#424 7 - 13 November 2008 16 pages Rs 30

Weekly Internet Poll # 425. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com

Q. How will the Obama victory affectNepal and the region?

Weekly Internet Poll # 424

Q. What is the best option for armyintegration?

Total votes: 4,155

BILASH RAI

here are two main hitchesto getting the constitution-drafting process started:

finalising the ConstituentAssembly’s rules and agreeing ona committee to oversee armyintegration.

So far, house rule-making isstalled because some politiciansdon’t want to obey the partywhip on constitutional issues.The Maoist members say thewhip should be followed bymembers for the sake of partydiscipline.

A meeting of the rule draftingcommittee on Wednesday endedonce more inconclusively overthe issue. “A party wouldn’t be aparty anymore if its members didnot follow its rules,” seniorMaoist, Mohan Baidya, toldNepali Times. But Baidyapredicted the rules would befinalised next week.

If that happens, work willhave to begin on setting upvarious committees to draft theconstitution, so that the actualclause-by-clause writing can start.

Asked if army integrationwouldn’t again put a spanner inthe works, Baidya said efforts arecontinuing to get the NC to jointhe high-level committee onintegration.

The cabinet formed a specialcommittee before Dasain,comprising of coalition partnersand the opposition NC, todiscuss assimilation of the PLAinto the Nepal Army. The NCrefused saying the decision oncomposition of the committeewas made without properconsultation.

“The kangresis can’t run awayfrom their responsibility ofintegrating the PLA into thenational army,” he said. The NChas demanded two seats in thecommittee from each party, justas the Maoists have.

Baidya says the Maoists don’twant to dominate the committeejust to push through their agendaon integration, but want it towork on a basis of consensus.

Law and CA Minister DebGurung said in Pokhara onWednesday that if an agreementcan’t be reached, his party wouldpush for a Swiss-stylereferendum on integration. Butsources say the Maoists aren’treally serious, they just want touse a referendum as a pressuretactic on the NC.

Vice President ParamanandaJha this week has beenspeaking out onlegitimacy of thecommittee. His party isagainst integration andwants Madhesi recruitmentinto the army.

Baidya said Jha wasway out of line: “The vicepresident has oversteppedhis brief by speaking outon a political matter.”

Seesaw politicsValuable time is being wastedDEWAN RAI

INTERESTING TIMESObama mania p2

ANN FLORINIBarack and us p12

T

2 7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424EDITORIAL

Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda DixitCEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran MaharjanMarketing Manager: Sambhu Guragain Asst Manager: Subhash KumarSubscriptions: 5542535/5542525

Hatiban, Godavari Road, LalitpurGPO Box 7251, Kathmandu 5250333/845Fax: 5251013Printed at Jagadamba Press 5250017-19

edi tors@nepal i t imes.comwww.nepal i t imes.com

INTERESTING TIMESMallika Aryal

G

PLAIN SPEAKINGPrashant Jha

WIN SOME, LOSE SOMEAmong all the challenges before us in the constitution draftingprocess, perhaps the most daunting will be the lack of politicalcooperation between the parties.

The democratic alliance of 2006 finally broke down after theNC decided to stay in the opposition after its election defeat. Butthe UML-Maoist marriage of convenience is also rocky, and thereis no love lost among other members of the coalition. The Maoiststhemselves are not even bothering to hide their internal strife, andare playing it out in the full glare of media as they postpone theircadre conference yet again.

Disagreements are necessary in a democracy. Finding acompromise between dissenting opinion is what gives a pluralisticdemocracy its creative, problem-solving edge. But this works onlyif there is a common goal, a destination for the nation on whichthere is a consensus. Our leaders should have listened carefullyto the speeches by the presidential rivals after the results wereannounced in the US elections this week.

In Nepal, politicians have never really shown the ability toagree to disagree. It is as if a point of disagreement, howeverminor, must lead to an irreparable divorce. The democratic parties,it has to be said, have been self-centred and self-serving. The lefthas also split regularly, reflecting divides in the global communistmovement.

The NC may want to play the loyal opposition to keep theMaoists from straying from the democratic path, but there has to bea minimum understanding on the parametersó a mutually agreedset of rules that facilitates the writing of the new constitution beforethe April 2010 deadline. There can be no sabotaging of this criticalcomponent of the peace process.

The NC has refused to agree to full integration of the PLA intothe national army, demanded the YCL be disbanded, a return of allconfiscated property and adherence to the rule of law. There isalso the larger concern about the Maoistsí commitment topluralistic democracy. The Maoist leadership may be inclinedto strike a deal, but is prevented from doing so by its own rankand file.

And until the NC and Maoists can agree on these points, theconstitution-writing process will face obstacles at every step evenif gets started in the coming weeks.

There can be a win-win solution to this, but only if the NC andMaoists remind themselves of the larger national interest, and thatin a democracy you lose some and win some.

arly Wednesday morning, whenNepalis woke up to listen to thenews, it looked like the republican

candidate John McCain was leading in thepolls. As election results from more statesstarted trickling in Barack Obama overtook

his opponent. By 10:30 AM Obama had won334 electoral votes and it was clearAmerica would have its first president ofAfrican origin.

President Ram Baran Yadav wasted notime in dashing off a congratulatory note tothe president-elect. Throughout the dayNepalis closely watching the race weresending congratulatory messages to eachother, Nepali blogs and message boardswere full of praise for Obama, FM stationsand Nepali tv channels were interviewingexperts who have been following theAmerican elections closely. In theevening many Nepalis celebratedObamaís victory with democrat American

expats in Kathmandu.American presidents these days have

such a strong influence on the rest of theworld many have demanded, only half-jokingly, that the rest of the world shouldbe allowed to vote too. Obama is now notjust an American president, but a worldleader because what America does withits military, what Americans spend on,how much fossil fuels Americans burnhave such an impact on the rest of theplanet.

After eight years of the junior Bush,Americans have finally rejected hisunilateralism in world affairs. Which iswhy this was such a closely-watchedelection in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan.Elsewhere across the world, peoplerealised that the elections would have abearing on global recession, internationaltrade, investments, immigration,humanitarian assistance, remittance,military alliance and climate change.Obama is therefore the planetís president.

It turns out that the Nepali diaspora isalso significantly democratic. SinceObamaís victory Nepalis across the worldhave been asking one question: what will

Obama as president mean for Nepal?The Maoist-led government may think

that the Obama administration will bemore responsive to their partyís removalfrom the terror list, but they overestimateAmerican legal requirements for this tohappen. What the euphoria of the electionresult conceals is the broad continuity inAmerican foreign policy no matter whois president.

Nepalis expect Obamaís America tobe more immigrant friendly. He is insupport of revamping the legalimmigration system, against increasingthe fees so that poor families who cannotafford lawyers are not left behind. Obamawants undocumented immigrants to comeout of shadows and has promised toallow them to go to the back of the linefor the opportunity to become citizens.For tens of thousands of Nepalis livingillegally in the US this may be thechance to finally get their papers.

After 9/11 the Bush Administrationput in tougher US visa restrictions fortourists and foreign students in the US.Many Nepali students started to opt tostudy in Australia, Canada, New Zealand

and even Cyprus. Obamaís victory hasredeemed Americaís image and many arehoping that visa restrictions will beloosened so that the young students gettingready to leave to study in the US will nothave to face the same hassles as before.Obamaís administration has also said theywould raise the cap on the number of H-1Bvisas issued annually so that foreigngraduates can work legally in the US.This is good news for many fresh Nepaligraduates.

In 2006 the US agreed to take at least60,000 Bhutani refugees over a four-yearperiod and give them permanent residencestatus. This process is expected tocontinue, and the quota may even increase.

Americans, who make up only fourpercent of the worldís population consume28 percent of its resources, including fossilfuels. Obamaís commitments on curbinggreenhouse gas emissions if carried throughcould begin to turn the clock back on globalwarming.

In the longer-term, on a broader canvas,perhaps this means this American electionwill have a direct bearing decades hence onslowing glacial retreat in the Himalaya.

What does the Obama win mean for Nepal?Obama mania

irija Prasad Koirala was athis caustic best this weekwhile ripping apart UN

Secretary General Ban Ki-moonand, by extension, UNMIN. Hewondered about the massivesecurity of the UNSG (“I thought

they were coming to scare me”),and threw a barb at the tightschedule (“They said he has onlyten minutes. What can one say inthat time – he shouldn’t havecome at all.”)

Koirala may have been funnybut his only substantive criticismwas that Maoists were enteringthe CA with UN-certified arms.Prakash Sharan Mahat echoedthat: arms were not in containers,disqualified combatants were stillin cantonments, and the UN hadnot kept a track of combatants andactivities inside.

The NC criticism is flimsy.It’s not UNMIN’s decision to takeback arms meant for security ofMaoist leaders. The governmenthas to review the past agreementand make a political call, UNMINcan then follow up. All otherarms are still locked in thecontainers.

The discharge of disqualifiedcombatants is not UNMIN’s jobeither. There has to be discussionbetween the political actors andthe Ministry of Peace andReconstruction aboutrehabilitation of those whodid not meet the verificationcriteria. UNDP, UNICEF have asupportive role.

Does the NC have a roadmapof what to do with 4,000 peopleor is it suggesting they should

just be thrown out? As reportsfrom the Kailali cantonment thisweek revealed, the foot soldiersdo not necessarily agree withtheir Maoist commanders ondischarge, rehabilitation andintegration options. The issue iscomplicated because of domesticpolitics, not because ofinternational institutions.

Our politicians are stillignorant about what the UNMINcan and cannot do regardingactivities inside cantonments.The Agreement on Monitoring ofthe Management of Arms andArmies (AMMAA) asks the UN tomonitor the confinement ofMaoist combatants. But this isonly a broad supervisory role,the designated sites are ‘underthe command, control,communication and informationof the Maoist army sitecommander’.

UNMIN has littleenforcement authority. It can’tdictate terms to the PLA fighters.If it learns about majorviolations, all it can do iscommunicate it to the JMCC andparty leadership and requestthem to take correctivemeasures.

Could the UN have moreeffectively controlled, monitoredand reported on all movementsinside, including that of soldierswho walk out? Yes, but it wouldhave required another mandateasking UNMIN to manage thearmies, not merely monitor theirmanagement. It would also havealso entailed a much largercontingent of arms monitorswho were armed themselves. Noone wanted that. The NC’scriticism of the UN is, in thisrespect, self-criticism. Does itnow feel UN should have had amore expansive role?

The other criticism againstUNMIN is that it wants to stay onin Nepal. Even if this was true inthe past, it does not hold now.The top brass is pushing forspeedy integration because itwants an exit route. The UK, itskey sponsor in New York, isinternally divided. Both theforeign office in London and theUK mission at the UN areskeptical of further extensionthough the embassy here andthe Nepal desk will push formore time.

UNMIN will probably getanother extension if asked. Butthat is the result of Nepalipoliticians not having finishedtheir work on time.

UNMIN can be criticised onmany grounds. It is opaque andsecretive about information itcollects. Some individuals,claiming to work on behalf of theorganisation, tried to get involvedin the Tarai. The mission took asoft and flawed stand towardsthe Maoists when it withdrewfrom the government lastSeptember. It should haveengaged with India better. Thefact that the mandate is still notclear reflects poorly on the publicinformation office. Whims ofKathmandu bosses have meantthat some of the best ground staffdid not get an extension.

But all this does not takeaway from the fact that UNMINhas been an important pillar ofthe peace process, having done alot of behind-the- scenesunglamorous spade work.

Our left rants at the UnitedStates. The nationalists abuseIndia. And now the centre-righthas found a new bogey in theUnited Nations. When will wegrow up and confront our ownweaknesses?

Don’t be meanThe NC is blaming UNMIN for its own mistakes

EMIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

37 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424

L E T T E R S

FAKEThank you for the investigation into fake Indiancurrency (ëFake or real?í, #423). It is naturalthat when politicians and criminals startscratching each othersí backs on both sides ofthe Nepal-India border the result will besmuggling. It is nothing new, what is new is thatcounterfeit currency is being smuggled in suchhuge amounts now. But you have missed theother currency being smuggled: fake Nepali Rs1,000 notes counterfeited in India and smuggledinto Nepal. Try investigating that one.

Dinesh G, Pokhara

Whenever India canít control its own corruptbureaucracy and wants to hide its inability tocurb crime, it blames the ëforeign handí. And soit is with these allegations of fake currencybeing smuggled by Pakistani intelligencethrough Nepal. Last week, insecure Indianofficials said they had ìintelligenceî terroristswere planning to hijack an Indian airliner fromKathmandu. In printing this investigation on fakecurrency, the Nepali Times sounded like aclone of the Indian media.

Surya B Panday, email

TERRAINI read your editorial ëTerrain warningí (#421) andthe feedback (ëLettersí, #422). I think in thegeneral lynch-mob mentality against pilots onepoint everyone seems to have missed. It is thecriminal negligence in not equipping Nepalísairports, especially in remote areas, withnecessary ground equipment. Pilots have long

complained of inadequate navigation aids andbeacons at remote area airports and way points.There is also a complete absence of fire-fightingequipment at many airports. Even an airport likeLukla which sometimes handles 40 flights a dayhas no fire fighting capability. In last monthísTwin Otter crash, villagers were trying toextinguish the flames with small buckets ofwater. Perhaps not all the passengers wouldhave died, and even the bodies of those whotragically lost their lives would have been easierto identify if the fire could have beenextinguished in time. And letís not forget thenegligence at the Civil Aviation Authority thatallows even Kathmandu airport to have manyhazards including monkeys and birds on therunways, plastic bottles blowing about on theapron and the lack of proper centreline markingsand approach lights.

A pilot, Kathmandu

MEDIA MANIAI thought newspaper businesses all over theworld was following the well-trodden path of thebuggy whip due to what else, the internet (ëMediamania,í #423). Looks like it is not the case, atleast in Nepal. May be Nepal can be the ëoasis ofprint journalismí.

Name withheld, email

I agree with Ashutosh Tiwari with regards to thedecline in revenue generated by traditionalmedia. Therefore it is extremely important formedia houses in Nepal to take an integratedapproach where new media complementstraditional media. In order to ensure that editorialcredibility is never compromised, it is essentialfor the commercial side of the business to thinkof new and innovative ways of generatingrevenue. Itisha Giri London

ASSThe Ass is right in deftly observing how ouralways-ill former PM GPK has come all alive allof a sudden (ëAss for saleí, #423). People havebeen asking where does this renewed vigour andenergy come from. Where was it when thecountry needed it? Tales about his sickness looklike a well-thought-out plan to outfox theopponents. Cunning, but wasteful.

S Pradhan, email

4 7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424NATION

aks, dzos, mules carryingpine logs struggle up thelast pass before the trail

descends to the border checkpost atHilsa. Dozens of timber convoyscan be seen every day alongHumla’s dusty trails, all headinginto Tibet carrying freshly sawnlogs that will be bartered for food.

The timber feeds theconstruction boom across theborder, a result of rising incomeand investment in China. But Tibetis too dry for trees, so the demandfor timber is being met by thesupply of pine forests on the Nepalside in Humla, where villagers facea chronic food shortage.

Nepal’s high Himalayanforests are felled to feedChina’s growthTimber to Tibet

have taken out whole sections ofthe road.

However, an asphalt road nowwinds down from Taklakot rightup to Shera, which is on theChinese side of the HumlaKarnali opposite from Hilsa. Thecontrast between the smoothblack tarmac on the Chinese sideand the dusty mule track in

CARAVAN: Shera is seen at thebottom of the valley as the yakconvoy comes over the last pass(left). Yaks heading up towards theNara La in Nepal towards the Tibetborder.

DEAD-END: The asphalt road on the Chineseside stops abruptly at the Humla Karnaliriver which marks the border near Hilsa.

instead of yak-loads of timber,there would be truckloads goingacross. Sam Cowan in Humla

See also:íNepal timber to Tibetí, #17íDonít kill the Karnali with youraidí, by Jivan Bahadur Shahi#260†

Nepal is stark.The Humla highway, when

linked to the Chinese road fromTaklakot, was supposed to makeit easier for essential items likefood, fuel and building materialto be brought in more cheaply toNepal’s most remote district. Butgiven the pace at which theforests here are being destroyed, itmay be just as well that the roadwas never finished because

ALL PICS: SAM COWAN

Y The problem is that trees inthese high montane woodlandstake much longer to grow backbecause of the altitude. Forestscleared during the Khampa war ofthe 1960s still haven’t regenerated.

The Nepalis sell timber inShera to Chinese middlemen whobargain hard. They bring backmainly food, clothes and alsocheap Chinese beer and alcohol.The yak trains follow the newroad, that Humla’s DDC tried tobuild, from the border settlementof Hilsa to the district capital inSimkot. But Kathmandu was neverreally interested, and money ranout. Landslides and avalanches

57 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424BUSINESS

ECONOMIC SENSEArtha Beed

he Beed likes to stay awayfrom pontificating onpolitics. So, this week he

will not get into the political sideof the integration of the twoarmies, but from an economicstandpoint the deal doesn’t look atall viable.

Ten years ago, a financeminister had said the pensioncosts of security personnel will bea major fiscal burden in 15 years.

Looks like it will happensooner than that. A 100,000-strongnational army means the state hasto be ready to dish out a bigchunk of regular expendituretowards pension costs of retiredsoldiers. When the current primeminister abandoned the jungle andentered the peace process, in one ofhis fiery speeches he had pointedout how he will reduce the army tojust 10,000. It’s perhaps time toturn that rhetoric into actionbecause the country just can’tafford to keep such a bloated army.

But maybe we need to analysewhat is the minimum size of thearmy we require. The questionedneeds to be not only answeredfrom the political perspective, butalso from a budgetary standpoint.

Along with the size and costs,the other issue is accountability.For decades, the Nepal Army has

managed to stay outside thenormal accountability structure-not due to lack of procedures butthe mannerism in which itoperated, especially with theSupreme Commander (the king),the accountability institution oflast resort.

The prime minister generallytook the ceremonial DefenceMinistry and Palace Affairs whichliterally meant that there were nocompetencies or systems toregulate the army. The AuditorGeneral’s offices paid token visitsto look through army accounts,

and accountability was minimal.Even the Army Welfare Fund, thatbelonged not to the state but thearmy personnel and their families,could get away from disclosureobligations.

There are two ways of managingarmy spending. One, by the StateTreasury just giving grants out of abudget allocation and not askingany questions, hoping that thereare self-regulatory mechanismswithin the system to take care ofaccountability. This practice hasbeen used by Singapore afterindependence, but then one has tohave the accountability levels ofSingapore to pursue a system likethis.

The second is like the one in

India- having the Ministry ofDefence regulates the armedforces. This perhaps suits theNepal’s democratic republicmodel. The key caveat of course isthat the Ministry of Defence canexercise control in the real senseor go the extreme of the minister,becoming the virtual Commander-In-Chief and replacing the role ofthe King.

For the numbers, there aresolutions. A division can becreated that literally getsoutsourced by the UN and otherhumanitarian rescue operations,

thereby building a competency inglobal policing and disastermanagement capabilities.Therefore, from an army that willnever be called on to fight itsneighbors and hopefully never itsown citizens, it will develop intoa revenue earning part of thegovernment.

On the accountability front, alot will depend on the attitude ofthe current and futuregovernments that will really takethe onus of serious reformswithin the system that not onlybrings about accountability butalso better the lives of the peopleserving in the armed forces.

www.arthabeed.com

IntegrationomicsT

Nobody is looking at theeconomics of army integration

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New EverestEverest Bank has opened a new branchat Golfutar- it's 28th. It will be connected to other branches throughits 'Any Where Banking System.'

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Prime servicePrime Bank has opened new branches in Pokhara,Dharan and Bharatpur. It has also introduced ëPrimeGold Certificateí. City specific names have beendesigned for the accounts which offer all standard

services of the banks.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Smooth printAstral Computers Nepal, the authorised distributorof Hewlett Packard, has lauched new high-endand low-end HP printing solutions in Nepal. Astralalso provides pre-sales and post-sales support along with HPstandard warranty for the products.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Carry giftsAmerican Tourister, a range of suitcases,has introduced an offer to give away freeDVD players or vacuum cleaners tocustomers. The offer is valid atSamsonite outlets in Khichapokhari,Jamal, Kupondole and Bluebird.

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Shopping bankLaxmi Bankís new Maharajganjbranch located inside theBhatbhateni Supermarketcomplex, is now open for business. The branch will offer full rangeof retail banking services. Laxmi Bank now has a branch networkof 7 branches inside the valley.

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Starting peoplePeoples Bank Ltd. got approval tooperate as a commercial bank. Thebank has Rs 2 billion paid up

capital and will start operating next year.

6 7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

Nabin Bibhas in Naya Patrika, 5 November

PLA fighters, who have been living in the cantonments since thesigning of the CPA in November 2006, say they are beginning tofeel like prisoners. Many think that although during the war yearsthey were scared for their lives, living as PLA fighters was muchbetter than being locked up in the cantonments. They want armyintegration to begin soon so their lives can return to normal again.

There are seven cantonments and many other sub-cantonmentsin Ilam, Sindhuli, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rolpa, Surkhet andKailali. These are full of small, makeshift huts covered with blueplastic sheeting and corrugated tin roofs. According the UN thereare 19,604 fighters in the cantonments. They are busy from 4AM-9.30 PM every day and spend time on sentry duty, studying and inmilitary training.

ìCommanders, platoon commanders and all the fighters arebusy with one duty or another throughout the day,î says PLA fourthdivision sub-commander Madan.

ìI feel useless and distanced from the battle front,î says theplatoon commander in Sakram sub-cantonment, Mina Oli ëSaralaí.A company commander in the same cantonment, Tilak GhartiMagar ëArjuní, says: ìWe used to remain hungry for days, used toeat whatever the people gave us in the villages. Still, that wasbetter than these camps.î

Kul Bahadur Oli ëPratirodh' feels the same: ìWe went to warwith the dream of peopleís liberation. How can we be happy livinglike prisoners in the cantonment?î

PLA fourth division fighters in Hatikhor sub-cantonment arealso disappointed by the slow progress of army integration. FighterPutala Sunar ëSwarnimí describes how difficult it is to live in thecamps: ìThis is like a modern jail. The government hasnít doneanything for us. Only those who are living in this hell know howdifficult it is.î

Those living in the Jhyaltung Danda cantonment in Nawalparasialso talk about their difficult days in the cantonment. ìThis place islike a cage, we feel like we have been dumped here,î says SaritaDC ëNamuna'. Another fighter, Kamal Batha ëAbhasí says: ìIt is verylonely here.î

They say that if the process of army integration doesnít startsoon, they want the government to make regulations to manage thecamps better.

'The warwas better'

World Link

77 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424

t has been six months sinceNepal was declared a federalrepublic but the work to draft

the Constituent Assembly Rulesand Procedures hasn’t evenstarted. Until that is ready,constitution writing cannot start.According to the Speaker SubashNembang (pictured above), theserules were supposed to befinalised on 31 October.

In the last six months the CAsat for 10 meetings. After theelections in April the partiesstarted concentrating more ongovernment-making and less onconstitution-drafting. Nembangsays that since the members of thelegislative and the constituent

Kick startThe constitution-drafting process can’tbe delayed any longer

assembly are the same, they areforming different regulations sothat there is no confusion.

The CA Secretariat says theproposed rules and procedureswill have 10 committeesaccording to the subject andother four administrativecommittees. The formercommittee will establish theprinciple of the constitutionand the latter will take it tothe people.

The constitution has to bewritten within two years. Sixmonths have flown by. It isimperative for the parties to letgo of petty wrangling andprioritise constitution-writing.“The political parties need tolet go of this obsession over

power because that is the biggestobstacle in constitutionbuilding,” says UML leader KPOli. It is understood that one ofthe major reasons why the Rulesand Procedures is stuck isbecause the parties can’t decidewhether the Speaker must obeyhis party’s whip.

The reintegration of PLA inNepal Army is also holding upthe drafting of these the Rulesand Procedures. The wranglingwithin the Maoist leadership,and opposition to armyintegration within the NC, UMLand MJF is delaying the process.The meetings between theseparties are often disruptedbecause they can’t agree.

NC leader Ram Chandra

Drafting committeesThe various drafting committees can only be formed once theRules and Procedures are agreed to and finalised. Only then canthe process of drafting a new constitution begin.

The 601-member CA has been meeting at its rented premisesat the international convention centre, but so far it has beenengaged only in its parliamentary functions. None of the work onthe constitution has started, even though there are now only 17months to go. Even if the committees are finally decided upon,there will still be the issue of physical space. Besides the mainplenary hall, the only other meeting room available is the LhotseHall. The rest of the complex is occupied by UNMIN and may beavailable only in January when its mandate expires.

In the past, parliamentary committees used three rooms inSingha Darbar but their capacity is no more than 80 people each.Speaker Nembang says the secretariat is talking to thegovernment to make available at least ten new meeting roomspresently used by various ministries for committee meetings.Since the legislative assembly and constituent assembly willhave different meetings they would need additional secretariatemployees.

The rules and procedures states that the formation of thecommittees, drafting of the constitution and public hearings willhave to follow is strict timeline. Nembang is confident that oncethe schedule is made, it will be followed and it will give the Nepalipeople the perception that work has begun. He assured us: ìThenew constitution will be ready on time but there has to be verygood understanding between the political parties.î

Poudel says that the Maoists needto once and for all shed theirwarlike mentality: “If the Maoistscontinue to think that thefighters in the cantonments andtheir locked up weapons as theirstrength, the constitution willnever be written.”

The government also needsto pay due attention to: delays in implementation of

agreements with groupsrepresenting women, Dalit,Janajati and other indigenousgroups deal with the issues of

compensation of victims of war,

the internally displaced,disappeareds, the Badi ending the terror tactics of

groups in the Tarai and east Nepal the need to create an

environment for assistance fromthe international community,INGOs, and civil society

Restructuring of the state and thenature of federalism is anotherchallenge that constitution willhave to address. Poudel says,“Issues relating to language,ethnicity, caste, class are some ofour biggest challenges. We need todiscuss it, be inclusive and moveforward.”

DHRUBA SIMKHADA

I

CONSTITUTION 2010

Interview with Tara Gharti Magar (Maoist)

Thereís a feeling that although your partyis leading the government you are still notserious about writing the constitution.These are baseless accusations comingfrom the NC. In fact, they are the reasonwhy it has been delayed. Since the Maoist-led government was formed they arelooking for excuses to foil and delaythe process.

Why is the constitution writing processdelayed?We are worried that it may be getting toolate. We should have been able to do quitea lot in these last six months. We havebeen told that the constitution writingprocess cannot start until the Rules andProcedures are ready. But I think it isbecause of the wrangling between thepolitical parties thatís delaying theprocess. Since the Maoists are leading thegovernment they are responsible for this.

But the Maoist leaders are saying that NChas refused to cooperate.Thatís not true. We may be in theopposition in parliament but not in theconstituent assembly. Whatever they say,we will not stop pressuring for ademocratic constitution.

Your party has said that its CA membersmust obey the party whip.It is only if the members are in thelegislative assembly that they have to obeytheir partyís whip, not in a constituentassembly. The constitution canít bere-written again and again, which is whythe members need to be allowed to useindividual discretion. A party doesnít send

someone they donít trust to the assembly.It is high time the parties understood thattheir members have a mind of their ownand can vote wisely.

What kind of constitution are youenvisioning?The NC wants a constitution that canestablish Federal Republic of Nepal. Theright of all ethnicities, language, regions,religious minorities and discriminatedgroups must be protected. Discriminationwith regards to education and propertybetween men and women must end. Theremust be reservations for women for a shortperiod of time in all sections of the state.

Will CA members of your party obeyparty whip?CA members must remain under theirpartyís discipline. That is not a negativething. Because the constitution willguarantee the rights of the people, it isimperative that the members use theirwisdom.

What are some of the gender issues thatmust be included in the newconstitution?We are going to the people to ask themfor suggestions on what should beincluded in the constitution. One thingremains clear: men and women need tobe equal.

You have been talking about a peopleísrepublic. What would that look like?To write a constitution in favour ofpeople and sections that have beendiscriminated against is the mostimportant aspect of a peopleís republic.

Againstdiscrimination

For equity

KIRAN PANDAY

8 MOUNTAIN BIKING

Nepal is on theinternational

mountain biking map

Two wChobhar Track

AIR-BORNE: Padam Sabenhang(Limbu), 23, flies with his bike duringpractice in Chobar before thechampionship.

KIRAN PANDEY

97 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424

hhimi Urkyen Gurung, president of the Nepal Cycling Association (NCA), puts itbest: “Mountain biking and Nepal were made for each other.”

With its endless rocky trails, tough climbs and steep descents, Nepal is theperfect place for mountain biking.And you only need to ride a fewminutes outside Kathmandu'sRing Road to get there with theadded bonus of a splendidmountain backdrop.

After two years of lobbying bythe NCA, Nepal finally signed acontract this summer to host theXIV Asian Mountain BikeChampionships, the first suchevent the country has hosted. If itgoes well, this should open thedoor for Nepal to host othersporting events, including the2010 World Mountain BikingChampionships.

Dhanjit Rai, one of Nepal's topriders, is keen for the country to put on a good show: “We all hope that this will heightenthe interest in mountain biking as a sport for both tourists and Nepalis here.” Shailee Basnet and Shradha Basnyat

About thecompetitorsEight riders will represent Nepal. Theseven men and one woman, have beentraining for the first time, and learningfrom each other. For some, it is theirfirst time in an international competition.

Sajjan Rajbanshi and PadamSabenhang (Limbu) are two of thetoughest riders in the squad. Rajbanshi,nicknamed the ëHimalayan Hurricaneí inthe US, spent six years in cross-country races before switching todownhill two years ago. He hasparticipated in two AsianChampionships, and finished 12th in2001 in the championships held inThailand.

Sabenhang, though one of theyoungest contenders, is considered oneof the strongest. He started racing forfun five years ago but began to take itmore seriously after he kept findinghimself on the winners' podium. Asreigning national champion and the bestcross-country racer in the team, hismedal chances look bright.

Among the internationalcompetitors, China, Japan and Koreaare all fielding very strong teams.

About the raceFrom 6-10 November, more than 60 competitors from Nepal and 12 from other Asiancountries will take part in the XIV Asian championships. The winning team will qualifyfor the 2012 London Olympics. In the cross-country race, 30 men and 11 women willcompete in their respective elite categories over the steep, rocky five-km track atChobar. There will also be a downhill race, with 22 men and three women competing.

wheels goodC

PEDAL AWAY: Nepali participantspracticing for the cross-country category inChobar on Monday.

TEAM NEPAL: (l-r): Dipendra Bajracharya, SurendraRai, Padam Sabenhang (Limbu), Suresh Kumar Dulaland Dhanjit Rai are participating in the upcomingXIVAsian Championship.

DOWNHILL: Sajja Rajhanshi, one of thepromising contenders from Nepal, racesdownhill in Chobar on Monday.

ALL OTHER PICS: SUNDAR SHRESTHA

10 THE NATION'S HEALTH 7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424

Backbone of health careWhile medical treatment is understood as a necessity, the significance of rehabilitation is often ignoredin Nepal. “Rehabilitation is crucial in spinal injuries which can completely change the life of thepatient,” says Esha Thapa of Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC), the newest medical facility toopen in Banepa.

SIRC is the first rehabilitation centre in Nepal for spinal injury. The lifestyle of the rural people inNepal make them very prone to accidents that can result in spinal injury which can paralyse patients.Survival becomes difficult and most patients lose hope.

“It is possible to restore normalcy in their life through proper care, therapy and training,” saysThapa. SIRC strives to help individuals with spinal injury through physiotherapy and occupationaltherapy, counseling and nursing. Its takes an average of 3 months for most patients to recover. SIRC alsogives vocational training so that the individuals have means to sustain themselves later on.

The centre has helped over 550 patients to lead normal lives again. SIRC is moving this month fromJorpati to its purpose-built facility in Banepa. This building is wheel-chair friendly and is much betterequipped for the treatment needs of patients.

Says Thapa: “Even if they can’t walk again, patients who have lost hope of leading normal lives getback their hope.”

Health for those without anepa and Dhulikhel are towns that most people drive past ontheir way to Jiri or Kodari. But in recent years, the twin towns25 km east of Kathmandu are developing as a centre for model

health care.At a time when most medical facilities are based in the capital and

are private profit-oriented ventures, Dhulikhel and Banepa have shownthe way to provide affordable yet world class health care to Nepalis.

The four hospitals in Banepa and Dhulikhel run on onephilosophy: quality health care need not be expensive. These self-runinstitutions can be a model for Nepal’s private and state-run healthcare system.

Children firstEight-year old Yasodha aims her strike on the carom board. Herstriker hits the queen and it slides into the hole.

Itís easy not to notice the metal braces on her right leg. Theother children have white bandages on their hands and legs.Yasodha Iyer suffers from cleft foot deformity and is receiving

treatment at Hospital and Rehabilitationfor Disabled Children (HRDC) inBanepa.

ìBecause we deal with children, wehave to use a different approach,îexplains Binod Bijukachhe, as he takesvisitors inside the ësoft roomí wherepatients play. This is a specialisedhospital for children with physicaldisabilities, the only of its kind in Nepal.It focuses on reconstructive surgery,rehabilitation of the children and theirintegration into the society.

HRDC was established in 1985 withsupport from Terre des homes andFriends of the Disabled. It now has 72beds, which are usually all occupied anda staff of 142. Every year, the hospitaltreats over 9,000 children. HRDC hashad patients from not just Nepal but alsofrom India, Pakistan, Tibet and evenMongolia.

For those who donít make it to thehospital, HRDC conducts medicalcamps every month, reaching out to 40districts all over Nepal. The camps

screen children and bring ones who need specialist attention to thehospital, a charity fund covers the costs of needy patients.

More than often, rehabilitation takes a long time and isexpensive. To use the time well, the hospital has classrooms forchildren and vocational training.

Physiotherapist Sudip Ranjit says: ìAlthough it is a challengeworking with children, they heal much faster.î

We treat,God cures“No matter what, a sick at the doors of the hospitalshould not go unattended,” says Milan Gurung ofScheer Memorial Hospital in Banepa. In a countrywhere patients are often turned away fromhospitals because they are poor, this is a motto thatcan make a difference between life and death.

Scheer Memorial is a missionary hospitalstarted by Seventh-day Adventist medicalmissionaries in 1958. What started out as a one-room facility is now a 150 bed general hospitalwith a staff of 190 and two ambulances.

Services are heavily subsidised with a charge ofonly Rs 50 per bed for a night. Many of the staff arevolunteers from abroad and the hospital also hasfour outreach centres all over Nepal. ScheerMemorial also runs a Bsc in Nursing program. Aprimary school caters to children of staff.

Four facilities in Kabhre prove medical care needn't be unaffordablePAAVAN MATHEMA in KABHRE

B

ecretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Nepal wasso short it is hard to

remember when he came andwhen he left.

When he flew down toBhairawa en route to Lumbini onhis Bombardier jet, he was

retracing the footsteps of DagHammarskjöld, the second UNSecretary-General and the first tovisit Nepal. On his outbound tripin March 1959, he made detour onKing Mahendra’s DC-3 to take

The United Nations nowThe interests of the UN and Nepalis coincide in making thepeace process a success

pictures of Annapurna andDhaulagiri.

You could term this Nepal’sfirst ‘mountain flight’, andHammarskjöld’s photographs andarticle were printed in the January1961 issue of the NationalGeographic. In September 1961Hammarskjöld died in an aircrash while on a peace mission toCongo- a country that is stillravaged by civil war.

Our own Rishikesh Shaha, aman of letters and a permanentrepresentative to the UN, wasasked to chair the crashinvestigation. Shaha had himselffaced near-death when he wasstabbed in Manhattan’s CentralPark. The rumour mill in

Kathmandu has it that Shaha waswithin striking distance ofserving as Hammarskjöld’ssuccessor, but King Mahendrascuttled it.

It was Burma’s U-Thant whosucceeded Hammarskjöld, and hevisited Nepal in April 1967. Hisfamous tears at the sight ofdilapidated Lumbini helpedlaunch international interest inthe site of the Sakyamuni’snativity. The UN commissionedJapanese architect Kenzo Tange todevelop the site as a spiritualcentre dedicated to world peace.Tange was the designer of theHiroshima memorial, but 50 yearslater, his Lumbini masterplangathers dust while various sects

compete in ostentatiousness.There is a United Nations

Committee on Lumbini, made upof Buddhistic nations and led byNepal. Sadly, the committee hasbeen allowed to lapse, primarilybecause those who ran theKathmandu government throughautocracy and democracy did notunderstand the value of thiscommittee in maintaining thespiritual and meditative nature ofLumbini as well as in fund-raising.

The United Nations, of course,has been in Nepal right after theend of the Rana era. Toni Hagen,the Swiss geologist who wasalready here in 1949, evolved as aUN development expert. Various

UN agencies have been active inNepal since, and it is fair to saythat the overwhelming peacefocus of the Ban Ki-moon visitdid not give enough importanceto Nepal’s development arenain which the UN has been acentral player.

It was during Kofi Annan’stenure that the UN saw thedeparture from developmentwork to conflict resolution.UNMIN was established by theSecurity Council in January2007, responding to a request bythe Nepal government after NewDelhi was convinced this wasthe only way to get the Maoiststo abandon their 'people's war’.The verification process and

Dhan Kumari Manandhar came to ScheerMemorial Hospital in Banepa after she broke herleg after falling down the stairs. Her doctorRupesh Vaidya says she will recover.

Nine-year-old SudinaDongol smiles as shetries her crutches for thefirst time at BanepaísHRDC.

S

COMMENTKanak Mani Dixit

ALL PICS: PAAVAN MATHEMA

K SHRESTHA

Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre movedinto its new purpose-built facility in Banepa

117 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424THE NATION'S WEALTH

wealthA hospital with a heartMan Bahadur Tamang, a 61-year-old patient at Dhulikhel Hospital isworried. He has cancer but no money for treatment.

"Don't worry about anything, Buwa, we will operate on you onMonday,” Ram Shrestha assures his patient. Shrestha set upDhulikhel hospital precisely to provide affordable health care. But hetells us later he doesn’t know where he will find the money forTamang’s operation.

He adds simply: “I can’t deprive him of a chance to live justbecause he can’t afford it. Something always comes up.”

Shrestha started the hospital in 1995 with support from theDhulikhel Municipality in land contributed by the locals. The

hospital has grown from atwo-room facility to a full-fledged 317-bed modelcommunity health centrethat treats 400,000 patientsfrom all over the countryevery year.

The heavily subsidisedservices are as efficient andprofessional as any in anexpensive city hospital. Itincludes specialiseddepartments with 70doctors, 120 nurses and 70support staff with threeambulances.

The policy here is‘treatment first, bills later’which is a surprise to manywho have heard horrorstories of private hospitalsdemanding accidentvictims buy their ownbandages and medicinesbefore treating them.

"If someone is unable topay, the hospital has acharity fund that coversexpenses," explains Dipak

Dahal, the hospital's administration officer. About 17 per cent ofpatients come from extremely poor families.

Dhulikhel runs eight outreach health centres in remote areas thatbasic, 24-hour services and are equipped for minor operations. Once aweek, a specialist supervising team visits each centre. Regular mobilehealth camps are also organised.

While international grants were used for the buildings andequipment, treatment is subsidized by bachelor-level courses inmedicine that Dhulikhel Hospital has started in collaboration withKathmandu University.

Says Shrestha: “This hospital is proof that nothing is impossible.What is required is honest implementation."

election support have beencompleted by UNMIN, and itsextended term is about to expireon 23 January. It is not likelythat the ‘integration’ and‘rehabilitation’ of Maoistcombatants will be completedby then.

After their success in theApril elections there is anattempt in some Maoist quartersto shift the goalposts when itcomes to the incomplete peaceprocess. The wholesale entry ofpolitically trained cadre of oneparty into the national armywould lead to crisis.

Simply put, the acceptableformula would be the free-choiceentry of individual combatantsinto the NA based on acceptedstandards. In one stroke thiswould allow the Maoists tomollify their cadre, and addressthe practical necessity of partialintegration, while ensuringgenuine rehabilitation ofthe rest.

Nepali political actors will

Cancer patient Man Bahadur Tamang(right) with his doctor, Ram Shrestha, atDhulikhel Hospital. Tamang wouldn'thave been able to afford his operationelsewhere.

decide the nature of integrationand rehabilitation of Maoistcombatants, of course, but itwould be good if the UN was onthe same page. Today, theinterests of United Nations andthe citizens of Nepal coincide inmaking the peace process inNepal a lasting success, whereNepalis can return to being asociety where political violenceis rejected absolutely.

Here, it was distressing thatSecretary-General Ban Ki-moonwas not heard to utter the words‘impunity’ and ‘accountability’during his Kathmandu stopover.There can be no lasting peace,nor democracy, without them.

A denoument which isrespectful of the people’s desireto live without violence and inpluralism, and which respondsto humanitarian needs ofindividual Maoist combatants,will leave Nepal at peace and theUnited Nations Secretary-Generalwith the satisfaction of a jobwell done.

12 7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424INTERNATIONAL

ne of the first challengesthat President BarackObama will face is the

effect of the ongoing financialcrisis, which has called intoquestion the future of Americanpower in the world.

Wall Street’s crack-up is seenin Asia to presage a global tectonicshift, the beginning of the decline

of American power. Yet the dollar,a symbol of American financialpower, has surged rather thandeclined. Foreigners seem havemore confidence in America’sability to solve its problems thanAmericans do.

Many claimed that with therise of China and the petro-states,an American slowdown could bedecoupled from the rest of theworld. Crises often refuteconventional wisdom, and thisone reveals that the underlyingstrength of the American economyremains impressive.

The larger question concernsthe long-term future of Americanpower.

Power always depends on

SINGAPORE ñ Barack Obamaíselection comes at a moment whena new bit of conventional wisdomis congealing. It concerns the endof Americaís global dominance.††

True, freewheeling American-style capitalism has not acquitteditself proudly of late. AndAmericaís military superiority hasnot proved all that useful inaccomplishing American ends.But who may pick up the slack inproviding global leadership?

The uncomfortable answer thatObama is likely to confront is this:nobody. America may bedamaged, but no replacement ison offer. Europe is self-absorbed,focused on creating whatever kindof entity it ends up deciding to be.Chinaís standard response to anysuggestion that it exercise globalleadership is to hide beneath itsvast internal agenda and pleadpoverty. No other country comesclose to having either the capacityor the ambition.

In the face of the familiar litanyof desperate global problems ñ notjust financial instability, but alsoclimate change, energy insecurity,potential pandemics, terrorism,and the spread of weapons ofmass destruction ñ the prospect ofa rudderless world is more thanalarming. What is to be done? Andby whom?

Given that the United Stateshas not been playing much of aleadership role on many of theseissues recently, it is worth taking

a look at what happens when noone country exercises effectiveleadership.

Consider climate change. It isnow clear that avoidingcatastrophic climate changerequires dramatic and rapidreductions in greenhouse-gasemissions, cuts that would lowerannual emissions to 80 per cent

below 1990 levels by 2050. Yetemissions are not just rising, butaccelerating. The comingrecession may stem their growthtemporarily, but only slightly. Thenecessary reductions imply arapid and radical transformation ofindustrial, energy, and land-usesystems around the world.

Supposedly, by December

2009 in Copenhagen governmentswill agree on a new treaty to setlimits on emissions. But theprospects are close to nil. Thenew Obama administration willhave only a few months todevelop meaningful proposals thatcan win domestic support, andwill be preoccupied with theaftermath of the current financialdebacle and the Iraq war.

Europe is pushing forambitious targets but is havingtrouble with its own vestedinterests. The large emergingcountries, although they willsuffer disproportionately fromwilder weather and rising sealevels, show little interest inpicking up the slack. Negotiationwatchers term the currentAmerican-Chinese dance ofmutual blame a suicide pact. Inshort, the process is a mess.

This is hardly surprising. Aninter-governmental system thatfalls apart under the challenges oftrade negotiations andproliferation threats is unlikely tomaster the deep complexity andmultitudinous vested interests thatthe issue of climate changeentails. Traditional diplomacy willat best devise a face-saving butmeaningless accord next year.

There are many ways to putmatters on the global agenda, asshown by Bonoís campaigns onAfrican development and AlGoreís on climate change. Whileenforcement in the coercivesense remains the domain ofstates, coercive enforcement israre even when it comes to inter-governmental agreements.Whether countries abide byagreements has far more to do

context, and in today’s world, itis distributed in a pattern thatresembles a complex three-dimensional chess game. On thetop chessboard, military power islargely unipolar and likely to

remain so for a while. But on themiddle chessboard, economicpower is already multi-polar,with the US, Europe, Japan andChina as the major players, andothers gaining in importance.

The bottom chessboard is therealm of transnational relationsthat cross borders outside ofgovernment control. It includesactors as diverse as bankerselectronically transferring sumslarger than most nationalbudgets, as well as terroriststransferring weapons or hackersdisrupting Internet operations. Italso includes new challengeslike pandemics and climatechange. On this bottom board,power is widely dispersed, andit makes no sense to speak ofunipolarity, multipolarity, orhegemony.

Even in the aftermath of thefinancial crisis, the giddy pace oftechnological change is likely tocontinue to drive globalization,but the political effects will bedifferent for the world of nation-states and the world of non-stateactors. In inter-state politics, themost important factor will be thecontinuing ‘return of Asia’.

The challenge for BarackObama is that more and moreissues and problems are outsidethe control of even the mostpowerful state. Although the USdoes well on the traditionalmeasures of power, thosemeasures increasingly fail to

Three-dimensional chess

Barack Obama understandsthat even the most powerfulcountry can’t go it alone

capture much of what definesworld politics, which, owing tothe information revolution andglobalisation, is changing in away that prevents Americans fromachieving all their internationalgoals by acting alone.

For example, internationalfinancial stability is vital toAmerican prosperity, but the USneeds the cooperation of others toensure it. Global climate change,too, will affect the quality of life,but the US cannot manage theproblem alone. And, in a worldwhere borders are becomingincreasingly porous to everythingfrom drugs to infectious diseasesto terrorism, America mustmobilise international coalitionsto address shared threats andchallenges.

The problem of Americanpower in the wake of the financialcrisis is not one of decline, but ofa realisation that even the mostpowerful country cannot achieveits aims without the help ofothers. Fortunately, Barack Obamaunderstands that. Project Syndicate

Joseph S Nye Jr is a professor atHarvard and author of The Powersto Lead.

O

MIGHT AND RIGHTJoseph S Nye,Jr

Who will run the world now?America may be damaged, but no replacement is on offer

WORLD IN WORDSAnn Florini

with international processes ofpersuasion, socialization, andcapacity-building ñ and thosecan be done by anyone with agood argument.

The big question today iswhether all these alternativeapproaches can add up to morethan a bit of desperate tinkeringaround the edges. Standardinternational-relations thinkingdoes not even entertain thequestion, and those conventionalways of seeing the world haveblinded us to looking at thiscrucial question.

As a result, we do not yetknow the answer. Data remainscarce. There are hundreds ofglobal public-privatepartnerships working on variousglobal ills ñ but few have beenexamined to see what good theydo. The mishmash of initiatives,actors, campaigns, and appealscreates opportunities for majorprogress ñ and mass confusion.†

If there is to be real progresstoward more effective andefficient global governance thatcan address the unprecedentedchallenges posed by climatechange and the rest of the globalagenda, we must do much morethan look for an easyreplacement for Americanhegemony. We must figure outhow to make sense of thisenormous diversity of ways ofsaving the world. Project Syndicate

Ann Florini is Director of theCentre on Asia andGlobalisation at the Lee KuanYew School of Public Policy inSingapore.

7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424 13REVIEW

here is only one feeling asyou finish reading MatrikaPrasad Koirala’s recently

released memoir: déjà vu.It suddenly strikes you how

little Nepal has changed. TheRanas have just been overthrown,but the political forces are at eachother throats. There is infightingwithin the Nepali Congress, andthe backbiting is even morevicious within the Koirala clan.India is concerned that Nepal isnot listening to its concerns,which has to mainly do withtaming Himalayan rivers.

MP’s memoirs are from arewritten manuscript after theoriginal was lost and half of thebook is an appendix made up of afascinating series of letters andofficial documents betweenNehru, MP and Tribhuban .

Krishna Prasad Koirala(Pitaji), the father of MP, BP andGP was a freedom fighter who wasexiled to India because he stoodup against the Rana regime. TheKoirala brothers followed theirrevolutionary father foot-stepsand were also packed off to India.

At first, they participated inthe Indian independencemovement. MP and BP were evenimprisoned in India by theBritish and there they came incontact with Mahatma Gandhi,Jaya Prakash Narayan, RamManohar Lohiya and otherIndians who were on thefrontline of the struggle againstcolonialism.

After 1947, the Koiralabrothers with other young Nepalipolitical activists turned theirattention to liberating Nepal fromthe century-old Rana Oligarchy.It is obvious the democraticmovement in Nepal gained itsinspiration from the Indianfreedom movement, but they soonrealised the bitter truth that anewly-independent India was notat the outset supportive of theanti-Rana insurrection. TheKoiralas at first took up armsagainst the Ranas, with Mahabir

Shamsher helping to transportguns and dropping pamphlets inNepal from a DC-3 of his airline.

Under MP’s command, theinsurrection spread in 1950 andborder towns like Birganj,Nepalganj, Dhangadi andBiratnagar were captured. ThirBam Malla was killed during theBirganj attack, and the bada hakimwas killed during the battle forDhangadi. Rana soldiers fired on

protesters in Gaur, killing manypeople. Narad Muni Thulung tookover Bhojpur and later advancedon Kathmandu via Sindhuligadi.The book takes us through thesplits between the BP andDilliraman Regmi factions andthe patching up to set up theNepali Congress.

MP acknowledges BP’s role,and does not criticise his brothereven thought their relations werestrained. By shunning populism,MP showed statesmanship but itisolated him and ultimately costhim political support.

The book gives us insight intothe 1950 Delhi Agreementbetween the Ranas, King

Tribhuban and the Congress. Theso-called tripartite agreement, itturns out, was actually bilateral:between the Jawaharlal Nehru andthe Rana rulers. Indianambassador CPN Sinha was holedup at Hyderabad House withTribhuban, and he constantlybullied Matrika who hadwanted the meeting to take placein Nepal.

Then there was the case of the3.5 million in Indian currencythat the guerrillas had capturedduring the insurrection. Themoney was taken to Patna fromwhere MP, BP, SubarnaShamsher, Mahabir Shamsher andMP’s sister Vijaya took it on aDC-3 to Delhi. But at Delhiairport, the plane was seized byIndian intelligence, the entiregroup was detained at thecustoms office overnight.

The next morning when MPKoirala went to see Nehru atTinmurti Bhavan, he wasrebuked. MP maintained that themoney was brought to Delhi to behanded over to Tribhuban, so theking would give his blessings forthe anti-Rana revolution. MPsuspects that Subarna Shamsherhad colluded with Delhi todiscredit the movement.

We see a glimpse of the realNehru in his outburst at theNepali freedom fighter in whichhe threatened to put BP and otherCongress leaders behind bars. ‘MrNehru ranted for more than anhour, and I patiently listened,’MP recalls in his chaste Englishin the book. Nepal’s democratsreturn dejected from Delhi. MPwrites: ‘Our reliance on theIndian leader and the Indiangovernment was completelyshaken and naturally we had todepend on our own resources ofmen and material, howevermeager that may be.’

The other brotherDHRUBA SIMKHADA MP’s new memoir shows

us how little Nepal haschanged since 1950

oy A opens with an exchange between a paternal socialworker and his charge- a young man, almost childishlyecstaticØon what seems to be the eve of his release from

prison. We have no idea what his crime might have been, though itis apparently sufficiently serious to warrant a new identity to protecthim from vigilantes.

The name he picks for himself, Jack, offers the promise of a newfuture, a way to separate himself from what came before. Yet despitehis own hopes and his guardian Terryís cautious optimism, it isclear the stubborn past will be hard to escape.

One narrative strand follows Jackís adjustments to adulthood asan active member of society in a community that appears willing togive him a chance, while another revisits his troubled childhood andthe inexorable march towards a fatal mistake.

Director John Crowleyadeptly builds the tension inboth story threads, raising thepossibility that the Jack of thepresent may lose the new lifehe is building for himself as

events from his dark past catch up with him. Inevitably, thegruesome moment from his childhood produces a narrative collisionthat throws up a mixed bag of ethical questions and emotions.

Boy A is curiously reminiscent of last yearís Stephanie Daley,which took a tabloid headline story in that case, the story of a girlwho abandons her newly-born child and rendered it into a humanstory. Both films involve knotty ethical problems in situations thattouch a raw nerve. And both employ an objective yet compassionateeye that implies a neutrality above the issues. Of course, Boy Ainvests heavily in making you relate to its protagonist, keeping themessy details of his past from the viewer for as long as possible.

As with Stephanie Daley, Boy A is greatly dependent on thestrength of one or two performances. Andrew Garfield illuminateseach fractured facet of Jackís personality, rendering his broken,tenuous grip on himself with a raw, lifelike intensity. During theinterval of Jackís incarceration, which is completely absent from thefilm, he has grown physically into an adult but lacks any experienceand knowledge of society outside prison.

Thereís a skittishness, a cautiousness coupled with a sensitivityand lack of guile thatís played to perfection. Garfield displays ascintillating intelligence not simply in playing the powerful emotionsthat Jack experiences, but also in the tiny dissonances with anunfamiliar reality. Similarly, Terry, the protective and proud father-figure to Jack is a three-note character, but actor Peter Mulan playsthem very well. Terryís faith in Jack confirms our sympathies, andMulanís performance amplifies our distress when tragedy strikes.

Even as Terry urges Jack to let go of the past and embrace thefuture he tells him he has earned, his own memory and guiltstubbornly dog the present. Yet ultimately, Boy A is not simply aboutthe inability to escape oneís past. It implicates a society unwilling orunable to accept a prison sentence as a debt paid, or give a secondchance to someone who made a mistake, however awful that mayhave been. The film incriminates the sweeping, judgmental nature ofthe tabloid press that ignores nuance and depends on facile fear-mongering. This is a small film, easily overlooked amid the buzz ofbigger-budget fare but Boy A delivers a searing drama ofredemption.

Boy ADirector: John CrowleyCast: Andrew Garfield, Peter Mulan2008. R. 99 mins.

CRITICAL CINEMAA Angelo DíSilva

Boy A has paid for hissins, but perhaps hehasn’t paid enough

Of crime andpunishment

B

T

A Role in a† Revolutionby MP Koirala

375+XIVRs 700

Jagadamba Prakashan,2008

Jazz carnivalThe Kathmandu Jazz Festival, held from 22-27October at various venues in the city, was a hugesuccess. The festival seems to have touched manysouls and turned some into jazz lovers. SureshLimbu, band supervisor of the Greg Lyons Trio, said:“I didn’t dig jazz music before but now I seem to loveit. I even got some CDs to listen to.” Abhaya Subba ofAbhaya and the Steam Injuns said she enjoyed andloved Global Unity– the Mumbai-based band.

The event drew a mix of local and foreign jazzfans who cheered the international acts. Canadianperformer Terrence Bowry says he enjoyed Nepal andits people so much that he plans to move here fromGermany early next year.

Festival coordinator Chhedup Bomzan says thatthe festival, which began seven years ago, still has along way to go, but he remains confident it willcontinue to get bigger and better each year.

Jazzmandu podcasts are available for downloadwww.motleymix.nepal123.com.Pravat J Gurung

PICS: PRAVAT J GURUNG

14 7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424CITY

KATHMANDU VALLEY

ABOUT TOWN

†

WEEKEND WEATHER by NGAMINDRA DAHAL

Weather-wise there is no signifcant change this week.†The seasonof westerlies has begun, and our forecasts from now till April will bebased on frontal systems moving in from the Mediterranean and howmuch moisture they still contain after traversing the deserts of Iranand Afghanistan. There was a slight fall in the pressure pattern lastweek, but aside from a few light showers in eastern Nepal it didnít domuch. The nearly stationery high pressure over northern India meansthe winds are from the southwest, this will raise the day temperaturesomewhat while the minimum temperature will continue to slip to thesingle digit. The weekend will be hazy and sunny with morning smogin Kathmandu Valley. †

KATHMANDU

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Call 4442220 for show timings at Jai Nepalwww.jainepal.com

Quantum of Solace picks up on the plot from 'Casino Royale'.After James Bond (Daniel Craig) is betrayed by Vesper, thewoman he loved in Casino Royale, Bond struggles with the urgeto make his latest mission personal. After capturing Mr. White,Bond continues to uncover the truth about the organisation thatblackmailed Vesper to steal Bond's casino winnings. During thisinvestigation Bond is introduced to the beautiful but feisty Camille(Olga Kurylenko), a woman who has her own vendetta. Camillethen helps lead Bond straight to Dominic Greene, a ruthlessbusiness man and major force within the mysterious criminalorganisation known only as 'Quantum'.

For inclusion in the listing send information to editors(at)nepalitimes.com

Fri Sat Sun

26-9 28-8 25-8

EXHIB IT IONSWild, an exhibition of paintings by Wayne Edwards from 2-18November at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited,Sunday - Friday 11AMñ6PM and Saturday 12AM-4PM. 4218048Chance Encounters, a group art exhibition of artists fromBangladesh, France and Nepal till 19†November, KathmanduGallery, Lazimpat. 9851050493

E V E N T SDivinity of the common life, an artisticperformance by Pierre-Alain Hubert andKarl Knapp, 7 November, 6PM, OpenTheatre, Kula Manch, free event. 4241163New session of French classes,admissions on till 9 November, nextsession starts on the 10 November-22January at the Alliance Francaise.4241163Nepal Music Centerís International FolkFestival 2008: An ode to life and culture, till 8 November.4256909

MUSICTuesday Melody at Jazzabell CafÈ, Happy hour 6-8PM. 2114075Poesie and Fags a jazz vocal trio from Holland, Saturday atPatan .5522708, Sunday at Thamel.4700736. New Orleans CafÈ,7PM74 Twister playing live every Tuesday at Moksh, Pulchok.5526212Robin an the New Revolution playing live every Tuesday, 7PMonwards at Bamboo Club restaurant, Thamel. 470157Some like it hot every Friday BBQ and live music by Dinesh Raiand the Sound Minds, 7PM onwards, Rs 899 at Fusion,Dwarikaís Hotel. 4479488Happy cocktail hour, 5-7PM, Ladies night on Wednesday withlive unplugged music at Jatra CafÈ & BarHyJazz Club every Tuesday and Friday from 8.30 PM, HyattRegency, Kathmandu. 4489800Dance and Cocktails at Cube Bar, Kamaladi. 4438017Fusion and Looza Band every Friday night, Bhumi Resto Lounge,Lazimpat. 4412193Rudra night fusion and classical Nepali music by Shyam Nepaliand friends, every Friday, 7PM at Le Meridien,Gokarna. 4451212Sufi music by Hemanta Rana, every Friday at 7.30 PM at DhabaRestaurant and Bar, Thapathali.Fusion and Classical Music by Anil Shahi every Wednesday,rock with Rashmi Singh every Friday, Sufi & Raga with HemantRana every Saturday, 8 PM onwards, Absolute Bar. 5521408

DININGCoffee & Chocolate at the Lounge in Hyatt Regency. 4.30-6.30PM. 4491234Take away at Te Restaurant from Bluebird Food Court andWelcome Food Plaza at Bakhundole, Sanepa. 5549331Salmon Delicacies at the Rox Restaurant from 7PM onwards.Hyatt Regency. 4489361Organic Salad Bar and Steak at Jalan Jalan restaurant everyFriday from 6PM, Rs 650Fusion of Marcela Reganís new menu and Mannieís new bar atDhokaima Cafe. 5522113Plat Du Jour at Hotel Shangri-la, Kathmandu, Rs 600. 4412999Pizza & Pasta every Monday and Tuesday at Rox Restaurant.Hyatt Regency. 448936Pasta pesto passion†at La Dolce Vita, Thamel. 4700612Steak special with free Irish coffee at K-too! Beer & Steakhouse,Thamel. 4700043Continental and cafe item with Live band every Friday at VintageCafe and Pub, Woodland Complex, Durbarmarg.Unlimited wine offer for Rs 990 at La Maison wine and cigarlounge. 9841333628Home made pasta at Alfresco, Soaltee Crowne Plaza. 4273999Reality Bites, The Kaiser CafÈ, Garden of Dreams, operated byDwarikaís Group of Hotels, 9AM-10PM. 4425341Steak escape with Kathmanduís premier steaks at the Olive Barand Bistro, Hotel Radisson. 4411818Cocktails, mocktails and liqueurs at the Asahi Lounge, openinghours 1-10PM, above Himalayan Java, Thamel.Retro Brunch Barbeque with live acoustic music by SoundChemistry, every Saturday, 12-3PM at LeMeritien-Kathmandu,Gokarna. 4451212Starry night barbecue at Hotel Shangri-la with Live†performanceby Ciney Gurung, Rs. 666, at the Shambala Garden, everyFriday 7PM onwards. 4412999Kebabs and curries at the Dhaba, Thapathali. 9841290619lly Expression Coffee at Hotel Shangrila, Lazimpat and MandapHotel, ThamelSocially Responsible coffee at Himalayan Java, Thamel

7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #424 15HAPPENINGS

CHEQUE THAT: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal receives a chequefor Rs 1 million on Sunday at Singha Darbar from Kamran Bakr (right),managing director of Unilever for the rehabilitation of those displaced bythe Kosi. Unilever director Ravi Bhakta Shrestha is at left.

THE SON ALSO RISES: Prakash Dahal was a stand-in for his father,Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, at the Nepal Sambat ceremonyduring the Peace Photo Exhibition at Basantapur on 29 Octoberorganised by the National Photo Journalists' Forum.

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7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2008 #42416 BACKSIDE

Will someone please giveParmananda the Veepsomething to do before

he goes and does something sillyagain? Over Tihar, the office ofthe president of vice summonedthe press for a tea party and toldthem he was bored stiff. But noone could think of anything forhim to do. So, just to be noticed,this week the vice-prez went tothe Reporter’s Club to demandthat he be given the same choresas the president: inaugurateschools, launch books and visitflood victims.

After that he promptlythreatened to resign if thegovernment didn’t take himseriously. Don’t think anyonewould notice even if he did. Hemet Prez Yadav the other day tosee if he could wangle a booklaunch somewhere. Althoughboth the presidents may be fromthe Tarai, however, one is a Jhaand the other is a Yadav andtheir mutual animosity runsdeep. Besides, Yadav is said totake a dim view of his deputy’srecent outspokenness.

There is an old practice that if agovernment can’t solve a problemit forms a committee andoutsources it. At the rate our

Commissars in the committeescoalition is forming committees,pretty soon we will need amother of all committees to keeptrack of what all the committeesare doing. Why not just dissolvethe government and rule thecountry by committee?

Setting up a committee is alsoa great way for the politicalparties in government toneutralise troublesome partycolleagues. PKD is getting ratherirritated by Comrade Vaidya’sconstant whining, so he kickedhim upstairs to the UML-MaoistJoint Coordination Committee.That seems to have given JhalluBau the idea to get Makunay offhis hair by appointing him alsoto the committee.

But how a baddie hardlinerwho can’t even stand ComradeTerrific will work with someonehe has in the past reviled as a“revisionist royal lackey mongrel”remains to be seen. Will theinfighting in the coalition stopjust because they now havecommittees to sort out the peskydetails of day-to-day government,constitution writing proceduresand army integration?

Probably not. Which must bewhy they have formed yetanother committee tasked with

ironing out the intractabledetails of army integration. Thiscommittee was supposed to beset up within 15 days of theformation of the government,and it took nearly three months.And we have to thank Ki-MoonKaka for that, because if ithadn’t been for him even thiscommittee wouldn’t have beenformed.

Things had got stuckbecause the baddies not onlywanted Comrades Cloudy andPrabhakaran as members but oneof them also leader of the five-member committee,and thekangresis would have none ofthat. So Bum Dev got to leadthat committee, and tillpresstime on Thursday Terrificwas still trying to get through toGirjau to see if he could use hischarm to get the NC to send amember.

PKD knows that GPK hatesSBD so much that the Old Foxwould just love to cut a dealwith the baddies on armyassimilation behind Lionheart’sback and pull the rug fromunder his kangresi nemesis. Iknow, it’s totally crazy.

The pressure on PKD from hiscoalition partners to recall

kangresi-nominee ambassadorsseems to have got too much tobear. Being ManmohanSingh’s student and havingorganised high-level meetingsin Delhi for his prime ministerlast month wasn’t enough tosave Durgesh the Man his job. Dr Suresh in DC got thesack despite having hosted thefinance minister in theembassy guest room so BRBcould save his WB/IMF DSA.

Rumours are that the baddieswant to appoint a sympathiserwho is a Fulbright abscondeeand contributor to a Mooniepaper as the next ambassadorto the US. In which case theForum may get to chosesomeone for India andwe may have a UMLambassador in Berlin.

ass(at)nepalitimes.com