Chand firm for polls but gives no date

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KATHMANDU, Oct 19:Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has promised both general and local elections, but has significantly not mentioned any schedules for both.

Responding to journalists, at a press conference organised by the Reporters’ Club today, PM Chand promised that polls would be conducted soon but was not specific about any dates for the announcement of the same. He was also non-committal with regard to peace talks with the Maoists, merely stating that "the doors for talks were open" in response to a question on his government’s strategy vis-à-vis the insurgency.

In his first meeting with the media, after taking over as Prime Minister last Friday, Chand said, "Doors are open and initial response has been good". He also said that a policy outlining the modality of talks with the Maoists was on the anvil, emphasising that the government was committed to a conclusive solution if the dialogue takes place.

The PM declined to disclose details of any agenda, which the government may have drawn up, as part of its preparedness for a dialogue with the Maoists, if they are held. When asked whether the government would demand a laying down of arms by the rebels before any talks, Chand brushed aside the question.

Chand also declined to make any comment on the decision of the outgoing government’s having branded the Maoists as "terrorists." He, however, suggested that the label might be removed saying, "no person who is a terrorist today can be expected to remain so forever."

Denying claims that other political parties had declined to join the government, Chand said, "I am sure they will join in due course of time. Issues are being sorted out". Reports indicate that any ‘co-operation’ from political parties is dependant on the announcement by the Chand government of poll dates and holding of talks with the Maoists as a pre-condition.

Reacting to a query on the legitimacy of his government, Chand said, "The government is an ad-hoc arrangement and very much in relevance with the constitutional clauses." However, Chand also claimed that it was he who had suggested the names for the present cabinet, adding that any expansion of the present Council of Ministers is possible only with his say so.

Stressing on the need to remove corruption to clear the deck for good governance, Chand emphasised that his government would ‘co-operate’ with the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

Parties want govt under Article 128

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KATHMANDU, Oct 19:Even as Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand is trying to garner support from political parties to gain a semblance of political legitimacy, political parties have now planned to press for a new government under Article 128 of the Constitution.

This was agreed upon during Saturday’s meeting between Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa. Yet another meeting on the same issue took place between Koirala and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal the same day.

The parties are also expected to call an all-party meeting in the next few days to pursue their demands further. The installation of Chand government is being taken as a threat to the existing system. They have also called for unity among the forces, which had a role in the restoration of democracy in 1990, including the monarchy.

The meetings are part of efforts to impress upon His Majesty King Gyanendra to make corrections in the application of constitutional clauses. While Chand was appointed under Article 127 of the Constitution, the parties have been insisting to go along as guided by Article 128 of the Constitution.

Article 127 authorises constitutional monarch to issue necessary orders to remove any difficulty, which may arise in the implementation of the Constitution even as such a move shall have to be endorsed by the parliament. As against this, the parties have been insisting to form the government under Article 128 which has provisions to form a government consisting of representatives of main political parties.

Moreover, the Article also has a provision whereby it is the Prime Minister who picks up the members of the Council of Ministers formed under such circumstances. Although Prime Minister Chand has been insisting that he enjoys all the powers and that it was he who had picked up the ministers, parties have not yet bought the claim.

Eight Maoists killed
Rebels intensify terror campaign

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KATHMANDU, Oct 19:The army killed 8 Maoists during their search and destroy operations in various parts of the country on Friday, claimed the Ministry of Defence in its regular statement today.

Three rebels each were killed at Duli in Rukum and at Bharta in Kalikot districts and two at Pyarajung area in Lamjung district. The ministry also said that there was a clash between the army and the rebels at Lamdanda in Arjun Chaupari-8 in Syangja district but added that exact details were still not available. However, our reporter from Syangja said that a man, Run Bahadur Gurung, was killed in the cross-fire between the security forces and the Maoists. The 71-year old Gurung was in the Indian army and was a resident of Arjun Chaupari-7.

The 700-strong armed rebels had taken control of Lamdanda since Thursday night. The Maoists are believed to have come from their strongholds of Rukum and Rolpa districts with modern weapons. The rebels reportedly attacked the area in the hope of getting weapons and money since the place boasts of having both working and retired personnel from the Indian army, British Gurkhas, Royal Nepal Army and Nepal Police.

Meanwhile, a woman vegetable vendor was killed when a bomb set by the Maoists exploded at Okutole in Banepa town in Kavre district today morning. Eight others were injured in the incident. The vendor, 32-year old Maiyadevi Ghimire, died on the spot when a powerful grenade went off at garbage disposal spot near the square where Ghimire used to sell the vegetables, according to the police. She was a bread earner of the family that consisted of her husband and three daughters.

Similarly, in a gruesome incident, the Maoists beheaded one Mahendra Rai of Halaunchha VDC, some 12 km from Bhojpur district headquarters last Saturday, before the Dashain festival as a sacrifice. Rai was a Nepali Congress sympathiser. Although Rai is said to be murdered for being a spy, his family members said that he was a simple village worker with no link either with the police or the district administration. Neither Rai’s family members nor the villagers have reported the death out of fear of the rebels.

In yet another instance of murder, the Maoists have murdered a headmaster and CPN-UML party man, Manilal Sharma at Singa VDC in Myagdi district on Friday night. The 53-year old teacher was brutally murdered by the Maoists by slitting his throat and thrusting a knife in his heart. He was the headmaster of Mahendra Ratna Secondary School at Baraija in the district and had gone to his village to celebrate Dashain. He was also a UML district committee member.

Reports from Dhankuta said that an RNA vehicle was slightly damaged when it ran into an ambush laid by the Maoists near Bhedetar in Dhankuta district. The RNA soldiers were returning after defusing a pressure cooker bomb at a bus park at Danda Bazar in the district on Friday.

Reporters sans Frontiers expresses outrage

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KATHMANDU, Oct 19:Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontiers), the international organisation of journalists, on Saturday expressed outrage over the Chief of City Police, Bikram Singh Thapa being awarded the "Policeman of the Year" title. Thapa is believed to be involved in the death of pro-Maoist editor Krishna Sen earlier this year.

"This reward to a torturer is disgusting," said Robert Ménard, secretary-general of ‘Reporters Without Borders’ in a letter to Nepal’s new Prime Minister, Lokendra Bahadur Chand. "What hope is there of justice being done if the authorities have such contempt for human rights? Impunity and policy violence have become a state institution in Nepal."

He called for the award, presented to the officer on 16 October (Police Day) for his "professionalism and courage for having put his life on the line throughout his career", to be withdrawn. He also demanded a new investigation into the disappearance and presumed death of Sen.

The presentation of the award set off arguments, some of them in the Home Ministry itself, a sure sign of controversy over the police chief’s role in Sen’s case.

An October 15 report, by the Damocles Network and Reporters Without Borders, concluded that Sen probably was tortured on May 28, eight days after he had been arrested, in an interrogation room at Kathmandu¹s Mahendra Police Club where the city police chief was present.

This Kumari needs not follow strict rules

By Razen Manandhar

BHAKTAPUR, Oct 19:Rukmani Devi Shakya, in her early 40s, gives the love and honour to her five-year old daughter Sajani Shakya that must be much more than any mother in the whole world can give.

For her as well as the most people of Bhaktapur, the little girl is a Living Goddess, a Kumari. This has been a tradition in Bhaktapur since the 14th century along with similar traditions in the other ancient Newar cities of Kathmandu and Lalitpur.

The Goddess is about to finish the fifteen-day-long special puja she receives during the festival of Dashain. She resides at her building at Prasannashil Mahavihar for the fifteen days of the Dashain and observes all ceremonial rites from here. For the rest of the year, she is free to go to her parents.

Even her mother calls her Kumari Maju, using the honourable title meaning ‘Mother Kumari’. She communicates with her daughter in the most respectful and honorific form of the language and waits patiently to fulfil any task the Kumari desires.

Mother Shakya, the hereditary caretaker, Nakin of Ekanta Kumari of Bhaktapur, said that she has been honoured with the opportunity to serve the Goddess, especially as her own daughter was chosen to be the present Living Goddess since the last three years.

"I feel special, a pride to see my daughter on the holy throne. I have taken care of two other Kumaris previously and my personal experience has been that the family from where the Kumari is chosen enjoys prosperity and success in their lives," said she. She or any other female member from her family has to take the Kumari to a special daily worship.

According to Narendra Prasad Joshi, the chief priest of Taleju temple of Bhaktapur, the priests take the Goddess to the Mahavihar on Sunday or Thursday, before the first day of the Dashain, to prepare her for the ceremonial Dashain puja. Everyday she is brought to a courtyard of Chaturbramha Mahabihar, beside the Royal Palace, and offered puja in ceremonial settings.

"On the ninth day, she is taken to the temple of Taleju Bhawani inside the royal palace where she is worshipped with much fanfare, in a one hour ceremony," he said.

After the annual puja, the Kumari is taken to a special seat at the temple of Bramhayani, where the pilgrims offer puja to the child goddess. For the rest of four days, she remains at her residence, giving tika to pilgrims.

However, this Kumari is not the only one worshipped in this cultural city. There are altogether 15 such Living Goddesses in Bhaktapur alone.

"There are nine Gana Kumaris, who represent the tantric structure of the ancient city of Bhatkapur; and three more, Bhairav, Ganesh and Kumar," said historian Dr Purushotam Lochan Shrestha.

The eleven Kumaris are chosen from different parts of the city. They first receive worships in the Dashain festival. Then come three others - from Wane Laykoo, Chasukhel and Sakotha Bahaa. The Ekanta Kumari or the prime Kumari of Bhaktapur makes the final entry in the holy courtyard.

Unlike the Royal Kumari of Hanumandhoka in Kathmandu, the Ekanta Kumari of Bhaktapur need not follow the strict rules during her tenure as the Living Goddess. She enjoys most of her days in her parent’s house and goes to a private school everyday. Regardless of minor physical injuries, which is strongly restricted in Kathmandu, they change the Goddess when she reaches 11 years.

The priest, Joshi said that there might have been similar restrictions but, as the government showed no interest to provide facilities to this aspect of Bhaktapur’s heritage, the locals also became indifferent to the strictures.

"So much so, the Guthi Sansthan has already sold the land in the name of Kumari and now, instead of rice grains, it gives the interest of the cash deposited at a bank," he added.

The Kumari of Bhaktapur receives Rs 450 per month which after retirement becomes a hundred rupees monthly from the government.

HRH Princess successful surgery

KATHMANDU, Oct 19 (RSS) - Her Royal Highness Princess Prearana Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah underwent successful surgery for the removal of large Ovarian Cyst at Cromwell Hospital in London yesterday.

According to doctors involved in the treatment of HRH the Princess, the health condition of Her Royal Highness is satisfactory following the surgery.

Kojagrat today

KATHMANDU, Oct 20 (RSS) - The Kojagrat Poornima, the last day of Bada Dashain festival, is being observed by worshipping Mahalaxmi, the Gooddess of wealth.

On the day of Kojagrat Poornima meaning "who is in vigil", housewives pass the night in vigil invoking the goddess with worship and prayer in accordance with time honoured tradition. It is believed that a visit to earth by the Goddess of Wealth takes place on this day every year to bestow blessings of wealth and prosperity on her devotees.

According to religious tradition, this day marks the winding up of the Tika and Jamara or barley shoots grown at Dashain Ghars and Khotas.

UML tea party

KATHMANDU, Oct 19 (RSS) - CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal is scheduled to host a tea party at the party central office at Madannagar tomorrow to exchange Bijaya Dashami and Deepawali greetings, it is learnt from the party.