Probe committee visits Army Hospital

Post Report

KATHMANDU, June 9 - The two-members high level   committee formed to investigate the Royal massacre, in its second day of investigation on Saturday visited the Army Hospital at Chhauni and interviewed the Royalties and their relatives receiving treatment there, sources said.

According to reports Chief Justice Keshab Prasad Upadhyay and Speaker Taranath Ranabhat visited the Birendra Army Hospital, Chauni, and spent 5-6 hours there.

Besides, questioning the royalties, the committee members also interviewed the doctors, nurses and examined all the medical reports, said the source.

The injured Royalties and relatives still being treated in the hospital include Her Majesty Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah, Princess Shova Shahi, the sister of King Gynendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Kumar Gorakh Sumshere Rana, husband of late Princess Shruti and Ketaki Chester, daughter of late Prince Basundhara and Princess Helen Shah.

Though the committee is said to be working on a war-footing, it is unlikely to complete the investigation by tomorrow, when the official deadline completes. "If the committee thinks that the report will not be completed by tomorrow, it will request the King for extension," said a source close to the committee. The committee was in its office at Parliament Secretariat till late night today. The committee is expected to work till midnight today.

The committee initially had three members including the leader of the main opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal who was nominated by King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev on Monday. But the committee was crippled after the resignation of Nepal. Instead of Tuesday, as initially supposed, the committee started its work from Friday.

On Friday the committee inspected the massacre scene at the Royal Palace and reportedly interviewed some of the eyewitnesses including Prince Paras Shah. The committee members worked for more than 16 hours on Friday and have reportedly left home at 5 am this morning.

Census 2001 begins today

By Subas Risal 

KATHMANDU, June 9 - Much awaited second phase of the 10th National Census 2001 begins from tomorrow amid a lot of expectation but not without controversy.

The Census, which is beginning after a lot of preparation works, was hindered at the final moments due to untimely and tragic death of His Majesty King Birendra and his family. Now, enumerators will go to collect data only in about 40 districts from tomorrow unlike the original planning to cover all the 75 districts.

"Nonetheless it will not make any impact on the outcome of the Census," said Radha Krishna G C, Deputy Director of Central Bureau of Statistics. " Census work will begin in the remaining 35 districts from June 15," he said. However, Census will not conclude by June 22, as estimated earlier. The government has already declared June 22 as the "Census Day" and has announced the day as the public holiday.

One of the major challenges to the present Census is likely to come from the Maoists, who have controlled good part of many western hilly districts. In the Maoists affected districts, the rebels themselves have begun to collect data and have opposed the Census being carried out by the CBS.

Keshav Raj Sharma, Director General of CBS admitted that the supervisors and enumerators were barred from collecting data and were forced to leave districts.

The CBS officials have claimed that this Census will be the most scientific one " since number of improvements have been made to earlier Census."

Section for the disabled, which was ignored in the previous Censuses, has found a space in the Census 2001. The Census officials claim that this is the first time in the history of Census that section for the disabled has been added. Federation for the disabled in Nepal, an organisation expressed satisfaction over the design of the questionnaire, which is going to be used in the Census.

Similarly, officials also claim that the issue of ethnicity has been dealt with scientifically to the possible extent in this Census. But people belonging to the ethnic groups remain sceptical about the significance of the improvements. And the issue of ethnicity remains at the centre of the heated debate surrounding the Census. Various ethnic groups have been accusing the people belonging to the so-called upper class for distorting the data in the past Censuses. CBS was severely criticised by different organisations related to nationalities for deliberate under-enumeration. It was also put into hot water for neglecting their demand to involve people from various ethnic groups in this Census process.

After 1950 the issue of ethnicity was deliberately excluded from the Census. The issue of ethnicity again found space in the questionnaire of the Census 1991. But the ethnic groups say the mode of data collection was faulty and it resulted into false counting.

Besides the issue of ethnicity, the Census - officially named as Nepal Census on Population and Housing 2001- has also tried to accommodate issue of women’s property for the first time in the history of Census. However, it has failed to win the wholesale praise of the women activists for its failure to count women’s contribution in the household income. The scoff of women activists is also due to absence of provision in the Census to record domestic violence.

Despite these shortcomings, almost all the groups which worked as a pressure group to upgrade the quality of 10th Census agree that it is an improvement over the past Censuses. Still what remains to be seen, according to them, is how much change the Census would record in the composition of population vis-à-vis caste, religion, and dialects among others.

Diarrhoea claims nine lives in Doti

Post Report

DOTI, June 9 - Diarrhoea epidemic has spread in this far-western district killing at least nine people in recent weeks.

According to the District Public Health Office (DPHO), Lamikhal and Mahadevasthan VDC have been most severely affected by the communicable disease. Kedar Singh Godar, Senior Public Health Officer informed The Kathmandu Post that health office has already sent sufficient medicine and medical practitioners to the epidemic affected areas. Godar added, DPHO is fully prepared for the control of possible epidemic spread and said, "Village Development Committee is also helping us using its fund in distributing medicine."

The casualty toll is said to have crossed nine mainly due to unavailability of medical staff in various health posts of the district. Doti is one of the most backward districts of the Kingdom. According to the DPHO report, more than hundred posts of the medical staff have remained vacant since long time.

Nepal asks govt to tender apology

Post Report

KATHMANDU, June 9 - The main opposition party CPN-UML Leader Madhav Kumar Nepal today demanded immediate release of an editor and publishers of the Kantipur Publications and asked the government to tender an apology.

Nepal’s seeking apology from the government comes just a day after former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress Leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai requested the government to tender a proper apology and release the three. The government on Wednesday detained Editor of Kantipur daily Yubraj Ghimire, Kantipur Publications Managing Director Kailash Sirohiya and Director Binod Raj Gyawali on charges of sedition against state.

"I strongly condemn the government’s such move which is an attack upon press freedom by a government that calls itself democratic," said Nepal, demanding immediate release of the three media personnel.

Various Human Rights and other organisations have also condemned the government’s move to detain the publishers and an editor of country’s leading newspaper house.

Issuing a press release, South Asians For Human Rights Nepal signed by Dr Devendra Raj Pandey, Bishwokant Mainali, Keshav Bhakta Mathema, Sarita Giri and Bijaya Kumar Singh stated that the government’s such move is against the freedom of expression and freedom of press guaranteed by the Constitution.

Sahara Group also issued a press release and demanded immediate unconditional release of the three detained. "Such detention will only weaken the democracy. Such arrest is a condemnable act of government for which it has to tender proper apology," said another press release issued by Youth Awareness Forum (YAF).

MaHa Sanchar too issued a press release, which was jointly signed by Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya, the comedian duo have also demanded immediate release of the three detained.

Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN) has also strongly condemned the arrests. It has also demanded their immediate release. "Such an act of the government is a mockery of democracy," said the release.

13 killed in Sankhuwasabha landslides

Post Report

KHANDBARI, Sankhuwasabha, June 9 - Heavy landslides triggered by torrential rainfall killed at least 13 people, four of them from the same family in Pathibhara Village Development Committee (VDC), police here said on Saturday.

Two people buried under a landslide were rescued alive and airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment on Saturday. The VDC is located about 35 km north of here, the district headquarters.

Four persons of the same family, killed in the landslide at Simma village of Pathibhara VDC-2, have been identified as Yuba Raj Basnet, 29, his wife Sarita, 26, and their two sons - Binod, 6, and Bisal, 2.

Other eight people from the same village of the VDC were also buried under the landslide, said Khagendra Karki, Chief of the Border Administration.

Those buried under the landslide have been identified as Bhuvan Singh Gurung, 18, Sujan Gurung, 12, Makchuki Gurung, 50, Chankhe Gurung, 17, Dak Bahadur Gurung, 40, and his 25-year-old wife, Latimaya Gurung, 45 and Kamini Gurung, 6.

Likewise, a 12-year-old Lal Bahadur Rai, the son of Sher Bahadur, also succumbed to another landslide at Yakram village of the same VDC-1.

The District Red Cross Society provided Rs 1,000 to each of the bereaved family members as relief.

In another landslide at Chhodeni village of Pawakhola VDC-8, six houses were swept away. Chief District Officer Yadav Prasad Dhungana said details of the casualties and property damaged due to the landslide were yet to be received as the landslide area is far away from the district headquarters.

Bhimeshwore idol perspires to forewarn nation !

By Ishwori Neupane

DOLAKHA, June 8 - Believe it or not. Locals  here at Bhimeshwore temple in Dolakha situated around 135 km east of Kathmandu are of the opinion that the stone idol in the temple perspires to forecast events that will have widespread impact on the nation.

And around four months after locals claimed to have seen the deity perspire, they soon had to hear of the fateful incident at Narayanhity Royal Palace that took the lives of His late Majesty King Birendra and his family members, last Friday.

"I am a strong believer in Science but I am very surprised to see how a stone idol can really perspire," says Dr. Shambhu Shah, chief at the District Livestock Office in Charikot, the district headquarters.

Like Shah, there are now hundreds more who believe that some spiritual powers are behind the perspiration. Many say that the idol perspires if any significant political change or natural calamity is about to take place in the country.

According to Shanta Krishna Shrestha, a local social worker, the idol started perspiring from 6.40 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. around four months back. However, Shrestha said that the sweating was wiped off the idol with a piece of cotton and the incident was promptly informed to the Royal Palace. "The soaked cotton was also sent along with the message," he said.

As per the tradition, the Palace sends articles for worship and a he-goat to be sacrificed at the temple to ward off ill omen.

Village elders still talk about the miraculous idol that perspired a few months prior to the devastating earthquake in 1934 that destroyed about one-third of the buildings in the Capital.

Similarly, other political changes and natural calamities have occurred since the occurrence of the earthquake, locals claim.

Many recall when four freedom fighters were killed by the then autocratic Rana regime a few months after the stone idol perspired in 1941. Almost ten years after that, locals say, the idol perspired again before the same 104-year-old Rana regime came to an end.

Furthermore, locals also say that the idol perspired in 1959 when BP Koirala became the nation’s first democratically elected Prime Minister. But his government did not last more than 18 months and the idol once again indicated another political change in 1961.

Likewise, significant incidents occurred in 1971 and 1979 when idol perspired again, locals say. Those were very crucial periods in Nepal’s political history when King Mahendra passed away and late King Birendra declared a referendum after the Students’ Movement in 1979.

The idol still had its impact in the days that followed.

Locals say that late King Birendra personally made a pilgrimage of the temple and allocated funds for the renovation of the temple and its store house, after the temple priest reported the perspiration again in 1984.

Many believe that the idol perspired in 1989 even before hundreds of people lost their lives and property worth millions were damaged as a result of a huge earthquake. The eastern city of Dharan was badly affected by the tremors.

In 1990, locals add, the idol started sweating again before democracy was restored after two months of popular movement.

Legend has it that a group of porters were cooking meal over a fireplace made between three stones but failed to prepare the meal despite their efforts of several hours. Infuriated with the delay, one of the cooks struck one of the stones that split and immediately it started bleeding. Since then, locals have started worshipping the very stone as Bhimeshwore Mahadev.

It is believed that the idol, which is worshipped three times daily, was installed in the temple about 550 years ago.

‘Committee working to ensure transparency’

Post Report

KATHMANDU, June 9 - The committee formed last month to probe and recommend the government over the management of private and state-owned schools is raising the question of school’s responsibility and transparency for the first time.

The committee was formed to bring reformation in the present state of the schools as per the demand of All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary), the student wing of the Maoists.

"For the first time this report will regulate the school administrations as it will raise issues of school’s responsibility and transparency," said Dr Mana Wagle, a member of the committee, that will end its term on June 18. He added the committee had to talk only with former state minister for education and some other concerned sections.

The Revolutionary Union closed down over 8,000 schools on May 14 for a week, demanding the government to fulfill their 15-point demands. Reduction of tuition fee by 50 percent was one among others.

The report will recommend the government for definition of free education in different stages, classification of schools, confinement of the rights of the headmasters and the school management committees. It will also recommend to clarify the structure of regularity and boundary of fixing the tuition fee.

"International standard says that schools cannot spend over 70 percent of the total income in teachers’ salary but here most schools use their 85 to 90 percent only for the teachers," Wagle said. This would leave not much of the budget for management and other infrastructure development of the school.

Besides, another committee was also formed on May 22, led by Haribol Khanal, by the government to assist the previous committee. But the committee, which should wrap up its responsibility by 15 days, has not even started its job.

Suprabhat Bhandari, one of the members, said that it would start working from the coming Thursday.

The committee is supposed to study on permission, salary of teachers and expenditure in private and state-owned schools and the fee for books other than government distributed.

Meanwhile, Private and Boarding School Organization Nepal also has formed a separate committee, which will discuss on determination, confinement and process of fee. The committee, to present a report within two days, is formed under the chairmanship of Keshav Kumar Shrestha. And, similarly, student wing of Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) also is going to present an independent report of their own on similar topics

However, educationist Dr Tirtha Khaniya said that these committees and reports are unnecessary because it may hamper the seventh amendment of Education Bill. "No matter what recommendations these reports would produce, they cannot bypass the bill now tabled in the House," he said.