Deuba warns rebels not to take undue advantage
Defends land reforms as socio-economic necessity

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Sept 2 – Despite a din of protests by opposition lawmakers, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today bulldozed his way through the House of Representatives, forcefully reading a "statement of public importance" that warned the Maoist rebels not to take undue advantage of the government’s conciliatory approach.

Deuba’s statement came despite hue and cry by the opposition Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and the Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) which have been leading the protests against government’s s radical land-reform measures.

But unlike yesterday, their protests today did not stump the Prime Minister who continued reading his statement. Deuba’s public importance speech dwelt on two broad areas: the Maoist rebels and his proposed land reforms bills. While he warned the rebels that the government’s patience with them is running thin, Deuba also reiterated the socio-economic gains of the proposed reforms.

PM warns Maoists: "The government has taken a serious note of use of force for extortion, mobilisation of people, forcible use of public place and means of transport, terrorising businessmen and closing of schools despite the commitment of the Maoists to stop such activities," the Prime Minister said. He called on the rebels to immediately put a halt to such activities as has been promised by the rebels.

The stern warning comes when reports are emerging that the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has been asking schools, hotels, restaurants and house owners to allow their premises to be used by people on or around September 21. On that date, the rebels reportedly plan to bring in thousands of supporters into the capital for a public mass meeting aimed at displaying their strength.

The yet-to-be-officially-confirmed mass meeting has concerned not just the government but also the opposition communists. A senior lawmaker of the main opposition CPN (UML) referring to the Maoist’s planned rally told The Kathmandu Post on condition of anonymity, "the situation is grave." He added that private school organisations, hotels and restaurant owners have been asked by the rebels their premises for a short period of time around September 21. Moreover, the government is also miffed that the rebels have continued their "undesirable activities" despite promises not to do so in the recently held Godavari talks.

Since July 23, when Prime Minister Deuba and Maoist leader Prachanda agreed to a cease-fire followed by peace talks, the rebels have been consolidating their position, openly holding mass rallies, collecting donations, and declaring "people’s government " in several districts. The government, on the other hand, has also passed through the controversial Armed Police Force bill in parliament, preparing for eventual struggle with the rebels if the talks fail.

Land reforms: The other issue PM Deuba dwelt on today in his "public importance" speech in parliament was the controversial land reforms proposal unveiled on August 16. Deuba argued that the reform measures are aimed at uplifting the socio-economic status of all Nepalis. But the Prime Minister’s main thrust was, the land reforms measures will be implemented only after citizenship certificates are distributed to "genuine" Nepalis who have not yet received the key document.

The issue is linked because in Nepal, no one can keep property in their name unless s/he is a bonafide citizen. The NSP and RPP have always demanded that the government first distribute the citizenship certificates before implementing land reforms in whatever form.

Defending his announcement of August 16 in which he had said that the government was bringing in a new land ceiling, Deuba said it was being done to provide the land to the landless and to increase the productivity of the under-utilised land. This was also in accordance with the Directive Principles of the State of the Constitution, pointed Deuba.

As another justification, the PM conceded that all the land confiscated from people using the government’s land illegally plus the government’s own land as well as unutilised land together were not enough to meet the objective of land reforms. "So keeping in mind the unproductivity in the land owned by families who have more than necessary, we have brought a Bill to effect a new ceiling on land ownership."

He also stated that the distribution of the land would be localised and the preference would be given to the local landless dalit (oppressed community), adivasis (indigenous people) and janjatis (ethnic groups). Referring to NSP contention of irregularity in distribution of land to the sukumbasis (the landless squatters) in an earlier scheme, PM Deuba pledged that the record of such distribution will be scrutinised in a transparent manner. If any flaws are seen, then they will be corrected before the current land reform measure is implemented, said the PM.

Another aspect is the computerisation and centralisation of land ownership throughout the Kingdom. "The Bill incorporates computerised integrated land information system … and makes it mandatory that all details of the land throughout the Kingdom be registered in a single district," said Deuba, adding the Bill also has provisions of controlling the fragmentation of land as well as programmes to promote the integration of land.

Another subject in the statement was the government’s initiative to control corruption. The Prime Minister said the government aimed to strengthen the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) through the Bill introduced for the purpose and the Bill to check corruption would help in effectively curbing corruption. He expressed the commitment of making corruption a punishable crime after the Bills are passed with the co-operation of all the parties.

"This would strengthen the government policy of introducing progressive tax on urban property," remarked Deuba. Midway through reading his statement, the Prime Minister categorically stated that the government has no intention of imposing any ceiling on wealth under any circumstances. He was responding to the slogan-shouting lawmakers of the RPP and the NSP who went on with sloganeering demanding a ceiling on wealth.

Meanwhile, the Speaker completed the process of sending the Income Tax and Excise Duty Bills to the concerned parliamentary committee amidst the sloganeering.

Landlords relieved after lift on land transaction ban

By Tilak Pokharel &  Bikas Thapa

BIRATNAGAR, Sept 2 - The lifting of the ban on land transaction by the government last week has come as relief to many people here for whom land is their prime asset and sole source of income.

The landowners, who were panicked after the announcement of land reforms by the government few weeks back, have now calmed down and are appearing to feel comfortable about the situation.

Hordes of landlords, who until last week were crowding the District Court holding on to their land ownership certificates and other related documents, today marched to the Land Revenue Office instead.

Today was the first working day in most parts of the country after the government registered Fifth Amendment Bill on Land Reforms in the Parliament on Friday and announced the lifting of the ban on land transaction as long as it did not exceed the ceiling set on the Bill.

With the farmers and the landlords swarming at the Land Revenue Office (LRO) Biratnagar, this government office dealing with the land transactions received altogether 32 cases asking for the land transference on Sunday.

Until last week the office had remained deserted since after the Prime Minister’s announcement of land freeze and ban on all land transactions throughout the country on August 16.

"Not even a single bigha of land will come out of the land ceiling limit (11 bigha). By the Friday’s decision of lifting on the earlier ban, the landlords will get enough time to transfer to other’s name or sell it," said Chiranjibi Dahal, chairman of a struggle committee formed against the government’s announcement of revolutionary land reforms.

Officials at the LRO and advocates in the District Court, Biratnagar, also said that the landlords now can protect their land by registering in the name of other claimants before the proposed Bill gets turned into an Act.

Almost all the landlords holding more than 11 bigha of land have already filed cases in the court," said Rupesh Koirala, advocate at the court.

According to the court officials, during two weeks after the government’s ban on land transactions, more than 800 farmers and landlords, fearing that the government would seize their land, had registered mostly "fake cases" against their own relatives in the district courts throughout the country.

Officials at the LRO say that many people are not aware about the Friday’s move of the government. "So the number is likely to sky-rocket from Monday," said Kul Prasad Thapa, Chief Land Revenue Officer at LRO. "People will observe today’s trend and will act accordingly."

Since the Land Reforms Act was enforced in 1964, the government has so far seized only 323 bighas of land in Morang district, out of which 307 bigha of land was distributed to 500 landless.

The government on Friday had registered the Bill proposing land reforms setting the ceiling on land holding at 143 ropani (11 bigha) in Terai, 30 ropani in the Kathmandu Valley and 75 ropani in rest of the country. The government had registered the Bill following the decision made by the Central Working Committee meeting of the ruling Nepali Congress.

Sita Ram Pokharel of the LRO said the government, if it strictly follows its plan can seize only about 55 bigha of land.

Though Thapa asserted that the LRO has not done transaction of any land of any person holding more than 11 bigha, the lekhandas - persons who are not staff of the office but write legal documents for others - said that land transactions of more than 11 bigha have been done.

All the transactions on Sunday were made to sign an agreement where both the parties agreeing that they would return their land exceeding the land ceiling limit (if any) to the government after the proposed Bill becomes Act.

Despite the government’s proposed "revolutionary" land reforms to seize land from the landlords and redistribute it to the landless, the poor people without land are now becoming skeptical about getting any land through the move.

Govt aims to speed up Dalit body formation

By Subas Risal

KATHMANDU, Sept 2 – It took ten long years of constant pressure by Dalit groups on the government to finally announce a Dalit Commission. But two weeks after its announcement by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the government has yet to begin homework to actually form the Commission.

But the government contends, it is now serious and has taken up the task as a "top priority" item. Senior leaders say, the task will begin with a series of interaction programmes with political parties, Dalit activists and others on just how to go about the formation of the Commission as well as its modus operandi, once set up.

"We are gearing up to interact with leaders of the different political parties and Dalit activists to make the Commission effective and powerful," said Minister for Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Gupta, who is also the cabinet spokesman. "The Commission’s main task will be to work to uplift the current status of the Dalits. We are taking it up on a priority basis."

Dalits are the most oppressed sections of society. Largely Hindus, they are discriminated against by upper caste Hindus because of deep-rooted beliefs fostered ironically by the religion itself. The Commission, when it is formed, will mainly be tasked with checking anti-Dalit discrimination and uplifting the lot of the poor section of society.

Secretary at the Local Development Ministry, Udaya Soti said, "Modalities will be thoroughly discussed before arriving at a conclusion and we are currently working on the agendas to be discussed. The Commission will work as the ‘watch dog’ which will guide the different Dalit agencies."

All this is fine provided the actual work begins, say many Dalit activists. Though welcoming Deuba’s announcement, such activists want the Commission to be set up soon simply because anti-Dalit discrimination in the Kingdom is still rife, as illustrated by yesterday’s incident in Mulpani VDC north-east of Kathmandu.

But those with knowledge of how the government works know that the Commission’s work won’t be easy. For instance, the government formed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after years of promises. Now that it has been up and running and monitoring human rights abuses in the country for more than a year, the country’s bureaucracy, mired as it is in conservative old ways, is still loathe to adopt the NHRC’s recommendations.

Could a similar fate await the newly proposed Dalit Commission?

Despite the misgivings, however, premier Deuba has won plaudits from Dalits for his proposed Commission. "We whole heartedly welcome the announcement made by the Prime Minister who assured to form the Dalit Commission," says President of Dalit NGO Federation Durga Sob. "It’s been almost 10 years since we began demanding such a Commission."

When asked whether the Commission will be effective in ending the discrimination, she replied, " It all depends upon the implementation. If there is a proper mechanism for the implementation, then it will undoubtedly help in ending the discrimination."

Member of the Upper House and a noted Dalit activist, Bijul Krishna Bishwokarma carries the similar opinion regarding the Commission. "Prime Minister Deuba’s announcement is definitely something positive. If the PM’s assurances get materialized it will undoubtedly help in ending the discrimination." Though anti-Dalit discrimination has been banned in Nepal by the nation’s constitution, the practice is still rife, especially in rural illiterate areas. But even urban areas are not far behind. For instance, Chamars, a community that disposes off the carcasses of the animals were virtually ostracised in Siraha and Saptari districts last year when they refused to carry the carcasses.

Prithvi Highway remains blocked

Post Report

KURINTAR, Chitwan, Sept 2 – Landslide and sections of the road washed by the Trishuli river on Sunday continued to block the Prithvi Highway that links the capital city with most of the country.

Though traffic was opened for only four hours today between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. by workers clearing the road, continued landslides forced them to halt flow of traffic again.

A section of the highway, about 12 kilometers east of Mugling, has been damaged by the swollen river since Friday. As an alternate, workers have dug out the hills but was soon covered by falling debris.

Chief of the Department of Roads at Bharatpur, Hari Bhakta Shrestha said it could take few more days to clear the Highway.

The department has completely shut down the highway for the next two days and is asking motorist to use the alternative route through the Tribhuwan Highway.

Modernity vs tradition create troubles in Manakamana

By Satyendra Timilsina

MANAKAMANA, Gorkha, Sept 2 - Just few years ago, the route to the Manakamana temple used to be dotted with tea stalls, rest houses and small guesthouses. Today, it is almost empty, with only a few adventurous souls braving up the steep trek to the temple of the Goddess of Wishes.

Since a cable car began operation in 1998, the sea of trekkers on the route disappeared with most of them opting for the comforts of the cable car that whizzes pilgrims up to the temple in less than 10 minutes from the highway.

While this may have allowed many more thousands of people to visit Manakamana swiftly and efficiently, this shining example of modern technology has also taken its toll on local inhabitants. Families on the old route have lost most of their businesses and a fourth of them have been forced to migrate elsewhere. The few who remain are struggling to survive.

It is this tussle between modern technology and old tradition that led to the spat between the cable car company and village authorities last week, forcing the company to halt operations for nearly a week. Though the cable cars are back in operation since Saturday, the underlying tension between technology and tradition persists.

The Manakamana Village Development Committee (almost everything here is named after the famous temple) the blames the modern transport for their lost jobs and businesses. But the cable car company says, it has in fact, brought more tourists to the village, and hence more revenues. Both are right in their own ways.

Before the cable car began operation, there were no other alternatives to visit Manakamana than by a three-hour trek from Abu Khairini. The businesses along the Manakamana route and on the hilltop used to enjoy handsome income especially during the winter months.

"More than 75 per cent of the visitors used to stay for at least one night," says Ram Kumar Joshi, the Chairman of the VDC. "On an average, each visitor that camped for one night at Manakamana, used to spend at least Rs 250 per day."

However, the total turnover for the businesses in the village after the operation of cable car has now dived to the lowest they have ever known.

"The rates for a bed has plunged to Rs. 25 down from as much as Rs. 75 from few years back. But even the reduced rates have not been able to attract the lost customers," said Bharat Malla, owner of Indreni Lodge.

However, others argue that the introduction of cable car has in fact helped increase the number of people visiting the temple and brought much more businesses and people to the area.

"The increasing number of the visitors has actually flourished the business environment on this sector," claimed D N Kayastha, station Manager at the Cable Car station. "The number of the visitors has increased to 600,000 which is twice the annual on average."

The establishment of the Cable car has also expanded the businesses around the Manakamana temple. There has been a significant increase in the number of souvenir shops and flower along with food stalls.

Besides that, the company has been collecting an additional charge from customers for the VDC and has helped with many projects benefiting the locals. Locals get a subsidized rate for a ride on the cable car and to ferry good up the mountain. Every year, the VDC also gets Rs. 500,000 for development projects.

Even then, there are occasional scuffle between the locals and the operator. Only last week, the company was forced to shut down for six days after the locals blocked the operation following dispute between the two sides.

"We are working for the development of other tourism spots like the famous Bakreshwor Mahadev’s temple, some 30 minutes trek from the Manakamana temple. This would be an additional attraction for the visitors to Manakamana," says Joshi.

Established in 1998 with the investment of around Rs. 430 million, the company has 31 cable cars that have the capacity to ferry 600 people per hour. In an average, the company carries 1,500 peoples per day. The company’s daily turnover is Rs. 200,000.

Maoists ask Indian force to quit Kalapani

By Lokendra Bista

KHALANGA, Darchula, Sept 2 - Local Maoist leaders today called upon the Indian force to withdraw from Nepal’s North-Western Kalapani area, a tri-junction area between Nepal, India and China.

An Indian paramilitary force has been occupying 196 square kilometres of Nepali territory at Byas Village Development Committee since the Indo-China border war broke out in 1962.

District Commander of the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Comrade Prashant said that his party’s Red Army was ready to fight against the Indian paramilitary force if it did not voluntarily withdraw from the occupied area.

"We have the strength of 2,000 armed men in the district alone," said Comrade Prashant, addressing an inaugural function of the Maoist-aligned, All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (ANNISU)-Revolutionary.

He became public for the first time in the district headquarter after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba announced the ceasefire to proceed with peace talks with the Maoist rebels fighting against the multi-party system for the last six years.

A team of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, former bureaucrats and technical experts and CPN-ML affiliated students’ union - ANNFSU - had already inspected the area separately.

The Indian occupation of the Kalapani area has been one of the contentious issues in the Nepal-India relations. The Indian side has been claiming that the origin of the Mahakali River, a border river in major stretches, is in the Kalapani area, a contention that Nepal does not agree with. Nepal has been saying that Limpiyadhura that lies west of the Kalapani area is the actual origin of the river.

Origin of the river - whether it is at Kalapani or at Limpiyadhura - was one of the four points raised by Nepal before the Indian side before Nepali parliament ratified the controversial Mahakli Treaty by two-thirds majority in 1996.

Comrade Prashant also accused the Chief District Officer of suppressing the nationalist movement and said that his party would "banish him (CDO) from the district."

"At a time when his Red Army was taking combat training in jungle to fight the Indian force in Kalapani, the CDO arrested our cadre on fake charges," he said, merely 30 metres away from the district administration office.

Central committee member of the ANNISU-Revolutionary, Resham Pun, requested the Royal Nepal Army to join hands with the Red Army to "chase away the Indian force occupying the Nepali territory." Pun said that it was foolishness to fight with each other and urged all - RNA, police and the people - to protect the border of the country.

Landslides leave 8 families homeless in Darchula

Post Report

DARCHULA, Sept 2 - At least eight families have become homeless while dozens of others severely affected this week due to a huge landslide at Mad village of Sunsera Village Development Committee-6 of this frontier district, locals said.

A local, Narendra Singh Kunwar, told The Kathmandu Post that other families could be displaced any time as there appeared long and deep fissures over the mountain right above the remote village, about one-day trek from Khalanga, the district headquarters.

Kunwar, who arrived at the district headquarter via India, said that the village was completely isolated from the rest of the district after the landslide washed away most of the trails. But nobody was hurt as all the families abandoned their houses before the landslide swept them away.

Some of the paddy fields on the banks of the Mahakali River have also been washed away when the landslide blocked the natural course of the swollen river for a while.

Officials at the district administration office admitted that they were helpless to supply relief materials to the isolated village.

On the other hand, the Indian paramilitary force, which took control of its northern frontier zone, barred the Nepali nationals from crossing the Mahakali river to the Indian side.

Likewise, a 280 megawatts capacity hydro power project being built by the Indian government on the Dhauli Ganga river, a major tributary of the Mahakali River, has also been stalled due to the landslides and cracks upstream of the project’s reservoirs.

Heavy rainfall scares people in Marchabar

Post Report

BHAIRAHAWA, Sept 2 – Continuing rainfall since Friday has left the residents of Marchabar area panicking with the water level in the river almost reaching the danger level.

The rainwater has already submerged much of the paddy fields though the Danav River is yet to flood the surrounding lands. The water level, however, is continuing to rise.

As many as 500 huts have been damaged and people are preparing to flee the area if the situation continues to worsen, said Rajendra Tripathi, a local resident.

Rupandehi Chief District Officer Tara Gautam said the administration was prepared for rescue and relief efforts in case of a major flood. The river is only about 1 meter from the danger level and is fast rising.

Nepal concerned over Indian TV Channels

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Sept 2 - General Secretary of the Main opposition CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal today raised concerns over Indian television channels consistently showing Indian Army personnel stationed near the Nepal border.

"I believe these events should be monitored very closely but I am surprised at the fact that some people are not worried at all," Nepal said addressing an in-house discussion programme organised at the party’s central office in the capital, today.

Stating that India has always been interested in keeping Nepal under its security umbrella, General Secretary Nepal claimed that there are lots of rooms to conclude that the Maoist rebels are being supported by India in order to destabilise Nepal and achieve its aim.

At the same time, he added that it could also be the Royal Palace or the ruling Nepali Congress itself backing the Maoists in order to meet their respective interests, to discourage democracy in the country and to weaken the CPN-UML.

After publicly criticising the Maoists for threatening, assaulting, extorting and forcing local members of the main opposition to resign from their elected posts for the past several weeks, Nepal also categorically instructed his party cadres not to bow down to Maoists’ pressures.

He also instructed the party cadres not to resign from public posts because of fear or pressure, nor give any donations to the Maoists.

Nepal also warned the Maoists that if they continued with their arrogant and naive attitude then their downfall could come in the very near future.

Talking about the ongoing unity efforts among the left parties Nepal reiterated that since the CPN-ML leadership was bargaining for positions, CPN-UML could not go ahead with the unification. "But it does not mean that there cannot be a working unity between the two parties," Nepal added.

Other party leaders Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Iswor Pokhrel spoke on the ways to resolve existing problems of the country and the decisions taken by the 22nd meeting of the party’s Central Committee.