Koirala to contest NC top job

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Nov 7 - It is official. Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala is standing for re-election as NC president after all.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the 76 year-old Koirala said he was seeking re-election to the party's topmost post "to fulfil many promises I made in the 9th General Convention".

Chief among those goals, Koirala said, is to better manage and strengthen the party. Also, a bill on political parties now pending in the Parliament, needed to be shepherded through the legislature, he said.

 "It is my responsibility to see through the Bill on Political Parties in the Parliament as I had initiated it," Koirala said.

The party president spoke of strengthening the party and move it in an organised way. "After the mid-term general elections (in 1994) I had pledged to take NC back to its old state (of strength). Although there has been progress, many things are yet to be done."

Koirala's announcement today puts an end to speculation that the NC strongman would retire due to old age. His entry into the party election fray is now certain to deepen the divide between his supporters and those of his rival and predecessor Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, and young Turk Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Many analysts believe that Koirala is standing for re-election to blunt the challenge from former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is almost certain to contest the top post himself. Without an alternative in the Koirala camp, anyone other than Koirala himself could find it tough competing against Deuba, analysts say.

For this reason, and to ensure that the leadership is handed down to someone closer to him when the time comes, is Koirala contesting again, they say.

At today's press conference, Koirala also threw some barbs at his detractors within the party. Speaking about the street protests by his partymen against his leadership, president Koirala said it was wrong to air party matters outside the party forum. "But if someone does it, as president it will not be proper for me to take any harsh measure."

As regarding criticism from the rebel group that Koirala's aides had tampered with the roll of active members of the party ahead of the general convention, the prime minister said that there were no such irregularities. He said the list has been checked several times to remove anomalies. "I have personally checked the lists of those districts where disputes have arisen to ensure fairness."

During the press conference, Koirala also indicated that he had changed his leadership philosophy. While once he campaigned for "one man, one post principle," he is now for "one man two posts," with apparently both the posts of party president and prime minister going to himself.   About the reshuffle in the Cabinet, PM Koirala said "everything will happen at its appropriate time".

Asked about the talks with the rebel Maoists, the prime minister said the door for dialogue was always open. On the now infamous Dinesh Sharma episode, PM Koirala said that the government had shown honest intentions. "Dinesh Sharma's later statement, in which he said that the earlier press conference was a forced one, could be concocted. If he had been under duress, then why didn't he state so in front of the media?"

Sharma and another rebel were released last week after a high voltage drama, in preparation of talks with the rebels. But the Maoists have brushed aside talking to the Koirala government for extracting a statement from Sharma.

Deuba criticizes Govt of inept handling

By Pradeep Silwal

KATHMANDU, Nov 7 - Former prime minister   Sher Bahadur Deuba today said the government could have saved itself from present embarrassment had it started dialogue with the Maoists through his committee instead of initiating parallel procedure.

Deuba, who is also the Convenor of High Level Recommendation Committee for Resolution of Maoist Problem(HLRCRP) severely criticized the government for squandering the opportunity for peace by inept handling of the matter.

Speaking to mediapersons after presenting the report to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Deuba said that the government had put him in a difficult position by starting a dialogue with the Maoists without even informing him.

"Maoist leadership had assured me that they would be ready to hold dialogue if the government made public the status of Maoist workers including Dinesh Sharma which I had immediately relayed to the PM. But the government has found itself in difficult position even after releasing him," Deuba said.

Human Rights activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar brokered informal dialogue with Maoist leadership at the behest of Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel but the peace overture turned into a fiasco after the government on last Friday staged denouncement of Maoist faith by its central committee member Dinesh Sharma and Dinanath Gautam. 

Deuba also did not let go the opportunity of hitting back at his detractors who termed his committee as a failure."Instead of preparing environment for the dialogue some of the persons in power labelled me as spokesman of the Maoists," he said.

Criticizing the government for failing to protect the life and property of the people, Deuba said even the police have not been able to feel secure let alone people living in far-flung places.

Talking about the Dunai incident where Maoists killed 16 policemen, he came down heavily on the government for its weakness and inefficiency. "The government had the knowledge that Maoists would attack Dunai five days before  the attack. If the government had made security preparations, government forces would have come out victorious. " He said, adding he could only feel pity for those who criticized him to conceal their indolence.

His party colleague and detractor, Govinda Raj Joshi, while announcing his resignation on Sept 29 from the post of Home Minister after 23 policemen were killed in Maoist attacks in Dunai and Lamjung, had castigated Deuba for failing to fulfil his duty and using the Maoists as trump cards for his political gains.

The....report presented after eight months has termed the Maoist insurgency as an activity with "political objectives" which has used "violent means" with an aim of establishing  a totalitarian state to replace the present polity of Nepal. The movement aimed to replace constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system has made Nepali Congress its prime target because N stands for these institutions, the report says.

The report states that the Maoist problem was not due to the failure of democracy rather it was the product of weaknesses in conducting the state affairs, instability as a result of frequent change within the government.

The report implies that the insurgency is a politically-motivated movement which has roots in unemployment, poverty and large scale failure of state machinery. The report however does not rule out the role of some vested interest to fan the fire of insurgency.

The report points out that security apparatus should be strengthened to give the feeling of security to the people and dialogue can be the immediate solution but the ultimate solution lies in removing all those economic and social causes which nurture the insurgency.

The nine member Deuba-commission was formed during the premiership of Krishna Prasad Bhattarai last year. The term of the Commission was not extended after that expired on Oct 16.

Nepal, a prospect for palaeontology

By Surendra Phuyal

KATHMANDU, Nov 7 - A group of scientists have come up with more specimens of million-years-old fossils of both large and small animals including hippopotamie, ancient horses and elephant-like animals from mid-western Nepal.

Fulbright Professor Dr Nina Jablonski of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, U.S.A. who headed the team, today said that her team has brought to light over 2,000 new fossil specimens, representing a wide variety of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals roaming the terrains of Nepal between eight and ten million years ago.

The fossils were found in and around the Siwalik (Churia) hills in Dang and Deukhuri valleys (of the mid-west) during the course of a palaeontological research project which has been going on since 1998. Other members of her team include, George Chaplin of the California Academy of Sciences and Dr Gudrun Corvinus, emeritus researcher of the Institute of Prehistory of the University of Earlangen, Germany.

"One of the most intriguing findings is that hundreds, if not thousands, of hippopotami roamed Nepal between five to ten million years back," Jablonski said at a talk programme organized here Tuesday by Department of Geological Sciences, Tribhuvan University.

She added, "They (the hippopotami) were very similar in their anatomies to that of those found in Africa today. We have found dozens of fossil specimens such as skull portions, isolated teeth and tusks of a variety of animals."

The team applied what Jablonski termed "paleo-magnetic method" to calculate the approximate age of the fossils most of which represent animal communities that lived near the shores of rivers and in backswamps. The communities were dominated by large catfish, fish eating gharials, snapping turtles and fish-eating snakes longer than six meters in length.

They also include a variety of mammals which favoured swampy forest habitats such as a primitive forest-loving rhinoceros, browsing gomphotheres (distinct relatives of modern elephants), small, hooved, deer-like animals called tragulids, and tree-dwelling squirrels, according to the scientists.

Jablonski said across the breadth of the Siwalik hills "which hang like a necklace around the Himalayas" are a series of geological deposits. "These deposits, which in some areas are over 5,000 meters in thickness, contain a near complete history of terrestrial life in Nepal from approximately 12 million years ago to the present," she added.

The fossils record an important interval in the history of South Asia, when the monsoon circulation was beginning to intensify, she said.

According to her, in the interval between eight to ten million years ago, the close, moist forest environments of ancient Nepal gave way to more open "mosaic habitats". This occurred as rainfall began to fall and temperatures began to fluctuate on a more strongly seasonal basis.

And these environments supported increasing numbers of animals that could survive in highly seasonal rivers and river margin habitats, such as the hippos, grazing bovids, three-toed horses, and large gharials and crocodiles.

But how did these animals become extinct?

Jablonski said "When river-margin environments became extremely seasonal about four to five million years ago, with greatly reduced waterflow and loss of verdant grassland margin in some months, hippopotami and other animals dependent on permanent water sources became extinct."

According to the scientists, although the animal fossils are easily found all across the Siwalik hills fossil primates that are distant cousins of humans are much rarer in the fossil deposits of Nepal. Only one fossil of an ancient ape, approximately nine million years old, has been recovered in Nepal, and that was in the mid-1970s by a team of researchers headed by Dr Robert West.

"Much more research on the pre-history life in Nepal remains to be done," Jablonski later told The Kathmandu Post. "Comparisons with sequences of fossils from other parts of South Asia will be particularly useful in demonstrating the history of the Asian monsoon."

Constitution or attitude, which needs changing?

By Binaj Gurubacharya

KATHMANDU, Nov 7 - Exactly a decade ago, a new Constitution guaranteeing multi-party democracy under a constitutional monarch was drafted, following a popular movement that toppled the Panchayati system.

Ten years later, it is still being assessed whether the Constitution that was drafted in 1990 needs changes or at least some amendments made to correct what some critics say still reflects the old system.

"There is no need to amend the Constitution of 1990. We need to follow both the spirit and the words in the Constitution instead of using just one of them when we need to," said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who has remained in power throughout most of the post-democratic years.

These ten years have seen both the bane and boon brought about by multi-party democracy that allowed people to elect their choice of government.

But during the same time period, a new force has also emerged -- a force which has refused to live under the Constitution. The Maoists rebels began their violent campaign demanding a republic state from the hills of midwest and central Nepal nearly five years ago.

The insurgency that began modestly has now developed into a situation that has cost the jobs of not only ministers and police chiefs but also a prime minister. Koirala's successor Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was ousted from power by his opponents in the party accusing him of failing to control the Maoist violence.

Although the rebels have been showing some interest in resolving the issue through dialogue over the past few weeks, they have not really agreed to abide by the present Constitution that the government has been demanding.

Successive governments have been saying that they are ready to talk with anyone, including the rebels, if they agreed to come to the table for dialogue under the Constitution.

"The Constitution can't be and should not be changed through an armed struggle. If there is such a need then there are other modes to do so," said Nilambar Acharya, who was in the group of experts that drafted the Constitution in 1990.

"I don't see the necessity to change the whole constitution but if there are some clauses that need to be amended then the government should form a body to review these clauses," he added. "It is not the Constitution but rather the attitude of the people that needs to be changed."

Acharya also pointed out that the Constitution has pointed out a bicameral parliament with the House of Representatives and the National Assembly. However, he commented that the Upper House has not been able to totally display its role in these years.

All the 205 members are elected to the House of Representatives while the National Assembly has members who are elected by their colleagues in the Lower House or are nominated by the King.

CPN-UML's central member, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, said that the Constitution has established a Constitutional Council that has the prime minister and the leader of the opposition too.

"This body is not really effective and does not reflect the purpose it was assigned instead it has become a place of bargaining," said Adhikari.

The Constitution did establish multi-party democracy giving way for various political parties and politicians. On the brighter side, people were finally allowed to choose their representatives...And, on the darker side, these people entrusted with the people's faith began to be enveloped in controversies and cases of corruption.

Reports of ministers and politicians amassing wealth beyond their capacity and capabilities have become common.

"In recent years, it is not the Constitution of the country but the Constitution of the political parties in power, that appear to be governing the nation," said Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki.

Man who sold 300 girls arrested

Post Report

BIRGUNJ, Nov 7 - District Police Office (DPO), Parsa arrested Dhan Bahadur Gurung, 45, a resident of Makwanpur district on Friday on charges of selling more than 300 women and girls. He is accused of luring them into prostitution by falsely promising marriage and job in the circuses in India. According to Govinda Acharya, Police Inspector at DPO, Gurung will either be prosecuted under human trafficking or under public offense crime.

Earlier, Police arrested Gurung also known as 'Junge', 'Mundre' and 'Chulthe' after parents and the guardians of more than 50 women and girls appealed to Maiti Nepal- Birgunj Unit to help rescue them, Goma Luitel, in-charge of Maiti Nepal-Birgunj told The Kathmandu Post. Before arresting Gurung, they had detained his wife Radha forcing him to surrender.

After his earlier arrest, he had agreed to escort the parents of women he had trafficked to India. Thirty-five parents of the victims agreed to accompany him to Birgunj and then to Raxaul, India. However, on the way to Calcutta via Patna, Gurung mysteriously disappeared. The people who had accompanied Gurung returned back and approached Maiti Nepal again. Then, initiatives were taken to distribute photos of Gurung to all units of Maiti Nepal for possible identification.

Thereafter, Shanti Lama of Makwanpur district, whose daughter Sangita had been trafficked by him, spotted him at Birgunj. Lama threatened him to report to the police unless he told her about her daughter's whereabouts. To appease Lama, he and his wife agreed to go to India in search of Lama's daughter. While crossing Inaruwa border, Gurung was identified by the vigilant Maiti Nepal workers and immediately arrested.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post in police custody, he said that he had kept a diary of record and the whereabouts of all the girls he has sold in India. He agreed to furnish the diary if he was released. Police have asked Gurung's wife to trace the girls sold by her husband in India.

The police and Maiti Nepal presume that Gurung has sold over 300 girls over a period of more than 10 years. None of them have returned home. However, two girls sold by Gurung - Lalita Pariyar and Shanti Tamang - have been rescued by Maiti Nepal from brothels in India.

"Even a death penalty for such criminals are not sufficient," Luitel says. She adds that 90 per cent of the Nepali girls taken to India are sexually exploited in one way or other.

Maoists hurl bomb at survey office

HETAUDA, Nov 7 (PR)- A group of Maoist rebels today hurled a bomb at the Survey Office in downtown Hetauda, destroying the doors and windows. No one was injured in the incident that took place at about 8 a.m. 

Chief of the Survey Office, estimated the property loss due to the bombing at about Rs 20,000. The bomb had been placed inside a pipeline. The bombing disrupted normal life in this bustling inner-Terai town for a short while as people were thrown into panic.

"There was smoke everywhere and the tracing machine and other equipment were destroyed," Arjun Shrestha, a security guard who was manning the office told The Kathmandu Post. Eyewitnesses said the rebels immediately fled the scene, littering the office premises with pro-Maoist pamphlets and public appeals. The rebels warned in the pamphlets that they would strike again if there was any evidence of mismanagement in any of the government offices.