#245 29 April - 5 May 2005 16 pages Rs 30

Weekly Internet Poll # 246. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.comQ..... Should India resume militaryassistance to Nepal?

Total votes:650

Weekly Internet Poll # 245

Q. Would lifting the emergency be a goodidea?

ISSN

181

4-26

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ing Gyanendra’s return onFriday from a week ofintense diplomacy at the

Afro-Asian Summit in Jakarta andthe Boao Asian Forum in Chinacould have been triumphant.

His numerous photoopportunities with world leaderswent some way in providing histakeover a certain internationallegitimacy.

The most dramaticbreakthrough was his meeting withIndian Prime Minister ManmohanSingh on 24 April after which theking announced that India wasresuming arms supplies.

Singh didn’t deny it, saying therequest would be considered in“proper perspective”. Then came aleak from an unnamed Indianofficial that the prime minister had

Fallout of Deuba arrest tarnishes successful tripindeed agreed to “unconditionally”resume military aid to Nepal.

When this news hit headlinesin New Delhi papers on Mondaymorning, all hell broke loose. TheCPM, a key ally of Singh’sCongress-led government, lashedout saying there was no questionof resuming arms supplies withoutrestoration of democracy in Nepal.The issue became a political hotpotato and less about Nepal thaninternal tensions within India’sleft-centre coalition.

The episode also exposedrifts between the Indian militaryestablishment and the Ministry ofExternal Affairs with the generalsfar more keen to resume hardwaresupplies to the RNA to help fightthe Maoists. Indian ForeignSecretary Shyam Saran, who hasreportedly taken charge of Nepalpolicy, was on a weekend trip toBhutan and is supposed to havebeen miffed by Jakarta's fallout.

As the defence and foreignpolicy establishments in NewDelhi locked horns there wasconfusion about who was reallydirecting policy towards Nepal.King Gyanendra came out of thislooking like he had run circlesaround the Indians and exposedtheir rift. In addition, the Indianabout turn on arms blew sizeablehole on the US-UK-India allianceon Nepal.

And that is how his visitwould have been seen had it notbeen for the ham-handed arrestof Sher Bahadur Deuba earlyWednesday morning and of fivemore prominent party leadersthat afternoon. Suddenly, itlooked like Kathmandu had nointention of keeping its end of thebargain to allow the politicalprocess to resume with aprogressive lifting of theemergency.

Deuba’s arrest was agodsend to the foreign policywallas in India who could nowsay “we told you so” to thedefence wallas. In a pointedstatement South Bloc saidDeuba’s arrest was “contrary toassurances”the king gaveto Singh inJakarta andeven hinted that these matterswere no longer viewed asNepal’s internal affairs. ForNepal Deuba’s arrest has been acase of snatching defeat from thejaws of victory.

All eyes are now on KingGyanendra's handling of theemergency which lapses onSunday, and the “100 days” hepledged on a democracyroadmap to Americanambassador James Moriartywhich runs out on 11 May.

KUNDA DIXIT

One on oneKing Gyanendra with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...

...Chinese premier Hu Jintao

...and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Editorial p2Emergency exit

K

PICS: DOI

2 29 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245EDITORIAL

Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda DixitDesk Editor: Abha Eli Phoboo, Aarti BasnyatDesign: Kiran Maharjan Web: Bhushan ShilpakarAdvertising: Sunaina Shah advertising@himalmedia.comSubscription: Anil Karki, subscription@himalmedia.comSanchaya Kosh Building, Block A-4th Floor, LalitpurGPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, NepalTel: 01-5543333-6, Fax: 01-5521013Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 01-5547018editors@nepalitimes.com, www.nepalitimes.com

EMERGENCY EXITThe state of emergency imposed on 1 February will expire in thenext few days. Without a parliament, it will need constitutionalcontortions to extend it by another three-months. But why bother?After all, it was a stick where a carrot would have sufficed.

We think this emergency has outlived its usefulness, beencounterproductive to state security and should be lifted as agenuine gesture to steer this country towards nationalreconciliation and to break our current international isolation.

Few would dispute that the country is in deep crisis, and drasticaction is needed to set things right. Despite serious concern abouthuman rights violations by the security forces, no one should haveany illusions anymore that it is the Maoists who as a matter ofpolicy use terror as a tactic of war. They resort to extremebrutality to spread fear, bomb schools, destroy temples and have noqualms in treating children as cannon fodder.

The people who have suffered the most at the hands of theMaoists in the past ten years have been ordinary Nepalis,grassroots political cadre and social activists—yet it is these verypeople who are affected by the curtailment of civil liberties post-1/2.Why are we punishing people who are on our side?

The raison d’etre for February First, as laid out in the royalproclamation, was that the political process had gone astray and itwas undermining the counterinsurgency campaign. Fair enough.But although a state of emergency was declared in a separatenotice, there was nothing in the royal proclamation that saidanything about such a harsh crackdown on the press andpoliticians.

It is our concern that the state ofemergency has deeply polarisedNepalis. The middle ground hasbeen removed. The Maoists seemedto be headed towards ultimate self-destruction anyway, now they havenew reason to rally against themonarchy and focus their fight.Intimidation of media has tarnishedthe credibility of the very institutionthe state needs to put its views tothe people. Wild rumours and panichave replaced facts, and this onlybenefits those who rule by terror.The role of the bureaucracy andconstitutional organs have beenemasculated by newly-formedauthorities with overlappingfunctions, and the rule of law hastaken a hard knock.

Prolonging the emergency willjust bolster the argument of thosewho believe that it was not reallydesigned to curb Maoism, but to putout pluralism.

fter February First, manybilateral and multi-lateraldonors were convinced that

suspending aid would force thecountry back to status quo ante.This meant having the countryruled once again by unelectedpoliticians—the possibility ofelection having been wreckedduring their own stewardship.

Almost three months later, theaid suspension has barelycreated a ripple. This calls forsome serious introspection bydonors themselves. Has their taxpayers’ money been only ofperipheral consequence forNepal? Conversely and moreseriously, how come the aid,much of it spanning over fivedecades, failed to prevent Nepalfrom sinking into the presentmorass, and more precipitouslyso, after 1990?

Charting our own pathHow to help re-engineer democracy by devolution

This failure is most telling inthe case of the United States,whose 11 Congressmen wrote toKing Gyanendra recently callingfor ‘peaceful reversion todemocratic reforms in Nepal’. Inthe 1970s-90s period, USAIDpresided over the ‘integrateddevelopment’ of Rapti Zone, theregion which emerged as theepicentre of the Maoistinsurgency.

Meanwhile, the ‘five partyalliance’, otherwise a looseensemble of opportunisticpoliticians, came together againrecently recovering from itsdisarray since last July when theUML deserted them to join theDeuba government. However,when its cadres went back tostreet protests recently there werescores of spectators watching inamusement and only a fewcourting arrest. This was a veryembarrassing display of lack ofpublic support for the agitation.

Junior politicians sent to thestreet frontlines are aware that theimage of their parties is tarnished.So, in the NC at least, pressureshave mounted for ‘reorganisingalong democratic lines’ and‘getting rid of the corrupt’ from theparty. These calls were, as usual,brushed aside by party president,Girija Koirala.

Tarnished by the Dhamija andLauda scandals, Girijababu wouldnever commit political suicide byagreeing. His corrupt cohorts, too,wouldn’t like to be sidelined evenas he continues to grace the partythrone. The wily politician haswriggled out of the predicamentonce again under the alibi that itis no time to cause conflict inthe party.

The paradox is that at a timeof such crisis, America, Britainand India lead the donor pack tomake common cause with suchpoliticians at a time whencommon citizens are actually

breathing a sigh of relief to have gotrid of them. The double-standardsare breathtaking: these samecountries have tolerateddictatorships and emergency ruleeverywhere else in the world.

The more-Catholic-than-thePope diehards in the donorcommunity should know by now thatwidespread poverty and illiteracyforce politicians to buy votes inelections. They then use this as anopen license to plunder while inoffice, wrecking governance in theprocess.

This has been the crux of theproblem in our practice ofWestminister style democracy. Incontrast, where authority isdevolved to the users themselves,transparency of management andaccountability of leaders, haveprevailed. Such devolution hasmade Nepal the world leader incommunity forestry. At this level,illiteracy is no hindrance for peopleto define their problems nor ispoverty a deterrence in participationin solving them.

Devolution is the key not only topromote genuine democracy anddevelopment but also to end theinsurgency once and for all. So,Nepal’s foremost need today is tore-engineer its democracy so thatthe disadvantaged majority get toeffectively participate in decisionsthat concern them. Restoring thecorrupt man’s democracy willamount to letting down the peopleonce again.

Finally, there is India. It madepeace with Pakistan ‘irreversible’last week, now it should preventNepali Maoists from operating fromits soil and help repatriate Bhutanirefugees who, having been shovedinto Nepal over its territory morethan a decade ago, have since beendenied return.

Bihari Krishna Shrestha is a

freelance writer on development issuesand politics.

STATE OF THE STATECK Lal

n May Day it will be exactly threemonths. Just as well there is noparliament to extend the emergency

because that will help the regime retain itsmask of constitutionalism.

Perhaps lifting the emergency “in duecourse” is a part of the informal deal overresumption of Indian arms supplynegotiated in Jakarta last week. There canbe no better way to comply than allowingthe emergency to lapse.

Meanwhile, there are encouraging signsof positive polarisation. Pro-people andpro-palace political forces are regrouping.Extra-constitutional (some would say anti-constitutional) agencies have begun to

alienateeventhecapital’s

meek middle class. The muddled mediahas begun to realise the folly ofglamourising violent insurgency,valourising authoritarianism and scorningdemocracy. Hardline monarchists are moreabrasive in their criticism of parliamentaryparties and their leaders.

Professionals are re-learning the valueof freedom as academics and lawyers areoffloaded from planes. This is exactly how

May Day, May Day!

GUEST COLUMNBihari K Shrestha

pressure builds up for change. Much as ourpolitical leaders would like us to believe,mass movements seldom succeed becausethey will it. The people just rise up whenthey can’t take it anymore. All that theleaders can do is prepare.

If this trend of political polarisationcontinues, and given the rigidity of thoseat the helm it may even intensify, theMaoists will be forced to rethink theirstrategy of violence. By now ChairmanPrachanda must have realised that thestronger the new regime gets, the morepowerful the ancien regime becomes.The RNA’s recent successes in Rolpaand Rukum show what it can do if itgets down to doing it.

It will undoubtedly hurt theiroversized egos, but the Maoist leadershipmust accept that despite their armedstrength, it is the mainstream parties thathave legitimate claims of being the realpro-people forces. The lessons of everylegitimate recent revolution in the worldhas been: never use violence. This is thefeature that distinguishes the current waveof people power revolutions since the1980s from earlier Jacobin and Bolshevikmodels of 1789 and 1917, the CulturalRevolution in the 1960s and the Khmer

Rouge terror of the 1970s. The Philippines got going first with

its People Power Revolution that overthrewFerdinand Marcos in 1986. The VelvetRevolutions of 1989 in Central Europe, theRose Revolution of Georgia in 2003 and theOrange Revolution in Ukraine this yearwere all major regime changes led by ideas,not arms. Looking at the unfolding CedarRevolution in Lebanon, one can’t see why aRhododendron Revolution can’t blossomin Nepal too.

The Maoists claim they are ready tocompromise on ‘genuine’ democracy.Parliamentary parties declare that theestablishment of ‘complete’ democracy istheir ultimate goal. Even the king hasproclaimed that he wants a ‘meaningful’democracy. These adjectives are allsynonyms. There seems to be a consensusthat the locus of power needs to shift backto Singha Darbar and that operationalauthority has to devolve to regionalgovernance structures.

Given the ground reality and thepreference of the international community,isolating those of little faith in democracyshouldn’t be all that difficult. All it needsis an honest effort to bring anti-palace andpro-people forces together under a single

common minimum program of broadeningparticipation and deepening democracy. Adestabilising face-off between the palaceand the people can still be avoided if thecourse of February First is correctedforthwith.

In the past three months the inherentweaknesses underlying October Fourth andits February First apogee have been laidbare. Compared to the revolving-doorgovernments that bickered incessantly forthe spoils, the volatile ways of democraticrule were remarkably stable. Since FebruaryFirst, regime stability itself standschallenged, hence the alarm of theinternational community.

A course correction is needed in theFebruary First roadmap. Otherwise theunintended consequences of a futureupheaval will change the very fundamen-tals of Nepali society. Revolutions whenthey happen sweep away the best-laidplans, enduring institutions are often castinto the dustbin of history.

It’s time once again for Nepal’spolitical players to end their endgame, andget on with peaceful politics andconstitutional reconciliation. That alonewill make a Rhododendron Revolutionunnecessary.

A Rhododendron Revolution couldblossom in Nepal too

O

A

329 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245

LLLLL E T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R S

MONITORINGCK Lal has finally written somethingconcrete (‘Mixed messages’, #243). Withthe help of civil Maoists disguised ashuman rights advocates, militant Maoistshave finally got themselves sucessfullyrecognised internationally as anestablished party to the internal conflict.The international community has alsorendered a great service to the Maoists intheir efforts to get recognised of havingcertain areas of Nepal under their control.Bravo! Look at the fate of poor Nepalis:the political parties which they believerepresents them are also welcoming theUN monitoring of human rights becausethey think it will help the restoration ofdemocracy even though they were inpower when the abuses took place. Theking has benevolently taken up thechallenge. Why is it that the parties canonly unite for destructive purposes? Whycan’t they unite with the king to resolvethe Maoist problem? Human rights willprobably benefit most from sharpeningthe claws of the National Human RightsCommission and allowing it to work inaccordance with the laws of the land. Lalmust be appreciated for pointing out: ‘It isquite unlikely that an international agencyempowered merely to observe andauthenticate will affect ground realities inany meaningful way.’ The UN’s preciousresources should be spent forresettlement of victims than to bring moreignorant foreigners to work with equallyignorant human rights organisations.Easy money has created many parasiteswho don’t care about human rights butare more interested in private projects fortheir corporate dynasties.

Dibya B Gurung, New York

Many of us were puzzled with AnneCooper’s interview (‘One of the biggestpress freedom crises in the world’, #243).I agree with Sushil Bogati (Letters, #244)that if this was indeed so then hercomments would not have beenpublished in the first place. Neither wouldthe article by CK Lal in the same issue(‘Winning back friends’). It is a sorrystate of affairs when the continuousbashing of Nepal by the internationalcommunity is being hailed directly andindirectly by our political leaders andmany in the media. Sorrier still is the wayin which the RNA is systematically underattack from the same people whileterrorists are called ‘rebels’. No wonderthere is no strong opposition to someundemocratic happenings in the country.All I can say is that we do not need ‘thefreest press in the world’ but we certainlyneed peace and stability.

Jana Thapa, email

At present, Nepal is moving forwardbravely on a thorny and difficult path butalone. We are working for a peaceful,progressive and democratic Nepal. Butwhere are those hands of friendship andstrength that would help guide us in thisdifficult task? Do Nepal’s friendsseriously believe that the so-calledpolitical parties really represent theinterest of the general population? Timeand again they have proven to beincompetent, self and party indulgent,

corrupt and power hungry. They are theones who have created the Maoists duringtheir terms of office and could not evencome together as a cohesive force againstthe Maoist even after repeated requests byHis Majesty asking them to unite. Whatmore do you expect from them or thedemocracy they represented? Nepal’sforeign friends have not given Nepal thebenefit of doubt. Stopping foreign aid willonly strengthen the Maoists who theinternational community itself categorisesas terrorists. So why are you weakening thegovernment by backing terrorists and apack of corrupt and incompetent politicalparties who you support under the name ofdemocracy? The present government hasbeen forced to take the present steps tosafeguard the sovereignty, integrity and theidentity of the country. We need the help ofthe outside world to attain peace, providefood, education and heathcare to citizens—that is true democracy. Otherwise it is justan excuse for the political parties to keepplundering the country. The friends of Nepalshould re-think and reconsider their policytowards Nepal and extend a big helpinghand.

Andy Joshi, Kathmandu

THALARAAarti Basnyat’s profile of Devendra SJBRana’s exhibition of photos (‘Thalara’sblack and white world’, #243) raises quite afew concerns. Exhibiting the pictures isindeed innovative but it needs to beanalysed historically and analogically.Firstly, it seems the photographer wasexaggerating Thalara’s neglect anddeprivation. There are numerous Thalarasthroughout Nepal. But this Thalara isdifferent because it represents the house ofNepal’s feudal lords, the babusahib Singhsof western Nepal who dominate the area.The attitudes they bear have been handeddown to commoners which largely impactsthe lives of the women and poor.

Secondly, trying to explain the povertyof Thalara through the optic of ke garne andfatalism obscures the exploitative andentrenched social and economic powerrelations. The ke garne mindset is not onlyrife among the Thalarians but is pervasivein all human beings. This subjugatedmentality cannot be seen in isolation and isnot restricted to the life attitude of the poor.Indeed, in a class-based society, thesociology of fatalism is also hierarchic. Thepoor man’s fatalism can be ascribed to hisinability to comprehend the developmentmodel from outside, whereas, a city dwellernobleman’s fatalism can be of his inabilityto secure a ministerial portfolio, a foreigntrip, a discotheque in a luxury hotel or acasino. I remember one of the primeministers of Nepal taking advice of atantrik-jyotish and not removing a swallow’snest at Baluwatar in the belief that if he didsomething ominous may happen.

The identity of Thalara poverty must notbe confined to ke garne and fatalism.Thalarians are surely hard working people,the lop-sided discourse as presented in thearticle trivialises the inner-agency of thepeople striving to come out of poverty. Itmay be more pertinent to look at how theirfatalistic attitude developed over time thathas a link to poverty.

Badri P Bastakoti, Reading, UK

MUKTINATHThe interview with Vinaya Singh (‘Get onthe next flight to Jomsom’, #244) promptsme to propose building a world classpilgrimage site of Bhagwan Swaminarayanat the Muktinath shrine. TheSwaminayaran faith has millions offollowers all around the world, many ofthem are affluent Gujaratis, and there are600 temples and 9,090 centres in 45countries. The Swaminarayan temple builtin London in 1995 is regarded as one of thearchitectural wonders of the world and isvisited by Hindus of all denominations.Muktinath has a special meaning andattraction in this community because thisis where Swaminarayan himself performedausterities standing on one leg inmeditation for two- and-a-half monthswithout food or drink in 1792. He alsovisited Butwal where he was received byKing Mahadutt Sen of Palpa and his sister,Mayadebi. He travelled onto Kathmandu in1795 and met King Rana BahadurShah who was suffering from aterminal stomach ailment.Swaminaryan cured the king. Tothis day, many affluentindustrialists and celebrities whoare devotees of Swaminarayantravel to Muktinath. TurningMuktinath into a pilgrimagedestination for the worldwideSwaminaryan community will notjust earn us spiritual merit, it willalso be a tremendous temporalboost to the local economy. Abefitting Akshardham temple inthe Muktinath area to honourthe sage would serve as amonument to peace andhumanity that Swaminayranhimself preached more than200 years ago. The newtemple would complement theexisting ones as well as thefestivals and pilgrimage.

Gauri Nath Rimal, Kathmandu

WRONG TIMEI don’t understand the hullabaloo hereabout Alex Perry’s coverage of theinsurgency in Nepal in Time magazinewhich has so many glaring errors that itundermines the overall credibility of thearticle. Freak Street is no more the ‘touristdrag’, Space Time Today closed down longago, etc, etc. It is gratifying that Time hasfinally ‘discovered’ the conflict in Nepalafter nearly a decade but we wish it wouldat least get its facts right.

Dubby Bhagat, Lalitpur

ORDINANCEThis is in reference to the report titled‘Royal rejection’ (From the Nepali Press,#244) translated from the weekly Drishtiwhich contains factually incorrectinformation stating that the royal palacehad rejected the Asian DevelopmentBank’s proposal to bring a law throughordinance for the transfer of themanagement of the Nepal Water SupplyCorporation. We would like to point out thatNepal Water Supply CorporationOrdinance–3rd Amendment, 2005, WaterSupply Management Board Ordinance,2005 and Water Supply Tariff FixationCommission Ordinance, 2005 were

CORRECTIONDue to a mix-up in translation in‘Mission statement’ (From the NepaliPress, #244) Nicholas Howen wasmis-identified. He is the SecretaryGeneral of the InternationalCommission of Jurists.

approved on 18 April 2005. This waspublished in all the major newspapers on19 April 2005. With the initiation of theseOrdinances, the work of the KathmanduValley Water Services SectorDevelopment Program (KVWSSDP) ismoving ahead steadily, with themanagement contractors expected to beon board by September 2005.

Seema Rajouria, KVWSSDP

MISLEADINGShiva Gaunle’s story, ‘What about us’,(#244) is misleading. He has tried toexplain that Nepal’s political parties arestuck at the same point they were fouryears ago and goes on to point out thatthere hasn’t been much concertedopposition within the country to the king’smove. How can there be if the state ofemergency doesn’t allow anyone toexpress any opposition? Besides, therehave been rallies where activists have

bravely defied the emergency. It may

be true thatmany Nepalis dislike their politicalleaders but then most will back them ifgiven a chance so that the country canreturn to a more open and democraticsystem. I can understand there is presscensorship in Nepal and its hard to printthe things the way you wish to. But thatdoesn’t mean that you fuel your storieswith wrong inputs and praise those inpower.

Sameer Ghimire, Sydney

GOOD JOBGenerally speaking, Nepali Times isdifferent from other media. But I am notgoing to thank you because that is yourjob – to be true to your profession. Ajournalist must stick to facts and mustreflect public opinion and the debateswithin society, not the views of the stateor a particular group only. You arepracticing true journalism. Keep it up.

Bharat Raj, email

4 29 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245NATION

or the people of this far-flung and neglected region ofnorthwestern Nepal, life has

always been a battle against cold,hunger and disease. For the pastsix years they have battledanother foe—the Maoistinsurgency.

Indeed, the conflict is justanother hurdle in thehardscrabble lives of the Humlis.

Time has stood still for thepeople of Daraphai, a villageseveral hours walk away from theheadquarters, Simikot. There isno government presence inDaraphai, and it is soimpoverished and out of the waythat even the Maoists don’tbother. Child mortality here isthree times the national average,literacy is three times less.Children are undernourished,gender discrimination is rife, andthere is nowhere to go when aperson is sick.

“The way I see it, it will takemany generations to improvetheir lives,” says school principalBuddhi Sagar Neupane fromChitwan who has worked inHumla since 1988, “so manyleaders have made so manypromises that the people herehave lost all hope of things evergetting better.” It is so difficult tojust stay alive in Humla, that formany villagers, the Maoists arethe least of their concern.

It’s the same story in most ofHumla’s 27 VDCs stretched acrossthis arid and rugged trans-Himalayan district. While theattention is on those displacedby conflict in Nepalganj andKathmandu, the condition ofvillagers in Daraphai is actually

much worse. And they are noteven displaced.

Humlis traditionally migrateto the higher mountain pastureswith their livestock as spring setsin. There, they find a fertile patchof land, sow seeds and raiseanimals. Come October, they’reback in their villages. Daraphai’s160 households are all gettingready to move up to high valleyslike Gwale, Khor, Thaya andNaula. They say they don’t needand expect anything fromanybody anymore.

“Humla has always been thelast place that Kathmandu willthink of,” says Jeevan Shahi, apilot who decided to quit so hecould raise the living standard ofhis home district by gettinghimself elected DDC chairman.

As elsewhere, children aremost vulnerable. Raised in thesooty interior of windowlesshomes for four snow-boundmonths in a year, four out of 10never live to be five because ofacute respiratory infections. Mostof those who survive never go toschool. Of those who do, mostdrop out after six months to helpthe family at home.

Back in Simikot, the airportis now open after the snowboundrunway stopped flights for mostof winter. Government employeeshere depend on the flight forfood supplies and sometimeshave to live on one meal a day toconserve supplies.

Says one civil servant: “Theconflict has been an excuse forthe government not to undertakeany development projects in thevillages. So the little that getsdone is confined to Simikot.”

Food has always been theoverriding concern forgenerations of Humlis. “From the

moment they wake up in themorning, people have to worryabout how to find food,” saysschool teacher Bal BahadurShahi. But some, like ex-DDCchairman Jeevan Shahi, think thegovernment’s food dole hasincreased dependency. Thestrategy should have been tomake Humla self-sufficient,something he says he has tried todo as the district’s elected leader.

“There are manyopportunities to develop foodsecurity in the district,” saysShahi.

The government’s neglect ofHumla grew worse after Maoistviolence escalated in Karnali. Noemployees ever venture out of thedistrict headquarters anymore.Many teachers have fled toSimikot or Nepalganj, even ifthere is no Maoist threat in thevillages.

“A lot of teachers are makingMaoists an excuse,” says a localteacher on his way to Thehevillage to resume his work in aprimary school. Political strikesand blockades don’t really affectthis remote region and schoolsare more likely to close down dueto the absence of teachers.

“Teachers are becomingirresponsible,” agrees MadhuBilas Khanal of the MansarobarHigh School in Simikot, “if theygo on leave for 15 days, theydisappear for months.” Thegovernment has a budget for Rs70 million in education inHumla, more than half of thatpays the salaries and allowancesof the 420 teachers here. Most ofthat money is wasted becauseonly one of the 134 Humlastudents who appeared in SLCpassed this year. The DEO inSimikot says only 32 days ofclasses were held in mostschools last year.

The government’s nationwide‘Welcome to School’ campaign toget underprivileged childrenenrolled in school from 15-23April was, unsurprisingly, afailure here. In only 12 VDCs, thegovernment was able to admitchildren to school. “Enrolment isnot as important as retainingchildren, most of the childrendropout by the end of year,” saysheadmaster Neupane.

Of the 235 children enrolledduring last year’s enrollmentcampaign in Bargaun village fourhours from Simikot, only 35 arestill in class.

Says teacher Ram Raja Shahi:“We have to start seriouslythinking if it is indeed any usetrying to teach children who arechronically hungry.”

here used to be a time when young girls like Sabina andLila would whimper and cry after getting their shots. It is agauge of the success of the awareness drive that precedes

vaccination campaigns that children today eagerly come to thehealth posts and leave smiling.

Measles is a major killer of Nepali children and here inremote district of Humla it is third only to acute respiratoryinfections and diarrhoeal dehydration. During the last phase ofnational measles campaign last week, Humla was one of theseven mountain districts targeted by the government to immuniseall children between nine months to 15 years. More than 17,000children in all of Humla’s 27 VDCs were reached.

It wasn’t easy, there are no roads in Humla and only Simikothas an airport. Even then, everyone knew the campaign was onand families with children were eagerly waiting for 21 April sothey could go to the health posts. Last week, mothers werepushing each other to get their children ahead in the unruly queueat the village of Daraphai. Said one anxious mother: “I hope theydon’t run out of injections.”

With this last phase of the measles campaign that started inSeptember 2004, 9.5 million children all over Nepal will havebeen immunised against measles. “Every mother came with herchildren, the campaign went really well,” says 62-year-oldFemale Health Care Volunteer Kalu Raut in Simikot. Indeed, mostof the credit for getting the mothers to come goes to womenvolunteers like Kalu who are at the forefront of Nepal’s ruralhealth and child survival success story.

Another volunteer, Luaro Shahi, says: “Even young childrenhave understood the importance of getting their shots which iswhy almost everyone is here.” Back in Kathmandu, ParsuramShrestha of the government’s Child Health Division is ecstatic:“This is just an example to prove that despite everything thereare no obstacles to immunising children.” Down in the plains ofDang, the vaccination recieved a huge response despite theconflict and travel hassles. In Hapur VDC alone 276 childrenwere immunised in two days.

Many children suffer due to complications of measles forwhich there is no treatment. “Prevention is the best option and theonly way is to get vaccinated against it,” says YV Pradhan of theMinistry of Health. Every year, about 150,000 children getmeasles in Nepal and the campaign aims to cut in half the annualdeath toll of 5,000 children from measles and reduce the numberof children who suffer complications such as blindness, deafnessand mental disability.

The Ministry of Health’s measles campaign is supported bythe Nepal Family Health Program, WHO and UNICEF.

The national Vitamin A program held simultaneously alsoproved to be a hit. Nepal’s success with its Vitamin A campaignis regarded as one of the most effective in the developing world.Vitamin A supplementation can reduce under-five mortality rateby 30 percent and the program is averting the deaths of anestimated 12,000 Nepali children each year.

Every second Nepali child is stunted and malnourished.Intestinal worm infections are also a chronic problem that furtherreduces the amount of iron they absorb, making them weak andanaemic. The vitamin program aimed to reach 3.3 million childrenaround the country in April and is supported by AusAID, USAID,the Nepali Technical Assistance Group and UNICEF.

(Naresh Newar in Humla and Dang)

Shot in the arm“I will not have measles now,” says nine-year-old Sabina Bohara(r), cheerfully showing us where she received a shot of the anti-measles vaccine. “Let me show mine too,” adds her equally excitedfriend Lila Bohara.

Maoists are of least concern in neglected HumlaHumla’s class struggle

NARESH NEWARin SIMIKOT

Kasilal’s uphill climbWalking from Daraphai village, eight-year-old Kasilal BK (above) has to climb up the steep hill for threehours on an empty stomach to reach Simikot to fetch a sack of rice for his family. After waiting for nearlyfive hours in a queue of more than 500 hungry villagers, he manages to buy 15 kg of subsidised rice atthe government food depot. The rice is rationed and each person is allowed three kg monthly. “This hardlylasts a week, we have to be careful not to waste anything,” says Kasilal. He is lucky, a group of womenfrom Chehe further up the trail are returning to their village after the rice ran out in the depot in Simikot.They had woken up before dawn to get to the queue and waited till 4PM. The hard reality of Humla’sgrinding poverty is that if children like Kasilal go to school, the family starves.

F

T

NARESH NEWAR

NARESH NEWAR

529 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245BUSINESS

T

he Light Up Humla Campaign tospread the use of solar-poweredelectric lights in homes in remote

Humla district aims to illuminate nearly7,000 households by next year.

Trees take a long time to grow inHumla’s arid climate and high altitudetopography. Yet, over centuries, forestshave been cleared for firewood and for pineresin used for feeble lamps that are used fordomestic lighting. The resulting indoorsmoke causes acute respiratory ailments, amajor killer of children in the district whichhas the highest child mortality rate in thecountry. The soot also cause eye infectionsand other ailments.

The Campaign believes that solar-powered light can be a means to liberate thepeople of Humla from these problems,protect the environment and create newopportunities for education and employment.

When we launched the Light Up HumlaCampaign in 2004 it started off as a ‘crazyidea’ between some of our Humli friends

“It is better to light one lamp than curse the darkness”

Sun light in Humla

here are many ways tointerpret why things are theway they are in this country.

But in business terms, it helps tosee Nepal struggling between twomodels of governance: the ease ofa ‘landlord model’ and thecompetitiveness of a market-driven ‘share-holder model’.

Historian Mahesh ChandraRegmi has shown that throughoutmuch of its history, the Nepalistate has acted as a landlord. To

finance wars and to pay for itsindulgences, it collected rentsfrom those who lived within itsborders. It rewarded officers bygiving them jagir in the form ofland. Those who were notabsolutely loyal had theirproperties confiscated and wereeven exiled. Activities of the so-called disloyal sections werebanned until 1990. Since the stateexercised all-consuming powerover their daily lives, Nepalis sawthemselves not as citizens but as

The landlord syndromeA rule-bound competitive market can keep excesses in check

any other landlord difficult inthe future.

Take something abstract likepress freedom, for instance. Theyare gone because the newlandlord has decided that thetenants don’t need them. Andactivists are now reduced toeither chanting the ideals ofpress freedom or going on aglobal road trip to take grievancesto audiences abroad. Butconsider an alternative. Had therebeen a more direct and diverseforeign investment in thebusinesses of radio, televisionand print media, chances are thatno landlord would have beenable to squash the press. Afterall, it’s easy to make arbitraryrules to inflict harm on purelyNepali-owned businesses. Butthe more such businesses arebound by globally acceptedbusiness practices through ahorde of foreign investors anddomestic shareholders, the moredifficult it becomes for anylandlord to act in ways whichcould harm that majority’sinterest. If that should happen,the investors would signal their

STRICTLY BUSINESSAshutosh Tiwari

over tea. The plan was simple: provide lightto all residents of Nepal’s remotest andleast-developed district through solarpower. How to do it? We felt it would beeasy to find 7,000 good souls in the country.The Campaign’s strategy was to exhort oneNepali who enjoys the benefits of modernelectricity to support another who is livingin darkness.

Sure enough, support poured in, firstfrom a network of friends, then as wordspread from Nepalis in Nepal and all overthe world. By the first few months of 2004,50 households already had light—46 ofthem belonged to Dalit families and the restwere underprivileged households. By theend of 2005 an additional 500 householdswill get electric lamps and by 2006, another5,000 households will be added.

“The light from the sun has made lifemuch easier,” says Karna Damai of Simikot,one of the first beneficiaries of the lightsystem, “I used to go to Bista’s house tosew clothes all day, now I can work late intothe night and earn wages during the day. It’smuch easier to feed my family.”

Indeed, it does look like a simple ninewatt neon lamp in the house is all that’sneeded to reduce poverty in some cases. Inothers, children can do their homeworkwithout hurting their eyes and mothers findit easier to do household chores.

Some parts of Humla have electricityfrom micro-hydro projects but the power iserratic. And although the Heldunghydropower plant is scheduled to becompleted by July 2005, it will take time forthe power to reach outlying villages. In themeantime, the Light Up Humla Campaign isgaining popularity. Even in the districtheadquarters of Simikot, most people have

BHAIRAB RISAL

tenants whose self-interest wasto be on the right side of thelandlord lest they got punishedor thrown out.

In theory, the Jana Andolanof 1990 gave the tenants a stab atbecoming citizens to finallypress for the ‘share-holdermodel’ through freely electedpolitical representatives. Therewere fragments of hope in, say,the achievements of communityforestry, diversity of FM radionews broadcasts and bits ofeconomic reforms. But over time,it became clear that therepresentatives too haddisappointingly degeneratedinto neo-landlords, accountableonly to the myopic interests ofparty leaders. As they foughtwith one another for money andpower in a continual haze offinger-pointing suspicions, theycollected disgust, lost publicsupport and eventually cededtheir landlord status. Lookingback, their greatest failure lay innot pushing for morecompetition-oriented marketreforms, which would havequietly made the emergence of

anger by pulling money out ofthe country in no time.

Take telecom as anotherexample. At a time when evenvegetable farmers in Bangladeshhave the luxury of choosingfrom eight competing phoneservice providers, Nepalibusinesspeople have none. Butagain, consider the alternative.Had the elected governmentsthought of their constituencies,let go of their greed to keep onmilking the state-run telecomprovider and promoted privateand joint-venture telecomcompetitors to come on boardfaster, not only would millionsof Nepalis be connected to oneanother at cheaper rates todaybut future landlords would havefound it very costly—monetarilyand coordination-wise—to seizethe control of all phone lines inone day.

Some Nepali democrats arguefor decentralisation of powerwhile professing a knee-jerkdistrust of markets. It’s timethey started appreciating how arule-bound competitive marketacts as an instrument thatdecentralises power, checksagainst the excesses of acapricious landlord and makescitizens’ voices count throughthe shareholder model ofgovernance.

TNARESH NEWAR

Solar energy hasmade it possible forthe children of Humlato do their homwork.

NEW PRODUCT

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Cambridge awardsThe University of CambridgeInternational Examinations inassociation with the British Councilawarded scholarship prizes of 500pounds each to Elina Pradhan of Alevels and Yashas Vaidya of AS levels.Both students are fromBudhanilkantha School.

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Not hungry anymoreAsian Thai Foods hasstarted a new thematicbrand launch for itsproduct, 2PM noodles.The tagline for thecampaign is ‘So smooth, so delicious’.

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Non-stop to NYFrom 1 May, Thai will flyits Airbus A340-500 non-stop from Bangkok toJFK Airport in New York.

The total flight time will be only 17hours.

UNICORN:Syakar Companyhas introducedthe HondaUnicorn inKathmandu.

It is powered by Honda 4-stroke.

MCBORG: McBorg Nepal haslaunched McBorg premiumlager beer for Rs 85 per bottle.

now come to rely on solar electricity.It costs Rs 4,000 to provide a set of

solar cells, battery and neon lights for eachhousehold and this is donated by Nepalisthrough the campaign. It is estimated that in1,000 Humla households, 12 percent of thetotal can afford the Rs 4,000 and another900 households already benefit from micro-hydro projects. The campaign thus targeted50 priority households in 2004, 500 in 2005and 5,000 in 2006.

Journalist Bhairab Risal is the co-founder of theLight Up Humla Campaign.

01-4232052, 01-4280317

6 29 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

SELECTED MATERIAL TRANSLATED EVERY WEEK FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

Himal Khabarpatrika, 30 April-14 May

The (Indian) suspension of regular supply of arms to Nepal has been removed without any condition.

India’s External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh in Rajdhani, 26 April

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VampiresRajdhani, 24 April

Some drug addicts in the Boudhaarea are sucking human bloodfrom child victims, according tostreet children who have beenvictimised. Nil Kantha Sedai(name changed) is one of them.He says, “When they areoverdosed and have nothing toeat, they suck blood from ourbodies.” Showing his cheek thathas been pierced with a blade,Sedai said the addicts suckedfrom his wound for 10 minutes.

Sedai named addict ‘Naran’and others as the culprits. Anarcotics control official thinksthe addicts turn to beingvampires to get a high when theycan’t find drugs. Addicts extortmoney from street children whoearn from selling plastic and glassfor recycling.

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No emergencyEditorial in Samaya, 28 April

The king said in his FebruaryFirst royal proclamation that hehad to take over and declare astate of emergency to restore peaceand strengthen democracy. Threemonths later, is the country closerto this goal? The answer doesn’tlook positive.

The gap between the king andthe political parties has widenedsince February First. This isunfortunate for peace anddemocracy and was created by theking seizing power and declaringa state of emergency. A way out ofthis situation would be to lift thestate of emergency, an agreementbetween the parties and the kingover the choice of prime ministerand the release of all politicalprisoners.

Internationally and especiallyin the eyes of democratic nations,the country has become a pariahstate. It is clear that half a dozenadvisers are telling the king that

he can ride out this internationalcriticism by ignoring it. But eventhey must be aware of theinternational ramifications of thisisolation and that their advice isharmful for the long-term futureof the country and forconstitutional monarchy. But theyare giving it anyway.

By using emergencyprovisions, the royal commissionis pushing legal boundaries forpolitically-motivated characterassassination. On the other hand,bringing in ex-panchays into thegovernance structure hasintroduced unaccountability andsycophancy back into the system.An end to this three-monthpolitical exercise will restore aprogram-based system that cantake us towards resolution. Sincethe king has taken all power in hishands, it is up to him to take thisstep.

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Going aloneShambu Shrestha inDristi, 26 April

A king never makes mistakes. Thatis what they say but all thatchanged after February First. Theking’s move sparked protests fromAmerica, Britain and India andseveral European nations,resulting in aid cuts andsuspension of militaryshipments. The events thatfollowed made it easier for theking to assume the role of ruler.

Recently, at an internationalforum, the king justified his moveto curb terrorism but the reality isthat Nepal’s image in the eyes ofthe international community willnever be positive until democracy,freedom of press and civilliberties are restored. Theinternational call for guaranteeingthese values cannot be seen asinterference in our internal affairs.Commitment towards democracyexpressed whether in Jakarta orBoao will mean little unless theyare put into practice for the good

Letter from Baburam Bhattarai to PrachandaNepal, 29 April

Respected Chairman Comrade PrachandaCPN (Maoist), Central OfficeExpecting necessary cooperation from the central office, Iam going to inform you and register my opinion on someissues.

During our last central committee meeting, I and someother comrades had opposed the concept of a two-linestruggle within our party, which is against our greatpeople’s war and Ma-Le-Ma-ism and Prachandapath. Thetwo-line struggle has been conducted in a very unhealthyway, promoting groupism. But considering thecomplexities of class struggles in the past, we thoughtthe internal struggle in the party should be managed inless complicated ways. That is why the agreement was:we should set aside issues that are potentially sodivisive and serious.

Despite this, in certain circles, an internal strugglehas been carried out in an unhealthy way, there havebeen violations of accepted norms, responsible comradesare spreading illusions and there have been activitiesthat are against the well-being of the revolution. Raisingserious concerns about all these, I demand that thecentral office control such activities.

The discussions and presentations on Prachandapathduring the central committee meeting were against its(Prachandapath’s) main spirit. All honest comradespresent at the meeting had the feeling that such

Baburam’s salvo to Prachanda

Editorial in Nepal Samacharpatra, 27 April

The police infiltration at the UML office has created havoc inNepal’s political circles. This will only widen the ever-growing gapbetween the government and democratic political parties. Such anincident will intensify the existing negative image of thegovernment. There was really no need to view the gathering of UMLleaders and workers as negative because they were all assembledonly to mourn the death of their late leader Man Mohan Adhikari’swidow.

The way police took illegal action—entering the office without awarrant, kicking office doors, asking for keys to the accountsoffice—only shames the government, which has been makingcommitments in international forums towards respectingdemocracy, protection of human rights and restoring pressfreedom. Democracy will be jeopardised if people are not allowedto gather peacefully. This will only provoke more criticism towardsthe government at a time when international community has beencondemning the political events following February First.

Unnecessary

Here, take the arms.Now start the democratic process.

deliberations would take the partybackwards, prior to the secondnational convention and that it wouldcause serious damage to themovement.

I had forwarded my solid opinionduring the central committee meeting.Since there were serious differencesand doubts in the leadership andmainly after my resignation episode, Ihad an informal talk with comradechairman outside the meeting hall.During the meeting, we had anagreement that for now there would bean understanding on a simple principlethat the party, army, and the front willhave integrated and centralisedleadership of the proletariat. In line withthat understanding, both of us madepresentations during the meeting.

But contrary to this, the minutes of the meetingcontained sentences that have double meanings implyingthat the party, army and the front has a single leadership.And such information has been forwarded down into theparty’s rank and files in different ways. These are things Ihave come to know very recently. If that is the case, I docriticise myself for not hearing, looking and reading theminutes carefully after the meeting. I state my differenceswith such a decision and would like to register a note ofdissent through the central office. I am taking thesedecisions because the idea of having a single leadership in

the party, army and the front is against theconsensus of our party’s second nationalconvention and the development of therepublican system of the 21st century.

Some circles in the party haveforwarded the argument that without suchsingle leadership, the enemy will getroom to play and that such leadershipwill make the plan of strategic counterattack successful. Such an argumenthas no weight and is not based on anyprinciple. If such a concept is spreadfurther, we will have to bid farewell tothe sovereign committee system of theparty of the proletariat and the systemof collective leadership. If we choosethat option, it is clear that it will bevery dangerous and

counterproductive.Viewing the arrests that took place in New Delhi,

Siliguri and Patna as part of a series and with all badintentions implicating a layer of the party as being behindthem will not only make the internal struggle unhealthier,it will intensify factionalism. There are sinisterindications that this is happening.

That is why I request for the necessary initiative ofthe central office to stop the efforts of linking the arrestsin India with the internal struggles in the party.

With revolutionary regards,Laldhoj

729 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

of the citizens.Nepal has backtracked to pre-

1990 days with the reintroductionof the zonal commission system.Although it seems that politicalparties are not under restrictions,leaders are still under house arrestand the fourth estate isintimidated by theadministration. Since theformation of the RoyalCommission, the arrests andimprisonment of leaders haveintensified. To make mattersworse, the Maoists are jeopardisingthe future of millions of childrenby closing down schools. Civilianscontinue to be brutalised byMaoist atrocities and children arebeing killed by Maoist bombs leftbehind recklessly.

The international communityis watching closely to see how theking will solve national problemsby remaining isolated fromdemocratic political parties. In ademocracy, the parties arerepresentatives of the people andit is only a matter of time beforewe see whether the politicalsituation will be normalisedwithout the people’srepresentatives. No matter howmuch foreign aid and support weget, the internal conflict willremain unresolved unless there isactive participation of the peopleand their representatives. The kingcan’t do it alone.

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Direct democracyEditorial in Deshantar, 24 April

Despite the constant internationalcalls to restore democracy, theking’s determination to go aheadwith his roadmap is apparent fromthe following events: appointmentof regional and zonaladministrators, announcement ofmunicipal elections, his speech atthe Afro-Asian conference and hisinterview with Time magazine.

The king has been criticisingthe parties and their leaders inalmost every public address he hasmade, blaming them forcompelling him to make theFebruary First move. It seems clearfrom the king’s interviews andspeeches that the parties are to beblamed for pushing the countryinto the current political crisis inthe last 14 years of theirgovernance. This is not true. If welook back into our history, it is

Jana Astha, 27 April

Even after the Indian government announced it was reviewing itssuspension of military support to Nepal following the king’sFebruary First move, it was quietly supporting the RNA. On the dayof the announcement, three RNA aircraft engineers and a pilot wereon their way to a training program as part of Indian military support.It is true that the guns and bullets were not supplied after the datebut by then, RNA had already received enough ammunition. Prior tothe king’s move, the RNA had actually already made its stance notto buy India-made INSAS (Infantry Small Arms System) rifles (pic)unless they were provided free. Regardless of this, those who knowIndia well were not surprised to hear the change in India’s attitude injust three months about its Nepal policy. India definitely wants tomodernise the RNA but for its own vested interest: Indian INSASrifles are considered of such low quality that its own army doesn’twant to use it in Kashmir. Even the Indian army assigned in UNpeacekeeping tasks don’t use the 5.56 calibre INSAS rifles andinstead carry AK47s though it doesn’t necessarily comply withNATO standards. Nepal has so far bought between 10-15,000INSAS rifles.

Ultimately, India will lose by cutting off military relations withNepal. This is why New Delhi, which had forcefully set rollback ofFebruary First as its condition, suddenly changed its mind toresume military support without conditions. This happened as aNepali military team headed to China to discuss purchasing ofhelicopters, planes and other weapons. India needs to exportmilitary hardware and for this it has already established Nepal as amarket. India’s main intention of military support to Nepal is toensure that it has the kingdom’s support during times of India’sneed. Long ago, when Nepal asked India to remove its checkpostsfrom the border, the Indian response was that Nepal would not beable to stop the Chinese if they crossed the border. According to amilitary expert, India is modernising Nepal’s army to be a bufferagainst the Chinese. India has not changed its policy towards Nepalsince 1947: as long as its interests are met it will support anyregime as is evident from its support to the Panchayat government.In the last three months there have been protests against India bythe so-called nationalists of Nepal. Now that India’s support willresume and we will have to see whether these same people whooften talk about nationalism will also change their position towardsIndia.

apparent that the real reasons ofthe conflict are age-old castediscrimination, socialinequalities and feudalismprevalent since the Shah dynastybegan more than 200 years back.

The Maoists exploited theseinequities to popularise theirarmed struggle. The 104 years ofautocratic Rana rule, 30 years ofpartyless Panchayat regime andmultiparty democratic systemwere unable to solve theseproblems, consequently leading tothe Maoist rebellion. It wasn’t justcaused by 14 years of multi-partydemocracy though it is true thatthe political parties were unableto seriously address theseaforementioned causes.

This is where the partiesproved themselves failures. Butno politics can be considereddemocratic by sidelining politicalparties. The king himself believesthat the only alternative todemocracy is democracy. Nowherein the world has peace beenrestored by suspendingdemocratic processes to eliminateterrorism. After February First, wehave experienced a ‘directeddemocracy’ that has deprived thenation of political rights, humanrights, civil liberties and pressfreedom. So far, the king ismoving alone with his roadmapwithout any consensus ordialogue. We don’t know wherethis will lead Nepal.

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Maoist disunityBudhabar, 27 April

Discord between Maoist leadershas created a rift among pro-Baburam and pro-Prachandacadre. Sources say the Baburamcamp is at a disadvantage and thePrachanda faction has alreadydeclared the areas in Gandakicontrolled by Baburam as ‘Zone ofTraitor’. They are also holding theBaburam camp responsible for thearrest of 11 Maoist leaders inPatna last year. They have blamedpolitburo member DebendraPaudel and asked for hisresignation. Meanwhile Baburam’ssupporters have accused PratapPant, president of the Maoistintellectual group who wasappointed president afterBhattarai’s supporter RameshSharma was removed from thepost. Bhattarai’s group says that

India’s rolethe arrest of leaders took placesoon after Pant bid them farewelland left for Patna. Bhattarai isbelieved to have expresseddisappointment over the actiontaken by the Maoists against hiswife, adding to the disharmonyin the leadership.

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Manisha’s wishJana Bhabana, 25 April

Manisha Koirala, granddaughterof BP Koirala has reiterated hercall to the political partiesincluding her granduncle GPKoirala to support the king. Shejustifies that Nepal’s state ofaffairs cannot run without theunited forces of monarchy,democracy, army and the people.“First priority should be given torestoring peace followed byelections. After this, democracywill take its own course,” says theBollywood actress. “NepaliCongress created by mygrandfather should now supportthe king.” Manisha said thisdidn’t mean she was againstdemocracy, only that the NCshould be working with the kingto tackle the Maoists. There isalready family pressure on her toreturn home and enter politics,get involved in social work.Manisha says that the king had nochoice but to make the move dueto the incapability of the leadersand Maoists who have completelydestroyed the country. Says theactress: “There is no better optionthan the NC and UML joininghands with the king”

KUMAR SHRESTHA /NEPALNEWS.COM

8 MOUNTAINEERING

Kanchenju

homolungma has hoggedall the headlines. Thefirst ascent of Mt Everestwas top news and so was

its celebrity-packed goldenjubilee celebration in Kathmanduin May 2003.

The ascents of Makalu andKanchenjunga were no mean featand some would argue thoseascents in the spring of 1955 wereeven more difficult than theSouth Col route up to the top ofEverest.

Lionel Terray and Jean Couzyof a French expedition led byJean Franco were the first tosummit Makalu on 15 May 1955after they had to turn back a yearearlier. Franco and the othermembers of the expeditionconquered it the next day alongthe north ridge.

Ten days later, a Britishexpedition led by Charles Evansreached the summit ofKanchenjunga. But havingpromised to respect the religiousbelief of the Sikkimese, theystopped a few metres short of thetop. These mountains, the peoplewho climbed them and theirachievement has beenovershadowed by the ascent ofmore glamorous mountains.

Not any more, there are a slewof events to mark the climbs and

Kathmandu to take part in thegolden jubilee celebrations. Otherfamous climbers and mountainexperts will also be in town as thecity comes alive next week.

On 15 May and 25 May,Kathmandu will host a civicfelicitation at Tundikhel for thesummitteers. All gathered peoplewill then proceed to Darbar Squarefor the chariot procession.

The famous chariot processionat Hanuman Dhoka during theChomolungma celebration in 2003was such a hit that an encore wasplanned. “We did it for Everest,Cho Oyu and since it has become anorm we’ll also do it for Makaluand Kanchenjunga,” says JanitaGurung of Nepal MountaineeringAssociation (NMA). All this willbe followed by a seminar, formalfelicitation of summiteers by thegovernment and a dinnerreception.

The NMA’s President, AngTsering Sherpa says: “Makalu andKanchenjunga are specialmountains plus right now weneed to promote Nepal and tellpeople that expedition teamsdon’t face problems.”

Nepal Tourism Board is alsoall geared up to use theanniversary to highlight Nepal.“We will do all we can to promoteMakalu and Kanchenjunga,” says

Aditya Baral of NTB, “thesemountains are, after all, two ofNepal’s biggest icons.”

Purna Tandukar of theMountaineering Section at theMinistry of Tourism believesslashing fees by half for the twomountains will help boosttourism. “It’s part of our effort tomake climbing in Nepal moreattractive,” he says, “we regardmountaineering and trekking asimportant elements in injectingincome to remote areas.”

Since 1955, the areassurrounding both mountainshave prospered although not asmuch as Khumbu. “The impact isobvious, the villages havedeveloped because of the tourismmultiplier effect,” says Ang RitaSherpa who worked for theMakalu Barun National Park.Lakpa Sherpa from the foothillsof Makalu used to be a goatherd

Makaand

ABHA ELI PHOBOO

Alan Hinkes began his Challenge 8,000 mission of theBig 14 mountains in 1989. One by one, he hasconquered 13 of the mountains: Chomolungma, K2,Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, NangaParabat, Annapurna, Gasherbrum, Broad Peak, ShishaPangma and Gasherbrum II. Though he attemptedKanchenjunga last year, health problems made him turnback from the summit.

Last week he set out again to conquer the peak andspoke to us before departure from Kathmandu.“Kanchenjunga is a tough one but I hope to succeedthis time,” he said. Hinkes climbed Makalu in 1999 andsaw a lot of oxygen cylinders with 1955 printed on themin tiny letters along the way. They were leftovers of thefirst French expedition 50 years ago. Says Hinkes: “Iwanted to take one as a souvenir but they were tooheavy. They are not garbage just landmarks of time onthe mountain.”

Hinkes’ last eight thousander

C

MANY MOUNTAINS:Makalu and Kanchenjunga on the far horizon as seen from the southeast ridge of Chomolungma (above).The awesome north face of Kanchenjunga from the site of the 1955 British expedition (right).Kanchenjunga first-timer George Band and Norman Hardie arriving in Kathmandu on Wednesday for thecelebrations (below).

MIN BAJRACHARYA

ED VISTEURS

the government has even slashedthe climbing fee of $10,000 to$5,000 for expeditions trying toclimb Makalu and Kangchenjungaduring the anniversary year.Currently, there are two Spanishexpeditions on Makalu and aSwiss team on Kanchenjunga.

Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) is thethird highest mountain the worldand the second highest in Nepal.Its name means ‘five treasures ofsnow’, referring to its fivesummits, all over 8,000 m. TheSikkimese believe that the deityof the mountain is throned at thepeak and therefore, it isconsecrated ground. The Sikkimgovernment has bannedexpeditions to Kanchenjungamain peak and all climbs have tobe carried out from the north faceon the Nepal side of the border.

The fifth highest mountain isMakalu (8,463 m) a monolithicpeak of pink granite with sheerunclimbed faces on all sides.Located on the Nepal-Tibetborder, all ascents have beencarried out through the easiersoutheast and north ridges. Thetwo mountains are separated bythe Arun gorge in eastern Nepal.

George Band and NormanHardie of Charles Evans’ andmembers of Jean Franco’sexpedition team are in

but went on to become the secondNepali woman to have climbed MtEverest after Pasang LhamuSherpa.

If only the conflict could beresolved, the Makalu BarunNational Park and theKanchenjanga Conservation Areawould be major draws for trekkerssince they are relatively unspoiltand more isolated. But even withthe conflict, there are plenty ofmountaineers and trekkers visitingthese areas. The Maoists leaveclimbers alone as long as they paya Rs 5,000 tax.

“The base camp areas areperfectly safe,” says Ang TseringSherpa, “and the increasedfrequency of domestic flights havemade things better for tourists.”The garbage problem of theHimalayas is now a thing of thepast as expeditions are required tobring back their trash.

929 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245

unga This month is the50th anniversaryof the firstascents of theworld’s third andfifth highestmountainsalu

PROJECT HIMALAYA

10 29 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245REVIEW

he Good Person of Szechwan, whichStudio 7 premiered last Friday at

Hotel Vajra, evokes questions aboutsaving virtue in a cold dog-eat-dog world.

When three gods descend to earthlooking for a ‘good’ person, they meetShen-Te, a young female prostitute, playedflamboyantly by Tsering Lama who hasbrilliantly coloured this Brechtian treat.

The water seller, Sambhu Lama, is thepoetic link who bridges divinity anddecadence through humility. As Shen Teshifts her “unethical” profession to a more“respectable” one by opening a tobacco

ou saw the movie, now hereis the book.

For those who havewatched Michael Palin’s latesttravel documentary series on theBBC, Himalaya, here is a chance toretrace his footsteps through thepages of a book of the same name.

This hero of the MontyPython and A Fish Called Wandahas in his retirement taken to epic

travels which are turned intotravelogues: with Around theWorld in 80 Days and Pole toPole. This time he has travelledacross the Himlayan arc from thePakistan-Afghan border rightacross India, Nepal, Tibet andYunnan to backtrack into Assam,Bhutan and then into Bangladesh.Along the way, he milked a yakand bathed an elephant, flew anultralight past the Annapurnas,his team got briefly kidnapped byMaoists near Pokhara and hehuffed and puffed his way up theRongbuk Glacier to ChomolungmaBase Camp.

But even in the most gruellingstretches, like when he iswheezing through altitudesickness at Annapurna BaseCamp, Palin seems to be havingfun and shares it with his viewersand now his readers. In Nepal, hisguides are the multi-sumiteeringWongchu Sherpa who shows himaround the mountains, PratimaPande who takes him to getdasain tika from King Gyanendraand Kunda Dixit who is quotedas telling Palin in probably themost-notable instances of famouslast words: “Nepal’s press hasnever been freer.” Palin’sirreverence to royalty comesclearly and some of his ruderemarks about the Narayanhititika ceremony are unprintable inthis review because Nepal’s pressis no longer as free as Dixit

Two Himalayan traveloguesMichael Palin and Deb Mukharji go walkabout in the hills

BOOKMukunda Acharya

describes.Palin does the usual touristic

stuff in Kathmandu: the burningghats, sadhus, Swayambhu andBoudhanath which will perhapsbe interesting only to those whohave never been to Nepal.Elsewhere in Himalaya, Palin ishosted by Imran Khan in Pakistanand in Bhutan by the indomitableformer Bhutani Chief Justice,Dasho Benji. To be fair, Palindoesn’t quite buy Bhutan’s self-conscious peddling of exotica andhas a slightly raised eye browabout goings on in Drukland.

On second thought, if youhave seen the series forget aboutthe book.

hen Deb Mukharji servedbriefly as Indianambassador here in 2001,

the joke in New Delhi was thatwhenever the outdoor-lovingplenipotentiary went off on a trekall hell would break lose inKathmandu. Indeed, Mukharji waseither in Langtang, Khumbu orRara during some of the mostserious riots, massacres orgovernment collapses inKathmandu.

Now we know why Mukharjiwas so eager to get out. The formerambassador is a keen photographerand some of the pictures he hasreproduced in The Magic of Nepalare works of art. The book itself isa labour of love, and this was oneIndian ambassador who had fallenin love with the serenity andgrandeur of Nepal the other washis successor, Shyam Saran. ‘Thereis no other place in the worldwhere a room with a bed andwarm dining room awaits thevisitor at over 15,000 ft,’ Mukharjiwrites. Since the preface to thebook is written by Stan (LonelyPlanet) Armington, Mukharji canbe forgiven for sometimessounding like a trekkingguidebook. And you wish he hadwritten less and blown up hispictures more.

Pictures like the one of the

arid desolation of the KaliGandaki looking north fromKagbeni accentuated by the blackand white print and on the nextpage is a striking colour picturefrom the same spot of a rainbowand a suspension bridge spanningthe river. Or pictures likeKangtega floating on a bank ofclouds or a closeup of watertumbling over moss-coveredboulders on the Langtang Khola.

Mukharji obviously has a softspot for water (in the form of ice,liquid and vapour) andmountains, as well as theinterplay between them. Thephotographer’s eye is caught by‘uncommon beauty in commonwayside scenes’.

The adventurer in Mukharjiwanders up to a remote cul-de-sacin the Langtang Valley andremembers seeing these same

Himalayaby Michael PalinWeidenfeld & NicolsonLondon 2004pp 288

mountains from the north whilein a speeding jeep on the Tibetanplateau and he muses: ‘Besidesbeing the source of life, givingwater and being the abode of theGods, the majesty and mystery ofthe Himalaya also have something

to do with their remoteness, thevalleys and gorges to be traversed.’Sooner or later, the NepalHimalaya will be crisscrossed byhighways too and thesemountains will never be the sameagain.

The Magic of Nepaltext and photographs byDeb MukharjiRupa & Co, 2005 New Delhipp 164

Y

shop from the gift money that the gods gaveher, she finds that her virtue collides with thevices of greedy relatives, neighbours andher lover, a pilot without a plane played byEelum Dixit.

Shen Te decides to take refuge behind amask and invents a shrewd business savvymale cousin, Shu Ta. With this mask asdefence, Shen Te fights those who tookadvantage of her generosity. Shu Ta takeson the role of a capitalist and whips theparasites displaying a strong ability to dealwith the likes of the rich Mrs Mitzu, slicklyportrayed by Himali Dixit.

Director Sabine Lehmann who also playsthe role of the barber tries not to overdo the

symbolism of all this to present day Nepal.(Although right at the end, she gives uptrying to be subtle and shouts: “We want ahappy ending.”) When the powerful havesucked out much of the economic andsocial wealth of a nation, taken advantageof the generous and liberal functioning ofdemocracy and an authoritarian figure stepsin to whip them into shape there is an initialoutbreak of discipline and diligence. Butwhy do people need someone else to makethem do things they ought to do anyway?Why couldn’t they take pride in doing wellwhat they had to do? Why can’t they beaccountable? Why can’t people beinherently good? The metaphors are writlarge on the weary faces of the people whogather in Shu Ta’s tobacco factory.

As an actor who grew up in theperforming space crafted 14 years ago atStudio 7 by Lehmann, I took a different rolethis year: to sit in the audience. Sabinealways used to tell us, “Theatre has toreflect life. We have to reveal people their

truth.” I wonder how much truth there was tograsp when a senior Nepali Congressmember sitting beside me disagreed withBrecht’s famous line: “Truth is born of thetimes, not of authority.” I thought of hispolitical role in recent Nepali history andagreed with Brecht.

The fabulous stage design, imaginativeprops and costumes (only Mangal couldthink of using a topi for the divine headgear)and smooth transitions between sceneshave always been Studio 7’s hallmarks. Butthey lend well to Brecht’s ‘alienation’ effecton stage. As intended, the audience retainscritical detachment. Brecht evokes theatreto create a forum for social debate andSabine has justified this essence, mouldingtogether the global social, political andeconomic phenomenon to create her ownscathing social commentary.

The Good Person of Szechwan at Hotel Vajra onFridays, Saturdays and Sundays until 8 May.

4271545

SALIL SUBEDI

We want a happy endingKnowing the value of freedom after it’s gone

Michael Palin (top) and Deb Mukharji. Picture of Kangtega floating on clouds.DEB MUKHARJI

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MILAP DIXIT

1129 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245NATION

ormer speaker of parliament, Daman Nath Dhungana wasprevented from flying out of Kathmandu on 10 March to takepart in a seminar in Berkeley.

There are reportedly more than 400 names on the list of peoplewho are under ‘Kathmandu arrest’. Before he was due to leave,Dhungana had tried to find out if he too was on that list through theNepal Bar Association (NBA) which corresponded with the HomeMinistry about the matter. But there was no response.

After his airport interdiction, Dhungana filed a writ petition atthe Supreme Court asking for an interim order preventing theauthorities from restricting his freedom of movement without due

process. But even though thecourt issued an interim order tothat effect, Dhungana wasagain prevented from flying outto Pokhara last week.

Dhungana is not the only one. Since February First,academics like Professor Lok Raj Baral, Krishna Khanal, KrishnaHattechhu, Krishna Bhattachan have all been stopped at theairport. Deputy speaker of parliament, Chitra Lekha Yadav, MPShree Maya Thakali have also been apprehended. Politicians likeMinendra Rijal and Bidur Mainali have also been stopped fromflying. Former Supreme Court judge, Laxman Aryal, Member ofNational Human Right Commission Kapil Shrestha, have all beenmet similar fates.

Most recently, the president of the NBA Shambu Thapa andadvocate Bhimarjun Acharaya were dragged out of the plane afterthey had already boarded for a flight to New Delhi to attend aseminar. Harihar Dahal, ex-president of the NBA wasn’t evenallowed to go to Pokhara to attend a gathering of mountaineers.

From the human rights perspective, this restriction on thefreedom of movement is fundamentally unlawful. Section 3.2 of thePublic Security Act says the authorities should issue an order inthe name of the person citing reasons for travel restrictions. ‘Theauthority may intern a person by issuing an order in the interest ofthe public or to preserve the harmonious relationships subsistingbetween different castes,tribes and communities, ifthe said authorities havereasonable and adequateevidence against thatperson.’

Section 4.1 of the Actstates: ‘While issuing anyorder under sub-sections3.1 and 3.2 the localauthority must state thereasons and evidencerelied upon for issuing such an order and give such order to theperson concerned. The local authority must also inform the HomeMinistry with a copy of such an order.’ Section 6.1 of the Act limitssuch an order to a maximum period of 30 days. The authoritieshave failed to respect any of these legal provisions.

In Geneva last week, the government agreed to abide by theresolution passed by the United Nations Commission on HumanRights which among other things calls on the government ‘tourgently restore the multiparty democratic institutions enshrined inthe Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal and to respect the rule oflaw without exception…calls upon HMG of Nepal to immediatelyreinstate all civil and political rights, to cease all state ofemergency related and other arbitrary arrests, to lift far reachingcensorship, to restore freedom of opinion, expression and thepress as well as the freedom of association, to immediately releaseall detained political leaders and activists, human rights defenders,journalists and others, to allow all citizens to enter and exist in thecountry freely…”

The emergency is ostensibly meant to tackle the Maoistinsurgency. Unfortunately, the draconian measures seemed to beaimed at law-abiding citizens. The fault of the eminent members ofcivil society whose movements are restricted is that they want tosee constitutional provisions followed.

Why is the government so scared of unarmed lawyers, humanrights activists and academics? Dissenting opinion should betreated as an alternative viewpoint. No one who thinks it is possibleto attain a noble goal through peaceful means should bediscouraged from exressing their opinion. Dissension, in fact,should be encouraged in the marketplace of ideas and treated likenational property.

There is no parliament so the government of the day is notaccountable to the people. The principles of check and balanceenshrined in the constitution are not operative. The executive isarbitrary, intolerant, injudicious and authoritarian. It even ignoresthe Supreme Court. Severe restrictions on the people’s freedom ofmovement without due process is the order of the day. T

The government is not listening to voices inside the country,shouldn’t it at least abide by the UN resolution adopted and passedin Geneva?

Radheshyam Adhikari is a senior advocate and a member of parliament.

Halt, whogoes there?

GUEST COLUMNRadheshyam

Adhikari

F

NAWALPARASI—It has beenthree weeks but the women ofSomani in Parsa district areinconsolable. The terror is vivid,the pain of loss of loved onesstill searing. They are unable tosleep, eat or speak.

It was two days after theNepali new year on 16 April andthe villagers of this hamlet 20km southeast of Butwal weregetting ready to go to bed. Atabout 10PM, the Maoists arrivedin hundreds. They draggedeveryone out of the houses,singled out the men aged 15-39and executed them withoutmercy. After that they went on arampage bombing four housesand burning another 10. They setfire to tractors, to this year’swheat harvest that was piled upfor threshing, to cowsheds inwhich livestock were burnt alive.

Weeks later, there are onlycharred skeletons of houses, ashesstrewn about, a singed cowlingers listlessly near what usedto be its shed and the dread onthe faces of the surviving womenand children bear mute testimonyto what happened here that night.

Cry, beloved countryThree weeks after the slaughter of its young

men, Somani still grieves in silenceARUNA UPRETI and RITA THAPA in NAWALPARASI

The Maoists accused thevillagers of forming a pratikarsamiti to resist them. Althoughthere are hundreds of registeredNGOs here, the CDO says only afew came to help. The only realresponse was from the localbranch of the FNCCI whichdistributed relief supplies. TheCDO agreed reluctantly to allowus to travel to Somani after weconvinced him we were trying tohelp.

Once we got there, we ran intoa grandmother who had lost threegrandsons aged 15, 16, and 18.We met a mother whose two adultsons were killed, leaving her witha small daughter. An elderlyfather had lost his only son. Ashe broke down and wept, he toldus how broad shouldered,handsome, strong he was andhow well he worked the fields.Women stepping out of theirravaged homes, were stillspeechless with shock.

The neighbours said they hadexhausted their tears and couldn’tcry anymore. “We can’t eat, wecan’t sleep, we can’t cry,” says onesurvivor, barely able to get his

words out. None of them haveslept in the village since thatnight, preferring to go toadjoining hamlets. Many havefled to India or to the safety oftowns. Few have come to offercomfort, let alone support andrelief. And due to newsrestrictions, reporters have goneback printing the intial armypress release. Even in Butwal, wemet many who hadn’t heard ofwhat happened here. And after awhile, it seems the news ofslaughter all merge into one in afaraway, uncaring capital.

A security base was set up ina nearby school for the protectionof Somani’s survivors. Yet, asdarkness fell the forces left andwe were also told to leave for ourown safety. By day, there is aneffort to resume classes but wewondered what the childrenwould learn in a school that wasa military base.

We found out that an anti-Maoist resistance committee hadindeed been set up in the villageby two powerful men whose sonshad been killed by the Maoistsearlier. The committee had beensupported by the state. But as faras we could tell the young menkilled by the Maoists in Somaniwere all innocent unarmedvillagers. The real vigilantesweren’t even here that night.

Chance brought us to Somani.But many other villages like it inNepal cry out to be heard.

The voice of one motherhaunts us. She talked about thisincident as if she was talkingabout somebody else: “I saw myboy lying in a pool of blood andwas trying to touch him. Hishands and feet were limp. Ithought he would speak againbut he was dead. Normally, Icould not have lifted him butseeing his corpse, I just pickedhim up and carried himoutside.”

PICS: RITA THAPA

Travel restrictionsare illegal andagainst the UNresolution inGeneva

12 29 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245INTERNATIONAL

C

The America-China-India triangleIndia and China seek a strategic alliance to reshape the world order

hinese Premier Wen Jiabao went on afour-day visit to India during which11 agreements were signed including

a comprehensive five-year strategiccooperation pact. In addition, Wenannounced that China would supportIndia’s bid for a permanent seat on anexpanded UN Security Council andopposed the inclusion of Japan, which theUnited States supports for a Council seat.

With over a third of the world’spopulation and two of the globe’s highesteconomic growth rates, an alliance betweenChina and India could be a serious factorin world politics. While both aredeveloping countries—many of whosepeople remain impoverished—they alsoboast impressive capabilities ininformation age technologies both forcivilian and military purposes. As IndianPrime Minister Manmohan Singh put itduring Wen’s visit, “India and China cantogether reshape the world order.”

The two countries’ recentrapprochement marks a huge change fromthe hostility that bedevilled their relationsfollowing their 1962 war over a disputedborder in the Himalayas. In 1998, whenIndia tested its nuclear weapons, thedefence minister referred to China, andthen Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee spoke of its neighbouringcountry as India’s number one enemy.

By contrast, India is now referring tothe need to learn from China. Tradebetween the two giants has grown from$100 million in 1994 to nearly $14billion last year and India’s ministerfor commerce and industry haspredicted that it will double bythis decade’s end. One agreementsigned during Wen’s visit was anew set of guiding principleson how to settle boundarydisputes between the twocountries.

While improvedrelations and diminishedprospects for conflict arewelcome, relations between

India and China are more complex thanthey appear at first. Not long before thevisit of the Chinese premier, India hostedUS Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.Ever since President Bill Clinton’s visit toIndia, but especially under PresidentGeorge W Bush, the US has moved fromrelative indifference to India to thedevelopment of a strong strategicrelationship. Secretary Rice made thisplain during her March visit, including awillingness to consider trade in high

GENEVA—If public opinion polls are tobe believed, on 29 May the French willreject the European Union’s draftconstitutional treaty. Because all EUmember countries must ratify theconstitution, a French ‘Non’ will, in effect,kill it. Amazing as this turn of eventsseems, it has been long in the making.France is not just a founding member ofthe European Community but has alsobeen the driving force behind all majorsteps toward ‘ever closer union’. ButFrench opposition was also predictablebecause, for over a decade now, Francehas veered away from Europe and nowfinds itself increasingly isolated. Europehas also moved away from Francethrough successive enlargements but themain roots of the estrangement lie inFrance itself.

The French regard with greatsadness their declining status andprestige–not only in world politics butalso in culture, science and, moreimportantly, language. Europe, in theirview, was a way of reclaiming worldinfluence. For three decades, thisworked. France and Germany had forgedan alliance that called the shots inEurope. Not interested in geopoliticalpower–a legacy of its Nazi past–Germany was content to back France’sambitions as long as the Common Marketallowed it to be Europe’s economicpowerhouse. But that alliance isunravelling as Germany’s own statusdeclines. Moreover, Germany isincreasingly interested in exercisingpolitical influence on its own.

Successive EU enlargements havebrought in powerful contenders andFrance has lost control of Europe. TheEuropean Constitution has little to do withany of this but many French people see itas one more challenge, at a time whenthey want to be nursed and protected. (Project Syndicate)

technology, nuclear energy and co-production of fighter aircraft such as F-16sand F-18s. Shortly after Rice’s visit, the USannounced that it would honour a long-standing promise to sell F-16s to Pakistan.

Rhetoric about ‘the world’s two largestdemocracies’ is not new but it fits with theBush administration’s new emphasis onpromoting democracy. The increasing roleof the Indian diaspora in the US,particularly in the information industries,also had an influence, as has the rise in

bilateral trade accompanyingIndia’s surging economic

growth. Equally importantare strategic concerns about

transnational terrorismand the rise of Chinese

power.The rise of China is a

major factor in the politics ofthe twenty-first century. China

has tripled the size of its economyin the past two decades and has been

increasing its military strength. Whileboth India and the US seek trade andgood relations with China, both are aware,and wary, of China’s growing strength.Thus, both seek to hedge their bets andwhat better way to do so than byimproving their strategic relationship?

As one Indian strategist put it, “By2030, we envisage the US, China andIndia as the three largest powers in worldpolitics. We don’t want a China or a USdominated world but if we had to choose,it would be easier for us to live with thelatter.”

While improvement in India-Chinarelations is welcome, it is unlikely toherald the beginning of an India-Chinaalliance against the US. It more likelyrepresents another move in India’s age-old tradition of managing regionalbalances of power. Project

Syndicate

Joseph S Nye is Distinguished ServiceProfessor at Harvard and author of

The Power Game.

France’s ‘Non’ ?

1329 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245SPORTS

TEE BREAKDeepak Acharya

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t a time when there is solittle to cheer about, everylittle victory helps. The

resident Nepalis of Abu Dhabiwho had packed the Sheikh ZayedStadium for the finals of theAsian Cricket Council’s U-15 AsiaCup on 22 April went wild. Therewere young Nepali boys thrashingAfghanistan by six wickets.

On the field, the boys hadgone equally crazy taking lapsaround the stadium waving theNepali double triangle proudly.They rolled on the ground,jumped and hugged each other. Itwas a dream come true and apromise kept for the young Nepaliboys. They wanted to savour everymoment of this victory andseemed reluctant to want toleave the stadium.

“You can only imagine the joywe felt,” recalls captain SashiKeshari, “an amazing feeling. TheAfghans had lost to us earlier inthe Group D league-round matchand challenged us. They hadarrived late that night and saidthey could do better. We weren’tnervous really, just under a lot ofpressure because many thoughtthey would win the second time.”

The pressure increased whenthe opposing team opened welland as Nepal’s coach Roy Dias,who is from Sri Lanka, says,“After Afghanistan lost to ourteam the first time, they had beenimproving with each game. Ouredge was that we had a good planand luck on our side.”

The night before the match,our boys had been planning agame strategy, working out their

Our boys bring home the cupDetermination, dedication and discipline: Coach Dias

opponent’s strengths andweaknesses while identifyingtheir own. If their game planworked as they had hoped,they knew they would win.And they did.

“Our team was very strong andwe had quite a few all-arounders.We had great batsmen, bowlersand fielders,” says Pradeep Karki,assistant manager of the team andassistant secretary of CricketAssociation of Nepal (CAN).“CAN has steadily beenincreasing the standard of Nepalicricket players. This U-15 teamwas chosen after nearly ninemonths of selection matcheswith players from various cricketdevelopment regions.”

CAN has divided Nepal intosix cricket development regions:Biratnagar, Birganj, Kathmandu,Bhairawa, Nepalganj and Baitadi.Each club in the various districtsunder these regions participatedin the district level matches. Thewinners advanced to the regionallevel before being pitted againsteach other for the national team.Only 33 make it to this stage, outwhich 18 are chosen from threetriangular matches. The final14 are then put in closedcamp for training.

This U-15 team trained for 20days, the first phase wasconducted in Birganj and the last10 days in Kathmandu. “Trainingin hot and humid Birganjhelped,” says Keshari, “AbuDhabi wasn’t that bad because wehad grown used to playing in theheat. And the many matches weplayed before we were finally

selected boosted our confidence.Each selected player had aspecial talent and as a team,we were more balanced thanthe others.”

The intensive trainingincluded upping theperformance of each individualplayer. They learnt to focus andevery time they entered the field,they were mentally andphysically prepared. The U-15team also played against thenational team during practicesessions and the seniors, whohad played in Abu Dhabibefore, generously tipped theirjuniors on what worked andwhat did not.

“What really worked for themthough, according to Dias is their“determination, dedication anddiscipline”. Antim Thapa wasnamed ‘Man of the Match’ andAnil Mandal was declared the‘Best Batsman’. Everybody istalking about Nepal’s battingpower now and our spinnersreally bowled over spectators.Says Dias: “I’m really proud ofthem not just because we won,but we won each matchconvincingly”.

ABHA ELI PHOBOO

hen you start playing golf, you dream of getting the ball to fly.Once that is done and a little consistency maintained, youwill find yourself on the golf course more and more. From

there on, your focus becomes a never-ending journey of trying toscore lower and lower.

I have been watching quite a few rounds of golf with weekendgolfers. One common phenomenon among them and evenintermediate players was that on most rounds they play, their scorecards are usually spoilt by occasional 8s and 9s (triple and

quadruple bogeys), ruining whatmay have been a decentscorecard.

How and why does thishappen so often? In most cases, it

is not lack of ability but a dreadful lack of course management. Andwhat exactly is course management?

When running a business, good managers need to have bothvision and skills to take their company ahead step-by-step. Theymust also have the ability to make the right decisions in a givensituation by first analysing and then charting out possibleconsequences based more on facts than on emotions. Just as youwould do this in business, you do it in golf too. You need to make theright non-emotional decision when planning your round and choosingthe shot you wish to attempt.

For example, you are faced with a tee shot on a par five to areasonably wide fairway where there is OB (Out of Bounds) on theright side and rough on the left. Emotionally, you feel like ripping it

down the centre, eventhough you know youmight not make it.However, it is wiser to aimleft of centre and acceptthe consequence of aslightly errant shot endingup in the rough. Thealternate possibility ofslicing out of bounds is toosevere a consequence toentertain.

Another example: mostshort par fours havefairways that narrow downand are designed todiscourage a long tee shot.Yet most amateurs takeout their driver withoutthinking and end up indeep trouble. Often, theydon’t even consider usingtheir much more accurate

five-wood or a long iron that would land them in the safest part of thefairway, keeping them ‘alive’ in the short grass with a greaterattacking chance at the green.

Similarly when hitting towards the green, if the cup is cut on theright edge, instead of attacking the flag with a chance of missing thegreen on the right, it is better to take the centre part of the green oreven miss the green on the left. A longer putt or a chip with plenty ofgreen to play with is less daunting than a short chip with no place forthe ball to stop rolling.

If there is trouble behind the green then play short of the hole. Ifthere is a water hazard before the green, ensure you are not playingfor the front edge. Ever watched Tiger Woods or other top playersteeing off with an iron on a par four? What they are doing is simplyavoiding certain risks and playing a better percentage shot.

Players need to be aware of their individual shot-making ability,plan and play accordingly. All these are a part of good coursemanagement. Sounds rational when you read it but it’s amazing howoften it is forgotten or ignored on the course.

Sensible course management always brings your scores down.Schedule a lesson with your favourite professional and ask him toexplain each shot from the perspective of managing the coursebetter. You will be surprised at how much you can learn.

Deepak Acharya is a golf instructor and Golf Director atGokarna Forest Golf Resort & Spa, Kathmandu.

prodeepak@hotmail.com

High on lowManaging minimum score is the way to go

15 going on 17Nepal will host the ACC U-17 AsiaCup this year in June or July. TheU-15 boys are more excited thanever about participating. As thecricket scene in Nepal develops,they hope to add to the energy andenthusiasm. “We are alreadypreparing for the U-17 nationalteam,” say the U-15 boys, “and wehope to win that coveted cup too.”

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ASIAN CRICKET COUNCIL

ABOUT TOWN

14 29 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245CITY

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Call 4442220 for show timingswww.jainepal.com

KATHMANDU AIR QUALITY

KATHMANDU VALLEY

by MAUSAM BEEDNEPALI WEATHER

Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue

29-13 32-13 30-11 29-12 28-12

The low pressure bypass has relievedus with hefty evening showers thisweek. The centre of this circulationwill be over Bhutan by Friday but ithas spawned baby troughs all alongthe Gangetic plains which will injectmoisture into the midhills and bring uslocalised storm systems. This satellitepicture taken on Thursday morningshows a frontal system moving intowestern Nepal which should bring usovercast skies and stormy conditionson Friday. We will observe moreisolated storms into next week. Expecthumidity to rise, making the heatstickier.

Hazardous >425

Harmful 351 to 425

Unhealthy 121 to 350

O k 61 to 120

G o o d < 60

Putalisadak Patan H Thamel Kirtipur Bhaktapur Matsyagaun

17-23 April 2005 in micrograms per cubic meter.Source: www.mope.gov.np

Although there was a 20 percent drop in the concentration of PM10(particles that are less than 10 micron in size) in Kathmandu’s air lastweek, the pollution levels are still high. The PM10 level is above nationalstandards throughout the Valley except in rural areas like Matsyagaon.The only relief was the brief shower on Saturday which flushed downsome of the pollutants.

There are mysterious deaths caused by man-eating tigersin Jim Corbett Park. The International Wildlife Welfareappoints ace conservationist Krish Thapar and his wifeRiya to investigate. Dev and his friends also set out foran adventure trip during that weekend. Destiny preventsthem from going to the farmhouse as planned instead,they end up in India’s biggest jungle. Both groups bondtogether but at night, the jungle comes alive. Then startsthe journey of fear, panic and trauma. They are the huntedwith death at their heels.

FESTIVAL AND EXHIBITIONSEarth Day Solid Waste Management Exhibition on 29, 30 April, 10AMonwards at Jawalakhel Chok, Lalitpur. 4242381

A Peaceful Nepal Photo exhibition at GAA, Thamel, until 30 April, 10AM-4PM, proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity.Thalara Framed Photographs by Devendra SJB Rana at Siddhartha ArtGallery, until 30 April.Press Photo Exhibition at Nepal ArtCouncil, Baber Mahal, until 2 May.Mystical Song Etchings by SeemaSharma Shah at Park Gallery, Lajimpat,until 14 May. 4419353Aloha Nepal Works by Wicki Van DeVeer at Lajimpat Gallery Café, until 25May. 4428549

EVENTSDutch Queen’s Day Flea market at Summit Hotel on 30 April. 5521810Free workshop for illustrators on 30 April-1 May at the British Council,Lainchor. 4410798Vineyard Opening on 1 May at Baber Mahal Revisited.Raaga Eastern classical music concert by Sunita Mishra at EverestBookshop, Baber Mahal Revisited on 1 May, 6PM-7.30 PM. 4257250Faiz Ahmed Faiz on freedom of expression at Yala Maya Kendra, PatanDhoka, 5.30 PM on 2 May. 5553767Drama for awareness at St Xavier’s College, Maitighar on 2 May, 2.30 PM.Classical Piano Recital by Antony Peebles on 3 May, 6.30 PM at HyattRegency, tickets Rs 1,500. 4491234Fifth Himalayan Beetle Rally on 7 May. Raising funds for SingleWomen Group, Antenna Foundation and Maya Foundation. 4427623Pilgrims Book Festival at Pilgrims, Kupondole, until 8 May. 5521159The Good Person of Szechwan Staged by Studio 7 at Hotel Vajra,Friday, Saturday and Sunday, until 8 May. 4271545Tai Chi Free classes for a month at Baber Mahal Revisited. 42566181905 Sundays Garage sale, pet practices and more.Fun in the Sun at Club Sundhara, Hotel Shangri-la. 4412999Art workshop for kids at Buddha Gallery. 4441689Rugby Practice Every Saturday. 4435939, citygymktm@hotmail.comSanibaar Mela Saturdays at the Dharahara Bakery Café, 12AM-5PM.

MUSICAn Evening with Manose at Patan on 29 April, 7PM, tickets Rs 650.Full Circle Live at Indigo Gallery on 7 May, 8PM, tickets Rs 750. 4413580Rock Thru’ the Ages Postponed until further notice. 4700736Friends of Music Open jam session at Moks. 552642Live Jazz by JCS trio and Peter McTwister, Thursdays at Full Moon Bar,Mondays at New Orleans Café, Thamel. 4700736Ladies Nights Wednesdays at Jatra, Thamel, with live acoustic music.Fusion Time Mondays at Jalan Jalan Restaurant, Lajimpat, 7PM. 4410438Live Music Everyday at Hotel de l’Annapurna, Darbar Marg. 4221711The Heart Breakers at Rum Doodle, Fridays, 7PM onwards. 4701208Jukebox experience Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Rox. 4491234Jazz at Upstairs Jazz Bar, Lajimpat, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 7.45 PM.

FOODMarhaba Mediterranean Cuisine at Hotel Shangri-la, until 30 April.Great Value Lunches at Soaltee Crowne Plaza. 4273999BBQ Lunch at Le Meridien, Gokarna Forest Golf Resort. 4445550Sunshine Weekend Brunch Free swim at Hotel Yak and Yeti. 4248999Barbeque lunch Saturdays at Club Himalaya, Nagarkot. 6680080Special Combo Burmese and Thai Menu at 1905, Kantipath.Sekuwa and Momo Revolution Saturdays at Tea House Inn. 6680048Arniko Special Lunch at Hotel de l’Annapurna, Darbar Marg. 4221711Krishnarpan Nepali specialty restaurant at Dwarika’s Hotel. 4479488Barbecue Dinner Every Friday at the Summit Hotel. 5521810Exotic Seafood at Rox Restaurant, Hyatt Regency. 4491234Delicacies Pastas and snacks at Roadhouse Café, Jawalakhel. 5521755Earth Watch Restaurant at Park Village, dine with nature. 4375280Café Bahal Newari cuisine at Kathmandu Guest House, Thamel. 4700632The Tharu Kitchen at Jungle Base Camp. Junglebasecamp@yahoo.com

GETAWAYSStay one night Get one Night at Shangri-la Village, Pokhara. 4435742Wet Wild Summer Splash at Godavari Village Resort. 5560675Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge World’s top room with a view. 4361500Shivapuri Cottage Nature, peace and bird watching at 6,000ft. 4354331Chiso Chiso Hawama at Nagarkot, special packages. 6680080Jungle Base Camp Lodge, Bardia. junglebasecamp@yahoo.comMalaysia Dream Holidays Special offers till the end of May. 4247215extn 01314, malaysiaholidays_marco@polo.com.np

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1529 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245

FAREWELL: UML leader Sahana Pradhan paying last respects toSadhana Adhikari, wife of former Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikariwhose fifth death anniversary also fell this week.

INTO THE DEEP END: Devotees pull a chariot floating on GahanaPokhari at the annual Handigaun jatra on Monday.

YIIIIIIEEEAAAAAH: The Eastern Zone won the Seventh NationalKyokusin Karate Championships in Dharan on 23 April. More than 80martial arts atheletes took part.

KIRAN PANDAY

DAMBAR KRISHNA SHRESTHA

ART START: Teenagers painting at the two-day teen art workshopCelebrating Colours on Saturday and Sunday at The Bluestar Hotel.

NEPALNEWS.COM

he men of Tallo Gaun inSimikot love to hate UjeliRokaya. They consider her

a threat to their patriarchalsociety, which strongly believesthat educating girls is a very badidea.

Last year, 16-year-old Ujelishocked her community ofRautes when she left herhusband’s house to attendschool. UNICEF’s villagefacilitators were going door-to-door to encourage girls andwomen to attend the Out ofSchool Program (OSP) and Ujelijust could not resist the offer.

Her husband was inKathmandu and Ujeli was left atthe mercy of in-laws who

strongly refused to send her tothe program. Her father-in-law isan educated person and the VDCsecretary. “They said I wouldnever be allowed to enter thehouse if I dared to enroll. I justwalked off to attend the program,”says Ujeli, recalling the day sheleft the house and joined theOSP.

It’s been 10 months since andUjeli has completed her basiceducation and enrolled in gradefive at a government school. “Theday I pass my SLC, I will return tomy husband’s house,” she saysbrightly. She is amazed at her

Nothing stops Ujeli own transformation—from a shy,reluctant wife to a confident,outspoken and fearless girl.

“Now I can read and write likeany educated man,” says Ujeli andproves it to us by writing her name.“Many girls still have to live underthe strict rules of our communitybut I will change that.”

Once she finishes school, Ujeliwants to be a teacher and educateas many girls and women aspossible. Every day as she passesthrough her village, she has toendure ridicule and insultingremarks from the men and boys.But this brave girl is unfazed. Shesays, “All I know is my parents arevery happy and that is enough forme. Nothing can stop me now.” Naresh Newar

EXPLODING SCHOOLS: A bomb destroyed the Aadarsha NamunaSecondary School in Gaidakot , Nawalparasi, on 22 April. The Maoiststudent wing on Wednesday lifted its threat to indefinitely close downall private schools in the country.

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KIRAN PANDAY

NARESH NEWAR

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29 APRIL - 5 MAY 2005 #245

UNDER MY HATKunda Dixit

CDO Regd No. 194/056/57 Lalitpur, Central Region Postal Regd. No. 04/058/59

W

16

e must mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 Maythis year in Nepal by dispelling the maliciousrumour doing the rounds that we in the Fourth

Estate aren’t free to be sycophantic, hypocritical andunscrupulous liars anymore. As we can see for ourselvesthis is not the case, all of these aforementioned freedomsare intact.

Anyone with an over-fertile imagination will havenoticed that there are no restrictions at all. We members of

the media sector havenever been freer tolick ass or be kickedin the ass. It’s not fornothing that we areproud to call

ourselves members of the world’s second-oldestprofession.

Nevertheless, we mustn’t rest on our laurels, weshouldn’t take the freedoms we enjoy for granted as we goout of our way to kowtow even though we were only askedto curtsy. May Third therefore is a perfect opportunity forus in the media to take stock of our good fortune to bewhere we are. (Message from the State Law and Order

Feel free to throw up on the Fourth EstateCouncil on the Auspicious Occasion of World PressFreedom Day: The following content has beenvetted for veracity and has been found to be fit forwide dissemination but the Council takes no legalresponsibility if consumers don’t have theintestinal fortitude to read it without throwing up.Signature and Chop.) So, without beating aroundthe bushes let’s proceed to count our blessings fromone to 10:

1 There are absolutely no curbs on vowel

movements in the state-controlled mediawhich is free to report at great length on allofficial pronunciations.

2 No one is stopping anyone from singinghosannas at the top of their voices.

3 We can’t help it if newspapermen insist onignoring repeated warnings not to report thatthey have been repeatedly warned not toundermine the morality of those calling theshots.

4 We don’t blame messengers anymore. Wearrest them.

5 Good thing that more than 65 percent of Nepaliscan’t read or write otherwise the public may actuallybelieve what we are saying.

6 The officials’ media is adding supplementary pagesto accommodate vast quantities of backlogged newson new arrests this week that couldn’t be printedbecause of headline-grabbing events from the Afro-Asian Summit.

7 As a matter of public service, Radio Nepal says itwill continue blocking the first 15 minutes of BBCWorld Service news on 103 FM because it wants to“spare listeners the boredom of having to listen tothe same headlines on the hour every hour andreplace it with a musical interlude”.

8 It’s not true that Nepal’s media is the least free inAsia. That is a gross national insult to our friendlycountry, North Korea.

9 The government denies in strongest terms the canardthat news is not allowed on FM. Undergroundstations are allowed to broadcast news unhindered.

10 Humour is now so rife in the media that it hasthankfully thrown all insufferable satirists,including this one, out of business.