 |
|||
|
|||
| Off The Record |
|
|||
|
|||
| Off The Record |
Soap War When business groups fight, they use every weapon in their arsenal to destroy their rivals. This is precisely what is happening in the media war between OK washing soap and Puja soap. In their latest commercials, each group is involved in a full-blown campaign to portray the other in a bad light. State-owned Nepal Television, however, has emerged as the clear winner in this war of foams: it has found an easy source of revenue. Common Syndrome Nepal's trade unions, like political parties, seem to be running out of ways of organizing protests. This may be why they cannot go beyond displaying black flags and launching chakka jams (transport strikes) to register their grievances. After the government announced that it was going to ban vehicles over 20 years old from the capital, the Federation of Nepalese Transport Entrepreneurs called on members to hoist black flags on their vehicles. Perhaps something more creative might have created a flutter in official circles. Vocal Communists If anybody wants to find out why communist regimes around the world fell like dominoes in the early 1990s, they should visit Nepal. Not a single day passes in the country without leftists raising their voices. You can find any of the more than a dozen communist parties protesting against something or the other. At a time when other communist parties in the world are trying to prove their liberal and people-friendly credentials, Nepalese communists are proving the opposite. Imagine how it must have felt to live in one of those countries where the communists were the only legal political group for so long. Vow Of Silence
Despite their known differences, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his predecessor, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, actually share some similarities. One is that neither tolerates opposition. Although they have spent most of their political lives in prison for the cause of democracy, they do not seem to be able to follow democratic practices. The moment someone tries to raise his or her voice against something, Koirala and Bhattarai have an almost natural gift to impose silence. |
| Coverstory
| Congress
Convention | Nepal
- Bhutan | US
Visa | Interview
| |
Send your feedback to the
editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
