#240 25 - 31 March 2005 16 pages Rs 30

Weekly Internet Poll # 241. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.comQ..... Is the international criticism ofFebruary First justified?

Total votes:483

Weekly Internet Poll # 240

Q.Has there been an improvement inurban services in the past two months?

ISSN

181

4-26

13

month after vigilantes wenton the rampage, villagesnear the birthplace of the

Buddha are still in shock. InHallanagar, 25 km west of Lumbini,families stay close for safety,many wear vacant looks as theyrummage among the charred ruinsof their homes. There is little food.

On 16 February, hundreds offellow-villagers went house-to-house here looking for Maoists.Fed up with rebel atrocities andintimidation, villagers attackedfellow villagers and many innocentfarmers became victims of lynchmobs. In all 42 people were killed.(‘Villages in ashes’, #237)

Maoists were among the deadbut so were farmhands, rickshawpullers, tailors and farmers. Oneelderly man, Prem BahadurRaskoti, who had lost his entirefamily in a flood 10 years ago, washacked to death with an axe.

The arrival of the security

forces finally brought the situationunder control. But by then only 20of the 325 houses in Hallanagarwere intact.

“We feel much safer now thatthe soldiers are here,” saysKhuman Singh Pariyar whosehouse was destroyed. Pariyar’sfamily migrated here from Gulmi 35years ago, and he recognisedfamiliar faces of local jamindarsamong the attackers. Ironically, thevillagers suspected of beingMaoists had themselves fled rebelatrocities in Rolpa, Pyuthan andArgakhanchi in recent years.

The Kapilbastu violence hadsinister communal and ethnicovertones against hill settlers.Activists fear the vigilanteviolence here could turn into aBihar-style caste war. Perhapssensing this but also to protectvigilantes from rebel revenge, thearmy has set up a camp atGaneshpur. "The people havehelped us with information onMaoists," says Major Sunil Ghaleat the army camp.

Sita Debi Malla lives with herfamily in the ruins of her house. Ithas no doors and a blue plasticsheet serves as the roof. Sitacooks outside, her children studyfor their final exams in the open.“We don’t have money to rebuild,we never did anything wrong,”says Sita whose family moveddown from Pyuthan four years agoto escape the conflict. ActionAid isproviding food but the need inKapilbastu is much greater.

“We are not Maoists,” saysanother young villager, “we don’teven like them, we came here toescape them.”

Villagers say their offensivewas successful because theMaoists have been driven out.“There may still be a few left butwe’ll flush them all out,” saysBirendra Mishra, a leader of theanti-Maoist vigilante group.

Asked why innocent villagerswere targeted, Mishra told us: “Wehave nothing against them but ifthey give shelter to Maoists we willnot spare their village.” A week

“We will flush them out”NARESH NEWAR

in KAPILBASTUafter the attacks last month, seniorgovernment officials visitedKapilbastu and gave the vigilantesa pat on theback.

But despiteMishra’sbravado, on 26 February, Maoistsdressed in combat fatigues shotdead two brothers in cold blood.Their father, Abdul Rahman, wasforced to watch. “I told them tospare my sons and kill me instead,”said the 65-year-old farmer. Hiswife stood by sobbing.

A

VIOLENCE AND COUNTER-VIOLENCE(top to bottom): Sita Debi Malla'shome was destroyed in the mob attack at Hallanagar on 16 February.One of the leaders of the Kapilbastu vigilantes speaks on his Indianmobile phone at the Krishnanagar police station.Abdul Rahman was forced to watch as Maoists executed his two sonson 26 February.

Editorial p2It ain't broke

PICS: NARESH NEWAR

1125 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240FIVE POEMS BY WAYNE AMTZIS AND PURNA BAHADUR VAIDYA

BLOODSCRIPT

We share a cage, a cliff,a country. A diminishing ground

draws us in as it sinksand surrounds. Walls stand,

roofless, sky-lights for the damnedBlood runs dry. The stains,

a script (The literate overlookthis spine-broken book) where each village

fades, mist-drawn, West to East,all land in between, tea-stained lines

torn from a map. ScratchesScrawls. Mouth-curdled squawk

dies down to a dissentingmurmur, a curse hot in the ears,

ready to be heard. “Wounds won’t heal,this script cannot not be read”

It’s never time

And so it adds upLife subtracted from life

A hurried high kick, dead onYour name, a child’s name,

your child’s face, a leg, an…Killing foretells the necessary crime

Betrayal will do, or simply being thereCinched bones snap

She who can’t walk off, set free“Hands full” has a hurricane in mind

“Start over” pretends just thatMoonlit stone lanterns, darkened,

lead the way. Far below,hunched, haughty, the heedless hills

On their backs, dead weight,discarded lives. In a gashed eye

a candle flickers

Drawn down deepwithin the fist, what flame exists

cannot reach us. Charred, the ceiling,the lived-in rooms

Charred, the palms, the healing bonesLand pocked with beauty

Body with pain

Wayne Amtzis Kathmandu 10/04

ROADBLOCK

A sudden mountain slams the brakesA twenty-year siege comes down to

speeds up/ drags outThe hesitant never choose

Chaste walls chastenedclose in. Weeds among the rubble

City in ruins. A dwarf speciespushes through. I, splinter…

the word gash festersThe wide-open, pinpointed,

a finger-touch away,splattered kill. A mess of hacks,

guts stuffed backNothing here, so they leave

behind lessFar-flung failure intact,

quarry-faced futurelong due, rent earth and landslides,

stacked tiresand sling shot stone

demark a grotesque range,a battered divide

Between sever and seal,shape and shatter, a fetish of talks

In dissonant halls,voices cast out, bodies mauled

Ad(mired) in beauty,your mountains, monuments;

your faces, defacedYour vision a dredged pool of light

Your fortified refugea ravished valley. The relinquished

heart of the MandalaCan’t you see what is happening?

The sign ahead veersThe sharp sudden one step more

trips you up. You’re thething to be had, the naught to be done in,

the zip to be zappedThat unguarded moment when we

could have… All around now,closing in. Tongues thickened with deceit

Escape rutted with delayThere’s no space left in the all-alone

Throats constrict. Walled-in,walls fall. Everything’s taken from youDespair got you by/ Pain’s all that’s left

At the court of the deprivedand vanquished,

the un-judged deliver their verdictNo one suffers here (They insist)

No one will speak of this(There’s nothing to be spoken of)

Until you can speakfor yourself

(This they fear)Endure!

Wayne Amtzis Kathmandu March 05

THE IMPLEMENTATIONOF DAILY REPORTS

Reported daily:Whereabouts unknown

Reported daily:Consequences suffered

Reported daily:Maimed and killed

Reported daily:Intimidation and rape

Reported daily:Forcible recruitment

Reported daily:Severely beatenReported daily:Do not Do notReported daily

Implement ImplementReported daily:

Immediately ceaseReported daily:

Immediately haltReported daily:Abide by Abide

Concurrently reported toThe committee to investigateThe committee to resurrect

The committee to punishThe committee for the end of days

Subsequently tabledto the sub-committee for forced displacement

the sub-committee for loss of limbsthe sub-committee for vulnerability

the sub-committee for disappearancethe sub-committee for sleepless nights

the sub-committee for endless daze

Finally and ultimatelyto be forwarded with recommendations

to the Committee For Daily ReportsFormerly known as the committee

For What’s To Be Done

Wayne Amtzis Kathmandu February 05

YES, ALL MY RIVERS ARE LAHUREYSPurna Bahadur Vaidya

For the tiniest refuge,the waters moveHastily running night and daydespite jungle and hills

Finding a place of restwhere its whole selfcan stay, there it calmly abides,its restless waves asleep

But, in my land, (harbored and held highby mountains and icy peaks)there is no place

to remain

Cruel hills and steepcliffs pushing down, allow no rest,banishing it to the lowlands

Forced out of its native realmfor a foreign land

So, rubbing earthly dust onto its chest,it leaves its own place

weeping, weeping,

exhausted in the ocean of sacrificefor no end,

for nothing at all

Translated byWayne Amtzis with the author

DITCHED TILL THE EARTH TREMBLESPurna Bahadur Vaidya

Into a gully water flows,scratching the wall-skin all around,indifferently ripplingSuddenly

trapped tiger caged bird

it shivers… excited ripples,

trembling body,slowly it thinsand flattens

Anxious, limited, bound,fearful of desiccation—a revolutionaryenduring a life sentenceFree flying birds his heart ascend!His very dream… a stream’s ongoing forceBut bound by rock hard limitsnecessity stands. Water caught in a riftcurtailed by mountains and hillscannot fly nor flow

A lump. Immovable fleshIts time-borne current lost withinAs pining birds peck at water,aroused, trembling, and yetagain, sleep presses downsilence stills, he foregoes his goal

Finally from that dry hard enclavethere’s nothing to attainNo free man’s fate,

unless from the depths an upheaval…

sends him forth

Translated by Wayne Amtzis with the author

WAYNE AMTZIS

WAYNE AMTZIS

925 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240

he history of Mao’s Great Cultural Revolutionfrom 1966-1976 is replete with parallels withthe ‘Historic Leap’ of the Nepali Maoists. The

purges, mass deportations, trials in kangaroo courtsand paranoia of the time were triggered by a powerstruggle within the hierarchy centred around Mao’sfourth wife, Jiang Qing.

Ideologically, the purges were justified to hastenthe completion of Mao’s revolutionary goals with theslogan: ‘power to the proletariat’. But by the timeMao died in 1976 and the Gang of Four was finallypushed out, between 2-7 million Chinese had beenkilled and a staggering 20 million are estimated tohave died during the Great Leap Forward. Eventoday, there are hundreds of millions of Chinesewho lived through what they still call ‘the blackperiod’.

Anyone who was suspected of not being loyal to

the new party line was publicly humiliated, thrownout, exiled to the countryside or executed. Eventhose who were seen as future rivals to thehierarchy were eliminated. One of the aims of theCultural Revolution was to uproot and boycott‘bourgeois’ education. Students were encouragedto expose their teachers and in many cases evenkill them through lynch mobs. Temples andmonasteries were destroyed, monks and priestskilled or disrobed.

After Mao’s death in 1976 and the defeat of theGang of Four, Den Xiaoping rolled back on strictcommunisation, restored private property andallowed farmers to grow and sell produce forprofit. His dictum: “It doesn’t matter whether a catis black or white as long as it catches mice”became the mantra for the post-revolutionary eraof prosperity and growth.

It doesn’t matter if thecat is black or white

T

725 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

Sudhir Sharma in Nepal, 14-31 March

Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai along with hiswife Hisila Yami and Dinanath Sharma have recentlybeen victims of the Maoist central committee’scampaign against ‘individual authoritarianism.’ Thetussle in the Maoist leadership started with thecommittee’s meeting in September when itdecided on various controversialissues which included a decision totake on India.

Bhattarai was not in favour ofthis. Eventually, he listed 13points to express his disapprovaland presented them to the highcommand of the Maoist party,which called Bhattarai’s 13-point, a ‘letter bomb’. InDecember, he sent a commentaryto Samaya magazine where hesaid he was not the ‘leader ofsurrenderers’. And in January, hesent a write-up to Kantipur about theking. The Maoist leaders considered allthis a criticism of the decisions and spiritof the party. During its meeting, theleaders had decided that no one in theparty except Prachanda and KrishnaBahadur Mahara, would be allowed tospeak or write anything independently.Following this decision, not only did theparty drop Baburam’s regular columnfrom its mouthpiece, Janadesh, it alsostopped publishing his interviews,articles or opinions. The politburomeeting took up the matter of Baburam’sinsubordination in presenting his 13points of dissent seriously. He wascornered by a majority of Prachanda’ssupporters. The party then tookdisciplinary action against Baburamand even his wife Hisila Yami andfriend Sharma got into trouble but

Baburam, in or out?reasons about the latter two are not clear. Initially,Sharma who joined the party four years ago wasconsidered to be in the pro-Prachanda camp. Now,it is not clear why party action was taken againsthim. Was it because Sharma had spoken in favourof Bhattarai at the plenum? What seems clear isthat this is just the latest in the personality clash

between Prachanda and Baburam that has beengoing on for years. Even before the

People’s War, Bhattarai had beenremoved from the position ofpresident of United People’s Frontand was replaced by PamphaBhusal. The organisation did notrun well under her, so Baburamwas reinstated. But by 1997, whenthe conflict was in its second year,the two top leaders were againhaving differences. Baburam wasalready more popular than

Prachanda as the Maoist ideologueand also due to his intellect. Anotherleader Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal)was gradually gaining popularity butin 2000, he was sidelined anddemoted to ordinary membership.Somehow, Badal managed to gainmembership in the permanentcommittee. In 2001, Baburam, too,was nearly ousted from the partyduring the fourth convention whichestablished Prachanda as thesupreme leader and made his facepublic. It also decided that everypolitical writing by the Maoists should

henceforth reflect Prachanda’s views.Baburam was not happy, it was evident

that the party had been divided into twocamps. However, the leadership, knowing

that the rift would only benefit theirenemy, patched up, establishingPrachanda as the number one andBaburam as the number two.

SUBHAS RAI

325 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240

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

HYPER EMPIRESaubhagya Shah in ‘Hyper Empire andHindu Kingdom’ (#238) hits the nail on thehead. Given the incessant politicalinstability Nepal went through in the past15 years and the ever increasing fear of aMaoist takeover, international donorsshould see February First as necessary ifthey are more concerned with the people’swelfare than ideology. Most Nepalis aretoo busy eking out a living in remotevillages to advocate political and civilrights. Let’s listen to their plight and startdoing something concrete. Even if theking can curb corruption and make thebureaucracy effective, half of Nepal’sproblems will be solved. What the donorsneed to understand is: political and civilrights can be restored anytime in thefuture when a majority of Nepalis feel itnecessary.

Subindra Bogati, London

Great to find succinct analysis ofissues like the ones presented bySaubhagya Shah in ‘Hyper Empire andHindu Kingdom’ and Kanak Mani Dixit’sSouthasia Beat column ‘Lhotshampachargesheet’ (#238) on Bhutani refugees.Because we are not just landlocked butIndia-locked, our manoeuvring capacity isseverely restricted. This makes Nepalextremely susceptible to foreignpressures. However, another equally, ifnot more, troubling issue is the lack ofunity within Nepal even after KingGyanendra’s February First move. If wecan’t analyse our domestic issues vis-à-vis the interests of the foreign powers wewill repent it. No Nepali wishes to meetthe fate of Tibet or Sikkim.

BR Giri, email

If the international community isasking the king to re-establish basicfundamental rights and democracy, thenthey also bear the burden of telling thepolitical parties, media and NGOs toreform themselves. With rights comeduties to safeguard democracy and rule oflaw. The parties, with their Stalinistictendencies, should look at themselves inthe mirror first. We will see rebellionsevery 15-20 years if some of thesereforms aren’t undertaken:1 Party leaders should have term limitsand abide by it. GP Koirala is in directviolation of his own party by-laws in tryingto run for the NC presidency for a thirdtime by amending its constitution. Is thatdictatorship or what?2 There should be a mandatory retirementage3 All party leaders should release their taxforms and wealth details4 Party people accused of corruption ormisuse of power need to be expelled fromthe party and the EC should bar them fromelections5 Any party calling for bandas or strikeswill have to pay a fine equal to the dent inthe Nepali GNP caused by the shutdowns6 Party fundraising should have limits7 Most party leaders are bahuns, partiesmust reflect the country’s ethnic diversity8 If any party disrupts the people’s work inthe parliament for more than threebusiness days in any session, that party

will be fined against the dent in the NepaliGNP caused by the disruption9 Schools, colleges and universities shouldbe de-politicised

SN Singh, email

As the moral majority of the west gangup on poor Nepal after the monarch’s takeover on February First, we Nepalis aremade to feel like guilty children. Westerncountries having nothing to lose and India,our great brotherly neighbour to the south,is apparently upset that it read the signalscompletely wrong. The world’s greatestdemocracy wants us to follow the shiningexamples of democracy in Bihar and UttarPradesh. The west and India are leadingthe crusade to try to teach this poor countrya lesson but their threat of aid cuts onlyprove that aid has always been anideological weapon. Denmark et al need toremember that many of them haveskeletons in their own closets.

Buddha Basnyat, MD, Kathmandu

Nepal needs to be self-reliant andshould not further rely on foreign aid asPravin Rana points out in ‘When you’re apoor country’ (#238). There is excessivepressure from arrogant foreigners in ourinternal matters at the toughest time in ourhistory. We are the only ones who cansolve our problems.

Anu Pradhan, Kathmandu

Your paper is looking more and morelike a wrinkled yam sandwiched betweenroyal guns. You may be proud to have a

wide readership but not all of us are pro-king. Your paper is loaded with one-sidedarguments, mostly poisoned by yourroyalist columnists. If you can’taccommodate other views, it may be a goodidea not to publish such royal rubbish. It’shigh time to save your neutrality (if youhave any) and avoid being a mouthpiece forthe palace.

‘Republic Nepal’, email

Your editorials are sounding like abroken record. You keep saying thepolitical parties made huge blunders andthey should repent but even if they don’t,they should be put back in charge. C’mon,what kind of logic is that? The king is tryingto resolve the political deadlock and takethe country forward. Why don’t you givehim a chance, especially since a majorityof Nepalis do?

Jit Jang, email

SOMETHING TO HIDE?I couldn’t agree more with your editorial‘Party Nepal’ (#249). To sum it up in onesentence: had our so called politicalleaders kept the national interest ahead oftheir personal agenda, Nepal wouldn’t havebeen in such deep trouble as she is today.

Dhruba Khanal, email

I read your insightful editorial on pressfreedom ‘Something to hide?’ (#238) andcouldn’t help writing to tell you that if youreplace ‘Nepal’ with ‘the United States’everything you say in it about Nepal couldbe true about America. Sobering thought,considering how much America is lecturingto Nepal about democracy and free press.

Lina Undholm, email

You say the blanket censorship on theNepali media will backfire on thegovernment and the military. I agree. It issimple logic that a free press andparliamentary democracy are necessaryfor justice, freedom and plurality. Thecurrent rulers, as you say, must be trying tohide something because something isseriously wrong. By polarising society andforcing them to choose between peace andwar, the authorities are giving the people afalse choice. We want peace but not bysacrificing freedom.

Sameer Ghimire, Sydney

Why do so many people in the Nepalimedia blindly accept the European orAmerican model for government? As anAmerican citizen, I can tell you thatdemocracy in America is utterly corruptedby big businesses and the military-industrial complex. The ‘choice’ betweenthe Democrat and Republican parties is soludicrous as to be tantamount to a oneparty system. The news is controlled by afew large entertainment companies thatmanipulate public opinion rather thaninform the public. Is that really somethingto emulate or strive to imitate?

Daniel Birch, New York

OTHER HALFThe quote ‘Nepal is a garden of four castesand 36 races’ has been repeated to death.CK Lal brings it up again in his State of theState column (‘Nepal’s other half’, #238).Poets, politicians, historians and whoeverhave all interpreted the saying to theiradvantage. But how many people havestopped to think whom the quote reallyrefers to? Did Nepal, 200 years ago,comprise the population groups andlandmass it does today? It did not. So thedesignation of castes and races doesn’tapply to people living within Mechi-Mahakali today. The great king, of course,was referring to the inhabitants of the NepalMandala.

‘Bhai Kaji’, Kathmandu

CK Lal in ‘Nepal’s other half’ isincisive and succinct as always. Whileagreeing fully with his article, I would liketo offer one more point as a corollary to thedogma of ‘Nepali language’, since it will notbe complete unless the myth of the ‘Nepalilanguage’ is demystified.

The languages and dialectstraditionally spoken in the territory of

Nepal, from north to south and from east towest, are Nepali bhasas: each one of themis and should have been called NepaliBhasa and not mere titular ‘RastraBhasa’. The so-called ‘Nepali Bhasa’ is infact the ‘Khas Bhasa’.

Ramesh Tiwari, Sanepa

NOT PERUIt seems obscene to look to AlbertoFujimori’s horrid reign as an example forNepal’s counter insurgency (‘Moving on toPeru’, #237) as Ashutosh Tiwari has inhis Strictly Business column. Fujimori’scorruption affected all levels ofgovernment and was the chief factor forthe departure of most NGOs there. TheSenderos’ similarity to Nepal’s insurgentsis at best, superficial. The so-calledpeace that resulted from Fujimori’shenchman, Montesinos, gave the Narcotraffickers free reign and dramaticallyincreased the poverty in the city due torefugees from the army’s death squads.Your dear departed King Birendradeclared Nepal a zone of peace. Let’slook there for an answer to this class war.Shalom.

Gregory P Pehrson, email

18TH BRUMAIREIs Dr Baburam Bhattarai wishing a longreign to His Majesty? His latest writingposted on Krishna Sen Online quotes ‘Ledix-huit Brumaire de Louis Bonaparte’with the same ridiculous repetition of ahistorical event has taken place in Nepal.‘The First February of the Nepali historyseems to be a carbon copy of theEighteenth Brumaire of French history,”writes Bhattarai. For anyone who has readsome texts after Karl Marx’s pamphletabout this period, the comparison soundsrather funny since Bonaparte’s coup andtitle of emperor were both approved byplebiscite by a very large majority7,800,000 of ‘yes’ and 2,500,000 of ‘no’,leading to his long and prosperous reignas Napoleon III. He remained on thethrone for 18 years, whereas his uncle’sreign lasted only 10 years.

Marie Lecomte-Tilouine, CNRS, Paris

MAN O MANRameswor Bohara’s report on womenplaying cricket (‘Bowled over by girls’,#239) said Mangal’s captain Nairi won the‘Man of the Match award’. The game wasby played by girls, won by girls and theaward was called ‘Man of the Match’?

Mona Shrestha Adhikari,ActionAid Nepal

DISTASTEFULI read the distasteful interview with theBritish ambassador (#239). Britain wasthe first country that Nepal establisheddiplomatic relations with, thousands ofNepalis have given their lives trying toprotect the British crown and the Britishpeople. For absolutely no reason ofenmity, Nepali Gurkhas fought a waragainst Argentina in the Falklands justbecause the British told us to. Now, whenwe are in trouble, Britain has stoppedmilitary aid to Nepal. Can there be anyother example of ungratefulness?

Dr Rajiv Sharma, Dilli Bajar

2 25 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240EDITORIAL

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

P

STATE OF THE STATECK Lal

Nearly two months after the emergencywas imposed and civil libertiescurtailed, it is looking like the

unintended consequences of presscensorship have begun to run counter tothe purpose of the royal proclamation.

The decision to fetter press freedom hasresulted in the reduction of media’s reach,influence, and credibility shrinking itscapacity to deliver to the public eventhe information that the state wants. Aresponsive state would have seen thedanger of this and quickly lifted curbs.

But wehearthateven

tighter measures to asphyxiate thepress are afoot.

Curbs on press freedom seldom workbecause they undermine the very process ofnation building. A modern state is an‘imagined community’ created andpropagated by the media. Mass mediaunifies nations in its own special ways.Only an unrepresentative government canfail to take that into account, and at itsown peril.

Nepal needs a free press for anothervery important reason: our supreme law isa statute of liberty. The 1990 constitution

The statutes of libertydoesn’t envisage governance by plebisciteas in direct democracies, where importantdecisions are subjected to referendum. In arepresentative system like ours, theexecutive, the legislature, and the judiciarycan only be kept continuously accountableto the people by a vibrant press exercisingfull freedom and unfettered right toinformation.

In a constitutional democracy, themedia is also the terrain where policyissues are freely discussed. The interpretersof constitution in the media must exercise‘a wide range of discretion that inevitablyallows, in fact frequently requires, a degreeof creativity’ that may challenge and evenchange the constitutional order. The mediain that sense is a site of informallegislation.

Our constitution places a lot ofauthority in the hands of unelected bodieswhich can only be held accountable by afree press. Wise old Brahmins (nominatedby political parties and appointed by theking) man constitutional organs which areconstituted, like the supreme court itself,outside the purview of the executive. Otherthan submitting an annual report to

parliament, institutions such as PublicService Commission, ElectionCommission, Auditor General, orCommission for the Investigation of Abuseof Authority function almost independentof the legislature and the executive. Theonly agency which can keep a constantwatch on them is an independent press.The unprecedented freedom given to themedia in the constitution is therefore notunintentional.

Governments even in democracies havea range of options to make the mass media‘behave’. Collusion with media moguls,subsidies for media enterprises, libel laws,taxation, market regulations, licensing,ownership, spin, selective informationleaks, distribution of advertising largesse ofthe state, or if nothing else works, buyingoff journalists. Censorship andsuppression are too crude and violent incivilised countries in this day and age.

Either way, direct governmentintervention in media content lead to twoopposing effects: the potential forinformational rent increases if media isperceived to be credible, but the media canonly remain credible if it is allowed to

cover a range of views in an atmospherefree from unwarranted pressures.

Suspension of civil liberties this timehas adversely affected Nepal’s imageworldwide, and it has cost unprecedentedjob losses within the country. But thosearen’t the only reasons to restore pressfreedom. The best reason is that a free pressis in the government’s own self-interest.Even an unelected government.

To get real value from media, the statemust let it function freely and uphold itstrustworthiness. Loss of media credibilitygive rise to wild rumours, pushes listenersto tune in to clandestine transmissions,and rely on photocopying and cassetterecorder journalism. It leads tointensification of unverifiable, andprobably dangerous, personalcommunication. And we are seeing signs ofthese pre-1990 phenomena now.

Smart governments don’t censor, theyuse spin doctors. After all, you want thepeople to believe you when you are tellingthe truth.

The state must restore freedom ofthe press not just for us, but for its ownsake.

The state must restore press freedom, not for us, but for its own sake

Respecting rules of warNepali Times: How did your meetingwith King Gyanendra go?Reto Meister: His Majesty expressedNepal’s commitment to respect theGeneva Conventions. The audiencewith His Majesty allowed us to informhim about the working relationshipthat we maintain with differentministries. He also paid attention tothe information made to himregarding our specific functions andcooperation with the Royal NepaliArmy. He expressed his commitmentto the issues we had brought to hisattention.

You also met with other senior stateofficials.Yes, we also had a meeting with theminister for home affairs duringwhich we expressed our satisfactionregarding the cooperation forgranting access to the people indetention, arrested and detainedafter 1 February. We had a closed-door meeting with the chief of armystaff that allowed frank discussionon the state of our cooperation, inparticular the question of theprotection of the persons undercontrol of armed forces and themodality as according to which theICRC can visit. ICRC made concreteand constructive proposals on howto evaluate this aspect of ourparticular work with the RNA.

displaced persons?The ICRC has a mandate toprotect the victims of armedconflict. Giving materials andhealth assistance are some of themajor activities of our institution.Other than the protection ofcivilians and prisoners, IDPsupport is one of our keyoperations in the field.

Recently, a senior governmentofficial said there is no needfor international human rightsmonitoring. Your response?The first responsibility to applyinternational law lies with thesignatory state. If the statedemonstrates that it can applyinternational law, then indeedthere is no need for aninternational observer. Again wewould abstain ourselves topronounce whether or not whatthe government representativehas said corresponds to what Ihave just said. It is not for usto comment whether or notNepal specially needs UN humanrights representative. We woulddefinitely abstain from taking anyposition on this.

What is the major challenge forhumanitarian work in a conflictsituation?For ICRC, the major challenge isto have an impact on the lives ofthe civilian population and thepersons that do not participate inthe hostilities as far as theirprotection is concerned, that theyare not exposed to abuse and donot disappear.

How do the state and rebels viewyour presence in Nepal?You take as an example thequestion of the security of ourpersonnel. We are pleased to saythat we are able to work safely.We don’t have the kind of securitythreat that would indicate that weare not accepted. On the contrarywe have good dialogue andassurances that contributionsmade by ICRC are welcome.

We were briefed on thesituation prevailing as far as

conflict is concerned andwe also received a

detailed briefingon what theHuman Rights

Cell had undertakenover the last two years.

Regarding the activities of theCell, we were apprised of thetraining of commanding officers andsoldiers to know what the rulesare. We also learnt that the RNAwishes to respect impunity and toprosecute persons in their ranksthat do not respect the GenevaConventions.

What policy does ICRC haveregarding its support to internally

The Delegate General forAsia-Pacific of the

International Committeeof the Red Cross (ICRC)

Reto Meister was inKathmandu last week.

He met King Gyanendra,the army chief andsenior officials. He

spoke to Nepali Timesabout his meetings.

IT AIN’T BROKEolitics make headlines. And when the struggle for power turnsviolent as it has here over the past decade, it makes evenbigger headlines. Disasters also make it to the bulletins

because they fulfil the basic criteria for news: they are negative.Television can’t get enough of typhoons and wars, especially if theycome with cool visuals. To make it to the headlines, disasters bydefinition have to be shocking and sudden. Slow, silent death doesn’tgrab the editors.

Children in Nepal die of easily preventable causes, but becausethey don’t all die suddenly, all at once and in one place, mediagatekeepers don’t consider it ‘news’.

Nepal’s maternal mortality rate is as high as some sub-Saharancountries, but the mothers are dying in isolated remote villagesscattered all across this rugged land. Four times more women havedied at childbirth in Nepal over the past ten years than all the men,women and children who have been killed in the conflict (see p 4).

Yet, eyes glaze over when you try to get media interested in ourshameful maternal mortality rate, or the needless death of Nepalichildren. The Buddha weeps, but Kathmandu couldn’t care less.

The biggest challenge ahead of Nepal today is actually not theconflict—sooner or later the men directing this war will see just howfoolish and wasteful it is. The real challenge is to use the opportunityfor social reform that the conflict presents to finally begin to addressthe country’s development deadend. How do you kick-start deliveryof health care, nutrition and disease prevention so helpless Nepalisdon’t have to die prematurely? How do you overcome the avarice andapathy of rulers in the capital?

Actually it’s not such a tall order, and we don’t even need to waitfor a complete restoration of peace to begin. There are numerousexamples of communities even in conflict zones today who haveensured health posts are staffed, schools are run, community forestsare conserved and roads are constructed. Inmany VDCs, chairmen whose termshave long expired still serve, out ofa sense of duty to their constitu-ents, as de facto volunteerheadmen.

All they need is a slightlymore efficient governmentmachinery and relatively honestmanagers in the bureaucracy to ensure thatbudgeted resources end up where they aresupposed to and not get siphoned off along the way. The insurgencyshould not be an excuse to bring development to a standstill, or tosay there is no money. In fact, development can be the biggestcontribution to peace-building.

Just bring back what was working: devolve power, restore thegrassroots democracy that had empowered villagers and made themparticipate in shaping their own destiny. Bring back elections of localleaders who were accountable and kept promises.

It wasn’t broken, so why are we trying to fix it?

JAYANTO/HT

NARESH NEWAR

4 25 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240NATION

o officials who rarely set foot outside Kathmandu Valley, it isdifficult to understand how the conflict is affecting the health ofwomen.

Going by the child and maternal mortality figures at the numbercrunchers in the capital, the health status of Nepalis is improvingdramatically. Government officials are in a state of denial. I haveoften heard them say: “Our health programs are progressing onschedule, maternal mortality and morbidity rates have been reducedand our grassroots level health workers are doing a fantastic job.”

The reality is very different. The conflict has unleashed apopulation of internally displaced people who, because they are faraway from their home districts, do not have access to regular care.

The highway blockades andbandas have made access tomedical care the biggest worryfor maternity cases. It is not justthat women with complicated

pregnancies can’t be taken to hospitals, but health workers aren’table to travel to remote health posts.

One auxiliary nurse and midwife in Achham told me: “A few yearsago, I used to go to different areas assigned by my health post.People would call me to help deliver babies but I can’t do thatanymore. I know the people need my services but I am afraid aboutmy own security.”

Most health posts don’t have medicines and health workersthemselves work at great personal risk. Medicines, even if theyarrive at the district headquarters, are barred from being taken out toVDC health posts for fear they will get into the hands of the rebels.The Maoists have their own channels to bring in essential drugs butthese are mainly for treating their own wounded cadre and not for thegeneral population.

Many nurses and midwives have abandoned their posts. Twoyears ago, we organised a health camp in Doti but had to wrap upearly because of a curfew. Many women had walked for days andcouldn’t be treated. I still remember the pain on the faces of thosemothers. We offered money to some of them so they could go down tothe Nepalganj Medical College for treatment but they were reluctantfearing they’d be stuck if the highway was blocked and there wouldbe no one to take care of their children, livestock and farms.

In the evening, army officials came and questioned us. Onewoman was hospitalised and we had to give them her full description,problem and address. “This is how it is here, we are always tense,”the nurses told us. “We haven’t been able to send medicines to manyhealth posts.” In the midwest, the tradition of cutting the umbilicalchord with a rusty sickle makes tetanus a serious killer of youngmothers. But it has been years since tetanus injections have beendispatched to health posts.

There are frequent reports of women dying in childbirth because abanda or blockade prevented access to medical help. Sometimes,these women do reach hospitals or health posts but there is no one toprovide service. Just when Nepal was beginning to make someheadway in meeting basic primary health care needs, the conflict hastaken us back several decades.

Dr Aruna Uprety is a women’s health and reproductive rights activist.

anchita was too young for itall: married off in her teens,pregnancy, losing a child at

birth and finally her own deathbefore her 16th birthday.

When her labour pains came,Sanchita’s in-laws refused to takeher to the district hospitalinsisting on adhering to thefamily tradition of bearingchildren at home. She deliveredher child without help from atrained birth attendant but thebaby died soon after being born.Sanchita herself had lost a lot ofblood and in the next few days,her condition deteriorated. Theonly medical aid she receivedwere aspirins. After two weeks,the family finally decided to takeher to a hospital. But it was toolate.

That day earlier this year inmid-western Nepal, Sanchitabecame a statistic. Shecontributed to Nepal’s shockingmaternal mortality statisticswhich puts this country at thesame level as sub-Saharan Africa.

Pregnancy relatedcomplications kill over 4,500Nepali women every year, close to12 deaths every day, one everytwo hours. The government’sfigures put Nepal’s maternalmortality rate at 530 per 100,000births but this is obviously adoctored figure. UNDP estimatesit is closer to 740 and thePopulation Reference Bureau putsit even higher at 830 per 100,000births. Compare this to Thailandwith 44, Sri Lanka with 92 andBangladesh with 380 mothersdying out of out of 100,000births.

Whatever Nepal’s figures formaternal mortality, it is clear thatthe situation for motherhood inNepal is even bleaker because ofthe conflict and the 830 figuremay have to be revised.

The reasons for high maternalmortality rates are many but itboils down to the low status ofwomen in mainstream Nepalisociety. Sanchita’s case showed

The conflict is injurious to the healthof Nepalis, especially women

Unhealthy war

COLUMNAruna Uprety

how the in-laws delayed takingher to hospital. Thedisempowerment of girls andwomen translates into lownutrition levels, early marriageand it results in: delay indeciding to seek medical care,delay in accessing care and delayof care at health centres.

This year, there will be anestimated 900,000 pregnancies inNepal. Out of these, 129,000 willdevelop life-threateningcomplications, according toestimates from the Support toSafe Motherhood Program (SSMP)which the government runs withsupport from DfID. The program’sIndira Shrestha told us, “I seematernity mortality more as ahuman rights and genderdiscrimination issue than apublic health indicator.”

Indeed, the interventionsneeded to reduce Nepal’s maternalmortality rate will need to reachbeyond just health delivery. Yet,although the number of womendying from pregnancy relatedcomplications exceeds the totalnumber of people killed inconflict, safe motherhood hashardly been given priority.

Successive governments haveneglected the crisis and beenapathetic about better maternalcare. Nearly 90 percent ofdeliveries are still carried out athome under the supervision offriends and untrained traditionalbirth attendants.

“It is not that Nepal does nothave trained health professionals;it does. The trouble is that theytend to be clustered inKathmandu and other majorcities,” says Dr Geetha Rana whoruns the Women’s Right to Lifeand Health Project at UNICEF.Deliveries without trained birthattendants mean that mostwomen suffer prolonged labour,postpartum haemorrhage andretained placenta. Nearly half thematernal deaths occur due to postdelivery bleeding or postpartumhaemorrhage.

“Postpartum is the mostdangerous period,” says SwarajPradhan Rajbhandari of USAID’sNepal Family Health Program.Such complications are easilytreatable even in districthospitals. The problem is thatmost rural families constantlydelay sending the mother to ahospital. The low standing of thedaughter-in-law therefore directlyresults in her death.

A few years ago, a womanpregnant with her fifth child inMorang suffered internal bleedingafter her uterus burst. Her familyrefused to donate blood. “If shedies, that’s her fate,” they calmlytold the doctor. The husbandsaid: “I’ll grow weak if I give hermy blood.” His wife died withinhalf-an-hour.

“Many mothers don’t die dueto lack of doctors or medicines,they die because they are notconsidered important enough,”says maternal health expert,Aruna Uprety (See: Column).

According to the MillenniumDevelopment Goal, Nepal mustreduce its maternal mortalityrate from 800 per 100,000 birthsto 200 in the next 10 years.“What we need most is to raiseawareness in the rural areasabout safe motherhood practices.It is possible even in thisconflict situation,” says AvaDarshan Shrestha of the SafeMotherhood Network of groupsworking in 10 remote districts.

Other countries in the regionlike Sri Lanka have slashedmaternal mortality by doublingthe number of skilled birthattendants in the past eightyears. The Family HealthDivision is now following theSri Lankan model by trainingskilled birth attendants andsetting up birthing centres. Thetarget is to train 752 midwivesfor the 16 mountain districts,2,400 in 39 hill districts and2,400 in the tarai, which has thelargest population and thehighest fertility rates.

Until now, frontline healthcare providers have beenmaternal child health workers.There are 3,152 of them all overthe country but they don’t fallin the skilled health workercriteria. After 1999, thegovernment tried to upgradethem into Auxillary NurseMidwives (ANMs) but half ofthem are ineligible because theydo not have adequate formaleducation. SSMP’s IndiraShrestha concludes: “The onlyhope and the most practicalsolution is for the government towork with local communities toreduce maternal deaths.”

Nepali ama

NARESH NEWAR

The number of women dying inchildbirth exceeds the numberof Nepalis killed in conflictmany times over

T

S

45,000: Number of Nepali womenwho have died in the past 10years due to complications atchildbirth

12,000: Number of Nepalis whohave been killed in the conflictsince 1996

6,000: Number of trainedmidwives needed to reducematernal mortality

830: Number of Nepali motherswho die for every 100,000 births

92: Number of mothers in every100,000 births who die in SriLanka

2: Number of mothers in every100,000 births who die inSweden.

Mothers in numbers

UNICEF

Mother and newborn baby in postpartumcare at Mahendra Hospital, Dang.Mother and newborn baby in postpartumcare at Mahendra Hospital, Dang.

525 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240BUSINESS

W

NEW PRODUCTS

ECONOMIC SENSEArtha Beed

e are being bombardedwith questions: Is theeconomy really

stagnating? Has consumption gonedown? Have people stoppedbuying goods and services? Is theremittance from Bipalis dryingup? Is the World Bank ending aid?Will Nepal ever recover from thecurrent crisis? Whew! Beads of

perspiration is coming off theBeed’s brow. Yet, it still feels likethings aren’t really as bad aspeople think. Economicallyspeaking.

True, businessmen hunted byregulators for default in loanpayment of taxes are panicking.Not paying taxes or not payingdebts has nothing to do withinsurgency or emergency, it is

Looking for problemsWhen we should be finding solutionspurely about getting booked for

their wilful defaulting. It is not anindication of the economy goingdownhill.

There is also real panic aboutconsumption crashing post-February First. Though the off takeby intermediaries have comedown, retail consumption hasremained the same. Allmanufacturers as well asintermediaries in the supplychain were working on theirinventory to tide over potentialblockades and therefore, too muchmoney is now locked ininventory. If you thought thathoarding can bring more money, attimes it can really work againstyou. It’s a lesson to be learnt bythe trading community.

Similarly, there areintermediaries who do not paytheir vendors on the pretext oflower sales. Let us admit thatsqueezing vendors has been a way

of life and unfortunately, tradingremains on taking an arbitrageposition on vendors or taxpayments. Banks, cautious aboutlending money, have squeezedfunds to the traders therebycreating a working capital crunch.Consumers are buying and onlymajor consumers such as theINGOs and the NGOs havereduced their intake. There arefewer workshops, seminars andprojects and that woulddefinitely make some impact.

Yes, tourism has been badlyhit. But its problem is not somuch security or insurgency as itis excess supply chasing littledemand. This has been visiblesince 1996 and is still valid.While we can cater to a million-and-a-half tourists, we get lessthan fifth that number. Tourismentrepreneurs kept pushingjunkets and pressing for waiver ofloans rather than working on

concrete plans to tackle thesupply side. It is not too late toremedy this.

Remittances have notshrunk, as people who save$100 or $150 a month can onlyremit that money to Nepal. Theycan’t buy apartments or houses inMalaysia or the Middle East withthat kind of money. Fact is, thereis a real estate boom that indicatesremittances are healthy.

The uncertainty of futureassistance from bilateral agencieshas perhaps made people believethat the economy has changedpost-February First. It has alsobeen made to sound like a majorcrisis as the future of ‘hardshipallowances’ earning people inprojects is unknown. Butpragmatic Nepali analysis is bestin times like these.

www.arthabeed.com

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Green stuffJG Entertainment has launched GreenProductions to produce radio andtelevision program focused on mediaawareness in Nepali and English. Itsfirst documentary called ‘Yatra’ byKiran Man Joshi.

EDITION OPTRA: VijayaMotors has introduced 1,600ccand 1,800cc Chevrolet OptraNY Edition in Nepal. Thismodel with the new look wasconceptualised with focus oncomfort, convenience, safetyand luxury.

WAFER THIN: Laxmi Group’s SujalFood Products is launching WaffyCreamy Wafer in the Kathmandumarket in three different flavours:orange, vanilla and strawberry.

PEARLY WHITES: RB Brush Industrieshas launched a 200ml Active Pearl Shampoo with theslogan ‘Pearl is clear’. The shampoo costing Rs 100per bottle is available in black, yellow and pink fordifferent types of hair.

TEA TIME: EverestHerbs has launched

Yarchagumba Tea, made up ofYarsagumba (Cordycepssinensis) and Shilajit. Both theseingredients have extraordinaryrejuvenating power and healthbenefits. Rs 315 for 25 tea bags and Rs 50 for three and is alreadyavailable at select restaurants.

g]kfn cwl/Hosf] ;+ljwfg @)$& n] k|To]s g]kfnL gful/ssf] cfwf/e"t dfgj clwsf/ ;'/lIft u/L :jtGqtf /;dfgtfsf] cfwf/df g]kfnL hgtfsf] aLr e|ft[Tj / Pstfsfod ug]{ s'/fdf hf]8 lbPsf] 5 . h'g;'s} ljrf/wf/fsf ePklg g]kfnL ;a} Ps xf}+ eGg] efjgfn] /fi6« lgdf{0fsf]sfddf cu|;/ x'g ;s] dfq o; b]zsf] ljsf; tLa| ultdfx'g ;Sg] x'Fbf ljrf/ km/s ePsf ljifox¿df cfk;L;d‰bf/L / ;xof]usf] efjgf lnP/ 5nkmn u/L lgisif{dfk'Ug' / ;Dk"0f{ g]kfnLnfO{ e|ft[Tjsf] b[li6n] x]g'{ k|To]sg]kfnLsf] st{Jo xf] .

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6 25 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

SELECTED MATERIAL TRANSLATED EVERY WEEK FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Samaya, 24 March

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Rights abusesRajdhani, 21 March

In the last three months of 2004,a total of 1,298 cases of humanrights violations were recorded.These cases directly affected4,421 people while 504 peoplelost their lives at the hands ofthe government forces and theMaoists. According to INSECfrom 1 October to 31 December,government forces killed 299people while the insurgentskilled 205. Most human rightsviolations took place in the mid-western region, where thegovernment was responsible for535 cases of human rights abusesand the Maoists for 511 caseswhile other parties wereresponsible for 251 violations.All over the country at least2,700 people were directlyaffected by the human rightsviolations from the Maoistswhile 535 cases involving thegovernment affected 1,100people. During this period,abductions rose significantly.Out of the total 256 abductioncases, the Maoists wereresponsible for 242 abductions.INSEC said five persons werekilled in government custodyduring this period while 67 weredisappeared, 503 faced torture ingovernment custody while theMaoists assaulted and injured151 people. Other criminal gangsare known to be responsible for13 abduction cases.

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Worried about usColumn by Sambhu ShresthaDrishti, 22 March

Just because the army is nolonger in the newsroom, there aresome who think censorship hasended. There are those whoemerged after February First whosee their faces on television andthink there is press freedom inNepal. A new tradition ofsummoning editors to the policestations has started and thisshows the state of press controlin Nepal. Indian journalist KKKatyal of the SAFMA delegationwho was staying in room number503 at the Yak & Yeti in townpressed all the buttons on hisremote but couldn’t get anyIndian news channel and onlyfound out that they have beenblocked when he was asked aquestion by a Nepal One reporterjust before his departure. Inroom 515 was Nasir Malli fromPakistan, he found to his delighthe could tune into PTV,

Op-ed by Shyam Shrestha in Kantipur, 20 March

February First was no surprise. It was the politicalparty leadership that had an important role inbringing it about. At a time when elections weren’tpossible, Sher Bahadur Deuba dissolvedparliament. Even though he could have extendedthe mandate of local councils by one year, Deubadidn’t and left the villages and districts withoutpeople’s representatives. None other than GirijaPrasad Koirala ruled the country for eight out of the12 years, yet he did nothing to strengthendemocracy, take it to the grassroots and make itmore inclusive. He refused to bring the royalmassacre to parliament to discuss it. Then therewas Madhab Kumar Nepal who jumped ship at atime when the street agitation against the OctoberFourth move was gathering momentum anddeclared that regression had been corrected andjoined a royal appointed government just becausehis party got a few powerless seats in the cabinet.

Someone once said, “I’m not afraid of myenemies, I know them: save me from my friends.”Nepal’s democracy needs to be saved from itsadherents, not from its enemies. Driven by a lustfor power, they have hacked off the branches, trunkand roots of democracy until there is only a stumpleft.

Even so, there is no alternative to multipartydemocracy. If democratic leaders make mistakes,

the right to punish them is with the sovereignpeople and the rank of file of their own parties.Democracy shouldn’t be punished for the mistakesof the political leadership. The alternative todemocracy is better, more genuine, democracy. Butjust the opposite happened here. The leaders madeblunders and we penalised the system. It’s likesetting fire to a bus because the driver made amistake.

This is our democratic dilemma: democracycan’t function without political parties, but theleadership of these parties aren’t capable ofsteering the engine. Restructuring the leadership ofthe parties, electing new leaders and reforming theparties is the main challenge. There is no pointcomplaining about feudalism in the country if theparty runs along feudal lines. If there is no internaldemocracy within the parties how can they fight fordemocracy in the country? Democratisation of theparties must begin with:1 No leader should remain in the same position formore than two terms, or 8-10 years2 Party leadership should be inclusive of allviewpoints3 There should be a free marketplace of ideasinside the party but a unity of purpose inimplementation4 A referendum should be an instrument of reformnot just for the country but also for party membersto have their say5 an independent ombudsman should monitordecisions and activities.

If they want democracy to move forward,leaders like Girija Prasad Koirala, Madhab KumarNepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Mohan Bikram Singhand Narayan Man Bijukche should humbly stepdown. If they don’t voluntarily step down, the partycadre should force them to do so.

After that the parties need an agenda. Theking’s agenda is clear but is the parties’ agendaclear? It can’t be something vague like ‘genuinedemocracy’, it must chart out a path for pluralismand a resolution to the conflict. It could be aconstituent assembly election and an all-partyconference to take us to the goal of an inclusive,non-dictatorial multiparty democracy.

We must end this excruciating cycle ofstruggling for democracy and having it taken away.In 1950, we got a sort of democracy, in 1953, it wastaken away. In 1959, democracy was restored andin 1960, it was abolished. In 1990 we reinstateddemocracy and within 10 years, it has gone again.Does every generation have to fight for democracyall over again? We must find a way to makedemocracy sustainable so no one can ever take itaway. It must be the kind of democracy that makesthe people completely sovereign, only that willremove the excuse some people have to take uparms.

Democratise parties first

MIN BAJRACHARYA

Graph: Human RightsYou need to know how to look at it. See it this way, it’s not worse at all!

“They invite the great democrat king of Bhutan to participate in the Republic Daycelebrations as chief guest and refuse to shake Nepal’s hand.”

Dr Tulsi Giri, First Vice-chairman speaking about India “double standards” at a pressconference at the Ministry of Information on 18 March.

something he never imagined hecould do in Nepal.

Thank goodness the SAFMAdelegation didn’t get to meetInformation Minister TankaDhakal. He might have lecturedthe South Asian journalists abouthow much press freedom there isin the country, since the tv isbroadcasting his face, Radio Nepalrepeats his speeches. “How muchmore freedom do you need,” hemay have said.

The Nepali press has beenbehaving like a dog with its tailbetween its legs since FebruaryFirst. The king met senior editorsof the dailies and put hisviewpoints clearly but these arenot being followed. You can tellhow much the editors of thedailies are terrorised by readingtheir editorials. The media meanscreativity and freedom, without itdemocracy can’t survive.

The SAFMA delegation metTulsi Giri, Kirtinidhi Bista, andarmy spokesman Deepak Gurung.After five days here, the memberscouldn’t figure out how Nepalcould move forward. Since theydidn’t go outside the Valley, itmay have been difficult for themto imagine what was behind theking’s move. In privateconversations they were worriedthat the move would emboldenthe terrorists and weakendemocracy. “Democracy and freepress are essentials of governancein the modern world,” they said,“without it there is no chance of acivilised society.” They felt thepalace and the parties must cometogether sooner or later.

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Border inspectionAnnapurna Post, 21 March

BANBASA–According to theNepal-India joint border surveyteam, the inspection of borderpillars is in its final stage. Thesurvey team that started workfrom the banks of the NarayaniRiver in Nawalparasi districtarrived at Brahmadeb ofKanchanpur district on 20 March.According to Bhogendra Labh,coordinator of the Nepalisurveyors, the team has inspectedaround 400 border pillars since itstarted work three months ago. Asper the new mapping, the pillarnear the Narayani River is the497th border pillar and the one inKanchanpur is the 813th. Labhsaid that most border pillars arenot in proper condition and somehave caved in while 36 havebeen lost. The team also studiedthe encroachment on no man’sland.

BATSAYAN IN KANTIPUR

8 CULTURAL REVOLUTION

ive goose-stepping guardsemerge into TiananmenSquare every morning,

raise the Chinese flag and saluteit crisply. The huge bannerflutters all day at Beijing’shistoric heart, as it has ever sinceMao Zedong raised it first on 1October 1949. “A new China isborn with the sunrise,” Mao saidin his speech that dayproclaiming the communistvictory as the flag was raised.

Nearly 60 years later, the flagis still there, so is a giantportrait of Mao that gets a face-lift every now and then. Mao’smausoleum has become more ofa tourist destination than apilgrimage site. Mao’s legacy inthe land of his revolution todayis a Mickey Mouse world of Maokitsch: alarm clocks with littlearm-waving Maos, Mao keychains, Mao T-shirts andrestaurants that have trendy RedGuard themes. ‘Maorabilia’ iseverywhere but there is hardly atrace of Maoism in the land ofMao Zedong.

“The only thing stillremaining of Mao is that flag onTiananmen Square,” admits aChinese colleague who is not toocurious about the resurrection oftheir prophet in Nepal. There isa reluctance among officials hereto talk about revolutionaries

SHIVA GAUNLEin BEIJING

necessary to ensure the disciplineand single-mindedness neededfor economic growth.

Even here, there are signs ofloosening up. As long as it helpscreate jobs and spurs growth, thegovernment is willing to take onnon-communists. Compared to adecade ago, there is much morefreedom to bring outenvironmental issues to addressthe ecological damage caused by aheadlong rush to expand theeconomy. “Till recently, we couldonly say and do what thegovernment told us to, todaypeople are free to bring updemands,” says an environmentaljournalist.

Ironically, 30 years after Mao’sdeath, his communist party isstill engaged in winning thehearts and minds of the

Great leapsideways

Journeyfrom the

land ofMaoism tothe land of

Mao

F

peasantry. The government istrying to address the concerns offarmers and workers in thehinterland who have been left outby the growth zone along theeastern seaboard with subsidisedhousing, cash benefits and healthcare. Social discontent is aconcern because many have beenleft behind by uneven growth andthe issue was addressed duringthis month’s Chinese People’sCongress.

“There is hardly any policyleft over from the Mao era,”

journalist Li Bingxin toldus, “Maoism is now a part

of China’s history.Comrade Mao is a greathistorical leader andwe respect him.”That seems to be the

official line.

SHIVA GAUNLE

modernisation has acceleratedwith breakneck preparations forthe 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mao-era bicycle lanes along Beijing’smain boulevards have given wayto streets widened toaccommodate Beijing’s 2.6million cars, a new airport isunder construction,superhighways and levitationtrains are snaking across thecountryside.

In Shanghai, the talk is nomore about “overtaking HongKong”, it is about having thebiggest, the highest, the widestand the first of everything.Suburbs that were paddy fields

till 12 years ago haveturned into an urban

jungle of skyscrapers.With names like theWorld Business

Centre and theOriental PearlTower, thesesoaring structuressymbolise not justChina’s

achievements butalso its confidence in

the future.But China is

still a one-party state andfreedoms are curtailed. It may becalled ‘socialist market economy’but a more laissez faire capitalisteconomic system would be hardto find anywhere. Still, organisedpolitics is not allowed andofficials tell us that this is still

taking their name from China’sliberator just as they don’t wantto talk about the excesses of theGreat Cultural Revolution of1966-76.

Most of the journalists andordinary citizens we met eitherdidn’t know about the rise ofMaoism in their neighbouringcountry or if they did, theytended to dismiss it. Narendra RajPandey was a royal palaceemployee before he wasappointed the Nepali ambassadorin Beijing two years ago. He says,“The Chinese government’s viewis that Nepali Maoists havemisused the name of theirleader.”

We askedseveral othergovernmentofficials aboutthe Chineseattitude andthey said theydidn’t reallyknow about theMaoists inNepal. ZhengJingxiang, deputychief editor ofBeijing Dailysummed up this attitude, “I was ababy when Mao was alive, and Iknow even less about Maoists inNepal.”

China is dashing headlonginto the future, no one has muchtime to dwell on an awkwardpast. The process of

10 25 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240CULTURE

omething has gone very, very wrong with the CharitraheenChelis’ libidos. They don’t want to lift a finger for men. For them,this qualifies as a state of emergency as they are supposed to

be women of bad character.To perk up, they decided to come out with a list of sexy people.

They’ve done this before and it whetted their appetites for life.Readers know that Kantipur editor Narayan Wagle (who lookedextremely fetching when he showed up for government interrogationrecently) was named No 1 in their evaluation of the 10 sexiestjournalists in Nepal. The editor of the present publication came in atNo 3, not bad for a 50-year-old, is it? (See: ‘Media hunks, #171)

Then they named the 10 sexiest politicians, which was frankly ataxing exercise, as politicians tend to overlook the finer points ofstyle and grooming. But they are fearless Chelis, they placed Badalat the top of that list, hoping he might give up the underground life andcome into open politics, if only to meet us at cabin restaurants. Peacewould then prevail.

So, recently, they decided:why not come up with a list of the10 Sexiest Cabinet Members?But they ran into problems,immediately.

First, they couldn’t find out whether it was legal to discuss the sexappeal of the First Vice-chairman. And if it is legal, is it permissibleto speak one’s mind on the topic without censorship? Or is it onlypermissible to say that the First Vice-chairman is the sexiest cabinetmember? Which of course he is.

Then they turned their attention to the rest of the cabinet but gotstuck on this question: how young must one be to be sexy? Ofcourse, it is possible to find 60-year-olds attractive or even 70 or 80-

year-olds—if one is oneself 60,70 or 80. The Chelis arethemselves not spring chicken(though some of them behave asthough they were). But 50 shouldbe the cut-off age. Generally,sagging flesh, wrinkled skin,thinning hair, stiff joints, varicose

veins, chicken necks, age spots, questionable virility: these aremajor obstacles to sexiness. Also, short men leave the Chelis cold.Being egalitarian, they don’t like to talk down at men.

Therefore, Durga Shrestha was the list topper this time. MsShrestha has a roundly pleasant face and a roundly pleasantdemeanor. In her first public statement, she said she would like tomake the Nepali people laugh. Nepalis have come to want standuproutines and jokes from our government. She was therefore awardedthe Charitraheen Cheli Sexy No 1 Plaque (Valid Through Emergency,Conditions Apply).

Second to 10 on the list of sexy cabinet members, however, arekitchen cabinets, cupboards, filing cabinets, closets, dressers,bathroom cabinets, breakfronts, sideboards, side tables and evenheadboards. As for Ramesh Nath Pandey, Radha Krishna Mainali,Krishna Lal Thakali, Buddhi Raj Bajracharya, Tanka Dhakal, DanBahadur Shahi, Khadag Bahadur GC, Ram Narayan Singh andMadhukar Sumsher Rana, they qualified for consolation prize, theconsolation being that they are way, way sexier now than they will bein a decade. Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista were awarded magnifyingbeauty mirrors for showing up in our lives again.

This whole exercise has depressed the Chelis’ libidos and driventhem to despair. Were there no young, sexy people in this country?They plummeted from despair to depression. They snuck under the

bedcovers and lay there in a deep gloom.And they decided to call it quits.

Yes, the Chelis are boycottinglovemaking. Not a wink, not a smile, noteven a flirtatious look will emanate fromthem. Not forever, of course. Just till their

40-point demands (See: ‘Womendeclare independence’,#186) are met. And till aceasefire is declared,peace talks are held and anew constitution is draftedvia a constituentassembly. The fact is thatthe objective conditionsare not right forlovemaking in Nepal. So:nothing, nothing, nothing.Okay, maybe they will flirta little with people who—on a personal, individualbasis—meet our demandsand otherwise agree withour vision. And they maythrow a lola or two at the

boys this holi. But there willbe no lovemaking.

Make peace, not love. Andmake it now.

Make peace,not love

CHELISRosy Chhetri

pring is in the air and youare walking with the sun onyour back, a song in your

heart and … splat! What wasthat? Sure sign that Holi is hereagain: that dreaded festival whenlolas start raining down onunsuspecting lasses.

It’s this year’s coincidencethat the Holy Week coincideswith our own Holi week. Bothprobably originated in pre-Christian or proto-Vedic equinoxfestivals but at least our Holi hasdegenerated into a free-for-allexcuse for society’s misogyniststo batter women.

As legend goes, Hiranyakasyapwas an atheist king who believedhimself to be superior to God. Hisson Prahlad, however, was anardent devotee of Bishnu. Unableto tolerate his son worshippingsomeone else, Hiranyakasyapplanned to assassinate him. Afterseveral failed attempts, he turnedto his sister Holika for help.Holika, as it happens, was blessedwith immunity to fire. She sat ona burning pyre with her nephewon her lap and (too late) foundout that her boon could only beused for good deeds. Her nephewescaped unscathed from the ashesof his aunt. The moral: Goodtriumphs over evil.

Pretty inspiring stuff. Buthow did we get from there toaiming lolas filled with filthyBagmati water at femalepedestrians? Or are lola-hitterspretending to be Hiranyakasyapincarnates, waiting to assassinatesomeone on the sly with waterballoons?

In Northern India, Holi firesare lit on the eve of the festival. InNepal, the chir pole was put upin Basantapur Darbar Square aweek before Holi to be burntsymbolically. The other legendabout Holi concerns the amorousGod, Krishna who was famous forthe pranks he played on the fairmaidens of his village.

One particular day, he snuckup on the Gopinis who were

Let’s boycott harassment and save what’s good of Holi

Happy Holi weekAARTI BASNYAT bathing in the Jamuna and hid

their clothes. He refused to returnthem until the Gopinis stood upand performed the Suryanamaskar. This is not as inspiringor noble as the first legend, butperhaps better explains the femaleharassment angle that was handeddown to posterity.

Holi has traditionally beenthe only time girls and boys wereallowed to flirt blatantly, douseeach other in water and colours,symbolising passion. Our versionof the rites of spring. That isperhaps why extremists haveturned the water festival into awar of the sexes. Over the yearsthe harmless fun of Nepali Holihas been invaded by the sinisternorth Indian variety with itslicense to flirt stretched to sexualharassment. People hardly play

S

The Chelis take onelook at the cabinet,despair and boycott

lovemaking

Holi with family and friendsanymore, they gang up instead tobombard female passers-by,giggling at their own cowardlyaudacity.

On the official Holi day,which this year falls on Friday,25 March, the streets are crawlingwith bhang-stoned neon colouredgoons. Worse, some fill lolaswith engine oil, paint and dirtywater. How and why did thisabominable trend seep into ourculture? Why do we import theworst forms of behaviour fromabroad?

Let’s boycott harassment andsave what remains good of thefestival. Play Holi with yourfamily and friends, notunwilling strangers. Let it be acelebration of spring and a joyfuloccasion.

S

MIN BAJRACHARYA

KIRAN PANDAY MIN BAJRACHARYA

1325 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240SPORTS

TEE BREAKDeepak Acharya

T

he place is grand, equippedwith indoor tennis courts,outdoor swimming pools,

an indoor heated swimmingpool, squash courts, a bowlingalley, pool and billiard tables, agym, Jacuzzis, sauna and more. Asports mall guaranteed to makeyou sweat out all those caloriesyou ingested yesterday munchingaway on your couch watchingcricket on tv.

Shahanshah InternationalSports Centre (SIC) is easily oneof the biggest sports clubs notjust in Nepal but also the region,boasts Senon D Lama(right), itsproprietor. An avid tennis player,Lama came up with the idea forindoor tennis courts after seeingthem in Europe.

Back in Nepal, he also sawthat there was no place wherepeople could go for a completesports experience. Increase inhealth consciousness andexpansion of club culture meantit was high time something wasdone about it. So, in 1996, hebegan the construction of anexclusive sports complex. As theidea developed, so did the widevariety of activities inShahanshah.

When it opened on the RingRoad in Dhapasi in 1999,Shahanshah was Nepal’s firstall-weather sports centre. Thismeant a lot, specially for tennisaficionados in the monsoonand for swimming enthusiasts

in the winter.The indoor tennis courts

became hugely popular and thecovered hall has also been usedfor various sports activities suchas badminton and karate.Schools and other clubs oftenorganise tournaments here andthis, SIC considers a major asset.

Lama finds the Kathmandupublic’s response to SIC “veryencouraging”. The club has acapacity for 600 members and italready has 400 and growing.Asked if being located inDhapasi, far from the city is adisadvantage, Lama says, “It is abit of a problem especially forpeople in Lalitpur but we arevery accessible through theRing Road.”

SIC is a complete sports club.

Sports clubs are therage in Kathmandu to serve as

all-in-one workout stationsAARTI BASNYAT

he last few weeks saw lots of tips and guidelines. Intensethough they were, I hope they kept you busy on the drivingrange and helped you on the course. So, while you’re diligently

practicing, let’s turn to a very different perspective.If most golfers were reasonably consistent with their game, this

sport would be more fascinating. Look back over your performanceand ask yourself if you’ve ever maintained some semblance ofconsistency over a period of time. If the answer is never, which itmost probably is, read on.

Even at the highest levels of golfing, consistency is one of themost elusive aspects of the sport.It is something everyone strivesfor by working and practicing hard.Often I compare golf with life:some days are so cheerful, some

so bland, others miserable. Even then, there are plenty of similarhappy moments, which is the essence of everyday living.

Golf mirrors this. One day you play 5 under your handicap andyou are happy. The next morning, you start off with a perfect drive onthe first tee then mess up from the next hole onwards. Some daysyou play good, some days passably and often you play terribly.

How many times have we sworn enough is enough and thrownour clubs into the cupboard muttering, “This is crazy, I quit”? But wecan’t really bring ourselves to do so. After all, we are human andhave the curious capacity to keep trying though we fail. Anyway, livewith the frustrations of today and the hopes of a better tomorrow, itkeeps you alive.

On the PGA tour back in 1996, during one of the biggest golfingevents, the Augusta Masters, the world’s no 1 golfer then, GregNorman, shot a 9 under par 63 on the first day. Going into the finalround on the fourth day, Norman was leading by six shots. He endedup shooting 78 (15 strokes worse than his first round) and lost thetournament. Talk about inconsistency!

I often hear from club golfers on how the day before they playedso well, yet the next day they totally lost their touch. Trust me, this isall part and parcel of the game.

It does not imply that bad games are inevitable but you mustalways practice and try to improve. It’s like life, you keep workingharder and sooner or later, you’ll find it’s not so tough after all.

You might be wondering if there is a lesson in all this rambling.But here’s my pearl of wisdom: to perform consistently, you need tobe confident and confidence comes with a lot of practice. They aredirectly proportional. Trust me, I’ve been playing golf for overtwo decades and have found that life is like a golf game.

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

prodeepak@hotmail.com

Life’s a golf gameOnly time and practice will tell

Membership rates are reasonablypriced at Rs 26,000 for a year’ssingle membership and familymembership is Rs 58,000 forparents and two children under16. SIC also has a scheme offeringone day of swimming, steam andsauna Rs 495 for adults and Rs300 for children and for justswimming, Rs 300 for adults andRs 200 for children.

Hotel Shahanshah International Dhapasi4355484, 4355487

shansha@mos.com.np

T

KIRAN PANDAY

Where to work on itHARDIC FITNESS CENTRE, Pulchok, 5522068Membership rates vary from Rs 2,500 to Rs 30,000.

CLUB TARA, HOTEL GOODWILL, Patan, 5544520Various membership schemes are available with different arrangements for singles,couples and families.

ESHANI CLUB, Kalankisthan, 4274890Yearly membership rates vary from Rs 12,500 for singles to Rs 30,000 forfamilies.

GOLD’S GYM, Manbhawan, Patan, 5543517Yearly membership rates are Rs 3,100 for admission, Rs 250 payable every monthand Rs 100 for single visits.

KUNDALINI HEALTH RESORT, Chandol, 4410721Membership charge is Rs 15,000 a year for an individual and Rs 35,000 for afamily.

CITY GYM, LajimpatThe membership rates are Rs 2,000 as admission and Rs 400 per month.

BANU’S TOTAL FITNESS, Kamal Pokhari, 4434024

Sweat it outSweat it out

12 25 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240INTERNATIONAL

hina announced a 12.6 percentincrease in its defence spending;America’s CIA Director Porter Goss

testified about a worsening militarybalance in the Taiwan Strait; andPresident George W Bush pleaded withEuropeans not to lift their embargo on

armssalestoChina.

Yet Chinese leaders have spoken ofChina’s ‘peaceful rise’ or, more recently,its ‘peaceful development’.

Analysts such as John Mearsheimer ofthe University of Chicago who have flatlyproclaimed that China cannot risepeacefully predict “the United States andChina are likely to engage in an intensesecurity competition with considerablepotential for war.” Optimists point outthat China has engaged in good neighbourpolicies since the 1990s, settled borderdisputes, played a greater role ininternational institutions and recognisedthe benefits of using soft power. Butsceptics reply that China is merelywaiting for its economy to lay the basisfor future hegemony.

Who is right? Only time will tell butdebaters should recall Thucydides’warning more than two millennia ago thatbelief in the inevitability of conflict canbecome one of its main causes. Each side,believing it will end up at war with theother, makes reasonable militarypreparations read by the other side asconfirmation of its worst fears.

In fact, the ‘rise of China’ is amisnomer. ‘Re-emergence’ would be moreaccurate, since by size and history, theMiddle Kingdom has long been a majorpower in East Asia. Technically andeconomically, China was the world’sleader from 500 to 1500. Only in the lasthalf-millennium was it overtaken by

China’s second coming

Europe and America.Asia includes Japan, India, Korea

and others but China will eventuallyplay the largest role. Its high annualgrowth rates of 8-9 percent led to atripling of its GNP in the last twodecades of the 20th century.

Nonetheless, China still has a longway to go and faces many obstacles. TheUS economy is about twice the size ofChina’s; if it grows by only two percentannually and China’s economy grows bysix percent, they could reach paritysometime after 2025. Even so, theywould not be equal in composition orsophistication. China would still have avast, underdeveloped countryside and

would not equal the US in per capitaincome until sometime after 2075. Chinais a long way from posing the kind ofchallenge to American preponderancethat Kaiser’s Germany posed when itsurpassed Britain in the years leading upto World War I.

Moreover, simple projections ofeconomic growth trends can mislead.Countries tend to pick the low-hangingfruit as they benefit from importedtechnologies in the early stages ofeconomic take-off and growth ratesgenerally slow as economies reach higherlevels of development.

As long as China’s economy doesgrow, its military power will likely

increase, making it appear more dangerousto its neighbours and complicatingAmerica’s commitments in Asia. A RANDstudy projects that by 2015, China’smilitary expenditure will be more than sixtimes higher than Japan’s and itsaccumulated military capital stock will beroughly five times higher.

Whatever the accuracy of suchassessments, the outcome will also dependon what the US and other countries do.The key to military power in theinformation age depends on the ability tocollect, process, disseminate and integratecomplex systems of space-basedsurveillance, high speed computers and‘smart’ weapons. China and others willdevelop some of these capabilities but,according to many military analysts, Chinais not likely to close the gap with the USsoon.

This does not mean it cannot challengethe US in East Asia or that war over Taiwanis impossible. Weaker countries sometimesattack when they feel backed into a corner,such as Japan did at Pearl Harbour or Chinadid when it entered the Korean War in1950. If Taiwan were to declareindependence, China would probablyintervene with armed force. But it wouldbe unlikely to win and prudent policy onboth sides can prevent such a war.

There is no need for the US and Chinato go to war. Not every rising power leadsto war—witness America’s overtaking ofBritain at the end of the 19th century. IfChina’s rise remains peaceful, it promisesgreat benefits to its own people and to itsneighbours—and to Americans. It will beimportant not to mistake analysts’ theoriesfor reality. Project Syndicate

Joseph S Nye, a former US Assistant Secretary ofDefence, is Distinguished Service Professor at

Harvard and author of Soft Power: The Means toSuccess in World Politics.

Belief in the inevitability of conflict canbecome one of its main causes

COMMENTJoseph S Nye

C

Compartmentalisation of griefn 18-19 March, a weatherfront moving east from Irandumped a lot of rain on the

Afghan desert. The cloudburstbrought death and all-aroundmisery in the south and westernregions of a country that wasalready reeling from excessivewinter snow.

Two hundred died in the ragingwaters last week in the normallyarid terrain. Mud houses were

easily washed away andthousands were left homeless. Butthis latest Afghan tragedy did notmake an impact in the collectiveSouthasian psyche. Newspaperreaders and television viewersfrom Colombo to Amritsar did notfeel for those whose lives weredevastated in the far northwest.

A combination of mediaglobalisation and nationalcentralisation is what keeps usfrom empathising with individualsand communities in other parts ofour region. While western mediamultinationals package newsdesigned for viewers in anotherhemisphere, the developmentof capital-centric national mediain our countries promote an

insular audience.Sure, distances are vast in the

subcontinent. But if economichistory had evolved differently,the fact of the drowning of 200Afghan children, women and menwould have been treated as realnews. Restrictions on cross-border travel (and the evolution ofbubble economies that can onlyinteract with each other throughthe good offices of smugglers)has left us with empathy only forone’s own citizenry.

This separation of nationalturfs and solidification ofboundaries has led tocompartmentalised grief. We areto mourn only for those who areours. When a ferry capsizes onthe Padma in Bangladeshdownriver on the Ganga, thetragedy is Bangladeshi. Columninches in the Calcutta press willbe marginally more than in theNew Delhi papers.

Bangladeshi ferries ‘always’capsize in storms that whip up inthe delta and Afghanistan is in anycase a basket case of tragedies.The ‘value’ of death even forSouthasian editors andnewscasters is enhanced whenbus passengers are targeted inTel Aviv or people perish tomudslides in California andearthquakes in Japan.

The most awesome display ofmedia myopia was during the‘shock and awe’ Americancampaign in Iraq, when weSouthasians watched the displayof US military pyrotechnics.Dazzled by the rain of smartbombs, the flying tracers and themassive incendiary explosions indowntown Baghdad, we were madeto forget the innocents left dying inthe rubble.

On 21 March, CNN and BBCbeamed down blanket coverage ofa school shooting which killed ninein Minnesota. The same day: 36were killed by tornadoes innorthern Bangladesh; inBalochistan 12 people died in aflash-flood and 10 in an accident inHyderabad, Sindh; and nine peopledied in the Nepal insurgency.

The hemispheric bias is builtinto the system of the BBCs andCNNs of the world but it alsoequally applies to the news editorsof television channels in all-powerful New Delhi who forget thatthe satellite footprint encompassesthe rest of the region beyondBharat. And so, all satellitechannel viewers from Imphal toQuetta are made to suffer throughNew Delhi’s filters which hoveraround events inside the RingRoad and political news fromMaharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar

Pradesh, Kashmir and relatedPakistan news obviously deemedimportant. The rest of India is notinvisible in the newscasts either.

Petitions to imperious forces inthe media capitals will hardlychange things. The ultimateredress will only come throughdecentralised media networks:through a vibrant vernacular press,local FM radio and television.When there is adequate coverageof local events locally, theinadequacy of internationalcoverage will automatically bemoot.

While waiting for decentralisedmedia to develop, we must at leasttry to create sensitivity withinSouthasia to affairs in each other’scountries. One way to begin wouldsimply be for satellite televisionviewers to pay more attention toregional weather reports. When, forexample, there is a nasty cloudfront approaching Afghanistan inmid-winter, let’s use ourimagination to feel the deep freezein the high desert. In the upcomingmonsoon, when the weather mapshows heavy rains in the centralHimalaya, think landslides. Oncewe begin to empathise with theweather in a different part ofSouthasia, we can take theeditors and newscasters alongwith us.

SOUTHASIA BEATKanak Mani Dixit

O03:00 GMT 21/03/2005

07:00 GMT 21/03/2005

03:00 GMT 22/03/2005

ABOUT TOWN

14 25 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240CITY

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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

26-9 26-11 27-12 28-12 28-13

March is the fourth consecutivemonth to have above-normal rainfall(already 44 mm against 32 mmmonthly average for the Valley). Themountains trapped the moisture richwesterlies and converted them intolarge storm cells. One particularsystem on Friday afternoon coveredthe entire central Nepal. This satellitepicture taken on Thursday morningshows the cloud band now movingoff into eastern Nepal and Bhutan.There is still some lingering moisturewhich will bring rain with gusty windsand hail into the weekend along themidhills. Snow will come down to3,500 m in the higher valleys.

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

13 - 19 March 2005 in micrograms per cubic meter.Source: www. mope.gov.np

Kathmandu’s air pollution levels are unchanged from last week: it is equally bad.The monitoring equipment at Putali Sadak has still not been fixed and the Patanstation recorded concentrations of fine dust that were two times higher than thenational standard of 120 micrograms per cubic metre even though the rain flusheddown some of the pollutants. Stations in residential areas also logged values thatwere higher than the national standard. Putali Sadak’s PM10 concentrations areusually as bad as that of Patan Hospital.

Now Showing: Zeher

In a small town in Goa steeped in azure seas and sultrysecrets, the chief of local police station, Siddharth (EmranHashmi), finds himself caught in the eye of a storm and aboutto be blown away. Siddharth is in the process of divorcing hiswife, Sonia (Shamita Shetty) whom he still loves but he is alsoinvolved with another married woman, Anna (Udita Goswami).Things get even more complicated when Siddharth realisesthat Anna’s husband beats her and that she is dying of cancer.In heat of the moment, he decides to give Anna the money herecovered in a drug raid for her medication. Anna dies in abomb blast that very night and Siddharth now races to uncovera murky trail of drugs, money, murder and deceit. But all theevidence points to him.

FESTIVAL AND EXHIBITIONSHoli Festival of colours on 25 March.Festive Images Paintings by Pradip K Bajracharya at Buddha Gallery,Thamel. Until 27 March. 4441689Reflections from Tibet Photos by Kevin Bubriski at Indigo Gallery, Naxal.Until 31 March.4413580Tsunami Close up Photos by Tom Van Cakenberghe at Via Via Café, until31 March. 4700184Celebrating Line Exhibition of drawings from Nepal at Siddhartha ArtGallery, until 13 April. 4218048Magic Pencil Artworks by Britain’s best children’s illustrators at the BritishCouncil, Lainchor. Until 6 May. 4410798Coloured Expressions Paintings by Chirag Bangdel at the Art Shop,Darbar Marg. Until 4 April. 4470193

EVENTSKICC Good Friday Service on 25 March at The Norwegian School,Jawalakhel, 6.30 PM. 5525176The Kite Celebrating World Theatre Day atPumpkin Hall, Saipal Academy, New Banesworon 26 March at 2.45 PM. www.nepaltheatre.comKICC Easter Sunday Service on 27 Marchat The Church of the Assumption, Dhobighat,11AM. 55251761905 Sundays Garage sale, pet practices,stalls, food and more.Jat Sodhnu Jogi Ko Theatre at Gurukul, Setopool. Till 10 April. 4466956Fun in the Sun at Hotel Shangri-la, Lajimpat. 4412999Art workshop for kids at Buddha Gallery. 4441689Rugby Practice Every Saturday. 4435939, citygymktm@hotmail.comSanibaar Mela Saturdays at the Dharahara Bakery Café, 12AM-5PM.The God Dance of Kathmandu Valley Tuesdays at Hotel Vajra. 4271545

MUSIC1974 AD Live at La’soon Restaurant & Vinotheque with buffet and snacks,1 April, 7PM onwards, tickets Rs 999. 5537166Live with Prism at Red Onion Bar, 7.30 PM onwards. 4416071Live Jazz by JCS trio and Peter McTwister, Thursdays at Full Moon Bar,Mondays at New Orleans Café, Thamel. 4700736Live with Abhaya and the Steam Injuns at Dwarika’s Hotel. 4479488Fusion Time Mondays at Jalan Jalan Restaurant, Lajimpat, 7PM. 4410438Good Time Blues Band at Rum Doodle, Fridays, 7PM. 4701208Classical music, 7PM onwards, Fridays at Hotel Vajra. 4271545Jatra Saturday nights with Looza, 6.30 PM onwards. 4256622Jukebox experience Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Rox Bar.4491234Jazz at Upstairs, Lajimpat. Every Wednesday and Saturday, 7.45 PM.

FOODPersian BBQ on 25 March, 7PM with live music at Dwarika’s. 479488As much as you can eat Saturdays at Club Himalaya, Nagarkot. 6680080Sekuwa & Momo Revolution Saturdays at Tea House Inn. 6680048LQ Cauldron Six days a week except Friday at Latin Quarter Salsa Bar,Baber Mahal Revisited. Rs 1,500 per pot, order in advance. 4254260Arniko Special Lunch at Hotel de l’Annapurna, Darbar Marg. 4221711Barbecue Dinner Every Friday at the Summit Hotel. 5521810Exotic Seafood at Rox Restaurant, Hyatt Regency. 4491234Delicacies Pastas and snacks at Roadhouse Café, Jawalakhel. 5521755Sizzling Weekend Treat at Garden Terrace, Soaltee Crowne Plaza.4273999Farm House Café Delicious meals at Park Village Hotel. 4375280Café Bahal Newari cuisine at Kathmandu Guest House, Thamel. 4700632Barbecue-Ban Bhoj at Godavari Village Resort. 5560675Vegetarian Creations at Stupa View Restaurant. 4480262Dwarika’s Thali Lunch at the Heritage courtyard. 4479488The Tharu Kitchen at Jungle Base Camp. Junglebasecamp@yahoo.com

GETAWAYSCelebrate Spring Holiday Packages with Tiger Mountain. 4361500Shivapuri Cottage Nature, peace and bird watching at 6,000ft. 4354331Chiso Chiso Hawama Special packages at Club Himalaya. 4411706Jungle Base Camp Lodge, Bardia, special package and prices.junglebasecamp@yahoo.comMalaysia Dream Holidays Packages starting from Rs 45,500 per person.4247215 extn 013-14, malaysiaholidays_marco@polo.com.npGetaway package Night’s stay at Godavari Village Resort. 5560675AAA Organic Farm and Guesthouse Rs 950 with three meals. 6631734Temple Tiger Special Easter Bonus for expats. 4263480Ker & Downey Resorts Luxury lodging in the Annapurnas. 061-523701Machan Wildlife Jungle Resort special packages available. 4225001Weekend Special at Park Village Resort, Budhanilkantha. 4375280

Whole top floor of office blockin Pulchok overlooking

Kathmandu Valley and offeringgrand panorama of the

HimalayaModern portioning, meeting

room, spacious offices, cubicles,dining area, lobby and

reception, lift, fire escape.2,700 sq ft @ Rs 30 per sq ft

(below market rate)Contact Mr Anilimmediately:

anilks27@hotmail.com

PREMIUM OFFICESPACE FOR RENT

1525 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240

A SMILING FRONT: Vice-chairmen of the council of ministers,Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista prepare to take reporter’s questions at apress conference last Thursday.

KIRAN PANDAY

TEA TIME: Tea being served to constitutional elders and the press atGP Koirala’s house arrest residence on Friday. The visitors weren’tallowed inside.

KIRAN PANDAY

STANDING TALL: A billboard put up by the new managementcommitee of Dharara Park in support of King Gyanendra’sFebruary First move.

MIN BAJRACHARYA

NEW SPORT IN TOWN: Kristjan B Edward demonstrating Go-Kartingfor the press at the newly built Go-karting course in Manamaiju onTuesday.

WAIT AND WATCH APPROACH: An egret waits patiently, andoptimistically, to snap up a fish in the Bagmati on Monday.Despite the pollution, there is still life in the waters.

MIN BAJRACHARYA

KIRAN PANDAY

he is 12–years-old, worksas a domestic help in Patanand writes poetry. Many of

the poems that Pabitra haspenned since coming toKathmandu six months ago fromMyagdi, are about friendship likethis one remembering her friendand classmate Shanti back inBeni:

I go to pick a flower and getpierced by a thornI long to meet you my friend, butthe mountains block my way...

Pabitra had a chance toshare her feelings recently with anew friend on the other side ofthe world. She sent the poem tojournalist Pat Orvis in New Yorkduring an hour-long on-line chat.“I love your poem!” Pat wroteright back, “I wish I had been thefriend for whom you wrote it!”Pabitra quickly responded: “Youcan be that friend...I can writepoems for you too!”

The online chat between Patand Pabitra was part ofUNICEF’s initiative to channelvoices of young girls to theBeijing+10 forum in New York.Pabitra dictated her messagesthrough an interpreter and toldPat about her chores as a childdomestic worker, her hopes anddreams in life.

It was very difficult for Pat tounderstand how Pabitra copedwith all the work: baby sitting thefive-year old daughter of heremployer, washing clothes anddishes, wiping floors and alsotaking the family dog for a walk.“Yes this is a lot of work,”Pabitra replied matter-of-factlyadding that the three hours ofclasses every day were themost-fun part of her day.

Pabitra was sent to workand study in Kathmandu by herparents “because of povertyand the Maoists” while her twobrothers remained at home.Pat wanted to know why theboys were getting specialtreatment. Pabitra agreed butquickly defended her parentssaying, “At home, there wasn’tmuch discrimination. Theyused to love me a lot!”

The chat then moved on togirls being as capable asboys. Pat suggested toPabitra, “If you are 12 and canwork and take care of yourself,it sounds as if you could take

care of your folks every bit aswell as your brothers can!”Pabitra agreed and said shewanted to become a teacher toeducate working children likeherself.

Talk of home saddens Pabitra,and she tells Pat she misses herfamily very much and was lookingforward to going home andmeeting them soon.

Before signing off, Pat askedPabitra about her thoughts onmaking life better for Nepali girls.Pabitra’s reply: “Children must goto school, and once girls areeducated they have the opportu-nity to become great.”

Pabitra and PatS

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epal

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25 - 31 MARCH 2005 #240

UNDER MY HATKunda Dixit

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

I

16

n this editorial today we will be making somevery important, timely and relevant points, ifwe may say so ourselves. So it is advisable that

all readers stay tuned and give us theirundivided attention. Thank you.

It pains us to say this but it has come to ournotice that some readers ignore leaders. Some ofyou have been observed skipping entireparagraphs while perusing these editorials in the

past twomonths.Others haveeven beenseen

surreptitiously turning the page to the sportssection to take a peek at pictures of MariaSharapova in action. And some of you haveactually dozed off while reading the edits. HEY,WAKE UP! Go to the blackboard and write 25times ‘I will try my best to stay awake whilereading the official mouth organ.’

What does it take to get some respect aroundhere? Don’t you know it is impolite to fall asleepwhile your government is talking to you? We takea great deal of effort to fill these pages with theviewpoint of higher up authorities, omitting nodetail however slight and we don’t want peopledropping down unconscious all over the place.

At a time when the country is steaming aheadto a bright and prosperous future, it is mandatoryfor all citizens to be alert and to exercise theirfreedom to read what the editor has to say even if,like today, he may have nothing earth-shattering to say. So the least you can do isshow us some courtesy and pretend to readthis make-believe editorial and pretend to

like it. Let’s do a word count here, 240. Drat.Another 300 to go.

As the Secondary Vice - chairman aptlypointed out the other day, and we quote: “Thereis complete freedom of press in this country, youjust can’t say anything you like.” We couldn’thave put it better ourselves, the Vice - chairmanhit the nail on the head, especially the nail thatwas sticking out. “After all journalists todaymust be objective,” he continued, “which is tosay they must have the same objective as us.”

In other words, it all boils down to how weas a paraiah state internalise the totality of thechanging paradigm. Are we just paying lip-servicehere to end-degree refinement or are weempowering constituencies and enablingcommunities in the long-term? Am I makingmyself perfectly clear? Do you see what I amdriving at? No? Let me put it this way: we in themedia have to ask ourselves whether we are goingto communicate by word of mouth, by mouth-to-mouth or is it going to be foot-in-mouth?

And we may well ask: how are we going toinstitutionalise the monitoring mechanisms?Journalism is, beyond any shade of doubt, adignified profession that requires a greater degreeof fairness, objectivity and impartiality. That iswhy we have to rise above partisan and personalbias to toe the party line with a holistic bottoms-up approach in order to make ends meet with theoverall aim to galvanise all sectors of society sothat the present policy-polity dichotomy can beovercome sooner rather than later. As members ofthe Fourth Estate it is therefore our duty to fillthese pages one way or another because this is allyou’re going to get.

Yes sir, yes sirthree bags full