Pushkar pedals through the world with Nepali flag

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KATHMANDU, Jan 12 - Energetic cyclist Pushkar Shah, 33, who was refused any assistance by the Visit Nepal Year 1998 Programme (which had a budget of Rs 50 million) other than a Nepali flag and propaganda T-shirt, has returned after cycling around 21 countries at his own expense.

"Mine alone was the thing that could not have been done even with Rs 50 million," claimed Shah, who was today recognised by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) for his "one-man-service". NTB has supplied him with all the necessary cycling gear and Rs 40,000 for the next episode of his world tour, which will kick off on Saturday.

Since 1st August 1998, Shah has mountain biked around Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Korea, Japan, Australia and much more. Wherever he went he met the local community, pointed out Nepal’s location on the map and displayed its exclusive characteristics by means of the flag, post cards and photographs.

Disseminating the message of peace throughout the world from the birthplace of Lord Buddha is the main objective of his expensive journey. The grandson of an Indian soldier gunned down by Assamese insurgents, he wants to see the whole world free from political unrest and enmity.

He says, "I want to spread the message that peace is the strongest weapon that human beings have. We should live on this earth as members of one family."

With a pouch of Lumbini soil in his pocket and a good feeling in his heart, Shah has pedalled through varying seasons and climates on his "short" journey. He came across countless people, various cultures and unimagined languages. He speaks only Nepali and English, which were of no help to him in many countries, so sign language was his main means of communication.

Some people helped him out a lot. Others not only turned their backs on him but even hurled insults at his national pride. He says, "It’s natural, there are different types of people. Some showed great respect, others were annoyed by my presence."

During hard times, he survived on orange peel thrown out by other tourists. Yet he has so far spent some Rs 1.5 million. For most of the trip he was helped out by the Nepali communities living and working in the area where he cycled. They gave him money, food or shelter.

He dreams of taking the flag he has been carrying around with him during the tour to the top of the world, once he completes travelling across about 150 countries within one decade.

On his long tour of over 28,000 kms, he found that even in Asian countries, only a few people are aware of the country of Nepal. In most instances, he had to spread out the map of the Himalayas and show the location of the country. "I was shocked they didn’t care that there is a separate country called Nepal."

He blames this on the present political leaders. "Rather than doing something to raise awareness of our Himalayan kingdom, the leaders work only for themselves."

Shah was an active participant in the popular movement of 1990, when he was shot in his right arm in King’s Way. He is still waiting for government compensation.

Where food is bought at gunpoint

By Rudra Bahadur Khadka

MUSIKOT, Rukum, Jan 12- How about carrying a gun during a pleasure trip? Be advised that otherwise you may have to remain starving all over. If you take this for a mere joke , you are sure to invite disaster.

This is precisely the case in the remote hill district of Rukum, where it is near to impossible for a newcomer to buy food except at the point of a gun. And, be sure not to depend upon the much-hyped ‘friendliness’ of the Nepali people.

The appalling state of affairs became known during a recent trip to remote villages of the district by local mediapersons, including this correspondent. Can you believe that a local resident of Shyalapar-3 refused to speak even after four repeated attempts?

Things were not so miserable five years ago. But thanks to the ‘people’s war’ initiated by the Maoists half a decade ago, human sensitivity too has eroded fast. The local people no longer trust a stranger so easily these days.

Nonetheless, it would be too cruel to judge the people without the keeping in mind the prevailing context of terror in the area. Frequent skirmishes between the police and the Maoists have left the people so fearful of any new faces, that they take no chances.

If you go to any village outside Musikot, you will always find terrified people who daren’t converse with you. No wonder, they even refuse to answer your queries. To them, every stranger is a spy of either the police or the Maoists.

The only response to requests for food would be, "Sorry, we don’t have anything to eat."

However, things go quite easy if you possess a gun. Your stay then is bound to be comparable to that of any foreign dignitaries on an official visit.

Our group of journalists requested not just one but exactly one hundred families for food but all in vain. When asked about the refusal, a middle-aged woman of the same village replied, "If we entertain either Maoists or the police, we are sure to face persecution from the rival group. How are we supposed to know that a new face is neither of them?"

The Maoists have a virtual control of the outlying villages these days. And, the police force morale is at its low and they hardly ever venture even to a nearby area, let alone a remote one.

Maghi sans happiness this year for ex-Kamaiyas

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GULARIYA, Jan 12 - This year’s Maghi, a festival extravaganza celebrated by the Tharu community of the Terai region, will no longer bring happiness to the ex-Kamaiyas as it did in the past. Though liberated from the semi-slavery bonded labour system, they still dream of days gone by.

Over 300 ex-Kamaiyas (bonded labourers) have been languishing in the makeshift shelters in the Gulariya Municipality-2, in search of food and permanent settlement since Wednesday.

Many ex-Kamaiyas seem more anxious about the lives of their children than the annual Maghi festival that falls on January 14. The ex-Kamaiya children are seen shivering in the bitter cold that has wracked the entire Terai belt for the last couple of days. They have nothing to eat or wear in their tiny tents.

Somali Tharu, 50, says that his children will be deprived of the pork dish, home-brewed spirit and drink during the festival. Maghi is not only their auspicious festival, it also used to be the period for the possible renewal of their contract with their masters. They have now been left stranded after the government announced their liberation from the bonded-labour system on July 17.

Nor do the landlords seem to be interested in hiring them as labourers. A landlord from Padnaha VDC does not have any faith in the ex-Kamaiyas. However, some of the landlords seem to be ready to hire them as a "haruwa", basically a new word for kamaiya. If the labourers resume their previous status only under a new name, a total of 6,949 officially recognized ex-Kamaiyas will fall back into the same old trap.

Officer at the Bardiya-based Land Reforms Office, Dandapani Poudel, said that a total of 3,155 ex-Kamaiyas were landless.

However, coordinator of the Kamaiya Movement Mobilisation Committee, Dinesh Prasad Shrestha, suspected that the number of ex-Kamaiyas could rise as the official record was still to be updated. Shrestha added that the situation could be very poignant unless an immediate solution to their permanent settlement was sought.

There are some liberated Kamaiyas who still want to work as a bonded labourers for their former masters. Poudel, however, said that there was no law barring anyone from hiring people as Kamaiyas.

The Kamaiya Action Committee, which deals with the ex-Kamaiya issue, states that ex-Kamaiyas are reconsidering to work as haruwas as the government failed to arrange their rehabilitation.

About two years ago, the Land Reforms Office in Bardiya had purchased five bighas of land at the Gulariya Municipality-2 for Kamaiya rehabilitation but no more ex-Kamaiyas have been settled there. On the other hand, the ex-Kamaiyas have refused to settle on the "sandy land".

A source close to the Land Reforms Office said a high-level authority at the Ministry of Land Reforms withheld the settlement of the former Kamaiyas on the already-purchased land. Locals also said that there had been financial irregularities while purchasing the land.

An all-party meeting, called by Chief District Officer in Bardiya, Dilliraj Joshi, discussed Friday the modalities of rehabilitating the former Kamaiyas on the land purchased by the Land Reforms Office.

Deforestation on the rise in Magargadi

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GULARIYA, Jan 12- The Magargadi forest is in the grip of woodcutters and fodder gatherers, making the forest head towards a speedy deforestation say exasperated Forest Rangers there.

"How do you expect us to stop the hundreds and thousands of women with sickles and axes making into the jungles ? We have neither the manpower nor weapons to do anything substantial to stop them," laments the forest guard on duty.

"In the name of collecting firewood, they carry away logs - sometimes even in bullock carts - not to mention the enormous amount of leaves and twigs leaving the jungle everyday," said another helpless ranger.

The rangers have submitted a report to the District Forest Office, mentioning their inability to check such practice prevailing there. The arms ordinarily kept at the range posts are nowadays retained at the headquarters fearing Maoist attacks.

The situation is fully being exploited by the smugglers. A forest employee, on the condition of anonymity said, " Even the police shies away from entering the villages . How are we supposed to control the melee, that too unarmed?"

District Forest Officer [DFO] Gopal Bastola, however, assures early action against illegal felling of trees. "It is because of the ensuing severe cold, and transfer of rangers that there seems to be slight problem at Magargadi. But, the offenders will be severely dealt with very soon," he said.

Meanwhile, forest officials are deputing armed games wardens starting this Wednesday, to check the deforestation activities.