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Inside YCL foils return of confiscated property on page 2

ä nf correspondent

If Maoist leaders and cadres were, “atrociousand untrustworthy,” Home Minister K P Sitaulawas, “incapable and unfit to continue in thepost.” This was the conclusion based on themajority of views expressed by District Chiefs ofthe Congress party from across the country.

The three day meeting that ended on Mondaywas called by Prime Minister G P Koirala in hiscapacity as the Congress President. It delved intoatrocities committed by the Maoists all over thecountry in total violation of the code of conduct. Iteven provoked prominent parliamentarian,Surendra Choudhary to ask, “Are they truthfuland peaceful?”

As a result of the growing mistrust towards theMaoists and their declared commitment to thepeace process, the meeting clearly asked itsleadership not to be swayed by Maoist proposal todeclare Nepal a ‘republic state’ before the countrygoes to the Constituent Assembly election.Although there was no support expressed infavour of the ceremonial monarchy, the Maoistswere projected as much more untrustworthy andless dependable compared to the King.

Their anger was directed at the Home MinisterSitaula who spent most of the proceedings listeningto his criticism, helplessly. “He has behaved as if he

is from the Maoists side,” many participants said,giving graphic descriptions of how the police chiefsin the districts had been instructed by him not to doanything against the Maoists even if they werefound indulging in major crime and violence.

The meeting was called by Koirala to giveparty’s district level leaders a chance to venttheir ire in the wake of the Government’s failureto hold election to the Constituent Assembly bymid-June. Following that failure, the Maoists arenow insisting that if the unity of the eight partiesis to be kept alive, declaring Nepal a republicstate ‘Now!’ is the only way out. “Do not be theirblind followers”, was the message of themeeting, collectively, with a warning that Maoistsmust be held accountable for obstruction ofpeace process and any crime they commit.

PM Koirala also used the meeting as a forumto own up responsibility for not being able tohold the election on schedule, perhaps a way toestablish his sagging moral authority. But whatprobably surprised the PM was the maximumovation that the two leaders - Vice PresidentSushil Koirala and K B Gurung, received afterthey chastised the Maoists with a clear messagethat being in the Government and being‘terrorists’ were two different things. Thus apowerful message was sent to the Governmentthat ‘nobody was above law’ in the country. ä

Rule firmlyReign in Maoists - District Congress chiefs tell PM.

Maoist Fraternity on rampage : Maoists, mostly YCL cadresresorted to attack on Armed Police posts, Government offices andpublic property in Western Nepal last week. Photo shows a public

vehicle on fire at Dhangadi.

2 7-13 May, 2007 News

In a candid admission of crisis within theCommunist Party of Nepal, the Maoists, a verysenior leader of the party has admitted thatthere are ‘pro-monarchy’ elements within theparty.

The statement comes from Krishna BahadurMahara, the party’s senior-most minister and atrusted aide of chief Prachanda. This takesplace in the background of a ginger-groupquestioning the current official line of the CPN-M that ‘Republic’ agenda could be achievedthrough the parliament.

In a programme organised to release twobooks in the capital, Mahara predicted fastpolarisation of political forces for and againstthe republic in the country, but warned thatthe goal of realising full-fledged democracywould be resisted by pro-king elements“present everywhere.” “Pro-monarchyelements are present in all the partiesincluding the CPN-M,” he said. “I have noqualms in admitting that there are pro-kingelements in my party as well and we need tolaunch a fierce battle to eliminate them.”Refraining from identifying the ‘elements’, hedid not elaborate further.

But Mahara’s assertion, political analysts say,will trigger more intense debate within his partythan outside it. The Prachanda – Baburam,Bhattarai - Mahara axis had come under sharpcriticism in the recently held central committeemeeting of the party where Kiran-Badal - C PGajurel alliance openly questioned the currentline of politics that the Maoist party waspursuing.

The Maoist leadership is under pressure toadopt a more radical line both on domestic aswell as international issues which means takinga firm anti-India line; and discarding the politicsof pro-democratic forces and the Maoistalliance brokered by the southern neighbour.The line currently held by Prachanda -

Bhattarai and Mahara means that withdrawalfrom the alliance would mean giving morespace to pro-palace forces, which is basically arejection of hard line being pursued by theother group led by Baidya.

While there are fears within the Maoist partythat the current differences at the top levelwould not subside so easily, it would naturallyforce the current leadership to force theGovernment and the eight parties to adopt aresolution in favour of ‘Republic Nepal’ from thefloor of the parliament instead of waiting for theConstituent Assembly to come into existence.The eight parties, which are part of the rulingalliance had earlier agreed that the first meetingof the CA will settle the issue of the monarchyor republicanism.

Mahara suggested that the country mustmove fast towards ‘federal republic set-up’ forits progressive transformation and stressed thatcooperation between the pro-republic anddemocratic forces was necessary.

He also expressed that the fast polarisationwould be resisted by the opposite forces whichwere, “present every where.” He warned thatthe top leaders of the eight parties werebecoming more and more ineffective encourag-ing the ‘pro-king’ forces to be more active. Heasked, “Was it because there was a treacher-ous deal between the king and the top leadersof the parties?”

Meanwhile, the messege contained inMahara's speech that all was not too well in theparty came out openly in Tulsipur area of Dangdistrict. YLC cadre roughed up local Congressleader Lokmani Giri in presence of Maoistleader Baburam Bhattarai and Congrerssleader Sekhar Koirala who had gone there tostart the process of returning confiscatedproperty. Police helplessly watched as ithappened on Sunday.

ä nf correspondent

Pro-King MaoistsMahara’s call to ‘eliminate monarchists’ from Maoists and other parties.

Maoists on U N litmusIan Martin left for New York a bit dejected after the Maoists successfully

thwarted the process of the verification of Maoists arms and combatants.

Gaur massacre controversy has not onlydied down, it has come as a fresh doseof headache for the Maoist ChiefPrachanda. He is under pressure fromthe influential leaders of the MadheshiMukti Morcha (MMM), an affiliate body ofthe party, to take action against Anantaalias Barshaman Pun for havinginstructed the Youth Communist League(YCL) to confront the MadheshiJanadhikar Forum (MJF) in Gaur onMarch 21 over-ruling the MMM request.The clash between the two groups hadresulted in the death of 27 Maoists, mostof them YCL activists.

A delegation of the MMM led by itsDeputy Leader Mahendra Paswan metParty Chief Prachanda last week todemand that the responsibility be fixedfor the loss of twenty-seven ‘comrades’.

Ananta, in his capacity as chief of theCommunist Party of Nepal—Maoists(CPN-M) mid-command had instructedYCL cadres to go to Gaur and foil theMJF programme although MMM wasmuch against violent confrontation. MMMdelegation is believed to have toldPrachanda that it also wants theNarayani regional Bureau Chief of theCPN-M be held responsible for themassacre.

The central level leadership of theparty is likely to order an internal probeinto the matter, but the MMM is not yetconvinced that it would be effective. “Itshould be thoroughly investigated andresponsibility fixed for the lapse,” a partysource quoted MMM.

ä Bishwa Mani Pokharel

Anantaunderattack

Mahara suggested that thecountry must move fasttowards ‘federal republicset-up’ for its progressivetransformation and stressedthat cooperation betweenthe pro-republic and demo-cratic forces was necessary.

NA limps back

The aircraft starved Nepal airlines began its partialoperation almost after a week’s gap as one of itstwo aircrafts is back in service. The aircraft wassent back on Saturday by Brunei based Boeingservicing center after replacing the main landinggear.

That partially rescues the top management ofthe Nepal Airlines which has been criticised,abused and chastised by the harassed passengersfor abrupt cancellations of their flights as both theaircrafts got grounded last week.

“We hope to have another aircraft also inoperation soon as it is being repaired in Dubai,” asenior Nepal Airlines official told newsfront. Theaircraft has “starter problem and needs wiringcheck-up. Equipment is being sent from here.”

What is worrying the management the most is thatthe aircrafts would soon be overstressed and not beable to continue to be in effective service for long.The management hurried the servicing since iratepassengers not only protested against the flightcancellations but also because unanimous callershad threatened to blow up the Nepal airlines buildingif they continued to face such harassment. ä

The U N, of late, does notseem to be taking to theMaoists very kindly. Withina span of less than aweek, two powerful U Nbodies have said in nouncertain terms that theyare going back on theirpromises both on the issueof rehabilitation of theinternally displaced people(IDP) and that of verifica-tion of the arms andcombatants in designatedcantonments.

Ian Martin, SpecialRepresentative of the U NSecretary General Ban KiMoon, left for New York abit dejected after theMaoists successfullythwarted the process ofthe verification of Maoistsarms and combatants.Reacting to the Maoists’ demand forsalary at the rate of Rs.3,000 permonth for the combatants, Martin statedthat the process cannot be linked withany other condition.

Security Council about NepalSituation. Montas asked Maoistleadership to let the peoplewho had been displaced as aresult of the conflict, to returnback to their places.

“Maoists local cadres are notcomplying with the party’sformal commitments to allow thedisplaced persons to return totheir homes in safety,” Montassaid reiterating what the Officeof the High Commission of theHuman Rights (OHCHR) onNepal had stated.

The OHCHR had called onthe Maoists to support thereturn of the IDPs and toensure that they allowunconditional, dignified andsafe return of all personsrecognised as IDPs. “Themission also urges that localcadres return all land and

property confiscated from the IDPs,”Montas added, “activities in recentmonths indicate a failure to implementsuch central-level commitments.”

ä nf correspondent

But the far more serious chargeagainst the Maoists was labeled by theUN Secretary General’s Spokesman,Michele Montas on April 30, whenMartin was still there briefing the

37-13 May 2007Profile

ä Nabin Joshi

The first ever software exhibition heldon May 2-5 hosted by the ComputerAssociation of Nepal was a big eventwith 44 companies participating in it.This was also a clear and collectivedetermination of the softwaredevelopers in Nepal that showed thatthe local companies without externalimpetus could do a lot in the industry.

The fact that four booths wereoccupied by High Level Commissionfor Information Technology, NationalInformation Technology Center,Ministry of Environment, Science andTechnology and Ministry of Finance,three companies from India, one fromSri Lanka and one from Korea was areassuring sign of their recognition ofnot only the existence of softwaredevelopers in Nepal, but thepotentials they held.

There were a slew of productsranging from web based to standalone application software inaccounting, resource management,financial and other transaction basedproducts, banking software, SMS

Cater to consumer demand or perishSofTech 2007

based software, geographicalinformation based software,document management, solutions fore-management and so on. Busi-nesses, institutions, governments areprobably the biggest users ofapplication software, but almost everyfield of human activity now uses someform of application software.

The event ended on a happy noteand it was clear that the exhibitorswere satisfied with the exposure theyreceived for their products. Theyfound the booth charge of Rs. 17,000reasonable for the return in expo-sure. In total there were some 25,000visitors in the event.

Mr. Amrit Bahadur Thapa, thecoordinator of the event supported bya group of CAN members was onvigil to ensure that the exhibition wentsmoothly. Mr.Thapa said that the nextevent should take place in a largervenue with different levels and sizesof booths to address the level ofvisibility required for differentcategories of exhibitors.

The international exhibitors wereimpressed by the maturity of Nepali

products. If the innovation, integrityand professionalism of local softwareindustry are kept on track, a day issure to come where Nepalis willaccept Nepali products as at par with,if not better than the imported ones.

Today much of the developedworld is going through customer orconsumer revolution. Businesses andorganisations are driven by thisrevolution. They have to change asper customer demand or perish ifthey ignore it. Government is not anexception to this revolution. Much ofthe consumer driven revolution hasbeen made possible by unimaginableaccess to information such as theinternet and wireless phones. All ofthese media need software.

Will Nepal stand like a wide eyeddeer caught in the strobe light of thisrevolution and continue in its usualpath of accepting another form ofcolonisation? Or will it somethingabout it? CAN SofTech 2007 statedemphatically that the Nepali softwareindustry will not accept that. It hasdefinitely sent a serious wake up callto the government. ä

News Brief

Maoist minister’s modestyIn contrast to theperceived imageof the Maoistministers, Ministerof AgricultureKhadga BahadurBK has displayedthat he canindeed act like aminister.

In a raredisplay ofmodesty heexpressed openly

his desire to learn and improve when he interacted with senior officials ofhis ministry on Friday. He admitted he wanted to hear their frank opinionregarding his performance.

The occasion took place on the completion of a month since he beganhis work in the office. “I have been holding this chair for a month now.Please tell me frankly what my shortcomings are, so that I can work onthem.”

All officials of the Joint Secretary rank and above had been invited tothe meeting with the minister. At the end of it, everybody was charmedby his honesty, simplicity and modesty. “We never had any ministerasking these types of questions before,” an official told newsfront.

Ex-embassy on saleWith the newgrand buildingcomplete, the U SGovernment hasnow put up itsexisting embassybuilding at PaniPokhari inKathmandu onsale.

AssociatedPress (AP)reported fromWashington last

week that the existing embassy complex in Kathmandu was on sale forsix million US dollars. The new embassy in the capital’s Narayan GopalChowk is likely to be operational from July.

AP revealed that at least 29 properties of U S Government scatteredover 21 countries were on sale and the Government hoped to fetch 205million U S dollars from the sale.

In the wake of attack on some of the U S embassies and otherproperties in different parts of the world, the U S Government hasmoved its employees to more secure locations with upgraded facilities. InNepal, some of the Government facilities which are scattered at themoment are likely to shift to the new embassy building. As a result, theUSAID, as well as the Visa Consul office and the American Centerlocated outside will also be functioning from the new embassy building.

Royal Canteen curtailedPower andprivileges used tobe the mainattractions foranyone serving inthe Royal PalaceSecretariat. Forlesser employees,a canteen whichused to functionduring officehours and offeredsubsidised foodwas a welcomeplace.

Clout of the secretariat now vanished, the palace secretariatseems all set to curtail the canteen hours so that the secretariat willhave less burden of the subsidies. Under instructions from SharadaPrasad Pradhan, the canteen in the palace secretariat will nowremain open only for two hours - 1.30 P M to 3.30 P M during workdays.

Pradhan wrote to the Army Headquarter to slash the canteen hoursciting, “employees of the palace secretariat spend more time in thecanteen which affects their work.”

The canteen run by the army, used to operate between to 10 A M to5 P M.

Editor & Publisher : Yubaraj GhimireExecutive Editor : Sushma AmatyaNews Coordinator : Manoj DahalDesign: Sunil Khadgi, Kishor Raj Panta & Ramkrishna RanaAddress : PO Box: 8830, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, NepalTel : 4443888, Fax : 4421147 (Edt.), 4411912 (Mkt.)Email: newsfront@bhrikuti.com, marketing@bhrikuti.com (Mkt.)Printed by: Express Color Press, Buddhanagar, Tel.: 4781810, Distribution: Kasthamandap, Tel.: 2010821

7-13 May, 20074 Editorial

Letters

Kind attention UNOHCHRThanks for repeatedly highlighting the hoax that wasRayamajhi Commission. Your latest column ‘DevaluingJudiciary’ with the warning that politics of vendetta would becounter productive was absolutely right. I am citing someexamples of how the Rayamajhi Commission acted deliber-ately and indulged itself in the frame-up agenda.

Sarbendra Khanal, Ramesh Kharel and Rajendra ManShrestha were the three Deputy SPs actively trusted by theprevious regime and they were in the forefront in suppressingthe movement, and using force against the pro-democracyagitators.

All three were promoted when the Rayamajhi Commissionwas ‘investigating’ the case.

The Commission however, has named other two dozendistrict heads of the Police (SPs) on the basis that pro-democracy protestors died in that area. But there are somenotable exceptions:

- Ghanshyam Bhatta, S P of Dang has been exoneratedfrom the case of death of Umesh Thapa, a UML worker;because he happens to be related through marriage to aformer Chief of Police who de facto runs the organisation.

- Madhav Nepal who was S P in Bara when a pro-democracy protestor was killed was not touched for tworeasons: one, he is known to be a favourite of the sameretired Police Chief.

- S P of Jhapa who was shot and wounded apparently byan army personnel for his having refused to use force againstthe pro-democracy protestors was charged, ‘guilty’ forexcessive use of force.

- Dhiru Basnet, an efficient and honest Dy. Sp of the samebatch as Khanal, Kharel and Shrestha was unjustly deniedpromotion because he had arrested a senior congress leaderunder instruction from the Government during the movement.The leader who is now one of the powerful ministers had

warned Basnet in presence of many, “I will not spare youwhen we come to the power.”

Rayamajhi exonerated some and he held some very fineand innocent officials guilty. He was definitely not being honestwhen he did all this deliberately.

Since I am a police official, I request you to withhold myname when you publish this letter. But if at any point of time,the OHCHR, which has been talking so loud about the needfor end of impunity and fair trial takes interest in how theRayamajhi Commission and the Home Minister has actuallyacted in tandem in the conspiracy; I and many of my friendswill come out openly to give statements against them. If theOHCHR keeps mum, that will not only be the mockery of whatIan Martin previously and Lena Sundh now is saying, but willbe an endorsement of the politics of vendetta.

ä A Police official

Girija no differentThe last issue's editorial had serious concerns over thecommitments made by PM Koirala. People expected manypositive changes based on his words. But sadly, he is unableto prove himself any different than other politicians. It is hightime the government took a bold step. Otherwise, he shouldbe accountable for everything including the induction ofMaoists into the government who are still involved in extortionand other unlawful activities.

ä Sanjeev Karmacharya Kathmandu

Wake upor be extinctNepal Airlines, the only national flag carrier is sadly in shamblestoday. Established half a century ago, it started off with a promis-ing future only to dwindle down to nothing. The sorry state ofaffairs is evident by the fact that two aircrafts, that is all that it has,are grounded today, stranding hundreds of passengers. Thisdownfall can be attributed to its lackadaisical performance repletewith instances of rampant corruption, inefficiency and politics insidethe organisation.

Recent cosmetic resolution of changing its name from RoyalNepal Airlines to Nepal Airlines has not brought about anysubstantial change in the ailing government sector. Theorganisation that has been milked dry has always been a victim ofpolitical control.

Among its multiple challenges facing it today, a severe shortageof well maintained aircrafts is the first and foremost. Inability tomaintain its only two aircrafts in top condition is the second. Itneeds to streamline its services and take effective cost –cuttingmeasures if it wants to survive in this competitive business.Changes need to be made deep down to its roots which obviouslyare in a state of rot.

The passive state of its policy is evident from its decisions whenit withdrew from lucrative destinations and handed it over to itsprivate competitors. Thai Airlines, its contemporary is today one ofthe best operated and profit making airlines in the world. Thatshould be lesson enough for it to draw from.

Privatising it is one option to save the dying airlines butresistance to it is obvious since privatising it would mean that therewill no longer be any profit from it for the politicians and otherbosses. It would also mean working hard to keep one’s job andnot take it for granted, which would need quite a bit of gettingused to for all of its staff.

The airlines now faces a critical time that calls for crucialdecisions. It either should withdraw completely and hand it over toa private company or do everything that an efficient airlines needsto do. Political control and interference need to cease completelyin all its decisions; and it needs to give its reigns to committed,honest and efficient people and give them a free hand to revampits image. The time has now come to act or to just lose face andlose out on all residual goodwill of the people for its survival. ä

Readers, your reactions, criticisms,comments, suggestions are most welcome.Please address it to:

newsfront@bhrikuti.com

No sensible decision can be made any longer without takinginto account not only the world as it is, but the world as itwill be. . . - Isaac Asimov

Point to Ponder

Enquire : Who am I?Born in 1896 in Kheora, a small village inBengal, now Bangladesh, NirmalaSundari possessed divine qualities andshe was eventually named SriAnandamayi Ma.

Extracts from her talks that have beencompiled into books:

“Widen your shriveled heart, make theinterests of others your own and serve themas much as you can by sympathy, kindness,presents and so forth. So long as one enjoysthe things of this world and has needs andwants, it is necessary to minister to theneeds of one's fellow men. Otherwise onecannot be called a human being. Wheneveryou have the opportunity, give to the poor,feed the hungry, nurse the sick - do service

Spiritual Corneras a religious duty and you will come toknow by direct perception that the personserved, the one who serves and the act ofservice are separate only in appearance.”

“Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find theanswer. Look at a tree: from one seed arisesa huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds,each one of which in its turn grows into atree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one lifethat throbs in every particle of the tree. So, itis the same Atman everywhere.”

“Just as fire burns away all dross andrubbish, so the three fold suffering purgesman's heart from all impurity and resultsin a growing single mindedness in hissearch after Truth. When he becomesdeeply conscious of his weakness andtormented by the thoughts of his undesir-able impulses and distressing character-istics, when afflictions like poverty,

bereavement or humiliation make him feelhis life is futile, then and then only doeshe develop real faith and religious fervor,and becomes anxious to surrenderhimself at the feet of the Supreme Being.Suffering should therefore be welcomed.Never does the soft moonlight appearmore soothing than after the scorchingheat of a summer day.”

"Joys and sorrows are time-born andcannot last.

Therefore, do not be perturbed by these.The greater the difficulties and obstruc-

tions,the more intense will be your endeavour to

cling to His feetand the more will your prayer increase

from within.And when the time is ripe,you will gain mastery over this power."

57-13 May 2007News

Millennial ideologue Karl Marx was the greatphilosopher, economist, sociologist and thinker;and a great humanist in the sense that the solegoal of Marxism was human emancipation fromall form of the exploitation, suppression,oppression and distortions in the contemporaryEurope. What Marx imagined and what hashappened in his socialism is the great contradic-tion in theory and practice. Today, Marxism isakin to the poem, Blind and the Elephant. Apopular saying goes that Marxism is the overlyworn hat which has lost its original shape.

Marx believed that socialism would eventuallyovercome capitalism, making way for a classlesssociety. He applied this idea in the context ofcontradiction between proletariats and bour-geoisies. This was articulated in the CommunistManifesto. It was a time of revolutionary fervorin Europe. King Louis Philippe of Franceabdicated the throne, the Belgian Monarchoffered to resign, barricades against rioterswent up in Berlin and a series of industrialstrikes followed in Europe. This expression ofdespair among the proletariats, however, waswithout direction and the uprisings wereruthlessly put down.

Nonetheless, over time Britain, France andGermany did grudgingly concede the need forsome great reforms. Child labor was graduallyabolished, working hours were restricted,collective bargaining via trade union wasaccepted, a beginning was made towardsprogressive taxation and infrastructures such asrailways, postal services, health, education and

central banking were brought under statecontrol. Only the demands in the CommunistManifesto, the nationalisation of the means ofproduction and the abolition of private propertywere ignored.

After an improvement in living standards, theproletariat lost the zest for revolution. The classstruggle seems to peter out. Marx died in 1883by which time only one of the four volumes of hismagnum opus, Das Kapital, was published.

It took 70 years after the prediction for thecapitalist system to be destroyed by its antithesis,socialism and that too not in Western Europe butin Czarist Russia. After the October Revolution of1917 the Soviet Union took shape under Leninand over time 40% of the world had adoptedsome form of socialism. Nepal was no exception.

Marx's dream of a classless society was neverachieved, although Soviet socialism lasted for 70years before it started to come apart, along withthe socialist nations. Today, Cuba is perhaps thelast communist bastion. Marx's thesis of dialecticmaterialism was proved correct twice in a spanof 140 years; first, in the overthrow of capitalismand then of socialism. Marx’s insights into theproblem of the capitalist system and why itwould eventually destroy itself are remarkable.Its roots lie in the inexorable march of technol-ogy. His prediction that the system would beprone to cyclical depressions has also held true.

Changing modes of production, as Marxcalled them, would alter the existing socialstructure, redistributing wealth and power.Consequently, the feudal order would fade into

the background and the capitalist would becomea dominant part of the establishment.

Even so, capitalism based on the concept ofprivate property, he opined, would be ill-suited toplan for the increasing complexity of technologi-cal change, thus subjecting the system to cyclicalcrises of increasing intensity. The weakerenterprises would succumb to takeover by thestronger whose viability would depend on a racefor accumulating ever more labour-savingmachinery.

Nevertheless, capitalism has survived, albeitin a different form, from what it was in the 19thcentury. The synthesis between capitalism andits antithesis, socialism, has emerged as a kindof neo-capitalism rather than communism.

Capitalism has achieved unprecedentedprosperity through greater global integrationand provided improved living standards ofpeoples though neo-liberalism seems to be thedevil. It has enabled countries driven bydemocratic values to put into effect Marx'sdictum 'from each according to his ability, toeach according to his need' through measureslike healthcare, unemployment insurance,pension schemes and subsidies.

The gap between the rich and the poor maynot have narrowed but the poor are certainlybetter off than ever before. Yet there is a longway to go especially in third world countries. Iftoday Maoists were to accept Marxian dialecticsas exemplified by the new synthesis, there is noreason for them to remain prisoners ofideological dogmatism. ä

Rescue Marxfrom Marxists…No reason for them to remain prisoners of ideological dogmatism.ä Bhim Prasad Bhurtel

Marx believed thatsocialism would even-

tually overcome capital-ism, making way for aclassless society. He

applied this idea in thecontext of contradiction

between proletariatsand bourgeoisies. Thiswas articulated in the

Communist Manifesto.

6 7-13 May, 2007 Perspective

requests of reinforcement of additional force.This incident is the height of inefficiency and

recklessness of Inspector General of ArmedPolice Force and Nepal Police. They are theones to be held accountable for not fulfillingtheir responsibilities and not adequatelyresponding to the local assessment thatviolence might erupt there.

A series of criminal activities are taking placein the capital, proving the complete failure of thelaw and order situation. On the night of 30thApril, Maoists cadres attacked the Border PolicePost Siya of Banke district and looted allweapons and kidnapped the Police SubInspector and ten constables. They werereturned along with the confiscated weaponsthe following morning following intensepressure from the local people.

The police leadership failed to take anyaction on the Maoists branded criminals. Howcan anyone keep police morale from deteriorat-ing when the police officers themselves arebrutalised with total impunity? Police leadershiphas no guts to take action against theseelements as per the law of the land but isreduced to watching helplessly a series of suchincidents taking place frequently.

Young Communist League (YCL) cadres aregoing about their business of kidnapping,extorting and terrorising the capital city. They areusing vehicles looted from local business people.Here again, the owners of the vehicles them-selves had to go and snatch back their vehicles.

The much talked about police raid in theoffices of YCL in the three districts of valley isnot without fault. The local people revealedYCL transporting their goods in sacks andbig bags from their offices in the morning ofthe raid. There is a serious questionunanswered as to how YCL was informed ofthe raid in advance. Police sources claimedto have no information of the raid until halfan hour before the raid that was instructedby the home minister. Fingers are thuspointing at the home minister who gave theorder at 1330 hrs the same day to carryoutthe raid within half an hour.

No one seems to be accountable on thetotal failure and law and order situation inthe country. In order to restore the faith ofthe public on these law enforcementagencies, a lot of reform is needed in andoutside the agencies. The IGP of ArmedPolice and Nepal Police today are silentwitnesses to the chaos and anarchyhappening in the country.

If this confused and shifting accountabilitysituation continues the PM himself will failwithout a doubt. The country should notendure anarchy due to the inefficiency ofsome individuals. Relieving these key actorsof their responsibilities can pave way for anew beginning in establishing law and orderin the country, away from the shadow ofMaoists tyranny.

(Rajen Wasti is a security expert.)

Global climatic changes are likely to causesignificant changes in the world’s rainfallpatterns. The places that are wet are going toget wetter, and the places that are dry aregoing to get drier. With increased temperatureworldwide, evaporation will increase that putsmore moisture into the atmosphere. With morewater in the atmosphere, rainfall increasesworldwide. Rainfall over land has increased byabout two percent globally since 1900 buttrends have varied regionally and over time.

Global warming is intensifying monsoon inIndian subcontinent, according to a study thatwarns of increasing risk from heavier rainsduring the monsoon season. The mean surfacetemperature in tropical Asia has increased 0.3-0.8°C over the past 100 years. However therehas been no discernible alteration in the meanannual rainfall for the past thirty years in Indiansubcontinent. Many studies have now provedthat temperature in the Asian region will be

peaking in near future. Both IPCC (Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change) and WMO(World Meteorological Organisation) predict thatthere will be an increase in the magnitude andfrequency of extreme rainfall events in tropicalAsia. Instability in monsoon activities is bound tooccur with the global temperature rising withalready some evidences of multi-decadevariations. According to the IPCC, the percent-age increase in extreme rainfall is greater thanthe percentage increase in mean rainfall with thepresent trend of climate.

The return period of extreme precipitation

events is shortened almost everywhere.Extreme rainfall is the high amount of rainfall(measured in millimeter) in shorter period oftime. Such events are escalating substantially allover the world especially in northern hemi-sphere. Precipitation increases over highlatitude regions in both summer and winter andover the northern mid-latitudes, tropical Africa,and Antarctica during the winter and insouthern and eastern Asia during the summer.Extreme rainfall occurs for shorter period oftime and brings more damages and if itsduration increases, it can be devastating.

Most of the devastations such as floods,landslides are caused by extreme rainfall. Inyear 2003, extreme rainfall of monsoon seasonover Narayangadh-Mugling Highway in Nepalcaused hundreds of landslides creating severeproblems. Nepal being mountain rich country,many highways run through the mountainsconnecting some major cities including the

capital that can easily be blocked by thelandslides caused by extreme rainfall.

Monsoon rainfall occupies almost 80% of thetotal annual rainfall in Nepal. Agriculturalactivities which is the backbone of country'seconomy largely depends on the monsoon.Disturbances in monsoon can disturb the wholeeconomy of the country. Climate change will notonly increase the monsoon rainfall but willdisturb monsoon periods as well. Monsoonperiod in Nepal generally starts from June andcontinues till September. The period is abuttedby pre and post monsoon seasons whichinvolve higher rainfall generally in the westernregions of the country. Monsoon rainfall on theother hand occupies high percentage in theeastern region of Nepal which is one of thereasons of higher agricultural productivity here.

The alteration in climate is estimated toattain higher speed in the developing countriesin the coming years. China and India attainingfast economic growth are predicted to be thehighest emitters of greenhouse gases in thecoming years. All these will certainly not helpthe monsoon trends in these regions. Morethan half the world's population depend on theannual Asian monsoon to bring much-neededwater for agriculture and basic human needs.

But the rains can be perilous, causinglandslides, flash floods and crop damage as wellas social, economic and environmental damage.Surging floodwaters in the 2002 monsoon killedmore than 1000 people in Bangladesh, India andNepal, displacing millions of others. Cyclonicstorms are also likely to rise in the oceanicregions with the increase in temperature.

The socio-economic impacts of intensemonsoon can be fatal in south Asian region.Many water borne diseases will increasetremendously resulting to high mortality rates.Extreme rainfall can destroy several infrastruc-tures such as bridges, dams, highways, buildingsin no time. Increased intense rainfall will causecountless troubles in the developing world. Nepalin particular can suffer severe floods andmassive landslides in many regions adding tochaos in economy and environment. Integratedhazard management will have to be practiced inorder to reduce the calamities to come.

(Thakur is an environment science student.)

ä Rajen Wasti

Even after the Prime Minister assured his partylegislators of improvement in the law and ordersituation in the country, no progress has beenseen so far. It now appears certain that theblame will rest on the PM if the leaders of the lawenforcement bodies are not held accountable forthe failing law and order situation in the country.

Law enforcement agency leaders made amockery of the state system when the policeand the local administration failed to prevent theGaur incident, which had it been responsiblydealt with in good time would not havehappened at all. The Armed Police Force andNepal Police simply failed to act to prevent thatvery unfortunate incident.

It is downright failure of the two InspectorGenerals of Armed Police and Civil Police, whowere appointed by Home Minister Sitaula withutter disregard to the established personaladministrative values of these organisations.Situala for fear of being charged of failing todischarge responsibility has protected these twolead actors shifting the blame to the localcommanders.

Abrupt removal of Central District Officer(CDO) and District Police Office Superintendentfrom Gaur helped to keep the key actors on thesafe side. Transferring them elsewhere is nopunitive measure. The CDO and PoliceSuperintendent have maintained that IGP ofboth the institutions ignored their repeated

Wet wetter, dry drier

ä Madhav P Thakur

Changing Monsoon

Undo anarchy Law enforcement agencyleaders made a mockery of thestate system

77-13 May 2007Profile

ä Special nf correspondent

He who was a mystery to begin with, surfacedafter two decades and became public, so publicthat he has become an eye-sore literally. Whatelse would you call it with thousands of his facestaring out from walls in all conceivable cornersof the city? Printing so many posters andindulging in this exaggeration is the first sign ofself indulgence of this communist leader whowas initially perceived by many as an alternativeleader of the country. Little did he care about theimpact of his faces on the aesthetic value of thisquaint valley or the sentiments of its inhabitants.Is he trying to emulate kings of yesteryears?

The public who has been waiting andwatching now sees him no different from anyother political leader. His initial messiah likeimage has now been eroded by his bourgeoislife style replete with his prosperous middle,chest pocked adorned with the gold pen withwhich he signed the Comprehensive PeaceAgreement (CPA) ; and the branded watcharound his wrist that costs a hefty sum. Thosewho know from close, confirm he has a taste for

Scotch - the drink, and his retinue of cars makeshim no different from any rich king in a poorcountry. Is that not strange for someone wholeads the pack that espouses theories of anti-capitalism and anti-feudalism?

Originating from a farmer-class background inChitwan, he was watched carefully by the publicafter the Maoist insurgency surfaced in 1996.Today, he appears to have transformed himselfinto a symbol of state power and poised beyondcriticism. His tactics and strength based on thepower of gun have disillusioned the hopes ofthose who thought he might be a harbinger ofpeace in the country.

Watching him from a distance, he appears tosymbolise deception.. He pledged to seekpeople’s endorsement , or politics of ballot whenhe joined the peace process by giving up politicsof bullet which he led for a decade. But bulletcontinues to be his sole strength.

Has Prachanda’s life style ever become anissue within his party which is supposed torepresent proletariats and the have-nots?Perhaps not. Prachanda’s other comrades alsoseem to be vying to follow the leader rather than

challenging him. Culture of consumerism seemsall pervasive and the Youth CommunistLeague’s extortions continue. Some of theleaders have admitted having sent their wardsabroad for better education when their cadreskeep disrupting the schools here.

Prachanda’s declaration on June 2 (the dayhe ended his years of underground life) fromthe Prime Minister’s residence that Maoistswould be the second biggest revolution in Nepallike the one led by Lord Buddha 2500 yearsago, is therefore not being taken seriously.Invoking Lord Buddha’s name after onebecomes part of the peace based politics will beperceived differently. And there is a world ofdifference between the continuing politics ofguns and deceit and the one that is founded onthe truth, peace, non-violence, sacrifice,austerity and dignity of the human life.

In less than a year, Prachanda has almostgiven up what he promised, that democracy willbe his way of politics in future. In fact, he isemerging as a brazen bully. Frighteningexercises by his cadres give credence to thefear that the Maoists are systematically

destroying existing institutions so that theresultant vacuum will form an ideal base for therise of a dictator sans resistance. Is it notrecreating the very scenario that the Maoists inprinciple claimed to detest so – that of anautocracy in which one personality becomessupreme? And thereafter creating a situation inwhich all dissenting voices are silenced?

Democracy cannot flourish under a monolithleadership. A step forward towards capitalism isfine, but not following the basic values ofdemocracy, accountability, both moral andpolitical is strange.

Buddha always believed in the enormouscapacity of any human being to grow and realisethe optimum. Prachanda, by announcing that hisparty had renounced politics of violence ismoved one step forward. But he has got a lot todo. Unless Prachanda takes sincere initiatives toconsign the blood-tainted movement finally tothe inglorious past, he will not be perceiveddifferently, at least by those who have beenwatching him from a distance. And theyconstitute the majority. ä

Prachandathrough long lensHow different from the kings?

Democracy cannotflourish under a mono-lith leadership. A stepforward towards capi-talism is fine, but notfollowing the basicvalues of democracy,accountability, bothmoral and political isstrange.

8 7-13 May, 2007 Perspective

ä Acharya Mahayogi SridharRana Rinpoche

Taking this metaphor (which shouldnot be stretched too far like all othermetaphors) we can say that theBuddha and only the Buddha couldpossibly validate whether or notanother person he has taught hasexperienced the same Bodhi or not. I

Marshland Flowers

am sure there can be no twothoughts about this matter. This isexactly what the Buddha did when hedeclared hundreds of his disciples asArhats or Srotpannas or Sagridgamior Bodhisattvas who had attainedDarsan Marga.

These new words bring us closerto what the Buddhists call enlighten-ment but we shall deal with them a

little later after having dealt with the"Unbroken – enlightened lineage"issue first. So the Buddha historicallyvalidated different levels of enlighten-ment amongst his disciples; and thisis recorded in Theravad, Sarvstivad,and Mahayan literature. That meansthese first generation disciples wereenlightened to various degreesaccording to the Buddha himself.

So, more than anybody else thesedisciples would be the authenticauthorities on what was the Buddha'sBodhi. Now these disciples authenti-cated the degrees of enlightenmentof their disciples who were thesecond generation. As these firstgenerations had experiencedthemselves the Bodhi of the Buddhato various degrees, they would knowbetter than anybody else which oftheir disciples had reached/attained/experienced various degrees of theBuddha's Bodhi. I do not think therecan be two minds about it.

Only a scientist can test whether anew student has the knowledge hehimself has, definitely not a non-scientist. Likewise only Masters ofBuddha's unbroken lineage cangauge whether the practitioners ofthe next generation have attained theBuddha's Bodhi to some degree ornot and not other non Buddhists. Forthis validation to remain authenticand pure, the lineage should beunbroken generation to generationfrom the time of the Buddha throughthe first generation, second genera-

Only a scientist can test whether a new student has theknowledge he himself has, definitely not a non-scientist.

tion, third generation etc. till thepresent time.

Even if in one generation, therewas no one who was validated asenlightened, the lineage is broken asfar as enlightenment is concerned,even if it continues. That then is anunbroken lineage but not anenlightened unbroken lineage. Thereare other kinds of lineages like thePandit lineage of scholars, who havetransmitted unbroken, the knowledgeof the Buddha's teaching fromgeneration to generation up to date.

But that is not an unbrokenenlightened lineage but andunbroken Pandit lineage. The Panditlineage cannot validate authenticallythe experience of someone as validBuddhist enlightenment or not. It canonly infer based on scriptures. In theBuddhism of today as a whole, boththe lineages exist unbroken and alive.It is the Masters of these lineageswho are the authentic disseminatorsof the Buddha's teachings and notothers no matter how brilliant orprofound their explanations of theBuddha's teachings are.

Actually since such lineage Mastersof both types of lineage exist inabundance in both the Mahayanaand Sravakayana tradition, many ofthem being holders of both lineages,there is no need for others who donot belong to such authentic lineagesto explain or even teach Buddhismbased on one's own personal ideas.The Buddha's teaching is still aliveand dynamic. It is not a thing of thepast history that can be explainedaccording to one's preferences andconditionings.

So this is the meaning of unbrokenenlightened lineage and unbrokenPandit lineage. Within Buddhism,there is also an unbroken Bhikchhulineage from the time of the Buddhatill today. Some Masters hold all the

three unbroken lineages. They areenlightened Masters authenticated bytheir Masters who themselves wereauthenticated by their Masters thusgoing backwards to the Buddhahimself, but at the same time are alsoPandits, taught by Pandits of anunbroken lineage who werethemselves taught by such Panditsgoing back to Sakya Muni himselfand they were also Bhikchhus, madeBhikchhus by older generations, whothemselves were made Bhikchhus byolder generations going back right toSakya Muni himself.

These are not unrecorded fact butwell recorded. In Mahayana, whichconsists of two major streams -Paramitayana and Vajrayana,the names of the unbroken lineageMasters from Masters of present dayback to Nalanda, Bikramashila etcare well recorded and available eventoday. And everybody knows thatthese great Mahavihars were likehuge universities whose lineage goesback to the Buddha. People from asfar away as China, Korea, CentralAsia, Greece, Egypt came to study inthese learning houses, which werevirtually Mahaviharas (great monasticcomplexes). And those Mahayanalineages of those Mahavihars wereunbroken and continue to remainalive and vibrant up till this day.

The meaning of the Sutras andSastras of Buddhism should beaccording to the Masters of suchlineages and not otherwise. Therehave been many interpreters of theBuddha's teachings in the Indiansubcontinent who never studiedunder any of the authentic lineagemasters. Needless to say people arefree to interpret as they deem fit theteachings of the Buddha but suchinterpretations should not bemistaken as authentic Buddhism.

(To be continued…)

Most leaders would love to claim that theworld today is much better than what it wasthirty years ago. Often cited reasons arebased on two primary factors: the end ofcold war and the economic rise of develop-ing countries in Asia and Latin America.

The end of cold war opened up theeconomies of Central and Eastern Europeand their integration with Western Europe.It also assisted in expanding Western liberaldemocratic governance in most regions ofthe world. Loosening grip of colonialpowers on many countries of Asia Pacificand Africa added the list of newlydemocratised countries.

In terms of statistics, the two mostpopulous nations, China and India, havebeen able to achieve tremendous successin lifting a gigantic number of their peopleabove the poverty line. By a similar token,the number of countries practicingdemocratic governance has also risen.However, the leaders as well as develop-ment experts have yet to convince themajority that there is a clear and successfuldirect linkage between democraticgovernance and economic progress in thedeveloping world.

Despite the economic progress achievedby Asia in the past quarter of a century,there remain disparities of every conceiv-

able degree in the region: digital divide, incomedisparity, level of economic development, andlack of social progress among countriesfollowing similar systems of governance pose aserious challenge to the region and the world.

If mere introduction of democratic gover-nance, especially elections on the basis of adultfranchise leading to a national legislature,establishment of executive as well as anindependent judiciary were the answer thenmost nations of the developing world wouldhave been prosperous than what they aretoday. Notwithstanding the ongoing debate on

the long term sustainability of economic andsocial progress under a liberal democratic setup as opposed to authoritarian rule under anygiven name, the world today provides threedistinct examples of economic success.

Interestingly though, all three examples worthyof mention are in Asia. India, the largestdemocratic country in the world by population,got a boost ever since India followed liberaleconomic policies under the stewardship of her

finance minister who is the head of governmenttoday. India’s current economic growth rate isjudged to be highly sustainable by experts andinstitutions around the world. China on the otherhand, following proletariat dictatorship under acommunist system, has mesmerised the worldwith her economic miracle that has continuedunabated for over a quarter of a century.

Although the Chinese authorities haveproven everyone wrong on their criticalapprehensions that the Chinese growth will notbe sustainable in the absence of a more openand transparent society based on increased

rights of the people,China’s sustainability is stillan open question for wantof credible examples so far.For all that is known, Chinaherself might provide thefirst example.

Pakistan, relatively asmaller country and economy of the region, israpidly coming on the regional economic radarowing to her outstanding performance of thepast seven years under a military regime.Pakistan today boasts of per capita income ofUS $847 and is receiving foreign directinvestment of almost 4 billion US Dollars. ThePakistani Prime minister Shaukat Aziz declaredat a recent meeting that Pakistan’s per capitawill reach US $1000 and the FDI to 6 billion US

$ by 2008. Pakistan seems to have movedon to increased level of economic growthand development under Shuakat Aziz asher finance minister. There is no dearth ofapprehensions pointing to the question ofsustainability of Pakistan economy as well asthe current system of governance.

Nepal is fortunate to have the benefit ofsuch illustrious examples within her region.Current make up of her parliament and thestrength of political parties give a clearpicture that post CA elections Nepal wouldresult in either a communist dominatedgovernment or a coalition governmentsimilar to that in India. At this moment thethird option is clearly out in spite of anattractive model of economic reform anddevelopment.

Nepalis, however, need to awaken fromtheir slumber caused by fear and inactivity,and decide on the type of economic policiesadhered to by her closest neighbours. Onething seems to be quite clear that mostdeveloping countries are better off wheneconomic policies are designed andmanaged by professional experts who gobeyond their personal or partisan interests.Obviously, leadership (taken by professionalfinance ministers) plays a crucial role indeveloping economies where the necessaryfundamentals are yet to find their footings. ä

Watch and learnNepalis need to awaken from their slumber caused by fear and inactivity.ä Binod P Bista

Nepalis, however, need to awakenfrom their slumber caused by fear andinactivity, and decide on the type ofeconomic policies adhered to by her

9May 7-13, 2007From the Region

Nairobi : An air search in Cameroon has so farfailed to locate the whereabouts of a KenyaAirways plane which is thought to havecrashed in the south of the country with 114people on board.

The Kenya airways Boeing 737-800, on itsway from Cameroon had crashed in a denselyforest area just off the coast.

The flight, which originated in Ivory Coast,was reported missing on Saturday after itfailed to arrive in Kenya. It was the announce-ment relatives gathered at Nairobi's JomoKenyatta International Airport had beendreading.

Twenty-three nationalities were among the115 passengers on board, 15 of them areIndian.

A distress signal it seems, originating fromthe plane's black box, is the only thing rescuershave to go on.

''The latest information that a distress signalwas picked up on the west coast of Africa anda search and rescue mission initiated byCameroonian authorities was initiated at 1105(0805GMT) this morning, that is Nairobi time.So far no report has been received from thismission,'' said Titus Naikuni, MD, KenyaAirways.

Search operations that were suspendedduring the night due to poor weather, havenow resumed.

All Kenya Airways can say is that its planefrom the Cameroon has gone missing and allits 114 passengers are to be traced.

At the airport in Nairobi, it is an anxious waitbut few seem hopeful of survivors, especiallyafter the grim assessment on the ground.

''A helicopter took off to comb area, the areahas now been identified as an area between aplace south east of Douala. I have brought in asenior captain here called Captain Paul, who isgoing to take you through a map showing theflight path of the aircraft itself. Now the areabeing searched is very dense Equatorialforest, and we've been told that there hasbeen very heavy rainfall from yesterday andnow heavy rainfall is still continuing, and it isaffecting the site exercise.

We have a helicopter that is there right now,and one fixed wing aircraft. So far we have notspotted, or they have not spotted, the aircraftas yet. The dense Equatorial forest, the heavyrainfall, is not assisting in the search,'' saidTitus Naikuni, CEO, Kenya Airways.

Tracing the routeThere were people of 23 nationalities on

board so the Kenya Transport Minister isleading a team of Kenya Airways andgovernment officials to Douala, the plane's laststop.

That's where Flight KQ 507 last communi-cated with control towers.

''The American government is assisting intracking the flight route, using some satelliteinformation,'' said Ali Chirau Makwere, Ministerfor Transport, Kenya.

The Boeing 737-800 was said to be just sixmonths old and part of a new fleet bought bythe Kenya's national carrier.

Kenya's Transport Minister said it was tooearly to determine whether it was the weather,pilot error or a mechanical fault.

A crisis management centre is now workingin Nairobi.

''You know it is a sad thing, it is very sadremembering that we lost a number of peoplein 2002, and you know it was the same route,''said Janet Mwema, mother of crewmemberon flight.

And that's the mystery. Kenya Airways hasalways had a good track record. The lastcrash was seven years ago when a planecrashed off the Ivory Coast killing 169 people.

Recent plane crashes in Africa:May 5, 2007: A Kenya Airways Boeing 737-

800 carrying 114 people crashed in southernCameroon.

Oct 29, 2006: A Nigerian Boeing 737-2B7,crashed in bad weather, one minute aftertaking off from the capital, Abuja. Ninety-six ofthe 105 people aboard were killed.

April 10, 2006: A Kenyan military planecarrying politicians to a peace conferencecrashed while attempting to land in Marsabit,killing 14 people.

Dec 10, 2005: A Sosoliso Airlines DC-9crashed while trying to land in stormy weathernear Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The plane wascarrying 110 people, 107 of whom died.

Oct 22, 2005: A Belleview Airlines Boeing737-200 crashed in the Nigerian bush during alightning storm, killing all 117 people aboard.

Sept 9, 2005: An Air Kasai Antonov-26crashed 30 miles north of Brazzaville, capital ofthe Republic of Congo, killing 13 people.

May 25, 2005: A Russian-made Antonov-12crashed shortly after take off near Bunyakiri, avillage in eastern Congo, killing all 26 peopleaboard.

(NDTV.com)

Hasina returns to Dhaka today• TARGET

–PRIVATE"TYPE=PICT;ALT=Click Here" :Reuters

• VALUE: $16.3 bn (Marketvalue as on Friday)

• SUITOR: Thomsonpublishing group of Canada

Both Reuters and Thomsondon't confirm news, but Reutersshares leap 32% to a 5-year highon the London exchange

• TARGET:Yahoo

• VALUE: $50 bn• SUITOR: MicrosoftMicrosoft and Yahoo reported

to be in talks to strike a deal andfend off the common competitorGoogle. Yahoo shares jump 18%on Nasdaq in Friday trading,while Microsoft shares fall 1.25%

• TARGET:DowJones

• VALUE: $5 bn• SUITOR: News CorpMedia baron Rupert Murdoch

sets sights on The Wall StreetJournal with a 67% premium onDow Jones's share price. He'llhave to win over Dow Jones'controlling shareholders, theBancroft family, who haverejected the deal

(The Indian Express)

After Dow, Reuters &Yahoo in Bid Bazaar

DHAKA: Former Bangladesh prime ministerSheikh Hasina Wajed will return home tomorrow,more than a week after the military-backedgovernment backtracked on plans to exile her, aparty official said.

Hasina, leader of the opposition Awami Leagueparty, was slated to arrive in the capital Dhaka at4pm (1100 GMT) tomorrow on an Etihad Airwaysflight from London, party general secretary AbdulJalil said.

“The Awami League working committeemembers will be at the airport to receive her. Wehope the government will not arrest her,” he saidyesterday.

Hasina, leader of the opposition alliance, servedas prime minister between 1996-2001, and isfacing charges of murder and extortion.

Police suspended a warrant for her arrestpending further investigation into murder chargeslaid against her in connection with the battering todeath of four people in political unrest last year.

But they said she could still be arrested over anextortion case filed by the Bangladeshi head of aMalaysian company.

Last Wednesday, the government said it waslifting restrictions on her return amid local andinternational pressure.

The government barred Hasina’s return on April18, saying she was a national security threat. Shewas later refused permission to board a BritishAirways flight to Dhaka.

Hasina’s lawyers served a legal notice againstBA on Friday claiming £1mn in damages.

“BA did not give her a boarding pass, citingsecurity reasons. It caused her immense mentalstress and agony,” Abdus Sobhan Golap said bytelephone from London.

“We are seeking £1mn ($2mn) in damages,” hesaid, adding that BA has two weeks to reply to thenotice.

There was no immediate comment availablefrom British Airways.

Bangladesh has been ruled by a military-backedgovernment since January when the country’spresident declared a state of emergency andcancelled elections slated for January 22.

The new government launched a nationwidecrackdown on graft, arresting more than 50 toppoliticians of the two main parties led by Hasinaand her rival, Khaleda Zia.

Authorities tried to force Zia and Sheikh Hasinainto exile as part of a crackdown on politicalcorruption, accusing both of years of misrule.

The government has vowed to clean up politicsand carry out sweeping electoral reforms beforesetting a new date for elections. Last month, thehead of the government pledged polls would beheld before the end of 2008.

Ahead of Hasina’s return, the security forceslate Friday arrested one of her secretaries and aleading Awami League figure, Jalil said.

The president of youth wing of the party,Jahangir Kabir Nanak, said the arrests wereaimed at seeking to thwart a huge gathering at theairport to receive Hasina.

In the last couple of days police have raided theresidences of Awami League officials and alreadymany have gone into hiding, fearing arrests,Nanak said.

“They want to stop officials from organising anygathering at the airport. In fact we are not doinganything. But still we think tens and thousands willbe at airport to see a glimpse of their leader,” hesaid.

The army-backed caretaker government hasrefused to allow the Awami League (AL) toorganize mass reception to party chief SheikhHasina when she arrives at Zia InternationalAirport.

The AL on Friday communicated with theinterim government seeking permission to accordthe reception, party sources said.

Senior leaders, who went to see party generalsecretary Abdul Jalil at his Gulshan residence,decided that only the members of the AL centralworking committee would be present at the airportto receive the party chief, insiders said.

They also said that the leaders had communi-cated with an adviser (minister) to the interimgovernment and sought permission for a formalreception of the party chief assuring the govern-ment that emergency rules would not be violatedanyway.

“We talked to a representative of the govern-ment about the planned reception to our leaderand the government asked for a list of the leaderswho want to be present at the airport to receiveher,” a central leader of the party said.

Senior leaders, however, refused to sayanything about any discussion among themselvesor communication with any adviser to the

government regarding the return or reception of the party chief.“We have come to the residence just to see our ailing general secretary who

has returned from Singapore after treatment,” senior presidium member TofailAhmed said.

Asked about the party’s preparation to receive Sheikh Hasina at the airport,Abdul Jalil said the party would inform everything about Hasina’s return in duetime.-Agencies

(Gulf Times)

Missing Kenyan plane still untraced

10 7-13 May, 2007 Perspective

New Nepal is an imaginaryconcept. However, everything isthe same: crowded streets,dumps of garbage, streetprotests and growing insecurityamong the public. Changes wecannot ignore are excessivetraffic, pollution, rapid growth ofautomobiles and gadgets andour new government.

I was in the parliament the dayhistory was in the making.Interim Parliament had beenborn. But the House began afterinordinate and unexplaineddelay. Some of the Members ofParliament (MPs) dozed off;some were yawning in theirseats while others talked. ManyMPs squeezed themselves in theminiature seats. Some membersrose to criticise the newconstitution while othersexpressed optimism that the daysymbolised a better andpromising future.

Everyone seemed to becurious about the new members.That scenario changed after thenew Maoist legislators enteredthe parliament. Few olderlooking men led the line of youngteenage looking girls. Themembers of the seven partiesespecially the seniors lookedshocked. However, some smiledand greeted the Maoist legisla-tors, who sat on the extremeright row.

Many people were disap-pointed that the Maoist MPswere indeed very young and didnot appear to understand whatwas happening. They came toparliament without evercontesting an election. The dressthey wore was un-parliamentary,to say the least.

I stepped outside brieflylooking for something to eat andI turned on my FM radio. Theinterviewer questioned the newMPs about their personalfeelings at that moment ofsuccess. The MP’s wereeulogising, “Prachandpath”which to many means gunningdown barracks, political rivalsand confiscate others property.The visions of New Nepal werealarming.

Four months down the line,law and order is almost invisiblein almost the entire length andbreadth of the country. Citizen’ssecurity is at the highest risk.The eight parties in the rulingcoalition are having problemswith each other; there are majordifferences within the sameparty.

Entering parliament has notmade Maoists more responsible.Torturing innocent people,conscription of children, violationof the code of conduct and theirguerrillas leaving the designatedcantonments make regularnews.

Mps walking in parliament witharms! Where on earth do thesekinds of things happen? Thereare doubts raised on the numberof arms and combatantsregistered and Maoists are stillobstructing the return of theinternally displaced people.

This is real Nepal, wherepeople die as though human lifehas no worth. The dead becomea medium to get demandsfulfilled, garbage becomes amedium, petty street fightsbecomes a medium. The publicwants solutions and reconciliationon the streets.

The government does notseem to exist. It is unable tomaintain law and order and givesecurity to its people. Thethematic New Nepal has openedthe floodgates to dischargestored problems and no sign ofsolutions are visible.

People should understand themeaning and value of termsdemocracy and freedom.Hooliganism is not freedom ordemocracy. By disrupting peaceand endangering the lives ofthose who do not want to be apart of violence is neitherfreedom nor democracy.

We, the people have to decidewhat we are looking for. InMadesh, we have an emergingconflict situation. There is nosolution in sight. There could beviolence in other areas indifferent forms.

Making a healthy societyrequires teamwork and collectiv-ity. Only collective efforts wouldgive us a sense of belonging. Weshould own responsibility forevery failure collectively. Howmany of us break laws everyday? How many of us haveknowingly participated indamaging the society? NewNepal can only rest on thefoundation of determination thatwe will behave differently and actresponsibly.

Youths and students who havean opinion regarding the conceptof New Nepal and/or their role init are welcome to contribute their

articles - restricting it to 600words – with the writer’s photo

to: newsfront@bhrikuti.com

The dead become a medium to getdemands fulfilled..

While supposedly brokering a deal toimpact democratic changes andbringing about lasting peace, inreality, however; the power brokersin Kathmandu and New Delhi havecome to a stark realisation that theyare now embroiled in a politicalquandary with no easy exit strategyor panacea for Nepal. Worse, thepeace process has transcended intoa multifaceted quagmire.

Behind the back drop of all this isthe parody of the establishment ofLoktantra – the reluctance of thegovernment to announce poll dates.The sole mandate of the Loktantricrevolution was for the Maoist torenounce violence and for the newtransitional government to conductelections to Constituent Assembly.The worrying aspect that remainsveiled from public observation is themurky politics in the name ofConstituent Assembly election.

An important facet that cannot beignored at this stage by the politicalleadership is the rapid deteriorationof authority and legitimacy of thegovernment in the absence ofelections. By purposely deferring the

poll dates the Prime Minister hasindeed killed two birds with onestone. The Maoists find thattheir inscrutable image fast erodingonce they joined mainstream politics.Instances of public agitations againstthem and the arrest of its cadres aresymbolic.

Main stream parties barring theMaoist have been isolated fromconstituency politics, thereforesuggesting that if the elections wereto take place when law and ordersituation in the country is virtuallynon-existent and the parties isolatedfrom their constituency due to Maoistfear, it is certain the Maoistcan indeed sweep the polls. Koiralamight have avoided an immediatepolitical crisis by deferring the pollsbut what about the impendingpolitical crisis in the name of

elections?The lethargy of the transitional

period heralds two possible sce-narios, both of them equallyMachiavellian in nature. The firstscenario is concerned with the polldates. As new reports have emergedconcerning the proposal of themerger of People’s Liberation Army(PLA) into the national army, it won'tbe long before the Maoist leadershipconcurs that the announcement ofpoll dates will depend on thegovernment's willingness to absorb achunk of the PLA into the NepalArmy.

This ludicrous idea, floated byleftist thinks tanks and partisan civilsociety leaders is the call for theintegration of the rebels and thenational army. Can an ideologicallycommitted outfit such as the rebelarmy harmonise the balance in thestate army or is it just a ploy totrigger a mutiny? In any event thepossibility of the polls hinges onKoirala's readiness to give into theMaoist proposal of merging the twoarmies.

The second of course is thepostponement of elections with noalternative dates in sight. The rebelsare ideologically committed, politicallyastute and strategically wed to theircause. The parties on the other handneed to demonstrate more commit-ment for their own existence.

All major power brokers in the EPAare playing with time in a battle fordominance. As political parties fail tokeep the rebels in check, the rebels'undemocratic tendencies sweep thefloor of urban centers. While politicalparties are busy picking at eachother, the rebels busy themselvesconcentrating on consolidating theirreach within urban centers and stateinstitutions. As the political parties areengaged in securing hefty businessdeals and naively remain silent onMaoist excesses, the policy of playingsilent will backfire as the rebelscontinue to overwhelm the demo-cratic institutions slowly but remark-ably efficiently.

In their effort to mount pressureon the embattled Prime Minister, theMaoists have now floated the ideaof a left alliance. Should the UMLand Maoist come together in analliance, it predictably heralds anexplosive scenario. But it will easethe confusion perhaps; as once andfor all - a clear line will be drawnseparating the democratic and thenon democratic forces in thecountry.

What is also inevitable is thedemise of the UML; as the Maoist willemerge as the mother party in theleft alliance. But this situation alonecan peeve Koirala compelling him toindefinitely defer the announcementof poll dates. In either event, it ishighly unlikely that elections willhappen in the immediate future. Thepolitical party that can continue ontop as the dominant force during thetransitional phase without the need ofelections to legitimise their authoritywill emerge victorious.

Has Koirala subverted a politicalcrisis or does he find himselfembroiled in a deeper political crisisin days to come? The vacuum hasindeed radicalised the Maoists butagain, all this maneuvering is with theaim of political dominance and outdoing one another. Can Koirala swimpast the nets cast by his owncolleagues in the cabinet and hisparty, regrettably his own HomeMinister?

Young Speak

Imaginary

ä Garima Bastola

NEW NEPAL

versusDREAMSREALITY…The peace process has transcendedinto a multifaceted quagmire.

ä Siddhartha Thapa

117-13 May 2007Profile

ä Sushma Amatya

Insight

A woman, no matter how strong, capable or qualified would find itdifficult to make her voice heard, to fight for her rights, to campaign toroot out negative trends in the society, be it socio-cultural or political; andto bring about legal changes - the only thing that would really protectwomen’s rights. Without strong, uncompromising laws that nobody cantamper with, women’s rights remain mere lip-service, a lot of noise minusany substance.

To make sure each and every woman learns about their rights anduses it for her benefit to live a life free of ignorance, self demeaningvalues, exploitation, violence and suppression it calls for a strategy.Strategy, that would get women together, voice their issues from acommon platform, lobby their issues and equally important, inform andeducate the opposite gender. Only by doing this, in other words, bypoliticising their issues can women persuade policy makers to implementlaws that are logical and consistent. Only by being equipped with suchfair laws can they protect themselves and their future generations, be itfrom their family members or strangers.

The same applies to women –folk who are out there working. Arecent programme held to bring together working women journalists inKathmandu was a laudable effort on part of the women journalists toshare their concerns, problems and sensitise both women and menregarding their issues; and to increase their numbers in decision-makinglevels. It was a good start that needs to be followed through.

The question raised by the women journalists how many of the 5000member journalists enlisted in the Federation of Nepalese Journalists(FNJ) are actually working journalists and how many from that numberare women, was a case in point. It has been seen that many peopleenter journalism not out of conviction and for the love of it but for thebenefits one can draw from it, such as a press pass, invitation to foreignsoirees, interaction with people at the ‘top level’, which otherwise theywould not have access to. Such examples hold on to their journalistidentity though their contribution to the field is nil.

Due to vested interests, journalism has gained a bad name in Nepal.Although today, there are a number of unbiased, committed journalistsactive in the field, their number is nowhere compared to the majority towhom it is a means of affiliation with politics and alliance with corporateinterests. To shake off that negative image needs more cooperationbetween journalists who are willing to make a certain amount of sacrificefor their work. And that appeared to exist in the forum of the womenjournalists whose primary concern was increased representation ofwomen at decision making levels.

Demands for representation needs to be backed up by individualcapability, skill building, commitment to work and courage to stand one’sground. Only representation based on gender or any other categorysans capability, commitment would be ludicrous and would just result inmore conflict in work-place. Getting rid of age-old bias based on gender,caste etc., would also need extensive and intensive orientation at allwork places. Of course, the education first needs to begin at every homeand school, through practice.

And at the same time, increasing negative viewing of well educated,urban women - who are making it to the top through sheer dint of hardwork and capability- by those who come from rural or unprivilegedbackground should cease. A comment by one of the journalists whosaid, “The role of urban, privileged women should be minimised,” spanksof a bias, not suited to any journalist worth her salt.

Politics permeate every level of any society. It is a common saying thatwhere more than two Nepalis gather, politics naturally begins, in anegative sense. Women journalists in Nepal need to be active in positivepolitics, steer clear of discriminatory politics and set an example of beingable to work together by not giving into petty, shortsighted bickeringbased on greed and/or jealousy. Only by maintaining their integrity cantheir mission succeed and will they be taken seriously.

Right is not given or taken, it is inherently yours, it is a birthright. This factneeds to be internalised. All things that you believe in, you first need topractice it on yourself and others around you – both by women and men.If you believe in child rights, send your domestic worker’s child to school;even if you have an orphan child worker, don’t abuse him/her and providehim with basic education at least. If you espouse women’s rights, don’tbeat your wife. If you believe in men’s rights, don’t beat your husbands.

For women to break the glass ceilings in Nepali context, every singlewoman has to empower herself by honing her skills and getting armedwith good education. Combine that with sheer determination, confidencebuilding, clear vision and hard work, any man-made barrier can be brokendown. Many doors wait out there to welcome upright, intelligent, compas-sionate women who are brave, can question and value honesty. ä

Womenpositive politics

Does trying any drug just oncemake a person an addict? Howdo you spot addiction?

ä Ishwar Shrestha, ChapagaonPromoters/ sellers of drugsportray it as very colourful, the ‘in’thing to do by ‘cool dudes’ or‘babes’; it is also advertised assomething that gives you pleasureand as a fun thing to do. Dreamsof experiencing ‘heaven’ are alsosold to naïve people who have noidea about the agenda behindsuch false claims.

Usually, when someone tries adrug out of sheer curiosity, asalmost all addicts do in the firstplace; he/she ends up using itmore than once. The temporaryfeeling of pleasure and escapefrom reality encourages suchpeople to turn into frequent usersand thereby get addicted. Havingsaid that, if however, anybody triesa drug just once and no more, theperson does not turn into anaddict though the chances arevery high.

When anybody takes to drugsseeking solution to their problemswhich could be unhappiness athome/school/college/work;shyness, loneliness or boredom, itmeans the person has become anaddict. People who are compelledto use drugs for a certain period

of time due to medical conditionscould also become addicts.

An addict finds solace in drugsinstead of finding real solutions totheir problems. When a personcannot stop using it, even though it isharming body and mind, it becomes aserious problem. But we have toremember that there always areproblems whether you use drugs ornot and solutions are there minusdrugs. With drugs, you only add toyour problems. The dependency,tolerance that one develops towardsdrugs makes one go back to drugsagain and again. This is addiction.Another way to find out if you areaddicted is when you stop usingdrugs, various mental andphysical reactions arise - likerestlessness, sweating, etc.

We cannot stop anybodyfrom curiosity but we can stop thatcuriosity from turning into addictionthrough education and awareness.Simple and plain truth is that nothingis gained from drug use exceptdestruction and more unhappiness.

What is drug overdose?

ä Sameer Lama, PokharaOverdosing with drugs or chemicalscan be either accidental or intentional.Drug overdose occurs when a persontakes more than medically recom-mended dose. Illicit drugs, used to get

a ‘high’, when overdosed with,results in severe side-effects sincethe person's metabolism cannotdetoxify the drug fast enough.

All drugs have a potential to bemisused, whether legallyprescribed by a doctor, purchasedover-the-counter at local drugstore or bought illegally. If taken incombination with other drugs oralcohol, even those drugsnormally considered safe cancause death or serious long termconsequences. People who sufferfrom depression and who havesuicidal thoughts are at a high riskfor drug overdose.

Accidental drug overdose maybe the result of misuse ofprescription medicines orcommonly used medications likepain relievers and cold remedies.Symptoms differ depending onthe drug taken. Some of thedrugs like antidepressantdrugs can cause irregular heartrate, vomiting, low bloodpressure, confusion and seizures.

Overdose with opiate drugscause sleepiness, low bloodpressure, slowed heart rate andslowed breathing. Pinpoint pupilswhen the black centers of theeyes become smaller thannormal, are common in opiateoverdose. If drug overdose is

Nothing is gained from drug useexcept destructionCounseling by drug therapist, Ragina Shah

Do not ask why, just follow blindly,seems to be the popular credo.

It’s past noon and the temperature hovers around 42degree Celsius. Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid has justspent his first three hours in Delhi — in India, in fact —registering at a police station. Here on a whirlwind five-daybook tour for his bestseller The Reluctant Fundamentalist,he relates the incident with a chuckle, clearly delighting inthe absurdity of it all. “Can you believe it, tomorrow I headto Bombay and I have to register again!”

However, the perils of being a Pakistani in India haven’tdimmed Hamid’s spirits. Clean shaven and clad in a blackT-shirt and jeans, he looks like a regular 35-year-old, a farcry from the dark, brooding photograph posted on hiswebsite. He is charmingly candid and forthright. “I’m justglad the book is done and over with,” he sighs with relief.

By his own admission, writing is a constant struggle forHamid, something that doesn’t come very easily to him. Hisfirst book, Moth Smoke, a disturbing portrayal of life incontemporary Pakistan, has now acquired cult status there,but it took him seven years to write it. “I started it when I was22 and finished it at 29. My entire perspective had changedand I’ve lost count of how many drafts I’d written by then.”The same goes for The Reluctant Fundamentalist for whichHamid wrote seven drafts before his publisher was satisfied.“I don’t think the final draft had a single sentence in commonwith the first one,” he adds, wryly.

A 9/11 novel, its narrative style is uncommon and

elegantly constructed; it’s a one-way conversation betweena Pakistani and an American at a cafe in Lahore’s AnarkaliBazaar. The only voice the reader hears is the Pakistani’s.Some American critics have dismissed The ReluctantFundamentalist as Oriental bunkum, but Hamid is quick topoint out that readers in the US have been fascinated by adifferent point of view. “I went for a reading to Dallas,Texas, and I was nervous,” says Hamid. That could bebecause the protagonist admits to feeling some pleasureat the 9/11 catastrophe. “Me being in Dallas is sort of likean American soldier in Iraq , but the reactions surprisedme. Normal Americans are looking for answers,” heexplains.

Hamid says the years spent writing The ReluctantFundamentalist were the toughest of his life. Initially writtenin third person, by his fourth draft, it shifted to anAmericanised first person. “The second time round, youthink it’s going to be easier but it’s not,” he says. Hedescribes the year following 9/11 as one of deep personalturmoil and the repercussions of the event on the Muslimworld are carefully weaved into the narrative. Yet, Hamidinsists, not one of his characters is him. “Of course, likemost writers I’m influenced by my environment; myroommate was a heroin addict and I drew on that whilewriting Moth Smoke,” he says.

Echoes of identity, nationalism and the clash ofcivilisations resonate through most of Hamid’s writing,whether in his novels, or essays for magazines andnewspapers. He describes himself as stubbornly Pakistani,but London-based Hamid has recently opted for dualcitizenship; he also holds a British passport. “Let’s face it,it’s a lot more convenient,” he says a trifle sheepishly. Hecurrently works part time with a small consulting firm inLondon.

Meanwhile, he has sold the movie rights for his first bookto Indian actor Rahul Bose. So do we have to wait sevenyears for Hamid’s next book? He laughs, “I’ve given myselfa time limit of two years, but don’t hold your breath.”

(The Indian Express)

Seven-Year NovelsMohsin Hamid talks about the innumerable and thorough drafts hisbooks go through

discovered or suspected, and the person is unconscious, having convulsions or is not breathing, call for emergency help immediately.Please address any queries you have about drug addiction to: newsfront@bhrikuti.com (Your identity will be protected.)

May 7-13, 200712 Lifetyle

Obe’go, a Spanish, pediatrician by profession is excited that he could come backalive after being stranded in the freezing mountains for eight hours after he wasswept away by a powerful avalanche while returning from the summit of Mt.Dhaulagiri.

On his way back from a successful ascent to the 8000-meter summit on April26, the avalanche not only separated Obe’go from his friend Ihaki Ochoa, afamous climber but carried him some 800 metres away. “It was late in the

afternoon. I was clueless about where I was, but imminent death was a starkreality to me,” he told newsfront.

The avalanche struck around 6,700-meter point sweeping Obe’goaway. “I was alone for eight hours. I lost my gloves. I did not know where

I was. I wrapped my arms around my chest and huddled down in adesperate bid to keep warm,” he recalled. The overnight exposure to

the extreme cold estimated around minus 22 degree Celsiusaffected his vision.

Dawn injected some hope despite his vision that failed him. “Butthe real problem was not knowing where I was…I startedmoving cautiously towards the direction of the sun and inchedforward making sense of some vague reference points alongthe way.” He had no idea of how long he walked but finallythe effort paid off.

He met an expedition group of Italians and Swiss atTamwang. “They took me to their tent and administeredfirst aid.” His friend Ochoa could hardly believe his earswhen Obe’go called on his satellite phone number to sayhe was very much alive and back to safety. “He hadgiven me up for dead,” Obe’go said.

Soon after he flew to Kathmandu on a charteredhelicopter and decided to cut short his stay inKathmandu; and fly back home to reassure hispanic stricken family. During his treatment inKathmandu, Dr Chakra Raj Pandey, a famousorthopedic surgeon who examined the climbersaid he was fine except for his fingers on lefthand that had partially been frost-bitten.

Obe’go has been associated with manymountaineering and rescue groups, and heplans to continue with that. After thisexperience when he was miraculouslysaved, he said he sees things in a differentperspective. He said he looks forward tomany more trips Nepal, a country he lovesand has frequented many times after 1989;and concluded that Nepal will alwaysremain a part of his life.

Only miracle could save him.

Closeencounterwith death

Bhas

hwor

Ojha