Fulpati Badain observed on 7th day of Dashain

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Oct 12 :In the presence of Their Majesties the King and the Queen, thousands of people gathered around the historical parade ground Tundikhel in central Kathmandu to view the Royal Nepal Army personnel perform feu-de-joie (Fulpati Badain) and march past at the RNA pavilion today.

The seventh day of the Bada Dashain festival is being observed today by placing "Fulpati" at "Dashain Ghars" in accordance with religious practices throughout the kingdom. From today, the festival is celebrated in earnest as all government and private offices close for holidays.

People from various walks of life around the Kathmandu Valley observed the performance of armymen, a traditional form of celebrating the occasion, where the Nepalese armymen show their skills in different aspects.

Earlier in the morning, the Brahmins from the Royal Palace in Gorkha district brought a Fulpati in the Dashain Ghar at the Hanumandhoka Royal Palace, where an idol of Goddess Durga Bhavani is enshrined.

According to tradition, the priests of the Dashain Ghar, including six Magars, escort the Fulpati from Gorkha up to Jibanpur of the Dhading district from where it is again escorted to Jamal in Kathmandu by six Brahmins (priests).

Fulpati, consists of the Royal Kalash (traditional jar) filled with holy water, banana stalks, jamara, belpatra, pomegranate, jayanti flower, ginger plant and sugarcane stick tied with red cloth. "This Kalash was brought here by Royal Brahmins from Gorkha on a decorated Doli (a palanquin), under the shade of a gold-embroidered umbrella," says Tej Ratna Tamrakar, Hakim (Chief) of the Hanumandhoka Royal Palace.

Besides dozens of priests, King Gyanendra also performed a puja at the Dashain Ghar where the Fulpati was kept. The Fulpati is brought from Gorkha, over a hundred kilometres mid-west of Kathmandu. "The Brahmins carry this Kalash all the way from Gorkha on foot, which takes them about three days," says Tamrakar.

Tomorrow is the eighth day of Dashain, which is also known as Maha Astami. The night of this day is also called ‘Kal Ratri’. Altogether 108 black he-goats and buffaloes are sacrificed at Hanumandhoka Palace.

The ninth day of the festival on Monday is called Nawami. This is the only time of the year when the Taleju temple at Hanumandhoka is opened for the devotees. Tens of thousands of people gather here to pay homage to Goddess Taleju on the occasion as people queue up throughout the day to get inside the temple.

One of the major attractions of this day is the puja (prayer) of God Vishwokarma, the God of creativity. All factories, vehicles, machines and anything from which one makes a living are worshipped by sacrificing animals. People believe that Goddess Durga protects them from accidents throughout the year.

The tenth day is regarded as the most important day of the festival when people visit their relatives to receive tika and jamara from the elders. People from all over the country, return their homes to receive tika from elders. The tika receiving function is celebrated for four days till Purnima (full moon day), which this year falls on next Sunday.

This year the auspicious time for the start of the tika is at 11 am. Also on the Tika day tens of thousands of people queue up at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace to receive tika from the King and the Queen.

Durga Navaratri festival being observed

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KATHMANDU, Oct 10 :Dashain is the biggest festival of Nepal. The Hindus celebrate this period with fasting, prayers and much merry-making to mark the victory of the good over the bad or the evil.

According to the Hindu epic the Ramayana, Lord Ram defeated the wicked Ravan on the tenth day and restored peace and harmony. The festival is thus named as the ten-day festival, Dashain in Nepal, and Dashara in India.

To celebrate the Dashain festival, Shree Navadurga Service Association is organisng the Shree Jagatjanani Ma Durga Navaratri Festival at the capital effective from 13th to 15th October.

They have constructed a cave in the Agrawal building, Kamalpokhari resembling Amarnath temple and other shrines of India and Baishno Devi Temple of Nepal. The visitors will feel as if they are at the religious site. Inside is a Shiva Lingum, the images of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga.

According to Kishore Kumar Agrawal, one of the organisers, Garbha and Dandiya dances along with Chandi dance will be staged in the celebration ceremony.

The event was inaugurated last year by erstwhile Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and more than 40, 000 people visited the site, said Mohan Gopal Khetan while addressing the press briefing programme.

Criminal incidents on the rise in city

By Kiran Chapagain

KATHMANDU, Oct 12 :Last week assailants snatched a bag containing about Rs 750,000 in the midday, from the hands of the accountant of Kanya Higher Secondary School in Chhetrapati. The snatchers assaulted Raju Bhandari, the accountant, as he was returning with the amount from a nearby bank. The accountant is still in hospital fighting for life.

In a looting incident last year, a gang looted 10 kgs of gold from a dealer at Thamel. Another businessman, was robbed of Rs. 220,000, as he carried the money from a bank to give to another businessman. These are a few instances of looting and snatching, involving big amounts, in the capital.

Records at the Valley Crime Investigation Branch (VCIB) at Hanumandhoka, show that 3,800,000 rupees were looted, mostly from the hands of businessmen.

Snatching and looting in the capital are appearing to be a major crime in the capital, a police officer at the VCIB admits while talking to The Kathmandu Post. The VCIB, is responsible for curbing crime in the Valley - Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Snatching and looting cases usually involve 4 to 5 criminals and the police say that many cases are unreported.

Ram Chandra Khanal, the Superintendent of Police at the VCIB, agrees with the fact that the crime rate has increased in the capital but the success rate of the police has also increased at the same time.

However, another police source told The Kathmandu Post that the malady is posing a challenge for the police, especially in view of the fact that very few investigations of snatching and looting cases are successful. "For instance out of 25 criminal cases in 2001 July to 2002 January, we were successful in only four cases" the source said. Why such a low success rate?

SP Khanal did not accept that there is a rise in looting cases, but said that criminals involved in this type of crime leave no evidence and investigations become tough. "However, we are taking the crime seriously and working on how to address the problem," Khanal said.

Many point accusing fingers at the police failure to curb looting and snatching cases. The police put the blame squarely on the passivity of civil society along with other reasons.

"We are trying our best to control the problem but civil society is passive," says Mahesh Bikram Shah, Deputy Superintendent of Police at the VCIB. His complaint was that most people are not interested to co-operate especially because victims are not known to them.

DSP Shah attributes the increase in crime to poverty and unemployment, and the lack of resources and skilled manpower at his office. A major impediment to police action are the lack of motorable roads in the alleys and bye-lanes, which criminals use to make their getaways and where they have their hideouts.

According to DSP Shah, most such crimes are related to property. He further adds that such crimes begin from banks and other cash and gold transaction places. He complains that banks and gold shops are not serious about security.

According to Shah, criminals hatch plans at banks and follow bank clients.

"If these premises posted trained and skilled manpower and installed closed-circuit television, the looting and snatching related to big amounts of money and valuable would decrease considerably," Shah adds.

However, the bankers and gold dealers do not accept this, saying that they do their best to provide security to their business. Narendra Bhattarai, President of Nepal Bankers’ Association said, "We have made all possible security measures for security and many banks have installed closed-circuit television".

Tej Ratna Shakya, President of Nepal Gold Silver Dealers’ Association, told The Kathmandu Post that he has already forwarded alert letters to its members to adopt precautionary security measures to avoid possible looting and snatching incidents.

Furthermore, both Bhattarai and Shakya put forward a proposal to the police for working together to address the problem.

Foundation stone for temple laid

RSS

KATHMANDU, Oct 12 :Chairman of the Rajparishad Standing Committee Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi laid the foundation stone for the construction of a temple dedicated to Goddess Nawadurga at Koteshwor, Sahayogi Nagar, ward no. 35 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, today.

The construction site of the temple is near the Mahadevsthan Dhungedhara in Koteshwor.

The temple, to be constructed on about two ana land at the total estimated cost of Rs 750,000, will be two-storey. The temple would be complete in six months, it is learnt.

On the occasion, Chairman Rayamajhi said since maintaining peace and security in the country by eliminating violence and killings is the top priority of the new government, all sides should extend co-operation to the government for that purpose.

Local social worker Shyam Krishna Parajuli who has already provided an assistance of Rs 200,000 for construction of the temple has given the pledge for additional Rs 200,000.

At the programme presided over by the Shree Nawadurga Bhagawati temple management committee chairman Ramnath Mainali, members of the committee Bhairab Bohara, Chet Nath Pandey and Bishwambhar Parajuli and Rajendra Bhujuk also expressed their views on various tenets of Hinduism.

New KVMP team expands programmes

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KATHMANDU, Oct 12:The Kathmandu Valley Mapping Programme (KVMP), a European Commission-funded project of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), recently finished revising the programme initiated by the former administration and is implementing new programmes and expanding existing activities, states a press release issued here.

According to a press release, issued here by the KVMP, Devendra Dangol, the new National Co-Director and Dr. Vittorio Pareto, the European Co-Director from the European Commission decided to increase the activities of the programme, which will be operational until its end in April 2003.

"The current policy is to assure a more consistent and co-ordinated use of the resources still available to the KVMP, focusing on the improvement of local infrastructure and completing the addressing system and municipal sector plans, which were limited to a few wards under the former administration," states the release.

The release adds that expansion of heritage promotion areas, which was recently misrepresented, as being on hold due to the absence of local representatives, in reality was not affected by political changes. On the contrary, the new KVMP administration decided that all the programmes underway would be completed before the end of the project using the resources still available in the existing budget.

Discrimination in police training alleged

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KATHMANDU, Oct 12:Only a limited number of police officers, close to the top-level police administration, are frequently enjoying trainings and visits abroad, said a police source.

Voice of dissatisfaction over such prejudice within the country’s police administration has started becoming very vocal inside police offices.

According to the source, top-level police officers are frequently sending a handful of their henchmen for training offered by Western countries like America and the United Kingdom, that too rather blatantly.

"A group of officers at the Police Headquarters (PH) has already taken training abroad 7/8 times," the source told The Kathmandu Post on condition of anonymity.

According to the source, police officers, close to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pradip Samsher JBR, are frequently getting opportunity of training in the Western countries. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Gyanendra Bikram Mahat, DIG Amar Singh Shah, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalyan Timilsina, SSP Basanta Kunwar, top the list of those frequently enjoying training abroad. The source further added that this group of police officers also selects its subordinate officers for training abroad in a non-transparent way.

Meanwhile, the source said that the PH is sending a police officer, once charged as a violator of human rights, to attend a training in Mexico, two months after a stint at America, said the source.

The IGP has sent his inspector son to America for training. According to police sources, taskforce police officers should have been provided the opportunity in place of the IGP’s son. "Due to this situation, there is no encouraging environment within the police," the source said.

As only limited officers inside the walls of the PH are being sent abroad for the opportunity, representatives of the training-provider countries in Nepal have started expressing their dissatisfaction, the source added.

Police officials who had gone to the United States of America for training during the tenure of former IGP Achut Kharel have not returned. "The officials who go abroad do not return," the source said. "If the training chance is provided to others instead of those officials who are going abroad frequently, knowledge would be shared among police working in districts," the source added.

The IGP, when he assumed the post, had said that he would work on the basis of "merit" within police administration but he is not living up to his words, the source complained to The Kathmandu Post. The IGP, last Saturday, while addressing officers above Deputy Superintendent of Police rank, had ordered Ramchandra Khanal, Superintendent of Police at the Valley Crime Investigation Branch to "improve immediately". But Khanal is going to be awarded as "the best investigator" on the occasion of Police Day next week.

Financial support to Samata Niketan

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KATHMANDU, Oct 12:The Nepal Youth Organisation, America has handed over financial support worth of Rs. 100,000 to Samata Shiksha Niketan in Jorpati, an organisation working for the marginalised communities.

Uttam Sanjel, principal of the Niketan said that the support funds were raised through a cultural programme organised in America. The money was handed over by the general secretary of the organisation at a function held today.

The Niketan, established a year ago, has been providing education to 1300 students, mainly marginalised children, child labourers and street children. "The financial support will help them buy books, pens and clothes," said Sanjel.

Similarly, at the same programme, social worker Shanta Pokharel of Biratnagar handed over Rs. 51,000 to the Niketan.

Dalits heading for equal rights

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KAILALI, Oct 12:Dailasaini temple in Baitadi is likely to become a centre of confrontation as the Dalits prepare for a grand worship session, like last year, even as upper caste Hindus are ready to make sure that Dalits are not allowed entry.

Stating that the entry and worship by Dalits in the temple last year has polluted it, the upper cast people are planing to sanctify the temple with water brought from Kashi of India.

"The upper caste people are also planning to force the Dalits to make public apologies for their ‘sins on having entered the temple last year’," said Ganesh B.K, the Chairman of Regional Dalit Network (RDN).

The Dalits this year appear to be committed to worship in the temple. In this regard, they have announced doing away with the traditional system of making tools for worshipping and eating buffalo meat.

RDN, Kailali has issued a press release appealing to the concerned authorities to be alert so as to avert any untoward incident at a time when the people are committed to exercise their constitutional rights.

The press release has also appealed to intellectuals, political parties, human rights activists, journalists and other organisations to help people in excising their rights.

Meanwhile, a report from Doti states that Dalits in the district ‘have been forbidden to eat carcasses so as to be entitled to equal dignity and privileges as that of the so-called upper caste people’.

"Though human like them, the upper class people dominate us saying that we are inferior because we eat carcass, we have now stopped this practise," said Bhim Bahadur Kami the chairman of the newly constituted District Level Committee (DLC).

Nepal National Dalit Society Welfare Association (NNDSWA) has informed that it will campaign in the far-western region, against the eating of carcasses by Dalits by 2003. A campaign against feeding on carcass is being launched in 12 VDCs in Baitadi district as of now. The Dalits in the VDCs have said that they will no more feed on carcass since the practice is unhygienic to health.

Lake turning into play ground due to lack of mgmt

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SURKHET, Oct. 12:The Bulbule lake in Birendranagar, an important centre of tourism in the entire mid-west region, is on the verge of turning into a playground, thanks to the negligence on the part of the town development committee.

The lackadaisical attitude and the loose administration of the town development committee which is responsible for the protection and upkeep of the lake and its surrounding is mainly responsible for this situation, according to the local people.

The contractors who have been leased out the lake for its management complain that the local youths are trying to use the ground beside the lake for playing football. They say that the local youths have been even obstructing their works, threatening them, because of the lax regulations of the town development committee.

Land dispute delays construction of Pokhara slaughter-house

By Amrit Bhadgaunle

POKHARA, Oct 12:Construction of the Pokhara valley slaughterhouse has been delayed as the land where the proposed construction was to come up has come under litigation. A dispute arose when a person applied to register the land at the Land revenue office Pokhara, for the 73 Ropanis of the selected land at Kotre bordering Tanahu and Kaski.

The application for registration of the above land had been put forward by Krishna Prasad Dwa three years back, but the District Administrati Office Kaski, in order to give the right of use to Animal office for the slaughter-house sent a request to Land-revenue office after which the dispute arose.

According to the land-revenue officer Krishna Prasad Poudel decision of the Ministry is necessary and it should go through the Municipality. "But the Municipality has not provided the recommendation letter yet," said Poudel, "the registration process of the land is in limbo because of the Municipality’s delay in responding our letter sent in August."

"The state-owned land cannot be registered nor transferred in the name of an individual so this land will be registered in government’s name. It will get registered but when is hard to say," he added further.

Until the registration dispute is resolved the possibility to confer right to use becomes difficult. "This dispute is likely to delay construction work and if not completed within this year, loss of equipment amounting to thousands of rupees will follow, said Dr. Bijayakanta Jha.

The programme had been initiated to regularise the sale of hygienic meat and proper management of waste from the slaughter of animals in the valley area.

"The slaughter-house construction and management committee" had selected the land after consultations with representatives selected from the valley, two cities, Lekhnath and Pokhara, members from Animal Health Service Office, and Third Animal Development Project.

The planned slaughterhouse has the capability to manage slaughter of 40 buffaloes, 60 goats, and 20 pigs once constructed. This project is to be conducted under the combined authority of the two Municipalities, Khadgi society and the government.

This project is to be conducted in compliance with rules formulated two years ago under The Slaughter-house and Hygienic Test of Meat Act, 2055 B.S. It was envisaged that sale of hygienic meat would be made available to towns of Pokhara upto Damauli bazaar.

According to Praveen Shakya, the meat expert of the third Animal Development Project, every day around 35 buffaloes, 25 goats and sheep, 7 pigs and 550 chickens are consumed in the Pokhara valley. The money value of slaughtered meat products runs to Rs. 725,000 per day, whereas 7059 kgs of waste products are exuded into the environment.

Since the law has not come into force unhealthy meat is being distributed in Pokhara. Animals are slaughtered by the rivers and roadsides, in an unorganised manner and fly-infested meat is being sold. It is hard to speculate as to the number of meat shops running in the valley, as there is no provision of registration with the Municipality.

Till a slaughterhouse is constructed, a notice has been brought out for meat-sellers to take the permission from the Animal Service office. Meat sellers are expected to take the consent letter from this October onwards. The office has issued a notice that veterinary doctors will be making rounds every three months to inspect the quality of meat being sold in the market, reiterated Dr. Jha.

Timber smuggling in Jhapa on rise despite officials’ effort

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BHADRAPUR, Oct 12:Though the security forces have been arresting some culprits, timber smuggling from various forests in Jhapa district is on the rise for the past few days, sources said.

According to sources at the District Forest Office (DFO), they have arrested culprits involved in timber smuggling from the forests at Nichajhoda, Bahundangi, Jalathala and Dhulabari area.

A few days ago, DFO arrested some people red-hand involved in smuggling timber from Nichajhoda forest area. Those arrested are Dilip Tamang at Anarmani-8, Kanchuli Rajbanshi, Deepak Tamang and kaji Shrestha at Garamani VDC.

The consumers at Panchpokhari Community Forest at Shantinagar-3 complain that they are unable to guard the forest despite whole day vigil. "We guard the jungle from eight in the morning till late afternoon, however, timber smuggling in the forest has not curbed and the forest is getting thinner," said Raj Mani Sharma, a consumer.

As per the government record, forest in the district stretches on 19 hectares of land and half of the forest has been handed over to the consumer committee.

Physical infrastructure development of PU in limbo

By Harsha Subba

BIRATNAGAR, Oct 12:The 10-year master-plan of Purbanchal University to construct physical infrastructure facilitated with modern facilities with the budget of Rs 3.5 billions in Sundarpur VDC of Morang district is already in its seventh year but it is only getting geared up for the preparation of constructing a building.

Seeing the difficulty at the initial stage, the officers are not in a state to presume how many more decades this plan will get pushed. "Though late we have taken a bold step to start the initial works," reiterated the Vice-chancellor of the University Toran Bahadur Karki. The undergoing construction is of the Central Campus.

The government had made available 805 bigha of land for the infrastructure development of the university. The master-plan which is in dirth of some international donors and since it is not viable to collect the donation from the public sector, it is standstill.

The delay is affecting other construction work. The work which was started with the available fund of Rs. 50 million is now dependent upon the grant from the government.

In seven years, Purbanchal University has given affiliation to 61 higher educational institutes to conduct 30 educational programmes encumbering five faculties. The registrar Dr. Krishna Prasad Sharma said that they have been making amendments from time to time to make the education to meet the demand of the day and to increase the standard of the education.

Of the forest region of 400 Bigha, the university needs to make the proper and planned demarcation of its premises whereby 100 Bighas are meant for medicinal herbs and 100 Bighas will be utilized for the agricultural research work.

It is learnt that the locals at Sundarpur have already formed Local Assistance Committee with the aim of helping the university for the implementation of the plan but it is being useless in lack of construction. The plan for the internal linking road and the drainage is yet to be decided, according to the university source.

Yet the vice-chancellor Karki is optimistic about the plan. "University means universal and it is the duty of one and each individual to help it. In this effort, profound endeavors are expected from the government," Karki said

Maoist-victims painfully remember Dashain celebrations

By Rudra Khadka

NEPALGUNJ, Oct 12:The Dashain festival this year has been sombre to the victims of the Maoist insurgency receiving treatment at Bheri Zonal Hospital (BZH) in Nepalgunj of Banke district. The patients have no options except to remember happier Dashains of previous years.

"While the festival is getting closer, we have to stay in the hospital. It’s quite a painful experience," said Krishna Bahadur Chaudhary, a resident at Munuwa VDC of Kailali district who has been in the hospital for the past 13 days.

Altogether 20 Maoist victims are undergoing treatment under Mass Casualty Management Team (MCMT) of the hospital meant for the victims of Maoist insurgency.

"I have nothing to do except to remember the celebrations I had with my colleagues last year," said Dhanapati Basnet, 23, from Jumla district, under treatment at MCMT for the past ten months.

The atmosphere in the hospital has become gloomier after many patients as well as most of the health workers left for Dashain, say patients at MCMT.

"I feel sad when anyone talks of Dashain," said Khadga Bahadur Pun, another insurgency victim who has been receiving treatment in the hospital for the past ten months.

Two hundreds insurgency victims have benefited from MCMT, which offers free treatment to the patients, in the last ten months, said hospital sources. However, most attendants of the patients at the hospital complain that they have not received the daily allowance of Rs.75, promised by the government. 

District Administration Office (DAO) sources said that it has been distributing money to the attendants and that some have not received the amount due to a budget crunch.

Foreign-employed stay back in fear of violence

RSS

GULMI, Oct 12:The mood among the general people here is not quite enthusiastic during this Dashain as young men and women from several villages in the district who have gone abroad for work or who are in the city are not coming back home for the festivals.

Man Bahadur, a farmer from the nearby village who was eagerly anticipating his son’s arrival during this Dashain festival, was disappointed, after his son send him a letter from abroad, stating that he would not be coming home in this Dashain.

All his hopes of paying back the loans taken from village lenders and meeting the household expenses were dashed. Man Bahadur, 81, has to support and take care of his entire family of four.

But, he takes solace from the fact that other boys from the village, most of whom are in the gulf countries, are also not coming this Dashain due to the Maoist activities.

"The small kids-my grand children- keep on asking me when their father would come," he said choked with emotion. Not only Man Bahadur, many families here share this pain of missing the near and dear ones from home during this Dashain.

Unlike the previous years, the number of people returning home for Dashain is very scanty this year owing to the Maoist problem. Instead many parents have been making phone calls to their sons who are working abroad, telling them not to come home due to the Maoist activities.