Eyewitness account comes under fire

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KATHMANDU, June 8 –  The official committee formed to investigate the Royal massacre began its work Friday from a room at the Parliamentary Secretariat, Singha Durbar even as questions started swirling about the first public eyewitness account of the Royal massacre provided yesterday by Dr Rajiv Shahi.

Dr Shahi’s account, which came even before the official committee had begun its work, has already raised some difficulties for the probe body as well as the government. But more than that, it has been raising several questions on the streets of Kathmandu where many still disbelieve that the then Crown Prince Dipendra shot his Royal Family members.

Dr Shahi, who is the son-in-law of late Dhirendra Shah (King Birendra’s youngest brother) who was inside the room when the shootings began, said that it was Dipendra who shot the entire Royal Family, including the late King Birendra. He gave the account at a press briefing yesterday.

The first questions about Dr Shahi’s account came from the United People’s Front, a leftist group which held a mass meeting today at Patan to denounce the account. "People have raised many questions about the incident in the Palace and they have been asking how can such a mass murder occur at a place guarded by more than 5000 soldiers?" questioned Lila Mani Pokharel, UPF General Secretary and Member of Parliament.

"People are asking how can members of a single family be wiped out...?" Pokharel asked, adding that since the people did not get the facts they took to the streets in the initial days after the killings.

Pokharel also said that the people were accusing Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel of "selling news to Reuters that Dipendra was the killer instead of telling facts to the nation. How did DPM know the fact if he was not inside the Palace and if he was then what was his role?"

Meanwhile, several citizens have also expressed doubts about Dr Shahi’s account.

"How can we believe that a son shot his own parents and his entire family?" questions Umesh Kumar Khadga, a taxi driver from Sarlahi. "I don’t believe a bit of that story."

Vikas Rawal, from Tikapur, Kailai district and a student, says that he can never believe that the late Crown Prince shot his family. "No it can never be him and I am concerned that there is going to be more uprising and violence after the committee presents its report."

Ram Lal Awale, a businessman from Santinagar says that the accounts made public by the witnesses have worsened the situation. "I was at a point about to believe that Dipendra was the one responsible but now after these people have spoken I feel that it is not him, they are just trying to defame him after his death," he said with a voice full of anger and excitement.

"Why was it necessary to put curfew at the night? I am sure these people were cremating the bodies of dead soldiers who I am sure have died that night," says another student of Sankar Dev Campus not wanting to be named. "I am convinced that it is not a single man’s deed. The eyewitnesses are taking Dipendra’s name to confuse the people and the investigation committee."

Similarly, a student group of Tribhuwan University has heavily criticized Dr Shahi for making public the "cooked up" account of the incident.

But despite such feelings, numerous other sources have also provided similar accounts as Dr Shahi as has been widely reported in the national and foreign media.

The BBC even got another public eyewitness account provided by Maheshwar Kumar Singh, who said he was standing next to late King Birendra when Dipendra began shooting. "No one else that fired the shots," Singh was shown on BBC television as saying.

Such sentiments have only complicated the work of the official probe committee, which is expected to submit its preliminary report to His Majesty King Gyanendra on Monday. The committee, headed by Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya began its work this morning from its newly established office from the Parliamentary Secretariat today.

Meanwhile, the third largest party in the Parliament Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has decided to wait for the report of the investigation committee before making any statements.

"A responsible person like the Chief Justice of the country has promised to find out the facts, therefore it would be unwise to make any statements now," said Prakash Chandra Lohani, former Foreign Minister and member of the RPP. "So we would like to wait for two more days before the committee comes up with its investigation reports."

Shahi could face action

KATHMANDU, June 8 (PR)– Army Captain Dr. Rajiv Shahi, one of the witness to the Royal Palace massacre who went public yesterday, is likely to come under fire within the Army for going public with his graphic accounts of the June 1 Royal massacre.

According to the government sources, the government has already "raised its concerns" and has asked the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) to "investigate" into the matter. "We are not too happy with the matter as it comes just prior to the probe committee beginning its investigation," the source said.

Furthermore, a circular has also been issued last night to the concerned Royal Family members to maintain silence over the incident, Palace sources confirmed.

During a hastily organized press briefing yesterday, Captain Dr. Shahi went on record saying it was a "very very intoxicated" Crown Prince Dipendra who shot his entire family that fateful night. He had said that the then Crown Prince had not only fired indiscriminately from automatic rifles but also dashed repeatedly in and out of the large drawing room where the weekly dinner was taking place, pumping bullets on his family members who were injured but not yet dead.

Meanwhile, when contacted, army officials refused to comment on if the RNA had already initiated action against Dr Shahi. It is also unclear whether he sought prior permission from the army brass for the press briefing. Dr. Shahi, an army medical doctor is married to Princess Pooja Shahi, the daughter of former Prince Dhirendra who also succumbed to bullet wounds received during the Palace massacre.

His graphic accounts came one day before the probe committee formed to look into the matter started its work today.

Nepalis, among others, file suit against US President

By Akhilesh Upadhyay

NEW YORK, USA, June 8 – A landmark free-speech lawsuit was filed against US President George W. Bush here yesterday, seeking dismissal of a US law that effectively silences overseas organizations advocating abortion law reforms.

The lawsuit, which demands elimination of the Global Gag Rule, has far-reaching implications for Nepal where US assistance funds a large number of NGOs working on family-planning and population programs.

The Gag Rule, President Bush’s first executive decision, bars foreign organizations that receive US aid from using their own money to advocate abortion law reforms.

"President Bush took away my right to speak," said Janet Benshoof, president of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP), announcing the lawsuit, "because I support a position with which he disagrees: that access to safe and legal abortion is human right of women worldwide." The Global Gag Rule is global censorship that violates fairness, freedom and democracy, she said.

Nepal’s abortion laws are considered among the world’s harshest, but the presidential gag has brought abortion law reforms to a screeching halt in countries like Nepal, human rights activists said.

CRLP v. Bush is the first lawsuit against the limitations on free speech placed by the gag order on a US legal organization.

CRLP lawyers argued that the Gag Rule is a violation of their right to free speech as it restricts the freedom of speech of US human rights advocates working in the US or overseas. The free speech rights of American citizens as established by the First Amendment to the US constitution extend beyond borders, they said.

US courts have dismissed past lawsuits that focused on foreign organizations’ right to free speech, saying they don’t fall under their purview.

"As a result of the President’s Gag Rule, my staff and I can no longer effectively pursue our mission to make abortion rights an international human right," said Benshoof. Without access to gagged foreign organizations and their information, CRLP’s lawyers cannot effectively communicate with citizens and activists in other countries, influence governments, or assist in abortion law reform efforts, she said.

One person angered by the gag order is Melissa Upreti, CRLP’s staff attorney for South Asia. Upreti, a Nepali citizen, said President Bush’s decision derails her mission of reforming abortion laws in Nepal, and makes a mockery of the education she received at one of the world’s finest law schools, Columbia Law School.

"I want President Bush to give me back my right," Upreti told the press conference as she pointed at a photograph of a Nepali jail where two women blankly looked out a locked door, a child standing by their side. Nepal’s harsh abortion law has forced many children to live with their jailed mothers

Nepal is one of few countries where women are prosecuted—and in some cases imprisoned for life—for abortion, Upreti said. She is one of seven CRLP plaintiffs challenging the Global Gag Rule.

One out of every five women imprisoned in Nepal are there for having abortion, according to Anand Tamang of Kathmandu-based Center for Research on Environment, Health and Population Activities. "All of them are from villages and are poor and voiceless," said Tamang in a statement distributed at the press conference.

Tamang said his organization has refused to accept US assistance as it gags his freedom to advocate abortion law reforms. Of 430 organizations worldwide that receive US assistance, fewer than 10 have refused to comply with the Global Gag Rule.

The complaint registered in the district court in New York says the plaintiffs’ central mission is reproductive law reform worldwide. But the gag placed on them dilutes their political effectiveness in general, blocks essential channel for advocacy in the US, in international forums, and overseas.

Though there is clear support for abortion in Nepal on limited grounds, a broad amendment bill to Muluki Ain has been lying before a parliamentary committee for months. The most contentious provision in the amendment bill is related to inheritance that seeks equal rights to ancestral property for sons and daughters.

"The Committee clearly recognizes that women are dying from unsafe abortions and feel abortion should be recognized in Nepal," said Upreti, who met the committee members in April and solicited their views on abortion. She now fears Nepal’s conservative politicians will try to turn the clock back, taking license from the Global Gag Rule.

The Gag Rule is a dangerous precedent and the lawsuit is important in vindicating the US policy of encouraging non-governmental organizations in the field of human rights, said Aryeh Neier, a human rights expert.

Pro-abortion activists maintain the conservative paranoia for abortion conveniently ignores the fact that unsafe abortion is responsible for high maternal mortality in developing countries. WHO estimates that 78,000 women die worldwide of unsafe abortions each year.

US has been the leading supporter of population programs since the 1960s. The Reagan administration in 1984 imposed restrictions on US funding for family planning under the so-called Mexico City Policy, or the Global Gag Rule, prohibiting NGOs from receiving US funds if they "perform" or "actively promote abortion as a method of family planning."

The gag continued during the tenure of another Republican president, George Bush.

Bill Clinton, a Democrat, ended it in 1993. But in 1999 the congressional foes of family planning and abortion rights were able to re-impose a temporary reinforcement of the Gag Rule for a one-year period following a deal with the Clinton administration that paved way to clear America’s UN dues.

In 2000, Congress and the Clinton administration struck another deal, which eliminated the Gag Rule from the 2001 fiscal budget. But the deal withheld the US family planning funding until February 15, 2001, effectively allowing the new president to have a final say on the issue.

Journos’ release demanded

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KATHMANDU, June 8 - The main opposition party CPN-UML today condemned the government’s move to arrest the publishers of Kantipur Publications and an editor of the Kantipur Daily.

The party has also demanded for their immediate release.

Issuing a press release, the CPN-UML today termed the arrest as the government’s attempt to curtail press freedom, "which is a direct attack against democracy and human rights."

The government had, Wednesday, arrested Editor of Kantipur Daily Yubraj Ghimire, Kantipur Publications Managing Director Kailash Sirohiya and Director Binod Raj Gyawali under the charges of sedition against the state.

"By attacking a privately run newspaper, the government has displayed its undemocratic and autocratic move," said the release.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) also condemned the government’s move issuing in a press release here today. It demanded immediate release of the detainees. "The Nepalese media have played a vital role in restoring multi-party democracy and institutionalisation of democracy in the country," the release says.

"Government’s such move is an attack upon the press freedom and against the freedom of expression," said the release.

Meanwhile, Times of India online edition Friday reported that the US State Department has called for the release of the detained Kantipur Daily editor and its management. The administration officials said that Washington had been in touch with the Nepalese government and had urged it to respect freedom of the press, says the report.

Movement to Save Democratic Rights, Nepal also issued a statement demanding the release of Kantipur’s editor and directors. The statement is signed by Padma Ratna Tuladhar, Daman Nath Dhungana and Shyam Shrestha.

"Detention of the three first on treason against the monarchy and later on charges of sedition is a sign that Nepal is again going under autocratic regime," says the release.

Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal (SJN) launched a rally today protesting the detention of the media people. The rally that started from Bhotahity went around New Road and ended up at Bhotahity.

Lilamani Pokharel, lawmaker and SJN General Secretary addressing the mass meeting after the rally criticised the government.

"The government’s move is undemocratic. It is the rape of democracy and press freedom," said Pokharel. "It is a naked interference against the freedom of press and if the government doesn’t release the journalist and the publishers then it will invite a big disaster," he added.

"Interferring in people’s right may lead to a explosive situation," Pokharel stressed.

Nepal Law Society condemning such detention at a time when the courts are closed has labelled the government’s such move as undemocratic, states a press release issued here.

Forty-six writers and artists today issued a joint press release condemning the arrest of media people and demanded their immediate release.

Various political groups, Human Rights and other organisations have also expressed their concern about the detention calling for the immediate release. Nepal Prajaparishad, Janamukti Party, Nepal, Lawyers Forum for Civil Liberties, Human Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON), Media Point, Federation of South Asian Journalists (FOSAJ), Hindu Youth Society, Sahittik Patrakar Sangh, Janmat Sahittik, Cartoonist Club of Nepal have demanded immediate release of the three detained.

Bhattarai voices his concern

"I am very shocked to know the arrest of the editor and executives of Kantipur Publications. This is a very crude, outdated and unworthy action of the government to curtail the press freedom and to stop the voice of a very popular daily in the country. This act will go a long way to defame the present democratically elected government of the Nepali Congress. I request the government to release the three and tender a proper apology." - Former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress Leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai

Maoists obstruct Census-2001

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KATHMANDU, June 8 - Keshav Raj Sharma, Director General of Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) today said that Maoists have interfered with the on-going Census 2001 in the Maoist-hit districts.

"In the districts where Maoists have already declared their ‘Peoples’ Government’, supervisors were barred from collecting data owing to the Maoists threat ," said Sharma. However, he also said that most of the supervisors and enumerators were welcomed by the local politicians and people in those districts.

But according to our correspondents, supervisors who were prevented from collecting data and enumerators, who are selected for the second phase of the Census, were threatened and asked to leave almost all the VDCs of Jajarkot and Kalikot districts.

"I admit that negligible number of enumerators who have reached the affected districts have been threatened to leave or face the consequences by the rebels, but majority of them will start works in accordance with the schedule, " said Sharma

Maoists have said that they themselves will carry out the Census in the districts where they have already declared their ‘People’s Government’.

A Maoist source said that the rebels themselves have already conducted the Census in most of the districts where the ‘People’s Government’ has been declared.

The second phase of Census is postponed due to the untimely and tragic death of Their Majesties King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya. According to the Census officials , June 22 will be observed as the Census Day since this day has already been declared as public holiday by the government.

After eight years, World Heritage Site beckons visitors

By Razen Manandhar

LALITPUR, June 8 - A period of eight years is too long for any beautiful heritage site to remain closed for common people and tourists citing renovation works. But not by the standard of Department of Archaeology (DoA), which has closed Sundari Chowk or the Royal Bath, one of the best parts of Patan Durbar Square, a site in the World Heritage List.

The Sundari Chowk or ‘the beautiful courtyard’, constructed in 1627 AD by King Siddhi Narsimha Malla, was used as a bathing place for the Malla kings and their families. At the centre of the courtyard, is a water sprout with a replica of Krishna Mandir. The Chowk is flanked by scores of stone idols of Hindu deities for the kings to pray gods after their bathe. Surrounded by magnificent wood pillars, door and windows and adored by finest woodcarving, the Chowk in itself is a symbol of art and splendour.

Founder president of Tourist Guides Association of Nepal (TURGAN) Dwarika Das Rajbhandari says, without access to the Chowk, visitors are denied of the grandeur view of the Patan Durbar Square. "We ought to show them this historical treasure that we have."

But the tourists have no options but to go through the old pictures in the guide books and wander what a beautiful opportunity it would have been to be in the historic site.

Mandankini Shrestha, Chief of the Durbar Protection Office, a wing of the DoA says that the Chowk is closed for conservation works. According to her, the DoA decided to close the 375-year old courtyard’s door for visitors because it was crumbling down and there was no project to renovate it. She reiterated the same old reason: "We lack budget for such a grand project."

In 1996, DoA and UNESCO jointly carried out a feasibility study for the renovation works, which billed the project cost at 265,800 US dollars.

Besides, she added that lack of security was another reason behind closing down of the courtyard. "The other problem is security. The courtyard has no security staff from army or police for one of the mighty World Heritage Sites," she said.

Mayor of Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City, Buddhi Raj Bajracharya has been arguing the government to open the courtyard since several years.

"I had asked the DoA , the concerning government body, to open the ancient courtyard for the locals and visiting tourists. I even proposed to spend one or two million rupees to renovate it if necessary, but they refused it," said Bajracharya.

The conservation experts suspect that several artefacts could have been stolen from the World Heritage Site by now. They say there are security lapses since the nearby Ward Police Office was removed from the Durbar Square.

The courtyard was documented in detail in 1993, which lasted for 15 months, with the support of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters. Hariratna Ranjitkar, a conservationist, who was also involved in the project, said that though people were not allowed to climb upstairs then, the courtyard was okay and people came and went freely there.

"We worked as per the project and left it open. But after the completion of the project the courtyard was closed. I see no reason why the tourists and local people should be prevented from visiting such a beautiful place", he says.

Rajbhandari also thinks that the Chowk should be opened for tourists since they pay Rs 200 as entrance fee to enter the Patan Durbar Square.

SAARC, KMTNC condole Royal death

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KATHMANDU, June 8 - The Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Nihal Rodrigo in a message sent to His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, has condoled the untimely death of Their Majesties King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya and other Royal Family members, says a press release issued by the SAARC Secretariat here today.

According to the release, the staff members of the SAARC Secretariat expressed deep shock and sadness over the tragic and untimely deaths of His Majesty King Birendra, Her Majesty Queen Aishwarya and all the others members of the Royal Family.

The late King Birendra had played a major role in pioneering the regional co-operation in South Asia and was one of the founding members of the SAARC. As a mark of respect to His Late Majesty, the Third Special Session of the SAARC Standing Committee scheduled to be held in Colombo on 8 and 9 June has been postponed, the release adds.

In a similar press release issued here by the Nepal Latvia Friendship Association has expressed their heart-felt condolences and tributes to the Late King and the Queen. At the same time, they have also felicitated His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev on his accession to the throne.

Likewise, an emergency meeting of the Governing Board of Trustees of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC) was held today, at the Trust Head Office in Jawalakhel.

The Governing Board recalled with pride, the wise and active leadership provided by His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev as the Chairman of KMTNC since its inception and begged to receive His Majesty’s continued guidance.

The Board also expressed loyal felicitations on His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev’s accession to the throne of the Kingdom of Nepal and prayed for His Majesty’s long and glorious reign.