‘US to provide Nepal with 10 choppers to fight terror’

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POKHARA, Nov 11 A senior government official today revealed that the United States has promised to supply Nepal with a number of modern fully-armed helicopters to "fight terrorism."

Minister of State for Home, Devendra Raj Kandel, today said that the US government had already committed itself to supplying 10 modern helicopters to help the government control "terrorism." Kandel was addressing local Nepali Congress supporters when he disclosed the information.

The minister did not specify who were indulging in terrorist activities in Nepal but the term could be aimed at the Maoist insurgents who waged a vicious "people’s war" for five and half years until a cease-fire put a halt to that in July.

"Since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, the US is committed to eliminate terrorism from the globe and its promise of supplying us the helicopters is part of that goal," Kandel said. According to the minister, the 10 fully equipped choppers will be flown by either the regular police or the newly formed Armed Police Force. The chopper are slated to arrive soon, he added.

"At a time when the police had to charter helicopters in its fight against terrorism, and when the police itself were looking for funds to buy one helicopter, America’s commitment to us is a happy development," Kandel said.

The Nepal Police has often been criticized for spending huge amount of money to charter choppers in its campaign against Maoist insurgents. Critics, including parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, have pointed out that with the money spent on charters, the police could have bought an entirely new helicopter.

Talks unlikely before Tihar

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KATHMANDU, Nov 11 – Even after the commitments made by both the government and the Maoists to hold the talks "very soon", officials have now started to say that the talks will possibly take place after the Tihar festival which falls on Friday.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, a member of government negotiating team and leader of ruling Nepali Congress Party, Narahari Acharya, said, " Now, I don’t see any possibility of the talks taking place before Tihar." But, things will be clear by Monday, he added. Acharya also said the official version may come on Monday.

On Saturday, Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka had said the talks would possibly take place before the Tihar festival. But chief government negotiator and Minister for Physical Planning and Works, Chirinjivi Wagle, had talked about the uncertainty of the talks taking place before Tihar.

However, another government negotiator who preferred to be unnamed said that some informal talks may take place between the government and Maoist negotiators before the Tihar festival.

Maoist sources had told on Friday that their negotiators can come for the talks within 24 hours of government inviting them. They said that the Prime Minister has been given sole right to decide the date and the venue of the talks.

Facilitator of the government-Maoist talks and Nepali Congress leader Daman Nath Dhungana blamed the government of dilly-dallying the talks. He also urged Minister Wagle who is all set to go to Korea on Thursday not to do so at a time when the peace talks are underway.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Prime Minister and NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel today said there is no rationale behind the Maoists’ insistence on constituent assembly after dropping their demand for a republican state.

Speaking at a programme organised in the capital, Poudel said, "The Maoist intention is questionable. They want to hit the multiparty democracy." Poudel also urged all the democrats to unite to forge a front to protect the multiparty democracy.

"If the Maoists have really left the demand of a republican state, what is the significance of putting forth the demand of constituent assembly?" Poudel questioned. Speaking on the same occasion, Central Committee Member of the main opposition CPN-UML, Jhala Nath Khanal, also said there is no rationale behind sticking to the demand of constituent assembly and interim government.

Is the Dragon back to its old game?

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Nov 11 – The failure of the Nepal-Bhutan talks on the festering decade-long Bhutanese refugee impasse did not surprise many as there were no expectations for any breakthrough. There was, however, a touch of slight disappointment as the two-day dialogue held in Kathmandu on November 6 and 7 completely ended in a deadlock.

Insiders in the Shital Niwas blame the trade mark intransigence of the officials of the Dragon Kingdom, this time Foreign Secretary-led team that came to negotiate with its Nepalese counterpart on "harmonising" the differences of the two sides on the contentious categorisation issue.

For the two consecutive days, Ugyen Tshering’s team was successful in frustrating the attempts of Nepalese Foreign Secretary Narayan Shumsher Thapa and his team. In a classic display of their now-familiar stubbornness during such negotiations, the Bhutanese turned down the Nepalese proposals to break the deadlock in the categorisation of the refugees.

The Nepali side had shown a marked flexibility. While briefing the reporters at the end of the first day of talks, Gyan Chandra Acharya, the Spokesperson at the Ministry said that Nepal had pushed for two categories – Bhutanese who were forcefully evicted and non-Bhutanese. What he said next is very significant and may prove to be fateful to a significant number of the 100,000 refugees now languishing in the seven camps in eastern Nepal.

"We have urged them to take the Bhutanese back to their country, and the non-Bhutanese will have to leave the camps," said Acharya.

Acharya’s comment is the clearest signal yet that Nepal is prepared to allow some assimilation of the refugees into Nepali society if they are deemed non-Bhutanese and have nowhere else to go. However, Bhutanese team failed to match the flexibility shown by the Nepalese side. They did not go beyond their own set of proposals which they kept on the negotiating table.

The failure of the Foreign Secretary-level talks has clouded the repatriation of the refugees of the Khudunabari camp in Jhapa district, where the verification will be completed by the second week of December.

What is the next step towards the ultimate goal of repatriation is still uncertain. Repatriation cannot be started unless the two countries bury their differences on the categorisation. While Nepal wants only two categories, Bhutanese who were evicted forcefully and non-Bhutanese, Bhutan insists upon retaining Bhutanese who voluntarily emigrated and Bhutanese with criminal records.

The refugees have long been crying foul over these two categories. They maintain they had not emigrated willingly. "This is nothing but the ploy of the Druk Kingdom to deny re-entry to the thousands of Bhutanese who were compelled to leave Bhutan in the early 90s," says D N S Dhakal, general secretary of Bhutan National Democratic Party.

He says the world community should not be fooled by Bhutan’s tactics. "Is it not strange that thousands and thousands of Bhutanese voluntarily migrated during that particular period by signing some flimsy document?" Why has there been no such exodus before or after the early 90s, questions Dhakal.

As far as the "Bhutanese with criminal records" are concerned, it is a tool in the hands of the Dragon Kingdom to cripple the democratic movement there, says Dhakal.

Dhakal says that the only way to resolve the refugee problem is to involve India and the US to force Bhutan to accept its citizens. Although appreciative of Nepal’s efforts of late in resolving the refugee imbroglio, refugee leaders feel that Nepal should up the ante on Bhutan’s pussy footing on the issue.

They feel that Nepal should internationalise the issue and direct its efforts on forcing India to make its stance clear on this decade-long problem. "Let India say that it is not interested; or else it has to play a decisive role. After all, the refugee were brought in truckloads to the Nepal-India border by the West Bengal police.

Agrees Rakesh Chhetri, executive director of Centre for Protection of Minorities in Bhutan. "International pressure, especially from the US, is necessary to make Bhutan do the needful. We need the same pressure from the superpower that was exerted in November last year that forced Bhutan to agree to verification," says Chhetri.

He too feels that Nepal should now aggressively internationalise the issue, given that the European donors of both the countries are the same.

A top foreign analyst says Nepal has been seeking India’s help. However, the problem is tricky for both the neighbours. "Nepal may hesitate to fully engage India on the issue and even India may not be that enthusiastic about coming forward openly," he says. The reason is, he adds, Indian help may be looked upon suspiciously.

"It is not that easy and of course, regional dynamics come into play," says the analyst, who requested anonymity.

China's WTO entry means tough competition for Asian economies

By Ram Sharan Sedhai

DOHA, Qatar, Nov 11 With China admitted to the World Trading Organization (WTO) yesterday, member nations –from rich ones like the US and European countries to poor ones as Nepal and India – will all face a completely new ball game in international trading relations.

Everyone agrees that competition for global markets will be henceforth be fierce. But its impact will be felt more on Asian economies which will have to compete with China on their home turf as well as in developed western markets.

The world’s most populous country was at the centrestage of the second day of the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) being held here. China’s entry, making it the 143rd nation to enter WTO, capped 15 years of difficult negotiations.

WTO Director-General Mike Moore admitted, "China’s WTO entry would of course create severe competition for other Asian countries", in his speech during the formal announcement of China’s accession into WTO. European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said China’s accession into WTO was set to seriously rebalance the organization.

Chinese Trade Minister and head of the Chinese delegation Shi Guangshen said after 15 years of difficult negotiations, we finally came to his historic movement. China has made longstanding and unrelenting efforts for resuming its General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Contracting Party status and for acceding to WTO, which fully demonstrates the resolve and confidence of China to deepen its reform and to open further to the outside world, he said.

China supports the launch of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations on the basis of full consideration of the interests and reasonable requirements of developing countries Minister Shi said.

"China believes that a new round should be conducive, first, to the establishment of a fair, just and reasonable international economic new order, second, to the development of world economy as well as trade and investment facilitation and third to the achievement of a balance of interests between the developed and the developing countries", he made China’s stance clear.

He also laid emphasis on adopting the pragmatic and effective measures to guarantee the implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements and on giving full consideration to the development level of relevant industries of developing countries and rendering special treatment to the extent and speed of their opening.

Representatives of the member-countries eulogizing China’s admission to WTO said that the multilateral trading system would be incomplete without China as its member. And it is true as well. China, which has the one fifth of the world’s population and an emerging powerful nation, can contribute significantly to the smooth sailing of the WTO.

Though ministers greeted China’s entry WTO entry with a standing ovation, labour unions expressed apprehension over its imminent impact on the labour market. China will become the full member of the WTO one month after its ratification on Sunday. China’s accession into the WTO will have wide-ranging effects on the workers within and outside China, said Bill Jordan, General Secretary of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

"Chinese workers stand to face a large-scale displacement. It is forecasted that 10 million Chinese will lose their jobs in the automobile sector alone, as a result of lowering tariffs under the conditions for its accession into the WTO and will put the life-time job of the millions of workers of other sectors at stake", he said, urging WTO to begin a comprehensive discussion of the social implications of globalization.

Similarly, it has ringed the alarm bell to some developing nations, as they are unlikely to be able to compete with the Chinese goods in the international market. Cheap Chinese goods have already occupied the bigger share of international market, even replacing the goods from developed nations.

Despite China’s accession into the WTO, most of the plenary sessions witnessed strong differences of opinion during the second day of the ministerial meet as ministers from developing nations raised the issues of implementing the agreements reached during Uruguay Rounds.

India leading the developing countries flayed the draft WTO ministerial declaration Saturday. Murasoli Maran, Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry lashed out the draft labeling it as unfair in dealing with a set of key issues concerning the developing countries.

Prominent issues like patenting of drugs and public health and Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Poverty Rights (TRIPS), dispute over agricultural and export subsidies, trade in services, trade and environment, competition policy and labour standards remain undecided as of yet.

However, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has said the US would eliminate export subsidies, reduce trade-distorting domestic support, substantially reduce or eliminate tariffs, further discipline state-trading enterprises that control exports and imports and give special consideration to the needs of least developed and developing countries. But prominent international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) representatives Saturday staged a protest at the US press briefing venue shouting slogans and waving flyers asking the US not to arm-twist developing countries by pushing through the draft of ministerial declaration at Doha.

Dalit Commission Bill in Winter Session, says PM

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KATHMANDU, Nov 11 - Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today reiterated that his government will table the Bill on Dalit Commission in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

"I assure you that Bill on Dalit commission will be tabled in the 21st session of the Parliament," said Deuba addressing the workshop on state’s responsibility to end the practice of untouchability and the state of Bill on Dalit Commission. The workshop was organised by Mukti Samaj in conjunction with Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC).

He further added, "There should be commitment from all the political parties to end the practice of untouchability. It is not only the government’s responsibility to uproot the practice, even the underground Maoist rebels who has been waging war should co-operate."

Deuba also said that development of the country is only possible if there is equality. "We are trying our best to create an environment offering equal opportunity to all sections of the society."

Likewise, addressing the workshop Vice Chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani stressed on the need of harsh punishment to those who discriminate the people belonging to the Dalit community.

"The discrimination against Dalits by the so-called upper caste Hindus is unfortunately justified in the name of religion and tradition," said Lohani. "None of the world religion allows discrimination against people by the people."

Lohani contended that a nation-wide campaign by all sections of the society, including the non-Dalits, could probably be the only solution left to end the practice of untouchability. "The discrimination against the Dalits have tainted the image of our peaceful country," he said.

Similarly, Man Bahadur Bishwokarma, Vice-chairman of Dalit Development Committee, once again demanded the Commission to be autonomous. "The commission should be given power to work independently as an autonomous body."

Dalits are the most oppressed section of the society. Being Hindus, they are oppressed by the upper caste Hindus. Dalits comprise 20 per cent of the total population of the country. According to the Census 1991, there are around 28 castes belonging to Dalit community.

A close shave becomes a hot issue these days

By Akhilesh Upadhyay

NEW YORK - Every time I prepare to leave our home, my wife and I get into a war of attrition. She begs me to get rid of my new fashionable goatee, making a frontal attack on my fall resolution.

I want to see my beard grow long and bushy by the time of the first snow. I tell her it could very well be my last winter in New York, and I want to wear a different avatar while I am in the freest city of the world. But my wife is a tenacious lady. And style is the last thing on her mind now.

Personal safety is higher up in her pecking order compared to such hallowed nonsense as looks and liberties. "Look at Sanjay," she tells me. "He’s always clean-shaven. And do you know that Ma isn’t walking around in her saris anymore?" The list is long and disconcerting.

"Don’t you worry," I try to calm her. "This is New York City, my dear. It has the world’s most diverse ethnic population. But I promise I will try to get home early today." This is my daily story, a story that’s become boring through repetition.

Home to us and our two children is in Sunnyside, Queens. Even the little ones aren’t interested in this Dad-vs.-Mum contest anymore. It all began on the Monday that followed the World Trade Center carnage, as I ran to catch the No. 7 train, lest I be late for my 8:30 a.m. class, the first of the fall semester.

Across the East River, the Manhattan skyline looked incongruous without the gleaming Twin Towers. There was a big hole in the sky. Sporting my fledgling new pitch- black goatee, I became instantly aware of my sudden visibility on the subway. Two months on, it is the same old war of wills with my wife, only that her plea now haunts me even in my private moments.

In subways, my bag bulging with books distracts fellow commuters each time I rummage through its contents. Thousands of New York City’s South Asians - Nepalese, Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans - are caught in a cross-fire as an angry America gropes in the dark in the wake of the terrorist attacks, while the Bush administration warns of more.

All the world’s media seem to have flocked to my part of the world. TV networks repeat footage of unruly mobs of bearded fanatics burning American flags and chanting, "Down with America." It’s a hostile territory - Pakistan, Afghanistan and the like - that has, curiously, given shelter and support to America’s public enemy No. 1, Osama bin Laden. How sad.

No one hears of the millions of moderates whose voices are drowned by violent anti-American protests on the one side and angry anti-Islam war cries on the other. I don’t have to explain any more to New Yorkers where South Asia is and how people back home look. But beyond that?

Why bother with the complexities inherent in the region where hundreds of dialects are spoken, where millions of children go to bed hungry everyday, where a single nation now stands divided into three, and each nation is routinely rocked by strong sectarian violence?

Unfortunately, the region becomes a blip on the world’s media map only when there are disasters, man-made or otherwise, as nuclear explosions, military conflicts, plague and floods, typhoons and earthquakes.

As a Nepali living in New York City for more than a year, I am discovering a few things about myself, too. I never realized I looked like a Mideasterner. My time here since Sept. 11 has brought down my confidence level a notch or two. I now feel uncomfortable about my brown skin and my English accent. (I know, everyone has an accent in New York City.) Recently, a Sikh taxi driver, who’s been in New York City since 1983, told me he doesn’t remember worse times.

I can’t stand a zillion pairs of eyes and ears, trying to make sense of my funny language and second-guessing my intentions. Time, I know, will heal much of that. As for now, I hope to see my goatee through this winter, and I trust New Yorkers won’t take offense when I possessively stroke the harmless hairs on my chin, which have survived my wife’s daily desecration.

(This article first appeared in New York Newsday).

Peace, stability key to proper investment climate, say experts

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KATHMANDU, Nov 11 – The government should create proper climate in the country to attract and retain both foreign and local investors and political stability, security of life and property, and transparency in the decision making process are essential, hydropower experts said today.

"It is just not good enough to have a fair legal framework for sectoral development and investment in the country, it is all the more important that these are implemented honestly in letter and spirit without any external impediments," said a report on Hydropower prepared by experts in the sector.

The report preludes the meeting of the South Asia Water Forum (SAWAF) to be held in Kathmandu on February 26-28 next year in an attempt to bring a common policy and develop guidelines on hydropower pricing in the South Asian region.

The report prepared by hydropower experts in the country, including Vijay Shankar Shrestha, Durga Lal Shrestha and Sanjib Man Rajbhandari, suggests that both the government and developers of hydel projects need to take steps to reduce the costs by simples steps as maximum use of local material, equipment, labor and professional manpower in order to make hydro power saleable in the domestic and export markets.

Government watch dog agencies like the Auditor General (AG) and the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has repeatedly said that the use of foreign consultants and equipment take away chunk of the money for various projects leaving only a portion to be actually used for construction.

Reports have said that as much as 30 percent of the total cost of projects financed by donor agencies have been used to hire foreign consultant doing jobs that local experts could do for a fraction of the cost.

Not just projects that are donated by donors but that are on loans too face the same difficulties as the fine prints in the agreement signed by donor agencies and the government have many such clauses making it mandatory to hire expensive foreign hands.

Another expert on the field Janak Lal Karmacharya said that there are some questions that need to be addressed during the Forum include defining whether pricing for the run-off-the-river projects and storage projects should be different and realizing downstream benefits of a multipurpose projects.

The workshop was organized by Jalsrot Vikas Sansthan/Nepal Water Partnership.

Koirala calls for ‘broad democratic alliance’

KATHMANDU, Nov 11 (PR) – The chairman of the ruling Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala today reiterated that only logical way to end existing violence from the country was the formation of "broad democratic alliance", according to which all political parties would come under a single umbrella and together win the confidence of the people.

"This broad democratic alliance if formed soon is going to make a very big impact internationally as well, we will be able to do a lot in the upcoming SAARC summit being held in Kathmandu in a short time," Koirala said. He was addressing a programme organised in the capital by People’s Liberation Army Welfare Association, a body formed six years ago to identify and work for the welfare of the freedom fighters and their families who fought in the armed repression against the Rana oligarchy half a century ago.

Earlier speaking on the same occasion Amik Sherchan of the United People’s Front disclosed that the "Siliguri meeting" between all top leaders of the left parties and Maoist supreme leader Prachanda, was organised by his party seeking peaceful resolution to the existing political crisis. "We did our best to solve the problem and now when all the political parties have given their support to Prime Minister Deuba, Koirala and Bhattarai are the two people who can make much difference to the peace process," he said.

Representing leader of the main opposition CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal in the programme, Modnath Prasrit said that it was Girija Prasad Koirala who was responsible for the existence of the Maoist and he was the person who had to take initiatives to solve the problem now.

Former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Assistant Minister of General Administration D B Lama, Chairman of Peoples Liberation Army Welfare Organisation (PLAWON) Shyam Kumar Tamang, General Secretary of the organisation Bhoj Bikram Gyawali, Chairman of Subarna Memorial Academy Bal Bahadur Swar and Chairman of Martyr Thir Bum Malla memorial Foundation Mukunda Bum Malla also spoke on the occasion.

The ex-freedom fighters were critical about the government and the people in power for not doing anything for the welfare of the martyrs of the armed movement and their families. It was also declared that the PLAWON would tender a five-point demand letter to the Prime Minister’s office on Monday.

Ex-Kamaiyas warn of fresh movement

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MAHENDRANAGAR, Nov 11 - The former Kamaiyas (bonded labourers) of Kanchanpur, far-western Terai district, on Sunday warned that they would go for another agitation if the government failed to fulfil their three-point demands.

The three-point demands include the distribution of identity cards to all the former Kamaiyas, land and financial support to them and their settlement to the area where they are currently staying.

The former Kamaiyas from different camps formed an Action Committee to expedite their movement after the government failed to provide them land and financial support even after one-and-a-half years of their liberation on July 17 last year. All the Kamaiyas were liberated from the age-old bonded labour system from five Terai districts in mid and far-western districts.

Former Kamaiya Bhagiram Chaudhary, co-ordinator of the Action Committee, told The Kathmandu Post that they would hand over the three-point demands to the district administration office on December 19 if their demands were not fulfilled by then.

The meeting called by the former Kamaiyas was also attended by Rishiraj Lumsali, the chairman of former Kamaiya Rehabilitation Committee and Kanchanpur District Development Committee and officials from Land Revenue Office and District Forest Office.

In the meeting, the former-Kamiayas complained that they were yet to be given 75 cubic feet of timber for housing and a soft loan of 10,000 rupees each from the Agriculture Development Bank.

The victims also added that the relief materials meant for the former-Kamaiyas were messed up by various governmental and non-governmental organisations before they reached the target communities.

Giving a classic example of their plight, Sundari Chaudhary of Kichai camp said that they had only one hand pump for drinking water for the 108 families. All the former Kamaiya families from Kanchanpur district have been living in 15 different makeshift shelters since their liberation.

Another former Kamaiya, Rani Devi Chaudhary, from Krishnapur camp complained that 30 Kamaiya families were yet to be paid for a month’s labour they did last year.

They also accused one of the Kanchanpur DDC members of stealing a hand pump that was provided by the DDC for the ex-Kamaiyas living in Shojtal camp. The ex-Kamaiyas claimed that there were still more than 1,000 families who were yet to receive ex-Kamaiya identity cards.

Co-ordinator Bhagiram said all the ex-Kamaiyas were fed up with the NGOs who claimed to have worked for their well-being. "We will keep records of each and every penny the NGOs raised in our names," he said.

DDC chairman Lumsali said that he was sympathetic to the demands of the ex-Kamaiyas and added that each of them should at least have 10 katthas of land.

He said that land ownership certificates had been prepared for a total of 2,465 ex-Kamaiya families. But he conceded that around 1,000 ex-Kamaiya families were yet to identify their land given by the government.