HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 30 October 2015 Huge relief for Nepal It was exciting to read the news report “ Nepal , China seal deal for import of fuel” (THT, 29 Oct. Page 1) considering the difficult life faced by the general people for the last almost two months caused by Madhes based fringe parties’ protests on Nepal India borders. More than 40 people including security personnel have already lost their lives during the agitation. In this backdrop, India imposed an undeclared blocked by telling the big three political parties to address the grievances of Madhesis. It has been almost two months since then the government has been trying to settle the problem without any fruitful results. Now, the new government led by K.P.Oli is at the helm. He had assured the general people at the onset of his premiership that the existing fuel crisis would be immediately solved. No major changes have been noticed so far to ease the existing fuel crisis. However, the effort to import ...

The Kathmandu Post 30 October 2015 STATE OF CRISIS The promulgation of the new constitution has resulted hardship faced by the people since the last two months due to the Tarai unrest (“Mr. Oli’s winter challenge” Nepal and India , 28 Oct, Page 07). The leaders of the big three political parties saw the devastating earthquake as an opportunity to draft and promulgate the constitution undermining the voices of disgruntled groups. As a result, the country is facing an acute fuel crisis along with the shortage of essential goods that have been blocked from entering Nepal by the Madhesi protesting close to various entry points.   Also, India is equally to be blamed for imposing an undeclared trade embargo on Nepal to exert pressure on the government of its smaller neighbour to address grievances of Madhes based political parties. Before promulgating the new constitution, around 40 people had already lost their lives in confrontation with the security forces. ...

Fulfill promise It was really amazing to know that the new Prime Minister K.P.Oli’s has promised to replace all the 350 wire bridges (tuins), those are in use all over the country, with suspension bridges within two years. However, the local people have expressed their concerns whether his promise may also end up with the same fate as that of Baburam led government’s decision “ Dhading locals sceptical about tuin removal” (THT, 14 Oct. Page 3). Many local people have lost their lives while crossing the rivers using tuins. None of the previous governments seemed serious to replace these dreadful tuins with suspension bridges. There does not seem for these local people any other alternative besides using these tuins, some are even in a bad shape, to cross the rivers. Students are forced to use tuins to go to their schools that are located on the other side of their villages. In Dhading, District Development Committee (DDC) had even set aside budget of Rs, 12 million for the...

The Kathmandu Post 16 October 2015 NO MORE DELAY It has been almost six months since the devastating earthquake that shook the nation killing more than 9000 and displacing many thousand people. More than 14000 people were injured. Several government and private properties were damaged and or destroyed. The Koirala led government was badly criticized for its inability to provide relief materials and other humanitarian support effectively on time. Instead, it, with the collaboration of other major political parties, took this opportunity for drafting the new constitution leaving aside the plight of the quake affected people for relief materials and rehabilitation. Now, a new government led by K.P.Oli is in place with smany challenges ahead on hand. Among them, rehabilitation of affected people and reconstruction of damaged infrastructures are on the priority lists. Many donor organizations who had generously announced their willingness to support the Nepal governme...

The Himalayan Times 16 September 2015 It seems now that the three major parties are determined to deliver the new constitution on 20 September 2015 as per the news story “CA likely to promulgate constitution on Sept 20” (THT, 15 September, Page 1). In-spite of the continued agitations in the Tarai, the last lap of the constitution drafting process has moved ahead in the CA. Time is running out fast for both the agitating and the major parties to sit down for talks to settle political differences. If both the sides do not sit for talks the situation in the Tarai-Madhes will remain tense. However, it is good in the sense that the three major political parties who had different political manifestos have come together to adopt the constitution by the second CA. The only concern of the people is whether the new constitution will bring lasting peace and open the door for prosperity in Nepal at a time when some of the districts in the Tarai have been shut down over the del...

The Kathmandu Post 13 September 2015 TIME TO CONSIDER The last phase of new constitution drafting process started from Tuesday at the Constituent Assembly (CA) after the Drafting Committee   Chairman Krishna P. Situala tabled it for clause-wise deliberations (“CA begins Final RD of charter process” September 9, Page 1 ). However, the political scenarios inside and outside of the CA are totally different which has made the general public curious on one hand and nervous and fearful on the other. It seemed as though the three major political forces do not want to budge from their stance to promulgate the new statute based on their arithmetic strength in the CA. It is very unfortunate that Madhesh and Tarai based political parties have left the CA due to discontents over the high-handedness of the top three political parties. Now, Madhesii Janadhikar Forum- Loktantrik (MJF-L), a signatory of the 16-point agreement, has also decided not to participate in the last pha...

The Kathmandu Post 4 September 2015 WHY NOT THARUHAT? The ongoing protests and continuous bandhas in Tarai districts have made daily lives of the common people really difficult there. Observing the ego of major political parties, it seems that these incidents will continue for a while.   Why are leaders trying to suppress the voice of the people who are expressing dissatisfactions at their unilateral decision to demarcate the nation into six, and then seven provinces? The top leaders need to take the discontents of the people seriously, and bring the agitated forces on board for talks. People have been killed each day in the Tarai districts by the security forces in the name of maintaining law and order (“Five protesters killed in police firing” 2 September, Page 1). It is very sad and unfortunate to see the people dying while the new constitution is being drafted. A constitution is a document of compromises. If major political parties can satisfy one group of...

The Himalayan Times 4 September 2015 Violations The continuous shutdown called by various political parties in most of the tarai districts opposing four major political parties’ decision while drafting the new constitution has hit hard the normal life of the people. The regular curfew imposed by the local administration has also crippled the mobility of people and the goods. However, it was encouraging to read the news report” No compromises on human rights: NHRC Chair Sharma” (THT, 1 Sept, Page 2). How prompt and effective role will NHRC play in these politically troubled districts is yet to be seen. So far, the role played by NHRC has remained not satisfactory in relation to properly monitoring and minimizing the human rights violation cases in the past. In fact, it is the responsibility of the concerned organizations to punish the violators upon the NHRC’s recommendation. The state should let the people assemble peacefully, raise their genuine c...