I n d e p t h    A n a l y s i s
Chinks in Constitution glaring !

Kathmandu: As of the moment the congress is split. If it does this week will be littered with the question of legalities. Which Congress?/ Who is to gain the long recognized party flag and election emblem? These legalities are relevant to the competition in the party. Already, parallels are being drawn and precedence being sought from the turning point in Indian politics generated by the late Indira Gandhi's split from the "syndicate". In India it was decided that neither of the two parties would be solely beneficiaries of the original name and the emblems. Thus came about the two parties, Congress O and Congress I.

And so if we are to have a congress G and Congress D in Nepal- if, that is, the legalities are to go this way, attention will be turning to the strength. Unlike in India where Jawahar Lal Nehru had conveniently put his daughter in the key organizational post of the Congress chairman, Deuba prior to his earlier stint as Prime Minister had merely served as country's home minister outside his party central committee. This could well explain the claim of eight hundred plus participants in the Deuba gathering in Kathmandu conventioneers. Already the Girija media has challenged the authenticity of this number and claimed more than twice this amount of signatures in its favor. It has also charged Deuba for his misuse of the government authority and office in making this "meager" gathering.

Whatever, Deuba has done it and the party is bound to be affected. Girija Koirala must now either acknowledge the split or widen the rift by disciplining participants and the organizers which means that all sitting ministers will no longer belong to his party.

For the lay public, these in-party dramas will continue inconsequentially. What will be consequential is the effects of this division in the forthcoming elections. Perhaps more importantly, the impact that this will have on the constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, given its over emphasis in mentioning the role of the political parties in the constitution itself, will be bound to be long lasting. It is here that the inevitable attention to legalities will matter to the public. Indeed, decisions may hence on will impact on the constitution. This makes the tussle far removed from the party affair that it should have otherwise been.

As things stand, PM Deuba is no longer a member of the Nepali Congress that he claims to represent. PM Deuba has no elected parliament to account for. And he is no longer responsible to the party that he claims to be his. The party he will make (?), moreover, must still prove its worth in parliament when and if the elections take place. That a row in one political party can affect the constitution thus can't but send pointers to a fault in the constitution that must soon be corrected if Constitutionalism and democracy, if it were, must hold sway in the Kingdom.

Nepali intellectuals in favor of India-Pak talks
Pak scholar says the world has become hostage to US global strategy

Kathmandu: A Pakistani scholar of international repute has said that the US-led International coalition's War on Afghanistan has not only altered the strategic dynamics of the South-West regions but has also kept the world as a hostage to US global strategy because the US chose to involve the international community in what it declared to be a global war on terrorism.

So said Dr. Shireen M. Mazari, the director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad this Sunday at a program jointly organized by the Nepal Foundation for Advanced Studies with the Embassy of Pakistan based in Nepal on the theme of Prevailing Security Situation in South Asia.

Dr. Mazari was the keynote speaker at the said proogram.

Dwelling on South Asia, Dr. Mazari opined that " for SA, the impact of 9/11 has altered the parameters of the region itself, which to some extent, adds Dr. Mazari, had begun altering within the strategic context after the development of medium ranged missiles by India which can now, continued Mazari, target the Middle East and South Asian region also.

Indeed the Pakistani scholar was providing the Pakistani perception to the learned Nepali participants.

In the course of her speech Dr. Shireen maintained that for her country, Pakistan, joining the US-led coalition reflected a major policy shift in that it required withdrawing support from the Taliban government which had seen Pakistan as one of its leading allies. Explaining the Pakistani compulsion for joining the US adventure she said that the Pakistani logic of that shift was clear in the sense that she had to preserve her strategic assets and national sovereignty.

She however lamented that though her country joined the US led coalition and supported US moves but yet the US commitments made by it to Pakistan remain still unfulfilled.

" As facts about the way in which the US has conducted its war in Afghanistan come to light, there is a strong resentment amongst Pakistani civil society over the disregard for the loss of innocent Afghan lives under the label of "collateral damage", continued Dr. Shireen.

According to her, while most people in her country accepted the rationale behind Pakistan allying with the coalition against terrorism but as the situation in the region has developed since then the mistrust of the US has once again become central to the thinking of the majority of Pakistani civil society.

Dr. Mazari considers that the US and its allies have started taking increased interest in this part of the world. "The presence of US and other Western forces in Afghanistan has brought in an military dimension into the region which so far has not created any stability", Dr. Mazari maintains.

Referring to the Kashmir imbroglio, Dr Mazari opines that "the Indian expectation of undermining the legitimacy of the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination and Pakistan's refusal to renounce its commitment to this struggle has resulted in further destabilising the regional situation, especially in the wake of the 9/11 focus on terrorism which seems to deliberately ignore the issue of state terrorism".

In her remarks she says that with India now trying to link al-Qaeda with the Kashmiri freedom fighters-despite the fact that Osama bil Laden never spoke of Kashmir at all, let alone supporting the Kashmir cause-one should expect the instability to continue unless India is prepared to resume dialogue with Pakistan.

Talking about the role of the SAARC movement the Pakistani scholar said that the smaller nations of the SAARC process must now exert "collective" pressure on both India and Pakistan and press them to come to the dialogue and free the region from the possibility of yet another war which could take a Nuclear dimension.

"A single country move in this direction might fall short in pressing the two South Asian giants, but a collective pressure, I suppose, will force the two rivals to come to the table and ease the tension in this part of the world", said Mazari.

Professor A. P .Shrestha greeted the participants and said that there is an urgent need for both Pakistan and India to defuse the present crisis and come together in fighting the evil in their midst instead of condemning each other and provoking a recipe for war.

Anand Aditya, NEFAS deputy director, also appealed India and Pakistan to come to terms and ease the prevailing tension in SA.

Political analyst Shrish Rana gave the Nepali point of view of the present security situation in SA and said that in the name of curbing the Maoists threats in Nepal, Indian forces apparently were willing to enter the country which must not happen.

Pakistani Ambassador Fouzia Nasereen expressed her country's desire for talks with India in order to ease the threatened security environment of South Asia.

For Nepal every country is a different entity in "equal footing" says King Gyanendra

Kathmandu: Nepal's constitutional monarch, King Gyanendra, has said that "Our relations (with India) remain 'special' because they are practical, pragmatic and beneficial".

His Majesty King Gyanendra made these remarks while granting interview to an Indian editor Dilip Padgaonker which has been published by The Himalayan Times daily dated June 18, 2002.

Nepalese intellectuals including some political parties remain divided over the notion of Nepal having "special" relationship with India or vice versa and over the years there have been heated debates over the same.

To recall, there was a time when the Indian leadership used to bring in this terminology "special" in its relations with this country only to invite wrath from the majority of the Nepali population here. In the process, the word "special" vanished in the thin air for quite some good period.

However, suddenly this word has come up in the interview of none less than the country's constitutional monarch. Local intellectuals opine that the constitutional monarch could have avoided using the term "special" for they maintain that the word which has lost its relevance and importance for all along decades and decades has suddenly surfaced and that too perhaps unknowingly.

While the Kathmandu's informed citizenry don't question King Gyanendra's mentioning of the word "special" in the said interview which, they presume, should have come off the cuff but yet the word mentioned by the Nepali monarch in so many ways supports the Indian claim that they have very "special" relationship with Nepal since time immemorial.

His Majesty the King is all set to visit India shortly.

However, what is reassuring is that King Gyanendra in the same interview has said that "it is unfortunate that such misconceptions still seem to linger and that since our relations with one country is independent of our relations with any other country, there is no need to balance one with the other or to play one off against the other and that we have never believed in such short-sighted policies and for us, every country is a different entity in equal footing".

What comes to the fore from His Majesty's use of the term "equal footing" is that for Nepal as a nation-state, no nation, big or small including India as well, were all in the same footing.

This apparently also means that Nepal will treat its southern neighbor much in the same way as it would do with its northern neighbor or any third country of the globe. This apparently "dilutes" the very use of the term "special" vis-à-vis Nepal's relation with India.

In the process of the interview King Gyanendra amply reflects his uneasiness with the present scheme of things currently plaguing Nepali politics. He says, for example, "democratic virtues like rule of law, accountability, transparency and good governance are 'taking time' to take roots in our society".

However, what is more than reassuring is His Majesty's frank admission that "keeping with the tradition of the Shah dynasty , (since) the challenging responsibility of upholding the laws of the land and an opportunity of serving Nepal and the Nepalis has fallen in our shoulders, (He) as a dutiful descendant shall not shy away from fulfilling our duty".

Analysing HM King Gyanendra's above mentioned expressions, what becomes clear is that should the situation so demand, the monarch will come forward which he would do in the name of serving the country and its people.

The meaning underneath this statement is vast. It would be nice if the Nepali politicians understand the subtle message contained in His Majesty's powerful assertions that has come in the form of an interview.

All in all the interview is a timely one and to the point.

Have the Maoists changed their stance?

Kathmandu: The Maoists leaders' who had presumably been keeping close eyes on the developments in the political sector, more so of the current fight to finish battle of the ruling Nepali congress, and hence had issued no releases or for that matter any articles reflecting their views, have suddenly become active.

One article by Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai which some Left newspapers claim to have received from the Maoists quarters in the recent days claims that the erstwhile regime has made a comeback in the country which needed, says Dr. Bhattarai, a new technique for its yet another collapse.

According to the newspapers, Dr. Bhattarai has dubbed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as Dr. Tulsi Giri in his article which also maintains that president Koirala has already been displaced from the congress.

Dr. Bhattarai also expresses his surprise over the possibility of conducting the elections well within six months and opines that the election tactics were only to illusion the people belonging to the middle class and could also be a move to bring in the shaky politicians of the present parliamentary order in its camp.

A close look at Dr. Bhattarai's article gives the impression that the insurgency has some interest in the current congress politics and that by way of reference possesses soft corner for president Koirala for unknown reasons.

The article also hints that the government can't conduct elections within six months time which again means that they could pose hurdles at time of the elections if the elections really do take place.

What is important of it all is that Dr. Bhattarai's article totally rejects the fresh proposition of the seven party to the Maoists wherein it was urged that they join the national mainstream.

Dr. Bhattarai opines that if one dreams of achieving the supremacy of the parliament by effecting mere changes in the old constitution would be sheer foolishness.

This means that Dr. Bhattarai and his insurgency reject the theory put forth by president Girija Prasad Koirala who in the recent days had been vocal in enhancing the supremacy of the parliament by effecting certain changes in the constitution. This also means that the Maoists reject any sort of minor constitutional reforms as preferred by Koirala congress and the entire UML. By implication it also becomes apparently clear that the Maoists leadership prefers other political parties to toe its line or else wishes to reject theories coming from other than its own camp.

The same article yet again pushes its previous demand for a republican state. Dr. Bhattarai, says the newspaper which received the email, hints the "seven party" including the Congress, RPP and the UML, that if they join hands with the insurgency in that case the latter could support the former in its democratic struggle.

It is surprising and very puzzling also as to why the Maoists yet again have pushed the talk of republicanism which they had almost deleted from their agenda at time of the talks with the government some time back? It is also puzzling that Bhattarai's article does not mention the need for talks with the establishment. And finally why Bhattarai's article appeared around the time when the entire congress is in a sheer crisis of the highest dimension.

Be that as it may, the Maoists insurgency is the largest beneficiary in political terms of the current congress mess and that too by default.

It remains to be seen how the insurgency reacts after the congress crisis takes a new turn in a day or two. That would be politically very important for the nation's political pundits to mull over.

(based on the write up carried by Dristi weekly dated 18 June, 2002).

Dr. Manfred Haack is new FES Chief

Kathmandu: The Nepal office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a German Foundation, will have a new Chief soon.

The former Chief of the FES, Dr. Alfred Diebold, is winding up his Nepal tenure and presumably leave for his home country this week itself.

Dr. Manfred Haack, who is at the moment the Chief of the New Delhi Office of the FES will soon take over the charge of the Nepal office of the Foundation, it is learnt from GTZ sources which is yet again another German institution serving for the betterment of this country and its people.

Dr. Haack knows Nepal well as he has been quite frequently visiting this country and maintaining most friendly contacts with the local scholars which has immensely benefited in enhancing Nepal-German ties at the scholar's level.

To recall, Dr. Haack successfully participated in a regional seminar held in Kathmandu some two years ago held under the aegis of the CASAC. This seminar had brought in the noted scholars of the South Asian region to Kathmandu.

No confidence against Koirala

Kathmandu: The worst has happened.

The ruling government sponsored NC (?)convention that converted itself in the form of General Assembly this afternoon (Tuesday evening at Seven PM) has already pushed a vote of no confidence motion against President Girija Prasad Koirala and has also nullified the disciplinary actions taken by Koirala against a host of NC senior leaders in the recent months.

This new move has capped all the possibilities of the unity in the congress party.

The Deuba led Assembly will in all haste wish to finalise all the procedures by Tuesday evening as today is the last day for Deuba to register his party's name at the election commission.

Pity for the congress that had a long history.

(The rest in the internet version )

AF's " Music for all, Music accessible to all

Kathmandu: The Allaince Francaise as usual is organizing an event called the " Music Day " on the Solar Solstice this 21st June, 2002.

The event in itself is a French initiative that began in 1981 and has become a truly international event with more than hundred countries celebrating it world-wide.

The Alliance Française of Kathmandu has been organising this event since its creation in 1994.

In Nepal, the idea has become popular since various official and private Nepalese cultural agencies have started to celebrate this festival.
The idea underscored by the festival is " Music for all, Music accessible to all ", therefore, everybody involved will be working on voluntary basis. The venue chosen is generally a public place known to all that is the Tundikhel Open Air theatre.

The concerts are open to public and free of cost, say the AF.

This year on Friday 21st June, the AF is organizing a children's concert as well as variety of music by
adult performers at Tundikhel from 11 AM to 5 PM and an evening event of mixed musical genres ( classical, folk, rock) from 6:30 PM at the Alliance premises in Thapathali, says Kalpana Ghimire, the deputy director at the Alliance Francaise.

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