Thursday’s Nepal bandh withdrawn
Two more patients die due to bandh

Post Report 

KATHMANDU, May 29 - The general strike called by Maoist-supported Janjati group have withdrawn their call slated for Thursday citing concerns for the public who they say are not mentally prepared for another such bandh just a day after three consecutive days of shutdown.

The bandh was in protest against the ruling of the Supreme Court exactly two years ago ordering that Newari language could not be used as an optional official language in Kathmandu Metropolitan City offices and Maithali language in Danusha and Rajbiraj offices.

However organizers said the day would still be observed as a "black day".

Meanwhile, the third and final day of the three-day bandh called by the alliance of six left parties including the main opposition CPN-UML today passed off without any major incidents of violence as compared to the last two days.

However, there have been more reports of local people resisting the agitators trying to forcefully shut down the market places and that of local people suffering due to the continuous three days of bandh.

Two deaths have been reported from Syangja due to unavailability of vehicles due to the bandh. A 19-year-old pregnant woman and 51-year-old injured woman died, as they could not be taken to the hospital in time.

At least 29 people were injured in police-protesters clash in Chautara, Sindhupalchowk including eight policemen. The police lathi charged at the protesters trying to force lock the main gate of the District Administration Office. However, according to the Home Ministry only six people were injured in the incident.

In Taplejung, market places were sparsely open, as most of the government offices and educational institutions remained closed. Til Kumar Myangbo, elected Member of Parliament (MP) from the area warned that the main opposition party would continue with its protest program until Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala resigned.

In Banglung, regular examination of higher secondary level could not be held for the third consecutive day.

Reports from Jumla, Dang, Myagdi, Deukhuri, Chitwan state that the districts remained completely paralyzed due to the bandh today. No violence has been reported from the districts.

Minor incidents of violence have been reported from Pyuthan, Bara, Gaighat, Biratnagar and Pokhara. In Pyuthan the protesters barged into the Electricity Authority Office in Bijubar and manhandled a staff working there. Likewise, in Bara the protestors vandalized Land Revenue and Tax Offices. In Bhaktapur the agitators pelted stones and broke windows of the Office of Finance Comptroller.

In Pokhara local people drove out a mob that tried to vandalize and force close down the local Siddharth Art Gallery. One of the protesters was badly beaten up by the locals. Likewise, in Biratnagar the police fired teargas shells after the protestors and the locals were involved in a scuffle over the bandh issue.

Our correspondent from Fidim, Paachthar district reports that the protestors barged into the local Squatters Problem Solution Commission office and looted all the official papers. After the incident police arrested Ganesh Kumar Kambuang, Secretary of CPN-UML ‘s District Committee who was squatting with his team in front of the District Court.

UML ahead of NC in NA polls

By Hari Bahadur Thapa

KATHMANDU, May 29 - Going will get tougher for the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) Party from next month when the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) is likely to emerge as a victor in the National Assembly elections for 20 seats that fall vacant every two years.

The elections are slated for Wednesday, June 27, and preparations and political maneuverings are already underway to select and nominate prospective candidates in the run-up to the June elections of the National Assembly.

The Upper House consists of 60 parliamentarians having tenure of six years. Of them, ten members are appointed by the Monarch, 35 members by the House of Representatives on the basis of the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, while 15 others - three from each of the development regions are chosen by the local representatives.

And this time around, UML, which commands a majority in the local body nation wide, is likely to top NC by 4 seats, as 10 out of the 24 NC parliamentarians are preparing to retire. UML has 17 members in the National Assembly and, out of them, only 2 are retiring.

The main opposition party is emerging out to be a victor with majority of seats on its side for the first time in the 11 years of the post-1990. Analysts say this will make it very difficult for the ruling NC to pass the Bills forwarded by the lower house of Parliament, the House of Representatives, where it commands a majority.

More so given last year’s development in the Upper House, which saw the higher legislative body returning the controversial Citizenship Bill back to the lower house challenging the decision of NC lawmakers.

According to the constitutional provisions, tenure of one third of its members expires every two years, who in turn are replaced by fresh parliamentarians. As part of that, two parliamentarians from UML, ten from NC, two from CPN-ML, one from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), one from RPP (New) are retiring next month.

Currently, NC has 24 members, UML 17, ML 3, RPP 3, RPP(N) 2, and Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) 1 members in the Upper House, which also has ten royal nominees.

And in the upcoming elections, 11 members will be elected by the House of Representatives on the basis of the system of proportional representation, five will be chosen by the local bodies, while four will be nominated by HM the King.

With its command over the district, municipal and village bodies, analysts say, UML will bag all the five seats to be chosen by the local representatives, and another four seats to be chosen by the lower house parliamentarians. NC is unlikely to sail ahead of UML in the local level, while it is still expected to win six seats in the House of Representatives.

Fate of the 11th member will depend on the alliance of political forces during the elections.

Those NC parliamentarians, whose tenure is expiring next month include, Minister for Tourism Omkar Prasad Shrestha, National Assembly Vice Chairman Chirajiwi Prasad Rijal, Yog Prasad Upadhyay, Prakash Man Singh, Bhim Bahadur Tamang, Jiwan Prem Shrestha Mahendra Kumar Mishra, Ratna Bahadur Bishwakarma, Basudev Bhatta, and Mrs Shilu Piyari Shrestha.

The outgoing UML parliamentarians include, Mrs Tham Maya Thapa, Shanta Manawi, while those from ML include, Keshav Lal Shrestha, Sitanandan Raya; and RPP member includes, Rabindra Nath Sharma. The term of RPP (N) leader Rajeshwor Devkota, too, is expiring.

Case filed against ICTC

Post Report

KATHMANDU, May 29 – Swatantra Vichar Manch, an advocacy group, today filed a case in the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against Dinesh Lal Shrestha of ICTC, the local agent for the Lauda Air accusing him to be "the mastermind of corruption in the Lauda deal". Two CIAA Commissioners also accused him of corruption in the deal.

Issuing a press release, the SVM charged that it was legally and technically wrong of the CIAA not to file any case against Shrestha. In fact, it argued that the majority of the Commissioners were in favour of prosecuting Shrestha.

Shrestha of ICTC was spared as the three of the five Commissioners felt there was no case against him. However, Commissioner Krishna Ballav Sharma Kafle and Chief Commissioner Suryanath Upadhyaya wanted him to be prosecuted.

One of the Commissioners, Madhav Datta Bhatta had not expressed any opinion citing his familial relation with former Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Tarini Datta Chataut. The SVM said that Commissioner Basudev Lamichhane could not vote as he had investigated the Lauda deal. SVM pointed out that since only Commissioner Indra Kumar Sherchan had accepted Lamichhane’s report (that did not ask for Shrestha’s prosecution), it was a minority decision. Kafle had called for a case against Shrestha and Chief Commissioner Upadhyaya had endorsed Kafle.

Arguing the petition before the CIAA, the SVM said that the majority of the Commissioners wanted Shrestha to be prosecuted and wanted the CIAA to do the same.

In their separate note to the report prepared by Lamichhane, Upadhyaya and Kafle said that they found that Shrestha of ICTC guilty of corruption in the deal. They said that the ICTC wanted to get the lease contract by any means and after getting the lease deal, he was seen as the one who wanted the deal executed immediately.

The two Commissioners also argued that while Shrestha represented Lauda Air (Austria), the agreement was done with Lauda Air (Italy). Maintaining that Shrestha was involved in the allegedly irregular deal, the Commissioners also pointed out that the agreement paper bore the stamp of the ICTC. That Shrestha wanted the deal by any means, added Upadhyaya and Kafle, was clear by his assurance that he would pay for the 30 containers costing 30,000 US dollars from his own commission.

The duo also said that the agreement with Lauda Air was reached hastily on the ICTC’s request without waiting for the outcome of the negotiations being held with Inland company with which board member Tirthalal Shrestha was holding the talks.

The CIAA has filed a case against 10 people in the Patan Appellate Court, including Chataut and Chief Executive Officers of the Lauda Air (Italy) and Lauda Air (Austria).

Hari Bhakta’s statement continues

By Pramod Poudel

KATHMANDU, May 29 - Former RNAC Chairman Hari Bhakta Shrestha today stated that he had given conditional assent to the Lauda Air in Vienna, with the consent and approval of the then Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister.

Shrestha was giving his statement to the division bench of the Patan Appellate Court for the second consecutive day today. His statement will continue tomorrow.

Giving his statement, Shrestha said that he went to Vienna to negotiate with the Lauda Air deal after taking approval from the Minister. "The agreement with the Lauda Air was executed only after taking the minister’s approval after I returned from Vienna," Shrestha stressed.

Shrestha said that all Lauda Air deal agreements were carried out at the ministerial level.

Shrestha said that it would not have been possible for the RNAC to lease the jet through direct negotiation without the Cabinet giving a go-ahead.

"We went for direct negotiation with the Lauda Air as advised and recommended by our legal advisor after we failed to bring any aircraft through tenders called a number of times," said Shrestha.

Referring to CIAA’s accusation that RNAC incurred a loss of almost Rs 390 Million due to Lauda Air deal and which is supposed to be reimbursed by those charge-sheeted, Shrestha pleaded before the court that CIAA’s such move was prejudiced and needed to be revoked.

"We had taken into consideration various standard airlines parameters while forecasting profit and loss and our estimation came out to around US$ 8.7 Million profit during the 18 months period under normal operating conditions," said Shrestha. "Unfortunately after the Lauda jet arrived, the political environment in the country deteriorated. Incidents like the hotel strike, Hrithik episode and other various bandhs occurred during this period which affected tourism to a great extent and thereby the projected earning," he added.

"Just 12 days after Lauda jet arrived, I had to present myself before CIAA almost every day. I have hardly worked for 20 days from the day Lauda jet came to Nepal," said Shrestha. " After CIAA suspended me, none of my strategy and programmes were implemented that was decided while I remained as the Chairman," he said.

Dwelling on why RNAC went ahead to lease the jet that was 12 years old, Shrestha said that it was RNAC Board’s decision to lease such a plane. He said that by doing so no Acts, Rules and Policies were violated.

"According to International Aviation Law, international flights can fly only after obtaining an Air Worthiness Certificate (AWC) from the Civil Aviation Authority of the country of the origin of the aircraft," said Shrestha. "The country that issues AWC would be liable to ensure the safety of the aircraft," he said. "Obtaining such certificate has no correlation with how old the plane is."

"Even the government Air Policy says that aircraft as old as 15 years could be brought in for operation," said Shrestha.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a case against 10 people, including the Former Minister for Civil Aviation Tarani Dutt Chataut, at the Patan Appellate Court last Friday.

On Friday, RNAC’s Board members Tirtha Lal Shrestha and Siddha Raj Joshi had furnished their statements. After Hari Bhakta’s statement, Board member Gauri Nath Sharma, RNAC’s Finance Department’s Upendra Prasad Upadhyaya and its Corporate Department’s Pushkar Wagle will furnish their statements.

Race heats up to be first Asian to climb all 14 highest peaks

By Binaj Gurubacharya

KATHMANDU, May 29 - Asia may be home to allthe 14 highest mountain peaks that are over 8,000 meters in height, but no Asian has been able to climb all these peaks.

Two ace mountaineers from South Korea are competing for that coveted title amid controversies and allegations. One of them claims he has already climbed all the 14 peaks and the other refutes the claim saying first one has still one more to go.

Hong-Gil Um, 40-year-old experienced mountaineer from Seoul, claims he has already scaled all 14 peaks and both the Korean government and Korean Mountaineering Federation have endorsed his claim. Even many in the Nepali mountaineering circle have thrown their weight behind Um.

However, not everyone in the mountaineering community accept his claim. There has been questions raised on his claims on Lhotse in Nepal and Shisha Pangma in Tibet.

When Um said he had climbed Mt. Lhotse, but records show he was climbing and with two other Spanish climbers, but was left behind. He had told the two to go ahead but later, he said, he resumed the climb and scaled the peak.

On Mt. Shisha Pangma, there were claims that Um only climbed the middle peak and not the main summit.

This had left Um with uneasiness in his mind. So he did what most adventurers would have done. He packed his bags, put together an expedition and climbed Lhotse earlier this month. Later this year, he is planning on climbing Sisha Pangma too.

"I will always be and always remain the first Asian to have climbed all the highest mountains in the world. If they don’t believed me then I will climb the two peaks and end the doubt for good," Um told The Kathmandu Post.

Um and his buddies from South Korea had scaled Lhotse earlier this month despite hostile weather conditions.

Also on the same mountain this year was Young-Seok Park, 37, of Seoul, who is competing against Um and does not believe Um has made all those climbs.

"The world is yet to recognize Um’s claim. It is only in Korea where the authorities believed his claims. He has no photographs to prove that he has been to the top," Park said.

In response to the allegation, Um says though he does not have photographs of him atop all these summits he is telling the truth.

"Do all the people who have scaled all the 14 peak have their photographs on the summit of each of these mountains?" Um said. "If they don’t believe me it is okay ... I like to climb mountains and I don’t mind doing it (Lhotse and Sisha Pangma) all over again."

Only seven mountaineers have so far achieved that feat which include Reinhold Messner of Italy, Jerzy Kukuczla of Poland, Ehardt Loretan of Switzerland, Carlos Carsolio of Mexico, Krzyszof Wielicki of Poland, Juan Oiarzabal of Spain and Sergio Martini of Italy.

It is not that there has not been disputes or doubts about claims made by climbers reaching the summit in the past. Since there are no fixed mechanism to check the claims, it is usually the word of the climbers and the report filed by government appointed liaison officials who are stationed at the base camp which is taken as the basis to certify the claims.

"There are no cameras or any guards fixed on the summit to monitor the climbs. It is based usually on words and integrity of the climber," Ang Karma Sherpa, a mountaineering expert and a former official of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said.

For Um luck never seemed to be on his side. He tried more than couple of times before he finally scaled Everest in 1989 and it took him five attempts before he succeeded on Mt. Annapurna. In fact he has so far made 29 attempts on these 14 peaks and succeeded only half the time.

As for Park he is already racing for his final hurdle. Immediately after climbing Lhotse, which he said was more like a practice run, he has already left to encounter Mt. K2 in Pakistan, his last and the final mountain.

Park said he hopes to summit the 8,611-meter high K2, the second highest mountain in the world, in June or July.

Bandh hits low income people

By Ghanashyam Ojha

KATHMANDU, May 29 - Unlike his usual days, Sitaram Basnet just hanged around the locality wondering how his family could sustain without any income in the last three days.

For tempo drivers like Basnet, three-day of consecutive nation-wide bandh called by the alliance of six left parties inluding the CPN-UML meant that his tempo was to remain idle in his master’s house. Around Rs. 100-200 of daily income that came with it was gone too.

And as in every Nepal bandh called by political parties, he finds himself cursing the organizers of the bandh who have stolen away his earnings.

"I have five members in my family to feed...Though my earnings are meagre, I have been sustaining with it so far," he says. "But why are all these political parties troubling innocent people like us with their acts?"

Similarly, Druba Raj, a local vendor at Baneshwor, is equally worried about how his six-member family would survive after the bandh organizers forced his shop to close down.

"These people (the bandh organizers) won’t let us live...They are even closing down the schools and spoiling the future of my children," he says. "These bandhs won’t do anything except deteriorate our orderly social life."

Like of Sitaram and Druba Raj, the bandh has ultimately paralysed all daily warefares of thousands of people throughout the nation till Tuesday.

Yub Raj Prasai, a technical officer working in Nepal Agricultural Research Center in (Patan) had to somehow come to his office all the way from Kirtipur.

"My feet are still aching as I had to walk all the way to the office...And still almost all the activities in office have been hampered due to the bandh," he says.

Likewise, apart from the school children who are worring about the completion of their syallbus, the country’s once very booming tourism industry is also the worst hit by the incessant bandhs.

"Bandh drastically affects the inflow of tourists," says Subodh Rana, Managing Director of Marco Polo Travel Agency. "During these three-day bandh, I have been forced to keep all my guests in Chitwan and Pokhara fearing that violence might escalate in the Capital."

According to Rana, most of his guests at present are Indians and he fears that the frequent bandhs would once again push back their arrival, which was slowly increasing ever since the Indian Airlines hijack and the infamous Hritik Roshan mayhemn.

Dipak Shrestha, a resident of Baneshwor is equally "frustrated" with the numerous bandhs called in the nation. "It seems as if anybody can now come up with various demands and take it to the streets with their own call for a bandh. Is this how we utilize our democracy best?" he questions.

Meanwhile, the country has have had its own share of troubled history of Nepal bandhs. Facts reveal that out of 40 such bandhs called by various political parties during the last seven years, none of them has been able to make the concerned authority comply with their demands.

Equally devastating are its effects on economic and social life that causes a loss of millions of rupees, experts say.

However, bandh supporters, even today, are still proud of in calling that their bandh call "was a grand success."

When Krishna Gopal Shrestha, president of the Valley Coordinating Protest Program Commitee, was asked about the negative effects the bandh could have created, he bluntly answered: "Ours is a very huge movement...we have to learn to sacrifice our petty needs. The decision of the bandh came from our central bureau and we are commited to turn it successful."

Poor kids find educational refuge

By Seema A. Adhikari

KATHMANDU, May 29 - Born in remote region and rural outposts of Nepal, children who had never dreamt of going to school have found themselves admitted at educational institutes in the capital city. These children who had just the village footpath to cross are now negotiating swarming traffic in Kathmandu streets to get to their school.

All this is happening through a very noble work. The rich householders in the city are bringing many children from remote villages as domestic helps and unlike before, they are sending these children to schools as well. These children help their little masters and big masters but as soon as the household chores are over, they run to school with satchels on their backs. It is a symbiotic relationship.

Tika Vidyasharm Secondary School in Lalitpur is housing a large number of impoverished children from over 55 districts. Around 200 public schools in the capital have hundreds of such children getting their education while serving their masters.

When Ram Bahadur Chaudhary came to capital from his home in Terai with tattered clothes on his back, he had not even imagined that he would be attending school someday. Today, the 17-year-old lad is in 6th grade.

With his parents undergoing difficult lives back in the poorest rural pocket of Bardia, Chaudhary fled to Kathmandu to fend for himself. But as fortune would have it, he found a good master’s house where he now serves as an educational refuge. "I feel like he is my own father," he said with a face full of smiles.

Many of these children under go untimely hardships before they find refuge in some Good Samaritan masters’ house. Even here, they still have to finish cooking food, washing clothes and massaging their masters before they leave for their schools.

Chhaya Budhamagar, 15, from a remote villages in Rukum, walks daily from Tahachal to Jhamsikhel to attend her classes, but she has no complaint. Back in her village, she had grim prospect for her education.

"She is sole inspiration to other students who have come from far-flung places," says the principal, Birendra Bahadur Rajaure.

These domestic workers have begun to start early, and have at times also had glimpse at the computer in their little bosses’ rooms. Back in the villages, even the TV is a mysterious box, let alone a computer.

These children complain they have the facility in their masters’ house but they are chided time and again and not allowed to watch their favorite TV serials even when they have free time.

Child Workers Concern in Nepal (CWIN) said there are a total of 1,17000 households in Kathmandu and many of them employ children as domestic help. But, a few have been getting education on completing their daily household chores.

Nepal spends 3.2 per cent of its GDP on education, which is higher than the allocation of Bangladesh and Pakistan. This is ofcourse something we can be happy about. "But, the quality of primary education in public schools is in dismal state," says Rama Kanta Sapkota, general secretary of Nepal National Teachers’ Association (NNTA).

There are lot of students who have entered this valley with dreams to become doctors, engineers, pilots and so on. What are we giving them instead? The Bandhs, strikes, vandalism and Chakka Jams. Have they dreamt of it? May be not? Is this the long-term remedy for the sick educational system? These are some of the questions raised by guardians in a seminar recently.

"Are all the masters of this valley ready to extend their support to these tiny future citizens or is it to be limited within few Samaritans only?" asked one of the concerned educationist.

A feast to equalize untouchability

By Manmohan Swar

DHANGADHI, May 29 - Bikram Badi had never thought that such a day would also come in his life when the oppressed communities would lay out a feast as a method to fight against social discrimination.

After serving the lower caste representatives in a collective feast, this Badi from the remote Godawori village development committee said, "I now believe that untouchability and caste discrimination would be wiped out from society."

Badi was given the responsibility of serving 120 youths from Damai, Kami, Sarki, Sunar and Badi, all untouchable castes in Hindu hierarchy, during a collective feast, organised by the Nepal National Oppressed Society Welfare Association (NNOSWA), Kailali on Saturday.

"We organised this collective dinner because the traditional notion of untouchability and discrimination within the untouchable castes itself was a major barrier in eradicating this deep-rooted social anomalies," said Ganesh BK, NNOSWA co-ordinator.

The irony is that the discriminatory feeling among the oppressed communities themselves is very deep-seated. Marriage between one untouchable caste and another is prohibited. The Bishwakarmas believe themselves as the superior caste among the oppressed class. And, communities like Badi and Pode are treated as the lowest ranking castes even among the oppressed ones.

One representative from each oppressed caste took part in the collective dinner. All were quite happy after the conclusion of the feast and vowed to fight against any caste discrimination in future.

The feeling of untouchability seems to have somehow taken a backseat in the urban areas. Thanks largely to the rigorous campaigns by social organisations against casteism. Still, to create a general feeling that all communities are equal by birth will take a long time.

Following the successful end to the collective dinner, Prem Nepali and Mandire Nepali, tailors by caste, from the Godawari VDC put up a poser, "Can we draw water from any wells?"

The VDC has a oppressed class majority and even the VDC chairman is elected from among the lower caste. As an oppressed class majority VDC, most of the incidents that usually take place here are related with caste discrimination.

The other interesting fact to note is that there are almost 40 separate wells segregated for use by different castes. "People belonging to one particular community cannot draw water from the wells designated to another caste," laments Ganesh BK.

The collective dinner fair has lifted ban on the wells and all communities will have the right to fetch water from any wells convenient to them.

VDC Chairman, Mansingh BK said, "I now realise that this kind of programme has to be organised to bridge the gulf of social discrimination."

A priest at a local temple, Jahr Singh BK regrets for not holding such a reform-oriented programme long ago.

It is not the first time that such a collective dinner was organised among the lower caste communities. A similar fair was also held in Dhangadhi, Kailali district headquarters a few years ago. But the campaign failed lacking continuations.

Dibya Raj Acharya, Coordinator of the Collective Campaign, an NGO conducting research on the Kami (Biswakarma) community, says widespread campaigns against social and caste discrimination has to be launched to achieve the goal of equality.

"We had perceived a threat from elderly people, but they also extended their moral support in favour of our campaign," said BK after the feast.

Almost all the participants were of the view that the question of liberation of the oppressed class was beyond the question of political liberation.

Speakers at the function also stressed that religious conversion cannot guarantee equality among the lower caste communities. They also emphasised on bringing about changes in their mentality.

"We will not hesitate to inter into inter-caste marriages in the days to come," Chatra Tailor said enthused with the feast.

Over the last few years, youngsters from the oppressed communities have been campaigning against caste discrimination in this backward Far Western region.

"Next time we will invite people from upper caste communities, especially the government officials and political activists to participate in our collective feasts," says Rabindra Singh Gahatraj, district Chairman of the ANNOSWA.