‘Reunion of Koreans victory of diplomatic struggle’

Bhaktapur, Sept. 8 (RSS): The Korea Study Group, Bhaktapur organised a talk programme on the occasion of the 52nd founding day of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea here on Wednesday.

Addressing the programme, member of parliament Narayan Man Bijukchhe opined that the reunion of families from North and South Korea after 50 years of separation following the historic talks between the leaders of the two countries was a victory of the diplomatic struggle of the DPRK.

Ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Thae Jung said a climate of peace and reunion between the two Koreas has been created after the summit talks between the leaders of the two Koreas last June.

Literary critic Dr. Jagadish Chandra Bhandari, member of the Korea Study Group, Bhaktapur Dhirendra Man Bijukchhe and others also expressed their views on the occasion.

Chairman of the Korea Study Group Mr. Chaitya Raj Shakya presided over the talk programme.

Govt working to provide food, shelter to freed Kamaiyas: Ojha

Biratnagar, Sept. 8 (RSS): Minister for Land Reforms and Management Siddha Raj Ojha has said that the present Nepali Congress government is serious about arranging for the food, clothing and shelter of the freed Kamaiyas.

Minister Ojha said this while talking to journalists at a meet-the-press programme organized by Nepal Press Union Morang district branch in Biratnagar today.

He said the government was prepared to solve the problem of the Kamaiyas in keeping with the assurances given to parliament by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala that the problems of the kamaiyas would be resolved at the earliest.

Minister Ojha said that although allocation of land has already been fixed at a meeting of all the sides including chairmen of concerned VDCs and representatives of political parties, it would take some time to find suitable land.

An amount of Rs 300,000 and food grains has been sent to the five districts where the Kamaiya system existed and the concerned officials there have been directed to resolve any pitfalls in the distribution of the relief and the rehabilitation of the Kamaiyas, he added.

Replying to journalists’ queries Minister Ojha said His Majesty’s Government was concerned more about the freed Kamaiyas of these five districts than the farmers and it was trying to make the freed Kamaiys self reliant by providing them work according to their skills and their liking.

The government’s priority is to identify the genuine land-less squatters and resolve the problem within three years, the Minister said, adding the concerned bodies have been given directives to select the land for this purpose and work in an impartial and objective manner without giving any place to political or personal bias.

The Minister for Land Reforms and Management directed offices and bodies under the Land Reforms Ministry to work in the interest of the country, people and democracy keeping in mind that the present government is a majority government of the Nepali Congress elected by the Nepali people.

Replying another question, he said problems and crises in the Nepali Congress are resolved through mutual understanding and compromise and it would be so in future also since the Nepali Congress was a dynamic and vibrant party.

He expressed the conviction that the coming general convention of the party would be a success and it will be held in a cordial atmosphere.

Nepal Press Union Morang district president Hem Raj Regmi presided over the programme.

Annan stresses will to act in restoring peace

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Sept. 8: The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, while addressing the Security Council Summit at the UN Headquarters at New York today, said, "I am honoured to welcome you to the United Nations for this historic meeting of the Security Council. You have come to New York to take part in a Millennium Summit dedicated to renewing the United Nations for a new century."

To say that the eyes of the world are upon you is both to say too little and too much. Too little, because the fate of future generations could be affected by the decisions of this Security Council Summit. Too much, because many in the present generation are losing confidence in the ability of the United Nations to make the difference between war and peace, the UN chief stated.

"This contradiction reflects what I believe to be a crisis of credibility facing this Council — and this Organization — in discharging its gravest responsibility: the maintenance of peace and security. Too many vulnerable communities in too many regions of the world now hesitate to look to the United Nations to assist them in their hour of need. No amount of resolutins or statements can change this reality. Only action can: prompt, united and effective action, pursued with skill and discipline to halt conflict and restore the peace. Only such determined action can restore the reputation of the United Nations as a credible force for peace and justice," Kofi Annan observed.

Nowhere is your commitment more urgently needded than in the continent of Africa, where millions are suffering daily from the raveges of war. I am therefore pleased that Africa will be a focus of your deliberations today, he said.

"Whenever possible, we must summon the will to act preventively, before a crisis reaches the point of no return," he noted.

"When that fails, and the Council resorts to sanctions, it must summon the will and the wisdom to ensure, on the one hand, that they ae effectively enforced, and on the other that they reach their intended target without inflicting unnecessary hardship on innocent people", the UN chief said, adding "When we are are asked to deploy a peacekeeping operation, we must ensure that it has a clear and achievable mandate and the strength and authority to defend itself and its mandate."

When all else fails, and only armed intervention can save large numbers of people from genocide or crimes against humanity, there too the Council must summon the will and the wisdom to confront the agonizing dilemma which such cases pose to the world’s conscience, Kofi Annan pointed out.

Yet in all these cases, summoning the will to act is only the essential first step. Having the ability to act — and to act effectively and decisively — is the other imperative. We all recognise that too often in the peacekeeping operations of the past decade, the path to failure was paved with good intentions and inadequate mandates, he stated. We all agree that often, peacekeepers were asked to take on complex missions without the training, equipment, force structure or authority necessary to succeed. We all know that the time has come to truly enable the United Nations to succeed in its mission for peace, he observed.

"Last March, I asked a panel of distinguished veterans of peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions to provide frank and realistic recommendations to assist you and the larger Membership in fulfilling this urgent task. Their report is before you, and I have already committed myself to implementing those changes for which I am responsible. It is my sincere hope that you will do the same," the UN chief noted.

The United Nations and its peacekeepers cannot be the answer to every crisis, or every conflict, or every threat to human life. Nor can UN peacekeeping be a substitute for the political will of the parties to achieve a peaceful settlement. But where we are the answer-where only our unique universality and legitimacy can help a wounded and abandoned people return to a life of peace and dignity - we must be given the means to make the difference between life and death, he said.

"The world looks to you for an answer," Kofi Annan pointed out.