COMMENT

The future could be frightening

Politically it has been no better than when there was a Hung Parliament in the country. Disappointingly, this was not what the people expected when they returned the Nepali Congress with a comfortable majority in the Third General Election held in May last year. The people had expected political stability and good governance from a majority government, something, which they had not seen during the days of the coalition governments. But almost from the first day in office, Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai failed to impress. From his weak physical appearance during the oath taking ceremony to his relaxed attitude towards some wayward ministers, the Prime Minister started to pave his own downfall through his inaction. But in an emotional speech he delivered while announcing his resignation in the House of Representatives, PM Bhattarai claimed that a lot had been achieved during his tenure. But even while feeling sad at the forced exit the elderly leader had to make, it was hard to believe many of his claims. Perhaps the things that the people will remember most about the Bhattarai government, will be the steep hike in the prices of essential commodities like diesel,  kerosene and electricity, the escalating Maoist insurgency and even the hijack of the Indian Airlines jet craft, not the things Bhattarai and his supporters are mentioning. Of course, both the leaders themselves are to be blamed for the poor performance of the government, which has cost the nation dearly. While Koirala did not show any patience to allow the Bhattarai-led government to perform, Bhattarai himself failed to act in a strong manner. He must realise, just being adamant in protecting his close aides was not being a strong Prime Minister. 

Now new Prime Minister GP Koirala has a bundle of tasks ahead of him. However he showed he has grown mature politically, by identifying only three areas on which government priorities will be focussed. Koirala has said that improving the law and order situation of the country will be his first task. He also mentioned that curbing corruption and providing good governance will be the two other priorities of the new government. But like Bhattarai, Koirala too should remember, correctly identifying the malaise suffered by the nation is fine, but unless some concrete curative measures are prescribed, mere promises will not mean anything. The political, economic and even social cost of the infighting within the ruling party has proved very expensive for the nation and the people. What is needed now is total commitment from the government for national benefit, not just political rhetoric to please a few. If even now, the government does not deliver on the promises made to the people, the future may be much more frightening than what anyone has ever imagined.

Save Kathmandu from being a ghost city

A ghost city, Kathmandu could very well become, if sources of water dries up in this already over-populated valley. The rising scarcity of water even during the wintry months, tankers supplying water to those who can afford it and long queues of containers waiting for the municipality tankers to supply a home enough to cook a meal are only the tips of an iceberg that is waiting to hit this city. What with the uncontrolled and unmonitored tapping of underground water in many houses, it will only be a matter of time before serious and irreversible environmental degradation sets in.

The demand for drinking water in  Kathmandu is around  150-160 million litres per day whereas the supply is about 80 million litres per day that includes a leakage of 40 per cent. And the demand is not going to lessen with life style changing rapidly among the middle class that comprise the majority in this valley. Modern amenities and an increasing awareness of personal hygiene means a need for more water in addition to one’s daily requirement. The increased population in Kathmandu also means more demand for water annually.

The only hope that remains is timely channelisation of  water that exists in our rivers. It is ironical that a country that is the storehouse of power should suffer such an acute water shortage. The policy makers here should make it a priority to bring water from Melamchi river so that the thirst for water of the residents of the valley is quenched. At the moment, the Melamchi drinking water project is the only feasible solution in sight. And unless the government works to makes this a reality, the problem of drinking water could go from bad to worse. With the dry months looming ahead, residents are already worried on where their next pot of water is going to come from. It would be best if it came from a permanent source, instead from a tanker on wheels.

Focus of Clinton South Asia Trip

By Wondy S. Ross

"The most important dimension” of President Clinton’s March 18-26 trip to South Asia “is to try to establish a new partnership with India” says President Clinton’s National Security Advisor Sandy Berger.

“With the end of the cold war a great new opportunity” exists “to see India as the world’s largest, perhaps most vibrant, certainly one of the most promising democracies,” Berger told reporters March 16 at a late afternoon briefing at the White House. “For 50 years, America’s relationship with India has been viewed through the prism of the cold war and its aftermath,” he said.

Berger quoted India’s Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as saying recently that the United States and India are “natural allies.”

“I think that’s the view we share,” Berger said, “and (we) have a tremendous opportunity to reshape, over time, the nature of our relationship.”

“Clinton has been determined to get this partnership on track to the benefit of Indians and Americans alike,” Berger said. “We want to deepen ties between our governments, our private sectors, our scientists, our citizens.”

“As we pursue renewed partnership, we must also address important differences with India and, of course, with Pakistan,” he said.

It will be the first visit to South Asia in 22 years by a U.S. President. Clinton also will visit Bangladesh and stop in Pakistan at the end of his week-long trip.

Clinton had hoped to visit South Asia sooner in his presidency, Berger said, but Indian domestic politics, and then the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in 1998, derailed those plans.

“This trip should have taken place almost three years ago, in 1997,” Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs said.

“At the time of the 50th anniversary” of India’s independence from Britain, “when Clinton was going to go, the government fell. Shortly after that, there were nuclear tests. Then we started thinking again about going. The government fell. So it has been a combination of domestic politics and world events that has delayed this. It’s long overdue.”

Berger said Clinton “is not going to South Asia to mediate the dispute between” India and Pakistan. “But he will urge them to exercise restraint and resume dialogue. Two nations who offer so much to the world should not condemn their children to a dangerous future. They should choose instead the path toward peace,” he said.

He said Clinton’s stop in Pakistan at the end of his trip “is not an endorsement of the military government” there.

“While we disapprove of the way in which democracy was overturned in Pakistan and would seek an early return to democracy, as well as other steps from the Pakistani government,” Berger said, “we believe that it is better for the United States and better for the region, for us to maintain a line of communication with the government of Pakistan during particularly difficult times.”

While in Pakistan, Clinton will meet with Pakistan’s President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, a holdover from the previous government, and then he’ll meet with chief executive, General Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup last October.

Following that, Clinton is scheduled to deliver a televised address directly to the people of Pakistan, “our long-time friends, about our hopes for Pakistan and our concerns about its future,” Berger said.

Clinton “will talk about the long relationship that the United States has had with the people of Pakistan, our high regard for the people of Pakistan, but our concern is about things that are happening in Pakistan, because we’re concerned about Pakistan’s future.

“We’re concerned about its nuclear programme, we’re concerned about tension across the Line of Control in Kashmir. We’re concerned about terrorism, we’re concerned about seeing a path back to democracy. And I think the President will talk about all of those things with the people of Pakistan and with great respect,” Berger said.

The president will arrived in New Delhi on the evening of March 19. Monday morning, March 20, he will travel to Bangladesh, the first U.S. President ever to visit Bangladesh.

He then will spent the rest of his time in India, except for his stop in Pakistan March 25 on his return home to the United States.

(The author is a White House Correspondent)

Jeopardising relations

I am a retired ex-serviceman from the British army. And I am also a member of the Gurkha Army ex-Servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO). It  really drew my attention when I heard the 6 march radio Nepal and the NTV evening news press release by HMG said that some so called organisation is trying to jeopardizing the good relations between Nepal and Britain. One must always recall the past to built or correct the future. The Gurkha issue is connected with the sovereign and the sovereignty of our nation Nepal. The contribution of the Gurkhas to the British Crown is immense. It cannot be valued against money. The Gurkha soldiers have sacrificed the best part of their lives for the British Empire, and also for the vested interest of the rulers of our nation. The Gurkhas introduced Nepal to the world as a land of Himalayan kingdom.

In 1915 when the population of Nepal was only 5 million; 250,000 Gurkha soldiers took part in the 1st world war and 200,000 in the 2nd world war. 13 Gurkhas won the Victoria cross medal and 2 Gurkhas won the highest British civilian awards, the George cross for their outstanding courage. Gurkhas were awarded 2,734 bravery awards, and more than 6,000 Gurkhas received decorations for bravery. Neither the Nepal nor the British Government has kept the authentic records of the killed or the missing Gurkha soldiers during the two great wars. Neither have they officially informed their families or the loved ones. Those abandoned Gurkha soldiers during the wars are now settled in Burma, Malaysia, Fiji and other different parts of the world. After the end of 104 years of oligarchic Rana regime and the 30 years of autocratic Panchayat regime,  democracy was restore in Nepal by the peoples’ movement in 1990. On the same historic day the Gurkha Army ex-Servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO) was established. When the peoples of our nation got the freedom of rights and expressions; then only did the GAESO broke the silence, patience and the discriminations the Gurkha soldiers has been facing home and abroad for the past 200 years of the Gurkha history. The GAESO has been trying to send the message across the world through the media, that no human beings in the earth must be discriminated because of his/her colors and nationality. Every human being must be treated equally according to the universal human rights declaration of law. So that we can built ourselves and for our coming generation a strong and secure future without  fear, hatred or violence.

Yam Gurung
Jawlakhel, Lalitpur

Dubious punishment

The other day, a local daily newspaper reported that, for the second time within a few months, a leading cooking gas supplying company was caught for providing less quantity of the gas in a cylinder to its consumers, than what was mentioned on it.

For committing such a crime for the second time, the company has been levied with a fine of one thousand rupees by the government and the same amount has already been recovered by the government from the company.

So, even if it continues to get caught and punished at the present rate, this gas company can continue to cheat its consumers and make fortunes — after paying a few thousand rupees as fine.

One routinely comes across the news of accidents, in which driver of vehicles try to run over an accident victim, after they have hit him or her. In certain instances, the drivers reportedly have killed such victims, after maneuvering their vehicles over the victim brutally.

It indeed makes a sound business sense for a driver to ensure that an accident victim gets killed instead of just being seriously injured. Because in the latter case, the owner of the vehicle has to pay all the medical expenses of a victims, unlike in the first case, where he has to pay only a few thousands bucks for the final rites of the victims; particularly when, there exists no mechanism in the system, that can differentiate between the murder of an injured, unconscious victim and a genuine, spontaneous death of a victim in an accident.

The system of justice, which exists in the modern Nepal, remains archaic. It was conceived and designed to victimize the weaker section of the society at will. It remains far from being a perfect one. So, unsurprisingly, it often appears condoning the miscreants instead of meting out  exemplary punishment thereby deterring the occurrence of crime once and for all. Also, on the question of reforming the same, to suit the need of democracy and civil society, the bar and the bench were found to be pointing at each other.

K.C. Bhatt,
GPO Box. 748. Kathmandu