation. KMC shouldrevoke this decision immediately!

ä Sanjay TuladharKathmandu

Politics of chairIt was not very long ago that the Communist Party of Nepal-

Maoists (CPN-M) and other constituents of the current ruling alliancevowed that they would establish a democracy that can never besnatched by anyone. But they gradually moved towards the politics ofannihilating opposition. And democracy without opposition loses all itsmeaning. They appropriated and monopolised the entire politicalprocess. From Prachanda to Madhav Nepal, all agreed to make GPKoirala the prime minister as well as the head of the state by puttinghim above the law. Their movement for democracy only meantestablishing a dictator.

Koirala has only moved a step forward from there. He has set uphis own dynasty after he managed to prolong his rule withoutaccountability. His daughter Sujata has been made a minister withouteven consulting the Nepali Congress or the ruling alliance, a practicethat he had been following all through during the past 21 months ofgovernance. He has taken the alliance partners’ servility for grantedthis time as well.

Dynasty and democracy go together in South Asia. Nehrus in Indiaand Bhuttos in Pakistan are just a few examples. But in each case, theyhave secured people’s mandate to legitimise the succession and bowedout of office when people have willed that through election. If necessary,they have made the sacrifice in defense of their nationalism anddemocracy by laying down their lives.

But Sujata’s elevation has come through a process that can becalled anything but democracy. Democracy becomes richer andstronger if leaders give up their position and power for principles andconviction. Such instances abound.

Sujata Koirala has shown the guts to challenge the official line ofthe Nepali Congress on republic, stating publicly that monarchyshould be retained in the country. So her being appointed a ministerby her father appears more like a bribe to silence her. By acceptingthat, she has shown that she can barter her principles or politicalconvictions for the chair.

Rightly, Nepali Congress leaders that include several parliamentar-ians have now begun challenging the PM after the change heaffected in the cabinet recently in which the father and the daughterapparently stuck a deal. The elder Koirala only behaved like anauthoritarian ruler. The country cannot be held hostage by the lust forpower of a blind father and his ruthlessly ambitious daughter. In fact,Sujata’s challenge has increased manifold and she has only limitedoptions. She can either turn down the ministerial berth and reach outto the people for their support for her political line, or run the risk ofbeing branded as someone whose only aim in politics is the chair.

GP Koirala was given the leadership of the government nearly twoyears ago on an ad hoc basis with a limited responsibility to holdelections to the constituent assembly. He has already deceived thenation twice by failing to keep the promise. He is apparently using theresultant anarchy and lack of legitimacy of the system to promote hisdynasty, something that the people of this country will not accept.Hopefully, the international community, which is here on a large scale,ostensibly to promote democracy in Nepal, understands this.

Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it isnever enough. - Janwillem Ven De Wetering

Point to Ponder

War is barbarityKunta-haji Kishiev was Chechen Muslim

mystic, the founder of a Sufi branch namedZikrism, and an ideologue of nonviolence andpassive resistance. He is often referred as theChechen Mahatma Gandhi.

Kunta-haji Kishiev was born in a Chechenlowland village of Isti-Su. In his youth he wasdistinguished by his hard work and sharpmental senses. Kunta received a solid religiouseducation and was a follower of shaykh Gezi-haji from the village of Zandak. He startedpracticing Loud Zikr: prayer with dancing,singing, rolling and recitation of divine names.He became a strong supporter of non-violenceand peace. In the midst of the bloody

Caucasian war he wrote toChechnya from Mekka:

War is a barbarity. Moveaway from anything thatreminds you of war if theenemy does not attempt totake your belief and yourhonor. Your strength isyour wisdom, patience andfairness. The enemy wouldnot be able to crash thatstrength and eventuallywould be forced torecognise his defeat. Nobody would be able todefeat you and your rights if you would notmove from your belief.

Spiritual Cornerteaching contradicted Islam. Still the influenceof Kunta-haji only grew.

Considering Kunta-haji as a threat theGovernor-General of Terek ordered hisarrest. Kunta-haji and his brother, Movsar,were arrested and taken to Novocherkasskprison in January 1863. In 1928 documentswere found confirming that Kunta-haji died inexile in the town of Ustyuzhna. The followersof Kunta-haji believe that their teacher is oneof the 360 saints that keep the world alive andthat he would return to Earth at a future time.The tomb of Kunta-haji’s mother, Kheda, isconsidered sacred as the spring nearby that isbelieved to have been started by Kunta-hajipushing his stick into the earth.

Defeat the evil man by yourgoodness and love. Defeat thegreedy with your generousity.

Defeat the treacherous withyour sincerity. Defeat the infidelwith your fidelity.

Despite the fact that Kunta-haji repeatedly rejected the titleof imam he was seen as athreat to the Imerial authoritiesand the official version of Islamsupported by Russian authori-ties. By the request of the Tsar’s

administration, official Islamic clericsorganised public theological discussionswith Kunta-haji trying to prove that his

License to lootIt is a shame that Nepal’s ‘Loktrantrik’

Prime Minister Girija, threw all thenorms and decency that democracydemands and elevated his controversialdaughter, Sujata Koirala, to the rank ofa cabinet minister. Sujata’s credentialsas a member of the PM’s household hasbeen marred as she used her father’sposition to get Royal Nepal Airlines’General Sales Agency (GSA) forEurope, to her relatives, in 1992.Literally, she robbed the nation of

millions by that act.Sujata who will have

now access to all thegovernment files can do lotmore hanky panky in alegitimate way. And shecan do it freely nowbecause the parliament, asthis newspaper correctlyraised, has become arubber stamp and there isno hope of justice from theSupreme Court which isincreasingly under theinfluence of the executive.

Sujata, who has beenblessed by her all powerfulfather will now be able toloot the nation without anyaccountability. The wayKoirala quietly nominatedher as the cabinet rankminister resembles themanner King Gyanendramade his son, Paras, thecrown prince.

ä Sudhir AryalKathmandu

Readers, yourreactions, criti-cisms, comments,suggestions aremost welcome.Please address itto:

newsfront@bhrikuti.com

21-27 Jan, 20085Debating Development

Without much fanfare, the current interimparliamentary body two weeks ago quietlydecided to give its members Rs 1 million each aselections perk out of the government coffer.There was hardly any coverage of this news inthe media. Demonstration of a collective greedby the people’s representatives is nothing new inpolitics. But the nature of the intention and thetiming should raise alarm among those whocare about making the elections a clean andcompetitive process in Nepal. What happenedlast week in the interim parliamentary will set abad precedent for our infant democracy.

We all have fresh memory of the famousPajero and Jambo cabinet scandals, and whocan forget the royal exploits of King Gyanendra.I am sure there are similar examples of dutyfree import privilege extracted by the Panchas.But this pre-election self-serving bonus isuniquely detrimental to our effort in creatingsmall “ds’ that are essential to establish the big“D” as in democracy. What is more puzzling isthe lack of

opposition to this act by the media.

In a free market society, price fixing throughcollusion is considered a crime. Consequently,anti-trust laws are put in place to bar companiesfrom conspiring to manipulate prices to retainundue market advantage. British Airways had topay a record £121.5 million fine for colludingwith rival airline Virgin Atlantic on surcharges.South Korea’s government too aggressivelygoes after companies found suspicious ofcolluding and working against the spirit ofmarket competitiveness. Competitive environ-ment and competition among the companiesgenerally produce quality product, lower prices,and benefit the consumers. Free and competi-tive market welcomes new firms, fresh invest-

ments, and invigorates innovations and growth.

In politics too, we expect to have a levelplaying field so that the new candidates withfresh ideas stand a chance to challenge theincumbents. Many countries do have someforms of campaign financing laws to preventundue influence of money and power in theelection campaign. What happened last week inthe interim parliament has serious unintendedconsequences.

A group of parties in the parliament comingtogether to pass a bill to give themselves Rs 400million election perks is a form of electioncollusion. Giving every incumbent Rs 1 millionbefore the election violates the basic democraticprinciple of a free and fair election practice. Itinhibits independents from running for officesand thwarts healthy competition. In smallvillages, the sitting parliamentarians will have anundue monetary advantage of influencing thelocal politics.

This tendency of grabbing money from theincumbents by electorates will also erodedemocratic process at the local level. Thishappened in the local level election in 2001 inTamil Nadu where the villagers voted for thosecontestants who donated 30 bags of cement fora temple construction.

Instead of fighting to restore democraticelectoral mechanism to promote competitive-ness, the current interim parliamentary body haspromoted election collusion. It is simply a slap onthe face of what we know as “liberal democ-racy”. This pro-incumbent bill also falls flat in theface of those grass-roots young leaders whoare demanding internal democracy within theirown parties.

Then there are the new Madhesi partiesready to challenge the establishment. Do theyqualify to receive some of these funds? Whatabout those Dalits and women who may form aparty to compete in the election? Will they alsobe compensated to offset the monetary edge ofthe established political machinery of the SevenParty Alliance (SPA)?

Acting as a political oligarchy, distributinggovernmental resources for the self-servingmotivation of its members for the purpose ofwinning election may even be consideredunconstitutional. After all, a constitution issupposed to guarantee competitive party polityand fair election. This act of the interimparliament does neither, and so there

may be some ground to have it reversed bythe Supreme Court.

In response to my concern, a veteran civilsociety leader responded as follows: “It seemsnow we have NGOs, civil society actors, themedia who are all constrained by their ownparty affiliations and other interests. We have todo what we can within these constraints.”

I hope that the fight for ‘lokatantric’ in thecountry is not just about personal and/or groupconvenience. It is indeed sad to see people’snames being used to advance programs thatare so anti-people and anti-lokatantric. Thisseriously raises question about the current

parliament’s fast-eroding legitimacy and itscommitments towards the public goods. Whencompanies collude for a collective greed, theycan be punished in the court of law. But, who willpunish the lawmakers for making the self-serving bad laws?

(The writer is Professor of Economics,University of New Mexico)

Election perk

Giving everyincumbent

Rs 1 millionbefore the

election vio-lates the ba-

sic demo-cratic prin-

ciple of afree and fair

electionpractice.

ä Alok K Bohara

Nira

j Sap

kota Leaders of the Seven Party Alliance attending the first joint mass meeting to

campaign for the CA elections, last week.

Inter6 21-27 Jan, 2008

Ted Riccardi, born in Philadelphia in 1937, hasa BA from Harvard and MA and Ph.D in OrientalStudies from the University of Pennsylvania. Healso studied at the School of Oriental andAfrican studies in London, and the University ofRome, Italy. He taught at Columbia Universityfrom l968 to l999 where he was Professor ofIndian and Himalayan Studies. At Columbia heserved as Director of the Southern AsianInstitute and Chairman of the Middle East andAsian Languages and Cultures Department.From l980-82 he served as Counselor forCultural Affairs, United States Embassy, NewDelhi.

In l999 he took early retirement to pursuefurther research and the writing of fiction. Hismost recent works are “The Oriental Casebookof Sherlock Holmes” (Random House: 2004)and, with Mohan Prasad Khanal, “Archaeologi-cal Excavations in the Kathmandu Valley”(Harvard Oriental Series). He lives with his wifeand two younger children in Kathmandu.Excerpts from the conversation he had withSushma Amatya:

When did you first come to Nepal and whatkeeps you here?

I first came to Nepal in 1965 as a universitystudent and came back often, since I developedmore and more research interests here inhistory and culture of the country, and I startedto publish more on Nepal. I think I fell in lovewith Nepal. When I first saw it, I found Nepalhypnotising. Coming from an industrialisedworld, I had never seen a country operating onsuch very different principles. I found mostNepalis very attractive, intelligent and also whatthey produced very attractive, and how theyproduced in the context of nature withoutdestroying everything around it.

You are working on an edition of Newaridictionary?

A dictionary that was compiled in 1792 AD byan Italian priest, one of the catholic fathers senthere to try to convert the people to Christianity.It’s a dictionary that I first photographed in 1973and never got around to working on it. Now Iam working to prepare an edition of thedictionary, which is in Newari and Italian, andprobably the longest and the oldest dictionary ofNewari language with around 10,000 entries. Itwill be of value to scholars to see how thelanguage developed.

Your understanding of Nepali history andhow politically motivated it was?

I think all histories are politically motivated ormotivated by a view of the world. History isformed by that. In Nepal there are two thingsthat I noticed: one is that if you strip Nepalihistory down to its bare elements, you have askeleton of verified facts. The rest of it is fatadded to it. A lot of history here is mostlylegends and written from a particular point ofview. To give you a case in point, there are inNepal Bansavalis – chronicle or list of kingsmostly written in the 19th century - some writtenby Newar Pundits and some by Brahmins. They

all point to their own view of how history started.But people don’t know this. They have a feelingthat history is somewhat skewed but they don’tknow why or how.

What could be done would be to have moreseminars indicating what the sources of Nepalihistory are and their nature. You have a wholelist of kings some of them reigning for a hundredyears – very difficult to believe that anybody livedso long then. If you start with 3102 BC, thebeginning of Kali Yuga, you have 5000 years tofill. It’s a small point but it does indicate the factthat the chroniclers had to become veryinventive.

Most of the students I know here of any agedon’t really have any idea of Nepali history. Ithink that is one of the things that education isnot doing properly. There should be more of it, itshould be scholarly informed by new discover-ies, by the kinds of theories that teachesstudents to question, to explore and not justaccept what is handed down to them.

To cite another problem, some historians say

that first came the Gopalas, then the Kiratas,Licchavis, Mallas and then the Shahs. As youmove forward in time, it is clear that we knowmore about the Shahs, almost nothing about theGopalas or Kiratas. There is little in the way ofhistorical records concerning these last two. Andwho are the Kiratas? Kirata is a difficult word tointerpret. It refers to a group of people but it isan epithet of Shiva as well. If we find it in anancient inscription, how do we interpret it, howdo we assign a meaning to it?

Why is history important?

History may not be important; but to me it isthe grounding of where you are. It gives you afoundation, a point of view to look at the worldfrom. A history is not a science, in the sensethat you can corroborate everything. It involvesa certain amount of speculation but to me it isthe narrative we each form in one way oranother during our lives. We can’t avoid history,what happened yesterday, or ten years ago.And therefore you better have the best versionof it that’s possible, and you better know that

history can be used for different people’s ends.It’s a fact that history can be twisted, can begiven different interpretations for the samething. It is a battle for the truth and you have tocontend with it. People are going to writehistory no matter what and it better be goodhistory if you want a population that under-stands what it is.

It would be an exaggeration to say that thepresent political situation in Nepal in general isdue to the lack of the understanding of history;but on the other hand it would be better itseems to me, if the leaders of this country hadan idea of what that history is, what it is for, andacted accordingly.

How do you think they can be educatedbetter?

I think they have to create active groups ofpeople like Babu Ram Acharya, Surya BikramGyawali, Mahesh Chandra Regmi..etc.. Thesepeople wrote history and they know a lot.Replacing them are a very few. I think you haveto build up scholarly cadres of people, some ofwhom will be historians who can help lead thecountry.

Is it true that history is mostly written bythe winners?

Hitler may have said that and many believe it.In the long run, I don’t think it’s true. Andbesides we don’t want that kind of history.

One of the things that have been happeningin America, particularly in regard to the history ofthe subcontinent in general – is what has beencalled a subaltern movement, the history of thepoor class, the disenfranchised, those whocannot represent themselves. We don’t want toknow only about the history of kings. The greathistorian here, who did not worry about thehistory of the kings very much was MaheshChandra Regmi, considered by many to beNepal’s most brilliant economic historian. Heknew what it meant to write history which wasunaffected by fashion or politics. He had a pointof view.

About your other works?

The first thing that I did was the study of theKing and the Corpse – a celebrated Sanskritwork which has been translated into Nepali.That was the work I did for my Ph.D. I’vewritten many articles: one a commentary andtranslation of a portion of Sylvain Levi’s LeNepal, an article on the royal edicts of RamShah of Gorkha. I also investigated the story ofthose Nepalis who left their homes here in thevalley, forced out by Prithvi Narayan Shah in1769, because they had been converted toChristianity. They wound up in a small village inBihar called Chuhadi. In 1978, I went there tosee who of these Nepali converts remained.Only two descendants of the original groupwere still alive. Eleazar and his wife Susannah.About 200 people in all had come to Bihar forrefuge and intermingled with the localpopulation. This man I met was the last manwho spoke Newari.

Nepal is a delicate flower that is about to die.

All history is politically mo

The winner will always be there. Power will always be a part of knowledge and knowledge is at least partially relative to time and society. it. Otherwise you will end up with nothing worth having. That has not been done. You have to create it in younger people. You have to get

721-27 Jan, 2008rview

About the changes you have seen in Nepal?

One of the problems of Nepal is what do wechoose from the outside world and how longdo we take to make those changes and howmuch will it cost? These questions were neverreally answered well it seems to me. Nepalplunged headlong into development. Nepaliswanted changed, they sloughed off the oldculture. They threw much of it out. One of thereasons why many artifacts land up outside itbecause the Nepalis said - I don’t want it, takeit. I want the world of pollution, factories,airplanes. I want dirty air and streets cloggedwith traffic.

I don’t think anybody could have changedthat. It is a very natural thing for people to wantdifferent things they have not had before. Onthe other hand, had the changes been slower,more methodical, more aligned to the needs ofthe people rather than the selfish view, it wouldhave been a lot better. Right now you havechaos, a slow stagnant chaos but chaosnevertheless, and no sign of this chaos abating.It seems a permanent feature.

Development here has been somethingrather international rather than from within thecountry with your own resources. When youhave a dependency, when you let people tell youwhat to do, you make mistakes and this is a bigmistake. From a Nepal that had nothing 50years ago to a Nepal in which you can findeverything, but in total disorder and disarray,shoddily done, you have the changes but notvery desirable ones.

It is a big question all over the world: How doyou direct this desire legitimately and rightlymotivated into a better world, a better society?In Nepal, there is a lot more food in the marketetc, and more of everything. But even afteryears of international development you still can’tturn on the tap and get a glass of clean water. IfNepal had gone for more for the basics, it wouldhave been better off. I don’t think foreignersshould come in Nepal and tell them what to do.This goes for myself and other foreigners. Youare the ones responsible for the adaptation ofwhat’s coming into the country.

One of the great losses of this country wasthe early death, disablement and impeachmentof best leaders like BP Koirala, Ganesh ManSingh, Man Mohan Adhikari, etc. Nepal wouldhave been better off if it had fallen straight into ademocratic society of 1951 on; instead ofswinging back and forth. Panchayati system wasa thirty year calamity.

The present leaders have not been able topull Nepal in a direction more rational than itspresent course. Anybody walking down thestreet in Nepal with half a brain would knowwhat needs to be done. But the cost is going tobe very very high because they were allowed toreach a point they should not have. There willcome a time when this valley will be completelycovered in cement, cars, and pollution. It mayvery well be the end. A demographer, KingsleyDavis said that Nepal is a delicate flower that isabout to die. Well, that flower is dying if not

already dead. Nepal is no longer an isolatedcountry. It is a middle sized country in the worldsystem, trying to fit itself into a not so attractiveworld system.

Even Dor Bahadur Bista said when Ishowed him the grey layer in the sky, “I don’tcare. We want progress.” He saw progress inthe sky and I saw pollution, I don’t see howthese two views can reconcile. It is quiteshocking for me when I hear some Nepalissay that they want big industries. Where arethey going to put it? There should have beena lot more thinking, discussion about suchthings, instead of seeing economic develop-ment in a simplistic way.

Was it not a desperate attempt to moveaway from dire poverty?

Yes, but only partially. The conditions hereshould not have been allowed to exist. Wherewere the Ranas and the Shahs when the leperswere walking down the road? What were theydoing? Well, we know what they were doing.You had a ruthless aristocracy ruling a docile,injured, fearful population.

How much does history shape yourpsyche?

When I meet young people and try and seewhat they know about their own country, I sensea very distorted picture, I see laziness, notenough reading, not enough thought. Theyobviously know a lot about jobs, computers, somany other things are vying for their attention.This psyche has no shape but that of modernity.So why should they spend time reading aboutking Manadeva or Amshuvarman; or learningwhat a critical point of view is relative to history,how it was made and how you fit into it?Because it protects you from evil. It is a funnything to say but truth, whether it is in historicalform, whether in religious form or artistic form isone.

The winner will always be there. Power willalways be a part of knowledge and knowledge isat least partially relative to time and society. Withyour own history, you have to put your psyche,mind, brain into it. Otherwise you will end upwith nothing worth having. That has not beendone. You have to create it in younger people.You have to get them to ask why do I have toknow about the Buddha for example? Becauseyou have to know the truth. It is not somethingyou carry around in your pocket. It is an effort tolearn something and see it deeply.

What did Nepal teach you?

I learned a lot about myself, about the worldby living here. It is not a one way street. Thebiggest thing I’ve learned is how important thesocial fabric of your society is, how strong itshould be. This country has a very strong senseof itself, of community and of relations betweenpeople. This gives one hope.

Is not the fabric weakening?

Very much so. Because people tend to take

short cuts and because social fabric all over theworld are getting weaker and getting replacedby the consumer society and it is probably theway the whole world is going to go down, adarkening of the world. We have to accept aradically different Nepal 50 years from now, justas we must accept a radically different world.

How does one find a balance?

I think you need a group of people at the top,experienced people who know the world,between age 40 and 60, who on one side aretechnocrats and on the other are brilliantpoliticians. The balance has to come from suchleaders who can engage the society in a broaddialogue. The present leadership talks only toitself. Leading a rebellion and running agovernment are very different things. We arenow close to total failure in running a govern-ment.

Your comment on rising communal feelingshere?

You see this everywhere. I think this isinevitable. It is the result of the homogenisationof so much of our lives. It is a natural instinct tocordon oneself off but it does not do anything. InNepal, the feelings are less venomous thanelsewhere, and one can only hope that this tooshall pass.

Well, that flower is dying if not already dead.

otivatedDo you think Nepali history should be re-written?

Yes, a lot of ideas that Nepalis have aboutthemselves came through foreign eyes. Thatdependency has to be broken. And historicaland social clarity needs a moratorium oninsulting other people needlessly.

We are fond of saying that Nepal is a tinycountry. Nepal is not a tiny country. Maldivesmay be a tiny country but not Nepal with 27million people! Think that is tiny? That would bemy way of teaching history. I would begin byexamining the clichés of Nepali history and startto bring down the heroism of great kings,legends and look at them very clearly andcontinue to chop the attitude that are no longeruseful.

In Jaisideval, there are two inscriptions from amuch earlier century. Everyday they deterioratefurther, threatened by drums of kerosene thathide them. Where else in the world can you findancient inscriptions of such antiquity unat-tended? These are not just antique texts, butstatements from another world, gifts that alsotell us something about that world and ourpredecessors. If that is not valuable to you, Ican’t persuade you. Ultimately we need history,if only to form a convincing narrative aboutourselves. ä

With your own history, you have to put your psyche, mind, brain intot them to ask why do I have to know about the Buddha for example?

One of the problems of Nepal is what do we choose from the outside world and howlong do we take to make those changes and how much will it cost?

21-27 Jan, 20088 Opinion

ä Sabita Gyawali

Terai hasrecentlyentered a newpolitical space.It has been

able to challenge the state,government, its' rulingmechanism, mainstreampolitical parties and theirattitudes. This movement hasbeen able to create animportant political space forTerai in Nepali politics.

However the challenge forTerai politics is to honestlycreate an equal political spacefor women. Within thechanged political context stillpatriarchy is dominant and

there is continuous trend ofdomination and suppression ofwomen. Unfortunately Teraihas not been able to createpolitical space for women evenwithin the ongoing movementof identity and transformation;and the politics of patriarchy isstill dominant.

Patriarchy is a system wheremale are considered to besuperior, they are the heads ofthe family and outside of family.Thus family, society, rules andregulations all are guided bythe males and their wishes.Males are considered superiorto women as they have accessto power and they becomeinfluential in social, political andcultural system.

As a result, there is verysystematic domination ofwomen. Women are forced toaccept the notions ofpatriarchy that are verysystematically introduced tothem and there is noalternative. Terai politics stilllies inside the vicious circle ofpatriarchy. So called new

ä Siddhartha Thapa

With less than three monthsleft for elections, recentpolitical developmentssuggest it is becomingincreasingly apparent that

elections are so far only a distant mirage.There are two critical points of analysis that isbeing repeatedly ignored and those aredirectly correlated with the prospects oftimely elections happening: the Terai problemand the intent of the Maoist leadership.

The Maoists through the effective usage of

Home Minister KP Sitaula have ambushedthe Nepali Congress (NC) into a state ofparalysis. After the agitation in the Terai earlylast year, a majority of the political parties losttheir base there temporarily. The Indiansever since then had been cajoling the primeminister to move the NC in Terai and fill inthe political vacuum created. As a result ofcontinued ignorance demonstrated by theNC, the Indians were forced to glue togethera group of moderate Terai leaders to fulfilltwo purposes - neutralise the radicalisation ofTerai and to fill in the political vacuum.

Credible information suggests that Maoistsare left with only about ten functioning districtcommittees. An influential Terai leaderconfided that Swiss diplomat Gunther hadbeen approaching various Terai factionsrepeatedly to work out a possible alliancebetween the Maoists and the Madeshigroups. However, Gunther's initiatives wererejected downright by the agitating Teraigroups because they sensed his initiative asa ploy that was ultimately aimed at aiding theMaoists to regain the lost ground in the Terai.Gunther’s term was over without his beingable to have his initiative materialised.

But Maoists also independently pursued

the move. Maoist Foreign Affairs Chief CPGajurel met a senior leader of theJanatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (Goit) lastsummer when Goit was critically ill.However, Gajurel failed to work out analliance between the Maoists and the Goitgroup. Nonetheless, due to the fluidity ofthe situation in the Terai, the Maoists arenow in their last phase of preparation toreenter Terai and regain the lost ground.This is because almost 50 percent of theelectoral constituencies are in the Terai andit is pivotal for any party who wishes to wina majority in the elections to win a substan-tive number of seats there.

But elections are impossible without solving

the Terai problem. What we have tounderstand is that if the elections are heldwithout solving the problem; the people ofthe Terai would have lost an opportunity

Down with maledominated politicsThe challenge for Terai politics is to honestlycreate an equal political space for women.

Elections are impossible without solving the Terai problem.

Electoral facadeforever. And it is very unlikely that the Teraileaders would kow-tow to the threat posed bythe SPA and participate in the elections.

India who is a large stakeholder in the Teraiaffairs would also prefer that the Terai fiascobe solved before the elections. And theIndians know it very well that if the problem isnot solved before the elections, it will never besolved after the elections. But the interest ofthe major three parties in Terai clashes. Noneof them would want to go to the poll if theirposition is not better than the other’s. Moreover, they have avoided taking a clear standon the issues since that may weaken theirelectoral prospects. That means the big three- Maoists, NC and the UML are in no mood tosolve the problem.

It is also equally important to scrutinise theintent of the Maoist leadership. On the 1st ofJanuary, Prachanda released a statementdemanding that the PLA should be ready touse their weapons impromptu in theimmediate future. Due to continued absenceof government authority at all levels; theMaoists are consistently seeking avenues tooverwhelm the state. Therefore, it is butnatural for them to make the inevitable u-turnand shy away from elections yet again.

The intelligence apparatus of the NepalPolice that has presided by no other personthan Sitaula fears that Maoists may bedeploying the Young Communist League(YCL) cadre in rural areas and the villages tocapture voting booths at the 11th hour, so that;the international community and the NepalArmy will be in no position to thwart theirbooth capturing designs.

If the Maoist leadership comes to a

conclusion that the election option is not worththe risk, the Maoists will start galvanising theissue of PLA-NA integration as the primaryissue to scuttle the polls. And succeed theywill because, the NC and the UML owe theiraccession to power to the Maoists. Anyfracture in the Seven Party Alliance (SPA)alliance would threaten GP Koirala's positionas the PM and the Maoists will exploit hisweakness for power to fulfill their objectives.

Although nobody has claimed the responsi-bility of the bomb blast after the SPA meetingin Khulamanch the other day, all fingers pointat the Maoists. This is because the intelli-gence agencies and the security agencieshave received reports confirming that theMaoists in their last CWC have devised twostrategies. First, posture as if the party isready to go to the polls. Second, make allnecessary measures to scuttle the polls andgalvanise the situation to the party's favourand portray the Maoist party as the alternateto the Koirala government. ä

political parties, their leaders,their new political dynamicshave definitely tried to createnew political ground foridentity politics but the maledomination within thesechanged political contextsclearly manifest the exclusivepolitics of patriarchy.

Under the identity politics ofTerai and its people, identity ofTerai women, their represen-tation, and theiracknowledgement as theequal rights holders havebeen grossly neglected evenin the present scenario.

Terai has not been able tonurture women representa-tives who can lead Terai andstrongly raise its issues. There

are few established symbolicnames of women representa-tives like Chitra Lekha Yadav(Nepali Congress), RenuYadav (RPP), Anadi Devi ofRastriya Sadbhawana partyand Sarita Giri, in Terai politics.Their representation issignificant within the broaderpolitical contexts and this hasplayed an important role toinspire other women as well.But their symbolic representa-tion in some places does notrepresent overall women ofTerai and their situation.

The situation of Dalitwomen and many other suchmarginalised groups ofwomen is even deplorable.Terai is going through theburden imposed by Pahadipolitics; and within Terai, themarginalised section is goingthrough hard times imposedby the upper class. Women atall levels face layers ofdominations.

The time has come toquestion all these powerstructures. The leaders of

Terai should be able to createpolitical space to raise voicesfor those women who havebeen the victims of patriarchy,who are raped, who areburnt due to dowry issues,and who are dominatedsimply because they areDalits and women.

Most often, leaders of Teraimake a good political excusewhen the issues of womencome and that is by saying:"As the entire Terai is goingthrough domination, so first itis important to fight for theright of Terai as a whole andwhen we achieve this goalthen automatically the situationof women and Dalits will beimproved."

This is again a dangerouspatriarchal politics that alwaysthinks of freedom from maleperspective. It should be clearthat freedom is always equalto every human being andevery human being wantsfreedom.

Leaders of Terai shouldnow be clear that Terai doesnot belong only to males andfeudal Madhesis. It belongs toall. Likewise in democracyeach and every sector ofpeople should have equalopportunity to lead a dignifiedlife and access to their rights.

Patriarchy exists both inTerai and Pahad; but at a timewhen Terai is going throughthe identity crisis and creatinga new political environment inthe country, it is extremelyimportant to create a politicalspace for women as well. Inthis sense Terai has ahistorical opportunity torecognise women leadershipand give priority to women'sissues, which could be alesson for the entire nationalpolitics. ä

A Madhesi Minister speaking in a mass meeting

Nira

j Sap

kota

news

front

21-27 Jan, 20089Fromt the region

The CIA has added its support tothe view that a Pakistani militant,Baitullah Mehsud, and al-Qaedaorganised Benazir Bhutto’s killing.

CIA Director Michael Hayden toldthe Washington Post that the formerPakistani prime minister was killed byfighters allied to Baitullah Mehsud.

The Pakistani government accusedMehsud of the attack shortly after MsBhutto’s death in Rawalpindi on 27

CIA names Bhutto ‘killers’

December.Mr Hayden did not reveal the

sources for his claim.Correspondents say that Mr

Hayden’s comments are the mostcomprehensive public assessment byUS intelligence of Ms Bhutto’s death.

Controversy still surrounds thecircumstances of the killing.

One or more attackers shot at herand detonated a bomb as she was

leaving a rally in Rawalpindi.Baitullah Mehsud has denied

involvement. The Pakistani govern-ment says it intercepted a phoneconversation proving that he wasbehind the attack.

‘Organised campaign’CIA Director Michael Hayden is

now backing the Pakistanigovernment’s view.

“This was done by that networkaround Baitullah Mehsud. We haveno reason to question that,” MrHayden told the Washington Post.

He said the murder was “part of anorganised campaign” that hasincluded suicide bombings and otherattacks on Pakistani leaders.

Mr Hayden said that the sameforces were responsible for a newoutbreak of violence sweeping acrossPakistan which was undermining thestability of President PervezMusharraf’s government.

“You’ve got this nexus now thatprobably was always there in latencybut is now active: a nexus betweenal-Qaeda and various extremist andseparatist groups,” Mr Hayden said.

“It is clear that their intention is tocontinue to try to do harm to thePakistani state as it currently exists.”

Forces belonging to BaitullahMehsud have also been blamed bythe government for seizing a fort fromthe military in the troubled region ofSouth Waziristan on Wednesday.

(BBC online)

Britain has exhorted the SriLankan government to push forpeace, as violence threatened toworsen in the government’scampaign against terror.

The British government’swarning Friday followed SriLankan Prime Minister RathnasiriWickramanayaka’s announcementthat the country’s armed forceshad a free hand to carry out effortsto wipe out terrorism withoutinterference from politicians.

The prime minister saidThursday evening the governmenthad “given full freedom to thearmed forces to conduct the war,”Lanka Page reported.

“Let the armed forces heads tohandle the war, as politicians werenot experts in that field,” he said.

But the British government toldSri Lankan President MahindaRajapakse “the world is watchingand waiting” for the island nation totake steps toward peace, TheTimes of India reported.

The Sri Lankan governmentformally ended its 2002 cease-fire

with the Tamil Tigers rebel groupthis week, triggering an eruptionof violence that has left dozensdead.

British Foreign Office MinisterKim Howells called for a newcease-fire. Howells said thepresident’s refusal to bring Tamilrepresentatives into the All PartyRepresentative Committee was “abig mistake.”

(UPI)

Britain: ‘World’seyes on Sri Lanka’

Asif Ali Zardari, husband ofPakistan’s slain oppositionleader Benazir Bhutto, addressesthe media at a news conferencein Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday,Jan. 15, 2008.

21-27 Jan, 200810 Perspective

ä Acharya MahayogiSridhar Rana Rinpoche

We do not need a being of any kindto create gravity. It is the law of naturethat whenever there is some mass thereis gravity. This is what Niyaam means inBuddhism. Everything arises throughcauses and conditions; and thosecauses and conditions themselves arisethrough other causes and conditions.Because of this there can be nobeginning. Therefore there can be nocreation ‘in the beginning’. About thisthere are no two minds within any formof Buddhism. Any system that believesin a beginning (and thus a creator)cannot subscribe to the principle that allthings arise from causes and conditions.And without that, that system of thoughtdoes not and cannot fall within theparadigm of Buddhism.

Many people get confused becausemany systems of meditation also usethe word non–dual like Buddhism andthus come to the conclusion that thefinal point ‘non – dual’ is the same. Butthis is merely a confusion that arosedue to the use of similar words.Actually the Sanskrit word used inBuddhism is Advaya while in monothe-istic system, it is Advaita (Hinduism tobe more specific); but when translated

into English both are called non –dual. This is a complex topic we shalldeal with later.

Let it be said that whereas mostother religious systems are theistic(Taoism being the only exception).

Buddhism is non-theistic. Here, non-theistic does not mean not believing ingods and goddesses and otherrealms of existence where they exist.That would be atheistic. Non-theistichere means, not believing in a singlecreator or any creator as such for

that matter. In Sanskrit, we use theword Unishwarvadin. Iswhar meaningthe creator – God. However,Buddhism is not ‘Nastik’/non-believeras some misled or illiterate Hinduswould like to believe.

Astik comes from the word ‘Astha’which means belief. So Astik wouldmean ‘believer’ as opposed to ‘Nastik’which would mean ‘non believer’.While Buddhism does not accept theVedas or any other scriptures andwhatever comes within theirparadigm, it does believe that mancan be free from suffering and thusattain Mokchhya or Mukti. It doesbelieve in karma and the cycle ofexistence, it does believe in otherrealms of existence; it does believethat man can attain enlightenment.Thus it is an ‘Astik’ system. In asense, all systems believe their owntenets and thus are ‘Astik’.

But Buddhism is a paradigm shiftfrom all other theistic systems, bethey monotheistic or polytheistic. Withthis background now let us take upwhat the Abhidharma has to sayabout the psi phenomena.

(To be continued)(Sridhar Rinpoche is a Vajrayana

Master)

Many peopleget confused

because manysystems of

meditation alsouse the wordnon–dual like

Buddhism andthus come to

the conclusionthat the finalpoint ‘non –dual’ is the

same. But thisis merely a

confusion thatarose due to

the use ofsimilar words.

Marshland Flowers

A paradigm shiftEverything arises through causes and conditions.

Indo-Nepal economic relationsNepal’s prestige and honor is sinking rapidly.

Nepal is said to be a land of theblessed, but it seems to have itsshare of curse as well. The recentstress between Indo-Nepal relationscame from nowhere. At a time whenthe entire nation, supported by thefriendly countries, mostly theneighbors, is trying to gear up for theconstituent assembly elections, anti-Indian remarks on the ongoing issuescome as a surprise to everyone.

As if it were not enough, the allpowerful legislature parliament, bypassing a directive to the govern-ment to refrain from the usage ofcertain words, and the concernedminister showing more concern onNepal’s neighbor’s anticipatedreaction than dealing with the issue,have made fun of themselves at thecost of the nation. Nepal’s prestigeand honor is sinking rapidly.

It is common knowledge that thetrade balance between Nepal andIndia is tipped highly in favor of thelatter. Despite several rounds ofdiscussions and dialogue, thesituation remains far from satisfac-tory. Urgent measures are requiredto correct this situation if the twocountries are serious aboutfurthering their relations in a healthyand happy manner.

In a recently concluded seminaron ‘Nepal-India trade and economic

relations’ in the Nepali capital, thefinance minister of Nepal could notrefrain from mentioning the bulgingtrade deficit that Nepal faced againstIndia. He was of the view that thesame could be addressed bydeveloping hydropower projects andexporting electricity to India. Thefinance minister blamed the‘lackadaisical attitude in policy makingand implementing levels’ of Nepal forthe lack of progress in the hydro-power sector.

Unless the Maoists are assured oftheir full power after the CAelections, obstruction to ongoingnational level projects is not helpful inanyway. Present load shedding, nowrunning into two full days’ time worth,has impacted almost all productive

sectors and households. While theentire nation was brooding on thisissue, a senior Maoist leader cameup with a pleasant surprise in ameeting hosted by a businesscommunity recently.

Stating that the Maoists want tostrengthen ‘capitalist industrialdevelopment’, he said that his partyhas adopted the policy of promotingprivate-public partnership to build anindustrially strong Nepal. He furtherwent on to add that the Maoistsbelieved that domestic capital shouldbe used in small and mediumhydropower projects while foreigncapital would be necessary for megahydro projects.

This is a sensible strategy for

Nepal’s hydropower development,and it is different from the earlierstances of doing everything throughdomestic mobilisation of capital. Now,the question that remains to beanswered by the Maoist leadership iswhat should the Nepali and theoutside investors understand of thisand several other mutually contradic-tory statements coming from thesenior Maoist leaders.

It is worthwhile to ponder on thestatement of the Indian envoy to Nepalwho believes that the slowing down ofIndian investment to Nepal was notcaused by the security situation but bylack of clarity on ‘investment incentives,regulatory environment, stability ofpolicy’ and such other matters. With astrong influence on the governmentand legislature, the Maoists are at thecentre of all activities in Nepal today.Nepalis as well as the foreign investorshave been focusing on the policypriorities of the Maoists, which are stillunclear to most in spite of themenjoying power without accountabilityfor the past two years now.

Any discussion on Nepal’seconomic development, particularlyin hydropower, would not becomplete without considering Indiaas the market. As the two nationsare closely bonded by geography insuch a way, given the will, they canmake the best out of the situation.

ä Binod P. Bista

It is commonknowledge that

the trade balancebetween Nepal

and India istipped highly in

favor of thelatter. Despite

several roundsof discussions

and dialogue, thesituation re-

mains far fromsatisfactory.

21-27 Jan, 2008 11Society

ä Akanchha Karki High after sniffing on a dendrite tube, 12

year old Ramu Thapa of Butwal fumbled tospeak not just because he was drowsy, butbecause his thin torn cotton vest was notenough to fight the freezing January cold.

Like Ramu, there are more than 500 streetchildren sauntering in the streets ofKathmandu. They have their own reasonsfor leaving home. According to a recentstudy by Sahara group, a majority of thesechildren follow their friends and relativeswho ran away from their homes. They sufferfrom the misconception that life is better outon the streets, because they think they get tobe free there. They also run away due tosocio-economic problems. 13-year-oldPradip Khatri said he left home because hisstepmother used to beat him up.

After coming to Kathmandu, very few returnback home. They somehow manage to adjust inthe busy streets of Kathmandu. According to thestudy, one fourth of these children have beenassociated with shelters, but they haveproblems adjusting there and flee. Though thepurpose of these homes for children is to givethem opportunities for socialisation andaccommodation, the children prefer staying inthe streets on their own. Some feel their peersand staff members in the shelters mistreat them.

I expected a different answer when Iasked them what the most difficult part aboutliving on streets was and the reply was,‘Jaado Mahina’ (winter season). Cops,thieves and ‘junkies’ and bullies scaredthem but the cold weather clearly was theirtoughest enemy. They own just one set ofclothes, which most of them found ingarbage. To protect themselves from cold,they cuddle with their friends and sometimes

There are more than 500 organisations working for children in Kathmandu.

Freezing street childrenwith dogs. Another street child, BhanuBasnyat, said, “We cannot sleep the entirenight because of the cold.”

As it is, these children are at high risk ofmany diseases, and coupled with malnutrition,the winter decreases their immunity sharply.Pneumonia is the biggest enemy of thesechildren. Ramu recalls his friends who diedbecause of the exposure. Toughened and bitter,these children have learned to accept harsh-ness that comes with their insecure lives.

Various organisations have made effortsto help these children by proving them food,shelter, opportunity to education andreintegration; but with increasing povertyand especially because of the past decadeof conflict, there has been a huge rise in thenumber of street children.

On 2005, CWIN-Nepal inaugurated a twomonth long winter camp for street children inorder to protect them from cold and to enhancetheir social abilities. Many children benefitedfrom this camp. CWIN believes that thesekinds of camps not only protect the childrenfrom winter, but also reintegrates them socially.However, a majority of the street children saythat they have not received help from anyone.They do not want to be sheltered or study in aschool, because their experiences with itearlier have not been good, according to them.Pradip Khatri says, “We do not want to studyin school. We like here on the streets. But, it ishard during winters.” 12-year-old Bhanu adds,“People should give us blankets, warm clothesand food.”

There are more than 500 organisationsworking for children in Kathmandu. If onlyone organisation took care of one streetchild and put in their best efforts into helpingthe child, the problem of street childrenwould not be there anymore.

Nepali carpet has more potential…More than 1.4 million sq. metres of carpet was exported last year.

ä Pramesh Pradhan

Domotex, the world’sbiggest trade fair forcarpet and flooring, washeld in Hannover,Germany. This year’s

edition, a four-day event from 12th to15th January had 1442 exhibitors from80 countries; exhibiting their productsand services, latest trends anddevelopments of carpet and flooring,spread over around 100,000 sq.metres. The fair annually attracts over44,000 visitors of which 60% aretrade visitors. The exhibition ground ofHannover is the biggest in the worldwith around five million sq. metres ofcovered state-of-art halls.

Nepal evening was a special event inDomotex. It was an interactionprogramme between major importers ofdifferent nations, Nepali carpetcommunity and the government. On 14th

January 2008, top three importers fromGermany and one each from US, UKand Turkey were awarded ‘ExportAward’ by Nepali Ambassador toGermany - Dr. Madan Kumar Bhattarai.The importers expressed their concernsregarding the political situation anddeteriorating economic climate in Nepal,

and delay in Kathmandu airport, amongother things.

Carpet is the number one exportproduct in Nepal. It constitutes 30.8%of our total national export amountingto more than Rs. 5.3 billion, in the lastfiscal year. According to the statistics,more than 1.4 million sq. metres ofcarpet was exported last year. Themajor market for Nepali carpet isGermany, USA, UK, Turkey,Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria,Belgium, Italy and Canada.

Carpet export from Nepal has beenplaying an important role in balancingthe trade deficit in Nepal. It is estimatedthat the industry has been providingaround 150,000 jobs to people inNepal. Carpet making is a tradition inNepal especially in the Himalayan andhilly regions. The influx of Tibetanrefugees in Nepal played an instru-mental role in intensifying the carpettrade and thus the export.

In Domotex, Nepal’s exhibition washeld on only 20 sq. metres of space.Two private carpet companies fromNepal along with carpet associationsunder the banner of Trade andExport Promotion Centre participatedin the event. Nepal has beenparticipating in the Domotex for the last

seven years continuously. Thoughseveral important governmentalofficials including ministers have beenparticipating for years in the fair, thegovernmental role played by TEPC inplanning and coordinating the fairappeared poor. Nepali embassy inGermany has to play a better role insupporting Nepali exhibitors in theirpursuit of market promotion.

Associations representing carpetcommunities in Nepal unfortunatelyseem not united, resulting in someimportant issues not being addressed.There is a need to sort out thedifferences and work together. Carpetexporters and manufacturers need tobridge the gaps and create a biggerplatform; if possible create a federationof carpet producers in Nepal.Nepalese carpet community and stakeholder institutions have to learn towork together.

In order to benefit from this world’smost important carpet platform, Nepaligovernment needs to focus on marketdevelopment programmes andemphasise on stronger governmentaland private partnership. Trainings forcarpet manpower, organising anational carpet mart, more organisedparticipation with bigger exhibiting

space in Domotex fair andorganisation of national designcompetition would be beneficial forNepal.

Nepali private business communityalso need to learn to work together.They are at times, accused of beingsilent at needed hours and not joininghands together for overall nationalexport of carpet. Nepali private carpetcommunity needs to explore newermarkets, take a lead role in establishingspecial carpet zone equipped withrequired infrastructure, enhance designdevelopment and organise promotionalcampaigns in potential markets. Makinga brand name for Nepali carpet, createour own labelling, product promotion inpotential markets and product diversifica-tion are the key challenges the industryfaces.

It also faces a number of dauntingproblems like politicisation of labour andfrequent strikes, disability in timely deliverydue to unrests, increase in labour wages,devaluation of US dollar and lack of qualitymonitoring for the carpet exported. Moreassistance from Nepali government isneeded and the private carpet communityin Nepal should get engaged moreresponsibly for a meaningful Domotexparticipation in future.

Carpet export from Nepal has beenplaying an important role in

balancing the trade deficit in Nepal.It is estimated that the industry has

been providing around 150,000jobs to people in Nepal. Carpet

making is a tradition in Nepalespecially in the Himalayan and

hilly regions.

Bhas

hwor

Ojha

21-27 Jan, 200812 TravelCDO Regd No 93/063/64 Kathmandu, Central Region Postal Regd. No 46/063/64

ä Raman Grandon

Long trips, huge sandy beaches,friendly people and warmwhitewater are the unique featuresof rafting and kayaking in Nepal’s

rivers; which Rob Hind, a Briton has fallen inlove with. Rob has been coming to Nepal forkayaking on a regular basis since 1991. Hecomes here at least once a year, particularlyduring autumn season when the rivers areswelling and rapids are in full swing.

In the early days, Rob read a lot aboutadventures of people in rivers. “Mike Jones,‘Canoeing down Everest’ and Hillary’s historic raftdown from Brahmaputra to the Ganges weresome of the best accounts of rafting adventurecirculated around. It didn’t take much time torealise that I had developed an inner instinct andknack for kayaking and rafting,” says he.

During his first trip Rob stayed two and a halfmonths rafting in Sunkoshi and Tamba Koshiwrapping up with a weeklong sightseeing inKathmandu. Even in the midst of Maoistinsurgency when many tourists cancelled theirtrips to Nepal Rob continued to come back.However, he believes, only 40 % of adventurerstook the risk of coming back.

He recalls, “We stopped doing Karnalicompletely between 2002 and 2006 as theextortion drive by Maoists in the area increasedrapidly. In 2002, a very bitter incident happenedwhen Maoists took away cameras of some of ourguests. Even before that we used to donate largesums of money for the rafting trips.” The last timehe remembers paying donation was in October of2006, a month before the peace agreement.

According to Rob, except for very few kayakmagazines and local travel agents there is notmuch effort to promote Nepal rafting. He deemsit quite necessary for Nepali government toregularly give coverage and publicise raftingactivities in Europe and America. “I think Nepalitourism industry should focus on improving the

conditions of road and operating more motelsand restaurants in and around the destination.There is also a good prospect of opening upmore rivers for rafting in Nepal. We can also runcross border trips from Nepal to India particu-larly from far western region of Nepal. Forexample, Kali River in Mahendranagar couldprovide the longest and smoothest ride possible,ending at the Indian side.”

There is no denying that Nepal has becomeone of the cheapest yet best places for novicekayakers and rafters from all over the world tolearn and experience rafting skills. For instance,Kayak clinics run by local agencies in Sunkoshiand Seti Rivers are a class apart.

Rob says, “Back in 1994 there were hardlyany kayakers in Nepal. Over the years thenumber of Nepali talents has increased. Nowyou can easily see Nepali rafters gettingemployed in places like Japan, America andEurope. They are really good.”

Every year around 10,000 travelers fromBritain go all over the world to raft. AlthoughScotland and Nottingham have famous raftingplaces, Britons regularly go to France in Europeand other hot spots like Nepal, India, Bhutan,Pakistan, Tibet, America and Australia. They alsotravel to Turkey in May, Zimbabwe in September,come to Nepal in October-November and thenhead over to Chile during Jan-Feb.

The biggest threat as of now to all the riversacross the world is obviously the unplannedconstruction of huge and environmentallysensitive hydroelectric dams. Rob agrees thatNepal has not been able to remain far from thisreality. “Before, we used to run five day longtrips in Kali Gandaki from Baglung to Ramdi. Butwith the installment of a dam across the uppersection, the duration has sadly been reduced tothree days.” Similar encroachment inMarshyangdi has also affected the rafting trips.A prime tourist attraction and an importantsource of revenue in the country, this sportneeds to be promoted better. ä

Rafting, kayaking in NepalRafting, kayaking in Nepal

Every yeararound 10,000travelers fromBritain go all

over the worldto raft.