Lifetime free visa for Everest conquerors

By Satyendra Timilsina

KATHMANDU, March 12: All the Everest-conquerors will be provided with a lifetime free-visa to Nepal, the decision government is likely to implement to mark the golden jubilee year of the successful ascent of Mount Everest.

According to officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation the decision would most likely come into effect within a week. "We have forwarded the proposal to the concerned ministries," said a high-level official at the Ministry.

The decision will be formally announced after Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance agree on the decision. The former two ministries have already agreed, and the Ministry of Finance is also reportedly positive.

So far 1,048 people have reached atop Mount Everest in 1563 expeditions. Out of these 600 are foreigners. The Nepali nationals top the list of Everest conquers, followed by the Americans, Japanese and Russians.

In addition to the issuance of lifetime free visa, the government is also providing one-time free visa to a total 460 foreigners participating in several activities being organised during the celebration of golden jubilee year of the successful climbing of Mount Everest.

Ang Tshiring Sherpa, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) said the issuance of free visa would enhance Nepal’s image in the outside world as Everesters are regarded highly in their countries. "Everest climbers can become real promoters of Nepal in their world," he added.

Meanwhile, the NMA is also opening virgin peaks for mountaineering expedition, to celebrate the golden jubilee year. The NMA is leading a huge team including the participants from almost 35 countries to the top of 6273-metre high Machharmo peak, 6117-metre high Pharilapcha and 6187-metre high Kyazori peak.

Nepal is celebrating the year 2003 as a golden jubilee year of conquering Mount Everest. Almost 15 expedition groups with some five-dozen mountaineers are attempting the Everest this season. Among others National Geographic Channel and Nepal-India Army expedition are the major groups to attempt this season.

Revive parliament or form all-party Govt - NC, UML latest stance

By Damaru Lal Bhandari

KATHMANDU, March 12: Showing flexible gestures the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML have given two options to the king, leaving the monarch to either restore the House of Representatives or form all-party government in consultation with the parties represented in the dissolved lower house.

This was announced today at the end of the meeting of four political parties, which had representation in the dissolved house. As a part of pressure tactics, the parties also announced two joint interaction sessions with the cadres of all the parties on March 22 and 29 in Biratnagar and Nepalgunj, respectively. The interactions would formulate modalities for peaceful agitations in the future, if their demand was not fulfilled.

The parties claim that the new understanding would pave an easy way to King Gyanendra to rectify his October 4 move.

The change in the stance has come in the wake of the audiences of the political leaders with King Gyanendra in last few days. While NC had been rooting for revival of the House of Representatives (HoR), the CPN-UML had been demanding an all-party government.

"We have agreed on both. Either the revival of the lower house or formation of the all-party government would do," CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal told reporters immediately after the meeting. Nepal also indicated that the Maoists could also join the four parties.

In yet another development, the concept paper prepared by the parties as a basis for the agitation reads that the parties cannot put on hold the movement for the restoration of the constitutional and political process because so far the audiences with King Gyanendra have not produced any positive result.

"There is no option other than launching the agitation at a time when the conspiracy to move the country into totalitarianism are underway," said NC spokesman Arjun Narsingh KC.

Meanwhile, political pundits have claimed that NC has softened its stance more than the CPN-UML has. "There is no question of which party softened its stance more, it is the joint approach to arrest the regression and to restore the peace in the country," said Subas Nembwang, CPN-UML spokesman.

NWPP leader Narayan Man Bijukchhe said that the change in stance is the victory for smaller parties. He also stressed that restoration of the constitutional process would not come off easily, without the parties going for peaceful protests and agitations.

However, People’s Front Nepal leader Amik Sherchan said that the revival of the lower house still remains the top agenda, and formation of all party government the second. "The revival of the house would ease the constitutional processes, whereas formation of an all party government would be a political decision, much in line with what was done in 1990."

5 soldiers killed, 21 injured in road mishap

Post Report

NEPALGUNJ, March 12: At least five personnel of the Royal Nepal Army were killed and 21 others sustained injuries, four of them seriously, after an army vehicle they were travelling in met with an accident near Bhurigaon, Baridya on the East-West Highway today.

The soldiers of Wosing Dal were on their way to Khaptad in Doti district following their transfer from Salyan.

Bardiya district administration said that the army vehicle met with the accident while attempting to avoid a cyclist who appeared on the road all of a sudden. Around 100 army personnel and their dependents were travelling in the ill-fated vehicle.

Four of them died instantly and the other succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kohalpur. Those killed in the accident have been identified as head constables Hariram Sarki, Basant Thapa, Tilak B K and jawans Chitra Thapa and Jaguram Chaudhary. All the injured soldiers are undergoing treatment at a Kohalpur-based teaching hospital.

Govt, Maoists affix seal on code of conduct

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 12: The much-awaited code of conduct for the peace process today got a final shape with the government and the Maoists approving the 22-point guidelines during the entire peace process.

The endorsement of the code of conduct by Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara and the government coordinator Narayan Singh Pun paved the way for start of dialogue, six weeks after the declaration of truce.

According to a high-level Maoist source, both the sides have agreed to refrain from display of weapons that may create terror in the public and will desist from use of violence and other means that may vitiate or derail the peace process.

Both sides agreed to release detainees from their custody gradually in different phases but they would disclose the list of detainees under their respective control to the other side at the earliest.

Releasing the detainees had become one of the three contentious issues that caused delay in promulgating the code of conduct. The Maoists had demanded immediate release of the detainees while the government had denied to do so citing last year’s experience, when the government had to work hard to re-arrest the Maoist leaders who were freed during the talk process, after the Maoists breached the truce.

Padma Ratna Tuladhar, human rights activist who has been requested by the Maoists to work as a facilitator for the talks, told The Kathmandu Post that both the sides have agreed to the code of conduct Wednesday afternoon.

According to sources, an agreement has been made to specify "the government" in place of the "state side".The Maoists have agreed not to use the vague term "state" while mentioning the government.

Maoist leader Dina Nath Sharma, during a talk with the media at the CPN-UML’s office on Tuesday had declined to say that the peace talks were being held with the government. He preferred to say that the talks were not with the government but with the state.

As per the code of conduct agreed today, there would be a volunteer committee to ensure that both sides would adhere to the agreed code of conduct and such a team would be constituted through mutual agreement.

Both the sides however have agreed not to insist for inclusion of representatives from international human right groups in the monitoring team.

According to sources, the code of conduct also requires the government to ensure fair and objective display of the developments and activities of the Maoist side in the government media.

Nepal-India power meet inconclusive

KATHMANDU, March 12 (PR) - The meeting of the Nepal-India Power Exchange Committee concluded in New Delhi yesterday without making any headway. The meeting ended inconclusively after India refused to pay higher price to electricity, which would be sold by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Nepal is currently in a position to export 40 MW electricity during dry season and 80 MW during wet season. "However, there have been some positive developments for the long-term power trade between Nepal and India," an official said of the meeting. Next meeting of the committee could be held as early as June or July.

Courtesy call

KATHMANDU, March 12 (RSS) - British special representative for Nepal Sir Jeffrey Russell James paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand at his office at Singha Durbar this afternoon. Matters of bilateral relations and cooperation were discussed during the meeting. British ambassador to Nepal Keith George Bloomfield and senior officials of the British Department for International Development (DFID) were also present on the occasion.

Nepalis in Himachal expect Congress to nullify anti-domicile policy

By Damakant Jayshi

SHIMLA, India, March 12: With the change of guard in Himachal Pradesh - the Congress (I) routed the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the just concluded assembly polls - Nepalis working in government offices and agencies are hopeful that things will turn out better for them.

The BJP government headed by Prem Kumar Dhumal had initiated, allege the Nepalis here, an "anti-Nepali policy" and had issued directives that barred Nepalis from obtaining permanent government jobs in the state.

Following the decision, four Nepalis were denied the deserved status of permanent staff in Vegetable Multiplication Farm, Wairtee in Solan district, some 52 kilometres away from Shimla.

Referring to a government decision asking its agencies and departments "to retain only Indian citizens as eligible for appointment in state services", the Directorate of Agriculture issued a notice (E II 415 I 2000-PLI of February 11, 2000) to this effect. Consequently, the four Nepali workers were denied permanent position.

"We are happy that the BJP lost the elections and the Congress (I) formed the government," said Bhagat Ram Basnet, the Shimla contact person of the All India Nepali Unity Society (Mainstream), which is fighting for the legitimate rights of the Nepalis in the state. He told The Kathmandu Post that the organisation would soon lead a delegation, including of victims, to meet the new Chief Minister Bir Bhadra Singh.

Nepalis are optimistic of the positive response from the newly formed Congress (I) government since the they had overwhelmingly supported the party during the recently held election; moreover, the last Congress government had not discriminated against the Nepali workers.

Chandra Bahadur BK of Bhairahawa, one of the workers affected by the decision, too, said that he was hopeful of a positive response from the Congress (I) government. He has been working in the farm since 1983.

The workers and rights activists here say that the BJP Government’s decision was a violation of the Nepal-India Treaty of Friendship of 1950, a fact acknowledged by Joint Labour Commissioner, Himachal Pradesh government in Shimla and the Minister Counsellor at the Royal Nepal Embassy in New Delhi.

Joint Labour Commissioner S C Awasthi also admitted that it was a violation "of the spirit of the 1950 Treaty". "I think this occurred out of ignorance...the central government should make efforts to circulate a copy of the Treaty to all the chief secretaries of the states and department heads so that such decisions would not recur in future."

He also expressed confidence that the notice would soon be withdrawn but did not say when. "Once that happens, those who missed promotion or being regularised will get compensation from back dates."

Dhananjaya Jha, Minister Counsellor at Nepali embassy also said HP government’s decision was indeed a violation of the treaty but declined to speak further, saying that he was yet to study the specifics of the case.

Article 6 of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship grants equal treatment to the nationals of both the countries with regard to participation in industrial and economic development.

The workers see the notice as a deliberate attempt to block their "legitimate" passage to permanent postings from daily wage workers. "This is injustice," complained another affected worker, Dil Bahadur of Baglung. "First we were asked to produce domicile certificate and we complied. Then they asked for eligibility certificate, which we obtained from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) with the help of Nepal Embassy in New Delhi. And now we have been asked to produce certificates of Indian citizenship. Why?"

Nepali embassy officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, admit that they have not been able to do much about the matter, except drawing the attention of the MEA, which indeed issued a "no objection from a political angle". The officials say it is a matter that the violation and the resultant discrimination should be tackled at the highest political levels.

The embassy officials also could not sort out similar discrimination against the Nepali workers in the southern Union Territory of Pondicherry. Nine Nepali workers were terminated from their service in the National Oxygen Limited (NOL), Pondicherry few months ago.

Migrant Nepalese Association, an organisation that has taken up cudgels on behalf of these nine, had apprised the Nepali embassy.

And perhaps the most serious of all is a secret circular issued by the central government, confided one embassy official, asking the security agencies, except the army, not to recruit any Nepali in the services. Just goes on to show the loss of faith in the once trustworthy Nepalis.

Citizens extend helping hand towards conflict victims

By Bikash Sangraula

KATHAMNDU, March 12: Pained by the heart-rending accounts of atrocities during the seven years of conflict, individuals participating in a programme on ‘Rehabilitating Conflict Affected Women and Children’ made personal financial contributions to the affected, here today.

Adding yet another dark tale of torture to a series of them heard during the last seven years, Dhanamaya Budhathoki, 45, the then vice-chairperson of Chaukhawang VDC, Rukum still recalled with horror how she was kidnapped by the Maoists in 2001 and tortured for four long months. "They took me to their camp and subjected me to various forms of torture," she told The Kathmandu Post, still under shock. After she lost consciousness, the Maoists took her for dead and threw her in the jungle, where the villagers found her.

Budhathoki disclosed this while participating in the programme organized today by Samata National Development Academy (SANADA), Nepal. She is currently under intensive medication at the Teaching Hospital. She told that that she has severe bruises all over her thigh. Her thigh muscles have also been badly damaged as the Maoists ground her thighs with stones.

"The Maoists also took away all the money, jewelry and cattle we had. Now, I don’t have money to pay for treatment," she said. Reduced to tears by her painful story, various individuals donated money for her treatment. As much as Rs 17,000 was collected today during the programme from individual donors, who spontaneously reached for their pockets to help alleviate her pain.

Similarly, Taradevi Bishwokarma and Anu Sijapati received Rs 5000 and a shawl each, provided by SANADA. Bishwokarma, 34, of Sirubari, Sindhupalchowk, lost her husband in July, 2002. Her husband was a junior level employee at the District Irrigation Office. He was arrested by the police on allegations of donating a mere Rs 500 to the Maoists. After being released, he was continuing his service at the Office, when one night the Maoists dragged him out of his house and shot him.

"I don’t have funds to pay for my children’s education," said a tearful Bishwokarma, adding that she has not received any assistance from the government. Responding to her plea for help, SANADA announced scholarship for one of her sons. The organization also announced scholarship for five other deserving students of families affected by the conflict, and two others for technical studies like engineering and medicine.

Though the assistance was widely appreciated by those present, Durga Pokhrel, chairperson of the National Women’s Commission, opined that organizing expensive seminars in big hotels cannot be of much service. "Rather than spending money this way, it would be of immense relief if the money, however little, were directly channeled to the conflict affected," she said.

Also present on the occasion, Minister for Physical Planning and Works, Narayan Singh Pun said that he has repeatedly reminded the Maoists to include the issue of rehabilitating the conflict-affected in peace talks. "Women constitute 51 per cent of the population of Nepal. Therefore, I have raised the point that women representatives should also be there in the peace dialogues. Unless the conflict-affected are duly compensated, the peace talks will be meaningless," he said.

In order to ensure the social, financial and psychological rehabilitation of the conflict affected, SANADA declared a work plan which included free education for the children of families affected by the conflict, low-interest loan for the illiterate so that they can start small businesses, skill development training for the literate, and domestic and foreign employment for the educated.

India mum over dike construction

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 12: India has not yet ordered its officials to stop the construction of Mahali Sagar embankment near Nepal-India border, despite requests from the Ministry of Water Resources.

Rather, it has decided to let the issue to be dealt by Nepal-India Standing Committee on inundation, an Indian Embassy official said today.

"Any structure build on the Indian side causes problem in Nepal, and same things happen in India if a structure in build on the Nepalese side of the border," Sanjay Verma, the Indian Embassy spokesman told The Kathmandu Post today.

"We already have a mechanism (Standing Committee on Inundation) that deals with such issues. Now, the committee will have to look into this as well."

The Ministry of Water Resources wrote to the Embassy last week, after reports of yet another dike construction near the border started splashing the front pages of local press here.

The meeting of the joint standing committee was held in early October last year. But little headway was made in the direction towards halting the construction of dikes like the Rassial-Khurda-Lautan, south of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

Meanwhile, reports from Kapilvastu said that a meeting of the District Security Committee, held at Taulihawa yesterday concluded that the any construction on the bordering area should not breach international laws.

The meeting also discussed the potential damage the construction is likely to cause on the Nepalese side of the border.

"Construction work is going on - on a war footing," a security official who visited the site said. "Labourers are put to work day in and day out. They are also working at night". According to the officials, the structure could inundate around 400 hectares of land in Kapilvastu district during peak monsoon season.

1,500 illegal huts demolished in Butwal

Post Report

BUTWAL, March 12: Local administration demolished about 1,500 huts built illegally on government and private land in Butwal Municipality in the last two days, police said.

Police said two alleged encroachers were injured in skirmish with policemen while demolishing the huts at ward No 13 of the municipality. Administrative officer of the municipality, Krishna Gyawali, said that the so-called land-less squatters had encroached upon about four bighas of land belonging to the Rupandehi District Development Committee and about six bighas of land of private individuals in Naharpur area.

Locals said some influential people in the area had encouraged the squatters to build huts in the area amidst political instability in the country. Gyawali said that the administration removed the trespassers from the area as decided by an all-party meeting.

Meanwhile, locals in Naharpur village today filed separate complaints at the municipality and police station seeking protection from the squatters who pelted stones at their houses. An estimated 7,000 people have been living in occupied outskirts of the municipality and about 50 per cent of them have built concrete buildings in the occupied area.