‘Resettlement in refugee homeland unfortunate’

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KATHMANDU, Jan 11: Nepal has termed "unfortunate" the Bhutanese government’s policy of resettling northern Bhutanese on land and homes left behind by Lhotsampa refugees (southern Bhutanese of Nepali origin.)

Reports emerged yesterday that the Druk regime was encouraging northerners to migrate down south and occupy the land and homestead of the Lhotsampas who were forcibly evicted from their homeland by Bhutan.

Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, commenting on the reports, said today that Nepal viewed the move as "unfortunate." He further added, "This is unfortunate. This will not be helpful in resolving the refugee issue."

Reports of the re-settlement comes even as Nepal and Bhutan are holding bilateral meetings to resolve the vexed refugee issue which has soured relations between the two Himalayan Kingdoms since late 1989 when the refugee exodus began. Nearly 100,000 Lhotsampas are still languishing in UNHCR-run camps in eastern Nepal, awaiting dignified repatriation back to their homeland.

The two nations recently completed verification of refugees in the smallest of the refugee camps at Khudunabari, and further moves could be taken up during the next ministerial level bilateral meeting slated in Kathmandu which is likely in the third week of January.

Foreign Ministry sources meanwhile told The Kathmandu Post that such forced re-settlement of northerners in the south of Bhutan had always been the aim of the Druk regime. "But we have been protesting the plans for a long time," said a senior official. "Our position was, and is, that Bhutanese refugees should be allowed to return to their original homes in a dignified manner."

But the official said that Bhutan had informally told the Nepali side that they too suffered from the problem of land-less settlers, particularly in the north, and wanted to resettle these people in the south. "They had indicated that they would provide the repatriated refugees adequate land somewhere in the country. We are against this, and want the refugees to be provided their original homes," he said.

Meanwhile, the officials in the Foreign Ministry revealed that the 12th Ministerial Joint Committee (MJC) meeting between Bhutan and Nepal would be held in Kathmandu in the third week of January.

Reacting to the development, the refugee leaders in the capital denounced the resettlement move of the Druk government, but was quick to add that that it was not a new development. "It’s nothing new. Even the international community knows about it," said R Basnet, President of Bhutan National Democratic Party. Concurred Rakesh Chhetri, Executive Director of CEMARD, "Every year, for the last few years, we have been protesting the unjust move of the Bhutanese government to the United Nations."

Chhetri also said the resettlement of northerners would prove to be an obstacle in the forthcoming ministerial-level talks. "The resettlement must stop, in order for the talks to progress." However, both he and Basnet argue that even if the talks "succeed", the end result will be zero. "Where will the refugees go since their lands and property are being usurped by the northerners and those from the east?" asked Basnet.

Both the leaders said the refugees would not accept any other place and want their own land, "where our ancestors had lived".

Basnet also said the refugees expected much more than the Nepal government’s reaction of terming the resettlement move as "unfortunate". "At least on humanitarian grounds, Nepal should pressure Bhutan to allow us a dignified return."

National Unification Day observed in Gorkha

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GORKHA, Jan 11: The 280th birth anniversary of Prithvi Narayan Shah the Great was observed here today by holding various programmes. The late King’s birth anniversary is also marked as the National Unification Day across the country.

Prithvi Narayan Shah was born in the palace of the tiny Gorkha kingdom on January 12, 1723 AD. He was to lay later the foundation for modern Nepal. Present King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev is the 13th monarch of the Shah dynasty, which has been ruling over the Kingdom of Nepal since its unification.

A colourful procession participated by students, teachers, local businessmen, police, military personnel and civil employees was carried out around different parts of the town before converging into a mass meeting. The procession began from the premises of the Gorkha District Development Committee.

Senior officials and ordinary citizens paid tributes, and offered garlands on the late King’s photograph.

A talk programme was also jointly organised by the Royal Nepal Academy and Gorkha Campus on the late King’s contribution to the unification of the Himalayan Kingdom. Professor Tikaram Adhikari and Lecturer Arjun Bhandari presented separate working papers on the role of the late Queen Mother Chandra Prabha Devi in nurturing the King’s personality and on his historical role respectively.

Chief District Officer Kashinath Marasini, academic Dr. Tikaram Panthi, Campus Chief Tulsiman Shrestha also threw light on the King’s leadership qualities.

Campus-level debate and a poetry competition were also organised to mark the 280th birth anniversary of the King. The function was presided over by DDC Chairman Chetman Shrestha.

Nepal hints at ML-UML reunification

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BIRATNAGAR, Jan 11: Leader of the main opposition CPN-UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal today said that CPN-ML leaders will be offered positions in its party on the basis of their qualifications and capacity.

"The ML leaders will be accommodated in our party on the basis of their qualifications and capacity, " said Madhav Kumar Nepal inaugurating a newly- built Madan memorial building in Biratnagar today.

Nepal also made it clear that there has not been any distribution of posts yet though the committee to reunite, has already been constituted.

UML, on Tuesday had officially drafted "Unity Proposal" at the end of its standing committee meeting, and had assigned a dialogue team headed by Bharat Mohan Adhikary to take the proposal to the ML.

The meeting between the UML Dialogue committee and ML General secretary Bam Dev Gautam had followed the same day.

"UML has always been interested for dialogue with the ML. The unity means to strengthen but not to split again," said Nepal

When asked regarding the ‘Broader National Democratic Alliance’ raised by the President of the ruling Nepali Congress, Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal said that there should be an official proposal. "Koirala raised the issue of alliance just to gain the political mileage out of it," quipped Nepal.

4 rebels shot dead, 2 civilians killed by Maoists

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KATHMANDU, Jan 11: The Royal Nepal Army (RNA) shot dead four Maoist rebels and seized a large pile of arms and ammunition while carrying out their operations against the Maoist outfits across the country on Thursday, the Defence Ministry here said. The security forces also arrested 39 suspected persons from various districts.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry said that the Maoist rebels killed two civilians in Dang and Surkhet districts in the last 24 hours.

The Defence Ministry said that two Maoist rebels were gunned down in the Pumdi-Bhumdi area of Kaski district in an army action. The rebels, who were seriously wounded, succumbed to their injuries on the way to a hospital in Pokhara for treatment. The army also confiscated socket bombs from the site where the rebels had targeted the army men on their cordon and search operations.

Similarly, one Maoist rebel, identified as Shiva Hari Acchami, was shot dead instantly in an encounter with the security forces in the Mugitar area of Ramechhap district yesterday.

In yet another cordon and search operation carried out by the RNA, a rebel was gunned down in the Singa area of Myagdi district after he tried to flee the army operation, our reporter quoted the security officials as saying. The RNA officials, however, declined to identify the name of the slain rebel. The body of the slain was brought to the army barracks.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry Spokesman said that Maoist rebels on Thursday night killed Hari Rijal, a resident of Sonpur VDC in Dang yesterday. Police personnel have been mobilised to the area in search of the culprits.

The rebels also shot dead Yagya Gurung, District Working Committee member of the ruling Nepali Congress, at his home in Surkhet Municipality-2 on Friday evening, Chief District Officer, Ram Krishna Bhurtel said. Gurung was having dinner with his family members when the masked-men shot him.

A press release issued by the Defence Ministry said the security forces confiscated one foreign-made pistol and its magazine, 1,200 detonators, five bundles of fuse wire, one twelve-bore gun, a pair of binoculars, camouflage dresses and Maoist literature from the Sukkha Nagar area of Butwal Municipality in Rupandehi district.

In Myagdi, the army also seized 11 country-made guns, 32 petrol bombs and grenades and other explosives from Baramja VDC. In another operation in eastern district of Ilam, the soldiers recovered two sacks of socket bombs and explosive materials from the Rajduwari area, according to the Ministry.

The Ministry added that 39 Maoists were arrested from across the country – 10 rebels each from Arghakhanchi and Kailali, 11 from Bhaktapur, four from Lamjung, one rebel each from Rupandehi and Gulmi and two from Syangja districts.

Our reporter from Banke said that the army began its aerial offensive against the outlawed Maoists in the Chaur Jahari area of Rukum district, where the militants destroyed a tower of the Salle airport with bombs and looted Rs. 300,000 in cash from the Rastriya Banijya Bank on Thursday. It is learnt that all flights in the mid-western region as well as the Nepalgunj-Kathmandu flights were suspended until the aerial attacks were over.

Meanwhile, the rebels in Baglung district looted property worth 3 million rupees from a cloth-shop of a local, Kamal Sapkota, at Kusmi Shera bazaar, about three hours walk from the district headquarters, last week. The victim said the rebels had warned the locals to stay at their houses over loudspeaker before they made off with the looted items.

FNJ concerned about freedom of press

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KATHMANDU, Jan 11: The government is increasingly curtailing the freedom of Nepali press despite the press’ showing of unswerving support and keeping strict adherence to the norms of state of emergency, a press statement issued here by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) said Thursday.

"We are increasingly aware and concerned about the impending danger on press freedom," said the release.

"We are much saddened by the behaviours of the security units with suspicions and mistrust upon the press while we ourselves continue to pledge all our support to the government in its endeavour to restore peace and normalcy through the imposition of emergency," it said.

The FNJ thinks it is objectionable that journalists are exposed to psychological torture and horror while the civil administration was still in operation. It appeals the authority concerned not to cause trouble to the journalists on the ground of suspicion.

Nearly a-three-dozen of journalists got arrested following the declaration of state of emergency while four of them including Om Sharma, a central member of FNJ are lodged in custody immediately after the declaration of emergency, it said.

"The Federation has been increasingly aware of the threatening profession of journalists and untoward treatments meted out to them just because they had formerly collected information from the Maoists," the release said.

The Federation also calls for an early release of all the detained journalists as well as allow the press to go ahead with the limited freedom of publicity as provided under the law.

The Federation pledges in building an environment of peace and healthy unity among the masses through rightful dissemination of information while becoming ethical towards its responsibility.

It also warned that it would be forced to take up strong steps if the government continued its policy of mistrust, suspicions, and arrest of journalists, limiting the sources of information and curtailing their right to information.

A committee has also been formed under the leadership of its Secretary Bishnu Nisthuri to evaluate the government conduct on the press currently.

The Federation appeals all the Nepali press media and individuals to continue supplying it with information undaunted by terror-like situation they face.

A meeting held today also formally announced the re-opening of all its branch offices closed in the wake of emergency on or before March this year, while it also extended thanks to the government for helping in the construction of the FNJ central building and nominating its President to the National Development Council.

Dirty old men are prowling Kathmandu streets

By Seema A. Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Jan 11: Paedophilia, that dreaded form of child abuse, is an all too real threat for the capital’s children. Child welfare activists say there are several "perverse old men", mostly foreigners, prowling the streets of Kathmandu to snare vulnerable children.

And in the face of weak laws, these men, even while proof is made available on their misdemeanours, go scot-free. Mostly, the victims are poor children living on the capital’s streets of Thamel, Durbar Marg and Bouddha, say child rights organisations.

These organisations are now working towards drafting a bill against paedophilia, and have begun lobbying the Ministry for Women, Children and Social Welfare to pay serious attention to the issue.

"Out of the 400 street children in the records of CWIN, six per percent are known to have been molested by foreigners," says Gauri Pradhan, President of Child Workers in Nepal Concern Centre (CWIN).

While some say the extent of the problem is not as severe as in the cases of Bombay, Bangkok or Manila, there are others who think Kathmandu’s streets are as dangerous or even worse for the children. "The reality could be the same or even worse," says Arjoo Deuba, the spouse of the Prime Minister and a social activist with SAATHI.

CWIN says mostly the culprits are "old foreigners" who have been living in Kathmandu for many years. Some of these men run child-care centres as a cover for their nefarious activities, say CWIN activists who have dealt with children fleeing these centres after being sexually abused.

Kanchha (not real name), 13, hailing from a Sarlahi village, lives on the street of Durbar Marg. He says a foreigner has molested him several times. "This grey-haired man became my good friend after my companion introduced him to me. The man used to buy me new clothes and take me to expensive restaurants. But one day he took me to a hotel-room at Bauddha...," Kanchha recalls.

"I tried to tell my friend about what he did to me, but he threatened me to keep quiet. I was again taken by the man to different hotels three or four more times. Even my friend used to go with the same foreigner. To avoid all this, once I even left for Pokhara," narrates the teenager.

Like Kanchha, around 20 children in the last four years have reported their paedophilic experiences with foreigners, to two child welfare organisations. But the obvious fact is, there are a large number of cases that go unreported, and children suffer silently.

The victims do not complain against being abused either because they are afraid or because they are ashamed, says Chhatra Kumari Gurung, advocate at the Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre (LACC). Afraid of being punished by the molesters, and ashamed because of the accompanying social stigma, says Gurung.

In fact, most Nepalis hardly know anything about what is called paedophilia, says Deuba. She says the voice against the malaise is feeble also because the intelligentsia and human rights activists are lending "very little support" to fight the issue.

The victims are mostly vendors, beggars, street children and those working in the tourism sector. The latter ones are especially exploited because there are a lot of tourists who come to Nepal to fulfil their perverse sexual urges, says activists.

Getting back to the laws, till date, only four men (all Westerners) have been tried and punished for child abuse under the Public Offence Act. Even that took place six years ago. In the following years, four men were charged with paedophilia, but all of them were released without any punitive action.

The Child Act of 1992 merely states that children should not be exploited, but does not specifically refer to sexual exploitation. "This confuses the law enforcers who do not know how to interpret it," says Sashi Adhikari, an advocate at LAAC.

If more forceful laws are not enacted, Nepal and its capital Kathmandu will soon turn into a happy hunting ground for paedophiles, warn the activists and organisations working in the child welfare field. That warning ought to be heeded, and the dirty old men stopped.

NC will not remain silent: KC

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KATHMANDU, Jan 11: The ruling Nepali Congress party will not remain silent if any atrocity is committed to the innocent civilians during the emergency, said spokesperson of the party Arjun Narsingh K.C. here today.

"Nepali Congress will not stay a mute spectator if any atrocity is committed to the innocent civilians during the emergency," said K.C. at a press conference held today in the capital.

K.C also said that emergency has been imposed to restore peace in the country which should be achieved as soon as possible. "The goal of emergency should be achieved as soon as possible."

Former minister K. C. also accused the Maoists for breaking the truce unilaterally by launching attacks across the country. "Rebels are solely responsible for the present fluid situation," said K.C.

However, leader of the main opposition (CPN-UML) Jhal Nath Khanal remained sceptical regarding the outcome of the emergency. "Emergency will not produce positive result. The emergency has created lots of problems among the civilians." said Khanal.

Khanal accused the government for not takin the situation seriously. "It is the government’s responsibility to check any atrocity fallen to the innocent civilians. But it is not taking the matter seriously which might cause dire consequences," said Khanal.

Central Committee member Khanal also said that economic front of the country has deteriorated following the imposition of nation-wide emergency. "Many big and small industries are on the verge of complete collapse due to the emergency. It might create problem of unemployment in the long run. Government must take this matter seriously and think of the solution immediately," said Khanal.

Similarly, addressing the press meet, leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Rabindra Nath Sharma came down heavily on the ruling party for the present situation. "NC is wholly responsible for the current fluid situation," said Sharma.

"There has been a massive ‘misuse of emergency’. Government should be serious in this matter." said Sharma.

And ugly flows the Narayani…

By Prabhakar Ghimere

CHITWAN, Jan 10: Increasing pollution in the Narayani river is spelling doom for its aquatic lives. This is also bad news from the tourism point of view because the river flows along the Royal Chitwan National Park, a prime tourist destination of the country.

Locals say the number of marine lives in the river—crocodiles, tortoises and different species of fish—have started declining due to acute pollution. They blame towns like Mugling, Narayangadh and Gaindakot for relentlessly dumping their waste in the river. Two firms—Bhirkuti Paper Factory and Gorkha Brewery—are also playing spoilsports by disposing off chemicals and other industrial wastes into the river.

A recent research conducted by the Community Development Organization has concluded that the chemicals discharged by the factories are more harmful than the sewerage that flows into the river.

The river is also home to dolphins, the number of which again has declined because of the dumping of toxic substances. Senior officer with the King Mahendra Trust For Nature Conservation (KMTNC) and former warden of Royal Chitwan National Park, Ram Prasad Yadav, mentions that there were 18 to 20 dolphins till the year 1996, but that has now reduced to a meagre four.

The animals in the Royal Chitwan National Park, too, have been affected by the polluted Narayani. "The Ghodial crocodiles in the Park need fresh water but with the pollution of the river, they have been disturbed," says Kishor Meheta, Park Sub-Warden.

The fishermen are also a worried lot. "Now that fish have become so rare in the river, it is impossible to sustain life by just sticking to the profession," says Jeet Bahadur Majhi, a fisherman for the last two decades.

However, it is not that the concerned authorities are unaware of the situation. A plan is now underway to check pollution, says the Deputy Mayor of Bharatpur Municipality. He informs that a proposal to this regard was presented to Asian Development Bank last September, and the approval might come next month.

The local Narayangadh Chamber of Commerce, along with the Bharatpur Municipality, is also set to launch a "Liquid Waste Management" drive to control pollution. The deputy Mayor says the campaign has to begin with the Mugling bazaar which churns out enormous waste everyday.

But the cleaning up of the river itself has to begin from Devghat—the confluence of Trishuli and Kaligandaki rivers, from where it is called Narayani.