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Meaningful political change in the offing?

Kathmandu: The Congress and the Left announce a major joint movement to have either an all-party government or the restoration of the dissolved parliament while the Maoists delay their talks with the government for reasons the government says is unknown. The nation on the other hand, awaits the return of their monarch from a pilgrimage to India after which it expects a direction to the current fluidity.

Many accounts have it that a change is on the Threshold with the King at the center of the things deciding to break the deadlock. How he will do so remains a matter of speculation. Clearly things would have been easier had the major political parties participated in government in order to allow them their access to the formal talks with the Maoists to facilitate the necessary agreements on how the system would be put back on track by the early conclusion of parliamentary elections.

As a result the parties to muscle in and have a say in a course of events from which they have interestingly put themselves at an uncomfortable distance. The muscle of course is to be provided by the cadre and there is no denying that they have a virtual monopoly here.

The people on the other hand want the breakthrough. For one thing, they want the peace to hold. For another, they want good governance to prevail. These key public demands keep the public eye away from party demands for agitation. Unfortunately, on the other hand, the slow moving Chand government has not cashed in adequately on the current public apathy to party activities. While it is a certainty that these activities are likely to grow.

The current contradictions lie here. Despite its sources of formation, the Chand government must pace up its activities visibly to cater to the public demands for permanent relief from the malgovernance of the past years for the King to retain the mass support that welcomed his initiatives on the constitution. It is not surprising therefore that the demands for change in government gets public credence. To boot, party machinery fuels the speculation for change as a means of entry for their leadership in the current mainstream.

The truth perhaps lies somewhere in between. It is impossible to see a dissolved parliament restored. It is possible to see a new government with wider participation. It is impossible to see the mainstream party leadership back in the seats of power as Royal nominees to government given their current public adamancy. A compromise here may be predictable. Or else, a change could mean a more spruced up cabinet capable of seeing the transformation to elections. This would also mean that the effects of the talks with the Maoists would have to be absorbed.

Talks with the Maoists expected to begin after King’s India sojourn

Kathmandu: Nepal’s conspiratorial politics appears to take a new turn upon the King’s return from his India pilgrimage.

This is what the member of the Nepali civil society and political creatures together with the Maoists leaders believe.

One Maoist leader went to the extent when he deliberately or otherwise hinted that there was no use of initiating talks with the government when the King was not available in the country.

Fortunately or unfortunately this "strange" revelation of the Maoist leader contributes to the suspicion of some political parties that the Maoists this time of ceasefire announcement have "struck" a secret deal not with the government in place but straight with the monarch. This revelation also adds to their suspicion when they say that the present ceasefire announcement is nothing more than a deal struck in between the "two guns", one of the Nepali army and the other that of the Maoists militia.

Be that as it may, to add insult to injury, yet another Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara surprised many a political pundits here when he divulged that "ministers in the Chand cabinet differ sharply on matters pertaining to the talks with the Maoists"

In the same vein Mahara also laid bare that there had been a marathon in and among the cabinet members to bag "personal credit" by being in the team for the talks with the Maoists.

That was not all, Mahara also maintained that minister Narayan Sing Pun can in no way advance the talks with them to greater desired levels because his "political limits" are very much cramped.

If it is so then the Maoists apparently wish to start the talks with such a big-shot in the government (?)who could listen and Okay their demands. This further means that the Maoists possess certain demands that needed the approval and acceptance by some high level personality and who could be such a personality to give a positive nod in favor of their demands? Here lies the significance of Mahara’s assertion that minister Pun’s hands are tied.

This in other words could also be interpreted that they would wish to initiate the talks only after the King returns from India hoping perhaps that if any hitch cropped up during the talks, it would only be the King who could unknot the knot.

Yet another condition the Maoists appear to push before the government is that they will sit on the table only after the government withdraws the cases filed against some of their top-hats such as Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai and Comrade Prachanda.

Legal experts say that the government can withdraw those cases only which it has filed against the Maoists leaders but can’t do so on cases which have been filed by individuals against the Maoists leaders.

This is creating problems apparently for the initiation of the talks. The problem is that the Maoists would wish their party comrades to come to the open with clean chit but the government can’t do so legally.

However, there is a way out say informed sources. The government through a cabinet decision if approaches the constitutional monarch and convinces the King to grant " general amnesty" then the present legal hurdles could be cleared.

But will the King do so when the talks have yet to begin in between what the political parties say "two guns"? Or the King could oblige the cabinet decision in good faith that the talks with the Maoists will have a safe landing to the restoration of peace in the Kingdom? Of the two options at perusal either could happen.

This notwithstanding, Comrade Prachanda has freshly said that the talks with the government will begin at the earliest.

If it is so then what about the statements being made by Prachanda’s colleagues who have already become open and been initiating their formal contacts with various political sectors including the Chand government?

Comrade Prachanda’s fresh revelation means that what Mahara and his colleague have been saying in the recent days regarding the possibilities of the talks were all off-the-cuff remarks. But how it could be that the Maoists leadership remains divided on the resumption of the talks with the government? Is it that Comrade Prachanda and Mahara possess different opinions in this regard? Should this mean that there do exist yet two lines in the Maoists political stream: one that favored early talks and the one that wished to grill the government for some time more? Analysts say that when the militant faction led by firebrand Engineer Ram Bahadur Badal too is in favor of talks then all that the general population can do is to hope that talks will happen and that too at the earliest.

Who knows what is being cooked in both the camps?

However, what has been given to understand by both the camps is that bot were equally serious for the talks. Question arises: will both cooperate each other and put all wild and otherwise speculations to rest in the larger interest of the nation?

Girija led congress needs certain clarifications from the rebels

Kathmandu: Girija Prasad Koirala’s anger against the King has suddenly taken a new height.

Koirala, as is usual, heightens his tirade against whom he considers to be his number one detractor, in this case the King clearly, while he is in his hometown.

No body knows what makes Koirala so comfortable to increase his pitch against the one whom or whose actions irritate him politically as and when he is in his hometown, Biratnagar.

This time as was expected, the president of the divided congress, Koirala made scathing croiticisms against the King and went to the extent of reminding the King that should he did not correct what he prefers to call his "constitutional misadeventures" at the earliest then the institution of monarchy would be limited to the books found in the libraries.

Not only this, Koirala reserved his special prerogatives to suspect the sudden announcement of ceasefire by the government and the rebels.

Koirala for one is the single personality who has become excessively vocal against the monarch’s actions that began since October 4 last year.

That was not all, it was precisely at Koirala’s initiation that the rest three discordant political parties of the "Group 4" met in Biratnagar last week and warned the King to correct the political aberrations that the latter brought in the constitution through his "unconstitutional" actions taken last October.

The four parties once again offered two options for the King to decide: either restore the parliament or form an all-party powerful government. Or else face the music. This was the message that the four parties signaled through their speeches.

The implied message from the Biratnagar congregation of the Big-4 is that the King’s can’t for long sideline their role in the body-politic of the country and that if the King continued to sideline their role for long would not be tolerated by them and that a sort of agitation would soon be waged against the monarch to press the latter to mend his political actions taken in the past.

What becomes also clear from the Biratnagar meet is that Koirala will not settle for less than either the restoration of the now dissolved parliament or with the formation of an all-party government as suggested by the clever UML leader, Madhav Nepal.

Political leaders other than Koirala too expressed their anger against the King but did not exhibit it for understandable reasons.

That Koirala continues to take the ceasefire announcement and the agreement on the code of conduct by what he calls "two guns" a mysterious affair becomes clear from an article penned by Koirala’s close aide, Mr. Gobind Raj Joshi, printed Tuesday, wherein he says that only recently when Koirala demanded the copy of the agreed upon "code of conduct" from the prime minister, the latter did not comply.

This clearly means that Koirala perhaps considers that there could a possibility of the existence of two separate copies of code of conduct: one for the public consumption and the other for the parties in question.

At yet another level, Koirala appears equally suspicious of the intents, writes Mr. Joshi in the same article, of the Maoists rebels. He suspects the announcement of the ceasefire. He suspects the agreement on the code of conduct. He, above all, suspects that the King and the Maoists have come closer in an apparent bid to threaten the gains of the 1990 popular movement. What surprises him more is the Maoists clarification that they would for the time being not raise the issue of republicanism in the country.

He then asks, if it were so then what tempts the Maoists to go in for a constituent assembly and have a new constitution? He questions what the Maoists have in their minds to incorporate in the new constitution they wish to rewrite if they don’t need the transformation of the monarchy in to republicanism?

Koirala questions again what the Maoists mean when they say that they wish the formation of an interim arrangement? According to him, the Maoists have yet to answer his questions.

Mr. Joshi writing on behalf of the NC under Girija too says that neither the government nor the Maoists have made it clear as to what sort of help they need from the major political parties. He also laments that both the parties have taken the disgruntled political parties in confidence.

All put together, what becomes clear is that the congress under Girija will take some more time to reconcile to the existing scheme of things. Equally true is that the government and the Maoists too have to clarify the questions raised by president Koirala before they embark for talks.

It is incumbent on the Maoists that they should provide answers to some of Koirala’s anger mixed questions.

Analysts say that to make the talks fruitful and positive, political parties must be taken in confidence.

Equally true is that the nation can’t wait for long if the big-4 continue to exhibit their political supremacy.

Pak envoy opens painting exhibition

Kathmandu: The Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mr. Zamir Akram, has said that "painting of miniatures was an art form associated with South Asian countries for many centuries and that he was happy to learn that Pakistani youngsters were keeping this glorious tradition alive in the 21 st century".

Ambassador Akram made these remarks while opening a painting exhibition in Kathmandu the other day entitled "Negotiating Borders-New Miniatures from Pakistan".

The painting exhibition will continue till the first day of the next month.

The Pakistani diplomat hoped that the present exhibition would be one more milestone in the promotion of the fraternal relations between the peoples of Pakistan and Nepal.

About 36 miniatures are on display at the exhibition at the Siddhartha Art Gallery.

Those who have contributed to this exhibition through their art works are Aisha Khalid; Aqeela Shirazi; Humaira Abid; Imran Qureshi; Mariam Khursheed; Nusra Latif; Reeta Saeed; Saira Wasim; Talha Rathore; Tazeen Qayyum and Waseem Ahmed.

The opening ceremony was attended by a large number of artistes from Nepal, diplomats from various friendly countries and local media men.

A French physiotherapist with a qualitative difference

Kathmandu: What he is not.

He is basically a physiotherapist with specialization in "Reflexology". He is a social worker too.

He possesses immense desire to serve those who need his "healing" technique most and that too in the high altitudes.

He is a trekker. He is a sports man who loves to engage himself in adventurous sports.

He is Eric Lon, a French national born long back in Algeria who came to France at the age of 3.

Mr. Lon is currently in Nepal and will be here till May last.

At the moment he is already proceeding towards the Everest base camp where he wishes to serve those mountaineers, trekkers, porters, tourist guides who during the course of their mountaineering activities get injured.

Mr. Lon, at a meeting with this scribe told that his healing technique uses no medicines at all. All that he does is the "massage" of the injured parts and makes the ailing or the sick person perfectly well within no time.

According to Lon, Reflexology deals with special and specific massage of the feet, hands and ears which he claims spreads all round the body of the injured person and acts in a very positive manner.

"I can be very useful to heal various problems such as muscle pains, joint pains and headache", claims the French physiotherapist.

What is very surprising in this healing method is that is some one has pain in the feet then he or she does not need to throw the socks. "It could be healed without opening the socks", says Reflexologist Mr. Lon.

The French national does it free. When asked about his mission to Kathmandu, he says that I just wish to serve those who need my treatment and also possesses a strong desire to make pupils so that they later support those who need their support in the country whether it be in the urban areas or in the mountains.

"I don’t need to ask money from the persons who seek my treatment because a three months job in France allows me to work for five months independently. This means that I can support my stay in Nepal for a considerable period of time with my French earnings", adds Mr. Lon.

He has a desire to share his expertise back in Kathmandu among the medicine practitioners, nurses and the rest who wish to learn this from him.

"Since this treatment does not require the use of medicines, so it is almost free but might be a good earner for the trainees", says Mr. Lon adding that his technique would benefit the porters in the mountains who more often than not succumb to various sorts of pains.

One 20 year old Nepali boy, Janga Bahadur Shahi from Karnali zone is at the moment is learning this healing technique from Mr. Lon.

Upon his return to Kathmandu from the Everest base camp, Mr. Lon is expected to reveal various programs for Nepal and the Nepalese in close collaboration with the Nepal Mountaineering Association and the Kathmandu based French embassy.

Francophony day observed

Kathmandu: The French Ambassador, Claude Ambrosini, has said that Francophony wishes not only to bring the countries and the people who share the practice of the French language, it was also an institution in itself which brings to the world a humanistic contribution founded on a community of values in a spirit of solidarity.

Ambassador Ambrosini made these remarks while delivering a speech on the eve of the beginning of Francophony festival in Nepal last week.

The 20th March this year is being marked in the French speaking countries world-wide as the 32nd anniversary of the signature of Niamey that laid the foundation of the "Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation" reassembling the countries that use the French language on various account.

Francophonie, it should be recalled, thus represents today a commonwealth whose international policy is to work for peace by helping to prevent conflict within the French speaking world and to work for democracy by election observation missions and electoral capacity building among others.

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