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Unbridled Horse?
 I read the cover story of this issue “Legislative Adventurism” (June 16) and I found the present House of Representative is like an unbridled horse. It is making its own decisions one after another only to show how supreme it is. Because the members now seem to be afraid that the credit may go to the Maoists for the present situation of Nepal . Their flow of decisions proves that such decisions could have been taken when the parties were in the power for 12 years. They should not forget that the house is for the short time. And its declaration will not be counted for long time in future. So it is useless to take any crucial decision. To claim oneself as the sovereign either by the king or by the parliament is unconstitutional practice.
Suman Gurung
Balaju
Be Careful
The cover story last week on the SPOTLIGHT depressed me a lot as I came to know that the parliament has taken decisions to make the judges take an oath to be responsible towards their duty in front of the unauthorized house which may dissolve at any time “Legislative Adventurism (June 16). Instead of taking any decision they should concentrate on how to make the peace talk successful and think about the process of constituent assembly because they are more important.
Indra Shrestha
Chyasal
Will Prachanda Take Up Responsibility?
The Maoists in Nepal waged a decade-long war and succeeded, at least, in dislodging the atrophied and out-dated regime but their mission to control the nation politically is yet to be achieved. Now the Maoist rebel chief Prachanda has agreed to participate in the political process of Nepal on June 16, 2006 . But Prachanda could also repeat the mistake made by some of the Indian leaders if he does not aspire to become the chief executive of Nepal . In India Mahatma Gandhi (mainly responsible for the partition of India) and so called 'Hindu Hriday Samrat' Bala Sahib Thackeray of Shiv Sena both wasted vast political assets and potentialities at their command simply due to the reason that they wanted remote control on Governments and never aspired to take up the responsibility of the governance as P.M. of India (whether Sonia Gandhi will be the third such failed Indian leader with penchant for remote control, will be clear by next Parliamentary elections). Moreover, Prachanda will succeed in his new role as Chief Executive of Nepal only when he transforms his Maoists into a political party keeping in mind that in the contemporary and democratic world a political party ought to be almost an alternative to religion with humanism at its core.
Hem Raj Jain
Bangalore , INDIA
Taxing Tourists
While elsewhere there are made agreements by the Maoist leadership, down to the road, the situation appears quite different. While announcing not to force any donation to them, the Maoists on the ground not only violate their own commitments with their fellow citizen, they also go ahead with harassing simple tourists just at a time when the confidence that Nepal might be now safer for them is increasing. So just happened on June 16 to a group of Italian-Dutch tourists. The tourists were returning form a trip to Mt. Kailash when they were suddenly stopped at midway between Kathmandu and Kodari. Stunned by a young boy who stopped their vehicle coming out of a makeshift hut similar to those of the Nepal Police, the boy, accompanied by an elder one in military outfit made them understand that they were passing a Maoist check post and that they have to pay Rs 5,000 in order to be allowed to proceed. Kristin Blanke, the tour-leader, was then involved in a bargain talk which started at a whopping Rs 5000 for the group of six and ended at a compromise of Rs 2500. The Maoists even gave a receipt for the payment, but refused to acknowledge the public announcement that Maoists would not enforce payment unless someone wanted freely to donate to them. In a clear violation of their leaderships’ repeated announcement, the somewhat frightened tourists after handing the money to the Maoists, then returned quite upset back to Kathmandu , as their journey came to a bitter end.
Navyo Eller
Chhauni
Optimism For Restructuring
Nepali political scenario is all set to reshape its structure following the agreement between the parties and the Maoists. This has raised optimism among the people regarding the reestablishment of peace in the country. The negotiation between them seems to give a new direction to take the country towards the solution. Their eight-point agreement especially regarding the holding of constituent assembly has increased hope among the general people. To get to their destination both the Maoists and seven party alliance are ready to dissolve the house of representative and the people’s government. This I think could be the beginning of the end of conflict in Nepal .
Bishal Thapa
Putalisadak
Needed Campaign
I read the article “Risk Reduction” (June 16). I am very impressed by the program adopted by Nepal Youth Society (NYS) to distribute condoms at the petrol pumps free of cost. It is clear that their target groups are drivers, commercial sex workers and the carpet workers who need it the most. Because they are migrant people and the only possible way to communicate with them is by this recent program held by NYS, I think it is really a clever trick to communicate with such people to change their habit of having unsafe sex and to reduce the dangerous diseases like HIV/AIDS/STI.
Ankur Basnet
Sallaghari
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