Kathmandu l 9-15 July, 2007 l # 24 l Price Rs. 25

ä nf correspondent

For Prime Minister G P Koirala, it was a verydelicate tight rope walk. In public he maintainedthat the law should take its own course and thatall those figuring as ‘guilty’ in the RayamajhiCommission report should be tried.

But in private, he acted differently. Heordered the higher ups in the police departmentto make arrangements for treatment ofBijayanath Bhattarai, governor of the NepalRashtra Bank (NRB) in a private nursing homeat Lazimpat. As a result, what looked like adetermined effort on the part of the Commissionfor Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA)to have him put in police custody at least for anight was foiled.

According to the top level sources in thepolice since statement on behalf of Bhattarai inthe Special Court was incomplete on Thursday,all arrangements for his nightlong ‘custody’ hadbeen made in the Singha Durbar police station.But Koirala approached by top level NRBofficialdom, Finance Ministry as well as theWorld Bank, intervened asking the top policeofficial to act responsibly and not to denymedical supervision that Bhattarai might need.

He was taken to Melina private nursing home,and after a night long observation was found fitenough to depose before the CIAA next day. Hewas let off on a bail of Rs. 250,000.

The politics surrounding Bhattarai’s investiga-tion by the CIAA based on the RayamajhiCommission report which has not yet beenpublished, has divided the government in twoclear poles. Finance Minister R S Mahat was

opposed to the arrest and detention of thegovernor saying it would have an adverse impacton the country’s leading financial institution andthe international community would not appreciatethe way things are being handled.

Koirala, in the face of mounting demand fortrial on the basis of the commission report, toldMahat and some other ministers privately thathe would not be interfering in the course ofinvestigation, but intervened quietly when theCIAA was bent upon putting Bhattarai in jail.

Bhattarai has pleaded innocence and refutedcharges of the Rayamajhi commission that heacted against the law and norms of the NepalRashtra Bank in honouring clandestine orders ofthe government during the royal regime.

The Rayamajhi commission has been doggedby controversy over its political composition,controversial conduct and accused of havingacted under instructions of the home ministerand for carrying out a ‘frame up’ operationagainst selected politicians and bureaucrats -civil, police and military as well. ä

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Murky politics

People queuing up to greet KingGyanendra in the Narayanhity Palace onthe occasion of his 61st birthday celebra-tion as youth and student groups protestedin different part of Kathmandu.

Bhas

wor O

jha

2 9-15 July, 2007 News

Television boomSpurt in homegrown private television channels set to change Nepali mediascape.

Ram Raja Prasad Singh declined Maoists’ request tobe their ‘minister’.

No collaboratorä nf correspondent

What most people and the media know is the partiallycirculated fact that Ram Raja Prasad Singh who hasbeen crusading for a republic Nepal for the past threedecades refused to be associated with the free Teraimovement that aims to have it ultimately carved out ofthe country’s territory as a separate nation.

Singh, who was present in the meeting of manyTerai groups, apparently in the knowledge of Indiangovernment, in Patna a few months ago, refused tobe the first president of Republic Terai. He said all thiswas against his belief that Nepal’s integrity was not anegotiable issue for him.

In early April, Singh also declined Maoists requestto join the G P Koirala government from their party,saying that the Maoists first need to be clear abouttheir position on country’s integrity, issue of monarchyand their demands for ethnic states or provinces.

Singh has a history of having turned down lucrativeposts. He first got an offer to become the prime ministerfrom King Mahendra about 35 years ago. At that time heappeared uncompromisingly determined to move aresolution in Rashtriya Panchayat that Nepal shouldrevert back to parliamentary system of democracy. Sincehe declined the offer, he was put in jail.

But once out from jail, he gave up ‘peace’ as hismeans to achieve his political ends, and took up gunsto begin a new revolution to overthrow monarchy andmade Patna his base for it. Most people who joinedhim belonged to the hills and outside Terai as theysaw in him someone who was above ‘sectarian’interests.

Singh’s armed crusade failed almost instantly afterhe launched it. In 1985, his supporters planted a

bomb in Annapurna Hotel, Narayanhiti palace and theRashtriya Panchayat building simultaneously thatresulted in loss of lives and property. But it had aninstant political impact which aborted a peacefulmovement for democracy. Acting President of theNepali Congress, K P Bhattarai called off theSatyagraha, saying violence was not acceptable as ameans for democracy. After that Singh went into exilecompletely only to return back in 1993.

Singh had extended his moral support to theMaoists in their armed struggle for ‘republic’, but hisrefusal to be part of the Maoists and their representa-tive in the government has brought their relationshipunder strain now.

Temporaryrespite

ä nf correspondent

It was once again a major relief forHome Minister K P Sitaula that themeeting of the Central Committeeof the Nepali Congress was put offfollowing demise of India’s formerPrime Minister Chandra Shekharon Sunday.

Sitaula, whom many in his partycall a thick skinned charlatan, wasbeing criticised for the totalcollapse of the law and ordersituation in the country in themeeting which was held at thePrime Minister’s Baluwatarresidence. The rise in the crimegraph, demoralisation in thesecurity forces and absence of anatmosphere for free and fair pollswere the issues the membersraised one after another pointingfingers mostly at the homeminister. But soon a pall of gloomfell on the central committee asthe news of Shekhar’s demisecame in and the only person whoperhaps felt a bit relieved was thehome minister himself.

All the business listed on theagenda was postponed and themeeting adjourned after mourningthe death of a ‘great visionary, afar-sighted leader and someonewho made a huge contribution inrestoration of democracy in Nepal.’

ä Krishna Pokharel

There was a time, not long before, when we hadto solely depend on Nepal Television for thenews and programmes of home. Governmentowned and controlled, Nepal Televisionlumbered on for two decades without anyeffective competitor in the domestic marketexcepting the ones from across the borders. Allthat changed with the coming of privately ownedKantipur Television, Channel Nepal and othertelevision channels.

As of now there are four Nepali privatetelevision channels that combine news withentertainment programmes and two newschannels, Avenues Television and SagarmathaTelevision, are expected to be on air by the endof this month. Everest Channel is in the offingand three more have already secured thetransmission permission from the Nepalgovernment.

“These are welcome developments in Nepalimedia and will result in better and qualityprogrammes due to increased competition,”opines Rajendra Dahal, chairperson of NepalPress Council. “There are questions of wherethe investment is coming from,” adds Dahal, “butthey are moot as long as transparent ways ofmedia investment are not legally ensured.”

Unlike other mass media, television is acapital-intensive industry. At the time when allother domestic industrial sectors are in thedoldrums and the market is severely limited,television in Nepal has seen a significant flow

and concentration of capital. Robust domesticmarket is a precondition for a free and indepen-dent media in the lack of which they are likely tobe the handmaiden of politicians, state appara-tus and the privileged few.

As television is a potent mass medium foropinion formation and creating a democratic“public-sphere,” there are uneasy questions

about how the burgeoning private televisionchannels survive and what type of audienceculture they promote.

“Survival is a key factor,” says Mahesh Swar,the Chief Marketing Officer at Kantipur Televi-sion, the leading private television channel inNepal that is popularly watched for its news. Helooks askance at how the upcoming television

channels will survive when the existing ones aregrappling for their survival. “Television is the onlymedia industry in Nepal that has been simulta-neously competing with the rival print, radioindustries at home and the Indian and Englishchannels that already hold strong sway on theurban population in Nepal.”

With the private television industry still in itsnascent stage, the investors in the upcomingtelevision channels have much to explore andexperiment. Suresh Poudel, the Senior Producerat Kantipur Television, identifies small market asone of the two constraints – the other one beingthe lack of well-trained and competent televisionprofessionals. “We are working under theseconstraints and are still trying to be innovativeand cater to the tastes of Nepali audience,” saysPoudel.

Kedar Koirala, the news co-ordinator at thesoon-to-be-launched Avenues Television that ispriming itself to be the first Nepali news channel,refuses to acknowledge market as a primaryissue. “Market and audience can be created,”according to him, “once the quality of theprogrammes is ensured.”

For Ramji Dahal from Sagarmatha Television,another upcoming news channel, the emer-gence of the news-only channels would be abreak from the existing television channels inNepal which have so far been adhering to“infotainment model.” “It will help redefine thenews as not just being what happened and whodid what but in terms of the events that peoplecan easily relate to their lives.”

K P Sitaula

Ram Raja Prasad Singh

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39-15 July, 2007News

Testing watersThe Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M) is testing their

acceptability to the world outside, albeit diplomatically this time. That iswhy they are insisting that at least one of their nominees should beappointed as Nepal’s ambassador to one of the NATO alliance,preferably a close ally of the United States.

Which country will fit in that description more aptly than the UnitedKingdom? If that happens, Maoists

can hope to use that as a point to build bridges with the US if situationmoves in the right direction. In the

worst case, CPN-M can always counter the US by saying that a moremature and established democracy have ‘welcomed’ us.

As a result of the Maoists’ insistence for UK, the whole list of the to-be-appointed ambassadors which the Prime Minister had endorsedbased on recommendation of the Foreign Ministry, is now beingreviewed, according to the official sources. “The PM may even concedeto that,” a Shital Niwas source told newsfront adding he wants the postsfulfilled very soon. As per the indication the Maoists are insisting that atleast one forth of the total appointments to be made should rightfullybelong to them. In case the government is going to review the Londonposting, Murari Raj Sharma, who retired a few years ago as thePermanent Representative to the United Nations, may be the one losingout. He was Koirala’s choice as the ambassador to London against theCongress quota.

Majestic shiftAmbassador Moriarty could not

realise his dream of moving the USEmbassy to the new grand buildinglocated at Chakrapath before he leftfor the US, but he sort of managedto formalise it. Barely 48 hoursbefore his departure, AmbassadorMoriarty would be hosting a ‘dedication’ ceremony in the new building. PMKoirala will be attending the programme scheduled on Wednesday (July11). The new embassy along with other US government bodies, like theUSAID, American Center and VISA consul which are now operating fromoutside the embassy premises, will all be housed in the new building. Theembassy is likely to begin operating from the new building from mid-August.

Koirala’s advisorsAs Home Minister Krishna Sitaula was bent upon sacking two DIGs,

Krishna Basnet and Roop Sagar Moktan, on the plea that their namesfigured as ‘guilty’ of suppressing the people’s movement in theRayamajhi Commission report, PM Koirala appeared equally adamant.

Finally, he bowed to his all powerful home minister. “I will use theirservices if you do not require them,” Koirala told Sitaula. Both Basnetand Moktan have since been posted to the PM’s office as securityadvisors to the PM. The government, especially the home minister, hasbeen using the Commission report, not yet made public, as the invisibletool against anyone on the ‘hit-list’.

AtonementTul Bahadur Pun, was awarded

the guard of honour on behalf ofthe British government as soon ashe landed at Heathrow Airport onJuly 5. The honour accorded firsttime ever to a Gorkha soldier, wasa clear atonement for the mistakethat the British government madeearlier by refusing a visa to Punwho had been conferred VictoryCross, the highest military award, for the bravery he displayed during theSecond World War for the British. The honour given to the 84 year oldsoldier is normally presented to the heads of the state or the governmentduring their official visits to the United Kingdom.

Several Nepalis from different ethnic backgrounds in their traditionalattires lined up at the airport to receive the war veteran. Colonel of theBrigade of Gorkhas, B G David Hayes joined by a couple of fellowofficers presented Pun with the Guard of Honour as soon as he alightedfrom the aircraft. “It is an honour for entire Nepal, and not for Punalone,” said Padam Bahadur Gurung, the chairman of the Gurkha Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO).

Pun, who even during the joyful moment was thinking about his oldfriends and colleagues who fought together with him for the British, told abattery of journalists and admirers, “There are many brave fighters whosuffered much more than I did during the war. It will be good if the BritishGovernment grants settlement permit and bears the cost of medicaltreatment for those who needed it.” Pun is suffering from high bloodpressure, gastritis, hearing problems and impaired vision. Pun thankedall those who campaigned for his right to visa and treatment at theexpense of the British government as his right.

Newsbrief

ä nf correspondent

Jaikrishna Goit, head of the underground JanatantrikTerai Mukti Morcha (JTMM-G), wants an independentMadhesh, carved out of Nepal’s territory, asserting thatthis alone would correct the error that history hadcommitted.

The new independent nation would neither be partof Nepal nor India, he said almost in the line of whatKashmiri Jehadis have been demanding in Kashmir - afree state independent from both India and Pakistan.Goit made this demand in an interview he gave toSankarshan Thakur, Executive editor of Tehelkaweekly published from Delhi, recently. The interviewwas conducted in a hotel on the Indian side of theNepal-India border.

“The Tarai was annexed by Nepal’s Pahadi rulersand then parts of it were ceded to them by the Britishthrough treaties. By the Indo-Nepal agreement of

1950, all earlier treaties stood abrogated,” Goit said.He added, “we are free, we should be free.”

Goit said he is least bothered about the interna-tional response to his demand. “…I am not seekinganyone’s acceptance, I want my country, whetheranybody agrees or not. I know what you are talkingabout — whether Nepal will be ready, whether Indiawill want it….The fact is I am neither Nepali nor Indianor of any Indian origin. History proves that and I havetexts to establish that.” He insisted that all that peoplein Terai want is freedom and all the other Terai groupswho are negotiating for ‘autonomy’ are collaboratorsand will only get ‘tokenism.’

Goit justified the killing of his opponents by hissupporters by saying, “The enemies of my countryhave to be eliminated, there is no other way. Ramfought and killed Ravan. Krishna fought the Kauravas.Nepalis do not treat us as human beings. There is noother way of dealing with them.” He said the enemiesof liberation have to be eliminated, no matter who theyare. “Don’t you see I have been pushed into a cornerwhere I have no choice but to pick up the gun?Nobody calls the Maoists and the Young CommunistLeague criminals. They are in government andcontinue to kill and commit all sorts of other crimeseveryday,” he said.

Asked whether he was willing to talk if the govern-ment invited him, his answer was, “If they create theright atmosphere, I can go and tell them: passlegislation in parliament for an independent Terai andwe will live happily thereafter. That is all I have to sayto those in Kathmandu. At the moment, there is nosuch atmosphere as the State and the Maoists areafter us.” Asked if India was protecting Goit, he said hedid not want to make any comment on that. “All I cansay is I am a freedom fighter and a guerrilla. Andlegally speaking, India has to support the case that theTarai was never a part of Nepal, it had only beenannexed or gifted by imperial powers. That injusticehas to be undone.”

Terai is neither Nepal nor India, said JTMM chief Goit.

Alag Madhesh

Skeptical about independence of judiciary.

Courage of convictionä nf correspondent

As there are increasing fears that thepresent coalition government isbringing judiciary under the executivecontrol, at least two judges of theSupreme Court, who have now beenconfirmed, endorsed those fears andsent a subtle message across thecountry that they would not want tocontinue if the executive ever madesuch an attempt.

The special committee of theparliament which heard four judgesseparately was taken aback whenJustice Kalyan Shrestha and JusticeRam Kumar Prasad Shah objected tothe new system introduced. But thecommittee headed by Amod KumarUpadhyay announced in the eveningthat all the four that included thedissenting two had been confirmed,and that its message would be sent tothe Judicial Council for their appoint-ment as permanent judges of theSupreme Court.

Both judges expressed theirworries that the way this hearing wastaking place may contribute towardserosion of independence of judiciary.“I am quite worried that indepen-dence of the judiciary may erode and

that it would be more politicised,”Kalyan Shrestha told the committee,further expressing his fear that,“ultimately people may lose theirconfidence in the court.” What willdemocracy be without an indepen-dent judiciary? The committee ofparliamentarian did not have much toanswer. Kalyan was sober, butforceful enough to be heard.

The executive, under pressurefrom different political parties in thecoalition, had turned down requestfrom the apex court, not to have the

provision of public hearing for judgesnow. “If at all necessary, it should beleft to the constituent assembly,” wasall that the Supreme Court said.

Justice Shah was equally forthcom-ing. He raised fundamental issuesasserting that the constitution musthonour the principle of separation ofpower. “It also may have bearings onthe principle of separation of powerand the checks and balances,” hewent to add that the committee wasdoing a job that the constitution hasalready assigned to the judicial council.

Jaikrishna Goit

Supreme Court

Tul Bahadur Pun

Editor & Publisher : Yubaraj GhimireExecutive Editor : Sushma AmatyaNews Coordinator : Manoj DahalDesign: Sunil Khadgi, Kishor Raj Panta & Ramkrishna RanaAddress : PO Box: 8830, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, NepalTel : 4443888, Fax : 4421147 (Edt.), 4411912 (Mkt.)Email: newsfront@bhrikuti.com, marketing@bhrikuti.com (Mkt.)Printed by: Express Color Press, Buddhanagar, Tel.: 4781810, Distribution: Kasthamandap, Tel.: 2010821

9-15 July, 20074 Editorial

Letters

Prepare for electionsFirstly, I want to let you know that

newsfront is not available in Jhapa easilyand so we have to read it online. Whenwe can buy this weekly easily in ourdomestic market?

Secondly, the CA elections seem to bethe main preoccupation of Nepalis thesedays. The elections due to be held 22Nov is being welcomed by all despitevarious obstacles. All leaders of thepolitical parties need to take this electionvery seriously and stop the blame gamethey are indulging in.

With the present indiscipline and unrestin Terai, there is no way we can elect ourrepresentatives freely and fairly. Otherobstacles like the monarchy and thepossibility of it meddling with the elections also need to be keptin mind. There are these and many other dangers facing thepolls that we all need to be aware of.

Sulav DahalSurunga, Jhapa

Lousy mobile serviceIs Nepal Telecommunications trying to swindle money by

providing its customers awful service? It is a commonexperience these days that to get one call through and tocommunicate clearly both ways, one has to dial at least twotimes if not more. And often, one of the parties gets discon-nected. No network service is another message that comeson so often, making it impossible to get your calls through.

If the company cannot provide good service, why not shutdown and stop cheating customers? I cannot imagine howthey plan to manage the huge numbers of phones they havegiven out. Like everything else in the country, mobile phone

services too are shooting downhill.Tara Baidya

Khumaltar, Lalitpur

Class apartIn these turbulent times, when

everybody and everything seems to begoing haywire, nothing seems to makesense. This applies also to the mediawhere it is difficult to make out who issaying what with what intention and howtrue it is. Journalism today is plagued byunethical norms, slandering and invadingpersonal space of individuals. And thebest part is people believe what is printedblindly and get swayed so easily bybiased reporting of events and people.But I’m glad to say that newsfront is a

class apart that stays away from yellow journalism. This is onepaper I can place my trust on and I enjoy reading it very much.

Sangeeta LamaGaibacchapati, Kathmandu

UnbiasedI like the way newsfront picks and projects issues that are

very different from other existing media as most of them arepolitically biased and we can see their affiliations clearly in theirreporting. One major problem with Nepal’s media is that theylose their objectivity and balance. Thus the reason theindependent newsfront has become our favorite.

But despite its good looks, good print and a paper withdifference it lacks many things: sports coverage is almost nil andyouth related issues do not get much prominence. I hope that wewill see these grievances addressed in your subsequent issues.

Yogesh NeupaneGwarkho, Kathmandu

Neo-secularismNepal has been a laboratory of ‘innovative’ but clearly misguided

politics for some time now. King Gyanendra appropriated allpowers, isolating political parties and their leaders completely, andyet he declared that he did this to strengthen multi-party democ-racy. A popular mass upsurge ousted the king from power, andthe leaders who were catapulted to power preached nothing butdemocracy.

The people who came to the streets for democracy owned thispolitical system and there was no way leaders could have ignoredthat message. Its impact was so visible that the king who hadtaken absolute powers just about 15 months ago, and the Maoistswho had raised arms for 11 years to establish one party authori-tarian rule, both pledged to support multi-party democracy as thefuture polity that the country would adopt.

But many things happened behind the scene: some good thingsin bad manner, and some bad things in bad manner. Nepal wasdeclared a secular country in a mysterious way. This was no doubta good thing to happen, as the country’s Hindu status clearly gaveto Hindus an increased sense of psychological ownership on thestate affairs than other minority faiths. But the manner Nepal wasdeclared a ‘secular country’ was not only mysterious, people whocame to the streets had no involvement in it. Who did it then?

Secularism is not a mere slogan, but a nation’s commitment thatit will not promote or patronise any one religion, customs andtradition associated with that. The state is expected to maintain anequal distance from all. Religion or faith becomes a purelypersonal affair. Of course, the practitioners, in a manner thatpromotes communal and social harmony are free to promote theirsocial, developmental and pro-right issues as their obligationtowards the nation and society. And they are also expected not touse religion as a tool of dividing society, promoting bigotry andfundamentalism or injecting communal and ethnic hatred. Theseare values a secular state is in any case expected to enforce, notas per the dictates of a particular faith or religion, but as per therule of law.

But look at the travesty of Nepal’s secular credentials. Now it willbe the prime minister of a secular Nepal who will be ‘exhibiting’ the‘Bhoto’ of Rato Machhendranath. This will be a blasphemy that thestate will be committing in the name of secularism. A secularcountry cannot afford to have its executive chief who also dons thecap of a ‘head of the state’ associating with one particular religionor a tradition associated with that. Nepali Congress, Maoists, UMLand other partners of the government need to understand anddecide on how to practice secularism.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus buta molder of consensus. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Point to Ponder

Boundless freedom

Hazrat Inayat Khan (1887 -1927) Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan was

born in Baroda, India into one of the mostmusical families in India. Inayat foundedthe International Sufi Movement travellingwidely, inspiring many with Sufi teach-ings. During his travels he continued towrite on religious unity and universalspiritual values. His tomb is located nearHazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, New Delhi,which is now a place of pilgrimage forSufis from all over the world.

Inayat said: “I read the lives of the founders,the prophets, the seers, with as muchreverence as their most devout adherents.This brought me the bliss of realisation of theone truth which all religions contain as different

vessels but may yet hold the same wine. Thedifferent messengers most wondrously, bytheir very diversity of civilisation, nationality andage, revealed the one source of inspiration. Ahuman being, not generally understanding thisand owing to blind dogmatic faith, has alwaysclung to the originator of his or her own faith…And not recognising the manifold aspects oftruth, thus all the racial and religious preju-dices! “

Inayat’s poems:

InvocationToward the onethe perfection oflove, harmony and beauty,the only being,united with all the illuminated souls,who form the embodiment of the master,

Spiritual Cornerthe spirit of guidance. My salvationThou art my salvation and freedom is

mine,I am not, I melt as a pearl in sweet wine!My heart, soul, and self, yea, all these are

thine;O Lord I have no more to offer!I drink of the nectar of truth the divine,As Moses thy word, as Yusuf they shinewho walk in thy ways; and Christ is thy

sign:Thou raisest to life everlasting!Thou art as Muhammad to them that

repine,My spirit is purged as the gold from a

mine!I only know that my heart beats with thine,And joys in boundless freedom!

59-15 July 2007Debating Development

The 309 MW Upper Tamakosi Hydropowerproject is surrounded by a host of misgivingsabout the completeness of its study. Based onprevious studies it appears that the proposedproject, apart from being entangled in serioustechnical problems might be found to be at agreat danger of being totally washed away byglacier lake outburst floods (GLOF), much thesame way as it happened to the NamcheBazar hydropower some time back.

The bitter past experience of blindlybelieving in the manipulated cost estimate ofthe Khimti Hydropower is still fresh in the mindsof Nepalese engineers. An unacceptable levelof inaccuracy and manipulation of the costestimate of the 60 MW Khimti Hydropowerproject, had forced our country to buyelectricity from the private developer, based ona very high rate of US $ 140 million revisedcost of that project though its original costbased on the feasibility study carried out by theNORPOWER just before the commencementof the construction was only US $ 60 million.

The Tamakosi River is the second largesttributary of the Sunkosi River. Originally sixhydropower stations in a cascade wereplanned. The Tamakosi No.6 according to theKosi basin master plan is the uppermostproject. The intake of the proposed project issaid to be further towards the north, close toChina-Nepal border. This reach of Tamakosi isvery close to places in Nepal and Tibet wherevery dangerous glacier lakes are located.Thus, any GLOF incidence would have left inits wake the most horrific destruction on thisstretch of the river.

The bed slope of the Upper Tamakosi isexpected to be extremely steep. A very highdam is needed to provide a daily storagereservoir adequate in volume. JICA (JapanInternational Cooperation Agency) study underthe Kosi basin master plan had ruled out thepossibility to provide daily storage pond toserve Tamakosi-5 and 6 projects.

We have learnt from our past Arun-3 projectplanning experience that the provision of adaily storage reservoir by damming the rivercourse itself; in case of the rivers like the Arunor Tamakosi is going to be an extremely difficult

task that would certainly involve a hugeinvestment. In case of the Arun-3 Hydropowerproject, it was originally planned that a damonly 20 meters in height would suffice toprovide daily storage pond but at the finalstage we had to raise the height to 65 meters.

In 1988 a joint team of Sino-Nepaleseconducted the studies of the glaciers andglacier lakes in the Arun and the Sunkosibasins primarily in the Tibetan region of China.The Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology andGeocryology took part in the study from theChinese side, similarly the Water and EnergyCommission (WECS) took part from the Nepaliside.

According to the findings of the abovementioned joint study, there are many glacier

lakes in Arun, Tamakosi, Bhotekosi, Trisuli, BuriGandaki and Karnali basins within Xizang (Tibet) of China which have past records ofglacier lake outburst floods. The joint studyreport has recommended conducting extensivestudies to cover Tamakosi and other basinsalso.

The glacier lakes study conducted jointly byexperts from the JICA and WECS in 1991provides detailed descriptions of the TshoRolpa glacier lake on the end of the TrambauGlacier within Nepal in Tamakosi basin. Thisglacier lake is extremely dangerous.

On August 4th 1985 the nearly completedNamche hydropower plant was completelydestroyed by the Dig Tsho glacier lake outburstflood. Since the 1940s, according to Sino-Nepal study, there have been at least 10 casesof Glacier Lake outbursts within the basinsinvestigated. Among them there have been fivebursts in three glacier lakes of the Arun Riverbasin, and four in three glacier lakes of the

Sunkosi River basin.Gelhaipuco is an end moraine dammed lake

located in the headwaters of Gelhaipu Gully(Natangqu River Basin, east of Riwo, DinggyeCounty) in Arun basin. On Sept. 21, 1964, thelake burst abruptly. According to the study ofthe Chinese Academy of Sciences, there was aheavy precipitation in the Nantangqu Riverbasin, which caused the glacier of theNatangqu River to slide. Huge amount of iceslid into the lake. The generated shock wavestriggered the lake water to overflow themoraine dam causing the burst. There was abreach across the dam which was 30 m deep.The debris flow rushed down to the lowerreaches of the Arun River in Nepal, andcaused heavy economic losses

On July 11, 1981, an endmoraine dammed lake locatedat the headwater of the SunkosiRiver suddenly burst. A breachof 50m deep and 40-60m ofbottom width was formed at themoraine dam. The highestburst discharge was about1600 cu. m. which wasobserved 23 minutes after the

burst. The high flood lasted about 60 minutesand the burst water amount was estimated at19 million cu. m. The debris flow damaged theKodari Highway and the Sunkosi power stationin Nepal. The flood destroyed the FriendshipBridge at Kodari. According to the investigationof 1984, there had been a similar burst in 1964from that same lake, but the burst dischargeand damage caused was smaller.

Nepal electricity authority has already madeit public that it wants to implement the UpperTamakosi project in near future. It is said that itis already holding negotiations to borrowmoney from the Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh tocover a part of the expenses to implement thisproject. Its hasty decision to implement theproject without a thorough study could put thehard earned savings of government employeesin jeopardy.

(Ananda Bahadur Thapa, Ph.D, is formerMember and Executive Secretary Water and

Energy Commission)

Dangerous for NepalGLACIER LAKES

Since the1940s, there

have been fiveglacier lake

outburst floodsin three glacier

lakes of theArun River

basin, and fourin three glacier

lakes of theSunkosi River

basin.

ä Ananda Bahadur Thapa

The bitter past experience ofblindly believing in the manipulatedcost estimate of the Khimti Hydro-power is still fresh in the minds ofNepalese engineers.

Inter6 9-15 July, 2007

CNNDestination

You have to be well-read and be curious.

the best thingabout CNN isthat we have

global re-sources. We

were able to dointerviews and

get reports fromthe only Western

television jour-nalist in Iran.

79-15 July, 2007rview

And the best thing about CNN is that we haveglobal resources. We were able to do interviewsand get reports from the only Western televisionjournalist in Iran. We were able to have on theground, real-time reports from Baghdad.

How do you describe the nature ofnews in today’s world?

I think that there is a broad definition of news,certainly. We take into consideration the top storiesof the day, whether they are international, politics,unexpected breaking news about weather or amurder or something like a shift in policy. We havebeen doing a lot of immigration issues, about AsianAmericans in the workplace and we have a specialcorrespondent doing that type of work. So I thinkwe have a very broad definition of what news is.

What is the nature of your connectionto Nepal today?

It’s my family. Many of them come back andforth a lot. And a lot of them are studying here inthe States. I am hoping to go back to Nepal andbe able to take my daughter with me, who isonly 15 months now; so that when she is a littlebit older she can have some memories like I do.

What stories on Nepal would you puton your show, if you were reportingfrom the location?

The emerging democracy, the parliament and

the first time voting on the Constituent Assembly.We have been following the situation with theMaoists and the difficulties. My father did a lot ofinterpreting for the courts for asylum here forpeople who were persecuted or who fearedpersecution and had been threatened by theMaoists. I think that’s something that would bevery interesting to follow one of those cases sopeople can understand what is going on there.

What are the key characteristics of agood broadcast journalist?

You have to have curiosity about the worldaround you, the ability to communicate andwilling to spend a lot of time trying to put whatyou are saying into context. Reporting a story isreading what is going on and helping theaudience understand and put it into perspectivein the world around them. How it relates to themis also something that is important. It is alsoimportant to be a good listener so that you canhear what people are telling you, and you canlearn from the world around you.

As members of the media, we inform ourfellow citizens and we can’t take that lightly. Weare informing those around us so that they canmake decisions when it comes to their lives,when it comes to their views. And I find thatendlessly fascinating.

What is your view about the significance ofphysical looks in broadcast news? You havebeen rated number three among “TV’s SexiestNews Anchors” by Maxim magazine.

I try not to pay too much attention to that kindof stuff or take it too seriously. You know, itstelevision, so, of course, there is a focus thatpeople sometimes have on someone’s appear-ance. I think sometimes they focus more on theappearance of women. But I try not to put toomuch stock in that.

Who is your role model in television?

Just to name a few, I would say PeterJennings. I really admire his style of deliveringthe news. You felt like he was having aconversation with you, never talking down toyou. I met him in person when I was very youngand was trying to get into the television businessand he was somebody who was very kind. I wasan intern at that time in a little cable station. Ialso really admire Diane Sawyer. She has beenin the business for so long in so many differentways and she still brings a lot of energy. I reallyfind that admirable.

What has been your most challengingassignment?

My assignment after 9/11 was covering thevictims’ families and we were out there everysingle day. Not knowing if they could pull anybodyout, family members were walking around withpictures of their loved ones and day after day it

was very difficult. The Virginia Tech shooting isanother example. I interviewed a lot of familymembers who had lost loved ones. It was verydifficult, especially seeing that situation unfold.

One of the criticisms of the US mediais that they pay little attention tointernational affairs and that thecoverage of minorities that it is notalways accurate. What is your view?

I think that the US news media does cover USstories and sometimes centers around things thatperhaps affect a small number of people or focuson one missing person, when there is so muchother news happening. But I think that CNN coversglobal issues better than anyone else, frankly, notonly with the coverage of CNN domestic but alsoCNN International. We are some of the onlypeople that have correspondents and bureaus allover the world, including in Africa and Asia. I thinkwe are better at it than others.

In terms of minorities and television, no doubt,there is an under-representation. I don’t think itis intentional, but that it is something that manynews organizations are moving towardbecoming more mindful of and taking steps tochange in the future.

How do you keep tabs on interna-tional affairs?

We have the wires and feeds that are comingin continuously. These are video feeds where youget information on various stories. And we rely onour producers as well to flag interesting things.This is a 24/7 operation. News stories breakingaround the world are monitored at all times anddrawn to our attention. Of course, you can’talways cover it all but we certainly have resourcesat our fingertips so we are always able to keepabreast and cover the different stories.

So it is just a matter of reading—I get a lot ofthe big newspapers in the morning stacked onto my desk. The Internet also plays andenormous role in broadening our world andmaking us aware of other things that are goingon across the world.

What suggestions do you have foryoung people, especially from SouthAsia, who would like to embracebroadcast journalism as their career?

You have to be well-read and be curious. Themost important thing I can say really is to do aninternship, learn from other people that do it andfind people who are willing to take the time. Ifanybody wanted to come learn from me, I wouldalways try to help them out. The reason I saythat is because I had people who helped me.You can’t do it alone. You can’t do it withoutpeople guiding you. And that early guidancehelped me, I’ll always remember, and that issomething I want to pass along to others aswell. ä

Kiran Chetry, 32, is a rising star of cabletelevision news in the United States. She beganco-anchoring American Morning, CNN’s flagshipmorning program in April 2007. Before that sheco-hosted Fox and Friends on the Fox NewsChannel. In an interview with Dharma Adhikariof Nepal Monitor, she discusses her recentcareer transition, her connection to Nepal andher views on broadcast journalism.

How was the recent convention ofNepali journalists in Washington DC -the first such meeting of Nepali journal-ists in North America?

It is really great to be able to come togetheras journalists, especially of the same nationality,people with common concerns and interests incovering the news. I think that it’s a small butgrowing community here in America and it’swonderful that the journalists’ society was ableto put that together. Hopefully it will continue togrow, and more people will get involved.

You recently moved to CNN from FoxNews. How has the transition been foryou?

We started off with the tragedy of VirginiaTech – it was our first day on air when that storybroke and we’ve also been covering a lot ofpolitics following the debates and a lot ofbreaking news in the morning.

We have the wiresand feeds that arecoming in continu-ously. These arevideo feeds whereyou get informationon various stories.

9-15 July, 20078 Opinion

Former US President Jimmy Carter on hisrecent Nepal visit appreciated the fact thatsome of the most oppressed groups inNepal such as Dalits had not yet resorted toviolence. Clearly, it was a strong caveat tothose in power – if you fail to try and addressthe genuine concerns of the historicallysuppressed people quickly, more groups arelikely to pick up guns to get their voicesheard.

Up until the last few days of her term inoffice, the outgoing head of OHCHR Nepal,Lena Sundh continued to stress that Nepalshould take the issues of caste baseddiscrimination very seriously and startworking to do away with it. She always heldthe view that inclusion and social justice werean integral part of the peace process. Thereare many that think the issues like untouch-ability should be dealt with much later afterthe Constituent Assembly is formed. Sometry to keep the issue deliberately outside thearena of human rights. To those whounderstand Nepal better, it is clear thatSundh’s position was in the best interest ofNepal.

These are just a few examples of theinternational community’s efforts to try andmake Nepal government serious on theissues of caste discrimination. Sadly though,the ruling elite from the eight parties is stillrefusing to wake up to the fact. Theycontinue to fully concentrate on their power-sharing games. That is why there is so muchpolitical wrangling on when to declare a

republic, for instance. But none are interested todiscuss ways and means of doing away withuntouchability, one of the key factors that blightour country.

It is now clear that half of the CA memberswill be elected through a proportional repre-sentation system. Dalits have been allocated13 percent seats as per their population size inthe old census. However, some Dalitorganisations have made small noises claimingmore seats, 20 percent as per their assumedpopulation ratio. In practice, however, thedebate on who-gets-how-many may beimportant but not enough.

The deprived communities must ask for abetter representation not only quantitatively but

A subtle change seems to be taking place inNepal’s corporate management structure inrecent days. The first indication came under thewatch of the NSP-A nominated minister forindustry, commerce and supplies in the presentgovernment, who talked about the possibleintroduction of a new petroleum act involving theprivate sector. This announcement was furtherexpanded by a private sector representativementioning setting up of an ‘integrated valleyimport committee’ or ‘integrated national importaction committee’. Taken together it indicatesthat the act, if approved, would involve somesort of public-private partnership.

The second indication came under CPN-Maoist minister who has been actively pursuingfunctionalising ‘Kathmandu Upatveka KhanepaniLimited’ (Kathmandu Valley Water Limited—anutility operator) and Kathmandu Valley WaterSupply Management Board (policy making bodyowning assets of Nepal Water Supply Corpora-tion) as well as Water Supply Tariff FixationCommission (a regulatory agency) under ADB’sinstitutional reforms program. These institutionalreforms emerged as a result of the overallmanagement of the Melamchi project underADB’s loan under a scaled down project of USD350 million.

The third indication is much clearer under theCPN-UML minister, who has recently stated thatthe government was planning to run NepalAirlines Corporation through a public-privatepartnership. The minister seems to hold theview that the corporation was not ably managingits internal resources causing such a pathetic

among the ministries, we may find differentstyles and structures of the PPP. Such asituation may be totally counter productive andagainst the spirit of privatisation.

A thorough exercise is warranted by a highlevel policy making body such as the NationalPlanning Commission to work out the natureand scope of PPP including the respective rolesof the government and private sector in everyorganised sector owned and run by thegovernment. Whatever the outcome of suchexercise, full attention must be given tosafeguard the national assets created with lot ofhard work and sacrifice of honest operators.Anything else would be betraying the trust of thepeople.

Considering our past experience in trans-forming government owned enterprises toprivate ownership and management inaccordance with the policy of privatisation, andalso lacking essential in house expertise, the firstthing that may have to be agreed by thelawmakers and bureaucrats is to locate credibleoutside expertise. Also bearing in mind theexorbitant cost of international experts, theirexpertise may be contained within the first stageof the exercise—the right pricing of all govern-ment assets. The second stage of a workabledesign and its execution in the Nepali contextcan be assigned to a team of non-residentNepalis (NRN) with proven expertise andresources to carryout full privatisation or PPP, asthe case may be. Rest would be routine. ä

(Bista is a development economist, works withBoao Forum for Asia in China.)

state of the national flag carrier despite theassertion made to the contrary by its managingdirector. The managing director appears to haveclaimed that the airlines made profit this yearincluding improvement of 8% in passengerservice and 15% in cargo handling.

In most privatisation exercises, thegovernment’s role, except projects requiring

massive investment such as infrastructure, is tocreate an enabling environment for the privatesector to run the enterprises that it got from thegovernment in an efficient manner for thebenefit of the people. The government wouldneed to take the responsibility of looking afterthe consumers’ interest by appropriateregulatory agencies. Nepal’s past experience ofprivatisation of government owned and

operated enterprises such as textile factory,paper factory, and such others, have proved tobe a disaster. National assets were sold at bookvalue prices, without giving due regard tonecessary upward adjustment to market pricesof fixed assets such as land, to selectedbusinesses. Not to mention of the corruptpractices.

The government seems to have focused ononly one of the various objectives ofprivatisation, i.e. to reduce the yearly fiscalburden of loss making enterprises and raisefunds internally to launch social sector develop-ment. Without a proper monitoring and follow upmechanism of the privatised enterprise, andmost of the funding being raised by the private

sector throughgovernment ownedcommercial banks,there was hardly anyneed for the privatesector to be seriousabout its commitment. Itwas the people whosuffered most not onlyfrom high prices of

goods but also scarcity under the private sector.Bansbari leather and shoes factory is a case inpoint although part of the land occupied by thisfactory was later utilised by Gangalal HeartCenter, which has turned out to be a high classhospital in Kathmandu.

In all of the three ministries aforementioned itwould not be surprising if only cosmetic changesare made to the role of government. Even

Full attention must be given to safeguard the national assets created with hard work and sacrifice of honest operators.

Public-private partnership

also qualitatively. The real impact will not be felteven if half of the CA members, for instance,came from Dalit communities alone but did notdo anything to address the key issues of theconcerned group. Indeed, we now have abetter number of ministers and members ofthe parliament but they have not achievedmuch in terms of supporting the issues of theircommunities.

Another serious defect of the currentproportional system is that the way thenominated candidates will be selectedappears rather dodgy. The people will votefor a pool of candidates from different caste/ethnic groups but the final selection will bedone afterwards by the parties. Therefore,

the parties will choose their most faithfulfollowers instead of the true representa-tives who are capable of delivering fortheir groups.

People elected this way will be more likelyto work for the interests of the party ratherthan their communities. Consequently, Dalits,like other marginalised groups, will not gainmuch. Then the whole exercise of propor-tional representation could turn out to befutile in the end.

Nobody should be reminded of the factthat caste based discrimination; particularlyuntouchability is an unrecognised butextreme form of racism. This is a differentform apartheid that contributes to ourbackwardness and hurts our national unity.

In that context, why are the responsiblepeople who claim to be building a new Nepalsimply not bothered about the whole issue?Do the eight parties wish to keep theproblem intact forever? Do they notunderstand that the slogans of Loktantra,republic or democratic republic or freedomfrom feudalism will be meaningless if asignificant chunk of population continues tosuffer from the medieval practice?

This is the time to act. The problems ofDalits should not be ignored just becausethey have not manifested yet in violentforms. A sustainable peace, inclusivedemocracy and progressive future aredependent mainly on resolving thelongstanding historical issues such asuntouchability. ä

Untouchables forever?Then the whole exercise of proportional representation could turn outto be futile in the end.

ä Binod P. Bista

Political corruption and related issuesof protecting and preserving nationalinterests are better left with the politicalparties and the Nepali government ofwhich Maoists are an integral part.

ä Uday Pariyar

9-15 July, 20079Opinion

A very good example is that of thefamous scholar of Zen BuddhismProfessor Dr. D. T. Suzuki. He wasa good practitioner of ZenBuddhism, and had attained a veryhigh level. He wrote many bookson Zen Buddhism which wascrucial in popularising ZenBuddhism in the west. But becausehe had never sat for the Dharma –battles (The Zen system ofinterview) with any of the olderMasters, he never received the titleof Roshi / Zenji / Osho etc. whichare the authentication of hisenlightenment from any of theMasters; he himself never calledhimself an Osho or Zenji or Roshiwhich are all Japanese words.

Zenji means Zen Master, Roshimeans old venerable Master whichis given to a disciple whether he bea lay person or a monk, when hecompletes the training and theMaster is satisfied that he hasattained the final Satori (enlighten-ment). This entitles him to teach. Inthe Rinzai school of Zen the personhas to complete the course byanswering a series of three or fourhundred Koans. Koans arequestions which point directly to thenature of mind and Dharma andthe student has to show that hehas experienced directly what isbeing pointed out by the question.

In essence they are not questionsbut fingers pointing to the Dharmataof all Dharmas (phenomena). Weshall talk more about this later whenwe describe the Zen lineages. For

now, no one is entitled to call himselfRoshi unless he has completed thiscourse and been validated by hisown Master and at least 3-4 othermasters. The word Osho is also aJapanese word which is given to aMaster who is a monk. It is made upof two Chinese ideographs which ispronounced as Hwa Shang inChinese, and in Japanese thepronunciation varies with theparticular lineage.

The Zen and Pureland Schoolspronounce those two ideographsas Osho, while the Tendai schoolpronounces those same ideo-graphs as Kasho and in theShingon School (JapaneseVajrayana) it is pronounced asWajo; and they originate from theSanskrit Upadhyaya (PaliUpajjaya) which means 'Master' inthe sense of teacher. A laymancannot be an Osho / Upadhyaya.

The meaning of Osho does notmean ‘to be one with or disap-pear in the ocean’ or one whohas attained Bhagvatta uponwhom the sky showers flowers orocean of wisdom as some non-Buddhists with very little knowl-edge of Buddhism have posited;but means the teacher who is anold monk specially. Now goingback to the example of ProfessorDr. Suzuki, even though he wasalready enlightened, according tomany Zen Masters, since he wasnever authenticated by any of theolder Masters, he never calledhimself a Zen Master. Even thoughhe wrote many books on Zen; henever took on students to guidethem on the path.

This is the spirit of genuineBuddhism. It is a true display ofthe authentic experience ofAnatma (Japanese Muga). Andthis is a genuine Buddhist culture,a culture based on modesty (Hri -Apatrapya) and no-self (Anatma).

(To be continued.)(Sridhar Rinpoche is a Vajrayana Master.)

The need of cleaner production (CP)practices is escalating in Nepal. Evenif industrialisation in Nepal is sluggish,the need of cleaner production is sovital due to the low income state andhigher risk situation of the industriesand workers. Cleaner production isnot just an environmental initiative.One of its most basic premises is thatit improves efficiency and productivityfor industry.

These improvements are seen inlower expenditure on resources suchas energy and water, increasedefficiency in production, fewer risksassociated with environmentalimpacts, and decreased wastegeneration that leads to savings inlandfill fees and pollution licenses.

Incorporation of cleaner production

practices also leads to greateremployee involvement in, andcommitment to the productionprocess that often leads to higherquality product. Industries have to beenforced to take cleaner productionprinciples into prior consideration forsustainable industrialisation.

The concept of cleaner productionwas introduced by UNEP (UnitedNations Environment Program)Industry and Environment in 1989. Itis the continuous application of anintegrated preventive environmentalstrategy applied to processes,products and services to increaseeco-efficiency and reduce risks forhumans and the environment.

Cleaner production requireschanging attitudes responsible forenvironmental management creatingconducive national policy environ-ments and evaluating technologyoptions. It essentially is applied in theprocess of production, products andservices. Other environmentalpreventive approaches, such as eco-efficiency and pollution preventionserve similar goals.

CP endeavors at making more

efficient use of natural resources (rawmaterials, water and energy) andreducing the generation of wastesand emission at the sources. It isquite a wide area which can beapplied almost in every sector whichhas potential for any environmentalimpact. Its application can range fromhouseholds, vehicles to industries ofany kind.

According to EPA (EnvironmentalProtection Agency) and UNEP, thereare five major prevention practices inthe principle of cleaner production:product modification, technologymodification, input substitution, goodhousekeeping and site recycling.Product modifications change the

product characteristics, such asshape and material composition.

Technology modifications includefor instance improved processautomation, process optimisation,equipment redesign and processsubstitution. Input substitution refersto the use of less polluting raw andadjunct materials and the use ofprocess auxiliaries with a longerservice lifetime.

Good housekeeping refers tochanges in operational proceduresand management in order toeliminate waste and emissiongeneration such as spill prevention,etc. On-site recycling refers to theuseful application of waste materialsor pollutants at the company wherethese have been generated.

CP is one of the strongest tools forthe path of sustainable development.It is the best integration of businessand the environmental improvementat the best pace. Its scope remainsmainly to prevent and reduce wastegeneration at the source instead oftreating it at the end of the pipe andthus increasing efficiency andproductivity and reducing costs andrisks to humans as well as theenvironment. By eliminating orreducing waste at the source,economic development can continueto occur, but in a more environmen-tally sustainable manner.

Some of the intrinsic concepts inCP that directly support sustainabledevelopment include: reduction ofwaste at source and reducing the useof raw materials as a more sustain-able practice for the Earth’s limitedresources; pollution prevention, whichcovers the environmental portion ofthe triple bottom line; greater degreeof partnerships and communicationwith local governments and communi-ties to ensure local participation andencourage equity; return oninvestment calculations that help theeconomy and the environment.

In this way CP not only protects theenvironment and human health, butalso improves the economic efficiency,competitiveness and profitability ofenterprises. ä

Eco-friendlyproduction

A layman cannot be an Osho /Upadhyaya.

MarshlandFlowersä Acharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana Rinpoche

Cleaner productionis one of the stron-gest tools for thepath of sustainabledevelopment.

ä Madhav Thakur

9-15 July, 200710 From the Region

Pakistan President Pervez Musharrafon Saturday asked the cleric of thecapital’s Lal Masjid and the militantstudents holed up inside the mosqueto surrender unconditionally or facedeath. But he did not give any deadlinefor the surrender, giving the impres-sion that the Government is no hurryand still hopes to pressure those insideto come out without using force.

In his first public comments aboutthe five-day stand-off between themilitants and security forces at themosque that has claimed at least 19lives, Gen. Musharraf said themilitants had brought a bad name toboth Islam and Pakistan.

“They must surrender, or they willbe killed,” he said, adding that the

Government had exercised greatrestraint in handling the situationbecause of the presence of womenand children inside.

“We have the power and resourcesto deal with them. I request them tosurrender unconditionally,” he said.

He was speaking near Turbat inBalochistan where he has gone toinspect flood-affected areas.

The official death toll in the stand-off is 19, but Adbul Rashid Ghazi, thedefiant cleric who is leading themilitant students, told local televisionover telephone that 70 students hadbeen killed.

He said 30 of them were women,and they had been buried on themosque premises. Journalists, who

Seven ‘new’ wonders of the world includingthe Great Wall of China and the Colosseumin Rome were selected by nearly 100 millionInternet and telephone voters overnightupsetting cultural experts.

The other wonders named were the TajMahal in India, the centuries-old pink ruinsof Petra in Jordan, the statue of Christ theRedeemer in Rio de Janeiro, the Incan ruinsof Machu Picchu in Peru, and the ancientMayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico.

British actor Ben Kingsley and US actressHillary Swank hosted the celebrity-studdedceremony at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light,which was broadcast in more than 170countries to an estimated 1.6 billion viewers.

A private Swiss foundation launched thecontest in January, allowing voters to choosebetween 21 sites short-listed from 77selected by a jury.

It said it had gathered nearly 100 millionvotes by the end of polling at midnightFriday.

Losing out among the frontrunners on theshort-listed sites were the Acropolis inAthens, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the statueson Easter Island, and Britain’s Stonehenge.

The privately-sponsored campaign wasthe brainchild of Swiss filmmaker andmuseum curator Bernard Weber.

However, the UN cultural body thatdesignates world heritage sites declined tosupport the event.

“The list of the seven new wonders will bethe result of a private initiative which cannotcontribute in any significant or lasting way tothe preservation of the elected sites,” theParis-based UNESCO said in a statementlast month.

The initiative sought to recreate thepopularity of the seven wonders of the worldof antiquity. Only one of the seven, the

Pyramids of Egypt, still stands today — and itwas ruled out of the contest.

The others were: the Hanging Gardens ofBabylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, theTemple of Artemis at Ephesus in Asia Minor, theMausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus ofRhodes, and the Pharos of Alexandria.

The shortlist of 21 was drawn up by a panelof world renowned architects and ex-UNESCOchief Federico Mayor in January last year.

They also included the Angkor Wat temples inCambodia; the Alhambra in Granada, Spain; theHagia Sophia in Istanbul; the Kiyomizu Temple inJapan; the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow;Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany;New York’s Statue of Liberty; Sydney OperaHouse and the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali.

Saturday’s ceremony was attended by amyriad of stars and celebrities including formerastronaut Neil Armstrong, actress and singerJennifer Lopez, and Portuguese Prime MinisterJose Socrates.

“It is the first time in history that all the citizensof the world have been able to vote and decide,”

declared Diogo Freitas do Amaral, chairman ofthe organizing committee.

In China, the televised event was notbroadcast, leaving thousands of tourists at theGreat Wall unaware of the new designation.

“As usual there are a lot of tourists heretoday, but I don’t think they came here becausethe Great Wall was chosen as one of the sevenwonders of the world,” Hu Yang, an official atthe Badaling Great Wall near Beijing, told AFPby telephone.

“There was no special activity to welcome this... all the same it is a great honour for all ofChina.”

“Most of us here (at Badaling) voted for theGreat Wall, but I have no idea how manyChinese voted overall,” Hu added.

Indians handed out sweets and set offfireworks outside the Taj Mahal to celebrate itsinclusion in the list and promised discounts totourists.

Hundreds thronged the 17th centurymonument built by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan inmemory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

“It’s a victory of love, the message whichthe Taj stands for,” said Rakesh Chauhan,president of the Agra Hotel and RestaurantAssociation, announcing a 20 percent cut inroom rates in the town’s budget hotels forthe next year.

In Peru, hundreds gathered at 2,430meters (7,970 feet) to greet the announce-ment that the ruins of Machu Picchu wherethey were standing had been voted one ofthe “new” wonders of the world.

Thousands more cheered and huggedeach other in Cusco, 70 kilometers (44miles) to the southeast of the ruins aftercafe and restaurant televisions beamed theresult.

“The selection of Machu Picchu is anexample of what Peruvians can achievewhen we unite” as they did in voting in favorof “the new marvel,” Trade and TourismMinister Mercedes Araoz told reportersafter the announcement.

Thousands also cheered, waved flagsand broke into Mayan dances at thearchaeological ruins on Mexico’s Yucatan,when Chichen Itza became one of theseven “new” wonders of the world.

“Chichen, Chichen, ra, ra, ra,” chanted agroup of Mexicans in white flowing robes atthe foot of the Kukulkan (The Castle), thecentral pyramid that dominates the ruinsand was built 967-987.

The Mayan ruins attract more than onemillion tourists a year.

In Rio de Janeiro which hosted one ofthe Live Earth concerts hundreds ofthousands of singing and dancing revelersbroke into huge applause as they were toldthat the city’s landmark Christ the Re-deemer statue had been included amongthe new wonders of the world.

(The Turkish Press)

Seven ‘new’ Wonders of the World named

'Surrender or face death'

have had no access to the areaaround the mosque from the dayafter the confrontation began, werepushed back further this morning bysecurity forces, and have no meansof independently verifying thesituation on the ground.

On the fifth day of the stand-off,gunfire and heavy explosions couldbe heard from the mosque andtelevision channels were reportingthat the walls around Lal Masjid hadbeen demolished.

Both the Army and paramilitariesare involved in the crackdown on themasjid. A curfew still remains in placein the entire residential and commer-cial sector around the mosque.

(The Hindu)

Afghan elders Saturday said 108civilians had been killed in abombing campaign in westernAfghanistan, while villagers in thenortheast said 25 Afghans haddied in air strikes, including somekilled while burying relatives.

U.S. and NATO leaders,however, said they had nosubstantiating information, and aU.S. official said Taliban fighterswere forcing villagers to saycivilians died in fighting whether ornot it was true. Even the govern-ment officials who reported thedeaths Saturday could not confirmthe assertions, which came fromdangerous and remote regionsinaccessible to journalists andindependent researchers.

The reports and denials ofcivilian casualties are part of anincreasing campaign of informa-tion warfare between the Talibanand Western militaries. “It is a veryproblematic information environ-ment,” said Adrian Edwards, theU.N. spokesman in Afghanistan.

He said the reliability ofgovernment reports was crucial toaddressing the problem of civiliancasualties. The United Nationsalso has not been able to confirmthe latest casualty assertions.

“If figures are coming up quickly,it’s my sense that they probablyneed to be taken with a pinch ofsalt,” Edwards said. “But it alsodoesn’t help if it’s two or threeweeks before the information

Afghan war’s tollrises or does it?

comes out.” Civilian deaths are aproblem that Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai has repeatedlydeplored, and they have causedincreasing concern in Europeancapitals, threatening to derail theNATO mission here.

Lt. Col. Rob Pollack, an officerat the main U.S. base in Bagram,said Taliban militants had beentold to fight in civilian areasbecause civilian deaths caused bythe U.S. or NATO give the fightersa propaganda victory. “In thesouth, villagers are being told bythe Taliban that if they do not callin and report civilian casualties,they will be punished,” saidPollack, who said payments to thefamilies of Afghans killed orwounded in fighting could also befueling the reports.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, saying hespeaks for the Taliban, said therewas “no need” to use civilianhomes during fighting. He deniedthat militants were forcing villagersto inflate reports of casualties.

(philly.com)

119-15 July 2007Art & Society

ä Sushma Amatya

Insight

PM Koirala’s recent declaration in the parliament that fossils should leavethis country came as a strong reminder of the fascism that was aharbinger of inhuman atrocities against the mankind during the SecondWorld War. It brought to mind the dark pictures of the flight of Jews fromGermany and the grisly murders of those who did not. It is indeed veryshocking that a man who holds such an important and responsibleposition should make such an irresponsible statement that borders onshortsightedness and immaturity if not sheer stupidity.

Be they fossils, seeds or saplings, Nepal is the home, the motherlandof all Nepalis and nobody has the right to force them out of their country.Is the remark not symbolic of his perhaps misplaced notion of creating anew Nepal that is akin to Hitler’s hallucination of a ‘pure’ Aryan country?By forcing out ‘fossils’ is he trying to allude that, only those who agreewith his notion of the kind of people this country today should compriseof, should stay and dissenting factors should flee or face dire conse-quences?

It is but obvious that in a democratic country, all the people regardlessof their background, status, ideology and all that go to create individualshave all the right to live in their country and have a right to occupy theirown space within the parameters of the law of the country.

Nobody has the right to push them out. If the PM was targeting atthose who have violated the democratic norms of the country, even so itis an extremely discriminating statement. Those violating the law of thecountry should be tried in a court of law. The act of the country’s ChiefExecutive Officer reading out the punishment without such a processbeing adopted, only smacks of authoritarianism, to say the least. Nobodycan be asked to expel themselves from their place of birth in the mannerKoirala has done.

If Koirala wants to create a clean slate for ‘new Nepal’, then he has tobegin with himself asa role-model, as theleader of the country.He has to reflect onhis journey, hisgrowth as a politicalpersona, themistakes he madeand how much heshould be account-able for it. Iftomorrow, another leader, another government deems that his pastdeeds befits expulsion from the country, would he agree that it is fair onhim? Would he accept it?

The architect of today’s Nepal, Prithvi Narayan Shah united thecountry with his concept of one garden for all different kinds of flowers;signifying unity in diversity. Much later, the Congress leader, BP Koiralawho fought for democracy wrote a book called, Hitler and Jews in whichhe showed deep empathy towards the Jews. His writings show hisstance against repression, inhumanity and tyranny.

It is unfortunate that G P Koirala, BP’s younger brother and someonewho now has become the custodian of that legacy, chose to saysomething that reflects Hitler’s view. It is about time Nepali Congressdecided whose legacy it should be carrying forward.

Attempts to wipe out disagreeable, dissenting factors has only resultedin further strife as history shows all around the world. Such an intentionas shown by GP Koirala signifies an attitude of dictatorship, repression ofall opposition in all forms that only autocratic rulers are threatened by.The question arises if he has the recent Pakistani or Bangladeshi modelin mind; where the authoritarian takeover has tried to oust its politicalrivals—with some degree of success—ostensibly under corruptioncharges.

A truly democratic leader would set an example for others to follow byshowing respect to all diversity, opinion and philosophy and create asystem in which all species of plants, animals and humans could thrive in.Nepal today needs such a leader, not a tyrant in the making.

Fumigatefossils?

I think my son might be intodrugs. I feel very depressedand frustrated. Please advice.

ä Mrs. Kayastha, Kathmandu

Firstly, it is important to confirmwhether your son is into drugs ornot. If he is, he would not befollowing any type of routine orfulfilling responsibilities of any kind.He would be losing weight,behaving abnormally, sleeping andeating too much or too little; andasking for money periodically forvarious reasons. He would beavoiding any communication,confrontation with his familymembers. Other signs areaggressiveness, violent behaviour;losing temper for minor reasonsand negative thinking.

If confirmed that he is an addict,your son needs treatment. If lefton his own, it would cause seriousnegative consequences to your lifeand other family members.Parents of such drug addictssuffer the most when they watchtheir children get lost in thedestructive world of addiction.

You may try to reason with him,threaten him and try all means toget him to see sense but becauseof addiction he will not be able toquit. The more he gets into it, themore you will feel helpless and

hopeless. To watch someone dear toyou kill himself is extremely painful.

Getting professional help is the onlyway to help your son. To cureaddiction, finding underlying problemsin your son’s life is important whichcould be pain, boredom, discomfort,problems, peer pressure etc. Onceyou understand addiction, it will beeasier for you to understand why ithappens and you will stop blamingyourself for it. And only throughexperienced professional treatmentcan he be able to quit drugs and stayaway from it, all his life. Without it, hewill continue to go downhill and live ameaningless, miserable life.

That addiction of drugs and alcoholcan be treated with ‘magic pill’ theoryor with some quick fixes is absolutelyuntrue. There is no easy way out ofthis problem. And never take it forgranted that there is time to deal withthe problem. The longer you wait, theworse the addiction gets. Otherdangers that accompany facingaddicts are that they could overdose,take a bad batch of drugs that couldpermanently damage their system,get arrested, cause an accident oreven die.

After starting treatment, there will beattempts on his part to quit or runaway. He may even stop using drugsfor a while and convince you that hecan do it on his own but inevitably, he

will start again. He can be veryconvincing of his commitment etc.and succeed in making you believein what he says. So you have to bealert to these possibilities.

Helping an addict confront andsolve his deep lying problemsrequires giving him moralguidance in a systematic,professional way. This will helphim deal with negative situationsthat are left behind from hisaddictive lifestyle. Understandingand accepting this means half thebattle is already won. Then he willbe taught how to repair thedamages done to his relationshipsand improve his quality of life bybeing stable, drug free, ethicaland productive.

Please remember that yourlove for your son should not be ahindrance but a force to help himtake the right path. You are notalone in this battle. Everybodywho has an addict in their familygo through what you are goingthrough. The key factor to reclaimyour happiness is to recognise theaddiction of your son, take him forrehabilitation, educate yourself asyou go along, continue to supporthim through various stages and atthe same time seek councellingfor yourself to survive wellthrough this phase.

No easy way out of addictionCounseling by drug therapist, Ragina Shah

Be they fossils, seeds or saplings,Nepal is the motherland of allNepalis and nobody has the right toforce them out of their country.

If Koirala wants to cre-ate a clean slate for‘new Nepal’, then he hasto begin with himself asa role-model, as theleader of the country.

So many forgotten gods and tribesSo many hardened ritual sitesthe skeletons of so many storiesall waiting to be re-fleshed by meall waiting to be awakened with a kisslike a sleeping beauty — Grace-Nicholas, Startling the Flying Fish

Very rarely reviewers review books tolearn lessons to reshape their owncreativity. Reviewing falls under themurky shadow of criticism and hence,the third person authority of a critic /dictator is automatically taken forgranted.

I received Jean Binta Breeze’s TheFifth Figure (Bloodaxe Books, 2006)and Grace Nichols’ Startling the FlyingFish (Virago, 2005); which KadijaGeorge, my friend and editor ofLondon-based magazine, Sable,advised me to explore and find what Icould possibly learn from these books.

I was certainly inquisitive how thesepoets with their roots in the Carib-bean would handle their subjects. Idiscovered if Breeze had a flood ofmemory materials to pour withoutmaking it consistently readable,Nicholas did not have much to makethe ‘epic’ poem that at the first sight itmight seem to be.

Though both the poets embarkupon the massive task of evoking theforgotten spirits of landscape and the

people of their distant homeland andemploy native materials to astoundtheir primarily Western readers, theresults are seldom above common-place and tolerably middling.

Nicholas dabbles with the stereo-types instead of dealing with real lifematerials. In the beginning of thismillennium, the poem’s Eliotic structureappears mundane, programmed andout of place. Poem after poem shekeeps evoking natural elements inabstractions and materials from Aztec,Inca, Indian and Greek myths withouta deeper understanding of theirimplications in her context. Forexample, look at her use of Hindu god,Hanuman in her long poem:

Come, Hanuman, only your manyarms can help console this manstill waving to an empty sky the whiteflag of his handkerchief.

Firstly, the reference to Hindumonkey god Hanuman is incorrect.She refers to the Hanuman withmany arms. In the scriptures it isgoddess Kali that Nicolas employselsewhere, who has many arms andnot Hanuman. Hanuman is aHerculean god with a colossal bodybut has only two arms throughout theHindu epic, The Ramayana.Furthermore, the reference toHanuman here appears veryinappropriate, unnecessary, andartificial, borrowed without anyingenious textual demand. It is anembellishment and the whole book isa catalogue of such uncalled forembellishments. To evoke what she

calls ‘the tributaries of my blood’,page after page Nicholas continues toquote Aphrodite, Odysseus,Cassandra, Persephone, Columbus,El Dorado, Kai, Zeus and scores ofother mythological stereotypes,instead of concentrating on the reallife subjects emanating from the livesof people and places in the Carib-bean. Nicholas could not ‘re-flesh’ herworld, ‘all waiting to be awakenedwith a kiss /like sleeping beauty.’

In the treatment of her subject,Breeze does just the opposite. Eventhough she does bring forth to herreaders raw and unsullied feel of thespeech and the landscape, bringingforth five generations of the Caribbeanand black British women of mixedancestry, she fails to keep it alive andreadable throughout the book. Itbecomes almost impossible to plodthrough the chapters of her narrative,this “part novel, part poem, part familymemoir” experiment. It certainlyprovides a slice of life feel and seems amaterial suitable for stage performanceas opposed to Nicholas’ narrative. But itdemands a lot of devotion and almostHanuman style loyalty on the part ofreaders to go through these simple butlife pulsating accounts.

Did I learn anything from thesebooks? Yes, I would say. I learnt howdifficult it is to weave the delicatethreads of narratives dealing withforgotten, actual or imaginaryhomelands. How intriguing it is toevoke the lives of the generations lostto darkness of the dark seas.

(The writer can be reached atwriter@yuyutsu.de)

Weaving delicate threads

ä Yuyutsu RD Sharma

9-15 July, 200712 Obituary

ä Yubaraj Ghimire

India’s former Prime Minister ChandraShekhar was a unique leader who wasfeared, respected and trusted by his friendsand foes alike, but not followed by too many.That was the political tragedy he faced untilhis death on July 8 at Delhi’s ApolloHospital, aged 80, after a prolonged battlewith cancer. He will surely be missed inIndia, and no less in Nepal, for the role heplayed in restoration of democracy here in1990-91.

What made him stand above most of hiscontemporary politics was his refusal tocompromise on values he held dear, whichsometimes reflected a lot of contradictions.He joined politics as a young post graduatestudent from Allahabad University in theearly 50s under instruction of his mentor,Acharya Narendra Dev, a doyen of Indiansocialist movement. But in 60s, that followeddithering of the socialist party, he joined theCongress party, where he carved a placefor socialist ideals. It was here he gotnational prominence, his speech fiery and

always refusing to act with servility to leaders likeIndira Gandhi.

He ignored her wish to have him in theworking committee of the party as a nominatedmember. But he always preferred to face partyelectorate and get elected on their strength. In1975, he was faced with a difficult choice. IndiraGandhi who was gradually moving in as anauthoritarian, sent I K Gujaral as an emissary tohim with an offer to join the cabinet with anyportfolio of his choice. But Shekhar said franklythat he would be siding with JayaprakashNarayan who was leading a movement against

authoritarianism.The next morning, Shekhar

found himself in jail with otherpoliticians, a price that he paid forhis value, but his personal relation-ship with Indira Gandhi remainedeven after they parted ways and he

became the president of the Janata party whichfor the first time in a quarter of a century haddislodged Congress from power in 1977.

He was the only one who became India’sPrime Minister without holding any ministerialposition. His stint with the support from RajivGandhi led Congress party however was cutshort to just seven months, with his refusal toaccept ‘interference’ from the supporting party.

Shekhar remained close to the people andwas always available to help anyone in need,friends and foes alike. Humble and without anyairs, he was strong in his political commitments.

Politician with human faceWhenever he rose to speak in the parlia-ment, a pin drop silence would inevitablyfollow. From Speaker to Prime Minister, allused to come under the fury of his criticism,but without a shred of personal pettiness.He would often get a ‘chit’ from theSecretary General to speak, and time wasnever a ‘bar’ for him on issues of nationalimportance.

His association with Nepal and itsdemocratic movement began way back in60s. He always shared his thoughtsprivately with those he trusted and hethought that B P Koirala in a way wasresponsible why democracy came so late inNepal. Chandra Shekhar had advised BPmany times to work together with thecommunists, but to no avail. What BP keptignoring throughout his life, Ganesh ManSingh did it in 1990. Shekhar was quiteunhappy with the way Nepali politicians,especially his friend G P Koirala conductedthemselves afterwards.

It was Chandra Shekhar who ignited themovement for democracy here through hisdirect involvement. In his demise, Nepal haslost a sincere friend, and India a rarepolitician whose house at 3-South AvenueLane used to be a hub for all politicians andpeople from all background. It is truly a bigloss for the Indian parliament which saw himin its first row for years, dignified, in speechand in silence. ä

It was Chandra Shekhar whoignited the movement fordemocracy here through hisdirect involvement.