Accidental blast kills six in Dang

By Khim Ghale

TULSIPUR (Dang), Dec 13 – At least six persons, five of a family, were killed when a powerful bomb exploded in a house at 11.30 p.m. at Batolpur village in Tulsipur Municipality on Wednesday night.

Three more persons are suspected buried in the house of one Bhagwati Chaudhari where the bomb went off. Chaudhari’s mother, son, and three daughters were killed in the blast. Another man’s identity could not be known. Chaudhari and other members of the family are safe.

According to Chaudhari, his son Shiv Kumar who had gone underground after joining the Maoists in early May, came to the house with three friends on Wednesday evening. "My son came with his three friends and asked us to go to sleep. Soon after the blast occurred and the house was completely damaged."

The villagers suspect that the bomb accidentally went off when Chaudhari’s son and his friends were making bombs. Police reached the spot today at 10 a.m. The fate of Shiv Kumar and his three friends is not yet known.

A neighbour said that the blast was so powerful that his bed flew in the air. "The whole village is eerily quiet. We have not even been able to see the site, said Gokul Giri. He added that after the blast, he and other neighbours rushed to the house and took two of the injured to a relative’s house where they succumbed to their injuries.

The police that arrived today morning took away the five bodies of the Chaudhari household. However, the unknown man’s body which is badly mangled could not be taken away.

Speaking to The Kathmandu Post, some of the villagers expressed apprehension about the impending police operation in the village.

Meanwhile, reports from Salyan said that all transportation along the Tulsipur-Salyan road remained closed for the past three days. The army closed all transport after two army men died in a crude land mine blast by suspected Maoists in Kapurkot in Salyan district, said an army source. The source added that the step was taken as precaution to protect the travellers. The army believes there could be more such land mines along the road.

HM, PM denounce

KATHMANDU, Dec 13 (PR) – His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, in separate messages, have both expressed "shock" on learning about the attack on the Indian Parliament by a group of gunmen.

A message by HM the King to the Indian President, K. R. Narayanan, reads that Nepal strongly condemns such heinous crimes and expresses belief that all countries must work together in combating and eliminating terrorism from the world, further calling it a "cowardly act of terrorism." "The government and people of Nepal, join us in conveying to your Excellency and, through you, to the government and people of India that Nepal stands by India in her fight against terrorism", His Majesty adds.

Likewise, PM Deuba states that His Majesty’s government strongly condemns the act of terrorism against a vital institution of democracy. "Nepal, which is itself a victim of terrorism, understands the cruelty of this heinous act…Such crimes perpetrated by terrorists elsewhere in the world reinforce our conviction that there is an urgent need for closer cooperation among all to eliminate this menace from the world," the statement reads.

20 days after the Black Night, Dang is still limping

By Tilak Pokharel & Sudarshan Rijal

GHORAHI, Dang, Dec 13 - Twenty days have passed since the Maoists, who are now labelled terrorists by the government, launched an audacious and well-co-ordinated attack on the army and police barracks here. And yet normalcy has not returned.

The erstwhile bustling township in the inner-Terai of west Nepal shuts down after dusk falls. Sounds of the dogs barking and the government’s security personnel walking down the streets, are all you can hear at night.

The Maoists broke the truce that held for several months on the night of November 23 by waging the attack—the first ever on the Royal Nepal Army since the Maoists’ violent uprising started in 1996

Almost all development works, businesses and financial transactions, have come to a virtual standstill. The Nepal Bank Limited (NBL), Dang branch, has not resumed transactions. According to Raj Kumar Shrestha, Deputy Chief of the branch, it will take at least two weeks for the bank to resume transactions.

Because of the financial jam in the bank, all the government offices, except the security and administration wings, have practically been unable to operate. This has meant that daily activities here have now almost come to a standstill.

The District Administration Office (DAO) from yesterday started issuing citizenship certificates, but in a limited number, said the DAO officials. At present, it has become the only facility the people are receiving from the state except for the beefed up security.

Separate groups of Maoists numbering 1,000-1,200 in each group had launched daring raids on the "black" night of November 23 on almost every government facility, which also included banks, offices and jails, not to mention the army barracks. In all, they killed at least 14 army men, nine policemen and three locals on that fateful night. They also looted cash and property worth Rs 100 million

Cash and property worth at least Rs 62.6 million, Rs 21.5 million and Rs 1.5 million were looted from the Nepal Bank Limited, Agriculture Development Bank and Rastriya Banijya Bank, respectively.

The DAO along with the District Police Office (DPO) is now being put up in a newly constructed building of the District Public Health Office located in front of the old DAO. One can easily see the holes in the windowpanes and bullet marks on the walls of the building.

Newly posted Chief District Officer (CDO) Madhav Sharma, Acting Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhakti Nath Majhi and Acting Senior SP KB Thapa (posted in the Regional Police Unit Office, Tulsipur), are working on a war footing to resume all the government works. According to Majhi, the next building for the DPO will be erected in a separate location nearby the present office.

Among the government and the semi-government offices of the district that have completely stopped functioning are some essential service institutions like the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) and Land Revenue Office (LRO). Sudhir Sharma, Acting Chief of the branch office of NEA, said the NEA used to collect average daily revenues amounting to Rs 80-85000

Meanwhile, the development works carried out by the District Irrigation Office and the Department of Roads, have also been severely hit.

According to Krishna Prasad Gautam, Land Revenue Officer of the LRO, the office will begin to operate only after at least six months. "The documents of the people of 25 Village Development Committees (VDCs) have completely been destroyed by the terrorists," said Gautam.

Chief of Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Tuka Raj Panta, said the office would possibly resume after one month if everything goes well. Ram Dayal Gupta, President of the Federation of the Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Dang branch, lamented that no body is interested in investing in any sector of the district, which has badly affected both import and export. "The commercial transactions have come down by at least 75-80 per cent," he said.

The DAO is now functioning from an open ground inside tents and huts that were hastily set up. CDO Sharma said the government has already sent the necessary budget for the maintenance and construction works.

Koirala against foreign investment in media

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 13 - Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Wednesday said that he would not allow foreign investment in Nepali media at any cost, which could become a threat to the country’s independence and existence.

"Accepting foreign investment in media is akin to losing national existence, sovereignty, national security and Nepalis’ independence," Koirala told the delegation of Nepal Media Society at his residence in Maharajganj. "I will not allow such grave thing to happen, which is like selling one’s country."

"Foreign investment is acceptable in sectors like hydropower in Nepal and other sectors in other countries which they deem necessary," Koirala said, adding, "There is no question of foreign investment in such sensitive sectors which could influence free flow of information."

"I have called Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to inquire on what the government is doing in such a serious issue," said an agitated Koirala, after knowing that there has already been a foreign investment in the Nepali media.

NC President told the delegation led by Pushkar Lal Shrestha, chief editor of Nepal Samacharpatra, that the government would soon come out with a policy regarding the foreign investment in the media, assuring the team that the policy would be against such investment.

Even the main opposition party CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal had earlier told the same delegation that foreign investment should not be allowed in the media. Nepal had then warned that if such permission is given, then it would be taken as a move against the national interest.

The delegation included Kailash Sirohiya and Binod Raj Gyawali of Kantipur Publications, Bahadur Krishna Tamrakar and Jamim Shah of Space Time Publications, Mahendra Sherchan and Purna Bahadur Rai of Utsarga Publications and Pashupati Murarka of Kamana Publication.

It’s not that cold, say weathermen

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Dec 13 – Although a cold wave has been sweeping the Terai (plains) in the past few days, the Meteorological and Forecasting Division (MFD) does not think it is time yet to ring the alarm bells.

Reports from Janakpur received on Thursday say that the cold wave started three days ago. Several domestic flights operated by the national flag carrier, Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation, had to be either rescheduled, suspended or even cancelled. The private airliner, Necon Air, too had to suspend its service to this Terai town for three days. It was only today that the Necon flight to Janakpur was resumed.

The Meteorological and Forecasting Division says that the cold at this time of the year has been keeping with the weather trends of recent years. Bijaya Kumar Vaidya, acting Deputy Director of the MFD, says that it is only perception that is making people feel "colder". "It was as cold last December, but people have forgotten that," said the meteorology official.

MFD data shows that the maximum temperature suddenly dipped last Saturday and Wednesday in Bhairahawa and Simra with the weather suddenly turning chilly. While the maximum temperature in Bhairahawa on Friday was 23.3 degree Celsius, the next day it was 17.7 degrees. Similarly, in Simra the temperature climbed down to 19.6 Celsius from 22 degrees.

Yesterday, Bhairahawa, Simra and Janakpur recorded 16.3 (down from 22.7 the previous day), 16.0 (down by eight degrees) and 17.6 degrees (down from 22.0 the previous day) respectively.

High winds with the speed of 200-250 nautical miles which blow freely in the absence of any friction have caused the severe cold to hit the Terai belt a bit ahead of the normal time of mid-December.

Another reason is the persistent fog that keeps the morning sky grey and gloomy, reinforcing the feeling that the cold is severe. This phenomenon of thick fog is a recent one, beginning only four years back, from 1997, says Vaidya. However he was not able to pin the cause behind this change.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology insists that the temperature is normal for the month of December. Today’s minimum temperature for Kathmandu was 3.2 degree Celsius, above the monthly average of 3.0 degree C. Data available at the MFD shows that the lowest temperature around this time of the year was recorded at –2 degree C in late December 1976 and 1977.

Vaidya says the real cold was just beginning and the minimum temperature was likely to dip further. He says if the foggy conditions are not cleared by either rainfall or by the high wind if it comes down which has not yet happened, the cold will increase.

The low level of the clouds, says Vaidya, is another reason for the excessive cold. This is particularly biting for the Terai population, who have to also deal with the western wind disturbance which is now causing extreme cold in the Afghanistan and Kashmir belt.

When asked about the chances of rainfall that could clear away the fog, the acting Deputy Director says that it was less likely to rain at this time. This means the present gloomy weather will continue.

"Let’s wait and watch for the next four to five days. We expect the weather to brighten up," Vaidya tries to be hopeful.

If the weather does not take a turn for the better, the worst hit would be the Terai areas. Other than the cold wave claiming lives, standing crops too could be damaged. It’s not that bleak for the people living in the mountains since the dense fog that torments Terai is not found there. Says Vaidya, "This is a unique feature. The mountains are not as affected as the plains."

Let the whiplash fall on shady manpower suppliers

By Manoj Rijal

KATHMANDU, Dec 13 - Who are those people or agencies responsible for the growing number of illegal Nepalese workers in Malaysia?

The answer is still not forthcoming even as more than 7000 illegal Nepalese workers in Malaysia await a grim fate. It will be the whip and deportation if Malaysian authorities find out that these workers are without the necessary permits.

Experts and those who follow the labour situation in Malaysia reiterate that a strong network of both Nepalese and foreign brokers is responsible for the plight of these migrant workers. This network, as recently reported, arranges everything—from preparing documents such as passports and visas to seeing the workers off at the Tribhuvan International Airport to the Thai capital of Bangkok; and then overseeing their arduous trip to different places in Malaysia.

"The brokers have a strong chain that supplies manpower to Malaysia through the back door. Malaysia is their happy hunting ground," says Keshar Karki who has been studying the living conditions of Nepalese labourers in Malaysia.

Till Thailand, the journey is easy, say those in the know. The Thail Embassy in Kathmandu is known to be not hard on visa seekers—whether tourist, trade or transit—and the procedure is simpler compared to other embassies.

"The workers’ real journey to Malaysia begins from the Bangkok airport," says Karki who is recently back from Kuala Lumpur. ">From there the migrant workers travel by bus and then on foot to reach the Thailand-Malaysia border, which is heavily forested. The first brokers then hand over the manpower to other brokers. Brokers could be both Nepalese or of local origin," reports Karki.

All the way, it is a tough ride for the Nepalese worker. Several bitter experiences are narrated. There are many Nepalese labourers now spending time in Malaysian jails. These are the unlucky ones mostly caught by the local cops who are not on the payroll of the manpower brokers.

Pratap Rana Magar, a resident of Dharan who crossed the Thai border to illegally enter Malaysia, says that he was caught by the local police and had to spend a year in jail under the most difficult circumstances. But Magar managed to escape.

"Along with some friends I managed to escape from the jail which was surrounded by a dense forest, and somehow made it to the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Bangkok," recalls Magar. "The Embassy helped us get back home. I will now go to Malaysia only with valid documents."

But the Nepal government’s department of Labour says such infiltration no longer takes place. "Before Malaysia declared Nepal as a source country for supplying manpower some six months ago, the possibility of human smuggling might have been there. But things have changed now, the government is determined to bring such practices to a halt if they really exist," says Lalit Bahadur Thapa, Director General at the Department of Labour.

NAFEA (Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies), the apex body of the country’s manpower suppliers, also denies that Nepalese manpower agencies have been supplying illegal labour to Malaysia. Dan Bahadur Tamang, President of NAFEA, says he does not know any agency that has been guilty of such acts. He also says that the government has not provided his organisation with any right to regulate the manpower flow.

But the fact is there are over 7,000 Nepalese workers across Malaysia who don’t have legal documents for their stay. The all-important questions now are: Will they be rescued, and the people and agencies who got them there, brought to the book?