A devotee cleaning the statue of Kal Bhairab in Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu.

UML starts Mechi to Mahakali march

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BHADRAPUR, Jan 10 - The Mechi-Mahakali procession organised under the auspices of Communist Party of Nepal (UML) started from Bhadrapur, located on the Mechi river bank, at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. The procession was aimed at fostering communal harmony and goodwill and to protest against communal clashes that have occurred recently in the country.

Speaking at a brief ceremony on behalf of CPN (UML) before the procession started, National Assembly member Dev Raj Ghimire said the procession was organised to protest against the malicious efforts of those trying to spread communal conflict

in the name of "Madhise" and "Pahade" by infiltrating the protest programmes which was sparked following rumours of the alleged statement of an Indian actor.

MP Lal Babu Pundit said the programme was organized to protest against efforts to negate the achievements made after the people’s revolution of 2046 BS, and to divide the people living in the hills and the Terai for political reasons. He added that the main objective was to cement the feeling that all the people living in the hills, Terai, Himalayan region and valley belonged to the same Nepali nation.

Six MPs including Lal Babu Pundit, Dev Raj Ghimire, Dr Bamsidhar Mishra, Mahendra Raya, Yogendra Narayan Yadav and Jagadish Saha took part in the procession.

The participants of the procession will pass through Biratnagar in Morang district, Inaruwa and Bhantabari in Sunsari district and reach Rajbiraj in Saptari district on Wednesday. They will then move ahead through Siraha, Dhanusha, Mahottari and Sarlahi districts and reach Rautahat district on 2nd of Magh and participate in a mass meeting to be held at Gadura. The team which set off from Mahakali on Wednesday will also arrive at Rautahat and meet the team coming from Mechi.

Man punished for taking other's wife

NUWAKOT, Jan 10 (PR)- A man who fled his village with the wife of a neigbour has been punished and the woman has been returned to her husband by a local club.

Ram Krishna Shrestha, 60 of Naubise, ward No 3 in Samundratar VDC, left the village, persuading Malati Tamang, mother of three children, to elope with him. They headed for Kathmandu where they stayed for a month.

Mangal Tamang, husband of Malati Tamang, made a verbal complaint to the local Bal Kalyan Club that his wife was forcibly taken from him by Ram Krishna Shrestha who had beaten and terrorized her.

With the help of local people, the club arrested them, smeared black soot on Shrestha’s face, beat him with wet nettle and returned Malati to her husband, club member Sagar Tamang said.

Malati had eloped with Shrestha as her husband used to drink alcohol every day, snatch her ornaments, beat her and go about in the village creating a disturbance.

The club warned Shrestha not to take advantage of the weaknesses of other men, and Tamang not to behave in such a way which would force his wife into the arms of another man. The club has been punishing such men and women since its inception.

Dang festival to be held

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TULSIPUR, Jan 10 - Dang Cultural Festival Committee, in its meeting held here Wednesday, decided that this year’s Dang festival will be held in Tulsipur municipality.

According to officiating Local Development Officer in Dang DDC, Bel Bahadur Bhujel, different sub-committees were drawn up and assigned different tasks at the meeting.

DDC vice-president, Khaga Raj Pandey, heads the programme sub-committee, Nepal Journalists Federtion District President, Sushil Gautam, heads the Publicity Sub-Committee and Deputy Mayor of Tulsipur municipality, Ghana Shyam Pandey, heads the Dais Sub-mmittee.

The festival will be held on the occasion of "Basant Panchami" in about three weeks’ time. A variety of pageants with a view to introducing Dang district will be presented to the audience.

Marijuana cultivated in 40 pc land in Parsa

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BIRGUNJ, Jan 10 - A recent estimate in Parsa shows that about 40 percent of the cultivated land in the district is under marijuana cultivation. The situation is so grim that the latest police team deployed to destroy the crop returned after they were forced to abandon the task.

Speaking to the The Kathmandu Post correspondent of CDO Dolakh Bahadur Gurung said, "It was not completely destroyed, the task has been handed over to the local police posts to finish it."

Gurung claimed that the three teams deputed to do the task had been successful in destroying about 8000 ropanis of marijuana cultivation, while only 200 to 400 ropanis remains to be destroyed. The local journalists are not ready to believe the administration’s claim that marijuana cultivation has almost been destroyed. Says Shatrughan Nepal of the Nepal Journalist Federation, "The administration has denied security to journalists trying to investigate marijuana plantations in the villages. This effectively proves the existence of illegal cultivation."

Observers believe that marijuana is still grown in at least 5000 ropanis in about a dozen villages, despite official attempts to curb the cultivation. According to a police source, the last batch of about a hundred men deputed to put an end to marijuana cultivation was ordered to go back before the task was completed, as smugglers had bribed the police administration against further action.

According to the cultivators, one ropani of land produces 30 kilograms of quality marijuana, which fetches around Rs two thousand a kilo in the market. Marijuana is planted during the months of July and August and is harvested by January.

A cut marijuana plant must be burnt to prevent it from being used as a psychotropic drug. Critics allege that officials simply get the crop cut in the name of destroying it, which in a way becomes a harvest-help, as the crop is still good for use.

Awards announced

KATHMANDU, Jan 10 (PR)- A meeting of Central Management Committee of Ratna Bal Kosh (BRK) decided to jointly award the Mela, a children’s monthly magazine, and Chichila Bal Sahitya Tatha Chitra Masik, with this year’s Excellent Children Magazine Award, said a BRK press release issued here today.

Meanwhile, the meeting also decided to award Rejina Pandey with Excellent Child Writer Award for her anthology of peoms called Abiral Panahuru. Bishwombhar Chanchal was decided to be awarded for his special contribution in the field of child literature, the release added.

According to the release, the meeting also decided to give away the letters of appreciation to Bal Saathi, a tri-monthly children’ magazine, and Putali, a collection of children’s songs.

No cheers in Thamel on millennium night

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, Jan 10 - Four glum faces stared at the quivering candle in a dilapidated Thamel bar at mid-night, December 31, 2000. The occasion, you guessed it, was the beginning of the New Year ten days ago.

At exactly midnight, the manager-cum-owner of the bar huddled towards the switchboards. He flickered the lights just a little, looked around, and croaked in a hush hush tone, "Happy New Year to our dear guests and patrons. Please enjoy." The dear guests and patrons, unusually few for the occasion, nodded their heads, raised their glasses and counter-croaked in unison: Happy New Year.

Happy New Year? Didn’t someone say somewhere that this was the real start of Christianity’s Third Millennium?

Never mind that most of the world celebrated that auspicious occasion only a year ago with the usual drinking and dancing and merry-making. But that does not diminish the importance of Jan 1, 2001, does it, when the real Third Millennium kicked off in earnest, as the purists say.

Come to think of it, weren’t there those happy-go-lucky crowd at Nagarkot, brought there by some enterprising local youths intent on networking, from where they claimed you could watch the first rays of the sun in the new millennium? And thousands did come, didn’t they?

Yes, it all happened on December 31, 1999. This year’s celebrations were only a poor repetition, in spite of this being the real New Millennium. And how did we celebrate this beginning? With ignorance in most cases, but largely with fear as the glum faces that night testified.

With Kathmandu shut-down with violent protests and bandhs, very few restaurant-wallahs, even at the normally free-wheeling Thamel area, were taking any chances. It was a dull beginning to the New Millennium alright, but a New Millennium nevertheless. One which Kathmanduites, at least - and maybe Hrithik Roshan too - will never forget.

Pity that it had to be so. Comes as a surprise but it’s true that at the real dawn of the New Millennium, less whisky, beer, gin, rum, vodka (you name it) were downed per capita in Kathmandu than on any normal day. There was also less consumption of bone-less chicken chillies and mutton sekuwas than a regular week-day. And this was the New Millennium, let’s not forget.

But forget we did. Remember that most Nepalis, at least those who were aware of it, already celebrated their own beginning of the Third Millennium more than 57 years ago. It is, after all, nearly 2058 B.S. here.

Landless people to receive land

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BIRGUNJ, Jan 10 - The Commission for Resolving the Problems of Landless Squatters, Parsa District Committee formed here last year has decided to distribute land to 197 landless people in three VDCs of the district.

The committee has decided to distribute land in Ramgadhawa VDC located in Constituency No 1, Bagwanna VDC in Constituency No 2 and Dhobini VDC in Constituency No 4, Vice-President of the district committee Prakash Upadhyaya told The Kathmandu Post on Tuesday.

The president of the committee, Dinanath Shah, has gone to Kathmandu to get the decision endorsed by the Ministry. Upadhyaya said that the distribution of the land would begin in the third week of January.

District secretary of the Commission, Ramchandara Mishra, said records of more than 90 per cent of land and landless people had been verified and distribution of land would begin in the near future.

The Commission has also been distributing illegally-occupied land as well as new plots of land, according to Upadhyaya.

Alcohol sales drop in Gulmi

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GULMI, Tamghas, Jan 10 - Alcohol sales have slumped sharply in this hill district after underground Maoists intensified an anti-alcohol campaign across the district, according to reports.

The alcohol trade in the district diminished after the Maoists destroyed a large store of alcohol worth Rs hundreds of thousands at Khaireni bazaar in the second week of December, claiming that the sale of alcohol resulted in economic loss and social aberrations. The district is considered to be one of the highest alcohol consuming districts in the country.

The alcohol dealers said they had no alternative but to hide their alcohol after the rebels started to destoy the product.

District headquarters-based dealer of Shri Distillery, Dilliraj Bhusal, said if the situation continued for a couple of months more, future of the alcohol trade would be bleak. Bhusal said he used to sell his brand equivalent to Rs one million each month. These days, alcohol sales have declined to a mere few hundred thousands rupees.

Gomraj Shrestha, dealer of Jawalakhel and Mount Everest Brewery, said that due to the Maoist campaign in each village, retailers were asking him to take his products back, let alone the payment of the alcohol. "We are thinking of closing down our business," Shrestha said.

Mrigendra Shrestha of Tribeni Distillery also has a similar story to tell. Mrihendra said that he had stopped bringing in the liquor from his distillery as its sales was so badly affected. Even the hoteliers in the distract headquarters are reluctant to decorate their racks with liquor bottles, a local hotelier added.

One of the liquor dealers said that he would renounce the liquor trade as soon as he had covered his investment costs.

‘Govt wouldn't hinder peaceful activities of Maoists’

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MORANG, Jan 10 - Minister for Finance and Defence Mahesh Acharya said today, that the proposed Armed Police Force (APF) is not only meant for curbing the Maoist activities, but also to strengthen the entire police force for checking other forms of organised crime and violence.

Talking to media-persons at Biratnagar, Acharya said the government wouldn’t hinder peaceful activities of the Maoists, but resorting to violence would not be tolerated. "We are ready to send the army to each and every village if they don’t eschew violence immediately," he warned. But, he said, the government is always ready to talk with the Maoists.

The government had submitted a proposed ordinance for the formation of APF to His Majesty The King last December, which was finally endorsed on Monday, this week.

When asked about the infighting in Nepali Congress, Minister Acharya replied that congressmen now stand more unified after the party’s no-confidence motion." Besides, it’s now clear that the party leadership issue is unlikely to create further crisis or divisions within the party," he added.

While talking to the press, he also declared his decision to compete for a berth in the Central Committee of the Party.

Commenting on the candidature of Sher Bahadur Deuba to the post of party president, Acharya said, "Mere speeches do not make a Prime Minister or a Party President".

He complained that Deuba’s allegation of horse-trading of MPs in the recent no-trust motion has marred the honour of lawmakers. "The entire process of voting was strictly in accordance with party constitution", he said, denying charges of any irregularities.

However, Minister Acharya did acknowledge that friction within the party had come in the way of adequate implementation of government policies and programs.

No Maghi for freed Kamaiyas

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GHIYA, Banke, Jan 10 - The sixty-year-old Thagni Tharuni won’t be able to celebrate her greatest annual festival Maghi this year for the reason that she has been rendered homeless following the government decision to ‘free’ the Kamaiyas.

She could not celebrate the Dashai also as she has been leading a destitute life on the road since her landlord ‘dismissed’ her family last October.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post she said, "There is neither home nor food. It’s so sad that I can’t give my son-in-law the annual treat during this year’s Maghi."

Maghi is celebrated and rejoiced as a day of hope and dreams on the first day of the month of Magh. But this year’s first ‘free’ Maghi has brought them more disappointment than hope.

Maghi, a major festival of the Tharu community, is observed with a lot of singing and dancing, fun and fare. Delicacies eaten during the festival include pork, Jand, Dhinkari and Ganji, among others.

Family reunions and visits are the major features of the festival. Sisters and parents are given customary presents.

"Last year I had at least managed to offer a present to my sisters and parents, even by taking loan from the landlord. This year, there is nobody to give me a loan and I will not be able to give any dakshina" laments former Kamaiya Asharam Tharu.

After being evicted by the landowners, the former Kamaiyas have hardly any survival alternatives to turn to. The consequence has been that most of them are unemployed - and above all - homeless and stranded along the roadside. They have no choice but to battle with the falling temperatures in temporary plastic huts alongside the highway.

The thirty ‘free’ families of Ghiya camp had celebrated Dashain with 15 kgs of rice and one hundred rupees each donated by women’s NGO. Earlier, the Red Cross too had distributed some rice. "And, since then rice has been a thing of the past," said Tharu.

Ramkishan Tharu, another ex-Kamaiya, said, "I could go and find work elsewhere if I had a place to leave my wife and children. How I wish the government could provide me food at least for the Maghi".

Another Kamaiya Juthu Tharu said, "My daughter will curse me if I don’t invite her and my son-in-law for dinner during the festival".

However, the womenfolk are unanimously united in not making any demands upon their parents this year because of the economic hardships. Laxmi Tharu who is staying with her family in the camp for former Kamaiyas said, "Of course, I would indeed love to get gifts from my relatives. But how can I expect it when everyone of us is starving?"

Nevertheless, every liberated Kamaiya is determined to brave the situation. Ramkishan Tharu, also a one-time Kamaiya, said, "We are ready to die of hunger but we’ll never again think of making ourselves vassals to the landlord".

Water project inaugurated

JHAPA, Dhulabari, Jan 10 (PR) – The Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Narendra Bikram Nemwang, inaugurated the Dhulabari drinking water project, at Mechinagar-4, today.

Speaking on the occasion the minister said, "The government is committed to provide the general public with pure and healthy drinking water".

During the function, Ram Kattel, Chairman of the Dhulabari drinking water consumers’ committee, highlighting the problem faced by the consumers said, "When the project was completed there was a landslide at the intake source. Then the Timai River washed away a part of 10-km long pipeline. And, muddy water came through the pipe as it lacks proper filtration facilities.

He further added that an alternate source for getting water would be to sink a bore-hole near the storage tank to ensure uninterrupted supply of drinking water.

The construction work of the water supply project began in 1993, and was completed at a cost of Rs 26.4 million and supplies 450 thousand litres of pure drinking water to the Mechinagar-4 residents.

Ex-Kamaiyas to be resettled

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TULSIPUR, Jan 10 - The government has completed final preparations for distributing land to 158 landless Kamaiyas living in this district, according to Dang District Land Reform Office.

Land Reform Officer Bharat Kumar Budhathoki said that although the preparations have been completed, they still need to be approved by the Kamaiya Rehabilitation District Monitoring Committee.

Efforts have been made to resettle the Kamaiyas in their own villages as far as possible. They will be resettled in the urban areas of the municipality only if a necessary plot of land is not available in their villages.

If they are resettled in urban areas, the land they will receive will be very limited in view of the fact that they will have plenty of employment opportunites in the urban area.

According to Budhathoki, the resettlement of 301 families who have homes in government fallow land but do not own land will be considered only after the distribution of land to the Kamaiyas.