Weekly Internet Poll # 450. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com

Q. What is your opinion about thefederalism?

Weekly Internet Poll # 449

Q. Should Gen Katawal step down asChief of Army Staff?

Total votes: 8,180

#449 1 - 7 May 2009 16 pages Rs 30

fter a marathon eight-hour meeting inBaluwatar on Thursday,

the Maoist secretariat decided togo ahead with its plan to “takeaction” against Army Chief GenRookmangud Katawal. Itcouldn’t have been otherwise.The Maoists had paintedthemselves into a corner bymaking this a make-or-breakprestige issue.

Prime Minister PushpaKamal Dahal was squeezed bypressure from India andpolitical parties on the onehand, and from his hardlinerank-and-file on the other. It wasbecoming clear that the internalpressure was much stronger. In away, “taking action” couldmollify his cadre, and thatprocess could be allowed to dragon to appease Delhi and theparties.

The other compromiseworked out by the UML is tostart with a clean slate by gettingKatawal, the Maoist favouriteGen Kul Bahadur Khadka andDefence Minsiter Ram BahadurThapa to step down. Theproposal is still on the cards,although the Maoists rejectThapa’s ouster and the NC rejectsKatawal’s.

But under a “wholesale”deal, the Maoists are trying towoo the NC to join thegovernment in return foragreeing to Katawal’s removal.Sujata Koirala appears to be acontender, even though NCleaders Sher Bahadur Deuba andothers are said to be stronglyagainst her.

At Thursday’s meeting, theMaoists also discussed in detailtheir plan for a massive show offorce on the streets of the capitalon May Day to put pressure onanyone opposed to their stanceon the army row. The plan is toparalyse the state and bring thecapital to a standstill withbelligerent crowds in 32 majorintersections in the Valley. Subhas Devkota

Mayday,Mayday!

Full story p4

SHOW OF FORCE: The Maoists are planning a mammoth May Day rally inthe capital on Friday to put pressure on those opposed to their plan tosack the army chief. This was Tuesday’s rally, with the army headquartersin the background.

KIRAN PANDAY

A

31 - 7 MAY 2009 #449OP-ED

STATE OF THE STATEC K Lal

The Maoists didn’t emergevictorious from thedevastating war against the

state, but the security forces lost itthe moment the Seven PartyAlliance signed the 12-pointunderstanding with Maoists inNovember 2005 in New Delhi.

The little goodwill the armyhad in urban areas was alsosquandered when soldiers becameGyanendra storm troopers afterthe 1 February 2005takeover. But Girija Prasad Koiralaforgot and forgave when hepromoted an accused humanrights violator to the post of Chiefof Army Staff (CoAS). But manyin Kathmandu still find itdifficult to accept that one of theloudest critics of the democraticparties, who once wrote op-edsunder the pseudonym Ajay PNath, has suddenly become thechief proponent of constitutionalsupremacy, freedom of the pressand parliamentary democracy.

Ambitious individuals arepragmatic in their careers. Whenthe 240-year old Shah dynastypassed into history, an army asold as the kingdom earned itsrepublican spurs by literallydoing nothing. Behind the scenesdeals were never disclosed, butwas security of tenure for theincumbent army chief a part ofthe bargain? Then the guerrillachieftain and prime minister,Pushpa Kamal Dahal, should havenothing to complain about. Thetrouble is he also has to placatehis deputy commander, DefenceMinister Ram Bahadur Thapa,who needs to be seen to be doingsomething to bring a former foeunder direct control of the partyhigh command.

Behind all the talk of civiliancontrol versus constitutionalsupremacy, a lingering antipathybetween warriors of oppositecamps is what lies at the core ofthe current Maoist-military row.The generals haven’t yet recoveredfrom the trauma of their failure,and the Maoists find it hard toaccept that power flows out of theballot box. Both sides in the warof words are caught in the vortexof their own vitriolic rhetoric.Unlike in the past, however, thearmy has shown that it is better atmasking its fears than Maoist

commanders.“All war is deception,” said a

great military strategist of 500 BC.The Maoists haven’t publiclyabandoned what they call ‘ThePeople’s War’. The Nepal Armystill finds it difficult to submititself unequivocally to civiliancontrol of the Maoist party. Thecountry is still in a state of war forall intents and purposes. Themilitary knows what it’s doing,and so do the Maoists. The rest ofus are merely guessing or reacting.

Under the pressure of Chineseand Indians, Dahal wants to letthe mandate of UNMIN lapsewhen it comes to an end on 23July 2009. With that deadline inmind, he recently assured visitingBritish Under Secretary of Statefor Defence and Minister forVeterans, Kevan Jones, recentlythat the government’s specialcommittee for supervision,integration and rehabilitation ofthe combatants would completeits work by mid-July. But theprime minister knows that theschedule can’t be met when theincumbent army chief is allergicto the very word ‘integration’. Sothe CoAS had to go to make wayfor a more amenable general.

When the general waiting inthe wings realised he may bebypassed by a colleague on theverge of superannuation, news ofan impending coup wascarefully planted in the friendlymedia to spur anti-Maoist forcesinto action. Mission complete,rumours of a ‘soft coup’ werestrongly denied.

It was a publicity coup,meticulously planned andbrilliantly executed. Clearly, thearmy has a better corps ofpropaganda consultants thesedays than it did during thewar years.

For the Maoists, too, it’s a‘heads I win, tails you lose’proposition. If Dahal can manageto sack the CoAS, he will be fetedas a brilliant tactician. If theMaoists are forced to backtrack,they can always turn the episodeinto a publicity stunt: “Look, wetried our best. But other parties areprisoners of the past.” The UMLtoo has little to lose, as always, itwill be on the side of the winnerwhen the game ends. The victimwill be the NC. When a politicalparty has to hold the coat-tails ofa military chief to establish itscredentials, there is somethingwrong somewhere.

Warby other

meansThe army has shown it is

better at masking its fearsthan the Maoists

DPR

2 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449EDITORIAL

Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda DixitCEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran MaharjanDGM Sales and Marketing: Sambhu Guragain marketing@himalmedia.comMarketing Manager: Subhash Kumar Asst. Manager: Arjun KarkiCirculation: Prakash Raut

Hatiban, Godavari Road, LalitpurGPO Box 7251, Kathmandu 5250333/845 Fax: 5251013Printed at Jagadamba Press 5250017-19edi tors@nepal i t imes.com

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LLLLL E T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R SE T T E R S

T

MIDDLE KINGDOMAs CK Lal points out in his column, thehistory of Nepali foreign policy consistsof an obvious continuity (‘FromRepublic to Middle Kingdom,” # 448).Every party that ever led this state hasattempted to balance India againstChina. Could it be that our politiciansmistake Nepal for a great power?

The reality of international politicsis this: powerful nations do what theywant and smaller nations will not beable to obtain any profit from attemptingto manipulate them. Let’s look at arecent example: Mikhail Saakashvili’sattempt to pit Russia against Europeand the US has only resulted in hisbecoming a joke and with no change inthe status-quo. Russia and NATO arenot at loggerheads with each other.

The only way Nepal can change thestatus-quo within its own region is for itto grow in relative power. Power isfungible and is a function of stability.Therefore, it would be best for the

threats, intimidation and extortion anduntil they prove that they are nolonger a force that is going to takeover the state by violent means theydon’t deserve to be tampering with thenational army.

Jagat Jung, email

I want to salute you for yourcourageous columns for givingpositive and well directedsuggestions. The country is run by anew naked emperor, supported by hissycophant cronies. He is pretendingto be fully-clothed but he is there in allhis naked glory for all of us to see. Ifsomebody says something the YCLwill come after them and threatenthem until they say that the emperor isclothed. These are desperate timesbut the media shouldn’t keep quiet.We are tired of stories that are one-sided. We want to read positivestories that are constructive and bold.

Bishwesh Shrestha, email

striving statesmen of Nepal to accept thestatus quo and work as junior partnerswith China and India, avoiding anyconfrontation, all the while focussing onthe real task at hand: to build a stableNepali state.

Nishant Acharya, email

COAS ISSUEIt is sad to see that Nepali Times doesn’tsee how the army chief was directlydisobeying the elected government onissues such as new recruits (Editorial,‘Armed and dangerous’, #448). Theelected government provides the budgetfor the new personnel but by not obeyingthe orders Katawal has underminedpeople power. In addition, Nepal ArmyChief Rookmangud Katawal, wasappointed when Nepal was not a federalrepublic. He should have understood thatit will be difficult to work with the Maoists.Therefore, the army chief should resignnow. Nepalis also need to be unitedagainst foreign forces because they have

no business interfering in personal mattersof the state.

Pashupati Neupane, email

Thank you for Pramod Mishra’sexcellent analysis of the bind that PushpaKamal Dahal finds himself in (GuestColumn, ‘Give PKD his due’, #448). Themedia, your paper included, should cut hima bit of slack. Let’s give credit where it’sdue.

Keshav Sharma, email

From his lofty perch in the US, PramodMishra seems to be seeing Nepal throughrose-tinted glasses. Come home, MrMishra, and see for yourself how your guruPKD is taking this country down the path tototalitarianism.

Soni Shrestha, email

Three cheers for your editorial ‘Armedand dangerous’, #448). You have gone tothe heart of the matter, which is that as longas the Maoists continue their practice of

PRESS FOR FREEDOMFrom Angola (Not Free) to Zimbabwe (Not Free), freedom of thepress is under attack in many parts of the world. Tagged ‘partlyfree’, we in the Nepali media should perhaps be thankful that we arestill better off than some other countries. But that’s about it.

Press freedom is an absolute. One can’t be ‘partly free’. It hasbecome fashionable these days for the government to re-invent‘Asian values’ of press freedom and democracy: the argument thatindividual and political rights are somehow less important thansocial economic and cultural rights. It’s the old debate all overagain, and the Maoist-led government is resurrecting a class-baseddefinition of rights to justify stifle criticism in the press.

Unfortunately, we find the UN’s human rights wallahs andbilaterals, who would never agree to any fetters on the press intheir own countries, going along with this. It’s like saying: “Sorry about the chains, but you’re not fully ready for freedom yet.”

Our post-conflict situation is characterised by a collapse of therule of law and an epidemic of impunity. Things will get worsebecause the state is not serious about protecting human rights, andthe NHRC has limited capacity and commitement. The UN’sOHCHR is under pressure to go along because it wants to extendits mandate. In fact, it should remember why Nepal’s human rightsactivists lobbied hard to bring it here in 2005 in the first place: toaugment independent monitoring. That is needed more than everwhen we have a state actor that is intolerant of dissent.

The war may be over, but the behaviour of the Maoists in theavatar of their militant wings are still getting away with violence andintimidation. Murderers walk around in the sanctuary of UNMIN-supervised camps. Not a single killer of journalists in the past threeyears has been caught and tried.

The Maoist leadership lacks understanding about democracyand press freedom at a philosophical level. Freedom in the Maoistlexicon is the freedom to blindly support the party agenda. Or else.Anyone who doesn’t agree is automatically labelled “feudal”,“lackey”, or “running dog reactionary class enemy”.

After using ham-handed methods in the past year to vandalisemedia offices and attack journalists, the Maoists are getting slightlymore sophisticated: that is, if the prime minister publicly callingjournalists ”smugglers” can be called sophistication. Still, thestrategy is now to put on the squeeze indirectly.

Journalists across the country admit that it is moredifficult to report now than during the war. Every gangwith a gun now feels it can do what the Maoists do.From the eastern hills to the Madhes and even inKathmandu, journalists are self-censoring because ofthe fear of retribution from ethnic militants, criminalgangs and the Maoists. Each is bent uponoutdoing the other in intimidating the media.The state is unable and unwilling to go afterthe perpetrators because the party leadingthe government feels it indirectly benefitsfrom a cowed-down media.

Press Freedom Day is being marked on3 May in Kathmandu to draw the attention ofSouth Asian governments to their patchyrecord in protecting media independence. Itgives us no satisfaction that there arecountries in the region wherejournalists have it worse thanus.

PLAIN SPEAKINGPrashant Jha

he army row gives us aglimpse of India’sconcerns, its power

and limits.The Maoists have been

relatively successful inportraying the opposition tosacking General Katawal as India-inspired. They are convincedDelhi’s suggestions and warnings

constitute an unacceptableinterference in Nepal’s internalaffairs. The Maoists then telltheir support base that they havenot been able to effect any changebecause of the power exercised by“expansionists and feudalcollaborationists”.

What they forget is that theywould still be in the junglesfighting an unwinnable war ifnot for India’s mediation. IfNepal’s political class hadsucceeded in mounting a solelydomestic opposition to the royalregime, if the parties and Maoistshad not needed India to act as‘facilitator’ for the 12 point-

agreement, if they had notrushed to Delhi toinstrumentally use Indiato advance their ownpartisan interests, and ifthey had tried to be moreself-reliant, they couldhave told the Indians tokeep away.

The reality is thatthis peace

process isessentially acompactbetween

India (whichacted as a

guarantorof the12-pointdeal and

Maoist opposition to India’s role in thearmy row is hypocritical and futile

later got the army on board), theMaoists (who promised to acceptmultiparty democracy) and NC(which agreed to dump themonarchy). And now, theMaoists suddenly remember thatdomestic political decisions arenone of India’s business.

You cannot be selective abouta foreign role. If they used Delhiat some point, when Delhi feelsits interests are at stake, it willget involved. All politicians areaware of this reality so whippingup a frenzy about the Indian rolewithout tackling thefundamentals of nationalpolitics and economy ishypocritical, futile andopportunistic.

The real question is why didthe Indians assert themselvesthis time around? SinceNovember 2005, India’s role hasbeen critical but low-key. Therehave only been three occasionswhen Delhi stepped in visibly.

When the Maoists walked outof government in September2007, Shyam Saran rushed in asthe PM’s special envoy to pushall parties to go for polls. Whenthe second Madhes movementthreatened to derail the Aprilpolls, a meeting was held at theIndian ambassador’s residencebetween Madhesi leaders andgovernment representatives,preparing the basis for the eight-point deal. This had theunfortunate consequence ofreinforcing the image of Madhesileaders as Indian puppets, butpassed a powerful message to thepalace (which saw thatmovement as the last hope toprevent elections) about whereIndia stood.

This is the third time. Delhifeels that the balance of power onwhich the peace process restswill collapse if the Maoists sackKatawal and appoint a morepliable chief. The institutional

structure would be shaken and theparty would dictate terms to thearmy. They see it as a sub-plot ofthe larger Maoist plan to back awayfrom the commitment tomultiparty democracy.

And there is an underlyingChina dimension. Beijing is quitehappy with the Maoists for havingdelivered on its promise to stifleTibetan dissent. China feels thatthe top echelons of the NepalArmy are dominated by officersclose to India and the US. It hasalready backed the integrationprocess and would be happy to seeMaoist commanders occupystrategic positions in the NA.

India wants ‘controlledstability’ in Nepal to protect itssecurity interests. But not onlydoes lasting stability look elusive,even the control and influencethey exert would get steadilydiluted if the Maoists take overthe army. The aim of co-optingand ‘taming’ the Maoists wouldfall flat.

However, Lainchaur did gooverboard in passing the message.The nature of the present envoyhas not helped either. A senior NCleader, considered to be close toIndia, said: “Rakesh Sood lacks thepatience and clarity of ShyamSaran, or the warmth and empathyof Shiv Mukherjee. His inter-personal skills are weak and noone trusts him.”

What is clear is that thisepisode has harmed ties betweenIndia and the Maoist-ledgovernment. There will not be animmediate reaction if the Maoistsgo ahead, but a policy review whena new Indian government comes inis certain. And don’t be surprisedif sections in the Indianestablishment who have criticisedthe 12-point agreement, and whoprefer to play the 90s game ofbreeding instability as a way tokeep Nepali political actors incheck, gain ascendance.

Delhi dallying

BILASH RAI

4 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449NATION

he Nepal Development Forum (NDF) meeting scheduled for12-14 May in Kathmandu has been overshadowed bypolitical wrangling over the army. The meeting that used to

be held every two years is taking place after five years. And it maystill be cancelled at the last minute if donors decide not toparticipate because of continued political volatility.

As it is, this NDF is geared up to focus more on Nepal’spolitical than economic development. As a pre-requisite to support,

donors want a commitmentfrom the Maoist governmenton its respect for democracy,an open market and right toprivate property. UNMIN’s

role, army integration and impunity also figure as conditions for aid.The government is going ahead with the preparations of the

meeting where a consortium of 40 of Nepal’s donors will sit anddiscuss development assistance. The NDF this year has beentagged ‘Peace and Socio-Economic Transformation: A Basis forNew Nepal’ and besides donors, six specially invited import-exportbanks, mainly from India and China, will also be attending.

Four main policy papers will constitute the basis fordeliberations. The first is Nepal’s national development strategy forthe transitional period rather clandestinely put together by FinanceMinister Baburam Bhattarai’s small group of trusted aides. Secondis a paper on the economic restructuring package for achievingeconomic transformation in the short term and creating policybases for state restructuring in the long run.

The third policy paper looks at ‘revising’ foreign aid policy to‘increase understanding between the government and donors’. Theeffectiveness of aid and Nepal’s absorption capacity for it will bediscussed. The fourth is a trade and investment policy that aims todevelop Nepal as a preferred destination for foreign directinvestment, and aspires to replace foreign aid by foreign trade,encourage investment, both foreign and domestic, mainly underpublic-private-partnership.

All these issues are not new, and merely rearrange oldpriorities under different categories. The Maoist-led governmentwhich also holds the finance ministry has already infuriated donorsby breaking the tradition and not involving them in pre-consultativepreparatory meetings. Minister Bhattarai’s public remarks labelingthem, particularly Bretton Woods institutions, as agents of globalimperialism has appalled many of them.

This time, the donors, including the World Bank thatcoordinated with all other donors, co-hosted and co-chaired the lastNDF, will only be asked to support the policies and programs putforth by the government. Further, Minister Bhattarai has predictedthat Nepal will not need foreign assistance from 2025 onwardsbecause by then the economy will be self-reliant. The groundreality doesn’t support such optimism. To bring down ourdependence on foreign assistance of about 47 per cent at present to5 per cent in 15 years, we must achieve an annual GDP growth rateof at least 11 per cent throughout. For this, the non-agriculturalsector should up to 19 per cent, which requires at least 9,000 MWof power supply and environment conducive to rapidindustrialisation. It is impossible for all these miracles to transpirein 15 years, which is the normal gestation period of a medium-scalepower project.

The donor community is clueless as to what is promptingBhattarai to make such impossible claims. In one of her NDF-related public remarks, World Bank country director SusanGoldmark warned the government diplomatically to refrain fromover-statements. Bhattarai himself may have realised bynow that you can’t ridicule donors and still ask for donations forcontroversial projects like his youth self-employment scheme.

For budgetary support, the minister should have first included itas a budgeted program incorporating public accountability. This isone reason the program hangs in limbo.

This NDF is taking place in the midst of global financialmeltdown, and this will have significant bearing on the scale ofdonor commitment for the near future. Back home, the Maoists'name itself is still anathema to many in the international community.

The economic policies of the Maoist-led government,announced in bits and pieces, are conceptually vague and at timescontradictory. Minister Bhattarai should be first trying to win theconfidence of Nepal’s development partners. His harsh tone andisolationist methods, even in the run up to the NDF, have made thedonor community not only apprehensive but perplexed andexasperated.

Again, the real question is whether we need to be so reclusiveabout our aid policy, especially when the country is in such aprecarious transition. And why pick on donors, as if they alonewere to blame for our under-development?

Bafflingdonors

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COMMENTAchyut Wagle

he Maoists have so oftenthreatened to take overstate power by force like

Lenin did during the OctoberRevolution in 1917, that peoplehad stopped taking it seriously.But now, under pressure to backdown from its attempt to sackthe army chief, the Maoists seemto be reactivating that plan.

As far back as 2000, theMaoists had concluded that theway to victory was a fusionbetween insurgency and anarmed urban uprising. Maoistchairman Pushpa Kamal Dahalhad concluded that the armycould only be defeated if hisparty could divide up thegenerals. They had been workingon it, and the result was the 19April move to ask the army chieffor clarification.

The timing, they think, isnow right. The Maoists havebrought in tens of thousands ofcadres and PLA to the capital.Many are from UNMINmonitored cantonments, eventhough under the peace accordthat is not allowed. Securitysources say they haveinformation that the Maoistshave also brought weaponsstashes that were never lockedup in UNMIN containers.Internally, the party has told thecadre to be prepared for a “finalbattle”.

The Maoists have steppedback from decisions before, andthey may conclude again that theinternational and domesticconditions are not right to do so.But the very fact that theyhaven’t bothered to hide thepreparation means they want touse the mass mobilisation in thecapital itself as a deterrentagainst anyone who dares opposethem.

Until late Thursday, theMaoist secretariat was deep in

meetings and leaders were tight-lipped. Their conclusion seemsto be that the only obstacle tototal state capture now is theintegration of 19,000 PLA intothe Nepal Army. Army ChiefKatawal was the only remainingobstacle, which is why theyhave sought to remove him atthe present time.

UML leader KP Oli has beenwarning about Maoisttotalitarian motives for morethan two years. He says: “Theaction against Katawal was theexcuse they needed to controlthe army and implement theirstrategy to capture completestate power.” Oli cites the threereasons on which the Maoistssought clarification from thearmy chief are all legallyspurious.

Finance Minister BaburamBhattarai, for his part, has beenuncharacteristically tough, andsays Katawal defied agovernment order and shouldbe prosecuted to maintain thecivil supremacy. He and DefenceMinister Ram Bahadur ThapaBadal have been taking thehardline while Prime MinisterDahal fields pressure from otherparties as well as theinternational community,especially India.

“There is no question of thegovernment surrendering to anyforeign pressure,” Bhattarai hassaid.

The Indian establishment,reacting to the strong pressurefrom the Indian military, hasdirectly intervened to putpressure on the Maoists to leavethe army alone. Indianambassador Rakesh Sood hasmet Dahal three times this weekand strongly urged a consensusamong political parties.

The NC has been protestingthe move, but has also beentalking to the Maoists and theUML about a “wholesale deal”under a package that would

ANALYSIS bySUBHAS DEVKOTA

Numbers gameThe Maoists plan a massive show of forceon May Day to put pressure on the army

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include defusing the army rowand bringing the NC intogovernment. UML leader MadhabKumar Nepal has tried to mediatenot just between parties, but alsobetween factions within his ownparty for and against the Maoistmove against the army.

Nepal himself belongs to theside that wants the Maoists toback off. He says: “During the war,Pushpa Kamal Dahal was theleader of a party fighting the army,now he is the leader of twoarmies. Meddling in the army nowcould have grave consequences.”

Meanwhile, the debate hasstrengthened the constitutionalrole of President Ram BaranYadav, as supreme commander ofthe army. He has remained withinhis remit to send a memo to theprime minister warning him notto take any action against the armychief as it would break theinstitutional structure and chainof command and might affect thepeace process and constitutionwriting. When a pro-establishment civil societydelegation tried to put pressure onhim this week, he bluntly toldthem he wasn’t a “ceremonial”president but a “constitutional”one.

It now looks like thegeopolitical situation anddomestic opposition to the moveto sack the army chief has madethe situation untenable for theMaoists. They can either try to goahead with it and stage a massiveshow of force on May Day, or theycan back down. Either way, theMaoists will not have droppedtheir plan to capture state power,they will only be waiting for theopportune moment.

Many are now convinced thatthe Maoists are just notideologically prepared to sharepower with anyone, and that theyaren’t really serious about thepeace process and the constitutionwriting process over which theyhave no control.

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

The NDF meeting willhave a political ratherthan economic agenda

51 - 7 MAY 2009 #449BUSINESS

STRICTLY BUSINESSAshutosh Tiwari

hese days, one comesacross many executiveswho worry about escalating

problems with labour unions.Listening to them, it’s clear thattheir company’s labour union isnot a problem in and of itself. Butit becomes a problem when the

union’s ambitious leaders, in aneffort to show that they are ‘doingsomething to teach themanagement a lesson’ seeksupport from political parties,who are only too happy to collectdues from additional members.

Soon, strangers call yourmobile at all hours, asking forappointments at seedy venues.Militant strangers descend uponyour office. They start poundingthe table and speaking rudely.You realize that they are notinterested in listening to yourreasons. And when you say no totheir requests, you start gettingthreats.

As members of Nepal’s variouslabour unions celebrate thedignity of labour on the occasionof May Day today, it’s worthexamining how corporateexecutives can hold their ownagainst excessive demands frommilitant labour.

Fulfill the legal minimumsIt’s no secret that most Nepalicompanies are notorious forcutting corners when it comes totreating employees fairly as perwhat’s in the law books. Mostmilitant unions, with lawyerswho specialise on personnelissues, take advantage of thisstraightforward fact to grab acompany by its jugular.

This produces two effects.

Labour pangsHow to save your company and save jobs

First, when criticised about itslabour practices, a company getsdefensive. When it gets defensive,its language becomes incoherent.When the company’s unclearabout what it says, that makes itmore vulnerable to saying yes tofurther demands. The other side isoften very good at twisting thecompany’s words to extract moreconcessions.

Second, once the other sidesucceeds in painting the companyas a renegade, it starts winning the

public relations battle. Suddenly,in the public mind and in pressreports, the story is split into twoneat categories: good employeesversus the evil management. It’snot hard to see which side thepublic roots for.

The best remedy is tomemorise the relevant sections ofthe Labour Law, and follow themto the hilt. True, many of thosesections, such as the ones onhiring and firing, are notparticularly friendly to themanagement. But it’s only byfulfilling the legal minimums,and then publicizing the actionswidely inside and outside thecompany, that the managementcan expect to maintain itsconfidence when dealing withexternal union reps.

Due diligence on outsourcingIn these times of rising costs, itdoesn’t make sense for a company

to do everything by itself. Thismeans, most companiesoutsource their non-core tasks toother firms.

But one sad little secret ofoutsourcing in Nepal is that mostlocal companies are not up to thetask, despite their owners’enthusiasm. Besides, alloutsourcing tasks are fraught withrisks. Often, these companies donot pay their workers well. Theyalso do not treat their workerswell. All the while, their

employees see that theircounterparts at the clientcompanies are doing well. Soon,they want to register themselvesas employees of the client. Andthe surest way to do that is toseek help from a political party toregister a union at the client’ssite. Many well-run companieshave thus gotten tangled up inthe personnel and the politicalmess of their outsource partners.

The solution here is to do athorough due diligence on theoutsource partners. True, doingthis takes time, and the one youend up with may be moreexpensive. But the grief this savesyou is often worth the high fees.

Dealing with labour unions isnot something that is taught atfancy business schools. But forNepali corporate executives,mastering this skill may be theway to save their jobs and theircompanies.

he premium car market in Nepal may have been dominated byJapanese or Indian made cars, but Skoda, which has Czech roots,European design and uses German technology, has fared quite

well even before its official launch.Axel Andreas Oberdiek, the regional manager of Skoda Auto, is

positive that the response will be even better now with the demand forcars in Nepal increasing. Oberdiek has worked for Skoda parentcompany Volkswagen for three decades and has been involved withSkoda for over five years.

“After Skoda became a part of Volkswagen Group, the third largestautomobile company in the world, we made a special effort to refine itsimage,” says Oberediek, “and now Skoda competes with our othermodels because it is cheaper than its VW or Audi equivalents.”

Nepal is the 105th market where Skoda has been launched. “We cameinto India about a decade ago, explains Oberdiek, and now we arespreading out in the region.” Morang Auto Works (MAW) showroom inThapathali has been displaying the two models while its workshop inDhobighat has been fully fitted to service the cars by specially trainedSkoda staff.

Asked if the high-performance, stylish Laura and Octavia sedans,are too refined for Nepal’s bumpy, pot-holed roads, Oberediek repliesthat the robustly designed cars are fitted with a rough road package: uprated shocks, underbody protection and very high clearance. MAW hadbrought in the cars only after an extensive testing process.

The Skoda fleet is soon to be joined by the compact Fabia and evenan SUV named Yeti. The economic downturn has made the businessrisky but Oberediek asserts that Skoda’s commitment to quality, safetyand style has kept things afloat comfortably. Paavan Mathema

Sri Lankan golfer Anura Rohana won the SuryaNepal Masters 2009 title on 25 April with afinishing eagle two, two shots ahead of fellow SriLankan, MithunPerera.

Anura wasawarded the top prizemoney of Rs 405,000by President RamBaran Yadav at aceremony at theGokarna Forest GolfResort on the sameday.

Kunal Bhasin,from Australia,finished third place,just managing to passlast year’s winnerShamim Khan from India. Deepak Thapa Magarwho was the highest scoring Nepali on the field,tied in sixth place.

At the start it didn’t look promising forRohana, who scored a double-bogey at theopening hole while amateur golfer Perera hit hissecond shot close to the pin. However, by thetime Perera reached his fifth, he already hadmore bogeys on his card than he had in his first

three rounds.After an impressive first round Nepali Shiva

Ram Shrestha, who won five tournaments lastyear, spiralled downwards by the second day’s

match at Gokarna. But he still retainedan outside chance oftaking the title beingjust five off the leadon the second day.Another local pro,Ramesh Nagarkoti,also fell back by thesecond day.

At other events ofthe Surya Nepal GolfTour, Perera easilywon the internationalamateur country

championship, while Jamal Hossain Mollah fromBangladesh came in second place and Nepal’sRupak Acharya,third.

Former Indian Open winner Vijay Kumar’steam won the Standard Chartered Pro-Am on 21April. Teams were formed by a draw from the tenbest professional cards and thirty best amateurcards. Shiva Ram Shrestha’s team came insecond.

Sri Lanka’s golfing triumph

Czech mate

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KONG YEN LIN

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

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Shop ‘til you dropLaxmi Bank and Bhat-Bhateni supermarket have launched aloyalty points card that customers can obtain when they open a

savingsaccount at thebank. Thestore card can

be used at both the Maharajgunj and Bhat Bhateni stores.

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StandardisedHimalayan Distillery, a domesticliquor producer, has received fourISO accreditations on internationalhealth and safety standards. Thecertification covers environmentand management systems, healthand safety and food safety.

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Customer drawLG Electronics is aiming to up sales of itsmobile phones by offering scratch cards witheach purchase. Prizes include cash, an LGwrist watch and 160cc TVS Apache bike for

the winner of the final a lucky draw.

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Sales driveMicrowave ovens, deep freezers, watches and cash are amongthe prizes Chaudhary Group isoffering in order to encouragesales of its home appliances.CG also recently introduced a48-month warranty and interest free financing on televisions.

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Phone accessRegistered customers of Nawakantipur Cooperative Society cannow check their balance via SMS for free. Type ‘BE’ along withlast five digits of the transaction ST to 2122.

6 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

Nagarik, 29 April

1996-2000Launch an attack on the police only and accuse the army of beinga nationalist force to eliminate any possible threat.

2000Second national assembly—make preparations to fight possibleattacks by the army, but agree not to launch attacks on theoffensive. 2002/ 2003After the state of emergency—use tactics of threat and fear onpeople and force them to leave jobs. Create a division within thearmy. 2004Funtibang talks—attempt to create nationalist unity with theking and army to jointly launch a guerilla war against India. 2005Chunwang talks—unite with army and anti monarchy politicalparties that for a joint revolt. 2006After the peace agreement—demand that the army headquartersmake the status of those disappeared by armed forces public. 2007Buddhanagar talks—spread rumors that the actual state is run notthrough Singha Darbar but from the Nepal Army headquarters. Atthe same time, extensively meet with army generals.

Namobudha talks—conclude create obstacles during theconstitutional assembly elections. Assure the people that theMaoists will nevertheless ahead with the election and launch arevolt with the people agaist the army if plans don’t work out. 2008Demand that the PLA be integrated into NA even though otherparties and the army itself are not ready for this change. Use thisslogan to create upheaval amongst the people.

The Maoiststrategy

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

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Anti-stateEditorial in Himal Khabarpatrika,29 April-14 May

Even though the Maoist-ledgovernment has failed to securethe economic, social and politicalrights of Nepalis, they choose tocapitalise on the term ‘people’ssupremacy’. There is no debatethat people’s supremacy is themain ideology of democracy. Butin the name of the people theMaoists are trying to enforce theirown supremacy.

After years of struggle it was2006 April Uprising that finallyestablished popular commandover the army. We are yet toinvestigate the cases of brutalitythat the army has beenresponsible for during theconflict years. But theestablishment of Nepalas a republic means thearmy is loyal to thepeople—a philosophythat has been seen inpractice for the past twoyears.

The Maoist-initiatedactivities to remove thearmy chief havethreatened nationalsecurity. It seems that inthe name of people’ssupremacy the Maoistswant to establish theirdominance not only onthe VDCs and DDCs but on allbodies including the media,army, judiciary and civil service.The Maoists probably understandthat their violence and threats arediminishing popular trust inthem but they don’t act as if theyknow it.

We suspect that a feudalisticattitude has taken hold withinthe Maoists and they want totalcontrol. The national army isresponsible for national security.Aren’t actions to weaken the armyby forcibly integrating all of itsforce anti-nationalist?

We have to remind PrimeMinister Pushpa Kamal Dahal tobe sensitive to the people whenaddressing this issue of sackingthe army chief. Then his partywill not have to deal with

pressure from the Indian embassyor from New Delhi. Regardless ofthe issue, the intervention of aforeign hand to solve the problemonly damages nationalsovereignty.

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Civil supremacyEditorial in Janadesh 28 April

Civil supremacy has beensnatched from the people timeand again in the 60 year history ofthe people’s movement. Theviolent incidents to quash thepeople’s movement—which waslaunched to reinstate civil rightsand establish civil rules—are stillfresh in people’s minds.

The feudal rulers have alwaysused military force to sustainautocratic rule in the history of

Nepal. High officials of NepalArmy have remained loyal tofeudal rulers and have betrayedpeople and lost their trust. Armychief Rookmangud Katawal is theadopted son of the monarchy.

Following the directions ofdespotic Gyanendra, anti-peopleand criminal generals like Katawalmassacred hundreds of Nepalipeople to sustain the centralisedfeudal monarchy, which can neverbe forgotten. Over the 10 yearinsurgency, Katawal proved to be acriminal devoid of sensibility,humanity, fraternity andnationality. He wanted to prolongthe war so that he would earnhuge commissions from armsdeals. He has already been declareda criminal by the Rayamajhicommission.

The Maoist government is thepeople’s elected government. Thisgovernment is determined toestablish people’s supremacy ingovernment, army, police,administration, judiciary andother government authorities,which is also the mandate ofpeople.

Unless criminals are punishedthe state of impunity cannot endand the peace process cannot becompleted. This is an honestmove by the government toestablish civil supremacy,complete the peace process anddraft the people’s constitution.

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Game overInterview with UML centralcommittee member KP Oli inNepal, 3 May

There seems to be strongdisagreement within theUML about the army case.Where is the disagreement? Howcan it be called disagreementwhen someone goes against aparty’s ideology and then sitswith an inflated ego and selfpride in the name of authority?The party hasn’t discussed thisissue officially. Also, when oneindividual makes decisions byhimself what is the point of astanding or a centralcommittee?

After the Mahakali treaty,is the issue regarding the

army the secondbiggest conflictwithin the party?Without sitting for aformal committee, wecannot say this is sucha big conflict.However, with such asensitive issue like thearmy we cannot treat itlike a game. Those whotreat it as such arefoolish.

Why do yousupport Army chief

Katawal?This is not a stance for oneperson. The army is aninstitution. You cannotinterfere with it. There are threeways in which we need tomove ahead: by following therule of law, democraticbehaviour and far-sightedness.

How does an army that isunder the government defythe government?It was the army’s responsibilityto fill a vacant position. It isnot defiance of the order whenKatawal asked to extend theterm of eight capable generals. Isit defiance when you say thatthe PLA should not be includedin the national games because ofpressure from cadres?

71 - 7 MAY 2009 #449CONSTITUTION 2010

COMMENTRatna SansarShrestha

he People’s Movement of 2006paved the way for a newconstitution through

the election of a constituent assembly. Butthe overzealous members of the interimconstitution writing committee went aheadand declared Nepal a federal state bythemselves, pre-empting the people’srepresentatives in the assembly fromarriving at a well thought through decision.

Now it is a contentious issue as towhether splitting Nepal into anindeterminate number of provinces isreally a good idea. And how willfederalism affect the use of water resources?Optimal exploitation of most naturalresources can be done locally, bycultivating land, harvesting it, collectingherbs, living off forest or extractingminerals. But water is a unique naturalresource. Local inhabitants can benefit, forexample, by building micro hydropower or

from rafting tourism. But exploitation on alarger scale is a national endeavour whichmay have local cost.

Construction of a hydroelectric damdeprives an upper riparian populace fromusing the river water for consumptive useslike irrigation. Any reduction in thequantum of water will decrease electricitygeneration and thereby reduce revenue.Similarly, a patch of the river will becomedewatered as water will be diverted fromthe river into the powerhouse. If the usersof electricity come from a differentprovince, those adversely impacted willnever agree to construction of a hydropowerplant in their province.

Building a reservoir project is evenmore intrusive because it submergeslarge tracts of fertile agricultural land,forests, infrastructure and displacement ofinhabitants. People of the province set tolose their land and to get displaced willnot be too eager to build a project if theelectricity is to be used in anotherprovince. Moreover, a storage projectregulates river flow benefiting the lowerriparian. So, an upstream province will

have no reason to agree to build such aproject, thus scuttling the prospect of theimplementation of a multipurpose project.

Resettlement of people displaced by amultipurpose project will becomeproblematic as there is scarcity of good landin the hills where such projects could besited while the resettlement in the areawhere necessary land is available will notbe allowed for reasons of disturbing ethnicbalance. Tharus in the western Tarai arealready against the resettlement planfor people to be displaced by the WestSeti project.

Nepal has 3.97 million hectares ofcultivated land (mostly in the Tarai)and only 0.5 million hectares(12.6 per cent) has some irrigation (mostlyduring the rainy season). Cultivation ofmultiple crops in a year, imperative toensure food security, requires massiveirrigation during the dry season that ispossible only by building a reservoir in thehills that will store water during the rainyseason. Building reservoirs will also controlfloods on the plains downstream. Butplanning such schemes will be extremelydifficult under a federal structure.

Suppose it is decided to have fiveprovinces along the lines of currentdevelopment regions, then westerndevelopment region will be generatingmaximum hydropower (over 329MW) andusing only about half of it. The easternregion will be consuming a lot more thanwhat it generates (under 14MW). Thecentral region will consume a little more

Federalism will hinder optimalexploitation of water resources

Watered down

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hile opting for a federalstate system, it isimportant to honour

the ethnicity, language, religion,culture and history so that such asystem does not disturb theunity, well-being, integrity andsovereignty of the nation. Thereshould be a feeling of Nepaliness,the understanding that Nepal isone. The ownership should be ofthe nation as a whole and not ofjust one province.

In the structures proposed bypolitical parties and intellectuals,

there’s already disagreement anddiscord. The parties that areasking for federalism based onethnicity fail to understand thatit is virtually impossible tocreate provinces including all103 ethnicities. Even if we onlyinclude the 59 major ethnicities,Dalits and other minorityethnicities will suffer thedominance. Federalism based onethnicity encourages separatismand communal violence. Whowill guarantee that the Muslims,Hindus and Buddhists will notask for separate provinces if the’One Madhes, one Province’proposal passes through?

The best way to draw the

map of federal Nepal is to divideit according to geography, naturalresources, population, andavailability of services, ethnicity,religion, language, culture andhistorical identity. We are sorich in natural and physicaldiversity, which is why it isimportant to make this thepriority. Geographical location,physical structure, shape andarea are the most importantpoints to remember whilecreatingprovinces on the basis ofphysical structure. Naturalresources should be the secondmost important aspect anddemography is important tomobilise natural resources,which makes it very important.

Forty seven per cent of thetotal population lives in the55 per cent arable land of theTarai. Similarly, 44 per cent of

the total population livesin the 27 per cent of the

arable land of the area and7 per cent of the total populationlives in the 10 per cent arableland in the mountains. Because ofso much discrepancy betweenthese three regions according todemography and resources, it willnot be wise to create threeprovinces-the Tarai, hills andmountains.

While some experts have onlyproposed three provinces, othershave proposed as many as 14. Butthese are just numbers. Theimportant thing to understand isthat for a developing country likeNepal, too many provinces mayturn out to be a disaster. Nepaligeographers have proposed five orsix provinces and further littleprovinces under them.

I propose eight provinces sothat there isn’t a big discrepancyaccording to demography andresources. For this, we have tofirst establish a centralgeographical location. Thus, wehave to draw a central boundaryaxis to divide the country in thenorth and south, which will havefour provinces each. Such a

creation will ensure that 55

per cent of the population will lieon the south and 45 per cent willbe in the north.

Southern Nepal is broaderthan the areas in the north.Therefore, the provinces to beformed should stretch north-south. Two provinces thatinclude the hills and themountains, and two more thatincludes the hills and the Taraican be formed. This will ensurefree flowing route, and includephysical diversity anddemography. It is important toinclude entire districts, whichwould mean 8-10 districts willmake one province.

If the provinces are namedaccording to ethnicity, religionand culture, it will invitecommunalism. It will also beneutral to name the provincesaccording to the natural heritageof that region. Not only will therebe less discrepancy according toeconomic resources, area, shapeand demography, it will alsodiscourage ethnic competitionand strife.

Ranjitkar is professor ofGeography at TribhubanUniversity.

Tagging federal provinces by ethnicity is a bad ideaNANDA GOPAL RANJITKAR

Three bases of federalism

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than it generates (275MW). Under a federalstructure such happy sharing will not bepossible. Simple issues like pricing canspin out of control and provinces withmore generation capacity can shut off powerif the price is not right.

Water disputes between Indian statesshould be eye-openers for us. Punjaband Haryana are in a dispute over theYamuna-Sutlej Link canal. A clutchof states are fighting over the Narmada andTamil Nadu and Karnataka do not see eye toeye on the Cauvery.

Nepal got a raw deal on the Kosi,Gandaki, Tanakpur and Mahakali treaties,but these took place before Nepal wentfederal. After federalism each province willbe squabbling with other provinces andNepal’s negotiation capacity with itsneighbour will be further weakened.

Implementing water resource projects ina federal structure will become a dauntingtask due to competing demands over waterand clashing aspirations of each province.The complications will get compoundeddue to the convention of demarcatingprovinces by using rivers as the boundary.This will result in diametrically opposedaspirations of one province to that on theother side of the river.

As far as water resources are concerned,splitting the country in hastewill provide us ample opportunity torepent at leisure.

Ratna Sansar Shrestha is a water resrouceanalyst.

1. Arun Tamor Province2. Kosi Province3. Bagmati Province4. Trisuli-Narayani Province5. Phewa Province6. Lumbini Province7. Rara Province8. Lower Karnali Province

8 TRAVEL

ill 1957, this forested trailfrom Bhimphedi toKathmandu was the only

way in or out of Nepal’s capital.Invaders from the East IndiaCompany, pilgrims, traders andNepal’s royalty had to walk thisroad to Kathmandu.

Even the cars Kathmandu’saristocracy rode in the valleywere dismantled, and hauledon porters' backs over this trailto be re-assembled in Thankot. ”There used to be hardly anyspace to walk, there were alwayspeople coming and going,”recalls 85-year old BhairaBahadur Basnyat, who’s livedin Chitlang all his life. Today,the trail is a deserted dirt path.The pati where travelers restedare crumbling, and villages

The old roadto Kathmandu

Chitlang reinvents itself afterlosing its crowd to new highways

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91 - 7 MAY 2009 #449

along the trail wear a desolatelook. Even a shop where KingBirendra reportedly stopped fortea is gone.

But a few still make the trekfrom Bhimphedi down toKulekhani up to Chitlang anddown again to Thankot. Part ofthe historic trail along with thesuspension bridge built byChandra Sumashere in 1911 arenow all submerged under theKulekhani reservoir.

The road may seem lifeless,but it has reinvented itself asalternative forms of livelihoodshave popped up. Even in mid-afternoon, when the sun’s raysare harsh, villagers work hard ontheir flourishing vegetablepatches. Chitlang valley is amajor source of potatoes,

cauliflower, cabbage and evenstrawberries for the Kathmandumarket. The reservoir providesfish for the city and investorshave built a trout farm, a goatcheese factory, a sericulture farmand even an olive plantation.Although there has been a massexodus of young men toKathmandu, there are plenty ofjobs in the farms here. BikashChand Shrestha set up his troutfarm in Chitlang because thearea has 24-hour power and forits proximity to the Kathmandumarket.

Along the way, signboardspropped up on houses reflect acommunity that is committedand integrated. There areenvironment protection noticesprinted on walls, and a board

that specifies cleaning tasks toevery house in the village.

The area is also culturallyvibrant: although predominantlyNewari and Tamang, there is alarge community of Chhetris andBahuns and they all seem to getalong well. Most here wereunaware of the call by theTamsaling activist for a banda onthe day we passed through.

Says 40-year-old SanoMaiya Moktan (pictured right) :“Why would we want anindividual state when so manyof us here from different ethnicgroups are living and workingtogether peacefully?”

Roma Aryal and ShradhaBasnyat, Chong Zi Liang inChitlang

KIRAN PANDAY

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10 3 MAY, WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449

ear the border here most movement of goods is from India intoNepal. The only commodity going in the opposite directionused to be sand and boulders to feed India’s infrastructure

boom. Not any more. Nepal has a new export item: radio programs.Janakpur’s seven FM stations all have programs in Maithili

language which is spoken on both sides of the border. Since there is noradio in Maithili in Bihar, Nepal’s FMs have 30 million listeners inIndia. This is much bigger than the Maithili listenership within Nepalof only 2.5 million.

“Nepal’s biggest export to India is our FM broadcast,” says GopalJha of Janakpur’s Mithila FM which has strong Maithili contentdesigned for listeners in both India and Nepal. “This is a model forusing radio to foster cultural links between South Asian countries.”

Similar radio sharing could be planned between Sri Lanka andTamil Nadu in Tamil, India and Pakistan in Kashmir and West Bengaland Bangladesh in Bengali. Says Upendra Bhagat Nayabansi of theMaithili daily, Simanchal: "We have helped the revival of Maithiliculture in India as well."

The growing popularity of Nepal’s Maithili FM radios in India hasalso made Janakpur’s radio stations economically viable. Last week’sIndian elections brought stations here an estimated Rs 2.5 millionwindfall in political commercials for Janakpur’s FMs as candidatescampaigned in northern Bihar constituencies. Some, like Indian stateminister Shakhil Ahmed, even made sure he was interviewed onJanakpur’s FM stations.

“If we had to depend on only the Nepali market, I don’t thinkJanakpur could sustain more than two FMs,” says Jha. Nepali FMs havealso become an important source of news and information on issuesrelevant to both sides, such as cross border crime, Maoist activities andeven notices about polio vaccination campaigns.

Janakpur’s FM stations carry regular news about India and fielddozens of reporters in Bihari towns like Madhubani, Darbhanga,Sitamarhi and Jayanagar. Two radio stations here also relay the BBCHindi service which is very popular in Bihar.

Janakpur’s FM stations all started within two months of theMadhes uprising in January 2007, and many here agree that they had adecisive effect on galvanising support. At times, the stations overdid itand the broadcasts were chauvinistic and ethnocentric.

But in the past year after Nepal got a Madhesi president and vice-president and the MJF heldkey ministries in the Maoist-led coalition there is aperceptible reduction intension. This is also reflectedin studio discussions andnews on FMs: non-Madhesireporters are back and thecoverage of the recent Tharuprotests, for instance, isbalanced.

The brutal murder ofJanakpur Today FM journalistUma Singh in January thatshocked the country. Hergarlanded photo hangs outsidethe studio from where sheused to broadcast her programs(pictured). Three months on,it is clear that the motive forUma Singh’s murder was her muck-raking journalism, and that thesuspects who have been detained were probably not involved.

The state has tried to muddy the waters and painted the crime as afamily property dispute. Uma’s sister-in-law Lalita Devi, local Maoistleader Shraban Yadav and three others have been detained. Localsbelieve the three are known gangsters arrested were probably framed.

They say the real culprits are supporters of former Maoist ministerMatrika Yadav who were involved in the murder of Uma’s father andbrother in 2007. Uma Singh wrote consistently about them in hercolumns. One suspect, Dilip Sah, is Yadav’s son-in-law and is now inPatna. Another ex-Maoist involved, Umesh Yadav, has defected toJwala Singh’s militant group and is in Bihar. Most locals believe policeare under political pressure not to arrest them, and want the case to justfade away.

See also: ‘The wild east’, #444 by Dambar Krishna Shrestha ‘Flames of truth’, #434 by Kanak Mani Dixit ‘Press post-mortem’, #443 ‘Life after Uma’, #444

The voiceof NepalMatihili FMs are a model forcross-border cultural exchangeKUNDA DIXIT in JANAKPUR

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Cover:Capturing the capital

Inside story of Maoist plans to use the May Day rally torehearse an urban uprising

Report:Nepal Development Forum: Donor priority

The vicious cycle of dependencyMaoists start disappearing from cantonments

Investigation:Fraud certificates

Death greatly exaggerated

Constitution Supplement:Collating people’s views on the new constitution

Three important factors for federalismHimal Khabarpatrika29 April – 14 May

HIMAL KHABARPATRIKA

111 - 7 MAY 2009 #4493 MAY, WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

hen Durga Adhikari ofRadio Taranga FM inPokhara was promoted to

station manager six months ago,her responsibilities increaseddramatically. From 5AM to 7PMevery day, she is busy jugglingprogram editing, broadcasting andstaff management duties. “I have tobe ready anytime, 24 hours a day,”says the willowy 21-year-old.

The demanding workload mightseem daunting but Durga feels thatbeing in a leadership position isthe most satisfying moment of hercareer in journalism.

She now heads a team of 17staff, more than half of themwomen. Durga’s achievement iseven more remarkable consideringhow few female journalists thereare and it’s even rarer to find themin decision-making positions. Amanagement graduate, she took a180 degree switch to pursue herpassion in journalism five yearsago. “It was a challenge in thebeginning and I had to learneverything from scratch,” Durgasays.

She feels women reportershave an edge over malecolleagues because of theircommitment and meticulousness.They are also less interested inpolitics and more focused ongender rights and child welfare.

Durga’s family was initially notsupportive of her career choice asthey felt there were no fixed hoursin her job and salary was low. Butthey were won over when shemade her mark as a station chief.

Durga currently hosts aweekend program SunauloBhabishya, which airs storiesabout positive change andactivism initiated by ordinarypeople. In addition, she hostsHamro Nepal, Ramro Nepal, aweekly evening talkshowdiscussing social issues like thenew constitution writing.

“These days the media isconsidered as one of the mostpowerful platforms in the world,and it is the same for Nepal, whichis undergoing a watershed periodof political transition,” says Durga,“I hope to be able to continuespreading awareness anddisseminating information aboutsociety to improvethe status of women andchildren.” Kong Yen Lin in Pokhara

cross Nepal the proportionof women journalistsjoining radio stations is

growing, and the female voice is

no longer a rarity. The other trendis for journalists to get togetherand launch radio stations staffedentirely by women.

Radio Mukti in Butwal,launched by committed womenjournalists was so bold in itscoverage that it was recentlyattacked by local Maoists whovandalised the station.

Here in Biratnagar, RadioPurbanchal is another all-femalestation which is trying to addressthe pressing problems of genderdiscrimination in the easternTarai. At Purbanchal, the only manis the security guard.

Station manager KamalaKadel (second from right) is a 55-year-old mother who used to be a

social worker before starting theradio to empower women throughgrassroots communications.

The station’s reach has grownin the past two years, reaching 75per cent of households in Sunsariand Morang with close to onemillion regular listeners. Thereare around 40 community levelorganisations affiliated to thestation and 2,000 householdscontributed funds and start-upcapital. The station employs 18journalists and studio technicians,all 20-30 year olds fromdisadvantaged communities.

Some are students like LalimaRagbanshi who divides her timebetween her studies and workingas a radio technician. “I’m excitedto be in this environment wherethere’s so much room for growth,”says the 21-year-old.

Others are housewives likeUma Thapa who finds satisfactionand freedom working beyond thedomestic domain and GitaBiswas, the co-host of the newsand agricultural program KakramHama Samacht (Our Society)whose husband has now takenover the housework.

Daily news bulletins are airedin four languages: Nepali, Tharu,Urab and Santhali. “Most radiostations broadcast news in Nepaliand this is problematic for otherethnic communities who don’t

understand the language,”says Urab news presenterMahamaya Urab.

Other programs includechildren’s education, labour andemployment forums, with the mostpopular, The Voice of Labour,reaching out to 400 businesses inthe district.

“What keeps us going is ourdesire to spread greaterawareness about the rights andsituation of Tarai women, who arerestrained by social deprivation ineducation, economic and healthcare aspects,” says radiojournalist Durga Sapkota,“community radio can be apowerful agent of change.”

Asked about how the murderof radio journalist Uma Singh inJanakpur affected womenreporters, Kamala says ithighlights the critical workingconditions that women journalistsface.

She added: “We’re saddenedbut unbeaten. There’s nothing tofear if we’re united.” Kong Yen Lin in Biratnagar

See also: 'Gaining Ground', #373

ost FM radio stationsin Nepal are now linkedto satellite networks

that connect them to sisterradios in Kathmandu and aroundthe country.

The largest among them isCommunication Corner’s UjyaloNetwork which celebrated its 11th

anniversary on Wednesday. Some75 Ujyalo affiliates exchange up totwo hours of programming eachday among themselves viasatellite. Their collective signalnow covers nearly 80 per cent of

Women on air

Durga Adhikari breaks thesound barrier

Womenbecome radioactive

Spreadingnetwork

W

A

M

Nepal’s land area and isalso available on streamingaudio online.

With programs like HamroNepal Ramro Nepal and othersyndicated interactive content,Ujyalo and other networks havebecome the real voice of Nepal:giving citizens a say anddeveloping a sense ofnationhood.

“I think what we havemanaged to show is that forpress freedom to be reallyeffective in defendingdemocracy, we need to give avoice to the voiceless and hearout people who would otherwisenot be heard,” says GopalGuragain of CommunicationCorner.

However, not all is rosy.Nepal’s FM radios are facingthe twin problems of journalistsecurity and station survival.Radio reporters have been themost vulnerable to attacks bymilitant groups, gangsters,criminals and state forces. Inthe past three weeks alone, FMradios in Khotang, Tanahu andParbat have been physicallyattacked.

“Journalists are having toself-censor because to writeabout certain issues or to digdeep is to invite threats andeven attacks,” says Guragain.

Radio stations are alsostruggling to survive because offalling revenues from anadvertising slump caused bypolitical instability and cripplingpower cuts. Many are havingdifficulty even paying staff.

Community radioorganisations have beenlobbying the government to treatthem like a public service andreduce the royalty, taxes andrenewal fees. They say that inthe absence of clear policy onFM radio the government isgranting licences to politicalgroups and the FM spectrum isgetting crowded in manyregions. Kunda Dixit

See also: '10 years on air',#339

PICS: KONG YEN LIN

12 INTERNATIONAL 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449

HERE AND THEREDaniel Lak

ontemporary India andPakistan were born amidthe bloodbath of Partition

nearly 62 years ago, a co-minglingof multiple genocides that stillresonate through the lives anddeaths of more than a billionSouth Asians.

The massive trauma ofdividing British India’s Muslimsfrom its other communities hasnot been assuaged. This is asubcontinent with post-traumaticstress syndrome and worse. Andyes, it effects Nepal too.

For 20 years now, I’ve beentaking stock of efforts to endhostilities between India andPakistan, the wonderful efforts ofso many fine people at all levelsto bring their countries together.Now, I’m watching a thinlydisguised attempt at Americanmediation in the name ofsecuring their troops inAfghanistan. The most senior USdiplomat, Richard Holbrooke,tries to assuage Indiansensibilities by insisting his briefis restricted to “Af-Pak” but heclearly is hoping to encourage an

active peace process between NewDelhi and Islamabad.

Only then, Washingtonreckons, will Pakistan be able toturn its attention to theexistential threat within theircountry: the Taliban, rather thanIndian forces along the frontiers.

India and Pakistan eachmaintain a vast standing armyand spend inordinate sums onmilitary budgets that mightotherwise help build schools,roads and water lines. Indiamaintains, rightly, that it is aregional and global player thatalso needs to worry about theambitions of China. But the mainfocus of the Indian armed forcesis Pakistan.

In Rawalpindi, theheadquarters of the PakistanArmy since independence,military planners plot endlessscenarios of a collapsing Indiathat needs just another little pushfrom a terror group here, or amilitant separatist attack there.The two countries have had eachother in their sights for the betterpart of seven decades now and theparanoia, anger and angst ofPartition drives everything.

The rawness of Pakistan’swounds were on prominentdisplay all this month, thanks to

a letter written by a retired Indiancolonel, Harish Puri, andpublished as an Op-Ed articlein the liberal English daily,The News.

Pakistani soldiers, Purimaintains, are thoroughlyprofessional and the sight of welltrained, proud men laying downarms to the Taliban in Swatis suspicious and telling. Heindicts politicians and a venal,corrupt officer corps for thearmy’s failure to subdue thePashtun hills of NorthwestPakistan. Puri wonders if thearmy’s top brass and itsspymasters aren’t themselvesimplicit in Taliban advances. It’ssomething that certainly occurred

A co-mingling of multiple genocides still resonate across South AsiaSubcontinental drift

to the brave, and now somewhatembattled, editor who publishedPuri’s piece.

The outpouring of wounded,faux-patriotic drivel that hasfollowed the letter has beensomething to behold. Blogs, asever, lead the way, mostlyanonymous sources of cowardly,unaccountable comment. Theyresound with racist anti-Hinduranting that almost certainlycame from Pakistani militarysources. Letters to The Newsquestion the newspaper’snationalism and make vaguelythreatening references to boycottsand worse.

Meanwhile, in civil societyand human rights groups, there

is a troubled sense that whilePuri has got it right, Pakistanisthemselves need to lead the wayon taming their army, muting itsdeadly truck with Islamicfundamentalism and bringing itunder civilian control.

The interventions of Indiaand America do more harm thangood, or so it’s believed.Officially, India feels much thesame about US ambitions forregional peace. For now,Washington isn’t buying that.

Holbrooke travels East atleast twice each month, andwhen he’s not here, his seniorcolleagues from the Pentagon aredoing the rounds. America istrying as hard as it ever has toheal Partition’s wounds inSouth Asia, and is faced withbarely concealed reluctance, evenovert hostility, on both sides ofthe sub-continental divide.

History will recount onlyHolbrooke’s success or failure,not the myriad objections andsplit hairs of bloggers,diplomats, letter-writers andcommentators.

Daniel Lak’s latest book is IndiaExpress, The Future of a NewSuperpower published byPenguin.

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14 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449CITY

ABOUT TOWN

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Call 4442220 for show timings at Jai Nepalwww.jainepal.com

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker re-team for the ultimate chapter ofFast & Furious where they head back to the streets where it allbegan. When a crime brings them back to LA, fugitive ex-conDom Toretto (Diesel) reignites his feud with agent Brian O’Conner(Walker). But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy,Dom and Brian must give into an uncertain new trust if they hopeto outmaneuver him. And, from convoy heists to precision tunnelcrawls across international lines, the two men will find thebest way to get revenge: push the limits of what’s possiblebehind the wheel.

For inclusion in the listing send information to editors(at)nepalitimes.com

KATHMANDU VALLEY

WEEKEND WEATHER by NGAMINDRA DAHAL

The brief shower of Tuesday afternoon brought relief to the Valleyresidents who have been experiencing unexpectedly hot days inApril which they used to see only in late May or June. Though suchshowers are the usual characteristics of spring throughout themidhills, they have been too rare and shorter this time following thesix month long drought. Three hundred families from a village inSindhuli District reportedly abandoned their traditional homes aftertheir local spring source dried up. Satellite images of Thursdaynoon indicate the same pattern for the weekend. It means hot dayswith sunny intervals, passing clouds and smog with a good chanceof brief showers towards afternoon.

KATHMANDU

Fri Sat Sun

34-17 32-17 31-16

EXHIBITIONSCaravan art show 2009 by Narayan Shrestha at Hotel Summit till30 April. 9851000519Prayer for Humanity, a painting exhibition by Gaurav Shrestha till30 April, 10AM-6PM at Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka.9841341810A Homage to Heritage, an exhibition by Birendra Pratap Singh atSiddhartha Art Gallery, Babar Mahal Revisited from till 13 May,11AM- 6PM. 4218048

EVENTS

Inauguration program of mobile expo 2009, fun park, bhrikutimandap, 10AM, 30 AprilThe Horn of Shame, artisticperformance by Salil SubediKanika & Karl Knapop, 8May, 6.30 PM, AllianceFrancaise.Waiting for godot, a play bySamuel Beckett, Hotel Vajra,8-24 May at 7.15 PM.4271545IPL 2009, watch IPL 2009 live matches at Rox Bar Hyatt Regency,Kathmandu. 4491234Call for entries for Film South Asia till 31 May, documentariesmade in and after January 2007 qualified. 5552141

MUSIC‘PRANA’ a performance by a Korean rock band in 30 April-4 May,4PM, Lecture hall, Nepal Tourism board1974 AD concert featuring Deep Shrestha, 8 May, Patan Museum,6PM.Sundance Music festival, 2-3 May, The Last Resort.The Kathmandu Chorale presents -Enjoy Life, a spring Concert atthe British School, Jhamsikhel,16 May, 3.30PM-6PMRoots, a musical performance by Bob Manes along DesmondO’Flattery and Anthony Correll, 5.30- 8 PM. Lazimpat GalleryCafe. 4428549Kathmandu express, performance by International Acts, 7.30 PMonwards free entry at MokshLive band every Friday and rooftop bbq everyday at KausiKitchen, Durbar Marg. 4227288Sunday Jazz brunch barbecue and live jazz music at the Terrace,Hyatt Regency from 12-3.30 PM. 4491234Jazz evening at Delices de France Restaurant every Wednesday,11AM-2PM. 4260326Epic, at the Brunchilli- the Acoustic Lounge every Friday, Thamel.9851035437Strings Band live every Tuesday at G’s Terrace Restaurant andBar, Thamel.Wednesday Melody at Jazzabell Café, Happy hour 6-8PM andTGIF party with live band Epic every Friday at 8PM. 2114075Some like it hot every Friday BBQ and live music by Dinesh Raiand the Sound Minds, 7PM onwards, Rs 899 at Fusion, Dwarika’sHotel. 4479488Happy cocktail hour, 5-7PM, ladies night on Wednesday with liveunplugged music at Jatra Café & Bar.Fusion and Looza Band every Friday night, Bhumi Resto Lounge,Lazimpat. 4412193Fusion and Classical Music by Anil Shahi every Wednesday, rockwith Rashmi Singh every Friday, sufi & raga with Hemant Ranaevery Saturday, 8PM onwards, Absolute Bar. 5521408

DININGWeekend Brunch by the Poolside every Saturday and Sunday,Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu ,11AM-3PM. 4273999Pizza & Pasta at the Rox Restaurant every Monday & Tuesday,starts from 13 April, Hyatt Regency. 4489362New York Cafe, Singha Mahal, Thapathali. 4101532Home made pasta at Alfresco, Soaltee Crowne Plaza. 4273999Gourmet trout at Olive Garden, 6PM onwards at Rs 850+,Radisson Hotel, Lazimpat. 4411818Chez Caroline for French and Mediterranean cuisine, BabarMahal Revisited. 4263070High tea with scones and sandwiches everyday at the Loungefrom 4.30-6.30 PM, Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu. 4491234Mediterranean cuisine every Friday from Greece, Italy and theMiddle-East at The Café, Hyatt Regency. 4491234Nhuchhe goes Thai at Nhuchhe’s Thai Kitchen, Baluwatar.4429903Fusion of Marcela Ragan’s new menu and Mannie’s new bar atDhokaima Café. 5522113

1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449 15HAPPENINGS

SHUTTERBUG: PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal's son, Prakash Dahal, takespictures of Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal, Lt Gen Kul BahadurKhadka and Lt Gen Chhatra Man Singh Gurung at Khula Manch on thethird Loktantra Dibas.

KIRAN PANDAY

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

WE CAN: UNICEF-partner Praxis Group, which supports UniversalAccess for Children Affected by AIDS in Nepal, hands over a token ofcommitment to its members in Kathmandu on Thursday.

RING-A-RING O'ROSIES: Kangresi leaders gherao the rostrum onSunday against the Maoist move to sack Chief of Army StaffRookmangud Katawal.

SUFI EVENING: Pakistani classical musician Shafqat Amanat Aliperforms at the Nepal Army Club on Friday.

KIRAN PANDAY

KIRAN PANDAY

DIVINE INTERVENTION: Devotees drag the chariot of RatoMachhindranath, the rain god, through Pulchok on Wednesday, on thefirst day of the yearly festival.

ISSN

181

4-26

13

CDO Regd No 194/056/57 Lalitpur, Central Region Postal Regd. No 04/058/59

1 - 7 MAY 2009 #44916 BACKSIDE

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P arliamentary proceedings are beginning to look like a demo atRatna Park. And the kangresis are falling right into the trap bygheraoing the rostrum every day, shouting slogans as the Red

Guards try to shout them down from the middle row.CA members are even coming to blows. Last week, Janata Dal rep

Biswa Prasad Agrawal was beaten to a pulp inside Singha Darbar bynone other than his party chairman Haricharan Shah and vice chairmanKabiraj Timilsina. Agrawal apparently had promised ten laks as payoff toShah for having made him a member under the PR list: half before andhalf after he made it to the CA. But the guy never delivered on the secondinstallment.

So Shah and Timilsina ambushed Agrawal, and for good measurealso smashed up his SUV. The cops arrived, but couldn’t do muchbecause CA members apparently don’t just have impunity but alsoimmunity from prosecution. For the record: besides Agrawal, Haicharanhas also nominated Dad and his daughter Gayetri under the PR list.

At the rate we’re going, it’s just a question of time before thehonourable members start burning tyres and vandalising each other’snostrils inside the not-so-august house.

Now that the epidemic of shoe-throwing at political leaders has spreadfrom Iraq to India, it is only a question of time before it comes across theborder. Which reminds me, one Nepali newspaper has called the globalhealth alert as being caused by “Swan Flu”: guess they thought a swinewas a bird. Anyways, CA member Kamala Sharma actually preceded theBush shoe in Baghdad attack by hitting Purna Bdr Khadka with herslippers in parliament last year. That didn’t get her justice, so at herparty’s parliamentary office the other day Kamala threatened to hangherself from the rafters of parliament.

Far away from all the fun and games is Upadro Yadav, who blew anotherRs 55 laks on tickets and hotel bills. BRB refused to sanction the money,but the FM threatened to tattle to PKD. Upadro’s logic is simple: this is afight between pahadi bahuns and chhetris, with a gurung thrown in. If thearmy gets weaker, hill nationalism gets weaker, so why should I care?

The debate in international commie circles about whether or notNepal’s Maobuddies did the right thing or not by shelving their armedstruggle is heating up. This week there are international gostis in NewYork and London titled ‘The Dynamic Role of Theory and Two-lineStruggle’ where ideologues will discuss: ‘The struggle within communistparties and among communists generally over questions of ideologicaland political line vs eclectics, pragmatism and attempts to rely ontactical finesse and what amounts to bourgeois realpolitik-maneuveringwithin the framework of domination by imperialism and other majorpowers, and the existing relations of exploitation and oppression.’ (Exactquote from press release.)

Lots of speculation about who the deep throat is who leaked the intimatedetails of a meeting of The Rook with his top army brass last week toKantipure. Well, it turns out it wasn’t a leak at all but a disinformationdrive, and deep throat was none other than Chairman Terrifico himself.Despite multiple crises, PKD finds time for all kinds of extra-curricularactivities, even skipping the CC meeting Tuesday to watch a 2.5 hrdocumentary extolling the Maoist war made by Anand Swaroop Verma, akey Maoist cheerleader from down south. Tremendousness attended anevent organised by Verma during his last visit to Delhi during which hesaid he will fight Indian political and economic expansionism: a day afterbegging businessmen at a CII meeting to invest in Nepal.

‘Tis the season for unnatural alliances. Sujata’s anti-Katawal tirade wasapparently because she wasn’t invited to the Army Day parade. Now sheis angling for DefMin from Cloudy. Pragmatist BRB and dogmatist Cloudyfor their part are cosying up. Do they share an interest in weakening theChariman? By trying to sound more radcial than he is, Laldhoj maybetrying to shore up party support and present himself as an alternativesupremo.

From this week, we start in this space contributions from loyal readersand royal leaders alike of their nominations for the Absurdity of theWeek. The Ass’d like to get the ball rolling with my own nominations forthis week:

a.Headline in a Nepali paper: ‘Peace Minister Threatens to Go Back toWar’b.The twice-postponed UML central committee meetingfinally ended Tuesday with members agreeing that theyshould agree among themselves.

Send your nominations for Absurdity of the Week to:ass(at)nepalitimes.com

The Rookcastles again