Maoists  not talking with 'present' Govt

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Nov 4 - Maoist leadership is eager to sit on the dialogue table but not with the present Girija Prasad Koirala government, said a top leader of the underground Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) Saturday.

"We reiterate our commitment to continuing the process of talks to all political forces and personalities," said Pushpa Kamal Dahal a.k.a. Comrade Prachanda, general secretary of the party, adding "we appeal to all concerned to fight the anti-people policies of the government."

In a signed press statement, Prachanda came down heavily on the Girija government by accusing it of "utter dishonesty".

 "Instead of making public the whereabouts of our missing men, ending state terror and expressing commitment for talks," said Prachanda, "the government made the two (Maoists Dinesh Sharma and Dinanath Gautam) babble for its petty political selfishness."

On Friday, the government presented two top Maoist rebels before the press, fulfilling one of the key demands put forward by the rebel group. The two rebels were made to renounce violence, just when the 3 p.m. deadline set by Prachanda was nearing expiry yesterday. Making Sharma public, who is a central committee member of the Maoist party, and other captured rebels' whereabouts was one of the key demands put forward by Prachanda in his ultimatum.

But soon after they were made public, the two rebel leaders were freed. It is unclear whether the government released them or whether they were facilitated to "escape."

"The possibility of our party talking with the government and our faith in it is nearly over," added Prachanda.

The Maoist leader's views echoed what Padma Ratna Tuladhar, the former lawmaker and human rights activist, who set up last week's meeting between the government and Maoists, had said earlier this morning.

"The chances of dialogue are over for the time being," Tuladhar told The Kathmandu Post today. "Had yesterday's dramatic and foolish action of the government not taken place, the agreement on the date(s) for the official talks was almost certain."

"Since the government has betrayed the trust, thereby jeopardising the talks with the rebels, it should express public apology," said Tuladhar. "An excellent opportunity to resolve insurgency has been lost. Instead of strengthening its bargaining power, the government has become a big loser."

Speaking about Dinesh Sharma and Dinanath Gautam, whose whereabouts are not known after the government released them following the press conference, Tuladhar said the Maoist central leadership had not yet conveyed to him if the duo had re-joined them. "It is possible that the two rebels might have been re-arrested after yesterday's drama."

The Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel, said Tuladhar, had confirmed to him that the two had indeed been released yesterday. "The two Maoists should have been handed to human rights activist and since it was not done, this raises doubts about the government's intention," Tuladhar added.

Tuladhar also informed that the Maoist leadership had given him a list of 71 missing rebels, with more such lists coming, to be given to the government. "I handed it to DPM Poudel yesterday. However, that was before yesterday's farce."

According to Tuladhar, another casualty due to yesterday's development has been a South Asia-Pacific seminar of the country's human rights organisations at Dhulikhel next Saturday. The former lawmaker also said that he would retry for dialogue between the two sides.

Meanwhile, the grouping of nine left parties Saturday criticised the government's move to release Sharma and Gautam, terming it "dramatic and conspiratorial". In a press release, the parties asked the government to involve in talks with the Maoists after making the atmosphere "trustworthy".

The ball is now in Maoist court: PM
DPM warns of stern action if rebels reject peace offer

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Nov 4 - A day after presenting two top Maoist leaders to the press and supposedly releasing them, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his deputy Ram Chandra Poudel hinted that the government is awaiting the Maoists' response for talks. 

"The government has fulfilled their demand. Now it is totally up to them  (Maoists) - to sit or not to sit for talks," said Koirala talking to journalists at his residence in Biratnagar today according to our correspondent Bikas Thapa.

Koirala said that the government had "done its duty" by fulfilling the demand of Maoist insurgents to make the whereabouts of the rebels public. "If the dialogues cannot take place even now, there can be no peaceful remedy to the problem," said Koirala.

In a dramatic twist of events last Friday, two of the Maoist leaders - Dinesh Sharma and Dinanath Gautam - were presented to the press and later freed. They immediately went on to refute their earlier statements where both had said that they were renouncing violence. 

Likewise, while talking about his candidacy in the upcoming party general convention, Koirala said, "it will largely depend on time and circumstances." 

When further asked for his reactions to the statement of his rival and former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, which came out yesterday, Koirala said that he had "nothing to say".

Meanwhile, our correspondent Kul Chandra Neupane writes from Damauli: Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel said that the government would resort to stern counterattack against the Maoist rebels if they refrained from a peace overture.

Stating that the government revealed the status of the Maoist leaders to pave the way for formal talks with them, DPM Poudel said that "the government has already fulfilled its duty. We have to see what the other side's response is."

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a suspension bridge over the Trishuli river linking Warn No. 9 of Devghat VDC, Tanahu and Ward No. 4 of Kabilas VDC, Chitwan district, DPM Poudel warned the rebels,"The government will use socio-economic and security apparatus under its disposal against them (rebels) if they once again attempt to hoodwink the government."

"The government will never lag behind in accomplishing its responsibility and will also not shy away from its duty," Poudel said, adding that if the Maoists shun the government's generous offer of peaceful talks, the government will not retreat from tackling them.

PM Koirala hints revival of Panchayati admin structure

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Nov 4 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today stressed the need to revive zonal administrative structure which was annulled after the restoration of democracy in 1990.

"The zonal administrative structure should be revived to make efficient the civil administration which is eroding," PM Koirala said, adding "if this structure was in force, Maoists would not get chance to grow."

Speaking at the sixth national convention and ninth general assemble of Public Administration Association of Nepal (PAAN), the PM said Deputy Inspector General of Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police stationed in districts sometimes do not follow the directives of the Chief District Officer because of ego factor among them.

There are 14 zones in Nepal and each had zone-in-charge as the chief administrator to govern the zone, during the Panchayat regime.

"When we took over Panchayat system, we democrats left everything including many good things of those times," he added, "zonal structure was one of those good things."

PM Koirala said, we should act on to make administrative system transparent. "This enemy (corruption) has been deep rooted in our administration," he said.

The PM lamented that when one is given power, he thinks and acts in such a way that he is the "super government". "How to correct it?" he questioned, adding "this is the main challenge of the country now."

He also said that the psychological gap between the civil service and politics had created an environment of distrust yielding great havoc within the civil administration.

Speaking at the convention with the theme "developing new administrative culture in the context of good governance", president of PAAN Prof Mahendra Narayan Mishra said, though we have sufficient human and material resources, we have failed to ensure the good governance because of something amiss in the whole governing system.

Former president of PAAN Prof Chuda Raj Upreti said that the term "good governance" had remained a buzzword despite reflecting the spirit of the virtues of good governance into action.

Rhino translocation program on cards

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Nov 4 - Come November 19, conservation officials will brace themselves for one more rhino translocation program.

Hot on the heels of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature)'s annual conference which will come to an end on November 17, the officials this time are in to translocate ten more rhinos from Chitwan to Bardia and Shukla Phant parks in the western Terai.

"We are planning to translocate four rhinos to Shukla Phanta (Wildlife Reserve in Kanchanpur) and six rhinos to Bardia (National Park)," said Dr Chandra Gurung, WWF Country Representative to Nepal. "We want to create a second major habitat of the one-horned rhinos there."

Nearly a dozen elephants, and several wildlife experts will be mobilized in the translocation programme which is being organized jointly by WWF and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC).

Altogether 612 one-horned rhinos survive in three national parks in the country's southern plains, according to a census conducted in May. Of them, 544 are in Chitwan National Park, one of the world's best rhino habitats, included in the list of UNESCO World Heritages, while 67 others are in Bardia National Park, and one more in Royal Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve in the far-west.

While the Bardia population of rhinos is the result of several translocation programmes - the first of which was conducted in 1986, officials say the Shukla Phanta rhino came from an Indian national park. Shukla Phanta adjoins India's Dhudwa and Katraniaghat parks.

Dr Gurung said emphasis has been laid on "landscape-level conservation" as Nepal's Terai-Duar Savannas and Grasslands is one of WWF's Global 200 Ecoregions. Various projects are underway to maintain forest corridors linking the parks of Nepal and India, he added.  

Experts say, Babai Valley of Bardia and the grasslands of Shukla Phanta have the potential to become good habitats for the critically endangered pachyderms. 

The one-horned rhino, which was found in abundance from Pakistan to Myanmar at the turn of the last century, today survive only in a handful of protected areas in India's West Bengal and Assam states, and Nepal. Their population in the said Indian states stands at 1300. 

In 1950, according to data made available by DNPWC, rhino population stood at 800 in Chitwan. But the population declined drastically in the following years, due to  rampant poaching. The population declined from 300 in 1959 to a mere 100 in 1966.

The population, however, started to increase after the government declared the Chitwan habitat as Nepal's first national park in the mid-1970s. The resurgent population reached 300 in 1978.

ASK your inner self, you can quit drugs

By Tilak Pokharel

KATHMANDU, Nov 4 - A MBBS doctor in his late 30s is in a rehabilitation centre, not because he is a physician but because he is one of the 27 drug addicts admitted there for treatment.

Dr Sushil Narayan of Dhanusha district was brought to Aasara Sudhar Kendra (ASK), a residential camp for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts run by Police Family Women's Association (PFWA), seven months ago. A chronic alcoholic, he was admitted to ASK by his father-in-law, an Indian citizen.

Officials at the centre say, Narayan has still not admitted that he is an addict. "He often shows abnormal behaviours," says Narendra Nath Bhattarai, chief counsellor at the centre. "But there is still hope."

According to him, prior to admitting him at ASK, Narayan's family members had him treated at various hospitals and rehabilitations centres in India.

And, Narayan is not the only one who is gradually recovering in this rehabilitation centre, situated at Ranibari, Maharajgunj. Doctors and Counsellors attending the drug addicts say that other patients too are responding well to the treatment.

Prachand Pandey, 30, an alcoholic from Dhangadhi, says he is slowly realizing that his past habits were wrong. "I came here to protect myself and my family," adds the father of two children. "Now that I no longer feel like taking alcohol, I am in a position to return home and start a new life."

Pandey was brought here after his treatment at a private rehabilitation centre in Pokhara failed to yield good results. "Rules were flexible in Pokhara where we could easily get doses of drugs from outside," he said. "But here the rules are really strict, and this has helped us a lot."

Established in September 1997, altogether 464 drug addicts and alcoholics have already returned after attending up to three-month-long treatment and rehabilitation camps, according to data made available by ASK officials. And officials say almost 35 per cent of them been completely cured and are spending normal life again.

Currently, 15 police personnel including one inspector and three sub-inspectors are manning the centre along with doctors and counsellors.

Officials say not all the drug addicts come here voluntarily. According to Sabita Shah, Secretary of the Centre, only one in every nine addicts visit the rehabilitation centre on their own. "While the rest are those forcefully brought here, who seldom realize their mistakes," she adds.

"Such addicts do not get well that easily," says another counsellor Chandra Prasad Ghimire stressing that "such people need rigorous counselling from their near and dear ones and parents for effective rehabilitation."

Experts estimate that there are 50,000 drug addicts in Nepal and 40 per cent of them are intravenous drug users. Anita Shrestha, assistant social analyst at Richmond Fellowship, who is working with female drug addicts, says that three per cent of them are female.

Dr Pramod Gautam, a Yoga therapist at Arogya Ashram and at ASK, says that joint family system would effectively prevent children from being an addict because there would be many eyes to keep a watch over them.