Princess Prekshya, three others, killed in chopper crash

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KATHMANDU, Nov 12 – Five and half months after a Royal massacre wiped out Nepal’s entire Royal family, another tragedy has befallen the family.

Her Royal Highness Princess Prekshya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah, 49, died today when a Fishtail Air helicopter carrying her and five other people crashed into Rara Lake in Mugu district immediately after take off, said a statement issued by Tribhuvan International Airport. A search and rescue co-ordination cell has been set up at the airport.

Three other persons – Ishwor Basnet, an acquaintance, Dan Bahadur Shahi, Royal Palace official and the pilot, Rabin Kadaria are missing and presumed dead. The remaining two – Lt Col Dr Rishi Khatri and Sharada Singh Suwal, the personal physician and the personal attendant of the Princess respectively, were injured and flown to Kathmandu for treatment.

The TIA statement said the Royal Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the district administration have launched an intense search and rescue mission for the missing three. At the time of the filing of the report, the three were still missing.

A six-member fact-finding team led by the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture Bal Bahadur K.C. toured the crash site to take stock of the situation, said the statement.

According to details emerging later in the day, the 9N-AFP Fishtail Air Ecureil helicopter was chartered by the Royal party early today in Nepalgunj for what appears to be a sight-seeing tour of Rara and surrounding areas. The chopper first flew to Shey Phoksundo Lake in Dolpa district and then went to Rara Lake in Mugu. From there, it took off at 11:25 a.m. for Surkhet, but crashed immediately into the lake, adds the statement.

Reports from Nepalgunj said that an army personnel who saw the crash, told the reporters that the chopper that had taken off from the nearby army helipad and within two minutes one of its propellers hit the water and crashed.

Princess Prekshya was married to the late Dhirendra Shah, the youngest brother of King Gyanendra. The couple, who have three daughters, were divorced in the late 1980s which led the late King Birendra to strip his brother of the Royal title.

Dhirendra Shah was one of the 10 Royal family members killed in the June 1 Royal palace massacre. However, the Princess had not attended the family gathering on that day at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace.

Before the fatal crash today, Princess Prekshya escaped unhurt in an accident that took place at Ekantkuna in Lalitpur district two weeks ago. Prior to that, while on the way to Muktinath, she became sick and had to be hospitalised, palace sources said.

Meanwhile, our reporters from Nepalgunj said that the late princess had been in Nepalgunj for a few days with her two daughters. She had gone there to settle a dispute in the Laxmi Rosin and Turpentine Industry, which she owned. She sent her daughters to Kathmandu yesterday and planned to return herself on Wednesday after visiting Bhairahawa.

The report added that the Princess had appointed Shahi, one of the missing three, as Managing Director of the company. The report also said that the rescue operation for the three missing persons and the helicopter has been hampered due to inclement weather.

At 7.20 p.m., the Princess’ body was brought to the TIA. She was later taken to her residence, Gyankunj, at Lazimpat. She was later cremated at the Aryaghat.

Meanwhile, the government today ordered that the National Flag be flown at half mast atop all the government buildings and offices in honour of the late Princess.

Govt-Maoist talks today
‘Time, venue undecided’

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KATHMANDU, Nov 12 – The government is going to hold the much-delayed third round of peace talks with the Maoists on Tuesday, said a senior government official today.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, Minister for Physical Planning and Works and chief government negotiator, Chiranjivi Wagle, said, "We have agreed to hold the peace talks tomorrow."

"We have already contacted the Maoist contact sources and they have agreed to hold the talks tomorrow," Minister Wagle added. "The government decided to hold the talks on Tuesday after holding a meeting between the Prime Minister, members of the government negotiating team and general secretary of ruling Nepali Congress (NC), Sushil Koirala.

However, he did not disclose the venue and time of the talks. "The Cabinet meeting that is going to take place tomorrow morning will decide on the venue and time of the talks," he added.

A Maoist source earlier said the Maoist negotiators currently are not in the capital and they can come at any time for the talks. "Maoist negotiators can come to the capital tomorrow for the talks if the date is fixed by the government," the source said.

The two sides had earlier agreed that the Prime Minister would decide the date and venue for the talks. The first round of talks took place in Godavari, Lalitpur on August 30 and second round in a jungle resort in Thakurdwara of Bardiya district on September 13-14.

The third round of talks is supposed to focus on the political agenda put forth by the Maoist side, that now includes formation of an interim government and the constituent assembly. Prior to the talks, an environment of trust between the government and the Maoists developed after the former scrapped the Public Security Regulations and released 68 Maoist workers as its latest move and the Maoists, in turn, withdrew the demand of a republican state, although temporarily.

Minister for Water Resources and one of the members of the government negotiating team, Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, is currently in Sunsari district and is coming to the capital tomorrow to attend the Cabinet meeting and later the talks.

On Sunday, members of the government negotiating team had expressed their doubt over the talks taking place before the Tihar festival that will begin Wednesday.

Since Minister Wagle is leaving for South Korea on Wednesday, officials said the supplementary talks will take place only after the Tihar festival. A government source told The Kathmandu Post that though Wagle is going for weeklong visit, he will spend about 12 days in South Korea.

Facilitator of the government-Maoist dialogue and NC leader, Daman Nath Dhungana, said the agenda for Tuesday’s talks will be the assessment of the situation developed after the second round of talks. "Both the teams will discuss and assess the situation developed after the second round of talks," said Dhungana.

Sweden keen to develop infrastructure, says envoy

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KATHMANDU, Nov 12 - Swedish Ambassador Johan Nordenfelt to Nepal today said that Sweden was willing to invest in Nepal especially in infrastructure development.

Nordenfelt was speaking to Nepali journalists at a face to face programme in the capital organised by the Reporter’s Club just before he flew to New Delhi.

Nordenfelt had arrived in the capital a few days ago in order to sign the first bilateral agreement between Nepal and Sweden. On Friday Sweden represented by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) and Nepal Government represented by the Ministry of Finance signed an agreement on Swedish assistance to the Melamchi Water Supply Project. The project is the first major development co-operating between Sweden and Nepal. The Swedish contribution to Melamchi project will consist of 12.5 million US dollars and a commercial credit in the same amount. According to the agreement the Swedish assistance will be mainly utilised for the tunnel.

Nordenfelt informed that Tunneling is an area where Nodic countries have highly competitive, specialised competence. "In assessing the project, Sweden has relied to a large extent on significant work already done by Norway. These two countries, together with ADB and the Nordic Development Fund, are the main funders of the Melamchi Diversion Component," a statement handed over to the journalists by Nordenfelt during the programme stated.

The Melamchi project as a whole is estimated to cost 464 million US dollars where the Nepali Government will bear 24.5 per cent of the cost. In addition to Norway which has been the largest Donor country for the project, Sweden and the Nordic Development Fund, other significant funders are Japan Bank for International Co-operation and the OPEC Fund Development.

"The entire project is seen by the Swedish Government as a high priority project, well worth supporting. In the Swedish view, the important question of water distribution needs to be seen as integral to wider development goals including health and sanitation affecting in particular vulnerable groups," states the statement.

Ola Sehaline, representative of the SIDA said that any contribution to be made by the Sweden in future depended on the request made by the Government of Nepal. About the present assistance, Sehaaline said that official request for contribution for Melamchi came from Nepali Government and also from Melamchi board and others Donors.

Gajendra Shrestha, Swedish Counsel to Nepal said that this was the first bilateral agreement signed between Sweden and Nepal in their bilateral relation of more than 30 years.

Shrestha also informed that although Sweden has not been as active as other Donor countries, it has in past contributed 36.6 million dollars for implementation of Land Information System and Geographical Information System. He also said that an agreement was signed between Royal Swedish Academy of Science and Technology and Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST) and it has been agreed that four Nepali Scientist would be visiting Sweden every year.

"Sweden has been emphasising more on Human Resource Management and Good Governance," Shrestha said.

Bangladeshi Kamini recuperates in Nepal hospital

By Seema A. Adhikari & Ganesh Rai

KATHMANDU, Nov 12 - Life is filled with nightmares for 18-year-old Kamini of Dinajpur village in Bangladesh who awoke to life at a hospital bed in Nepal after her husband and family members attempted to burn her alive.

Married to an ultra-conservative Muslim twice as old as herself some two years back, Kamini escaped from the narrow jaw of death while attempting to stand up and fight for her rights back home where she was not only attacked but also ostracized.

Her crime: She did not bring precious ornaments and household gadgets in dowry along with her when her parents married her off.

Six months down the line, things however are looking up. She has been admitted at Shanti Service House (SSH) at Tilganga in the capital where she is receiving plastic surgery free of charge, and now she is limping back to normal.

She says, "I will never return to my country where Bangladeshis simply watched me burning in fire. It was the Nepalis who came to my rescue. I want to live in Nepal rest of my life."

What transpired in the life of young Kamini speaks in volume the harsh reality of most South Asian societies and women: That domestic violence is a common phenomenon, and that women continue to receive brutal treatment - so much so that a few even loose their lives in the process.

[A report published by UNICEF (2000) confirms that women in South Asia are exposed to a six kinds of violence- sexual abuse, rape and incest, forceful prostitution, family neglect, dowry wife abuse, foeticide and infanticide. And in Bangladesh, Kamini’s story takes one to a step further where dowry-related violence has been common.]

Life has never been easy for Kamini. "Three months before I was burnt alive, I was forced to undergo abortion my husband and every member of his family would subject me to torture, almost every day," she says from the hospital bed as she struggles to speak and recall, tears falling down her ravaged cheeks.

And with two weeks before her visa expires, she faces a complex problem: Whether to continue with her plastic surgery which takes five months or so, or return to Bangladesh where she fears more intimidation and atrocity from her family, her society.

After her news appeared in the Independent, a Bangladeshi national newspaper, Marianne Grosspietsch, a German representative to Shanti Service House - Nepal, Krishna Gurung, its Director, along with three other representatives who were touring Bangladesh, bumped into her. Touched and moved at her plight, they decided to bring her to Nepal and make her well again.

After visiting the Dhaka-based Nepalese Embassy and contacting Sushma Memorial Hospital in Kathmandu, a charity hospital which provides plastic surgery services to the poor, Director Gurung and his team members made arrangement for her visit to Nepal.

Doctors at the Hospital have so far performed five complex operations, and five more major plastic surgeries have to be done, which require at least five more months, according to Andreas Setze, a plastic surgeon involved in her surgery.

"Because none of the charitable organizations in Bangladesh showed concern for her, we decided to bring her to Nepal," says Director Gurung. "We are looking for some donations to conduct cosmetic surgery to remove scars from her face and body which is very expensive, beyond the reach of a common man."

Added Dr Rameshower Man Singh, another plastic surgeon at the Hospital, "The operation of her neck and right elbow is over. Now she does not need anybody’s help to perform her daily activities like before."

"Shanti Service Home and its staff gave me new life," Kamini, who is just beginning to recover from the pains and traumas she underwent, says. Kamini, next narrates a horrific murder plot hatched against her. "I last remember how my husband, nephews and in-laws were pounding on me, pouring kerosene and igniting my body on a fire. After that the whole world turned dark..." She can’t just complete the sentence.

Kamini’s family members in Bangladesh, meanwhile, stated in a letter that the two of the inmates involved in the murder plot have been handed down life imprisonment and confiscation of all of their properties while two others including her husband remain absconding, according to letter.

Media’s role in democracy highlighted

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KATHMANDU, Nov 12 - Former prime minister and President of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala today said that media has a great role to play in moulding public opinion in favour of democracy, politics and administration.

"People have lost faith in democracy, politics and administration nowadays so it is the responsibility of the media to create an environment where people will believe on democracy, politics, political leader and administration," said Koirala.

Koirala was speaking at an interaction programme on Implementation and Evaluation of Working Journalist Act 1994 organised by Press Union, a forum of democrat journalists of Nepal, in support of Fedrich Ebert Stiftung.

Koirala further said that even small newspapers should be preserved, as big publications are tending to establish monopoly in media sector. He also asked the journalists to make an alliance to solve their problems.

On the occasion, Koirala also released a magazine, B.P. Patrakarita Bishes Shramjibi Smarika published by Press Union.

Other speakers of the programme expressed their dissatisfaction over the non-implementation of the Working Journalist Act and Regulation. They said that the Act is not implemented in practice at all. The government formulated the Act in 1994 with a view to protect and safeguard the service and conditions of working journalists.

Suresh Acharya, president of the Federation of the Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), criticised the government for not introducing the Bill on Right to Information in the summer session of the Parliament, which concluded last month. He, further, said that if the government does not introduce the Bill even in the next session of the Parliament, the FNJ would introduce the Bill in the Parliament in the winter session of the Parliament.

Harihar Birahi, chairman of the Press Council, said media are controlling working journalists whereas they should control the media since they are the backbone of any media.

Gokul Pokharel, chairman of Press Institute, said that government should implement the Act in government-owned media first so that other private media would be forced to follow it.

P. Kharel, media advisor of Fedrich Ebert Stiftung, underlined a need to implement the Act fully to see the journalism profession healthy and independent.

Govinda Biyogi, chairman of the Society of Editors, Kulchandra Wagle, president of Nepal Press Union, Tara Baral, former president of Press Union, Sambhu Shrestha, president of Press Chautari, Puskar Acharya, General Secretary of Trade Union Congress and Purusottam Basnet, chief of Nepali Congress Press Department also demanded the implementation of the Act.