Indian Foreign Secretary Arrives
In his first visit to Nepal after February 1, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday (December 11). “I am here to meet with old friends. I am happy to be here,” Saran told reporters at the airport without divulging the agenda of his visit. Immediately after he landed at Kathmandu, Saran began his political consultations. He met with former prime minister and president of Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) Surya Bahadur Thapa for 45-minutes at the latter’s residence. “He expressed concern about the political situation here,” Thapa told reporters after meeting with Saran. Thapa added, “He is here, basically, to meet with the King.” Saran’s visit comes in the wake of 12-point understanding between the political parties and the Maoists, which was reached recently in New Delhi. Leading dailies report.
Two Hundred Schools Closed In Kalikot
A teacher’s organization close to Maoists has closed down over 200 schools in areas outside the district headquarters of Kalikot. Among those closed down include one higher secondary school, 15 secondary schools, 39 lower secondary schools and 160 primary schools. More than 20,000 students were studying in these schools. Likewise, reports say that most schools in Ramechhap district have also closed down following a threat from the Maoist-affiliated teacher’s union. Barring aside a few schools in district headquarters Manthali, schools in other parts of the district remained closed affecting 50,000 students of 400 schools. Leading dailies report.
Judiciary Has Some Teeth And Spine Here: Pak Lawyer
Chairman of the Pakistani Human Rights Commission and the UN Rapporteur on human rights in Pakistan, Asma Jahangir, said that Nepal’s judiciary is still maintaining its independence despite the political situation here being as crucial as in Pakistan. “I appreciate the judges and lawyers in this country as the Supreme Court here is still playing an independent role,” Jahangir said, addressing a talk program in Kathmandu organized by Nepal Bar Association. She added that in terms of judicial independence, Nepal’s judiciary was far ahead of Pakistan’s judiciary. Citing instances of interference in the judiciary in her country, she said Pakistan’s and its army always want to influence the courts and that judges cannot work independently for a long time if there is no democratic political system. The Himalayan Times daily reports.
Rights Activists Demonstrate, Police Intervene
On the occasion of the 57 th World Human Rights Day, hundreds of human rights activists and civil society leaders, on Saturday (December 10), held a demonstration demanding the end of autocratic regime and restoration of full democracy. The human rights activists have said that this year their whole effort would be directed towards the restoration of full democracy, in the absence of which the respect of human rights cannot be envisaged. The demonstrators attempted to defy the prohibitory orders by marching towards Ratna Park area despite warnings by the police against doing so. Subsequently, 97 rights activists including Krishna Pahadi, Kapil Shrestha, Subodh Pyakurel and Devendra Raj Pandey were detained and later released. Talking with the reporters, Home Minister Kamal Thapa said that they were detained because they defied the prohibitory orders. “We did not try to disrupt their demonstrations. We only wanted to enforce the prohibitory orders,” he said. Leading dailies report.
Return To Rule Of Law: Arbour
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has called on the Nepal government to return to rule of law. Ian Martin, the chief of Nepal office of the UN OHCHR, quoted Arbour as saying that that the rule of law is the only basis for respecting human rights. Martin was speaking at a program organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the occasion of the World Human Rights Day. Speaking at the same program, NHRC chairman Nayan Bahadur Khatri expressed concern over the lack of implementation of Commission’s recommendations by the government. “There is a crisis of confidence about the government’s commitment to human rights because it has not implemented the recommendations made by the Commission,” he said. Leading dailies report.
Soldiers Given Human Rights Card
The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), which is facing allegations of human rights violations, has started providing a basic human rights card to each and every soldier in order to teach them about the basic human rights and humanitarian laws that need to be adhered to even during conflict. From now onwards, each soldier on duty would always need to keep with him directives, rules card and card about the human rights and humanitarian laws. In these cards, there are slogans like “I will always respect the human rights and humanitarian laws”; “I will give proper respect even to enemies in the war”; “I will always use minimum force. Never fire those under control” and so on. According to Major Sushil Dahal of the RNA, these measures are being taken because the RNA is committed to abide by the human rights. He also denied that the army is keeping even a single civilian in extra-judicial detention. “Only those for whom the Chief District Officer has given a written order are under custody of the army,” Dahal added. The RNA had proposed setting up National Detention Center, central registry and a high-level contact office to the government, but the latter has not responded to it. The army data shows that since the RNA was mobilized, out of 163 cases of human rights violations, 51 soldiers have been sent to jail for 6 months to 10 years; 34 have been relieved from the army duty; 13 have been demoted; 13 were stopped from getting promotion; 8 were reprimanded and one who faced rape charges was handed over to the civilian administration. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.
Maoists Obstruct Congress Rally In Baitadi
In the breach of recent parties-Maoist understanding, the Maoists have obstructed Nepali Congress (NC) leaders and workers from holding their public campaign in Melauli area of Baitadi district. The Maoists even kept a number of Congress leaders and workers in their custody. NC central member-duo Binaya Dhoj Chand, Sunil Kumar Bhandari and Congress district president Narendra Bista, along with others, were kept in custody by the Maoists on Tuesday evening. They were also harassed by the Maoists. Subsequently, the Congress leaders returned back to district headquarters abandoning their scheduled programs. According to Bista, the Maoists had proposed to hold joint mass meeting to which the Congress refused. The Congress leaders were then gheraoed by the Maoists and were forced to sign a paper stating that they were abandoning their public program due to their own reasons. The Congress Baitadi Committee has issued a statement condemning the Maoist behavior. It has stated that the action had triggered suspicions against the recent parties-Maoist pact. Kantipur daily reports.
Parties Not Impressed By The Reshuffle
Major political parties have expressed indifference over the latest reshuffle of the cabinet. Nepali Congress spokesperson Krishna Sitaula, reacting to the reshuffle, called it, “the new episode of the farce being enacted to extend the royal innings. The alliance stands united to fight regression for once and all.” Subas Nemwang, of the UML, said, “We had flayed the previous cabinet as illegitimate and unconstitutional. Our views stand unchanged.” Leading dailies report.
Koirala Admits He Met Maoists
Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala admitted he had face-to-face talks with Maoist leaders. This is the first time the NC boss has publicly admitted of having met and talked with Maoist leaders. He, however, stopped short of disclosing the venue and names of the Maoist leaders. “I will not say I did not meet them. I will not say I talked to them over the telephone. I met them and talked face to face,” Koirala said, while addressing a mass meeting in Bhaktapur on Wednesday (December 7). Koirala criticized the King for his silence on the three-month-long Maoist ceasefire and warned of serious consequences. He also ruled out direct poll to a constituent assembly and reiterated the need for revival of the House of Representatives as the starting point towards it. “I am firm on this stance and I have told this to the Maoists as well,” Koirala said. “Lets not expect constituent assembly from the blue.” During his meeting with the Maoists, Koirala said he told them that he does not trust the guns of any side and democracy, peace, civil rights and liberty are the basis of talks with them. The Himalayan Times daily reports.
Tibet Provides Rs 18 Million Assistance
The Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of People’s Republic of China will provide assistance worth Rs 18 million to Nepal. This understanding was signed during the economic and trade discussion between officials of TAR and Nepal in Kathmandu on Thursday. According to the Foreign Ministry, this assistance will be utilized to upgrade the schools in Mustang district – which borders the TAR, and to buy daily essential goods for the orphanage and old age shelter homes in the district. Likewise, the aid will also be used to buy ambulances for Udayapur district. Earlier, the Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey held a bilateral discussion with the visiting Tibetan delegation led by Chamba Thuntsok, chief of TAR government. They discussed economic, trade and tourism issues. Leading dailies report.
Institutional And Policy Reforms Stressed For Managing Remittances
Experts have called on the government to reform policies and institutions in order to well manage the huge inflow of remittances by Nepalese working overseas. The money sent by migrant workers as remittance to their families has been an important source of income in developing countries, which has accounted for more than twice of international aid flows. As per the Global Economic Prospects 2006 focusing on the themes of Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration that was launched by the World Bank, country office in Kathmandu on Thursday, international remittances have helped reduce poverty. Speaking at the program, senior economist Development Prospects Group at the WB Dilip Ratha stressed on creating environment conducive for the workers to send their money through formal channels in a convenient manner. He urged the government to work for increasing easy access to banking systems and advised not dragging companies related to remittances into the tax net. Professor Ganesh Gurung, founder member of Nepal Institute of Development Studies (NIDS) informed that a total of 303 Nepalis go abroad for jobs daily. They send huge amounts of money to their homelands, formally and informally. Hans Timmer, lead economist of Global Trends, Development Prospects Group at the WB, said that despite a cyclical slowdown, GDP continued to grow rapidly in developing countries, underpinned by past policy reforms. Leading dailies report.
