#255 8 - 14 July 2005 20 pages Rs 30

Weekly Internet Poll # 256. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.comQ..... How confident are you that the newbudget will help Nepal make an economicturnaround?

Total votes:541

Weekly Internet Poll # 255

Q. How do you evaluate the securitysituation since 1 February?

t is simple arithmetic: if acountry’s GDP growth is lessthan its population growth

rate then its citizens are gettingpoorer. Nepal’s population isgrowing at 2.24 percent a year,GDP growth this year will fall to2.1 percent.

If the inflation rate, whichhas climbed from 1.7 percent lastyear to nearly 6 percent this year,is counted it means sharp erosionin purchasing power. Add to that

the drop in investment, fall intourism, plummeting agriculturaland industrial production and itis clear that Nepal is gettingpoorer by the day.

Finance Minister MadhukarRana, who is preparing the budgetfor presentation next week, has anunenviable task of paying formore with less.

Remittances from Nepaliworkers abroad, which served as aparachute for Nepal’s economy,only grew by 3.7 percent this year(compared to 4 percent last year)

even though the number ofworkers went up and moneytransfer became more streamlined.Nepalis aren’t sending theirmoney home and politicalinstability has spurredcapital flight.

Tourism revenue is down 33percent this year, third countryexports have fallen by 20 percentand there is a severe shortage ofIndian currency to pay forimports. The Rastra Bankchartered a 757 recently to air-freight IRs 4 billion worth of cash

from Bombay that it traded for USdollars. Private banks are awashin cash, but they have Rs 3 billioninvested in unproductive sectorslike housing and consumerlending.

Continued p4

KIRAN NEPAL

Poorer and poorer

WALKING THE PLANK: A womancrosses a dilaptidated bridgelinking Libang to the rest opfRolpa last week, the bridgesymbolises the state of Nepal'seconomy--ravaged by conflict andstarved of budget.

KUMAR SHRESTHA

I

2 8 - 14 JULY 2005 #255EDITORIAL

STATE OF THE STATECK Lal

GUEST COLUMNBihari K Shrestha

H

E

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

ver since October Fourth, GirijaPrasad Koirala has been consistentlycritical of ‘constructive’ monarchy.

But February First seems to have made theoctogenarian leader of Nepali Congresseven more vituperative. A life-long votaryof constitutional monarchy, Koirala hasbegun to hit out at active monarchy with

theferocityof ajilted

lover. Recently he went a step further andeven questioned the very relevance ofmonarchy in Nepal.

Koirala describes the ongoing politicalagitation in Nepal as a struggle between“the forces of modernity and the forces offeudalism”. But the characterisation ofmonarchy as an institution of feudalismappears to be a little far-fetched. Ifanything, the palace has been remarkablysuccessful in reinventing the anachronisticlegacy of feudal-lord (bhu-pati) as amodern and dynamic institution of post-modern monarchy.

King Gyanendra’s pronouncements oncontemporary politics have a ring ofpracticed felicity. He uses all the rightwords: good governance, fight againstcorruption, war on terror, globalisation,privatisation, liberalisation and evenmeaningful democracy. In comparison, the

The Maoists, monarchists and mainstreamers arejust arguing about different versions of modernityOur 3Ms

leaders of the seven-party alliance soundantiquated as they restrict themselves totalk of restoration of parliament. Thecontestation in the country isn’t betweenmodernity and feudalism but betweendifferent versions of modernity.

Maoist modernity is based on the ideaof the dictatorship of the proletariat.Viewed from Rolpa, from behind the rose-tinted glasses of Maoist commissars, themonarchy isn’t a feudal institution but aninstrument of American imperialism andIndian expansionism.

In the aftermath of the NarayanhitiMassacre, Baburam Bhattarai even claimedthat the insurgents had developed astrategic alliance with the royal palace.The statement was quite plausible becauseboth the left and right extremists wereengaged in weakening the nation’sdemocratic roots. Actually anunderstanding between the Maoists andmainstream parties may be what we needbut is extremely unlikely.

For the monarchy, modernity meansinstitutionalisation of newer ways toperpetuate its monopoly on state power.That’s not a feudal concept at all. Ourmonarchy isn’t bothered by noblesseoblige and other traces of feudalism anymore. It draws its strength from the divineright theory which implies that whateverthe monarch does is right. This belief is in

tune with American exceptionalism inworld politics.

Religion and race are twin pillars ofautocratic modernity. This is the versionof modernity that seems to have enchantedpalace loyalists. Figures that seem to havestepped straight out of sepia-tonedsnapshots of 1960s argue that modernity isthe will of the ruler. The king himself hasdefined a 21st century monarch assomeone who doesn’t only hear and seebut also speaks. The ambition not only toreign but rule as well isn’t regressive. Infact, it’s quite forward-looking– a monarchas a saviour against marauding Maoists isan attractive proposition for inherentlyinsecure middle-class Nepalis.

In their competing descriptions ofmodernity, the seven-party alliance is thehaziest. Nobody can question theimportance of establishing the people’ssovereignty but very few are willing tobelieve its feasibility in the presentcontext of competitive militarisation ofgovernment and insurgency.

Despite its drawbacks, the monarchy isan institution that the people of Nepalhave lived with for over two centuries.There is no confusion about thealternative being offered by the Maoistseither: in their scheme of things, powerflows from the barrel of an SLR. But whatdo the seven-party alliance have to offer

when they couldn’t stick to their simple18-point program of action in the past?This question vexes every bystanderwatching protest marches of partyloyalists pass by city streets inKathmandu. What is the main purposeof their agitation? If it’s merely pressuretactic, as the king understands it to be,there is no reason for common people torisk themselves in a contest betweencompetitive claimants to Singha Darbar.

In this confusion of contestingversions of modernity the fear that anobscurantist claimant to power may ariseisn’t as unreal as it may look. Asexperiences in Iran, Pakistan andAfghanistan have shown, when all elsefails people tend to fall back into theembrace of religious extremism. Whenforces of modernity fight, obscurantistsoften emerge the winner by default.

Iran’s President-elect MahmoudAhmadinejad, is said to have been one ofthe captors of American hostages in 1979.The forces of theocracy are always waitingto sabotage social progress. It may seemhackneyed now but there indeed is noalternative to accommodation betweenthe three contestants to political power.

If nothing, the fear of God and hismilitant acolytes should force theMaoists, monarchists and mainstreamersrethink their strategy.

street shows.The people’s trust in the

parties can be restored only onthree conditions: the partiesshould get rid of their corruptleaders, make their financestransparent, and establish intra-party democracy. Can they do it?Will they? In sheer exasperation,a previous chief electioncommissioner had once publiclyasked what good would a freeand fair election do if the contestwere to be held between twosmugglers nominated by theirrespective parties.

The need to address theseissues was becomingincreasingly compelling becauseof people withholding supportto the parties. But theopportunity seems to have beenscuppered at the hands offoreign powers, particularlyAmerica, Britain and Europe.What is particularly hypocriticalis that they are all followingIndia’s lead, the same India thatis very much at home with theBhutani autocracy and theBurmese junta.

One particular foreign envoyhas even questioned the legalityof the RCCC, apparentlyoblivious to the fact that hisown ‘Iraq war’ has beenpronounced illegal by none otherthan the United Nations.

Such meddling by self-styledkingmakers sends wrong signalsto the parties which should bein self-cleansing mode. Theymay think that they don’t needto reform and democratise fromwithin. These do-gooderdiplomats should know thatdemocracy is much more thanvoting or sending corruptpoliticians to power.

Foreign meddling impedes Nepal’s democratic development

No sermons, pleaseaving squandered thepeople’s trust through theircorrupt and unaccountable

behaviour, the unrepentantleaders of the major parties havebeen making a beeline to NewDelhi to grovel at the feet of theirmentors.

Why are they seeking the trustof Indian leaders instead of tryingto figure out why the Nepalipeople aren’t trusting them?Upon return to Kathmandu,

Girija Prasad Koirala jubilantlyannounced to the Nepali peoplethat he and his seven partyalliance had the full backing ofthe Indian leaders. Talk aboutshooting oneself in the foot.

It should have been perfectlyclear to Koirala and his ilk thatIndia has always looked at Nepalthrough the prism of its nationalinterest. And New Delhi hasalways extracted its pound offlesh. Pakistan’s bifurcation,helping Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebels,New Delhi has a history ofmeddling in the neighbourhood.And various independent authorshave cited over the years thatIndia’s ultimate aim in Nepal is

‘Bhutanisation’.(See: Martin Hoftun et al in

Democracy and Social Change inNepal, 1999). It may be worse,senior Indian diplomats haveeven hinted publicly about the‘S’ word: Sikkimisation.

While we may have ourselvesto blame for our own disunity,the southern neighbour sinceBritish India days has often usedpolitical fissures in Kathmanduto further its geopolitical interest.There was 1951, 1961, 1990 andnow there are the Nepali Maoistswho still enjoy freedom ofmovement in India. Recentreports of senior Maoist leadersbeing escorted around Delhi tomeet Indian (and Nepali)politicians suggest that theIndian government’s hand maybe in much deeper thanpreviously thought.

The present crisis shouldhave been a time for seriousintrospection for the parties. Thevast multitudes that convergedspontaneously on Ratna Park totopple the Panchayat regime in1990 have now becomebystanders, watching inamusement the tantrums of theseven-party alliance. It is only afew hundred people they nowcan put together (at considerablematerial cost) for their

LET A THOUSAND RADIOS BLOOMOf all the ridiculous decisions that have been taken lately, the onethat gets the prize for sheer idiocy is the continued ban on news byFM stations.

It was news on FM that chronicled the barbarity of the Maoists,their intimidation and blockades. Now, the only news on FM ispositive news about the Maoists: through their own clandestinetransmitters.

But what makes that move even more foolish are the repeatedassertions by members of the cabinet that no FM station in the worldis allowed to broadcast news. But this falsehood has been repeatedso often that the regime now seems to believe its own lies.

Take it from us: news is broadcast over FM stations in mostcountries in the world. Thailand and the Philippines have vibrantcommunity radio networks, all of Latin America listens to FM news,South Africa’s rural radio broadcasts studio discussions that havebeen agents of social change.

True, our giant neighbours don’t allow it. China for obviousreasons and India because despite being the world’s largestdemocracy and having a rambunctious press, successivegovernments there have realised the power of radio. Lately ourministers (who otherwise never tire of India-bashing) have startedsaying that since India doesn’t allow news on FM, we shouldn’teither. So, if the Indians eat gobar we should too?

Nepal’s community radio stations have now courageouslystarted defying the government’s order with creative forms of protestlike reading news through loud speakers in town squares. Thisweek three Kathmandu FM stations simultaneously broadcast astudio discussion conducted by noted radio host, Kiran Pokhrel ofAja ka Kura, on why the ban on news is unconstitutional.

As far as freedom of press is concerned, we have one of themost liberal constitutions in the world. And a Supreme Court rulingin 2001 has set a precedence by declaring the electromagneticspectrum public property, giving radio the same rights to freeexpression reserved for print media. The present ban on news isalso anti-constitutional because the emergency is over and it isbeing enforced on the basis of a simple letter from the ministry.

There are other reasons why the ban is absurd. The print mediais allowed to get away with extremely criticalcontent. Private tv stations are broadcastingnews unfettered, Indian news channels areback on cable. And despite the blocking of twopopular websites last week, the Internet istotally free.

Why is it that the government is scared ofsimple old-fashioned radio? The only reason isits accessibility and reach. Our rulers arescared community radio stations will empowerthe people who will then demand their rights.

And if that is true, it only exposes thisregime’s extreme sense of insecurity.

38 - 14 JULY 2005 #255

LLLLL E T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R SCASTE ASIDEManjushree Thapa (Guest Column, ‘Let’stalk about caste’, #254) needs to get herfacts straight before she starts spoutingvenom all over the place. Shanta KumarMalla was never the army chief– he wasthe previous majesty’s ADC. Furthermoreif she takes the time to look beyond hernarrow self-righteous vision on Nepalipolitics, she might notice that the king’scabinet members who are also hisadvisers belong to other castes besidesBahuns and Chhetris. Like everyone elseeven His Majesty is allowed to havefriends and this does not equate them tobeing his advisers. Self-proclaimedintellectuals in Nepal need to stopaccusing the palace for everything thathas gone wrong in Nepal. They need toseriously look at what they havecontributed to this country besidesblaming everyone in sight and writingunresearched articles

Siddharth Thapa, Kathmandu

Manjushree Thapa’s ‘Let’s talk aboutcaste’ got me thinking about what shouldcome first: democracy or social inclusion.I guess the answer is both should moveahead simultaneously. Only after that canwe create a Nepali society which is morejust, democratic, prosperous and freefrom exploitation. Otherwise nothing canbe achieved in the real sense. The twomovements complement each othertotally: we can’t imagine a caste-free andinclusive society in any authoritarian ortotalitarian regimes. History of the past200 years is evidence. Dalits wereexcluded from state governance,and have been treated worse thananimals: at least animals are touchableand allowed to enter houses but dalits arenot. The Panchayat abolisheduntouchability but this was done less fortheir liberation than to distract them fromjoining the democratic movement. Anauthoritarian regime will not beacceptable to dalits even if it startssomething positive for their upliftment. Itwill just be another lollipop. It was in thedemocracy period of 1990-2003 that theuntouchability issue came to the fore andcompelled all policy makers, developmentworkers and rulers, to at least think andtalk about it. But, as the partiesthemselves were not inclusive and justtalked instead of doing anything in the realsense, we were excluded during thisperoid too. It is revealing that no dalit evergot a cabinet position during thedemocracy period. Parties can start bybeing more socially inclusive themselves

from the grassroots to central levels andputting forward concrete policies andprograms for the total eradication ofuntouchability and exclusion in this ongoingdemocratic struggle.

Dharma Swarnakar, email

SLC NOT-PASSI would like to thank CK Lal for his column‘How about those who didn’t pass?’ (#252).He has made a really outstanding point aboutwhy it is unfair to lump hundreds ofthousands of youth failures every year. Oneof my friends failed SLC three times justbecause he failed in English. He was verysmart otherwise. He was very good inmathematics and could fix radios, tvs andcameras just like that. When more than 60percent of the students fail, there is certainlysomething wrong with the way we teach andcarry out this exam. This situation of 62percent of children ‘failing’ has to be fixed.

Tara P Dhakal, University of Florida

I completely disagree with the letter(Nepali Times, #253) to CK Lal’s column‘How about those who didn’t pass?’Achievers should be rewarded, it’s theirreward for diligence and brilliance. But noone deserves to be labelled ‘failed’. Failed inwhat? There are so many Nepalis who haveto walk hours to go to school, have to help inhousehold chores, have to work. How manyof these students pass? SLC is not onlyabout personal commitment, can youcompare teachers of schools in remotevillages with the ones in cities. What aboutlearning materials? The ‘failed’ label sticksto children for life causing seriouspsychological damage and denting the self-esteem of students (and even their families).

Avani Dixit, email

DINESH PYAKHURELCK Lal’s obituary for Dinesh ChandraPyakhurel ‘Death of an engineer’ (#253) wasa poignant example of a country in paralysis.Political parties, king and the comrades,what have they to loose? Nothing. They fightand die for what they interpret as truth. Atleast after death they are respected amongtheir followers. Who are we civil servants toturn to? We are treated like monkeys in acircus. But Lal should give up his clichédline of blaming all fellow Nepalis for thecountry’s ills. Why blame the people who tryto make a decent living, feed the hungrystomach only to survive. The rules are madeby the people at the top who earn topsalaries. Let’s not moralise to people livingon meagre government salaries. Why blameme? I also don’t care if there is democracy orautocracy in this country as long as people

are provided services and I am paidadequately for doing my job. All I want isfood to put on the family table, my life to liveand a good night’s sleep. How is this beingself ish?

S Baskota, email

TOONSThanks for that special treat on cartooningin Nepal (‘Toontime’, #253) . They make uslaugh, they make us cry, and they pass onvital messages as that mirror society withits bizarre and absurd happenings. Andthanks to Nepali Times for giving so muchspace ever since you started publicationfive years ago, to cartooning and your greattalent, Subhas Rai.

Manjul Acharya, Imadol, Lalitpur

WEDDING WOESI can totally relate to Kapil Tamot’s weddingwoes (‘Pre-monsoon weddings’, #253).Being a jeans and t-shirt person myself, oneof my fears about going to weddings washaving to dress up in the mandatory suit,which my mother specifically insisted upon,on the hope that there would be aprospective bride milling about in the crowdsomewhere. Fortunately for me, thatexpedition proved futile (sorry Mum!). Irecently went to a wedding where the buffetwas served with spoons, knives and forks.How sad the whole room felt. We knew whatwe missed—the multi-tasking utensil,without which the food just wasn’t the same.

Ranjan Adiga, email

GREEN ROADIndeed, the Lamosangu-Jiri road serves asan outstanding model for other mountainroads (‘The great green road’, # 254) notonly for its technically sound and labour-intensive construction methods but also forits role within the complex and somewhatcontroversial Integrated Hill DevelopmentProgram. Indeed, some findings from myPhD thesis shall focus on the wider range ofimpacts: demographical changes(outmigration from Dolakha was reduced),economic strength (mostly the labour-intensive construction contributed to themoney-generating power within the area ofinfluence and stimulated further investmentthere), concentration of rural servicecentres towards the road, dramatic increaseof over 20 percent of forest cover within theJiri Khola catchment area that is in sharpcontrast to other regions where road accessaccelerated forest destruction, a densertrail-cum-bridge network supplementing theroad and intensive settlement growthaccompanied by exploding land pricesalong the road. This demonstrates the

importance of a holistic view in projectpreparation and evaluation. About 15years ago, the Lamosangu-Jiri road washeavily criticised by Dr Toni Hagen as anarchrival to Dr Ruedi Hoegger, who wasone of the initiators of the IHDP and theroad project. Today, we can conclude thatmore positive impacts could be revealedthan formerly visible thus a broader viewof the interdependence of causes andeffects is mandatory. The net constructioncosts of Rs 250 million was relativelycheap, had it not been for the unforeseenCharnawati Khola disaster due togeological/ geomorphologic andengineering misjudgements that cost anextra Rs 202 million.

Dr Michael Griesbaum, Kathmandu

Positive articles like PragyaShrestha’s ‘The great green road’ aregreatly appreciated in these troubledtimes. Although the success story of theJiri highway is now over 20 years old, thecurrent catastrophic condition earnestlydemands all sides, especially journaliststo report on news of accomplishment suchas this. Even though the road broughttremendous benefit to the people ofDolakha and Ramechhap districts manymore people would have benefited had theroad been constructed through Dolalghat(from the dusty Dolalghat-Bhumlutar road,all the way up to the Ramechhap borderroad). All that was needed was a bridgeover Sun Kosi. This road would have beenshorter, less costly and would havereached the people of three districtsinstead of the treacherous zigzag up fromLamosangu. Above all, Kathmandu wouldhave had juicy oranges from Pudighyangyears ago. Unfortunately, those in powerare above the law in our country, soPanchayat leaders did what best servedtheir own vested interests. Second, withthe emergence of ‘democracy’ in 1990,national interests and nationalism had aneven more adverse effect. The escalationof Maoist violence after 2001 dramaticallyaccelerated outmigration. Withcriminalisation, the scenario for Nepalbeing able to construct exemplary roads(albeit not completely well thought out)like Jiri is grim.

B Raj Giri, email

CORRECTIONDue to an editing error, ‘The great green road’(#254) mistakenly mentioned that the resealingof the Lamosangu-Jiri Highway would becomplete by end-July. Only a 16 km portion willbe complete in that time.

4 8 - 14 JULY 2005 #255ECONOMY

or technocrats at the FinanceMinistry, pencilling the nextweek’s budget is turning out

to be very different than all earlierexperiences.

This time, they will not haveto bend over backwards todownplay or even concealsecurity expenses. Thegovernment wants a counter-insurgency operation budget. Thismeans not just increased budgetto be spent on security but alsodevelopment expenditure that ituses as a hearts-and-mindsoperation.

“Expenditures on security arean investment for peace, betterrevenue generation, betterdevelopment delivery,” FinanceMinister Madhukar ShamsherRana told a pre-budget localdonor’s forum on 7 June inKathmandu.

This level of clarity is keepingthe budget’s designers scratchingtheir heads trying to balancevarious priorities. But becausethere isn’t enough money to pay

for development, let alonesecurity, there is just no way Ranacan balance this budget withoutcamouflaging some securityexpenses.

The trouble with militarybudgets is that once you give in,it never goes down. The recently-dissolved High Level PublicExpenditure Commission foundthat security expenses includingdefence and the police accountedfor almost 17 percent of the totalexpenditure in the 2003-4 budget,up from barely nine percent in1997-98.

“It is an alarming situation,”says economist BishwamberPyakurel, who headed thecommission, “such a rise insecurity expenses cannot besustainable, especially when yourincome targets are not met.”During the current fiscal year, thegovernment’s aim was to increaserevenue growth by 18 percent. Butlatest figures show it has gone upby only 12 percent.

The Royal Nepali Army is allset to revive its IntegratedSecurity Development Program(ISDP) which it did in a half-

hearted way in 2001-2 in Gorkhaand some other districts. The ideais to move in after clearing theMaoists with health, education,roads and schools to win over thelocals.

“We are preparing the budgetin such a way that we can takeboth ideas together as wasconceptualised in the ISDP,” saidone Finance Ministry source.

But this costs money, and thequestion is where will it comefrom: from the military budget orthe development budget? Sincethe development budget is 80percent donor-driven, they aresure to take a dim view of suchitem transfers.

Juggling the two roles will notbe easy. The Deuba governmenthad brought in what it called the‘peace budget’ under a schemethat went by the acronym PCBPP(Participatory Community BasedPeople’s Projects). The idea was toincrease development spendingby giving grants to village non-governmental bodies. FinanceMinister Bharat Mohan Adhikarihad then said, “We want to usethis budget as a confidence

building measure to build trustwith the Maoists.”

It didn’t work. Even whencommunity-based organisationswell out of the government’snetwork implemented theprojects it was difficult to carryout project activities in Maoistareas. With the ISDP, the armythinks it will be the one tospearhead development into thecountryside.

A recent publication by theAsian Development Bank (ADB)has expressed concern about thequality of spending. TheQuarterly Economic Update ofthe bank states, “While thegovernment spent more than Rs6.3 billion for the educationsector in the first half of 2005,many schools in rural Nepalremained closed for large partsof the year due to Maoistthreats. Governmentinvestments in the sector areunlikely to yield optimalresults.” The report predictedthat the investment rate wouldfall to about 18 percent due tosluggish public and privateinvestment in the conflict

situation.“That is an interpretation of

a high conflict scenario,” said aneconomist on the ADBpublication. “If that is true, thesituation is really getting out ofhand.”

The real question for theroyal regime is how far thedonors will go along with Rana’sidea of military spending asinvestment. Bilateral donors,especially the Europeans, don’tlike it one bit. Multilateralswhose loans are down by 84percent will also be reluctant. Atop Finance Ministry officialadmitted to us: “Certainly, thedevelopment budget depends onwhat the donors give us.”

Some officials have claimedthat they would mobilise‘internal resources’. But with therevenue targets unmet, exports,investment and tourism down,it is unclear where that willcome from. In the last few yearsinternal borrowing has grown indirect violation of the NepalRastra Bank Act which caps suchborrowing to only five percent ofthe budget.

IMF concernedWith just a week to go for the new budget, the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) representative in Nepal, SukhwinderSingh, has expressed his concern about the slow pace ofeconomic reform in Nepal.

Singh said economic reforms had slowed down evenbefore the February First move and was worried about thelack of progress in banks realising non-performing assets.Singh told the BBC Nepali Service in an interview aired onTuesday night that if economic reforms were reactivatedthe IMF could resume the transfer of the promised $70million tranche in aid to the Poverty Reduction GrowthFund (PRGF). If this happened, he said, Nepal may find iteasier to convince other donors who are on ‘wait-and-watch’ mode to resume aid.

The comments came as economists warned that Nepalis suffering not just a rollback of democracy but also arollback of the liberal economic policies instituted since1990. Singh said the conflict had affected the economyconsiderably. “Nepal’s economic growth rate was goingwell during the first and second halves of the 1990s but thegrowth rate started going down after 2001.”

Revenue is down not just because ofthe drop in import tariffs but also due toan estimated Rs 3 billion shortfall in taxcollection this year. The Deubagovernment raised VAT by three percentand borrowed Rs 1.4 billion from NepalTelecom’s savings in order to meet risingmilitary and administrative expenditurebut that isn’t something that can berepeated.

The most dramatic drop is in thedevelopment budget which has fallenfrom Rs 37 billion five years ago to lessthan Rs 10 billion in the first 11 monthsof this fiscal year (See chart). Moreworrying, in the absence of people’srepresentatives in villages and districts, itis difficult to keep track of how the moneyis spent. It is an open secret in theFinance Ministry and National PlanningCommission (NPC) that upto a quarter ofthe allocation to VDCs finds its way intoMaoist hands, and 10 percent from otherprojects. There is little accountabilityabout the rest.

“We know it is happening but we lookaway because at least the money goes tothe villages and the people participate indevelopment activities,” one governmentofficial told us.

What has made the squeeze tighter isthe suspension of aid after February First,including the Rs 5 billion budgetary

support under the Poverty ReductionStrategy Papers. Many projects, includingRs 800 million worth of VDC grants andRs 600 million for low-priority projectsremain suspended since January.

The donors could come to the rescuebut the Europeans and British havesuspended new aid until democracy isrestored. And instead of reassuringdonors, the government has gone out of itsway to rebuke them for meddling in itsinternal affairs. The World Bank isincreasingly worried about a rollback ineconomic reforms and the ADB is soanxious about the ability of thisgovernment to implement Melamchi thatit is running out of patience. Given thedonor mood, the government will find itdifficult to get the Germans to bankrollthe 40 million Euro cost over-run on theMiddle Marsyangdi hydro project.

The government has approached Chinaand the Gulf countries for a fiscal rescuepackage, sources told us. But FinanceMinister Rana who is preparing the 2005-6budget to be approved by royal ordinancenext week is already preparing for theworst. He dashed off a group email to theRastra Bank governor, chief secretary, andthe NPC warning them that he was againsta donor-driven economy and Nepalshould be prepared to go it alone. Formany this harks back to the inward-

looking Panchayat years when the sloganwas: ‘Domestic market, domesticproduction.’

Former Finance Minister and NCleader, Ram Sharan Mahat is aghast. Hetold us, “It’s not just the political processthat is being rolled back, even theeconomic reforms of the past 14 years arebeing dismantled.” Former NPC memberYubaraj Khatiwada agrees: “At this rate, wewill never reap the benefits of economicreforms instituted after the restoration ofdemocracy in 1990.”

The government is designing thebudget in a three-year developmentpackage that corresponds with KingGyanendra’s commitment in his royal

proclamation on 1 February to bringdemocracy back on track in three years. Todo this, the government would like toamalgamate development with security sozonal and district-level developmentprojects like bridges, schools, roads, watersupply will be implemented jointly bythe military. This is how it is done inAfghanistan, and an NPC delegationrecently visited Kabul to take a look.

The army has already submitted aproposal for Rs 5 billion at the NPC. Themilitary’s argument is that the lack ofdevelopment is hampering itscounterinsurgency operations and it canuse service delivery as a hearts-and-mindstool to fight the insurgency.

from p1

ANALYSIS byNAVIN SINGH KHADKA

Mixing development with securityThe government wants to win hearts and minds with this budget but donors are not likely to foot the bill

Exports GDP Growth Rate Development Expenditure Inflation Imports

SOURCE: NEPAL RASTRA BANK, ECONOMIC SURVEY. 2005 STANDS FOR FIRST 11 MONTHS OF NEPALI FISCAL YEAR, ALL FIGURES IN BILLIONS OF RUPEES

Down, down, down

F

58 - 14 JULY 2005 #255ECONOMY

P

STRICTLY BUSINESSAshutosh Tiwari

rishna Pahadi was thrown intojail on 9 February and released onMonday (see before and afterpictures, below) . The state neverexplained why he remainedbehind bars for so long. AmnestyInternational called Pahadi aprisoner of conscience. More than20,000 Irish children had mailedFree-Pahadi appeals to thegovernment. Those who haveworked with Pahadi since 1989

say he lives abstemiously, haslong been critical of the excessesof both the army and the Maoistsand believes in Thoreau-like actsof civil disobedience to push forpeace and restoration of humanrights. The drama of Pahadi’sillegal detention should havebeen of interest to the Nepalibusiness community.

His arbitrary arrest provided awindow into the conflictingdecision-making mechanism ofthe government. On one hand, itasserts constitutional prerogativesto legitimise its scope ofgovernance in the name of thepeople in these troubled times.On the other hand, by notfollowing the due process of lawafter arresting and detaining someof those very people in whosename it governs, it makes itsdistaste for legal niceties clear. Itis the government’s arbitraryinterpretation of the law to suitits own convenience that Nepalibusinesses must find dangerous.

Still, they can tell themselvestoday Pahadi has been released,and it’s really a distant concern

whether or not he was jailedillegally. But tomorrow, some ofthem might be summoned to thePolice Headquarters to be told thattheir business licenses are beingrevoked or that companyregistrations are being cancelled orthat they have to cough up steepfines for displeasing the powers-that-be. Such a scenario is easy toimagine because the nightmarishconsequence about keeping quietwhen the government routinelybases its decisions on coercionand whims is that it feels bolderto strike anyone anywhere atanytime. Ultimately, what such agovernment does is reward thoseclose to it, while making all other

businesses fall far short ofpotential. The invisible handmutates into the visibly grabbinghand, binding all to inaction.

Pahadi’s arrest was also asignal that the government had itspriorities muddled. Whenactivists are jailed, journalists’work lives are curtailed andscholars are not allowed to travelabroad, all that the governmentsucceeds in doing is in attractingnegative publicity. In today’s 24/7media where all the news that’s

fit to search appears on Google,the long-term costs of incurringbad publicity far outweigh theshort-term benefits from jailingpeople like Pahadi.

In recent years, rising globalconsumer activism has narrowedthe distance between humanrights concerns and hard-nosedbusiness considerations. Ten yearsago, for example, the bottomalmost fell out of Nepal’s carpetindustry due to child labourissues. Today, unless garmentcompanies enforce worker-friendly compliance procedures,they can’t sell clothes tointernational buyers. Businessesare increasingly being asked to

either help mitigate human rightsviolations in countries where theywork or risk investors’ wrath.

In such a changed context fordoing good business, let Pahadi’scase be a catalyst for Nepalibusinesses to come together. Lethis walking out as a free man besymbolic of the environment inwhich Nepali businesses reallythrive—without governmentalarbitrariness and harmfulworldwide publicity forNepal.

Krishna Pahadi’s incarceration and release has lessons for the business community

In clear conscience

rivatisation is not necessarily a neo-liberal priority. It is a process tolimit the power of the government

and kickstart the economy and wean itaway from parasitic parastatals.

Privatisation is not an economicstrategy but a political decision, and itneeds an open and liberal economicpolicy. Recent delays in Nepal’sprivatisation push has confirmed that agovernment without a popular mandatecan’t steer privatisation. The reason is that

such adrastictransferof

wealth and ownership requires ethicalsupport of citizens and needs a certainexpert understanding of the economics ofthe process.

The government itself admits that thecumulative operational losses of itspublic enterprises has crossed Rs 4.86billion a year and this does not includeunfounded contingent liability which canrun into a few more billions.

Look at the wasted money: thegovernment has spent more than a billion

rupees just to settle the dues to staff andbank loans of the now-closed Birganj SugarFactory. If that money had been used on theKarnali Highway, it would have beencompleted by now.

There are two formidable challenges toprivatisation anywhere, and this is true forNepal as well: it needs an open and liberaleconomic policy setting and a responsiblepreserve of all actors in society – politicalopposition, free and fair media and a non-corrupt judiciary.

In the absence of the above, the onlyoption left for Nepal is to privatise theprivatisation program itself. It is time tochallenge the accepted wisdom ofinternational bureaucrats among ourmultilateral lenders who would opposesuch a move.

Governments in the past two years havenot even been able to decide onprivatisation of a small turpentine factoryin western Nepal that has antiquated Soviet-era machines. The staff have been paid off,the factory has been closed but privatisationis stuck. The reason is anticipatory angstover the possibility of being hauled over thecoals by the zealous sleuths at the CIAA or

the over-zealous ones at the RCCC.Basically, in the case of the turpentine

plant, no one from the Ministry of Financewas technically capable of convincing thePrivatisation Committee that current assetsdo not have a fixed value. What is the use ofevaluating current assets if its value ischanged during handover of the fixed asset?That is why, in any sane country, thecurrent assets are transferred to the party asagreed between the government and theparty at the time of the handover. Not here.And to cut a long story short (whichincludes complaints to the CIAA by thegeneral manager) lack of technical expertisemeant a deadlock in the privatisationprocess. If this is what happens to a tinyplant, imagine the fate that awaits biggerenterprises on the block.

Take another story: the Lumbini SugarFactory. Established 18 years ago withChinese help and cane crushing capacity of1,000 tons a day. It made some profits whenthere were no private sugar producers butwent under when sugar price wasderegulated and other players entered thefield. Presently, the government loses Rs 80million a year keeping Lumbini afloat.

Don’t the officials know that the factory isvirtually closed anyway, farmers have beenselling their cane to private factories. Dothey ever ask themselves if it is justifiableto lose Rs 80 million of tax payers’ moneya year to protect the jobs of 800 employees?

If the politicians can’t bell the cat, letthe private sector step in. Contract out theprivatisation program to a team of privateprofessionals. It may appear too radical inthe present political climate, but that isthe only way to rescue Nepal’s moribundeconomic devolution. Donors who havebeen approached with this idea say it isunrealistic. Oh yeah? Now, why would thatbe?

Is it more realistic to leaveprivatisation to a government that lackspolitical will, the moral fortitude and thetechnical expertise to see it through?

Let’s amend the Privatisation Act 1994which was passed at a time when we hadan accountable and democratic governmentresponsible to the people and a system ofchecks and balances in parliament. Theexisting Privatisation Committee should bereshuffled assigning the Chief Secretary aschairman. The Office of Privatisationshould not be top-heavy and be manned byat most five people, a chief who istechnically familiar with the process andgood working relation with policy-makersand professionals including a transactionmanager.

Dr Bhola Chalise served as secretary to HMG’sMinistry of Industry for many years and is now aliberal economist.

Privatising privatisationPrivatisation is too important to be left to public officials

ECONOMY, STUPIDBhola Chalise

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

Cosmic spreads wingsCosmic Air has been unrelenting in its expansion, adding two newsectors to its route map this week: Banaras and Kolkata. It willbegin flying to Kolkata from 8 July and to Banaras from 9 July.With the addition of the fourth Fokker 100 jet in May last year,Cosmic has continually increased its flight frequency, adding newsectors and pushing the competition further. Cosmic hopes tocash in on the inadequate seats on the two Indian sectors afterIndian Airlines pulled out of Banaras and Royal Nepaldiscontinued Kolkata. It will fly three times a week to Kolkata onMondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and to Banaras onTuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. A special introductory fareof buy-one-get-one-free is offered on the two routes. Cosmic Airis also awaiting the approval from CAAN to operate two extradomestic routes–Bhadrapur and Pokhara– using its jets. Testswere conducted two months ago.

Meanwhile, another private airline, Air Nepal says it plans tobrings its first leased 757 from Thailand later this month andcommence flights to Dubai and Bangkok.

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Lucky depositsWhen EverestBank Limitedopened its 16th

branch inPokhara, itintroduced adepositcampaign for onemonth offeringvarious

additional benefits and freebies to its customers, which alsoentailed a lottery for depositors. Bhim Bahadur Thapa of Pokharawon the first prize, a refrigerator sponsored by SalewaysDepartmental Store. Other two depositors won a DVD system andthree depositors won a radio and CD system. Likewise, 25 luckydepositors received gift vouchers from Saleways DepartmentalStores in Pokhara.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Swift is hereSuzuki Swift is finally ready andon offer to clients. It took thecompany five years to come upwith this model, which has takena lot of inputs from Suzuki’s two-wheeler counterparts. The Swifthas a robust, muscular look, isspacious, refined, user-friendly and a whole lot more enjoyable todrive than most in the compact-car category. Suzuki Swift is ahatchback feature packed contemporary car with an enginecapacity of 1298 cc, 600 rpm power and multipoint injection fueldistribution. Arun International Traders, sole distributors ofSuzuki vehicles in Nepal, is launching the model here.

MIN BAJRACHARYA

6 REVIEW

o the monsoon is here andyou are stuck in Pokhara.The mountains are invisible,

the flights are cancelled and theroad is blocked by landslide.

Not to worry. There’s more todo in Pokhara than just boating onPhewa, mountain viewing andmuddying yourself in rice

planting festivals. Pokhara hasbecome a town of museums.

At last count there were fivemuseums. Affordable, interestingand educational, you get to learnabout the kingdom’s ethnicdiversity, history and adventure.Next time you are in Pokhara, stickaround and check them out.

Gurkha Memorial MuseumRecently re-located right next tothe British Gurkha Camp, theGurkha Memorial Museum finallyhas a place of its own, albeitincomplete. There could be nobetter place for the memory ofthose brave soldiers who died soothers could live.

Kathmandu was too distantfrom the ancestral homes of thewarriors of the two world wars, sothe museum was moved here in2001 (See: ‘Gurkha memorabilia’,#35) when the British GurkhaCamp donated some land. Thebuilding is incomplete becausemoney ran out but the groundfloor is ready to showcasememorabilia from the beginningof Gurkha history. Battle scenesfrom the world wars, regimentaldisplays, medals and honoursreceived by the Gurkhas, even areplica of the Queen’s Truncheonawarded to the Sirmoor GurkhaBattalion for their service in therelief of Delhi during the IndianMutiny in1857 will be on displayafter the museum’s soft openingon 9 July. Upon completion, themuseum will boast a gallery withregimental displays, along withdetailed citations of the 13Victoria Cross winners, a theatre,

Museum townNext time you are stuck in Pokhara, stick aroundand visit its museums

library with books and referencematerials on Gurkhas unavailableelsewhere and even a café forvisitors. And it won’t be justBritish Gurkhas since theindependence of India also gavebirth to the Indian Gurkhas andthe Singapore Police, formed byex-servicemen. They too will havespace to exhibit their displays.

British museum expert GuyWilson who gave advice on othertechnical aspects. The trust is inneed of funds as only 40 percentof the work is complete eventhough there have been generousdonations from the oldergeneration of Gurkhas. KhagisaraPun, wife of Rifleman Khara Punof 2/1 Gurkha Rifles, who was aPOW in Singapore in World War IIgave Rs 100,000 as soon as sheheard the museum was in need ofmoney. “There is greater bondagebetween the older generationbecause of the shared experiences,”says Major Yam Bahadur Gurungchairman of the museum trust.This altruistic quality is whatmade Gurkhas real heroes.

Opening hours: Everyday exceptSaturdays.Entrance charge: Tourists Rs 50,SAARC Rs 20, Nepalis Rs 10,Children Rs 5.

The Annapurna NaturalHistory MuseumLocated inside the PrithibiNarayan Campus and popularlyknown as the ‘butterflymuseum’, this museum isfamous for its entomologicalcollection. In addition to itsamazing butterfly collection of583 out of the 660 species ofbutterflies and moths fromNepal and southeast Asia, themuseum also has a goodcollection of stuffed birds, smallmammals and insects from theAnnapurna region. And for somereason, there is also a dollsection with dolls from all overthe world.

This is the oldest museumin Pokhara and a result of theaffection American Peace Corpsvolunteer late Dorothy Mierow’shad for the place. She started themuseum in 1965 for campusstudents so they could learnmore about their own culturalheritage. Today it is run by theAnnapurna Conservation AreaProject and King Mahendra Trustfor Nature Conservation.

Opening hours: Sunday-Friday,9AM-5PMFree entrance.

or those living inKathmandu Valley the restof the country may as well

be on another planet. All theycare about is that things are okinside the Ring Road since

Helpless and hopelessFebruary First.

There may be an indefinitebanda in Doti, all schools may beclosed in Kailali, healthposts inBajura may be without medicine,there may be a food shortage inHumla. But who cares? Thepeople of western Nepal stoppedexpecting anything from

Kathmandu long ago.The women in Dailekh

defiantly stood up against theMaoists when the rebels stoppedthem from celebrating Dasain andtried to recruit their children. Butwhen the rebels hunted down sixmembers of a family they thoughtwere ringleaders of the Dullu

resistance, the other villagersfled in panic with nothing butthe clothes on their backs.

“Now you are under a newgovernment, they told us, youmust stop observing alltraditional ceremonies, you can’teven perform last rites for thedead they told us,” recalls 65-year-old Sanay.

“We had a house, a piece ofland and a quiet life but it allfeels like a dream now, they tookaway everything,” says KanchaBudha another 60-year-oldfarmer.

“We have no more tears toshed,” adds 21-year-old KuntiShahi who fled with her childafter her husband was killed.

“I was already nine-monthspregnant,” recalls Kamala motherof five, “my labour pains beganwhile we were on the trail toDailekh Bajar. I delivered himright there on the road, my fifthchild, he is now seven monthsold.”

The pain of Dailekh’sdisplaced has not eased withtime. The women have emptyeyes. Could this be the samecountry, the Nepal that we usedto know?

Pradeep Lamsal, a teacher,tells us, “The Maoists wanted meto join their militia. I refusedand fled here but they beat upmy pregnant wife and shesuffered a miscarriage. She isstill in shock. I can’t even go tomeet her and she’s too weak towalk here.”

Even villagers who once usedto agree with the Maoists’ goal ofliberating the district from thefeudal clutches of rulers far away

have been let down. Once more,saviours have turned out to bejust another group using thepeople to propel themselves topower.

“They talk a lot aboutworking for us common folks butthey do just the opposite,” saysJiba Rokaya, a teacher fromDullu.

Kunti Shahi recalls that dayin November when revolutionturned into resistance: “We werefed up. We had given them foodwhen they asked for it. But whenthey wanted our children, wecouldn’t stand it anymore. Oneday, they asked to participate ina meeting and we went armedwith sticks. They began lecturingus from the roof of a house butwe surrounded them andquestioned them about all theyhad done to us. They startedpreaching their ideology againbut one villager became soenraged that he beat them up. Wecaptured and handed them overto the district administration.Since then, they have notreturned. Still, we have to becareful. I sent my sons toNepalganj.”

The Dullu uprising was amilestone and a lesson incourage for the rest of thecountry. But eight months later,few political parties spoke outfor the women of Dailekh, thegovernment in Kathmandudidn’t care. The people here havelost their faith in the politicalparties and the government longago.

Some names have been changed toprotect the identity of thoseinterviewed.

ARUNA UPRETYin DAILEKH

Eight months after their uprising, the bravewomen of Dailekh are fending for themselves

F

ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEY in POKHARA

S

PAINFUL BEAUTY: Dailekh’s picturesque farm terraces hide the fear and pain of its villagers.ARUNA UPRETY

78 - 14 JULY 2005 #255

Regional Museum PokharaThe Regional Museum in NayaBajar is a sad waste of governmentresources but not a waste of time.Built on prime land, the museumcould have incorporated morethan just life-size models ofdifferent ethnic cultures of theregion. Models, photographs,objects and artefacts related to theeveryday life of different ethniccultures chiefly Gurung, Thakaliand Tharu along with relevantinformation are displayed. Butthat’s about it. The tour endsabruptly with a life size replicadepicting, aptly, a death scene.

Opening hours: Everyday exceptTuesdays, 10AM-4.30 PMEntrance: Tourists Rs10, SAARCRs 5, Nepalis Rs 2(cameras extra)

International MountainMuseumFunded and built by the NepalMountaineering Association,the International MountainMuseum is in a class of itsown. It is dedicated tomountain dwellers worldwideand offers a glimpse of life inthe mountains as well as thehistory of expeditions.

The Mountain PeopleGallery consists of models ofthe lifestyle of differentmountain peoples of the world.The Mountain Gallery hasfascinating geological factspertaining to the origin ofworld mountain systems. TheMountain Activities Galleryhas exhibits of actualequipment used for historic

climbs. Pioneer explorers likeEkai Kawaguchi and late ToniHagen have been given specialsections, which they trulydeserve. There is even asection on the yeti. ICIMODhas a gallery with conservationas its main theme. Themuseum is working on a three-dimensional scale model ofthe entire Himalaya.

Opening hours: Everydayexcept Saturdays.Entrance: Tourists Rs300,expats and SAARC Rs100,Nepalis Rs50, students Rs10.

Tamu Ghoibo MuseumYou’ll have to find your wayto this one if you’re interestedin the detailed life ofGurungs/Tamu people.Established in 1990 by theTamu Pye Lhu Sangh andlocated on a ridge overlookingthe Seti River in Shakti Ghat,Ranipauwa this smallmuseum offers a detaileddescription of the differentsubclasses of the Tamu people.On display are ritual objects ofTamu shamans, models ofdifferent ceremonies related totheir cultures and prayers inthe Tamu language. Thegumba/museum also serves asa public meeting place for thecommunity and any ritualsthey need to conduct.

Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 10AM-5PM.Entrance charges: Rs 10 foradults, Rs 2 for children below10, cameras extra Rs 5.

DECORATIONS: Medals at the Gurkha Museum (opposite), MalayanButterflies in the Annapurna Regional Museum and (above) clay modelsof shamans at the Gurung museum.

ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEY

8 BIRTHDAY SPECIAL

“Esle janata lai dukkha huna

Nepali Times: How is it different, working with King Gyanendra?Ramesh Nath Pandey: What I have seen with His Majesty KingGyanendra is great clarity of vision. He is a monarch who knowswhat he wants to achieve. He talks with conviction, there is noambiguity, he listens to people and I have seen the people hemeets are very impressed with his personality. Both in Dohaand Jakarta recently, His Majesty’s addresses were very wellreceived, the delivery was forceful and superb. He convincedthe international community that his commitment to multipartydemocracy is total. You have to look at it this way: the monarch

has made this commitment to his people and the internationalcommunity is standing witness. There should be noquestion that these commitments will be fulfilled.

Is King Gyanendra a hands-on king?You know, this is my sixth tenure as minister. I mustsay, I have never seen cabinet meetings conductedwith such efficiency. First of all, they always startpunctually, there is no sidetalk, we get down tobusiness and stay focused on the agenda. HisMajesty listens very carefully to all shades ofopinion and takes copious notes during thediscussions. He encourages all the ministers tospeak their mind and in fact decisions can bepostponed if we can’t come to an agreement onthings. Sometimes the cabinet meetings go on till10.30 at night. In earlier governments I oftenencountered prime ministers who tried toimpose their views on the cabinet but HisMajesty listens to the ministers and decisionsare taken after thorough discussions. And afterthe cabinet meeting, there are moreconfidential discussions with just theministers present.

How about his personality?On a personal level, His Majesty often

shows genuine concern and humanity andalways has a personal touch. His bottom line is always:

“Esle janata lai dukkha huna hundaina.” And I have neverseen any leader work as hard as he does. He reads a lot,not just newspapers and magazines but books. And he is onthe Internet a lot. If I bring him something that I think heshould read, usually I find he has already read it. Last yearhe asked me if I read a particular book on internationalrelations that he had just finished. I hadn’t and I quicklyordered it. I have now been on two foreign visits with His

Majesty and when I am summoned to the front of the plane during aflight, I have always noticed that His Majesty has been working, he hasfiles and piles of paper on his desk.

There are critics who say that February First has increased Nepal’sinternational isolation.From my short time in the government, I can assure you that this is notthe case. Not everything that happens gets out. For example, I went toNew Delhi to explain our position which was that the threat of terrorismis genuine, the fate of Nepali democracy is at stake and that South Asiawas vulnerable to instability in Nepal. I have met all the ambassadorshere, some of the countries have understood the ground realities andhave concluded agreements, we’ve had more foreign dignitariesvisiting Nepal in the past five months than in the past 15 years. I thinkthe international community has understood that terrorism has grownbecause of the lapses of the past 15 years, that His Majesty iscommitted to multiparty democracy and that the future of democracy inNepal is related to stability in South Asia.

But not all is well in relations with one of our neighbours.If relations are based on trust and mutual respect and a recognition ofsovereignty there are no problems. Take China for instance, it is an all-weather friend and ever since diplomatic relations were establishedwe’ve never had problems. I am making another visit to China soon.With India, it is important that Nepal’s aspirations should not beundermined. February one was decision taken according to the needsof the country and India should recognise that. In fact, we are fightingterrorism whom India itself calls ‘terrorists’. Democracy can’t beexported. From our side we have nothing but goodwill towards India.We have wasted 50 years because of the Indocentricism of our politics.Economically visible projects were not implemented because theopposition party would always term the party in the government as ‘pro-Indian’. I met the Indian foreign minister and I told him let’s not wasteanymore time. But sometimes it is difficult for us to figure out what Indiareally wants.

Some analysts have found fault with our diplomacy. They say we havenot been able to sell the changes in Nepal to the donor community.HM’s Jakarta visit was very successful and productive in restoringNepal’s image. He articulated his political vision and it was seen as theauthentic voice of Nepal. The bilateral talks were very productive. Lastmonth’s royal visit to Doha gave added stature to Nepal’s position andHM’s meeting with the Emir of Qatar and others paved the way for twovery important agreements to be signed. The visit to UAE was alsocharacterised by special warmth, the entire cabinet was present duringHis Majesty’s audience with the UAE leaders. The visits were triumphsof Nepal’s international relations, we have to remembers that Nepal is acountry with the oldest tradition of foreign relations in South Asiabecause the rest of the region was a British colony.

How about within the country? There appears to be a politicalstalemate.His Majesty has publicly asked the political parties to say that they areagainst terrorism, corruption and that they will maintain fiscal disciplineand work together for early peace so we can have elections. I have

Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey has worked underthree kings, served as minister six times in variousgovernments and has been in the parliament for 20 years. Hespoke to Nepali Times about King Gyanendra’s persona andsays it is not true that Nepal is internationally isolated.

Happy Birthday,Your Majesty

MIN BAJRACHARYA

98 - 14 JULY 2005 #255

hundaina”

talked to the parties before and I am willing to talk to them again. Buteven while peace and security are restored, there are certain things wecan do right away: we can depoliticise the bureaucracy, we can startworking on economic development through positioning ourselves as thebridge between the two economic giants, India and China. In severalmeetings in Jakarta, Singapore and Doha with the businesscommunities there interested in investing in Nepal several of them toldus so-and-so ministers in the past wanted so much in bribes. We haveto overcome this negative publicity, and do more to attract foreigninvestors as a way to boost economic activity by paying more attentionto economic diplomacy.

MIN BAJRACHARYA

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12 INTERNATIONAL12 BIRTHDAY SPECIAL 8 - 14 JULY 2005 #255

MIN BAJRACHARYA

138 - 14 JULY 2005 #255INTERNATIONAL

Der Spiegel: Mr Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is aboutto beef up development aid for Africa...Shikwati: ... for God’s sake, please just stop.

Stop? The industrialised nations of the west want toeliminate hunger and poverty.Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans,they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries thathave collected the most development aid are also the ones that arein the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured intoAfrica, the continent remains poor.

Do you have an explanation for this paradox?Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruptionand complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggarsand not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakensthe local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit ofentrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it maysound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa’sproblems. If the west were to cancel these payments, normalAfricans wouldn’t even notice. Only the functionaries would behard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stopturning without this development aid.

Even in a country like Kenya, people are starving todeath each year. Someone has got to help them.But it has to be the Kenyans themselves. When there’s a droughtin a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out formore help. This call then reaches the United Nations World FoodProgram—which is a massive agency ofapparatchiks who are in the absurd situation of,on the one hand, being dedicated to the fightagainst hunger while, on the other hand, beingfaced with unemployment were hunger actuallyeliminated. It’s only natural that they willinglyaccept the plea for more help. And it’s notuncommon that they demand a little more moneythan the respective African government originallyrequested. They then forward that request to theirheadquarters and before long, several thousandstons of corn are shipped to Africa ...

... corn that predominantly comes from highly-subsidised European and American farmers...... and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbour ofMombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the handsof unscrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their owntribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of theshipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumpedat extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down theirhoes right away– no one can compete with the UN’s World FoodProgram. And because the farmers go under in the face of thispressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if thereactually were a famine next year. It’s a simple but fatal cycle.

If the World Food Program didn’t do anything, thepeople would starve.I don’t think so. In such a case, the Kenyans, for a change, wouldbe forced to initiate trade relations with Uganda or Tanzania, andbuy their food there. This type of trade is vital for Africa. It wouldforce us to improve our own infrastructure, while making nationalborders—drawn by the Europeans by the way—more permeable. Itwould also force us to establish laws favouring market economy.

Would Africa actually be able to solve these problemson its own?Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of thecountries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast naturalresources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed asa continent of suffering but most figures are vastly exaggerated. Inthe industrial nations, there’s a sense that Africa would go under

without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed beforeyou Europeans came along. And we didn’t do all that poorlyeither.

But AIDS didn’t exist at that time.If one were to believe all the horrorifying reports, then all Kenyansshould actually be dead by now. But now, tests are being carriedout everywhere and it turns out that the figures were vastlyexaggerated. It’s not three million Kenyans that are infected. All ofa sudden, it’s only about one million. Malaria is just as much of aproblem but people rarely talk about that.

And why’s that?AIDS is big business, maybe Africa’s biggest business. There’snothing else that can generate as much aid money as shockingfigures on AIDS. AIDS is a political disease here and we should bevery skeptical.

The Americans and Europeans have frozen fundspreviously pledged to Kenya. The country is toocorrupt, they say.I am afraid, though, that the money will still be transferred beforelong. After all, it has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, theEuropeans’ devastating urge to do good can no longer be counteredwith reason. It makes no sense whatsoever that directly after thenew Kenyan government was elected — a leadership change thatended the dictatorship of Daniel arap Mois — the faucets weresuddenly opened and streams of money poured into the country.

Such aid is usually earmarked for a specificobjective, though.That doesn’t change anything. Millions of dollarsearmarked for the fight against AIDS are still stashedaway in Kenyan bank accounts and have not been spent.Our politicians were overwhelmed with money, andthey try to siphon off as much as possible. The latetyrant of the Central African Republic, Jean BedelBokassa, cynically summed it up by saying, “TheFrench government pays for everything in our country.We ask the French for money. We get it and then wewaste it.”

Following World War II, Germany onlymanaged to get back on its feet because the Americanspoured money into the country through the MarshallPlan. Wouldn’t that qualify as successful developmentaid?In Germany’s case, only the destroyed infrastructure had to berepaired. Despite the economic crisis of the Weimar Republic,Germany was a highly- industrialised country before the war. Thedamages created by the tsunami in Thailand can also be fixed witha little money and some reconstruction aid. Africa, however, musttake the first steps into modernity on its own. There must be achange in mentality. We have to stop perceiving ourselves asbeggars. These days, Africans only perceive themselves as victims.On the other hand, no one can really picture an African as abusinessman. In order to change the current situation, it would behelpful if the aid organisations were to pull out.

If they did that, many jobs would be immediately lost ...... jobs that were created artificially in the first place and thatdistort reality. Jobs with foreign aid organisations are, of course,quite popular, and they can be very selective in choosing the bestpeople. When an aid organisation needs a driver, dozens apply forthe job. And because it’s unacceptable that the aid worker’schauffeur only speaks his own tribal language, an applicant isneeded who also speaks English fluently—and, ideally, one whois also well mannered. So you end up with some Africanbiochemist driving an aid worker around, distributing Europeanfood and forcing local farmers out of their jobs. That’s just crazy!

Interview by Thilo Thielke, translated from German by Patrick Kessler.

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Attack on AyodhyaNEW DELHI—A suicide attempt to storm one ofthe world’s most disputed religious sites,Ayodhya in northern Uttar Pradesh state, maybejust what the doctor ordered for both India’ssecular, Congress party-led ruling coalition aswell as the fractious, right-wing, oppositiongroups led by the pro-Hindu, Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP).

On Wednesday, 24 hours after police shotdead all the members of a heavily armed, six-man squad as they attempted to storm theheavily barricaded makeshift temple that standson the site, authorities were reluctant tospeculate on the identity of the attackers.Immediate suspicion, based on style ofoperation, fell on the Pakistan-based Laskhar-e-Toiba (Soldiers of God—LeT), a militant groupthat is committed to ending Indian rule in theMuslim-majority territory of Kashmir. A similar‘fedayeen’ attack carried out by a suspected LeTsuicide squad on India’s ornate parliamentbuilding in December 2001 brought India andPakistan, both nuclear-armed countries, to thebrink of a full-scale war the following year.Tuesday’s attack was considered serious enoughfor Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make astatement carried on television condemning it asan attempt “aimed at destablising our society andpolity” and vowing to never compromise withterrorism”. Singh’s government ordered policealerts across the country to prevent possibleoutbreaks of communal violence and took care to“request all political leaders to help in maintainingpublic peace and communal harmony”.

During its years in power, the BJP founditself unable to build the temple to Ram therebecause of court orders banning construction onthe site and also because the party ran a minoritygovernment and depended on support fromcoalition partners in the National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) that were opposed to the temple-building agenda. Tuesday’s attack immediatelybrought rapproachment between the BJP andhardline organisations that support it. It alsoresulted in quick consultations among topcommunist leaders who decided to patch up itsdifferences with Singh’s government and preventthe BJP from gaining any political mileage out ofit. “We will not, at any cost, allow the BJP tobring the Ayodhya back on the political centre-stage,” said AB Bardhan, leader of theCommunist Party of India (CPI), the secondlargest communist party after the CPI-M.Bardhan said it was also important not to allowthe incident to affect the Indo-Pakistan peaceinitiative. (IPS)

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Asian highwayBANGKOK—Asian governments will soon have anew symbol to illustrate their increasing spirit ofregional cooperation: a network of highways thatlink 32 countries spanning Japan at one end andTurkey on the other. An important milestone onthe ‘Silk Route of the Modern Age’, was crossedon Monday when the IntergovernmentalAgreement on the Asian Highway Network cameinto force. First opened for signature in April2004, the agreement has already been signed by27 countries while some key members, includingJapan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Burma, SriLanka and Cambodia, have also ratified it.Developed by the Bangkok-based, Economic andSocial Commission for Asia and the Pacific(ESCAP), a United Nations agency, the 141,000km long road is expected to greatly enhanceintra-regional trade and facilitate tourism.

“It was made possible because manycountries are collaborating more closely,” saidBarry Cable, director of ESCAP’s Transport andTourism Division, at a ceremony marking thecoming into force of the agreement. “This is notjust a transport agreement but a desire bymember countries to work towards globalisationfor all,” Cable added. When fully operational, thistrans-continental stretch of roads will link Asiancapitals, connect industrial and agriculturecentres, join major seaports to river ports andconnect major container terminals to depots,according to the ESCAP study, Asian HighwayHandbook. An estimated $ 26 billion has alreadybeen invested to upgrade to internationalstandards the roads that will be part of thenetwork, according to ESCAP. However, there isstill a shortfall of $ 18 billion. Furthermore, 16percent of the roads that are integral to thehighway still fall below minimum standards,Cable said. “The roads have to be broadened tothe new standards. The objective is to useexisting roadways.

Cable described the fact that manyneighbouring countries have not been able tomake use of the new link so far as a “missedopportunity” simply because ‘’it is not asextensive as it should be”. The roadblocks toeasy movement of people and goods acrossnational boundaries were many and ranged fromopen warfare to frustrating red tape. (IPS)

The Kenyan economics expertJames Shikwati, 35, says that aid

to Africa does more harm thangood. The avid proponent ofglobalisation spoke with DerSpiegel about the disastrous

effects of western developmentpolicy in Africa, corrupt rulers and

the tendency to overstate theAIDS problem.

14 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Samaya, 7 July

Seven parties:“The itinerary is like this...first day informal meeting...second daydiscussions...third day give speeches here and there...fourth day we goaround the city...fifth day...”Speech: Revolution empowerment program

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Peace and securityEditorial in Dristi, 28 June

While the government is blowingit’s trumpet about dramaticimprovements in the country’speace and security situation since1 February, the Maoist havestepped up ruthless attacks acrossthe country and even coordinatedattacks in India.

Recent Maoist attacks inKhotang, Bardiya, Bhojpur,Ghartichap, Sinduli, Siraha,Arghakhanchi and other placesshow the hollowness of thegovernment’s claims.

After February First and thesidelining of the centrist parties,palace extremism and Maoistextremism have intensified. Thispolarisation betweenrepublicanism and royalism isleading to a prolongation of war.The brutality of the killings likeMadi and Kailali makes uswonder whether the two warringsides are just out to defame eachother by massacring civilians.

If, as is being publicised, it isindeed true that the NepaliMaoists ganged up with theIndian Maoists to carry out a jointattack in India then things canonly grow worse. For India,which has been patiently waitingfor a premise to intervene inNepal, the Bihar incident canbecome a strong motivation. Thecurrent government, rather thantrying to find out the truthbehind the Maoist involvementin the recent attack in India seemsto be busy assessing this incidentas a pleasant opportunity toconvince India to resume thesupply of military hardware thathad been stalled following theroyal takeover.

Should it indeed beestablished that the Biharincident was a joint-operation ofIndian and Nepali Maoists then,more than the Maoists, it willaffect the ruling class of Nepal.Despots everywhere keep makingthe same mistake of using war as aprotective shield.

their networks in the villageshere. UML district leader KamalShrestha says the people havealways believed in democracy butthe party leaders had been afraidof going back to theirconstituencies. “We may havemade some mistakes but theFebruary First move hasreinvigorated the people’s trust ina democratic polity,” he says.Party leaders say the Maoists havenot tried to stop the return ofparty workers and even thevillagers admit that the power ofthe rebels has waned.Intellectuals here are critical ofthe government which they say isusing the insurgency as an excuseto crush democracy.

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Bardiya battleRajdhani, 1 July

RAJAPUR—Not one of the homesin this village in Bardiya is intact.They have large holes andshrapnel scars, the result of aerialattacks by army helicoptersduring a fierce all-night battle twoweeks ago. The Maoists attackedthe base camp of an army unitguarding the Royal BardiyaNational Park. One officer waskilled, 27 wounded and at least11 Maoist bodies were found.Villagers say the Maoists cartedaway more dead and wounded intractors. The Maoists had filled afire truck they had looted lastmonth and exploded it byramming at the base’s gates. Butthe army fired a rocket launcher atthe truck and destroyed it. “Therewere bullets exploding on thewalls,I spent the whole nightunder the bed,” says one woman.The Maoists entered people’shomes to escape the army’scounterattack, while helicoptersdropped bombs on the houses.Prithibi Raj Malla got hit in hisleg, but has no money to seektreatment.

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Anti-mediaDR Pant in Kantipur, 1 July

Everyday journalists in the farwest of Nepal are being menacedby Maoists. Reporters whocovered the slaughter of the sixwives and relatives of policemenincluding a year-old baby lastmonth in Kailali have beenthreatened with death. A weekbefore, reporter Bikram Giri hadbeen released after being abductedfor a week. His crime was that hewent to Kalapani on a reportingassignment. A dozen journalistsfrom this region have been forcedto flee their towns because ofMaoists threats. Other journalistsare caught in the middle. TheMaoists put pressure on them fornot filing their statements, whilethe state regards all reporters asMaoist sympathisers. Tworeporters from Achham can’t gohome because one was threatenedby the Maoists and the other bythe army. A reporter from Bajurawas beaten mercilessly bysoldiers. The situation has grownmuch worse since February First.Khem Bhandari of Kanchanpurwas tortured by security forces, inDadeldhura, this columnisthimself was jailed for twomonths, Binod Thapa in Achhamhas been threatened. Across the

SELECTED MATERIAL TRANSLATED EVERY WEEK FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

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Suicide behind barsEditorial in Kantipur, 29 June

With three detainees committingsuicide in military detentionwithin three months, seriousquestions are being raised over theidea of using army barracks asdetention centres. The possibilityof torture in custody can’t beruled out. In the first place,detention of civilians in militarycustody is illegal. Even the lawbrought in to tame the Maoistsdoes not allow the use of barracksas detention centres. Section 9 ofthe Terrorist and DisruptiveActivities (Control andPunishment) Ordinance 2061says that the places of detentionshould be humane althoughmilitary detention centres areanything but. It is the duty of thestate to respect and protect thebasic human rights of detainees.Nobody has the right to go beyondthe limits that prevailinghumanitarian laws envisage. Thegovernment cannot deem itselfabove the law even when it comesto dealing with those involved inMaoist violence.

First, the army must stopkeeping civilians in custody. It issolely for the civil administrationand the police to enforce arrestsand detentions. In the meantime,authorities should refrain frompreventing detainees frommeeting their family members,doctors and legal advisers. Lack oftransparency in terms of arrestsand treatment of detainees onlyfeeds suspicion toward theintegrity of the state.

The Royal Nepali Army (RNA)has carried out internalinvestigation on some cases ofhuman rights abuses and a fewperpetrators have had action takenagainst them. But because ofundercover detentions enforcedby the RNA, it has not been ableto improve its image. It has beencarrying out joint securityoperations, which certainly is adaunting task. Notably, to containany internal conflict, the armyneeds support and cooperationfrom the people in general just asit needs well-trained and skilledtroops. It is imperative forsecurity agencies to win thepeople’s trust. To do so, theyneed to clean up their act—belawful, humane and transparent.

The RNA must immediatelylaunch an internal probe toanswer the questions surfacingabout the increasing suicides inits custody. Also, it should notforget that these cases are directlyrelated to its credibility. Anindependent and legalinvestigation appears to be amust, particularly in thebackdrop of recent incidents inmilitary detention as well as theincreasing concerns raised byhuman rights groups.(Nepalnews.com Translation)

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Back to the villageNepal Samacharpatra, 1 July

TAMGHAS—There is new hustleand bustle these days in Gulmi aspolitical party representativeswho had fled their home districtstart to return. The seven-partyalliance, especially the NC, UMLand NC-D have been rebuilding

I’ve become much stronger in my ideals.NC leader Narhari Acharya after his release from a six-month long detention since

1 February, in Kantipur, 5 July.

Editorial in Deshantar, 3 July

Even after Prachanda issued an order not to kill unarmed people,his army has killed 24 unarmed civilians and abducted hundredsof students. This proves either that his cadre aren’t listening tohim or that he is simply lying through his teeth.

Prachanda issued the instruction after the bus bomb in Madithat killed 40 people which recieved sharp condemnation. But theMaoists have since not spared even infants in their latestshooting spree. How should peace loving Nepalis perceivePrachanda’s followers? How can Prachanda’s status in hisorganisation be understood and how should the party itself betaken?

After the latest incidents, should the people think of theMaoists as a leaderless force with no party policy and directives?Or should we regard them as a terrorist group? More importantly,when there are some who do not obey the party leader’sinstructions, shouldn’t actions be taken against them? Havingseen all these, why should the people take Prachanda as thesupreme commander of this killer group?

With the blood of thousands of people, in the last 10 years ontheir hands and destruction of public property, the Maoists haveleft the people no choice but to call them terrorists just like theking’s government has. That is the only conclusion Nepalis candraw. If Prachanda still wishes to assert that his organisation is apolitical party, he should provide compensation to the families ofcivilians his blind followers killed, take action against those whodefied his instructions and once again apologise in public but thistime, like he means it. Prachanda and Company needs tounderstand this: they cannot always rule with the gun. To rule,one needs to win the hearts of the people.

Out of control

KANAK MANI DIXIT

158 - 14 JULY 2005 #255

Himal Khabarpatrika, 30 June-15 July

It was a shocking sight, especially for the youngschool children of Harinagar, to see so many deadbodies lying around everywhere after the Madi busbombing last month. But their instinct to help fellowNepalis galvanised them into action to help asmany survivors as possible. This was the day whenthe country saw the bloodiest attack by Maoistmilitants on innocent civilians. But while thecountry watched in shock and dismay, a group of 25students from Madi bravely provided immediaterelief to survivors.

“We managed to control the bleeding of manypeople by bandaging them,” says Amrit Gayak, agrade eight student who also works with the JuniorRed Cross Circle. The students lifted the injuredpassengers and put them in tractors and oxcartsand dispatched them to the nearest health centre.Others were engaged in securing the area byplacing ropes to avoid any more risk to thesurvivors and to prevent them from losing theirmoney, jewellery and other belongings. “We carriedour Red Cross flag and suppressed our emotions inorder to help them,” says Amrit. “We managed notto show any weakness to the wounded people,”adds another student Hari Krishna Lamichhane.

At first, the students became afraid when theysaw guns and ammo clips lying on the ground butlater they handed over all these to the five RNAsoldiers who survived. Encouraged by the bravechildren, adult villagers also joined in to providehelp. Bishnu Maya Poudel, a 55-year-old resident,helped the injured children even though her son anddaughter-in-law were lying on the ground after theexplosion. Fortunately, both had survived. Herdaughter-in-law, Bhuwanshanti had fainted after shefound herself under the heap of bodies. But whenshe regained consciousness, she collected herselfand began tending to an injured child and her sister-in-law. She had searched for her brother but foundhim dead. Such voluntary and brave spiritdisplayed by the local residents of Madi was sooverwhelming that it led to the ICRC calling them‘model citizens’. While the Maoists displayedinhumanity and terrorism, the Madi villagers spreadcompassion and humanity.

far west, journalists have had tofile stories secretly and areconstantly under surveillance.Only six newspapers inMahendranagar still survive butbarely because of theadministration’s pressures.

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Black sheepJana Aastha, 29 June

The government is trying to findout which leaders of the majorpolitical parties are willing totake part in local elections. Acircular distributed to its entirenetwork with registration number147 by Police Headquarters hasasked all units to find out aboutleaders willing to contest inmunicipal elections. The letterreads, ‘Within three days, pleasesend the details of the voters ineach area and the political leaderswho will contest in the polls.’But the parties have so farremained determined not to takepart in polls. Despite the fact thatthe parties have made theirmindset clear about elections, thegovernment is making such covertmoves to see if there are any blacksheep in the parties. This is likelyto polarise the parties and thegovernment even further.

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Peace SecretariatAnnapurna Post, 4 July

The Peace Secretariat which wasset up to restart the peace processis looking for a new role now. TheSecretariat was supposed tosupport the High-level PeaceCommittee (HPC) and itsConsultation and CooperationSub-committee, but was left withno work after both committeeswere dissolved following the 1February royal move. “You can’texpect the desired results as onlythe secretariat exists now,” saidsecretary Bidhyadhar Mallik,“nonetheless, it’s activeinternally.”

The HPC headed by SherBahadur Deuba was made up ofthe chiefs of four political partiessharing the cabinet and a memberof the cabinet while theConsultation and CooperationSub-committee was made up ofsenior members of the cabinet andleaders from different politicalparties. The government then hadassigned the Secretariat to holdpeace talks and cooperate with thegovernment in implementing theoutcome of the peace talks andinstitutionalising the peaceprocess. Collection, study andanalysis of materials related toconflict management, formulationof peace talks action plan,working for effectiveimplementation of governmentdecisions in connection with thepeace process and maintainingcommunication and relationswith foreign agencies to drive thepeace process were itsresponsibilities.

Mallik says the Secretariat isstill collecting data on damagedand demolished developmentinfrastructures due to theconflict. “The concernedministries have been asked tofurnish details of the damage,” headded, “in addition to which, wehave begun developing theSecretariat as a documentation

Madi’s young citizenscentre for conflict managementand peace.” The Secretariat has aworkforce of 21 staff.

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UML conventionKantipur, 3 July

CPN (UML) cadres have suggestedthe party leadership go for adecisive agitation without beingtrapped in what they call “talksploy of the royal palace”. That wasthe conclusion of the district andzonal committees of the party. TheUML is preparing for its centralcommittee meet beginning 10 July.The meeting will discuss thisissue and hopefully, reach aconclusion. The leadership of theparty had asked lower-levelcommittees to suggest ways to re-strengthen party organisation andthe party’s vision for theresolution of the February Firstcrisis. UML cadres suggested thatideology, not the individuals, bethe basis of restructuring theorganisation. Secretary of theCentral Secretariat, Amrit KumarBohara said, “There has been nosuggestion from the committeesfor changes in the leadership or fora special general convention butwe have stressed that the workingstyle of the leadership should berearranged in order to make theparty more dynamic and active.”Some UML leaders including BamDeb Gautam have demanded anoverhaul of the leadership.

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BB in troubleKantipur, 3 July

Mohan Bikram Singh, generalsecretary of CPN (Unity Centre)has quoted Baburam Bhattarai assaying he and his supporters are atrisk of being killed. At a secretmeeting with party workers inKathmandu on Saturday, Singhsaid that Bhattarai told himduring meetings in New Delhi thathe was worried about himself andhis followers’ security. “They arenot safe,” Singh said. Bhattaraitold Singh that even through hehad been sent by the party tocultivate diplomatic relationswith India he had not been

reinstated to his earlier position.Bhattarai parted ways with Singh,his political guru, in 1991 andjoined the Unity Centre. Themeetings between the twocommunist leaders, who havebeen sharply critcal of each other,comes at a time when both are inminority within their respectiveparties. Singh and Bhattarai aresaid to have met four times inNew Delhi. The Maoist leader saidthat the party took action againsthim and Dinanath Sharma forcontacting Singh.

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CHILDREN AGAINST VIOLENCE: School childrenfrom Harinagar with the Red Cross flag at theMadi bus bombing site.Amrit Gayak, a student and his friend, (below)who helped the wounded in Madi.

SAMIR/SAMAYA

16 8 - 14 JULY 2005 #255NATION

ima Dorje Lama was in bed when asecurity patrol banged on his door inRyale of Kabhre district on the night

of 4 November 2003.Thinking they could be Maoists, he

didn’t go to open the door right away.When he did, the soldiers arrested him onsuspicion of being a Maoist. They found apressure cooker in his kitchen and somewires. That was all the evidence theyneeded.

Lama, 38, was taken to a security campin Malpi and Rosi Khola and then toSingha Nath Gan in Bhaktapur. He wasstripped naked and beaten mercilessly. Hewas ordered to admit that he had a role inthe murder of the Ryale VDC ChairmanKrishna Prasad Sapkota three years ago.“They put a gun to my head, stood mebefore a hole in the ground and told me toadmit that I had committed Sapkota’s

ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEYin KABHRE

“Keep us out of it” Nima Dorje Lama waslucky he survived, othersnever made it out alive

murder,” he recalls. Both his ankles wereseverely injured as a result of the tortureand Nima Dorje was taken to the BirendraSainik Hospital in Chhauni where he spent45 days recuperating.

Nima Dorje was lucky he survived totell the tale. He was lucky his father was aformer pradhan pancha of Ryale and thehead lama of the village monastery, he waslucky his community rallied behind himand moved his case to the Supreme Court.Not many innocents detained on suspicionof being Maoist in Nepal these days are solucky. Nima Dorje was finally released twoweeks ago after the Supreme Court foundhim not guilty.

Dorje’s father Ram Bahadur Lamaapproached the Tamang Ghedung, anorganisation that looks after the welfare ofthe Tamang community, which contactedthe International Committee of the RedCross (ICRC). It was able to get Nima’smessages to his family. After he returnedfrom hospital to the army barrack he was

kept in isolation until 2 March 2004 andthen secretly transferred to CentralBhadragol Jail. But his family members hadno idea of his whereabouts.

“Even the CDO said he didn’t knowwhere my son was being kept,” says RamBahadur. The ICRC looked for Nima inNakkhu and Dilli Bajar and finally foundhim in Bhadragol where he was able to meethis father and family members– his wifeand three children.

The Tamang Ghedung with the help ofAmnesty International took Nima’s case tothe courts and he was released due to lackof evidence. “I was innocent. They torturedme to the point where I was contemplatingsuicide,” says a subdued Nima Dorje,“financial compensation is meaningless,they have to admit they made a mistake andapologise.”

Nima Dorje once worked in the army as aporter in the RNA’s lowest rung but quit in1999 to open a shop in his village. Till themurder of its VDC chairman, Ryale hadn’t

Nseen any rebel activity. A majority of thevillagers in this dairy-farming region areTamangs and most are either employed inKathmandu or working in India. The onlysign of any rebellion here is graffiti paintedon the walls of the local health centre. Itnow looks like non-Tamang residents whohad an axe to grind against Ram Bahadurtold the army that Nima was a Maoist.

Nima Dorje says he owes his survival insolitary confinement to his faith, he spenthis time reading and helping renovate agumba inside the prison. Ram Bahadurused to travel from Ryale to Central Jailtwice a week with food for his son andthese visits kept Nima’s morale up.

For someone who suffered injustice atthe hands of the very force he once served,there is in Nima Dorje a surprising lack ofbitterness. He also disagrees with theMaoist’s path of violence and says: “Bothsides are wrong, they should solve thiswithout violence and keep ordinary peoplelike us out of it.”

HOMECOMING: Father Ram Bahadurwelcomes Nima Dorje Lama after hisrelease (left) and Nima with his releaseorder.

un Kumar still shakes withfear as he recalls the nightthat the Maoist rebels

tortured and left him for dead inKailali when he refused to payRs100,000 and join them.

They dragged him out of hishome and beat him senseless.They clobbered the soles of hisfeet with heavy sticks andbrutally pounded him all overhis body with the butt of theirguns.

“When he came to us, he wasin a shocking state, he is lucky tohave survived,” says ArjunShrestha, a doctor at the Centrefor Victims of Torture (CVICT) inKathmandu. Over the past nineyears of conflict, non-combatantshave endured extreme torturewhich, if the victims survived,has left many crippled andmentally unstable.

The torturers are from boththe security forces and theMaoists, the victims are mostlycivilians. Activists and lawyerssay the most widely used formsof torture are beatings, electric

shocks, hooded or blindfolded forlong periods, crushing bones byrolling rocks on victim’s thighs.Other extreme forms of torturelike gouging eyes, cutting off bodyparts and dismemberment arecommon, and often precededeath.

The sketches of torturemethods displayed on the wallsof CVICT office are a shockingreminder of what Nepalis arecapable of doing to other Nepalis.Since 1996, the centre has treatedover 20,000 torture victims, over3,000 alone in 2004. So far, only107 of the victims have registeredtheir cases at the courts forcompensation. Only 19 were ableto win the cases filed throughCVICT. Even so, most haven’treceived compensation. “So fewwould have the courage to go tocourt to find justice. They are justtoo traumatised and fearful ofbeing tortured,” explainsDebendra Ale at CVICT.

“They said I would be buriedalive if I revealed anything,” saida former detainee on condition ofanonymity who was released aftertwo years in army detention in

Kathmandu. He was torturedseverely and asked to reveal thewhereabouts of Maoist leaders.He was just an ordinary villagerworking in a small grocery in thecapital, but had helped an ex-Maoist woman go to hospital fortreatment after she herself wastortured. Activists say while theMaoists have systematically usedtorture to terrorise people andstifle dissent, the state shouldhave been acting with muchmore responsibility.

“Many are even afraid to go todoctors and mention torturewhile undergoing medicalcheckups, the victims arethreatened not to reveal anyinformation,” says advocateMandira Sharma of AdvocacyForum which with CVICT hasbeen speaking out on the issue.According to an ongoing custodymonitoring in 10 districts, allindividuals detained under theTerrorist and DisruptiveActivities Act (TADA) have beentortured.

The 2002 TADA gave specialpowers to security forces to arrestanyone without any warrant if

suspected of being Maoists or asupporter. The human rightsgroup INSEC says there werenearly 3,430 arrests in 2002, thehighest ever recorded over thenine-year period since 1996. Ajoint study by CVICT andNational Human RightsCommission showed that most ofthose detained end up beingtortured despite constitutionalguarantee and ratification ofseveral international humanrights treaties. The report wasrecently submitted to ManfredNowak, the special rapporteur ontorture of the UN Commission onHuman Rights who is scheduledto visit Nepal in September.

“The special rapporteur takesthe initiative of approachinggovernments with a view tocarrying out visits to countries onwhich he has receivedinformation indicating theexistence of a significantincidence of torture,” explainsDavid Johnson, senior humanrights adviser of Office of the UNCommissioner for Human Rights.Nowak’s fact-finding trip is awake-up call to Nepal’s warring

sides that they ware beingwatched, say activists.

Activists want anindependent body toinvestigation torture cases andsay the government should repealor revise laws that undermineconstitutionally guaranteedprotections against human rightsviolations, such as the PublicSecurity Act, the Public Offenceand Punishment Act, the Anti-State Crimes and Penalties Actand TADA.

The UN is sending a special envoy to report on the rise in torture cases in Nepal’s conflictNARESH NEWAR

A tortured past and torturous future

FACT FINDER: UN SpecialRapporteur on torture, ManfredNowak, is visiting Nepal inSeptember.

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ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEY