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The Resort, Windy Hills,Nagarkot, Bhaktapur, NepalTel: 6680045 - 47/80/83 | Fax: 6680068E-mail: [email protected]

Hotel Ambassador, Lazimpat,Kathmandu, NepalTel: 4414432, 4410432E-mail: [email protected]

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COLUMNS

11 The Gall of GallupBy Yubaraj GhimireWhy don’t pre-poll and exit pollsurveys quite work in India unlike inwestern democracies? Casting of votein the west by and large reflectsindividual choice. In India, and in theregion in general, the individual voteis still part of a larger ‘deal’.

28 Leaders ClassifiedBy Swarnim Waglé Public intellectuals with formidablemass support, charismatic and incor-ruptible: these are the progressiveswho are as much at ease in the fishingvillages of Saptari as when sharinglobster meals with statesmen in Oslo.

MAY 23, 2004VOL. 1, NO. 5

This league of leaders, epitomized byBP Koirala, could have included more.

34 Diversity UnchainedBy Ujol SherchanThe 1990 Constitution was designed toperpetuate the monolithic Hindu state asa check against the competing demand ofthe ‘Diversity.’ In this respect, thedemocracy ushered in 1990 has not beendemocratic enough.

36 Bush Begone!By Samrat UpadhyayI’ve called America home for the last20 years, but since George W. Bushtook office in 2001, and especiallyafter 9-11, I’ve lived in a politicalnightmare.

COVER STORY

18 The King and ThemBy Suman Pradhan

While the stalemate over the choice of the new primeminister may eventually be resolved one way or another,the inordinate delay clearly underscores the King’sfundamental lack of trust of the parties.

w w w . n a t i o n . c o m . n pCOVER : Kishor Kayastha (98510 52778)

16 Policing ThePoachers

By Prakash SharmaConservationists are nervousthat Nepal’s sterling conserva-tion efforts—revival of the

one-horned rhino, for one—willcontinue to take a backseat for sometime due to overwhelming securityconcerns and political uncertainty.

24 Does AnybodyCare?

By Satish Jung ShahiDeportations of Nepalis workers havealmost become a routine affair: angrynewspaper headlines followed by thecustomary silence.

26 The LunchHour Rush

By Tiku GauchanKathmandu is literally litteredwith eateries. That’s good newsfor office workers.

ARTS & SOCIETY

30 Who Art Thou?By Sushma JoshiThe excitement of installation lies in itsnovelty, its use of mixed media and itsdaring breakage of narrative. InKathmandu, installation is still a new artform, still in the act of destabilizing thesupremacy of painting.

32 Ram Man DaiBy Sanjeev Uprety

Ram Man Dai’s search foran all-purpose medicalpanacea began in 1960 whenhe started experimentingwith various combinations

of ghee, local herbs like saldhoop andgokuldhoop and fitkiri to createHimali Malam.

DEPARTMENTS

6 LETTERS

10 PICTURE OF THE WEEK

14 CAPSULES

35 CITY PAGE

40 KHULA MANCH: MILAN RAI

41 BOOKS

42 LAST WORD

5

MAY 23, 2004 | nation weekly6

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Letters

about us—and our children. We still arevery much Nepalis, though we don’tsend money home.

SUMAN

VIA EMAIL

Uprety’s compassionI AM IMPRESSED BY SANJEEV UPRETY’SArts & Society pieces. His humane treat-ment of ordinary characters reminds meof celebrated writer Joseph Mitchell’s pro-files in the New Yorker magazine. Just likeMitchell, Uprety elevates what could beboring renditions of marginalized lives byhighlighting the alienated man’s will tosurvive in the face of overwhelming odds,and still come out a better human being.Both the Pheri Jogi (“Not Coming BackAgain,”Arts & Society, May 2) and BuddhiThapa (“The Sky in his Eyes,” Arts & Soci-ety, April 19-25) maintain a faith in thegreater common good despite upheavals.Uprety’s distillations from such narrativesread like compassionate yet earthily funnydocumentaries made by an ace director. Iguess some people do possess the thirdeye after all.

BHUPAL GURUNG

VIA EMAIL

Thank youHERE’S FINALLY THE KIND OFmagazine I have been looking for. I like

Business news finallyI WAS ALMOST BEGINNING TOdespair whether Nation was ever go-ing to do anything remotely related to“business.” The article by Satish JungShahi and Tiku Gauchan on how re-mittances have fuelled the construc-tion boom in the Valley is timely andinteresting (“A House for Mr. Pathak,”Remittance, May 16). As the articlepoints out, little colonies havesprouted on the outskirts ofKathmandu and many of these settle-ments have now developed into a worldin themselves. Dhapasi, Sitapaila, TikheDewal and Kusunti, for example, haveclusters of houses not just on thefringes of Ring Road but even quite adistance away and the neighborhoodsare ever expanding. What the article ig-nores, however, is similar constructionbooms in cities, towns, and tiny high-way hubs all over Nepal, particularlyin Tarai—along the East-West Highway,for one. Then in Biratnagar, Itahari,Dharan, but also in Chandranighapur,Lalbandi and Birtamod. A lot of thesehouses are built on remittance money.Whatever little I have seen of Nationso far looks good but you will do wellnot to ignore issues outsideKathmandu. After all, you have verycorrectly raised issues of inclusion inyour paper.

BINOD SHRESTHA

CHHATA CHOWK

DHARAN

WHILE PEOPLE LIKE MR. PATHAK AREstill hoping to return home to Nepalsome day, you should also keep in mindthe tens of thousands of other Nepaliswho are building our houses—anddreams—in our adopted country. I hopesome day you will have time to write

“

SEE PAGE 22.

”Nation looks good butyou will do well not toignore issues outsideKathmandu

BINOD SHRESTHA

7nation weekly | MAY 23, 2004

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your “Picture of the Week” section andbook reviews. The political issues are wellcovered and there is ample room for thosewho aren’t interested in politics. Athumbs-up to the Nation’s team.

JOSEPH GABA

VIA E-MAIL

YOUR WRITE-UP ON THEATRE(“More Matter With Less Art,” by AjitBaral, May 16) was a welcome break.Indeed, the plays hosted by the Interna-tional Theatre Institute at Gurukul gavemany of us the opportunity to see en-tirely different types of plays. ProbirGuha’s Alternative Living Theatre wasobviously the star attraction. Commit-ted theatre artists like Sunil Pokhrel dodeserve their share of public adulation.Thanks Nation and thanks Ajit Baral.

SURESH MALLA

BANESHWORE

I HAVE BEEN READING NATION’Sweb editions for the last two weeks. Asa Nepali who has spent most of her lifeoutside the country, news from homegives me a sense of where I come from.In the last few years, almost all the ma-jor newspapers have been out there forthe asking. Nepalnews started the trailand you are now the new addition. Ihappily admit that I owe my knowledgeof Nepal’s politics solely to the Internetand I don’t claim to understand much.Politics in Nepal seems to have changedbeyond imagination overnight. But I atleast have a handle over larger trendsnow. Thanks.

SARITA SHARMA

USA

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CONGRATULATIONS ON Acommendable job. You offer balancedand analytical contents—arguably therehas never been a better time to do so.Keep up the good work and give us morethought-provoking reports and articleson wide range of issues including newsand views from the diaspora like “NewNepali Dream” (by Yubaraj Acharya, May16).

SURENDRA R SHRESTHA

ARUNKHOLA, NAWALPARASI

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Walking to examsThe two-day banda last weekwas especially harsh for some115,000 eleventh graders,most of whom had to walk totheir exam centers. OnWednesday, after the five-party alliance refused to waiveoff the day’s banda, hundredsof youngsters decided to ei-ther walk or cycle to one ofthe 56 centers in the Valley.

Cement shutdownUdayapur Cement Factory,Nepal’s largest producer ofcement, closed down due tothe unavailability of lime-stone. This happened becausethe ropeway that was beingused to haul limestone brokedown. Spare parts for the re-pairs have to be importedfrom Germany.

Poll spilloverIndia’s general elections werenot followed with as muchinterest as in the past byNepalis, who were caught upin a fresh bout of political in-stability that started withPrime Minister SuryaBahadur Thapa’s resignation.Observers, however, werequick to point out one inter-esting parallel: Thapa’s fallcame almost together with hiscounterpart Atal BehariVajpayee’s, though amidentirely different set ofcircumstances. Others werequick to point out Nepalimonarchy’s—particularlyKing Gyanendra’s—growingties with India’s saffron bri-gade and asked how BJP’s de-

parture would be viewed byKing Gyanendra. Most ob-servers however were of theview that Indo-Nepal tieswill remain unchanged who-soever comes to power inNew Delhi.

Faster InternetSubisu Cablenet’s subscriberswill, within the next week, beable to connect to the Internetthrough the same cables thatbring TV channels into theirhomes. That is, if they sub-scribe to Subisu’s cableInternet services. CableInternet, at its lowest band-width, is still twice as fast asthe conventional dial-up sys-tem commonly used inNepal. Subisu Cablenet,which primarily providescable TV service in theBaluwatar and Thamel areas,will soon extend its networkall the way upto Patan. Subisuobtained its cable Internet li-cense from Nepal Telecom inDecember last year and com-petitors Space Time Net gottheirs soon after. Space TimeNet is primed to start cableInternet services too. Subisu

will charge Rs.2,200 per monthfor its Internet services.

More planes inFlight JA 9W 4107’s landingin Kathmandu last Saturdaymarked the beginning of JetAirways services in Nepal. JetAirways, a private Indian air-line company, will have dailyflights between Kathmanduand Delhi. One-way ticketsfor the economy class willcost Rs. 6,824 and Rs. 8,856for business class.

Euro 2004Euro 2004, sponsored byCarlsberg, brings 16 Euro-pean teams together nextmonth. The event already hasNepali football fans excited.Hosts Portugal and France,second in FIFA ranking afterBrazil, are hot favorites. Thefree-flowing Dutch team

could be a wildcard in thequadrennial tournament.Nepali football fans, how-ever, are expected to root forEngland, thanks to the En-glish Premier League’s in-creased popularity in Nepal.ESPN and Star Sports willbeam the matches live whileit is not yet clear which of thelocal television network willget the broadcasting rights.

Another ThapaANFA plans to sign up formerIndian international, ShyamThapa, as coach for Nepal’syouth teams. ANFA presidentGanesh Thapa plans to ropein Shyam (no relations) bythe end of this month, ac-cording to the HimalayanTimes. The contract will lastfor four years. Born in Gulmiin 1948, Shyam Thapa startedhis illustrious career with theIndian football giant EastBengal in 1966. Nepal is alsoon the lookout for a foreigncoach for its national team.Nepal finished sixth in theSAF Games early this year, itsworst showing in the re-gional Games.

DIPLOMATIC LICENSE: UN vehicles ferry their employees during the banda last week

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Wildlife

�ast month, security forces atTatopani made a huge seizure of tiger skins from a Tibet-bound

truck. Many quickly remembered threemajor hauls made at the border post be-tween 1989 and 1999: elephant bonesweighing 1,040 kg, and 115 of kg and 218 kgof shahtoosh, a fine wool extracted fromnecks of Tibetan antelope or the Chirus.

The news however got drownedamid the din of street protests inKathmandu where wild-life officials voice con-cern that the poor secu-rity situation has contrib-uted to growing in-stances of poaching andpossibly growing vol-ume of trade in animalparts, too. They andother conservationistsare nervous that Nepal'ssterling conservation ef-forts-revival of the one-horned rhino, for one-will continue to take abackseat to overwhelm-ing security concernsand political uncertainty.

"When we have adeep political crisis in thecountry," says a senior of-ficial at the Departmentof National Parks andWildlife Conservation (DNPWC), "thetraders become active. They find newtricks and discover new routes." And when15 people are dying each day, deaths of ani-mals draw far less attention.

From the market to the jungle, it's along chain of command. Poachers, whoare active in and around the protectedareas, target everything from the one-horned rhino in Chitwan and Bardia tothe Royal Bengal tiger to the Himalayanbear to different species of deer. Thecontraband then passes different layersof middlemen before it hits the road. Attimes, Nepal is just a transit.

"The main problem," says Shakya,who heads the Kathmandu-based Wild-life Watch Group, "is that Nepal sharesporous borders with India and China."While officials and experts may decrythe movement of animal parts, stoppingthe trade is a very complex affair. Theother problem is the lack of awarenessabout wildlife contrabands among offi-cials–the police, and officials with theforest, customs and security agencies.

While documents show that almostall the border points between Nepaland India have recorded illegal wildlifetrade of some kind or another, in thenorth, the trade is concentrated inDarchula, Taklakot, Lo-Manthangs inMustang, Sankhuwasava, Taplejung andTatopani.

And despite frequent seizures, likethe one in Tatopani last month, the eco-nomics of demand and supply contin-ues to fuel the trans-border trade. Ori-

ental medicines madefrom tiger bones andother animal parts arewidely consumed inChina and in placeswith large Chinesecommunities the worldover. The contrabandsare said to provide rem-edy for a wide range ofproblems; the tigerbones and rhino hornsare believed to work asa p h r o d i s i a c s .Oftentimes, wildlifewatch groups say, theillegal traders operatein the guise of regulartrans-Himalayan trad-ers.

"Lhasa is a majorcenter for the trade inin wildlife goods and

in Sigatse the trade is thriving," saysMangal Man Singh, a journalist, whosenew book, "Trading for Extinction,"documents the movement of animalparts from Nepal to Tibet.

Conservationists are nervous that Nepal’s sterling conserva-tion efforts—revival of the one-horned rhino, for one—willcontinue to take a backseat for some time due to overwhelm-ing security concerns and political uncertainty

POLICING THEPOACHERS

Kathmandu hasbecome so

infamous for thetrade of parts of

differentendangered

species that shopsopenly sell coats

made fromleopard, tiger and

snow leopardskins.

BY PRAKASH SHARMA


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Smuggling techniques are everchanging and police and cus-toms officials have little expe-rience in monitoring illegallytraded wildlife products. Evi-dences suggest the officials arelargely unable to detect the il-legal trade due to lack of train-ing on identifying the smug-gling techniques like the con-cealing of musk pods in buttervats or the inserting of tigerbones in cigarettes.

"This lack of knowledge hasmeant that trade in wildlife isgoing unabated," says Shakya,who insists that trade is "goingright under the nose of law en-forcement authorities" in someposh neighborhoods of the capi-tal. His book lists areas wherewildlife traders are operatingand how the trade is thriving.

Kathmandu, according toShakya's new book, has becomeso infamous for the trade of partsof different endangered speciesthat shops openly sell coats madefrom leopard, tiger and snowleopard skins. Such shops–inThamel and on the premises offancy hotels–also sell pythonskin handbags and shoes, andivory-carved bangles. It's been14 years since the governmentbanned the sale of such wildlifeproducts.

Nepal already has at least four legalregimes discouraging and banning suchtrade, says a wildlife expert preferring toremain unnamed. "But the law enforce-ment mechanism is so ineffective andcorrupt that the smugglers easily makeit through the border points no matterwho guards them," he says. You can, forexample, wrap a shahtoosh shawl andpass through the Tribhuvan InternationalAirport undetected.

Deputy Director at NPWC, NarayanPoudel admits policing wildlife trade canbe costly and complex. "We are workingto chalk out a new strategy to stop theillegal trade via Nepal. But we needhighly skilled, sincere and motivated in-formants. And we need plenty of finan-cial resources for that." That is a luxurywildlife officials are not going to enjoyanytime soon.

LICENSE TO KILL: Dorpatan Reserve is open for huntingLICENSE TO KILL: Dorpatan Reserve is open for hunting

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Cover Story


While the stalemate over the choice of the new prime minister mayeventually be resolved one way or another, the inordinate delayclearly underscores the King’s fundamental lack of trust of the par-ties, particularly their leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Girija PrasadKoirala. On the other hand, the delay has already heightened suspi-cions among political parties that the Palace is not going to let go offits executive powers anytime soon, and even if it does, it won’t beeasy for the parties to keep them

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Cover Story

phers waiting to hear from the Royalinvitees jostled for space and sound bytesas the trio emerged one by one to airtheir opinion. The King is not averse toa joint meeting with the five parties, theysaid. He would soon call them for justsuch a meeting. The next day, it was theturn of Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Marich

Man Singh Shrestha and KirtinidhiBista—all former prime ministers.Again they emerged from the Royal Pal-ace to say that a resolution of the currentstalemate was just round the corner.

But the corner kept moving away allof last week. By the time we went topress, days after the resignation of Surya

Bahadur Thapa, and numerous meet-ings with contenders, spoilers and ad-visors, the King would not bring him-self to do the one thing the politicalparties wanted: call them for a jointaudience.

Outside Kathmandu, there wereominous signs that the Maoist rebellionwas turning increasingly violent. Therebels made numerous strikes—inBhojpur, Dhading, and Mainapokhari—killing more than a dozen security per-sonnel and at least six civilians, perhapsto capitalize on the fluid political situa-tion.

While the stalemate over the choiceof the new Prime Minister may eventu-ally be resolved one way or another, theinordinate delay clearly underscores theKing’s fundamental lack of trust for theparties, particularly their leaders MadhavKumar Nepal and Girija Prasad Koirala.On the other hand, the delay has alreadyheightened suspicions among politicalparties that the Palace is not going to let

an otherwise uneventful Tuesday,the first day of the two-day bandacalled by the five-party alliance lastweek, the Western Gate ofNarayanhity was abuzz with ac-

tivities. King Gyanendra had summoned former PrimeMinister Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the RashtriyaPrajatantra Party (RPP) Pashupati Shumsher Rana andleader of the splinter Nepal Sadbhavana Party Badri PrasadMandal for separate audiences. Journalists and photogra-

BY SUMAN PRADHAN

onOFFERINGS OR OFFAL: The parties haverejected the King’s offers for darshanbhet

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go off its executive powers anytime soon,and even if it does, it won’t be easy forthe parties to keep them.

The gulf between the Palace and theparties was evident all week. ThePalace’s various emissaries madeknown that the monarch is averse to the18-point demand put forth by the par-ties as their precondition to meeting theKing. Their demands include bringingthe Army under the purview of parlia-ment, giving no discretionary power tothe King, and cutting down Royal privi-leges and perks.

The Palace emissaries also told in nouncertain terms that the King is averseto appointing either Nepal or Koirala tohead the next government. “I think theKing would like the parties to put forthnames other than Koirala or Nepal,” saysa RPP leader who is close to the Palace.“He doesn’t trust the duo.”

The five parties, who’ve overcomeinitial grumbling and remain united asof now against a common adversary, want

to hear none of that. “It’s not for the Kingto select the prime minister,” assertsAmrit Bohara, the CPN(UML)’s pow-erful Kathmandu Valley coordinator andthe party’s Standing Committee mem-ber. “This is what we are fighting for. Heshould call the five parties and hand overpower to the primeminister selected bythe parties.”

In the first fewdays after Thapa’s res-ignation, the five par-ties, which have beenspear-heading ananti-King movementfor the last one yearwere hopeful thatthey would be askedto form the next gov-ernment. The party leaders even met atKoirala’s residence in Maharajgunj onWednesday to forge a common agendato discuss with the King. But the exer-cise proved futile.

By late Thursday, as it became clearthat the Palace was intent on draggingout the stalemate, the parties were infull battle mode again, ordering theirsupporters and various affiliates to “in-tensify” the street protests to force theKing’s hand. “Only a few days ago, I was

summoned by mytop leader whoasked me to tonedown the street agi-tation to create thespace for reconcili-ation with the King,”says a student leaderwho asked to re-main anonymous.“But now the sameleader is orderingme to intensify the

movement.”At this point in the crisis, both sides

are playing a risky game. As the nationawaits a new government which canstrike peace with the Maoists, many ana-

The five parties,who’ve overcomeinitial grumbling,

remain unitedagainst a common

adversary

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Cover Storylysts think the Palace appears to be fol-lowing a strategy of divide and rule.Much like his father did in the early yearsof the Panchayat, King Gyanendra, theseanalysts say, seems to be trying to weanaway politicians from the opposition.

As a result, the Nepali Congress hasbecome increasingly suspicious of itsone-time star, Speaker TaranathRanabhat, who hasn’t helped himself byquestioning the parties’ movement. “Asmuch as I respect him, I don’t think hecan have the backing of the party now,”says Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. And thereare other supposed fence-sitters, such asK P Sharma Oli of the CPN(UML),though Oli himself denies it, saying hewants to be more a leader of the partythan of a Royalist government. There isalso talk of a technocratic governmentcomprising former Supreme Court jus-tices.

While these maneuverings go on, anearly equation which seemed to be de-veloping between Deuba’s Nepali Con-gress (Democratic), the RPP and UML,also seems to have hit a snag. ThoughRPP’s Rana is trying hard to forge thealliance, the UML doesn’t seem to be inthe mood now, especially since its massof cadres are dead against any splitting ofthe five-party alliance.“This is not about who be-comes the prime minis-ter,” asserts Rajendra Rai,the president of the UML’sstudent wing ANNFSU.“It’s about where sover-eignty lies. The five partieshave remained united andthey will continue to beunited.”

This leaves Deuba in thecontention. As it was hisgovernment which gotsacked in October 2002,Deuba has long since ar-gued that the King must re-store his government if the“regression” is to be cor-rected. But in recent days,he has changed his tune.Deuba now says if his gov-ernment cannot be re-in-stated, then he has no prob-lems with an all-party gov-ernment as is being de-manded by the five parties,

in effect putting more pressure on theKing to compromise.

But the King does have an ace up hissleeve in the form of Krishna PrasadBhattarai. Ever since Bhattarai met theKing last week, rumors have been cir-culating that he could be picked as thenext Prime Minister. Indeed, even theDeuba Congress is not averse. “Wehaven’t discussed it formally in the partyyet, but we won’t have any objections ifBhattarai is made the Prime Minister,”says Dr Mrinendra Rijal, the press andpublicity chief of the NC (Demo-cratic).

If the King is seeking to cut downKoirala and Nepal down to size,Bhattarai offers the perfect opportunity.As a widely revered senior Congressfigure who ably led the country duringthe difficult transition from Panchayatto democracy in 1990-91, his appoint-ment, if it happens, is certain to put theCongress in a bind. They can’t publiclyoppose him since he is one of their own,and they can’t support him either be-cause he has not been nominated by thefive parties.

This leads to the ultimate question:will a Prime Minister nominated by theKing, even if it is someone of the stature

of Bhattarai, be able tobring the parties on atrack of reconciliationwith the Palace? Perhapsnot. For, as the five par-ties have maintainedthroughout, they are notagainst any individual butagainst giving the Kingthe right to make execu-tive appointments.

The parties have itsimple. Says Bohara of theUML, “What we want isthat the King should nomi-nate a prime minister se-lected by the five parties.That Prime Minister willform an all-party govern-ment, which will then re-vive the Pratinidhi Sabha,make peace with theMaoists, discuss amend-ments to the constitutionand only then hold elec-tions based on the newconstitution.”

LOYAL SOLDIERS: The Army leadership feelsmore comfortable with the Palace than with the parties

FREQUENT FLYERS:Mandal,Rana,Deuba have all beento the Palace twice

LOYAL SOLDIERS: The Army leadership feelsmore comfortable with the Palace than with the parties

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Workforce

DOESANYBODY

CARE?Deportations of Nepalis workers have almost become aroutine affair: angry newspaper headlines followed by thecustomary silence

�ifty-four Nepalis made headlineslast week and for all the wrong reasons. All were deported from Ma-

laysia on charges of holding fake visas.Possible casualty: a bilateral labor accordto be signed by Nepal and Malaysia. Ma-laysian authorities now say that the ac-cord will materialize only after the visascam is resolved.

Back in Nepal, the government hasresponded by locking up all those de-ported as it busted a visa racket at theMalaysian Embassy in Kathmandu,though Malaysian officials continue todeny any kind of involvement of theirstaff. For their part, the manpower agen-cies, who handled the documents for theMalaysia-bound Nepali workers, main-tain the documents are legal and that theworkers didn’t know their visas werefake. Trade unions are furious.

BY SATISH JUNG SHAHI

JOB SEEKERS: Long lines in front of theEgyptian Embassy for visa interviews


“This is only one harassment thatNepali workers have to go through,” saysBishnu Rimal, secretary-general of Gen-eral Federation of Nepalese TradeUnions, GEFONT. “In most cases, thegovernment is caught unawares evenweeks after newspapers report ofNepalis’ trauma in foreign countries.”

To officials, it has all become almosta routine affair. Deportation of Nepaliworkers, angry newspaper headlines andthe customary silence.

On February 7, 45 Nepalis gotstranded at the Kuala Lumpur Interna-tional Airport while they were trying toenter Malaysia, where laws require lo-cal employers to be present at the air-port to claim responsibility for incom-ing foreign workers. Three months on,government officials in Kathmandu stilloffer no explanation when asked why noone showed up at the airport to receivethe hapless Nepalis.

Nepal now has an embassy in KualaLumpur and another one close by inBangkok but that hasn’t helped mattersmuch. GEFONT’s Rimal adds, “The gov-ernment as usual is parroting the samewords—that they have already read the newsin the press. But what are they doing?”

Hopes were high in early 2001, whenMalaysia put Nepal among its top laborsuppliers. Others in the list include Cam-bodia, India, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar,Philippines, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan,Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. The then Min-ister, Palten Gurung, flew to KualaLampur to convince Malaysian authori-ties to open up an embassy in Nepal tomake things easier for Nepalis headedfor the East Asian country. Last year,Malaysia started providing a 14-day visa-on-arrival to Nepalis.

The number of Nepalis working inMalaysia has gone up ever since and is

estimated to be above 100,000, thoughthe last government figures stand lessthan 500. Still, most Nepalis in Malay-sia, as in neigboring Singapore, are saidto be working illegally—mostly in con-struction, farming and in shopping malls.

This partly explains why the Nepaliworkers get into trouble. Though a legalprovision requires prospective workersto obtain permission from the Depart-ment of Labor, there are many who reachEast Asia without putting anything on thegovernment records, officials say. Theremittance from the region, includingBrunei, Hong Kong, Japan and Macao,in 2001 was estimated to have reachedover Rs. 23 billion, according to govern-ment records.

Qatar Airways and RNAC last Aprilintroduced direct flights to KualaLampur in view of the growing num-bers of Nepalis traveling to the region.Both Qatar and RNAC now fly to Kuala

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Lumpur two times a week and tour op-erators say the flights are running fullwith group seats booked by manpowercompanies. With the country’s securitysituation in dire straits, the figures arebound to go up.

Disturbingly, the number of laborproblems has also sharply increased.Most complaints include difficult jobconditions and exploitation by middle-men. Many of the Nepali workers whogo abroad are not well versed in the rig-orous paper work and legal proceduresthat foreign employments entail, saysGanesh Gurung, executive chairpersonof Nepal Institute of Development Stud-ies that has carried out research workson migrant workers.

Groups of Nepalis following a single“leader” are common sights at the air-ports of Bangkok, Kuala Lampur, andDoha. “Most of them are flying for the

first time,” says Rimal ofGEFONT. But the hardshipdoes not end here.

Most workers take up diffi-cult jobs and work under the so-called ‘3-D’ conditions—diffi-cult, dangerous, and dirty—andthey are willing to do anythingfor a meager income, says a studyby GEFONT.

Though the governmentmade an important decision afew years ago to post Labour

Attaches in places where more than 5,000Nepalis are employed, the decisionhasn’t translated into action yet.

The Foreign Employment Act 1985has been amended twice in 1989 and 1998to clearly define the role of foreign em-ployment agencies in order to avoidproblems for workers. A 2000 studypoints out that the Act has focused onlyon the control and regulation side of for-eign employment while ignoring the all-important issues related to the welfareof migrant workers.

“The precise role of the Departmentof Labor, the Royal Nepalese Embassies,the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, com-mercial banks, immigration and the po-lice need to be clearly demarcated,” saysGurung of Nepal Institute of Develop-ment Studies. “It will take a lot of timebut something has to be done right awayto avoid the kind of fiasco that took placein Malaysia recently.”

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Lifestyle

�rasanna Banskota and his colleaguesat Lumbini Bank eat out almost every working day. When the 31-year-

old supervisor in the bank’s credit de-partment wants to pick a place for lunch,he has a plethora of choices before him.The bank is located bang in the heart of

THE LUNCHHOUR RUSH

Kathmandu’s restaurant district—Durbar Marg—and everything from HotBreads and Delicatessen to Dudh Sagaris open game.

And even though summer is here,when conventional wisdom cautionsagainst eating out, Banskota says he willnot forgo his lunch-about-town. Lastweek’s record-breaking temperature

highs hardly broke his habit and the con-tinuing heat wave will probably do noth-ing to blunt his appetite.

There are thousands of professionalslike Banskota who lunch out regularly.Kathmandu, after all, is literally litteredwith eateries. That’s good news for officeworkers. And the fact that office workersturn out in droves to haunt restaurants,chiya pasals and momo-joints during theirlunch break is good news for the restau-rant industry too.In these troubled times,the lunch-hour is what keeps the popularrestaurants in business. Shiva Ram Khatri,the owner of Bagmati Sweets inTripureshwore, figures that the lunch hourcrowd makes up more than 70 percent ofhis clients.

Try to find a table at the DowntownRestaurant in Pulchowk between noon and2 p.m., and you’ll probably have to coolyour heels while the early birds finish theirmeals. Across town at Everest Momo Cen-ter in Naxal, you may be relegated to sit-ting with your momos on a bench parked

BY TIKU GAUCHAN

There are thousands of professionals who lunch out regu-larly. Kathmandu, after all, is literally littered with eateries.That’s good news for office workers


outside the eatery, for want of available seatsinside. At the Amazone restaurant nearDurbar Marg, be prepared for a scramblefrom the parking lot to the tables if youwant to enjoy their pork curry and rice.

Why this mad rush during lunchhour? Maybe it’s because, increasingly,the typical eight-hour-day at the officeseems to be packed with more than 24hours worth of work; and lunch hour isthe only time when you can let it all hangout. Meeting deadlines, putting up withclients’ demands, and making sure allyour ducks are lined up in a row just likethe boss wants it can be taxing. So to com-pensate, office workers need to indulgethemselves. “What better way to indulgeyourself than through your taste buds?As it is, there is nothing else you can dothat is as much fun in the span of an hour,”says Ravi Shrestha, an executive atAmadeus, a French firm with its coun-try office in Kamalpokhari.

It’s not just the young upwardly mo-biles who find reprieve at their wateringholes during high noon. Everyone—gov-ernment employees, middle-aged small-scale business owners—all cherish theirafternoon time out. Sushil Shrestha, pro-prietor of Wallstreet Money Changer atThamel sees lunch time as an opportu-nity to sample new fares offered by the

many restaurants in the tourist district.And no, he says, it doesn’t bother him thathe spends quite an amount during luncheven when businesses like his may not bedoing so well these days, given the lowerturnout of western tour-ists post-1996. AtBagmati Sweets, gov-ernment employeeswho work at the Agri-cultural DevelopmentBank and NationalSports Council line allthe benches. Bagmati Sweets, where onecan enjoy a puri, tarkari and jalebi mealfor Rs. 15, is a major crowd-puller. Thesegovernment employees would rather eathere than bring lunch from home.

Bringing lunch from home is a no-no for the young upwardly mobile crowdtoo. Other than a wallet and a mobilephone, carrying anything else would bea hassle. For the young upstarts at privatecompanies like Lumbini Bank, who earnaround Rs.11,000 a month, spendingmore than Rs.2,000 on lunch alone is notexactly a wise choice. But many of thesegraduates come from affluent families,and spending such amounts on lunch isno great shakes. Most live with their par-ents and don’t have to worry about pay-ing for rent and utilities.

In fact, there seems to be a trend catch-ing on among the smartly attired youngoffice workers. Ravi Shrestha, for ex-ample, often meets up with friends whowork in other offices, and together on

their motorbikes, theyzip to various restau-rants spread across thetown. Depending on hismood, you might findhim at a Newari-foodrestaurant in Sorakhutteor riding all the way to

Patan to try bara near Krishna Mandir.Rajesh Ranjitkar, who works for LomusPharmaceuticals in Lazimpat, makes it apoint to swing by Everest Momo Centerin Naxal at least six or seven times a monthduring his marketing runs.

Loyal customers like Ranjitkar havekept Everest Momo Center in Naxalthriving. Started 15 years ago, EverestMomo today dishes out at least 400 platesof momos a day. With a plate of momoscosting Rs. 20, the eatery is a hit withoffice workers. The restaurant is sopopular that its brand name, “Everest,”has become a generic tag that’s beenadopted by other momo restaurants,much like Xerox signifies photo copymachines.

The more upscale restaurants aredoing well too. Pulchowk’s DowntownRestaurant, located in prime INGO-land, is now almost three times the sizeit was 14 years ago when it set up shop. Ithas expanded not once, but twice, tokeep up with the customer flow. Withthe security checks and commuterhassles at night, there is less of familynight outs happening, and the lunch houris a blessing for the restaurant owners.

The talk is the same all around town.You only need to see the number ofwhite-coated doctors at Tidbits nearTeaching Hospital, the people queuing upat the samosa shop inside the bahal nearTip Top Tailor’s or try to get a leg in at thesardine-packed New Dish inKhichapokhari to figure out that the lunchindustry is on high gear. Like most of theurban populace elsewhere, the lunch-crowd proves that to enjoy your down-time during a hectic day, feed your basicinstinct. The lunch hour rush will not letup, economic downturn or not. LikePrasanna Banksota says, “No matter what,we have to eat well. And that’s that.” DIMINISHING RETURNS: Late-night family outings are getting rare

“Everest” hasbecome a generic

tag for momo


Writing on the Wall

LEADERSCLASSIFIED

BY SWARNIM WAGLÉ

Public intellectuals with formidable mass support, char-ismatic and incorruptible: these are the progressives whoare as much at ease in the fishing villages of Saptari aswhen sharing lobster meals with statesmen in Oslo. Thisleague of leaders, epitomized by BP Koirala, could haveincluded more. The leaders who come close are MadanBandari, Subarna Shumsher and Ganeshman Singh

�hoever the new Prime Minister,the rot in governance appears sogrim that any immediate differ-

ence in quality will be marginal. Butthat’s less of a point. A larger issue todayis about creating and nurturing realpeople’s rule in a peaceful Nepal; en-

suring that ordinary folks from Rautahatand Dadeldhura get to rise, fall or stag-nate in public life, and govern only withthe mandate of those being governed.This is how it was supposed to be since1952, when Matrika Koirala, born intoprivilege, but not nobility, became thePrime Minister. Although the idea ofthrusting leadership upon men (rarelywomen) by the accident of birth is dated,there has still not been a conclusive reso-lution of this issue in Nepal. Benignlyinterpreted, events in 1990 and after, in-

cluding the recent five-party posturing,have been about getting closer to such aresolution. How, then, are our “people’srulers?” What are their defining charac-teristics? Can this stock teach anything

useful to future leadership? Or, are wedoomed like the Nepali proverb: joon jogiaaye pani kanai chireko (all fakirs have theirears pierced)?

Here’s a citizen’s report card:Grade C (4 out of 10): Leaders in

this grade were in office, but never re-ally in power. Their authority was de-rived from the Palace, which has runthe kingdom for 40 of the past 54 years.Type I—Matrika Koirala, TankaAcharya, Kirti Nidhi Bista, LokendraBahadur Chand—were decent people.But they were picked for being weakand loyal, to maintain the status quo,which they did to the best of their abil-ity under their patron’s shadow. TheType II—Tulsi Giri, Surya BahadurThapa, Marichman Shrestha—werestronger, but less honest. Zealous intheir pursuit of protecting their regimeat any cost, they compromised on prin-ciples and dived deep into the murkywaters of realpolitik. How would theunsullied Giris and the Thapas of the1950s have evolved if they hadn’t joinedthe Panchayat? The problem in poli-tics is we can rarely resort to counter-factual logic.

Grades B (6 out of 10): These lead-ers resent the Palace’s hold on to abso-lute power, and have fought to transfersovereignty from the crown to thepeople. Better democrats in theory thanin practice, they nonetheless fight elec-

tions, mingle with the masses, andclaim to represent their interests best.While they erred gravely when they hadtheir chance in the 90s, their badge ofhonor remains their willingness tosubject themselves to constant voterscrutiny and battering. As the King’sexperiments of the past two yearsshowed, the technically competent orthe morally upright can be handpicked,but without a popular base to land on,they are like hot air balloons at themercy of the slightest gust of wind.


Grades descend from left to right. BPand Ganesh Man (extreme left) get an Awhile Thapa (above) gets a C

Type I leaders of Grade B had integ-rity and intellect, and they compensatedtheir lack of mass-appeal with strengthof character. Manmohan Adhikari andKrishna Prasad Bhattarai belonged to thisgroup. Ramchandra Poudel would liketo be an heir of this pedigree. Notwith-standing a series of misjudgments thathis peers say has cost him credibility,there used to be a time when TaranathRanabhatt was also one of them. Withlimited support among cadres though,the elevation of Type I to the top is al-ways conditional on their shaky depen-dence on theType II and theType III. This iswhere it getsdodgy. The TypeII are peoplelike SherBahadur Deubaand MadhavNepal whoc o m m a n dpopular con-stituencies, areeducated andexposed to theo u t s i d eworld—but are

ultimately mediocre in the art of whole-some leadership. Kunwar Indrajit Singhwould have belonged to this group, andso does Pashupati SJB Rana. The TypeIII, strong and resolute, too, lead con-stituencies that are forces to be reckonedwith, but they are less worldly—a handi-cap if and when they actually make it tothe top. Also vulnerable to venal, dam-aging blunders, Type B-III is best re-sembled by Girija Prasad Koirala. Possi-bly, Bamdev Gautam and Khadga Oli arelesser approximates.

Grade F (2 out of 10). This is a de-pressing wasteland. Populated by the oc-casionally brilliant, leaders here are vol-untary exiles in cloud-cuckoo-lands.They sulk all the time, and relish beingcounter productive. At the better end ofthis grade are assorted Puritans likeShailaja Acharya, Mohan Bikram Singh,and Rajeshwore Devkota whose out-bursts are fun to watch, but practicallyworthless. On the left end of the spec-trum are the violent types like PushpaKamal Dahal. They evoke anger and de-spair in people who would like to see

them do better. Grade A (8 out

of 10). Public intel-lectuals with formi-dable mass support,charismatic and in-corruptible, theseare the progressiveswho are as much atease in the fishingvillages of Saptari aswhen sharing lob-ster meals withstatesmen in Oslo.Epitomized byBishweshor PrasadKoirala, Madan

Bhandari could very well have made itif death hadn’t intervened. SubarnaShumsher and Ganeshman Singh al-most make it to this league, the latterfor his courage and sheer sense of pur-pose.

Miracles rarely happen—emer-gence of national saviors in shining ar-mor breezing through Putali Sadak isas illusory as the sighting of the Yeti.But we can create systems that helptoday’s student leaders, who in all like-lihood will grow to occupy major pub-

lic offices tomorrow, become more ef-fective players. Largely non-Kathmandu males from caste, as wellas ethnic, middle-income groups, edu-cated in public colleges, these youngleaders already resemble their GradeB siblings. Our civil society’s hope andduty are to help them graduate fromGrade B to Grade A, nudge themthrough sustained pressure to avoidunlawful trappings of public office likecorruption and patronage. This stainavoided, there are many good elementsthey could pick from each of our pastleaders. Like dining table etiquette andgood reading habits, some worldlinesscan always be acquired. What seldomworks, however, is the edict: “ThouShalt Behave Better.” Our new leaderswill thus need the integrity to designparty rules, constitutional limits, andlegal codes for institutional check-and-balance to self-police their errantdiscretions.

The Bhaktapur leader Narayan ManBijukchhe once remarked after seeingidealists of the 80s easily turn corrupt inthe 90s: “We used to be honest, but itseems, that was only because we didn’thave opportunities to be dishonest.” Letus not hope that today’s grandkid politi-

cos will be better than their grandpas.Let us—the clichéd civil society—helpensure they are.

Shailaja Acharya,Mohan Bikram Singh,

and Rajeshwore Devkotaare fun to watch butpractically worthless


Who Art Thou?Arts & Society

�ig signboards painted on fabricgreeted the viewer with this question last week in Babar Mahal

Revisted: Who art thou? Usually, theanswer would be: Thou art part of theexpatriate crowd, the upper middle classand the poor journalists who frequentthe openings at the Siddhartha Art Gal-lery. This gathering, fortunately, was a bitmore mixed—it had attracted a substan-tial number of people from the Nepaliart world, along with little girls deckedout in fashionable outfits who had cometo view their cousin’s art opening.

Sujan Chitrakar, the artist, has pub-lished an entire text to accompany his art-

works. The text, titled “Utopian Intro-spection: Random Expressions withinDefined Periphery” is heavy reading, butas you read along you get flashes of insight,kind of like a hammer hitting a nail on thehead. Sujan Chitrakar, along with col-leagues Salil Subedi, and Saroj Bajracharyaseemed to have spent a lot of time intro-specting in front of mirrors, musing onthe concept of nails and hammers, and ar-ranging votive earthen diyas in perfect for-

mation. In between, they thought long andhard about the question of life, whichseems to have led them to the “mystery ofman” as envisioned by FyodorDostoyevsky. Even Dostoyevsky, however,might have been alternatively baffled andamused by what his words had inspired.The final art products, which must be seento do them justice, are polished, techni-cally sophisticated and full of the chutz-pah that would make them equally at homein New York City as they do in Kathmandu.

The excitement of installation lies inits novelty, its use of mixed media, its dar-ing breakage of narrative. In Kathmandu,installation is still a new art form, still inthe act of destabilizing the supremacy of

painting. In western countries where arthas fallen over the edge, climbed up andmutated every season since then, installa-tion itself is starting to take on a dated lookand feel. Walking through a gallery in NewYork City, one starts to see installationsthat evoke deja-vu of a genre, like seeingyet another Monet inspired painting on aMcDonald’s wall.

Paintings may be “sooo last season!”but in spite of it all, old media (paint and

canvas, photographs, film) are here tostay. Perhaps the reason why traditionalmedia has stuck around for so long is itscoherence, and accessibility. The chal-lenge with installation, as with any otherart form, is to capture this magnetismthat keeps certain media like paint, pho-tography and sculpture solidly en-trenched in the popular imagination.

The other challenge is more diffi-cult—indigenizing a borrowed form.Chitrakar makes liberal use of recycledtinned milk cans as prayer wheels. In acorner of the gallery, one can find a panelpasted with objects that inspire memo-ries—trinkets and junk one can only findin Nepal. As a viewer, I wished therehad been more of these playful, juxta-posed forms that play with the notion ofNepal and Nepaliness, and less of theshiny hammered and nailed works thatcarry the stamp of generic transnationalart that fill the main gallery.

The enthusiasm of the artist dispelsany confusion. Sujan Chitrakar is direct,engaged and intense as he talks about hisart. Meditateonself.com, an onlinewebsite that is part of this exhibit, is a

satire on how meditationis being commercializedand being broughtstraight to the home, liketake-away food. Hismixed media work in-clude within them sym-bols of four religions—Islam, Hinduism,Christianity and Bud-dhism. He feels it is im-portant to be introspec-tive, and create an utopiawithin oneself, and notlook outside for this di-vine place. He wants toshare this idea with hisviewers.

A work of art is the interface that al-lows a viewer to commune with thethoughts and ideas of the artist, its cre-ator. Like “Being John Malkovich,”Chitrakar’s Utopian Introspection oftengives the viewer entering the caverns ofhis thoughts more than they bargainedfor. Taking the advice of the artist then,perhaps the best thing to do after a view-ing is to sit down, take a deep breath, andintrospect.

BY SUSHMA JOSHI

The excitement of installation lies in its novelty, its use ofmixed media and its daring breakage of narrative. InKathmandu, installation is still a new art form, still in theact of destabilizing the supremacy of painting

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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), anindependent humanitarian organization whose mandate is toprovide protection and assistance for victims of armed conflictand internal disturbances has regularly vacancies for:

EXPATRIATE NEPALI INTERPRETERS/TRANSLATORS

Your tasks!"Oral interpretation: from Nepali to English, and English toNepali during confidential interviews with persons detained inprisons, ICRC institutional dissemination and visits to familiesof detainees!"Written translation: translation of written Nepali (newspaperarticles, correspondence, etc.) into written English!"Analysis and reporting: analysis of conditions of detention,general situation and other matters relating to the ICRC’smandate

Selection requirements!"Ideal age: 25 to 35!"Either single or prepared to accept an unaccompaniedposting of at least one year!"University education or 5 years of professional experience!"Excellent command of English, French an asset!"Familiarity with word processing and spreadsheet software!"Driving license (a license for automatic-transmissionvehicles only is not sufficient)

Your Profile!"Strongly motivated by humanitarian work!"Open-minded and adaptable, able to work in a team!"Neat appearance, good speaker, well-developed writingand summarizing skills!"Able to work under pressure in a potentially dangerousenvironment!"Ready to travel to remote areas all over Nepal on a regularbasis

What we offer!"An opportunity to help the victims of conflict!"Engrossing, rewarding work in unusual situations!"Ample support in integrating into the new workingenvironment

How to apply

Interested candidates are invited to send their CV with a coverletter, a recent photograph, copy of certificates, a contacttelephone number and the ICRC application form (available onthe website www.icrc.org ) to the following address:

Laurent GISELDeputy Head of DelegationInternational Committee of the Red CrossMeen Bhawan, Naya BaneshworG.P.O. Box 21225, KathmanduPhone: 4482 285/4492 679

e-mail:katmandu.kat@ icrc.org; www.icrc.org

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E-mail: [email protected](Enclose CV and covering letter)

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GRAPHICDESIGNERS

Design various print publicationspublished by the organization.

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Khula Manch

No Longer A VoiceIn The Wilderness

“Chomsky’s Politics” have been hailedby academics as required reading foranyone who wants to understandtoday’s wars. “War Plan Iraq” has soldmore than 20,000 copies and had beentranslated into eight languages. In 2002,BBC World Service’s web site ran aseries of Rai’s anti-war columns. Hiswork has been published and discussedin The Times (London), the JapanTimes, and the American politicalweekly, Counterpunch. Rai, who wasawarded the Frank Cousins PeaceAward for Research by the Transportand General Workers Union in En-gland in 1993, was one of the first ac-tivists to break the sanctions againstIraq by taking medicines into Baghdad.He talked with Sushma Joshi of NationWeekly about his work on Iraq, and hisimpressions of the similarity of thesituation in Nepal. He lives in Britain.

What similarities do you see betweenIraq and Nepal’s present situation?There are lots of parallels. In my book,I write about how the Iraqi armed re-sistance has been fueled very largely byfeelings of revenge of unpunished kill-ings by occupation forces. I don’t claimto know a lot about the situation inNepal—I don’t follow events closelyhere. But I feel there are a lot of simi-larities here. In both Iraq and Nepal,you cannot take the U.S. government’scommitments to freedom and democ-racy at all seriously.

What changes have you seen sincethe last time you came to Nepal?I was last here four years ago. There’s alot more militarization and urbaniza-tion. The atmosphere is very brittle.

You’ve advocated non-violent meth-ods of resistance for Iraq and Britain.What would you suggest for the cur-rent political situation in Nepal?My sense of it is that there are much moreopportunities to be explored, like non-vio-lent interventions for justice and freedom.

You’ve written a book with NoamChomsky, one of the most well-knownleftist intellectuals of the west.Do you have a personal relationshipwith him?I asked him if I could use an essay byhim, and he agreed. I wouldn’t say it’s avery personal relationship. I have met himfour or five times. I interviewed him formy first book “Chomsky’s Politics.”

What were your impressions of him?Chomsky is one of the great minds ofour generation. I was not just influ-enced, but revolutionized by his ideason a whole range of issues. On a per-sonal level, he’s an incredibly unassum-ing and approachable man. We have aculture of celebrity. We treat somepeople as superhuman and some as lessthan human. He doesn’t have that tohim.

You’ve been regarded by the Nepalisas one of their own, even though youhave concentrated your activism andspent most of your life in Britain.I felt a sense of inferiority as an Asianwhen I was young. Fortunately, I got overthose feelings. Reading about theachievements of other Asians helped mein this process. It is important to iden-tify with the people you respect.

Which experiences helped you to getover your internalized racism?I read the autobiography of MalcolmX, which helped me to find my ownpath. A book about the Chinese Revo-lution called “Red Star Over China”was also very influential to my devel-opment. This book talks about thetime before the revolution took off inChina. Obviously the Chinese revo-lution has problems, but one can learna lot from it.

Has the western notion of Iraqisas “terrorists” lessened since thewar began?Since the war, there’s been anothercurrent—anger and bewildermentfrom people who don’t understandwhy Iraqis are fighting the coalitionforces. People are feeling a bit stuckabout how to respond. There are proand anti-war people on both the Leftand the Right. There is a very confusedpicture in the west regarding Iraq. Ifthe war continues, the potential coststo the Iraqi people and the wider worldcould be quite high. Now the UnitedStates is putting a “sovereign” Iraqigovernment at the end of June. It’s anew mode of controlling the coun-try.

Long before the western media started splashingstories of American abuse in Iraq, people likeMilan Rai were spearheading the anti-war

movement in Britain and the United States. His books,“War Plan Iraq,” “Regime Unchanged” and

I feel there are a lot ofsimilarities here. Inboth Iraq and Nepal,you cannot take theU.S. government’scommitments to free-dom and democracyat all seriously.


Books

N

Singer Nalina loves short stories andpopular magazines. She wants to readlonger works but her hectic schedule—

studio recordings and live shows—do not leaveher with much reading time. She says she’llprobably have to start reading in snatches soon,to catch up on the books she wants to read.

Favorite short stories:Bhenajuko Sweater, Jhagadako Okhati

Favorite book:Basai, Muna Madan

Favorite writers:Bal Krishna Sama andBhimnidhi Tiwari

Preferred reads:Mostly magazines—Wave, Aaaha Sangeet,Mystic, Samaya, Himal, Nepal

Currently reading:The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Earliest reading memories:Tintin, Archies, Chacha Chaudhary,Betaal comics

Writings on Nepal’sMaoist movement

have kept pace with thehistory of the insur-gency. Some writingsprecede the movementand serve as a context forstudying Nepal’s contemporary politi-cal history. All these writings, in vari-

Despite Nepal’s obligations to protect its wildlife under the Conven-

tion on International trade in EndangeredSpecies of Wild flora and Fauna (CITES), shatoosh from the endangered Tibetanantelope safely land in the United States,Europe, the Middle east, Hong Kong andAustralia. A number of traditional Asianmedicines (Chinese, Tibetan, Ayurvedicand Yunani) continue to be manufac-tured from wildlife products like muskpods, bear gall-bladders, tiger bones andother animal parts. Similarly, rhino-horns, ivory and crocodile skins reachwealthy consumers in the Middle Eastand Japan.

The Nepali media has covered anumber of anecdotal stories relating to

Trading For Extinction

Conflict, Human Rights & Peace

BooMarkMaoist Movement of Nepal: A Selected Bibligraphy

The National HumanRights Commission

(NHRC) came outwith its publication,“Conflict, HumanRights & Peace: Chal-lenges Before Nepal”on January 21. Edited byDr. Bipin Adhikari, thebook features a compi-lation of articles and papers presented ina lecture series organized by the Na-tional Human Rights Commission in2003. The book is dedicated to the hu-man rights leader late Rishikesh Shah.Prominent contributors to the book in-

BY RAMESH PARAJULI

BY MANGAL MAN SHAKYA

EDITED BY DR. BIPIN ADHIKARI

ous languages, lie scattered in periodi-cals, books and reports. “A selected Bib-liography” brings together key writingsfrom English and Nepali from varioussources, including the Internet. It pro-vides a basis for works by future re-searchers and writers concerned withthe movement and Nepali politics ingeneral.

wildlife trade, but therehas been no systematicpursuit to disseminatefactual informationthrough investigativejournalism. It is hearten-ing to see a journalistlike Mr. Mangal Man

Shakya create a niche for wildlife report-ing by undertaking dangerous journeysto remote areas and inside the secretivecircles of trade links to investigate theworkings of the trade. This experiencehas enabled him to come up with “Trad-ing for Extinction,” which should provean important point of reference for con-servationists.

FOREWORD BY DR. TIRTHA BAHADUR SHRESTHA

clude the Assistant Sec-retary General to theUnited Nations KulChandra Gautam, in-ternational scholarJohan Galtung and theformer Resident Rep-resentative of theUNDP in Nepal, Dr.Henning Karcher and

the NHRC’s Sushil Pyakurel. The bookalso analyzes the international experi-ences of conflicts in Guatemala and SriLanka and draws pertinent lessons fromthese experiences amid the ongoing con-flict in Nepal.

Photo C

ourtesy: cybernepal.com.np


Last Word

A Suitable PMKing Gyanendra and the political

parties have been at loggerheadsever since he dismissed the

elected government of Sher BahadurDeuba in October 2002. If anything, theirsubsequent meetings have only madematters worse. The story is: the King lis-tens patiently to party leaders, explainsto them that he is deeply committed tomultiparty democracy, and even has someof them leave Narayanhity with the happythought that they are the King’s choicefor the new prime minister.

But as it has so far turned out, theKing does not seem to be taking themseriously. On two occasions—once af-ter the sacking of Sher Bahadur Deubaand later after Lokendra BahadurChand’s ouster—he pointedly refused toanoint the five parties’ prime minister-designate after what looked like numer-ous rounds of cordial talks with the lead-ers.

So this time roundwhen the King invitedparty leaders for talksto the Palace afterSurya BahadurThapa’s resignation,the five-party alliancequickly set their con-ditions. First, theKing has to make apublic announcementthat sovereign rightshave been handedback to the people,and second, they arenot going to meet theKing separately (andfall prey again to hisseemingly divide-and-rule game plan).

Critics of the political parties offeran interesting spin to the story. The ra-tionale behind meeting various person-alities is simple: keep the irate politi-cians engaged in a guessing game even asthe King looks for ways to resolve theinsurgency. The thinking seems to be thatfor the people suffering from years ofviolence, it wouldn’t matter who is inSingha Durbar so long as they got whatthey wanted—peace. Return to normalcy

holds primacy over democracy. And theplan seemed to work when the Chandgovernment pulled off a ceasefire, tak-ing everyone, including the political par-ties, by surprise.

But the fact is even though non-rep-resentative governments can take toughmeasures, their hands are tied when thestatus quo is threatened. The ceasefirecollapsed last August when the govern-ment refused to give in to the Maoistcall for a constituent assembly. In hind-sight, it was never possible for the Thapagovernment, appointed by the King, toeven discuss a constituent assembly andopen the proverbial Pandora’s Box,though an increasing number of Nepalisnow say constituent assembly is a pro-gressive move. This could be why thePalace fears the return of rule by the sov-ereign people. But perhaps the more sen-sible thing for the Palace to do is to court

the political parties and present a unitedfront against the republican calls madeby the Maoists. That remains a possibil-ity even now, but who knows what willhappen when the students’ rallying cryagainst the monarchy is taken up by theparties themselves.

Editor

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