Parties forge alliance against Maoists

By Tilak Pokharel

KATHMANDU, April 5: Six mainstream political parties of the country including the ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML today forged an alliance to jointly carry out rallies and mass meetings across the country against the Maoist atrocities and their attacks on the development infrastructures.

According to a statement issued after the meeting that was called by the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) in its central office, the all party meet has forged the All-Party Campaign Committee at the central level with representation from the mainstream political parties.

The statement was signed by NC President Girija Prasad Koirala, General Secretary of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal, Chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Surya Bahadur Thapa, President of the Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party (NWPP) Narayan Man Bijukchhe, Chitra Bahadur KC of the National People’s Front and Amik Sherchan of the United People’s Front.

However, the crucial meet was not attended by the Nepal Sadbhavana Party. Some leaders, taking exception to the conspicuous absence, reasoned that the party did not attend as issues affecting the Terai (plains) were not on the agenda.

All the parties attending the meeting have also agreed to forge All-Party Co-ordination Committee in each district. The statement has also said the details of the all-party campaign will be made public "very soon".

Talking to journalists after the meeting, UML General Secretary Nepal said the meeting was called by realising the need to do something concrete to settle the present political and social imbroglio. "We called the meeting so as to put an end to the difficult situations," Nepal said. "We are very much concerned about the escalating Maoist atrocities and their indiscriminate attacks against the development infrastructures across the country. The meeting decided to jointly move ahead to settle this situation."

RPP leader Thapa said the all-party meet decided to hold peace rallies in the regional level.

After attending the meeting, leader of NWPS Bijukchhe told the media that the meeting was successful in bringing solidarity among the political parties concerning the national issues. "The meeting was successful in forging solidarity among the mainstream parties to go ahead to fight grave national problems," Bijukchhe said.

The meeting also strongly flayed the Maoists for destroying various development infrastructures including bridges, power projects, health posts, airports, telephone towers, private and public vehicles, among a host of others. According to the joint statement, the meeting has urged for immediate reforms in such situations and has asked with the government to ensure peace in the country.

The meeting has decided to send back all the party workers and workers of the sister organisations to the districts to carry out the rallies and mass meetings as part of the campaign.

The meeting has once again reiterated the immediate need to amend the Constitution to find a way out to the present problems by bringing massive reforms in the socio-economic condition and to control corruption.

Bijukchhe also said the participants in the meeting also expressed unhappiness about the set of directives vis-à-vis the state of emergency under Article 115(7) of the Constitution issued on Tuesday. "We are not satisfied with the directives and have decided to flay it right from Parliament," he said. "It would be better had the directives not been issued."

Lila Mani Pokharel of the UPF said, "The directives are more dictatorial-type. It has further restricted the rights of the people."

Pokharel’s disapproval of the directives was based on its provision that nobody can raise concerns over the activities of the security personnel.

Informal talks with Maoists

After the all-party meet, President of the Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party Narayan Man Bijukchhe revealed that all the mainstream political parties might be "secretly" involved in informal consultation with the outlawed Maoists for the peaceful solution to the ongoing violence and terror from their respective sides.

"I suspect that they (the political parties) have already initiated informal dialogues with the Maoists," he told the journalists. "One and all should try to bring the Maoists on a dialogue table."

59 teachers killed so far as Maoists continue targeting them

By Nitya Nanda Timsina

KATHMANDU, April 5:The teachers have been one of the primary targets of both the Maoist rebels and the security forces, as almost 60 teachers have been killed in Nepal since the Maoists launched their bloody insurgency in 1996.

More than 60 others have fled their hometowns and schools seeking asylum in the Capital after the government imposed the state of emergency in November last year to wipe out the Maoists.

A report of Nepal National Teachers’ Association (NNTA), which is affiliated to the main opposition CPN-UML, has claimed that at least 26 teachers have died either in the police custody or in the encounters since the declaration of emergency. And it said Maoists have killed 33 of them. It said that those who have died in the custody were arrested in suspicion of having contacts with the Maoists

Even the report of the Amnesty International said that besides those deliberately killed by the Maoists, nearly half the number of teachers have died either in the "crossfire" or "killed by gunfire."

Most recently, 12 teachers, including the headmasters, have been killed after the imposition of emergency while the whereabouts of five others missing from the schools continue to remain unknown, the NNTA officials claim.

Though the number of teachers killed in action is growing, the teachers have no clue whatsoever on why the Maoists have been targeting them. But, one of the teachers said that the Maoists must have resorted to an unprecedented killing of teachers, as the latter did not pay heed to the Maoists’ demands.

Maoists have been asking schools not to let their students sing the national anthem, accusing it of glorifying the Monarch and not to teach Sanskrit.

"The increasing number of incidents of teachers being abducted, killed and murdered have had a grave impact on tens of thousands of teachers across the country," said Ramakanta Sapkota, general secretary of NNTA. He said that in addition to the execution-style killings, from late July 2001, more teachers have been taken hostages, tortured brutally and imposed harshest punishments, including deliberate and cold-blooded murder.

One such example is the death of Mukti Nath Adhikari, a headmaster of Panini Sanskrit Secondary School in Lamjung, who was executed by hanging him on to a tree on a broad-day light of January 16. The Maoists particularly accused him of teaching Sanskrit and refusing to give donation.

Though the government has been assuring of maintaining law and order in the country, more and more teachers in the far-flung villages have been fleeing their homes and schools.

Even the teachers and organisations outside the country have shown deep concern over the plight of the teachers in Nepal. Education International, the international organisation of teachers, had urged Nepalese government to put an end to the merciless killings and torture on teachers in Nepal and had asked the government to bring the culprits to justice.

The Education International, which has its headquarters in Brussels of Belgium, is an organisation of 24.5 million teachers across 157 countries.

It has also asked the government to restore law and order in the country to create a conducive environment for early realisation of the global campaign: "Education for all."

Despite continues pressure from various national and international organisations, the Maoist rebels are targeting more and more teachers in the villages, forcing tens of thousands of teachers to either flee their schools or quit the profession.

NRB seeks clarification from Bank of Ceylon

By Milan Mani Sharma

KATHMANDU, April 5: In its latest attempt of tightening grip over the commercial banks, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has sought clarification from the board of Bank of Ceylon (BoC) regarding the loans it extended to various parties ‘going against the regulations’.

"The explanation has been sought on the loans extended to firms in which the Inspection and Supervision Department (ISD) of the NRB found the involvement of the family members of the bank’s directors," said highly placed sources at the NRB.

The firms have been identified as Harisiddhi Bricks and Tiles Factory (HBTF), Balaji International (BI), NB International, National Hydropower, Chemi Trade (CT) and Kathmandu Model Housing and Property Development (KMHPD).

The governing regulations prohibit banks from lending to firms in which the director or his family members are involved. "However, these firms have an involvement of the family members of the bank’s Chairman and representative of the NB Group Jeet Bahadur Shrestha," says a NRB report.

The report also says that the bank has extended funded loans of Rs 350.73 million and non-funded loans of Rs 191.17 million to these firms and the figures stand at 58.96 per cent and 32.14 per cent of the bank’s total capital fund respectively.

"The loan extended to the NB Group alone is put at 18.23 percent of its total loan portfolio," states the report. Two members of the board of directors of BoC are from the NB group.

The NRB has also directed the bank to collect back the loans extended to these firms within the maturity period and ‘as soon as possible’ in case the loans are overdue. Rs 230 million out of the funded loan and the whole of the non-funded loan of Rs 191.17 are overdue.

The bank was found to be rescheduling the loans against the NRB’s directives. The report also stated that the collateral of these parties was not properly evaluated and the ISD has rated these loans as the highly risky loans.

However, talking to The Kathmandu Post Gauri Lal Shrestha, General Manager of the BoC said that the report of the ISD was based on the data of 1999/00 and most of these loans have been regularised. He said that the board will clarify these facts in its letter which it will dispatch to the NRB within the stipulated 90 days from February 22.

"The firms ISD mentioned, though has an involvement of the family members of the bank’s chairman, they had been separated about 22 years ago and do not fall into the single family criteria legally," he stated.

Meanwhile, the ISD’s report adds that the bank extended loans of Rs 185 million to Biswas Garment (BG) without sufficient collateral and its Export Bill Negotiation (EBN) too smells rat. But, Shrestha denied of such cases.

The report highlights that the bank had extended credit over Rs 1.01 billion, which is 52.7 percent of the bank’s total credit to 25 groups that still has to pay back over Rs 10 million each. "It has defied the Single Obligator Limit provisioned by the governing Act."

"The bank has provided Passport Exchange Facility to the Indian national going against the directives," the report states. Such facility can be provided to Nepali citizens only.

The report also raises questions over the bank’s management stating that it neither has effective management policies nor the precise plan of action for lending and debt recovery. The bank has even been extending loans to the blacklisted parties and defaulters.

Furthermore, the bank has not still issued its shares to the public even after 5 years of its establishment, says report. However, Shrestha said that they are mulling to issue out the same by the next month, following the NRB’s direction.

Gupta asked to explain his comment on COAS

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 5: The ruling Nepali Congress (NC) has asked for written explanation from Minister of Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta on Thursday on the comments expressed by him on controversial remarks of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Prajjwala Shumshere Rana.

Apart from subscribing to the view of COAS Rana, Gupta had gone on to say that the ruling party was "making best use of the army"

The letter, signed by chief of disciplinary cell of the party Mahanta Thakur, was handed over to Minister Gupta by Bal Dev Majgaiya, member of the disciplinary cell of the party, who expressed his ignorance whether the reply was due on Friday or not.

NC Central Working Committee (CWC) Sunil Kumar Bhandari confirmed the fact that Minister Gupta has been asked to explain his remarks to the effect that "whatever the COAS has said concerning the members of the political establishment was a fair judgement."

Bhandari also indicated at the tough action so far as he said that " the action will be taken in consideration of the fact that Minister Gupta is presiding over a sensitive post." He, however, hastened to add that the action will be taken refraining from undue bias against the minister.

Minister Gupta had gone on to indirectly subscribe to the views which came from COAS Rana while addressing a gathering at army training centre even as he did not see anything wrong with COAS Rana commenting on the behaviour of the members of the political establishment.

This, incidentally, is something which has not gone well with the leadership of the ruling party. In fact, the letter seeking the explanation comes in the wake of views of the incumbent minister widely differing from the Prime Minister.

Though Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had speaking in parliament on the controversial remark of the COAS said that "he has been alerted on the comments", Minister Gupta had gone on to say that "there is nothing wrong in whatever the COAS has said" during an interview with the Nepal Television.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, another NC CWC member Arjun Narsingh KC said, "There has been a serious lapse on the part of the Prime Minister and the minister in question since the latter ought to have sought the explanation immediately after the incident."

Asked as to how serious will the subsequent action be, K C denied to speculate and said, " Let’s first see what the minister in question has to say." Although Minister Gupta has been asked to furnish the explanation by Saturday, KC, however, said that the reply may come within the stipulated time indicating the fact that Minister Gupta has been given time until Monday.

Efforts to solicit comments from Minister Gupta on the issue went unrewarded amid claims that Gupta was in setback since the members of the party, who were until now sharing the same views as him, were for a tough action against the former as the incident has undermined the authority of the prime minister.

Huge compensation to victims of Maoists

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 5:The Home Ministry officials today admitted that the Ministry was compelled to distribute a bulky amount of compensation to the individuals whose properties have been destroyed in Maoist-related attacks.

"We are influenced by the politicians to compensate them on the basis of over-evaluation," Acting Home Secretary Bijay Bhattarai said during meeting of the parliamentary States Affairs Committee (SAC).

Admitting that the losses of the Maoists’ assaults were over-valued for the purpose of receiving greater amount, Bhattarai said. "All sectors of the society were co-operating the persons who want to receive greater amount as compensation through over-evaluation."

"We have done our best to discourage the practice and have asked the respective Chief District Officers for re-evaluation of the loss but even the all-party meet in the districts are also reconfirming the loss," Bhattarai told the meeting.

Gehendra Giri, a ruling party MP said, "The compensation policy is encouraging them to do so as they get least amount through actual compensation."

The government has launched a programme under the Home Ministry for two years to compensate the victims of Maoist attacks and to rehabilitate them.

According to Bhattarai, the Ministry has already distributed almost Rs. 41 million under the Ganesh Man Singh Peace Campaign to the victims as compensation in current fiscal year alone, while Rs. 45.9 million was distributed last year.

The compensation being distributed through Regional Administration Offices in five development regions as well as the Home Ministry has been providing scholarship for the dependents of the killed and for the treatment and displacement allowances for the injured.

The government has provided Rs. 3.1 million as scholarship for the dependent children of the killed under the Campaign, the officials said.

Out of 252 families of the killed police personnel, 221 were provided with Rs. 165.8 as compensation, while 303 injured personnel have received Rs. 3.7 million as medical allowance in the current fiscal year, the officials said.

Bhattarai also informed the committee that Rs. 10.5 million allocated for secret source mobilization has already been spent and the government has not provided more funds for further expenses.

Poudel points at ‘nexus’ to scuttle crucial bills

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 5:Lawmaker of the ruling Nepali Congress and former Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel on Friday accused powerful men in major political parties of ganging up to deny the passage of four crucial bills in the current session of the parliament, including the one on controlling corruption.

Speaking at the Special Hour of the House of Representatives, Poudel alleged that despite an agreement yesterday the four bills – on controlling corruption, on giving more power to CIAA, on impeachment of constitutional heads and members and the on special courts – the copies of the bills were not distributed today.

According to procedures, the discussion on any bill takes place only 48 hours after a copy of the bill is distributed to the parliamentarians. Had the copies been distributed today, they could have come up for discussion on Monday. The current 21st Session of the parliament is nearing its end and Poudel expressed the fears that the bills would not be passed in this session. A few days ago, Pradip Gyawali had aired similar concerns. Gyawali then and Poudel today called on all political parties to work together to ensure the passage of the bills in the current session.

"What is this game plan? Who stopped the bills from being distributed today? Why are not political parties serious about the dangers of corruption?" asked Poudel.

He pointed out that there were instances when concerned parties showed urgency, going to the extent of disrupting the House for days, to get a few legislations passed "but we do not see the same urgency to pass the bill to control corruption and other three related bills".

Pashupati SJB Rana of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party too made a plea for the passage of the bills in the session. Rana said that Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) must be asked for its suggestions on the bill to give them more teeth and to include those suggestions or changes to make the bill more effective. He offered his party’s help in the quick passage of the bills.

Meanwhile, lawmakers cutting across party lines, denounced the Maoists for crippling the nation with their wanton destruction of roads, bridges, health posts, hydro-power projects and airports. They called for an immediate end to this deliberate mayhem.

Jagannath Khatiwada of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) demanded an immediate explanation from the Minister for Information and Communication Jay Prakash Prasad Gupta on the controversy surrounding Channel Nepal of the Space Time Network (P) Ltd. He also expressed his displeasure on the leakage of a report of the sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which had said that the renewal of the licence for the uplinking of the Channel Nepal was wrong even before the full-member body had discussed the report.

Twin Ganga-Jamuna complete one year of ‘separation’

By Seema A Adhikari

KATHMANDU, April 5: It has been a complete one-year since the Nepalese Siamese twins underwent almost 100-hour-long marathon operation on April 6 last year. Twins fused at the head occur only once in about 2 million live births.

Parents of the Ganga and Jamuna, who hail from far-flung hill district of Salyan in the mid-western region of the country, say that their health condition is stable and they are growing well.

Ganga and Jamuna, who caught headlines of the world’s media during their operation, will be celebrating the second birthday on May 9 in a rented house of the capital, after their successful separation in Singapore’s General Hospital last year.

The twin girls, now enjoying 23-months of their miracle lives on the lap of their mother, will be leaving for Singapore for re-shaping their heads, as advised by the doctors, who had undergone almost 100-hour-long operations, a miraculous event in the medical science history.

Dr. Keith Goh, the paediatric neurosurgeon who led the team of specialists in separating the girls whose brains were intertwined in a single skull, is visiting the girls in Kathmandu this month to observe the overall situation of the twins, said Arjun Shrestha, the twin’s grandfather.

Twin’s parents are in regular touch with Goh and other doctors in Singapore through e-mail. The doctors have been advising the parents about the ways of taking care of the babies in case of any complications.

Dr. Basanta Pant, neurosurgeon at Model Hospital, who is taking care of the twins here in the capital, said the twins need no more medical attentions except for the re-shaping of their brains, which will be conducted in the Singapore General Hospital.

"They simply require normal medical attention as for other children of their age," said Pant. The children are currently receiving a single medicine against epilepsy. This medicine is only for precautionary measure to protect them from the disease because their skulls have not fully grown up, Pant added.

Unlike her sister Jamuna, Ganga is not so physically well. Still, Ganga cannot control her head and crawl whereas Jamuna moves slowly, chews food and responds to their parents. "Jamuna is completely fine, makes noises to call people and, sometimes, even to tease," added Bhawani Pradhan, the speech therapist at the Military Hospital in the capital.

Dr Pradhan attends the twins once a week for the speech therapy.

"They are now medically stable," she said. "Jamuna has developed clear speech skill but Ganga, due to an operation of her cleft-lip, is still behind her sister," Dr Pradhan added.

Doctors in the capital say that the children cannot be treated at the same time because they have already been separated and their health condition is not similar. "Ganga is still not physically strong enough for the operation for re-shaping her brain," Pant further said, adding that Ganga might be handicapped considering her existing condition.

"The re-shaping of their brains should be carried out before they reach the age of four. One of the most reliable options for the doctors is to use the bone parts of their mother to re-construct their skulls. Chances of rejecting mother’s bone parts are very rare, experts say.

As the parents of the babies hail from rural areas, a group of doctors help her find a teaching job in the capital.

Other doctors who are involved in taking care of the twins include Parasmani Bhattarai, paediatric at the Kanti Children Hospital, Rabi Thapaliya, a Physiotherapist at the HRDC in Banepa, and Bindu Gurung, a nurse.