Nepal’s Chief Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokharel on Tuesday warned that holding Constituent Assembly elections would be impossible if there is no improvement in the security situation.

Speaking at a discussion organised by the Parliamentary Special Committee for Constituent Assembly Elections Monitoring on Tuesday, Pokharel expressed great concern about the deteriorating law and order situation in Nepal particularly in the Terai region.

Due to the deteriorating law and order problem, the EC could not start the voters’ education programmes and establish election offices in the 75 districts.

There are 17.6 million voters in Nepal and the EC has plans to set up over 18,000 polling and sub-polling stations across the country.

The EC is concerned about the law and order problem in the districts of Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha, Sarlahi, Morang, Mahottari, Rautahat, Bara and Parsa in the terai region.

Claiming that the EC has been working on a war footing on the technical aspects of the election, the CEC urged the parties, the interim parliament and the government to create a favourable situation to ensure that the polls don’t get delayed.

Earlier, the elections were scheduled to be held on June 20. However, the election could not be held as the EC, which was defunct for a long time, failed to complete the preparations.

The EC has sought help from national and international observers to monitor the elections. It has also asked the foreign embassies in Kathmandu and Nepalese embassies abroad to send neutral observers to ensure free and fair elections.

Officials of the US-based Carter Centre are already engaged in electoral reforms process in all districts. A team from the European Union has arrived in Nepal and would start working after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the EC soon.

The EC will notify names of the recognised political parties within the month of July, Pokharel said. To ensure foolproof security, the CEC and other senior officials of the EC also had meetings with the chiefs of all the security agencies.

STATE OF THE STATE by C.K.Lal
My patriotism is purer than yours It’s flag-waving time, and the Olympics is as good time as any to take a long, hard look at patriotism.

People in power everywhere like to play on patriotism. In this game, allegiance to the symbol of power is flaunted by players and spectators alike. In Nepal, if you do not wave the flag in a particular way you are a traitor.

There are those here who believe that Nationalism is an end in itself. No matter that we don’t have much to show for ourselves as a nation, and immigration officers around the world treat us with naked contempt. Doesn’t matter, we tell ourselves, we’re proud to be Nepalis. Anyone who asks: “Excuse me, but what is there to be proud of?” is immediately declared a ‘non-nationalist’ (during the Panchayat days, the chosen adjective was ‘anti-national’) by the self-appointed guardians of nationalism. Someone once said: “Patriotism is love of one’s country, nationalism is hatred of all others.” What exactly constitutes Nepali nationalism? Nepal is a sovereign country, but it’s yet to become an integrated nation, as B.P. Koirala once admitted. The process of creation of a real composite national identity really started only in 1990, when the new Constitution of The Kingdom of Nepal was promulgated, and sovereignty was for the first time vested in the Nepali people. Prior to that, what we had in the name of nationalism was servitude to hereditary rulers. Nepal’s present territorial contour resulted from the clash of two ambitious powers in the eighteenth and nineteenth century when the gunpowder of British India prevailed over the khukri of the House of Gorkha. Nepal promptly became a pawn in the Great Game. National unification was a rosy simplification of history airbrushed by latter-day court-historians. Gorkha rulers fought fierce and often bloody battles to annex territories. Prithvi Narayan Shah shifted his base from an impoverished Gorkha to a safer and more prosperous Kathmandu. Like any other invader, he expropriated the resources of conquered fiefdoms and distributed them among his nobles, some of whose descendants helped create the myth of unification. From the time of King Prithvi Narayan Shah till the overthrow of Ranas in 1951, Nepali nationalism had only one dimension—blind loyalty to the Crown, whether worn by the Shah kings, or the Rana prime ministers. You owed your life and livelihood to the Maharaja(dhiraj), and you were duty bound to be loyal to him, his kith and kin, and the superior officers appointed by him. King Mahendra discovered the usefulness of devotion once again when he assumed absolute powers through his royal coup in the winter of 1960. The chant once more put ruler above country. There are still some in Nepal today for whom this sequence still holds true. In an apparent extension of Mao’s dictum that religion is the opiate of the masses, King Mahendra turned Nepali nationalism into an even stronger sedative: it kept democratic aspirations of the people asleep for three decades. The problem arises because the very idea of nationalism is vacuous. Any ruler who has used its hollow slogans will tell you that. Historically, nationalism has always been the favourite riding horse of tyrants and tin-pot dictators through the ages. “Nazi”, after all, comes from the German word “Nationalsozialist”. Even democratic countries like India and Sri Lanka often whip up nationalistic fervour to silence subordinate minorities. In his oft-quoted book From Empire to Nation, Rupert Emerson argues that inhabitants of a country must “feel that they belong together in the double sense that they share deeply significant elements of a common heritage and that they have a common destiny for future”. When such a sense of belonging does not exist, as in the case of Nepal, a common destiny needs to be fashioned as an ideal, and it should not be one based on an imagined past. The creation of such an identity is an accommodative process, it cannot be based on exclusivity for “us”, and prejudice against “them”. Politics of identity is a dangerous game that can lead straight into the pit of civic strife. Instead of fabricating a past out of falsehood, it makes more sense to concentrate on the shared vision of a common future. Rather than flaunt one’s ethnic purity a la George Speight, it’s much safer to swear by a shared symbol of national unity such as our present Constitution.

Prithvi Narayan Shah made Nepal in the way he knew—by his sword. We must create a modern Nepal by methods more suited to our times: by fashioning a mosaic made of all ethnic aspirations. It is not a game to be played by desperately frustrated elements.

Let the likes of Janardan Acharya and Daman Nath Dhungana take a walk with their imagined fears of “Fiji-isation” of Nepal. Not only do they forget that quite a few of the “Indians” attacked by Speight’s mobs were Fijian Nepalis, but they make the dangerous mistake of exaggerating an outside demographic threat to be seen as nationalists. As the popular Nepali proverb goes: the ghosts of the mind are scarier than those in the darkness. Fears need to be overcome, not feared.

The clamber into the hills from the plains below is as old as history. The Mahabharata mentions the Kirat Kings of the Himalayas, and Emperor Ashoka trekked to the birthplace of the Buddha and erected a pillar on the spot. Adi Shankara is believed to have set the tradition that only Keralites Brahmans of a certain sect could be eligible for priesthood in the holy shrine of Pashupatinath. Raja Harisingh, the Tirhut king of Karnataka origin, fled to Kathmandu valley upon pursuit by the invading Muslim army and founded a culture that continues to give the valley its distinctive identity. But all these visitors didn’t come in hordes, and were easily assimilated into the local population. The early 20th century clearing of the Tarai forests by the nobles of Kathmandu valley, and an almost simultaneous famine in the neighboring states of Bengal, Bihar and Awadh, forced many Indians to choose a life of considerable difficulty in the plains of Nepal. Over time, they came to be known as Madhesis – people of the Madhes. Never a term of endearment, Madhesi has degenerated into a label of scorn, and can mean anything from being devious, dirty, cruel, uncouth or – a plain Indian.

Not Man, a Madhesi

Old-timers insist that there is no exaggeration to the following anecdote, and that it is based on real life. In the days when there were no toilets, the ladies of noble families also visited the banks of Bagamati to attend to the calls of nature. Some of them had servants. These servants were instructed to shout ‘Man’ to save the ladies the embarrassment of exposed derriËres. On one misty winter morning, a servant could not recognize a Madhesi and did the shouting as per the instructions. The lady sat up, threw a glance towards the intruder, and resumed her business nonchalantly. The ignorant servant was duly reprimanded, “Didn’t you see? He was a Madhesi, not a man.” Ladies go to toilet nowadays, but this attitude has not changed much.

Handy Goblin

In the Hindi blockbuster of all times, Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay,’ a mother would instill the fear of Gabbar in her child if it wept at night. The goblin evoked in the Valley of Gods is handier – mothers here simply have to mention a Madhesi, pronounced Madishe. The symbol so taken is often a poor little Bihari with a jute sack on his shoulders, calling from house to house collecting empty beer bottles and old newspapers. Braving the stray dogs, abusive natives, resentful street children and a less than tolerant police force, these hapless scavengers provide a service without which Kathmandu would become one huge refuse dump. Nobody is grateful. The government has already levied a tax on their cargo, and there is clamor for more levies on them.

Onion, Potato and Tomato

Until Biharis came with their cycles, street vendors were almost unknown in the Valley. These days, one can buy anything from carpets to cosmetics, fruits and vegetables, utensils, toys and tin-food from these very enterprising salesmen from across the border. Their Nepali is a joy to hear and lends itself so well to caricature that Nepal Television cannot produce a single soap without them. They do not take offense if haggled with rudely. Even their merchandise compares well in price and quality with the those in the burgeoning departmental stores in Kathmandu. And what do they get in return? Eight to ten people lodging in dingy basements, abuses from anyone with an urge to vent his or her anger, and a small profit at the end of the day to money-order back home to Laloodom.

Moneyed Marwaris

There was a time when Marwaris were respected as sahujees. No more. These days, they are depicted more as practitioners of unfair trade practices. They are assumed to be harmful for the nation’s economy, in spite of being one of the largest private sector employers and the largest tax-paying community. If a local smuggler is caught sneaking in goodies, he is dismissed as a misguided person. To turn him into an object of sympathy, associate his name with any manipulative Marwari – real or fictional. The clamor of blood would be astounding. This, despite the fact that no big-time Marwari runs his show entirely on his own – the norm, rather than the exception, is to have a local noble as a sleeping partner, often with a controlling interest. Many Marwaris insist that people of their community who arrived from Burma in the 1970’s cheated the government and gave them a bad name. Be that as it may, the fact is that they have become minor players in foodstuff and textiles, lucrative trades that they had dominated for years.

Competitive Craftsmen

Plumbers from Udisa, electricians from UP, carpenters from Bihar, bricklayers from Bengal – one can’t build a house without them these days in Kathmandu. Contractors love them – they work longer hours for lower payment. Owners like them too – they hardly need any holidays. But the traditional craftsmen from Kirtipur and Madhyapur are not happy about these aliens who have undercut them out of the market. Hence a call for their ouster can arouse frenzy. At middle class dinner tables, much concern is shown about Indian domination of the Nepalese labor market, but come daylight, these bleeding hearts go to Kopundole, Baneshwar or Kalimati and hire an Indian hand at nearly half the going rate of a comparable Nepali laborer. Free-market and jingoism survive cheek-by-jowl without any contradiction.

Labor and Religion

Even Nepali employers do not like local laborers. Apart from being too easygoing, they are often considered to be potential troublemakers. They prefer Madhesis instead, whose lower salaries, longer working hours and lack of rights to organize make them attractive. This has resulted in a situation where almost all garment workers are Indian. Indian dyers man the Nepali carpet industry and till yesterday, nearly all machine-men were Bengali. A large number of these immigrants are Muslims who take up the whole thoroughfare in front of the Royal Palace for Jumma Nawaz. It does not help the flow of traffic that Fridays are half working days. The Kashi, Kashmir, Ajab, Nepal attraction for the Indian tourists is gone. Earlier they were amazed to see a more beautiful valley than Kashmir peopled by more devout Hindus than in Benares. These days, Muradabadi Muslims dominate the brass-ware market and Kashmiri Muslims enjoy a near monopoly in high-end handicrafts sales. Once again, a case of Hindu Shangri-la gone sour in the only Hindu Kingdom of the world.

Identity Crisis

Having nothing to differentiate them from their temporary immigrant brothers, Madhesis who have made Nepal their home find themselves at the receiving end of much misplaced scorn. Consider the Nepali proverb that a dead Madhesi more cunning than a living Nepali; picture a Pahariya Bahun with his Yadav compatriot from the plains, and one might have to turn the old adage on its head. Any Madhesi is suspect in the valley. They have to keep proving their allegiance to the country, very much like Hindus in Sri Lanka and Muslims in India. This is ironic in a way, because Madhesis have less dependence on India than many Pahariyas who have, for generations, been saluting the tricolor for their livelihood. Madhesis pretend to support Pakistani players in Indo-Pakistan cricket matches to impress their friends, but go home and weep in silence over India’s defeat. This would be hilarious if it weren’t so pathetic. If not for themselves, the Indian team should get into the habit of winning every now and then to keep the morale of the Diaspora high.

Nepal has India’s largest diplomatic establishment in the world, barring England, with whom they have an altogether different kind of relationship. What this diplomatic corps does to keep employed is a mystery. The Hindi term for a country bumpkin is “Vadheshi.” One thing is for sure, these diplomats do not stoop low enough to associate with local Madhesis – no matter whether resident or immigrant.

(CK Lal is a prolific columnist)

We Stand

The unrepentant state

The unrepentant state

Trying to establish an ‘armed peace’ in the madhes will prove disastrous

– CK Lal

Earlier this week, the council of ministers directed the Home Ministry to take “all possible measures” to check the ongoing violence in the tarai. The Maoist spokesperson of eight-party government, Information Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, says the decision is meant to improve the country’s overall security situation.

The Maoists have reason to be worried. The YCL’s extortion of a hapless poplace by violent methods was being met with retaliation in kind throughout the tarai. Alarmed, the YCL’s Maoist mentors convinced their cabinet colleagues the threat to peace came not from young communists but madhesi renegades. Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, seen as a Maoist fellow-traveller, agreed.

In the coming days, the Maoist militia and the police force could be working together to enforce law and establish order in the tarai. This has implications for the explosive communal relations between hill and plains-dwelling Nepalis. Mahara and Sitaula are treating a political problem as a law and order issue.

Kathmandu still hasn’t realised that the tarai is a qualitatively different crisis from the Maoist insurgency. In the ten-year war, educated, indoctrinated, motivated intellectuals from a bourgeois background designed and executed the so-called ‘People’s War’ with military precision. Funding procedures were established early.

Safe houses were maintained in Nepal and India, communication and logistics functioned efficiently. The chain of command was strictly enforced. Within a decade, Prachandpath had become a cult with fanatical followers. This is why Pushpa Kamal Dahal could bring his flock into the mainstream with relative ease.

The tarai uprising has grown from the ground up. It has no clear ideology, no universal leader, and no apparatus of command and control. Jai Krishna Goit subscribes to separatism, but his influence is limited to three of 20 tarai districts. A septuagenarian, he perhaps feels unable to enforce discipline in his ranks, and is said to be contemplating retirement. Armed splinter groups from JTMM-Goit lack credibility. The moment their leaders compromise, defect, or die, these smaller factions with their fanciful progenitors—Jwala, Vishphot, Nagaraj—will probably disappear without a trace.

Despite the profile the MJF has built up in a short period, it remains a loose coalition of political has-beens from left and right. Nobody doubts the commitment of the mercurial Upendra Yadav, currently in the US, to the madhesi cause. The problem is that other than a vehement dislike for his former comrades in the Maoist ranks, Yadav isn’t too clear about the cause he aims to advance.

The apparent lawlessness in the tarai is a result of the imperfect politicisation of madhesi grievances. Competing ideologies of class, equality, and identity have lost meaning in a region where every major party—except Sadbhabana—appears as communal as the state in composition and outlook. When police powers (to enforce law, protect person and property, help revenue collection) are used selectively to suppress a section of the population, the state loses acceptability and legitimacy. Girija Prasad Koirala might find it hard to take, but his government has no relevance, it inspires neither faith nor fear in the tarai anymore. What will the Nepal Police and the Armed Police do with such an angry and alienated population?

“All possible measures” to ensure security in the tarai should focus on listening to longstanding grievances. A determination to correct institutionalised discrimination needs to be displayed. National leaders should ask for forgiveness for past injustices. Only then can the repetition of history as a tragic farce be averted.

The cost of enforcing an ‘armed peace’ in the tarai is too high to be even contemplated seriously, and the price of establishing ‘just peace’ too low to be ignored.

source::http://www.nepalitim

 these days every one is talking about republic . but the question arises  what kind of republic is suitable for us  considering our own social, political set up. theare are several issues.

1. do we need multi party system or two party system?

-  unlike others, ours is a society of diverse culture, caste with only bahun, chhetri as a pre dominant group. together only bahun and chhetri constitute 27pc of total population  of nepal. so , if we allow only two party system chances is that the voices of  minorities will remain unheard. therefore we need multiparty system.

2. do we need ceremonial president like india or active president like usa.

in almost all undevelpoed  democracies , there is one common characteritics. the political person have excessive desire for power. they want to remain in power anyhow.( like in pakistan, zimbawe, myanmar, bangladesh, nigeria etc). 

  so its better not to  divest too much power in one person. for that reason the post of president should be ceremonial.

3.  do we need reservation?

equality  remais a myth in the absence in lack of opportunity, ability to exercise ones right. so to say that every one is eligible for a post is meaningless because a person who due to his poverty studied from a school in humla may never be able to compete with a person who studied in good school of kathmandu. the government need to take affarmative action to  heal the wounds of historic injustice done against madhesi, janjatis. so the reservation should be given to backward communities on economic ground. a rich person, even if he is from backward communities should not be allowed to avail the benefit of reservation.

4. do we need federal system of governance.

yes, we need because  local people should be involved in the process of governance. support fot federalism should not be taken as support for separatism. the feeling of separaism comes when a group in a society  feel alienated ( for  not being involved in the process of governance,  defence  of country.

5  do we need de delimitatation of election constituencies or change in election system. 

in a democracy, the vote of each person should be given equal weightage irrespective of caste, creed, region. so, the  proportional representation system is the appropriate electoral system. for convenience in governance we can have small district, big district. but  each person should have equal voting right irrespective of the place he is born. therefore equal weightage should be given to each vote.

one person, one vote

each vote, equal weightage.

this is democracy, rest is hypocracy.

these days prashant tamang and sunita williams are very much in news in nepali and indian media. my intention here, is not to question whether they deserve thousands of metres space they have occupied in the  print media of nepal and india. they duely deserve it. neither i want to draw any similarity between the two.  they are  different in every respect.  one is a talented  participant of the popular indian idol show who sings well and work for the west bengal police while the other is an american astranaut who after spending six months on the space has returned safely on earth. my purpose  of writing the article is to  draw the analogy between the two piece of dissimilar news and analyse the the  common psyche of people of this part( nepal, india) to  claim the success of the others  people as their own .

lets talk about prashant tamang first. he is a very talented singer participant of indian idol show and a police officer of west bengal police by profession. the popular indian idol show has  also made him popular not only in india but in nepal also.   there is a sudden rise of popularity of this show in nepal  because  of him. the news of prashant crossing into another round ( cant say which round as i do not watch this show) occupied space in  most of nelali national newspaper.  message column of news paper  were full of congratulatory message and best wishes for prashant. one   celebrity who is a popular singer himself even thanked the people of india for selecting him( our man in his word). well, the reason his  being our man is  that he speaks nepali language as his mother tongue. prashant is from sikkim state of india where common language is nepali.

now lets talk about the news about sunita williams  in indian media. sunita william is an american astranaut of indian origin.  thre were news of children praying for her safe return. one lady on television declared that its( her returning from space) the tense moment of her life. some people performed  yagna for her safe return.

it is not my intention to say that it is wrong to praise others performance.  but in both of the cases  the hype , the celebration was not solely for  the performance . the more stronger  and the latent reason was that there were some conncction involved .  the boasting of this connection was the cause of celebration.

sunita william is a citizen of usa  though  her father was indian. similarly prashant tamang is is an indian citizen who speaks nepali as his mother tongue. but so many countries in the world speaks english. can you ever emagine the british media claiming sunita williams as our ’sunita williams’ just because she speaks english as her mother tongue. then the question arises why there is so much euphoria and jubilation for the others and the rush for claiming their success as our own only in this parts of the world.  the reason is -this is a deprived socety   which  has yet not achieved its share of success in international arena. therefore in order to please its ego it claims the success of others as their own.

The news that china is going to construst road till everest base camp ( upto the height of about five thousand two hundred metre) has raised the eyebrows of several environmentalist and international media.  building road  till the base camp of mount everest will connect ordinary man to mount everest  and with men a lot of  by product of modern civilisation like garbage, harmful gas, carbon dioxide emitted by the vehicles. this will worsen the already  fragile  environment condition of that area.  already there are reports that if environment pollution continues unabated the glacier of mount everest will melt down which will cause great harm to human being, every living being and ecological system.

it is not  surprising that for nepalese media and some communist organisation ( which try to create the notion that being anti indian is the only way to show patriotism ) it is not a news of any relevance.  in my childhood days i used to wonder if mount everest is in nepal’s territory  then why dont nepal government protest to climbing of mount everest from tibet side , till i knew about the treaty between  nepal and  china which allows both the country can claim their territorial right on the peak of mount everest. that means the everest, the pride of nepal is ours only on paper. for all practical purpose we have to share it with chinese. chinese took our most precious thing our mount everest. but it can not take away our right as well as our duty to speak for the cause of humankind, environment. chinas atempt to build the road is blunt show of  might .

kapal thapa, the former home minister of royalist regime, has said that if the monarchy is abolished, the institution of prome minister will itself be abolished. he referred the recent incidence of beating of CDO by  YCL cadres in front of security personnel in kanchanpur. the statement has gained significance , in the event of mistrust developed between eight parties. each paty  of the eight party coalition is busy blaming other for failure of not being able to conduct constituent assembly election on time. the report in media that new delhi adviced the visiting  UML delegates that congress and  UML  should work together to save democracy has further increased the suspicion. the former home minister thapa wants to fish in the troubled water. by scaring the seven political party  about the consequences of abolishing monarchy and maoist coming into power, he is simply playing with the suspicious minds  of seven parties against maoist.

divide and rule has always been the tactics followed by the inefficient rulers, government. when the janjatis  demands their due right ,the government, the ruling elite , and the intelligentia who form the popular opinion argues that the janjatis demand though right can not ne fulfilled beacause  once it is fulfilled the madhesi will come up with similar demand.  these ruling elite will put same argument to madhesi  when they demand their due right. so the survival of the ruling class depends upon two factors.

1. dividing the oppositions. it can be ( janjati- madhesi,  fight among eight party, seven party- maoist, MJF- MAOIST.)

2. Developing fear and mistrust in the mind of one party against another party.

and  the ruled party (it can be madhesi, janjati, sometimes eight party, common people) always fall in this trap what is also called” prisoners dillema” . now the onus is on the eight party ,specially on the congress not to fall in the trap of  royalist such as kamal thapa.we, nepalese people ,should have believe in ourselves that its the people who run the system of democracy not the manarchy.  we, nepali are able and capable of  findinng a commom interest among the conflict of interests and we have the same aspiration, same destination. we need neither the king, nor kamal thapa to achieve  that destination. on the same argument we do not need  the grandson of the king , hirdendra  who cannot take care of himself being a minor  to  act as a protector of democracy, act as  our guardian  because WE BELIEVE IN OURSELVES.