Repatriation of Khudunabari refugees to begin by October

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KATHMANDU, Aug 23 – Nepal and Bhutan have agreed to begin the repatriation of Bhutanese refugees of Khudunabari camp by October, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said here today.

However, Nepal’s proposals to reduce the categories of the refugees into Bhutanese and non-Bhutanese was not accepted by Bhutan.

The verification will go further only after the completion of the process in one camp, Dr. Mahat told media persons at the airport. Minister Mahat arrived here today after a four-day 11th Ministerial Joint Committee (MJC) meeting in Thimpu.

The Finance Minister exuded the confidence that two neighbors have agreed to "accelerate the verification process" and said, "We expect that the verification process will now be two times faster or at least 80 per cent quicker than the current pace."

By the minister’s own estimation, the verification process alone could take three years by the time refugees of all the seven camps are verified. This is a sharp contrast to what the minister said before his departure to Thimpu. Dr Mahat had remarked earlier on Monday that "at the current pace of verification of the refugees, it would take at least six years to complete the process."

As a step towards achieving that goal, the two countries have decided to take the three measures – simplification of procedures, strengthening of the Joint Verification Team (JVT) and bifurcation of the JVT to conduct separate activities simultaneously.

Giving details on these measures, the Finance Minister said that the two sides would add one more member each to the existing 10-member Joint Verification Team (JVT) that is currently conducting the verification of refugees at the Khudunabari camp of Jhapa district in eastern Nepal.

The minister explained that family-wise orientation would not be necessary, as a member of a family would suffice at the time of the interview. Similarly, the JVT need not fill up the form of the refugees at the time of the verification. "Now a support staff can do that," said Dr Mahat.

Another significant agreement during the 11th MJC meet in Thimphu was delegation of more authority to the JVT. Now, the JVT can take minor decisions on disputes instead of referring them to the ministerial level.

Despite these agreements on speeding up the verification process, the MJC meeting failed to fulfill Nepal’s demand.

Minister Mahat admitted that Nepal and Bhutan have differences of opinion and interpretation on the categorization of the refugees.

At present, there are four categories – Bhutanese, non-Bhutanese, Bhutanese who willingly emigrated and the Bhutanese with criminal records.

Of late, Nepal has been insisting on retaining only the first two categories but Bhutan did not agree to Nepal’s proposal during the present meeting. Prior to his departure, Dr Mahat had said that Nepal would clearly push for reducing the categories to two.

Although the two sides failed to agree on reducing the number of the categories, they have agreed in principle "to harmonize their differences on this issue" at the Foreign Secretary level meeting which would take place "soon."

Highlighting the differences on categorization, the Minister admitted that the most contentious one was about those who left Bhutan "willingly." "We have urged Bhutan to consider the circumstances under which the Bhutanese (of Nepalese origin) had to leave their country," he said. "Our position is that they were forced to leave their homeland."

Dr Mahat said that the Druk Kingdom has showed a "flexible approach" on taking back those refugees too who can prove that they were forced to leave.

During his stay, the minister met Bhutan’s King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the head of the government and several high-ranking officials.

Govt, ANWA (R) may make breakthrough

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KATHMANDU, Aug 23 – The government and the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Women’s Association (Revolutionary) are very close to reach an agreement on regulating the production and sale of liquor, according to the third vice-president of the Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

"There is consensus on regulation," Chandiraj Dhakal told The Kathmandu Post, adding that only a formal announcement is due. "The businessmen need not fear now."

He was speaking at a programme organised by the FNCCI on the issue today.

The ANWA had launched an agitation on total ban on liquor sale throughout the country with their 22-point demand. It has already held several rounds of talks with the government which has agreed in principle to accommodate majority of these demands.

UML unveils 22-point proposal

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KATHMANDU, Aug 23 – The main opposition party in the parliament CPN-UML Thursday brought out a proposal titled "Proposal on Solving National Problems and Agreement" suggesting, among others, constitutional amendment, solving Maoist problem through all party meet and effective measures to curb corruption.

The meeting of the party’s central committee members endorsed the elaborate 22 points and appealed all political parties and the government to support and work towards implementing the proposal.

The points are divided into three categories- a) political and administrative b) economical and c) social and cultural.

The proposal suggests that the government should get consent of all the political parties and come to a conclusion. It also points that both Government and the Maoist leadership should be honest during the upcoming talks.

It also suggests that since the present constitution, in many ways, has been ineffective, should be some amendments in it. Stating, "since the general elections over the years have been more and more impartial, the people are losing their faith over the elected government," the proposal suggests formation of an interim government comprising of members from all parties in the parliament in order to conduct fair election.

It also suggests, among others, re-establishing and strengthening the rights of the Prime Minister, fixing the number of Ministers not more than 10 per cent of the total members in the Parliament, suspension of the government official accused by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and seizing properties assembled by unfair means if proven. Steps such as briefing the parliament before appointing head of any constitutional body and not letting heads of any constitutional body to stay in any profit-making organization and to make the legislation more effective have also been suggested in the proposal.

In measures to curb corruption the proposal suggests, among others, steps to make the CIAA more powerful and effective, to keep records of properties of all the people holding or who earlier held public posts and a way to seize all properties with unknown source of income.

Other suggestions in the proposal are- develop various other measures in order to conduct free and fair elections, make and implement laws and code of conduct for running political parties, make clean and dedicated administration and police force, curb corruption, decentralize and give more autonomy to local authorities, empower women, solve citizenship problems and make government media impartial.

The proposal also suggests review of economic policies and under that suggests separate measures for land reforms and industries, major steps for the backward communities, maintaining strict economic discipline and national policy on epidemics and droughts.

Measures in order to improve social justice, solve the problem of unemployment, end anomalies in the education sector, maintain law and order, introduce social security programs, provide quick justice, formulate balanced foreign policy and programs for national welfare.

The party has appealed the government and all the political parties and forces to give their consent and work towards implementing the proposal.

Deuba’s reform measures fraught with pitfalls

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, Aug 23 – Having stirred a hornet’s nest by his radical land reform announcement, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is now focussing his energy on shepherding the promised land reforms legislation through the parliament.

But the task ahead is not easy. A draft bill doing the rounds in the highest circles of government now proposes cutting the land-holding ceiling by more than half. This in itself guarantees that the protests against the reforms are only going to get louder, not muted, in the days to come.

Even Deuba’s close advisors admit that the political and legal hurdles in the immediate future could undo much of the spirit of the proposed measures.

"Now that the reforms have been announced the Prime Minister should guide it in two ways," says Dr Mrinendra Rizal, one of Deuba’s close economic advisors. "The government should ensure that agriculture productivity is not adversely affected. And we should also make certain that not too many people are hurt by the reforms." Both the tasks, Dr Rijal admits, are fraught with pitfalls.

The trouble is on several fronts. First there is the challenge in the Supreme Court to contend with. The challenge is based on two legal grounds: Was the policy carried out through due process of law, and whether it is constitutional at all? If the Court strikes down parts of Deuba’s policy, as many constitutional experts think it will, then land transactions can begin anew.

That would immediately free up large landowners to register land in the names of near and dear ones, practically allowing them to sidestep any drastic reduction in the land ceiling as promised by Deuba. It was to forestall exactly such a scenario that Deuba announced his land-sales freeze on August 16.

Then comes the political, social and economic hurdle. The initial euphoria over Deuba’s ascension to the premiership and his peace bid with the Maoist rebels have now given way to skepticism over his "appeasement" of the rebel leadership.

Critics charge that the Deuba government has failed to strengthen law and order even while Maoist-affiliated groups continue to go on a rampage in several towns, burning industries and smashing shops and restaurants in an attempt to control liquor sales. Added to this crisis is the political furore kicked off by the land reform measures.

The Terai-based Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) has been at the forefront of protests against the land-sale freeze and proposed reduction in land-holding ceilings. This is mainly because land, in agrarian Nepal, means much more than simple wealth, more so in the Terai which is the breadbasket of the nation. For many households in the Terai, it is also the essence of life, funding everything from social occasions to medical treatment to help serve as collateral on small loans.

These protests have now been joined by the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) some of whose members are the biggest landlords in the kingdom, thanks to their days as Panchayat bigwigs.

The demand by the two parties to put a cap on accumulating assets rather than a ceiling on land-holdings probably rings true to most ears, especially after the unbridled corruption of the past several decades which threw up an entirely new class of "nauveau rich" among the politically connected. But the parties are also attempting to spin the issue to their advantage. By tapping the reservoir of mistrust in the Terai over the land reform measures, both the political parties are eyeing local election, which is due in a little more than a year.

While Deuba could be eyeing the polls too, as some political analysts seem to think, his immediate concern has been the peace talks with the Maoists, who have, after all, always demanded radical solutions to the nation’s problems. By proposing radical land reforms, he has stolen the thunder from the Maoists and the opposition communists.

"These are after all exactly the sort of issues that compel common folk to join the Maoists," conceded Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. But experts argue this is the wrong approach.

"Nepali communists and socialists should grow out of the mindset that essentially believes in the socialism of poverty distribution," points out Dipak Gyawali, a resource economist and well-known expert on development issues. "It is time they begin to look forward to a more prosperous world that is based on the socialism of creating new wealth and distributing it equitably."

Gyawali cites the findings of Texas University professor Tomasson Januzzi who is considered an authority on land reforms due to his work on reforms in Latin America and the Marxist-ruled Indian State of West Bengal. Prof. Januzzi vehemently opposes ceilings on land-holdings as a measure of equitable distribution.

In the early 1990s, Januzzi was in Kathmandu to deliver a speech at the Godavari Almuni Association Forum, in which he had made the same arguments. According to Gyawali, Prof. Januzzi had then said: "no land reform with ceilings have worked anywhere in the world. In West Bengal, land reform has worked not because of ceilings, but by organizing land-less agricultural laborers which allows for better access to the produce of the land, as well as better return on labor."

And lastly, there is the problem of implementation which, if anything, is where the real trouble lies. In a country which is still trying to complete the implementation of the 2021 B.S. land reforms announced by King Mahendra, getting the "inefficient and corrupt" bureaucracy to effectively implement the new reforms is probably asking for too much.

"Just look at the mess we have made of the Sukumbasi Aayog (Land-less Settlers’ Commission),"says an expert who is close to the Prime Minister’s Office but disagrees with the proposed land-reform measures. "If we couldn’t efficiently distribute land to the land-less on a smaller scale in an apolitical way, imagine what the problems will be on a nation-wide scale."

Land owners warn of suicide

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BANKE, Aug 23 - Even before the government has enacted a law to lower the land-ceiling, several agitated land owners have threatened to commit suicide in a bid to protest against the recent decision of the government to fix a ceiling on land holdings, reports from the districts stated .

"First I will file a case against such decision and if I lost my fight to see other people assuming the ownership of my land, I will commit suicide," said Bholei Khan, a Zamindar (Land Lord).

Khan who owns 11 Bighas of land in Banke also possesses 26 Bighas of land in Bardia while 19 Bighas of his additional land is under dispute and currently in the court.

"I will never leave alive those taking my lands without giving back the compensation," he added.

In the village of Utharapaur, no one possesses more than 10 Bighas of land except Khan.

The locals, however, said that it was imperative that Kha’s extra ownership of such a vast land be curtailed down for the welfare of poor and miserable.

Sharif Nau, one among those feeling upbeat about the decision of the government to fix a ceiling said he would now be able to claim at least two Bighas of land. Sharif said he possesses not a single Bigha of land.

Hota Ram Bali of Nepalgunj-16 however, said he would sue the court to protect the land ownership right and fight back what he says "government’s politicization of lands."

Meanwhile, reports from Banke district stated that the number of those filing partition of property case has doubled following the declaration made of the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to enact a new law against land ownership’s.

A total of 78 cases related to land disputes have so far been registered in the districts while an additional 50 such cases were reported filed last Thursday alone, report states.

PM gives positive nod to players

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KATHMANDU, Aug 23 – The 8th South Asian Federation (SAF) Games gold medallists, who have been demanding the special rewards, met with the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at his office Thursday.

On the occasion, the players also handed over a memorandum to the Prime Minister, requesting for the rewards that they had been promised following their achievements in the 8th SAF Games.

Binod Shankar Palikhe, member-secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC), who headed the players’ delegation to the Prime Minister later talking to reporters, said Deuba promised to work out the details of where to allot land to the players within next few days.

"The Prime Minister has assured us to look into the matter as where to allocate land for the players," Palikhe said. According to Palikhe, the Prime Minister has said that telephone lines – one of the facilities that was promised to the players — could be arranged immediately.

The players, after the meeting that lasted fifteen minutes, also expressed satisfaction over the talk.

"PM has taken the matter positively," said Deepak Bista, a taekwondo gold medallist in the 8th SAF Games. "We hope that things would be resolved soon."

The players, who waited for almost two years, had threatened to boycott the 9th SAF Games, slated for October 6-15, unless their demands were fulfilled before the Games. They were promised of land, jobs and other facilities by then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai at the special function held in honour of medal winning players. Nepal won the unprecedented 65 medals, 31 of them golds in the 8th SAF Games.

Gajendra lost everything that night except the fear

By Seema A Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Aug 23 – Eight-year-old Gajendra Kumal is still in a trauma. He can not even explain properly what happened that night, the night he lost his right eye, ear and left limb.

"I was playing with my friends when he appeared before me with Khukuri and hit me," Gajendra speaks out in fits of pain from the hospital bed. He is undergoing treatment at the male surgical ward of Teaching Hospital here.

His Uncle Chuda Bahadur Kumal turned his sickle back to him not satiated after slaughtering four of his family members and two relatives like a wild beast.

Gajendra knows nothing. He was just playing in the courtyard when, suddenly, his uncle came out of his house and start hitting him. Today, Gajendra still do not know why all this happened. Even his innocence did not stop his uncle from using the dreaded Khukuri on him.

Bimala Kumal, mother of the lone surviving child in one the most ruthless incidents, said, "Chuda Bahadur must be hanged to death for the good of mankind." "If a person of blood-relation commits this sort of crime, one can trust no one in this world," she adds.

Murli Kumal was praying for long life of her husband during the Teej festival but her husband turned out to be a demon when he murdered her after she requested to go back to her parental home.

Thirty six-year-old Chuda Bahadur turned his house into a slaughter house killing his wife, daughter, mother, aunt and two other relatives on the eve of Teej- a festival during which wives are supposed to pray for the longevity of their husbands.

Wife Murli, 35, daughter Ranjeeta, 6, mother Khuiti, 53, aunt Kali, 84 and two of his relatives Dal Bahadur, 23, and Abishek, 10 were massacred within 15 minutes of time.

Chuda Bahadur is still missing despite a massive manhunt in Damauli where the incident took place on Monday.

A top health official at the Teaching Hospital said that the boy is still in a critical condition and one of his eyes has been removed. The operation ran for almost six hours.

Villagers, who had thronged the hospital in disbelief, say Chuda Bahadur had no criminal records before but had been fighting with his wife for several times. He used to behave very awkward and had violent manners.

Bimala laments that her son, studying in grade two, will never be able to live a normal life even after his recovery. Moreover, the reports from the hospital has neither confirmed his recovery nor any sign of improvement.

His relatives are scared to go back to the village. "This guy is still at large. We can not say when he strikes back," says one of this child’s relatives. They still fear that this man, who has already tasted the blood, can come back to wipe all the evidences. But they have a slight hope that the police will be able to nab this guy on time.

Businessmen to educate slum children

By Razen Manandhar

POKHARA, Aug 23 - The significance of this beautiful city lies not only on Mt Machhapuchhre and Phewa Lake but also on the kind-hearted businessmen, who have committed to contribute something from their capacity to educate the children of slum areas.

Members of Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI) have provided donations to run a programme in Pokhara, some 200 km. west of Kathmandu, to raise awareness of education among three-to-five-year-old children of slum areas.

Thirty-seven Bal Bagaichas (Gardens of Children) are running in Pokhara Sub-metropolitan City (PSC) that aims at providing pre-school education to the children whose poor parents do not show interest to send them to school. It was started on December 2000 with 14 such Bagaichas.

Jyoti Bishowkarma, one of the teachers, says when she started collecting the local children, she had to quarrel with the parents and their children for several months. She teaches around two dozen children of Shiva Tole of City Buspark, ward on 9 of PSC in her shed.

"Now at least the children come by themselves and say Namaste to me," she says.

The supervisor of Bal Bagaicha programme, Lekhnath Pokhrel said the poor families in the slum area are showing interest to enroll their children in schools or at least to send them to the Bagaicha "schools". "The poor society are showing some positive response in this area. Around 600 children are benefited by this programme and out of them, 170 have joined schools too," he adds.

Along with the rising urbanization, the population also is growing very fast in Pokhara. But the majority of the newly migrated population, living in outskirts hardly think about the education of their children.

According to the information provided by PCCI, around 20,000 children of schooling age are waiting to be enrolled in schools in PSC and adjoining Lekhnath Municipality with a total population of around 200,000. Chairman of PCCI, Basanta Udas says the chamber started the project with a feeling that the business houses also have some social responsibility.

"This is not a big donation. One Bagaicha needs Rs 10,000 annually, that is, a saving of Rs 28 daily is enough to show light to a score of poor children. We just want to given an example to the society that we can do some thing for our society," he says.

In these days, the Bagaichas are running with the fund generated by donations of Khetan Groups, Sangrila Hotel, Tiger Mountains including businessmen like Rajan Bataju, Dipak Shrestha, Ashok Palikhe, Shiv Lal Malla, Bishnu Bhattarai, Ramesh Chandra Pande and some others.

Udas adds, "We were very much inspired by the visit of Princess Anne of United Kingdom in Pokhara and the INGO called Save the Children UK. We also learned that some similar projects are running in Indian cities too."

He says the programme was launched almost suddenly by a meeting of some 20 corporate houses and PCCI and it needs further strengthening to make it long-lasting. Mayor of Lekhnath Municipality Shaligram Paudel says what PCCI is doing will certainly help the poor society, adding that the municipality also is launching similarly programme in the near future.

However, this Bal Bagaicha is not going to be the only businessmen’s contribution for long as they are now looking for donations from other social organizations like Rotary International, Lions Club and Ex-Gurkhas.

"We don’t think only businessmen can continue it forever as the business is slacken and there are pressures form everywhere for the businessmen."