More than 700,000 homeless in U.S.

There were an estimated 754,000 homeless people in the United States, in shelters or living on the streets on a single night in January 2005.

U.S. officials said in a report to Congress released on Wednesday from February to April 2005, an estimated 704,000 people in the United States used shelters or transitional housing.


According to the study, during that period, 47% of people living in shelters were single adult men. Nearly one quarter were children 17 or younger. Less than 2% of the homeless population was 62 or older, compared with 15% of the total U.S. population.

Among other findings, the report said about 59% of the people in shelters were members of minority groups. It added that 45% of the homeless were African Americans.

Based on a sampling of communities across the United States, the study concluded that 24% of all adults in shelters were disabled.

Meantime, Director of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless Michael Stoops said, "Many cities in this country are trying to give the impression that things are better than they really are, that homelessness is decreasing. But in reality, homelessness continues to increase regardless of who is in the White House or who controls Congress."

Nepalese people a tool for conspiracy??

Alarming news is coming from Nepal. The ongoing peace process might be the victim of the incidences that are taking place. One after another confrontations are occurring without any intervals before the proposed Constituent Assembly elections.

Why is it necessary to conduct CA election? It is believed that the people of Nepal are the supreme and their verdicts should be respected as their wish for their own destiny. The Constitution of new Nepal will be written by the elected representatives of the people.

However, each and every group seems determined to influence the government to accept their demands before CA elections. How can CA election conducted in such a situation be fair and free?

One can therefore argue if everything is already decided what is the need of conducting CA election? None of the political parties and the groups is ready to drop their demand and want to fulfill them by electing their representatives in CA. In this way, are not we discrediting CA election which was the only demand of the people during last year April movement?

Moreover, many people now have started thinking that CA elections might not take place at the stipulated time because of the worsening situation of the country.

Can CA elections be conducted without normalcy? It seems the whole country is at the verge of over turn. The government and the authority seem to be onlookers when incidences take places. Law and order situation has not improved in spite of the end of major battles.

People of Nepal have their own aspirations which are natural and normal but lack of security the natural flow of democratic exercises such as demonstrations and sit in protests have converted into a bloody anarchy. This is what many people think about recent movements of the Terai.

Now because of the prevailing political situation as well as a lot of things have to be completed before conducting Constituent Assembly elections the skeptical thoughts are going to be considered at all levels.

The recent comment from the head of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) Ian Martin is significantly meaningful. He has said there are a number of technical and political challenges before the Nepal government, particularly security, ahead of the Constituent Assembly elections slated for mid-June.

"There is an important question of how adequate security can be guaranteed for the election," Martin told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

Martin also cautioned that if Nepal failed to include traditionally marginalized groups in the peace process, the country would miss the opportunity to harness the strength and vision of its own people and leave some of the key underlying causes of the conflict unaddressed.

However, many experts believe that the people in Nepal must realize in a tiny country where so many ethnicities and marginalized groups are functioning the divisions of the country in ethnicity and language can easily create an atmosphere that provides an opportunity for those who want to fish in the troubled waters. Is not this what we experience everyday in Nepal?

Some political pundits even go further and wonder where people of Nepal exercise their democratic rights if the country no more exists. Have not we the Nepalese people become a tool of a great unseen conspirator?

Iran is prepared for any situation

Iran's deputy foreign minister says the country is prepared for any situation, even war, if the row over its nuclear weapons programme is not resolved.

The country's president has also warned there will be no break and no reverse gear in its nuclear fuel production.

The statements were made as Iran announced it has launched its first rocket capable of reaching space

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Iranian state television announced that the country today successfully tested its first space rocket.

However, officials said later the launch was for research purposes and the rocket would not go into orbit.

Today's launch comes at a time of mounting tension between Tehran and the West over Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

This afternoon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered another provocative speech, insisting there is no going back on Iran's nuclear activities. He likened his country's nuclear programme to a train with no breaks and no reverse gear.

His deputy foreign minister, Manouchehr Mohammadi said they were prepared for any situation, "even for war".

The US responded by saying that what Iran needs to do is halt weapon's-related activities.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany are due to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of more sanctions over the nuclear issue.

Story from RTÉ News:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0225/iran1.html

Nepal’s Maoists fought war: one weapon for 9 combatants??

Every one interestingly watching political developments in Nepal is surprised and under suspicion as the number of the weapons registered is relatively low compared to the number of registered PLA.
According to Kantipur daily, the government talks team expressed their surprise with the Maoist talks team about the relatively fewer number of weapons compared with the number of combatants registered.
The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has informed that it has registered 30852 combatants and 3428 weapons. The ratio of army personals and weapons is exactly 9:1.
Is it not quite interesting to learn about the Maoists technique of warfare if such low numbers of weapons can engage a comparatively large in size and well trained Nepalese Army? May be the military experts must have answers to this question.
Maoist leader Nanda Kishor Pun said they have already cantoned all the weapons they possessed. Mr. Pun (Pasang) is deputy commander of the PLA who claimed that they have handed over all the weapons.
He added, besides some homemade weapons, the Maoists had been using the arms seized from the army and police forces during the raids. He totally rejected the charges that the Maoists have buried some weapons. The Maoists have said that they only had socket bombs in large number. The number of the socket bombs are yet to be public.
However, the leaders of major political parties have termed the concern, raised from various sides regarding lesser amount of arms registered by the Maoists as compared to their combatants, as unnecessary.
Interacting with media persons in the capital, Saturday, they cautioned that raising such an issue at this juncture could affect the ongoing peace process.
CPN UML standing committee member, Bam Dev Gautam said the other parties should trust the Maoists when they say that they have produced all the arms before the United Nations monitors.
Nepali Congress leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala was of views the parties should give importance to create atmosphere of political honesty and trust over the issue of weapons allegedly hidden by the Maoists. But are the Maoists really honest in declaring their arms?
Army specialist Indrajit Rai said he thought the Maoists had 12,000 weapons and understood that they will show 6000 later.
Meanwhile, leader of Nepali Congress Democratic, Dr Minendra Rijal said the responsibility actually lies on the Maoists to prove to the Nepali people, the Prime Minister, and the UN that they have not hidden any arms.

U.N.: Nearly 31,000 former rebels confined to camp as part of Nepal peace process

By Binaj Gurubacharya ASSOCIATED PRESS February 23, 2007 KATMANDU, Nepal – Some 30,852 former communist rebel combatants have been registered in camps where they are confined as part of a peace process to end conflict in Nepal, a senior U.N. official said Friday. Ian Martin, U.N.'s chief official in Nepal, also said 3,428 weapons held by the Maoist rebels have also been locked up as part of the peace deal between the guerrillas and the government. The arms included automatic weapons, mortars, rifles and machine guns. The rebels agreed to a peace process last year and joined a temporary parliament in January. They are set to join an interim government that is to conduct this year's elections. Martin said the first phase of the registration of these combatants have been completed and the second phase is expected to begin soon. “The weapons and ammunition stored at the seven Maoist army main cantonments are locked in storage containers furnished with shelves for safe weapons storage and easy control with a complete inventory,” Martin told reporters in Katmandu. However, he said there were concerns some facilities might not have adequate security. Earlier this week, hundreds of these former combatants stormed out of one of the main camps in south Nepal, protesting lack of shelter, food and supplies. Most returned back to the camp on Friday. Abhiral, a local rebel commander who goes by one name, said all those who had left the camp in the southern town of Chitwan on Wednesday had returned after receiving instructions from their leaders. Abhiral said the living conditions were miserable, and it had become impossible to remain at the camp. Many former guerrillas have been living in shelters made of straw and leaves, he said. Heavy winter rains last week worsened conditions. But Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said the government has already $5 million for food, clothing and other essentials, and another $4.2 million for infrastructure such as roads, electricity and drinking water. “The money is enough to feed and maintain the Maoist combatants for months,” Mahat said. “We have provided the basic facilities in the seven main camps, but work is progressing in the satellite camps.” Martin, the U.N. representative, visited some of the camps last week and urged the government to immediately improve conditions. The government and rebels signed a peace agreement in November, halting a decade-long communist insurgency that killed more than 13,000 people. Under the deal, thousands of former guerrillas are being housed until elections later this year in seven main camps and 21 smaller “satellite” camps after turning in their weapons, which are locked up under U.N. supervision. The rebels joined a temporary parliament in January, and are set to join an interim government that is to conduct this year's elections.

48 nations gather to fight cluster bombs

By DOUG MELLGREN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OSLO, Norway -- Representatives from 48 nations on Thursday launched a global effort to ban the use, production and stockpiling of cluster bombs by the end of next year, despite the opposition of several of the world's major military powers.

Steve Goose from the Human Rights Watch Cluster Monition Coalition, participates in the opening of a conference on cluster bombs in Oslo Thursday Feb. 22, 2007. A 48-nation meeting on cluster bombs opened in Oslo on Thursday with Austria pledging to ban the weapons and organizers saying an international treaty outlawing the munitions could be achieved by 2008. (AP Photo/Stian Lysberg Solum, SCANPIX)

A draft declaration, obtained by The Associated Press, said these weapons - which can linger on former battlefields for years - cause "unacceptable harm." It calls for a treaty banning them by 2008, despite concerns that some countries would not agree to act that quickly.

Norway hopes the treaty would be similar to one outlawing anti-personnel mines, negotiated in Oslo in 1997.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said advocates should push for a treaty by the end of 2008, despite concerns. "I believe any other target will be a wrong signal," he said.

The U.S., China and Russia oppose the ban and did not send representatives to the meeting. Australia, Israel, India and Pakistan also did not attend.

Cluster bombs are small devices packed with high explosives and loaded into artillery shells, bombs or missiles. When the larger munition explodes, it scatters hundreds of the mini-explosives - called bomblets - over large areas.

A percentage of these bomblets typically fail to explode immediately, but may still detonate if they are picked up or struck - endangering civilians, often children, years after conflicts end.

The draft declaration calls for a treaty that would "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians."

The treaty, the declaration said, should also create a framework for helping victims of cluster bombs, clearing the munitions and "destruction of stockpiles of prohibited cluster munitions," the document said.

It also urged countries to consider banning such weapons before the treaty takes effect. Norway, which is spearheading the initiative, has already done so. Austria announced a moratorium on cluster bombs at the start of the conference.

"This is a critical juncture," Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch told delegates. "Let us hope this meeting will be remembered as the meeting where a large number of countries decided that cluster munitions are not just another weapon."

Goose called cluster bombs "a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen" since they continue to kill long after a conflict has ended.

The Cluster Munition Coalition, an advocacy group co-hosting Wednesday's civilian forum, said the weapons have recently been used in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

The U.N. has estimated that Israel dropped as many as 4 million of the bomblets in southern Lebanon during last year's war with Hezbollah, with as many 40 percent failing to explode on impact.

Activists say children can be attracted to the unexploded weapons by their small size, shape and bright colors or shiny metal surfaces. As many as 60 percent of cluster bomb victims in Southeast Asia are children, the Cluster Munition Coalition said.

The U.S., Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Japan say the weapons can be dealt with under the 1980 U.N. Convention on Conventional Weapons.

However, treaty advocates say those talks are stalled, and a new avenue is needed.

Gahr Stoere said advocates should push for a treaty even without the support of big countries like the U.S. and China.

"I think we learned from the experience from the anti-personnel mine campaign in the '90s that if we were to wait for those countries to take the lead it will be a long wait," he said at a news conference.

"What we do here hopefully will engage those countries and that they will see merit to create rules and regulations to handle this issue. I'm not pessimistic in that regard."

On Wednesday, Simon Conway, of the Britain's Landmine Action group, said some countries attending the conference may seek to weaken the one-page draft declaration by demanding postponement of its treaty target date of 2008.

---

On the Net: http://www2.norway.or.jp/policy/news

Nepal: Maoists still holding child soldiers

KATHMANDU, 21 February (IRIN) - The United Nations and several aid agencies in Nepal on Wednesday strongly urged the former Maoist rebels to return child soldiers to their families. Despite the peace agreement signed in November 2006, child soldiers have not been discharged by the Maoist People's Liberation Army (PLA), although it has persistently denied recruiting children.
The Maoist group, also known as the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), waged an armed rebellion against the Nepalese state for more than a decade, demanding a communist republic and a new constitution.
Peace prevailed after successful talks with the government of an alliance of seven national parties after the end of direct rule by the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra, in April 2006.
But when the Maoists agreed to a UN-supervised management of weapons and troops, releasing the child soldiers was totally ignored by the Maoist leaders.
"The Maoists have failed to accept the recruitment of children into their army and party but the reality is that they are being hidden inside their camps," said prominent child rights activist Gauri Pradhan, president of Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), which has been fighting the political and economic exploitation of children.
Pradhan added that the activists investigating the issue of child soldiers in the field had enough evidence that the Maoists have not been truthful.
The report by the UN Secretary-General on "Children and Armed Conflict in Nepal", released on Wednesday, provided evidence with documented cases that children continue to be recruited and used in various capacities.
The report, prepared by a task force of a coalition of international and national child protection agencies, initially found at least 512 cases of child recruitment in September 2006. As more investigations followed, the task force found more than 1,811 children associated with the armed forces and armed groups, also known as CAAFAG.
"Very few boys and girls who were taken away from their homes have returned. We urge the CPN-M to stop the recruitment of children," said Matthew Kahane, the UN resident coordinator. He asked the CPN-M to cooperate with the UN and child protection agencies to ensure the release of children associated with the PLA, militia and other CPN-M organisations.
There is no accurate estimate of the numbers of child soldiers but according to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, about 20 percent of the 30,000 soldiers in the Maoist army are younger than 18.
"The Maoists still have the opportunity to release the child soldiers as our protection agencies are prepared to provide full support towards their rehabilitation and reintegration into mainstream society, but the constant denial by the Maoist leaders is only causing more damage to these children," said Pradhan.
The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has completed the first phase of registering combatants and arms and is poised to start the second phase of registration and will also look into the issue of child soldiers.
"We have to ensure the demobilisation of child soldiers and we look forward to working with various agencies as the task moves forward," said the UN Secretary-General's personal representative in Nepal, Ian Martin, who also heads UNMIN.
Local and international activists say the Maoist leadership is not able to control their junior cadres at local level in the villages where the children continue to be recruited into the Maoist army.
nn/at/ar/mw
IRIN news

Nepal: Maoists Weapons Locked Out; Numbers not Disclosed

Nepal’s on going peace process has gained another mile stone. The registration of the Maoist combatants and their weapons process has concluded in all seven cantonments of the now-disarming People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the Maoists in Nepal.
Now the weapons of the rebels have been duly locked up in special containers that are supposed to be monitored round-the-clock by the UN monitors.
Chief of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), Ian Martin, has submitted a report on the registration of PLA combatants and arms to the government and the Maoist leaders on 20th Feb. Monday.
However, the numbers of the weapons as well as the combatants are not disclosed. But it is widely speculated that the disclosure will take place after the verification of the arms not locked for keeping security of the Maoists leaders.
It is reported in various media that the representatives of the UN, the government and the Maoists have agreed to disclose the number of combatants and the arms registered by the UN monitors within a week following the verification of arms kept for the security of Maoist leaders.

Terai protesters call transport strike, Nepal bandh

Monday 19th February, 2007 (IANS)

As a 10-day ultimatum to the Nepal government expired without any response, ethnic protesters in the Terai plains have announced a nine-day transport strike from Feb 25, to be followed by an indefinite general strike in March.
The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, a socio-political organisation spearheading an agitation for an autonomous Madhes state in the plains since last month, Monday said it was resuming its protests, as the government had done nothing to create a conducive atmosphere for talks.
'Our protests are resuming from today,' Forum activist Awadhesh Kumar Singh, a Supreme Court lawyer, said. 'For four days, we will hold peaceful public meetings and rallies. But from Sunday, we are calling a transport strike in all the districts in the Terai as well as a blockade of the customs offices on the Indo-Nepal border.'
He said the protests would spread beyond the plains from March 6, when the activists will enforce an indefinite Nepal shutdown.
'We want to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations,' Upendra Yadav, another lawyer turned activist who is heading the protests, told IANS Sunday night as the 10-day deadline ended Sunday night.
'But the government is forcing us to resume our struggle. Consequently, this time our movement is going to be even more severe.'The protesters have been demanding the resignation of Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula as a pre-condition for beginning talks with the government. At least 29 people have died during the protests and over 400 injured.
They are also asking for the arrest of the Maoist cadres who allegedly killed a 17-year-old schoolboy during the first days of the protests, escalating the violence.
Their protests paralysed the Terai plains and cut off the highway connecting Nepal with India, which is the lifeline for essential supplies and fuel from India.
The disruptions forced Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to agree to amend the newly promulgated constitution and meet the protesters' demand for a federal government.
The government also agreed to add more constituencies for the June elections in the plains, based on population.
The demand for an autonomous Madhes state for plains people arose after over 200 years of neglect of the diaspora by a succession of rulers. The Madehsi community has near zero representation in the government, judiciary and army.
The Madhes movement has fuelled the imagination of other neglected indigenous communities, who are also demanding autonomous states with the right to self-determination.
From Monday, the Madeshi Janadhukar Forum is joining forces with the Nepal Adivasi Janajati Mahasangh, an umbrella organisation of indigenous protesters, to begin a joint movement.
The announcement of a fresh stir would deal a blow to Nepal's industries, which lost millions due to the continuing unrest in the plains for the last three weeks.
Anticipating such a move, people in the Kathmandu valley began panic-buying petro-products from Sunday.
It remains to be seen how the protests will affect the meeting of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) commerce ministers to be held here Feb 26 and the bilateral Indo-Nepal meeting Feb 22-23 to discuss the Indo-Nepal Trade Treaty that expires March 5.

Shivaratri Observed Peacefully

Mahashivaratri, one of the greatest festivals of Hindus, is being celebrated across the country by offering prayer to lord Shiva.
Hindu devotees are thronging the temples of lord Shiva and worshipping him for well being in their lives.
Mahasivaratri festival is celebrated every year on the 14th day in the Krishna Paksha of the month Falgun in the Hindu Calendar.

A sadhu at Pashupatinath Temple

The most significant practices on this day are offerings of Bael (Bilva) leaves to the Lord Shiva, fasting and all night long vigil.
There is long queue of devotees in Pashupatinath temple of the capital.
The Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has set up two main queues leading to Pashupati temple and a ramp in the temple premises, near its main gate, to facilitate pilgrims. One queue has been managed via Mitrapark-Umakunda-Kailash-Basuki temple and the other via Gaushala-Banakali Dharmashala and Pancha Deval.

Sadhu Blessing a boy on Shivaratri

Starting new provision from this year, the PADT has decided not to bar devotees from offering homage to lord Pashupatinath during the royal visit to the temple as previous years.
Tight security has been managed to check any untoward incident during the festival.
The PADT is expecting nearly 400,000 devotees to visit Pashupatinath temple as compared to 250,000 devotees of last year. The PADT also informed that about 4,000 sadhus (saints) were expected this year. nepalnews.com pb Feb 16 07

Snow in Kathmandu: Valentine’s Day gift from Mother Nature !

Normally it does not snow in Kathmandu valley. However, the Valley witnessed snowfall in 63 years on Wednesday morning. People saw snowing and started coming out into the streets to enjoy snow on Valentine’s Day. School children ran out of their classrooms. Everywhere cell phone started ringing that paralyzed the system for an hour with the unexpectedly rise in calls.

The snow was part of a westerly disturbance that had earlier dumped about 20 mm of rain all over Nepal. The last time westerly disturbance rain in Kathmandu was 63 years ago when there was five inches of snow.

The temperature hovered at 7 degrees all day Wednesday, but that wasn't cold enough for the snow in the Valley. However, the hills surrounding Kathmandu had snow down to 1,900 m with roofs in Thankot, Dakshinkali and even Budalnilkantha with accumulation.

However, normal life across the country has been badly affected Wednesday due to incessant rain and snowfall. Some places around Kathmandu Valley have been covered with snow, inviting hundreds of merrymakers and Valentine's Day celebrators. For many merrymakers snow is their Valentine gift from the Mother Nature.

Nepal: Sadus and Shivaratri

This year Shivaratri falls on 16th February. To every Hindu Shivaratri is one of the holiest days. This day has been observed all over the world by the Hindus as the birthday of Lord Shiva the only Guru of all Shadu sects.

Most sects are rather moderate in their practices, but some can be quite extreme. Some of the well known sects are: the Naga babas, the Gorakhnathis or Yogis, the Udasin, the Aghoris, and the Ramanandis,

Picture courtesy ©Glenn Losack 2006 All rights reserved

Naga sadhus are a large and a prominent Shaiva sect, who have existed since the prehistoric past. The Naga sect is subdivided into Akharas, i.e. 'regiments', like an army. Their displays of weaponry -- sticks, spears, swords and especially the trident -- have a symbolic function. Among the Nagas many walk naked.

High up in the icy Himalayas naked Bhola Giri Nagababa blows the serpentine horn, called nagphani, or 'cobra-hood', producing one piercing note. This instrument is related to the cobra (naga), the intimate companion of Lord Shiva, always coiled around his neck.

In their nakedness they do not emanate sexuality. On the contrary, they control, inhibit the sexual 'vibrations', retaining its energy so it can be mystically transformed into psychic and spiritual power.

The chilam, a clay pipe smoked by many Sadhus through cupped hands, is filled with tobacco, marijuana and hashish.

The government of Nepal has been providing wooden logs, hashish and marijuana to the visiting babas for keeping them out of cold during February.

Since Nepal had been officially only Hindu state in the world and the temple of Pahupati Nath is situated in Kathmandu, from time immemorial the Shivaratri has been observed with pumps and shows hosting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from different parts of the world. Among them Sadhus are always front runners.

Picture courtesy ©Glenn Losack 2006 All rights reserved

In the Hindu religion Sadhus are considered as the disciple of Lord Shiva. Many devotees still believe that sometimes Lord Shiva himself incarnates as a Shadu and visits the places like Kumbha Mela and Pashupati Nath. Thus people from far and wide come to Kathmandu for Shivaratri.

However, as Shivaratri is drawing near Kathmandu elites seem raising their eyebrows with many still unanswered questions. As this is the first year of the declaration of the secular state will the government of Nepal keep tradition of welcoming Sadus or will it just do not care? Can the government of Nepal ignore the traditional belief and the values of the majority of the people? Will the role played by the government of Nepal during the Shivaratri indicate the course of the country?

Adding to the unanswered questions, people in Nepal are sensing violence that can trigger during Shivaratri as the World Hindu Federation and other Hindu fundamentalist groups are planning to bring some 30,000 Naga sadhus or Naga babas from India to Kathmandu to stage sit-in and demonstrations to revive the world only Hindu state.

The government has reportedly received information about the infiltration of thousands of fundamentalist Hindu activists from India to join the pro-Hindu demonstrations in Kathmandu.

What would be the streets of Kathmandu like if thousands of Sadhus, infiltrators and simple devotees alike demonstrate during this holly day of Shivaratri?

One can wonder if the government of Nepal should ban the demonstration of the Hindus.

Nepal tightens border security to prevent Naga sadhus entry

Nepal government has beefed up security on the border to prevent thousands of Naga sadhus from India joining Nepalese Hindu activists during Shivratri to demand that the Himalayan nation be again declared a Hindu state.

A secret circular has been issued to the administration in the border areas to check the entry of sadhus from India during the Hindu festival, which falls on February 16, Home Ministry sources said.

The World Hindu Federation and other Hindu fundamentalist groups are planning to bring some 30,000 Naga sadhus or Naga babas from India to Kathmandu to stage sit-in and demonstrations to save the world's only Hindu monarch and revive the Hindu state, WHF said in a statement.

"The government has reportedly received information about the infiltration of thousands of fundamentalist Hindu activists from India to join the pro-Hindu demonstrations in KathmanduThe Kathmandu Post. aimed at reviving the Hindu state," the sources told

Nepal was converted into a secular state through the Parliament Declaration on May 18, 2006 and the major parties have virtually agreed to abolish monarchy through Constituent Assembly election slated for June.

The local administration in the district bordering India have been instructed to tighten the flow of the sadhus through the open border during the festival

The administration in the border areas have informed their Indian counterparts about the plan and sought necessary cooperation, the report said.

Maoists' buried treasure vanishes in Nepal

Kathmandu, Feb 11 (IANS)
During their decade-old armed revolt, Nepal's Maoist guerrillas amassed a veritable treasure trove by looting banks and the rich and collecting donations at gunpoint. But now, they find the tables have been turned against them with a buried cache worth over Nepali Rs.30 million vanishing from right under their nose.
In an act reviving memories of the pirate classic "The Treasure Island" or the more contemporary "Pirates of the Caribbean", the communist rebels had buried a trove of over 20 kg of gold, cash and other valuables in a forest in an area regarded as their stronghold, even when the army was hunting them down.
The rebels had raided a series of banks in Jumla district in remote northern Nepal and buried the loot in the Bageshal community forest in Mahadevpuri village in midwestern Dang district for safekeeping.
However, when they went back to the spot to retrieve their hidden treasure, to their shock, it was gone. Since then, the rebels have been frantically searching for the missing cache, Kantipur, Nepal's biggest selling daily, reported Sunday.
The theft came to light after the Maoists recently "arrested" three villagers on the suspicion they were behind the theft. The villagers included the chairman of the organisation running the community forest.
However, when outraged villagers protested against the detention, the guerrillas were forced to release them, the daily said.
The leader of the rebels in Banke district, a guerrilla identified only as Athak, told the daily that the hidden haul vanished within 24 hours of being buried and some of the rebel cadres are under surveillance on the suspicion they had a hand in it.
The three villagers came under suspicion after their bank balance increased dramatically, Athak said.
The incident gives the guerrillas a dose of their own medicine. Dozens of banks in Nepal are yet to recover the money and valuables the rebels looted, despite a peace pact signed between them and the government.
The widespread displacement, caused by the insurgency, has also been hindering the Maoists' frantic attempt to trace the vanished trove.
Despite some house searches, the haul has not turned up since hundreds of people have left the villages to get jobs and residence abroad.

Peace Process in Nepal

Peace in Nepal

Arms registration and storage completes in Kailali and Surkhet

Registration and storage of arms in the two divisional cantonments of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Kailali and Surkhet districts has concluded.

Following a field visit, special representative of UN Secretary-General in Nepal, Ian Martin, confirmed the completion of arms registration and storage process in the two PLA cantonments.
Martin arrived in Kailali as UN teams were registering and storing the arms of a final group of about 100 of the combatants based at the PLA 7th main cantonment site, a press statement issued by the United Nations Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) said Saturday. He was joined on the ground by senior UN arms monitor, General Jan Erik Wilhelmsen.

Under the procedures established by agreement between the government and CPN (Maoist), the arms have been catalogued and bar-coded by registration teams before being stored on racks inside cargo containers. The containers are locked and subject to round-the-clock UN monitoring.

“With only two sites to go in the East, arms registration and storage is now approaching its conclusion, and that will be an important staging post in the peace process, Martin said, adding, “But the conditions in the cantonments are lagging behind. I intend to raise these concerns with the Government.”

During discussion with Martin, PLA commanders had also complained about of inadequate living conditions in the cantonments, the statement further said.

Two UN experts in the disposal of mines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance and the members of the Interim Task Force (ITF), which comprises former Gurkha servicemen, also accompanied Martin during the visit.

Nepal towards Socialism or Prograssive Secularism ??

Secretary general of the Socialist International, Luis Ayala (L), and Nepali Congress general secretary Ram Chandra Poudel (R) at a press conference

What will be the final destiny of Nepal Socialism or Progressive Secularism? It is hard to predict yet, although a lot of political developments are taking place in a very fast pace. Not a single political party of Nepal has opposed the declaration of Secular State. Even the so called rightists’ parties that were close to the Palace and the King never showed their displeasure in declaration of the end of HINDU state. Can Nepal be return to a Hindu state without the support of any Political party?

Politically, almost all major parties in Nepal are based on the Socialist ideology. They want to identify themselves as socialists. The largest democratic party of Nepal NC (Nepali Congress) has the basic principle nationalism, democracy and socialism; not to mention of other declared communists parties. Looking at the size and the number of people the parties’ represent one can simply come to the conclusion that Nepal is on its way to socialism.

What kind of socialism the political parties want to establish in Nepal can be debatable because each political party defines its own form of socialism? I am reminded of the popular saying “socialism is that hat even dictators try to wear it, it does not matter whether it fits them or not”.

Rights group halts violent Nepal strikes

By Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal --A group that has been organizing violent protests in southern Nepal said Thursday it was temporarily suspending demonstrations and would begin talks with the government.
Upendra Yadav, chief of the Tarai People's Rights Forum, said that before talks can begin, it wants the home minister's resignation and a commission to investigate the killing of about 20 protesters since Jan. 19 before the talks begin.
"Beginning from today, we are going to suspend the general strikes, blockades of the roads and highways, for 10 days," Yadav told reporters in the capital, Katmandu.
He warned, however, that if the government fails to create a "conducive environment" to resolve the problem, they would resume their protests.
The group's statement follows the announcement by the government that it has accepted the protesters' key demands and said it would allocate more seats in parliament and positions in its administration to representatives of the southern region.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala announced late Wednesday that the constitution would be immediately amended to accommodate the changes.
Yadav's and other smaller groups in the southern Nepal have been demanding more autonomy and greater representation. They say the south has been sidelined in favor of the more populated mountainous areas in the country's north.
"We take the prime minister's announcement as a first positive step, but it is still not complete. It is unfortunate that the government has been silent on the issue of regional autonomy," Yadav said.
Small but peaceful demonstrations were held in some areas of the south and southeast but most of the region remained calm following Koirala's announcement, said Home Ministry Secretary Umesh Mainali.
Mainali said protesters blocked highways and other routes, but there were no reports of violence.
In the industrial city of Biratnagar, 250 miles southeast of Katmandu, a curfew was imposed again Thursday as a precaution after protesters began to gather in the morning, police official Gopal Bhandari said.
On Wednesday, two protesters were shot and killed by police in Biratnagar, Nepal's second-largest city. Police said they were forced to open fire in self-defense when thousands of demonstrators began marching toward a police post and jail armed with spears and other weapons.

Nepal a federal state

Press Trust of India

Wednesday, February 7, 2007 (Kathmandu):
Nepal's Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Wednesday night declared that Nepal will be a federal state.

Koirala said the major political parties, including the Maoists, have unanimously agreed to meet the key demands of the protesters of Terai region.

In his address to the nation on conclusion of the eight-party meeting, Koirala said the government will immediately amend the Constitution to fulfill the genuine demands of the Terai people.

Koirala also called the agitating groups in Terai to withdraw their movement and come to the negotiating table for resolving the issue through peaceful means of dialogue.

He said the government will delineate the constituency on the basis of population and geographical specialty and increase the seat for Terai during the Constituent Assembly election on the basis of increased population.

The prime minister said that arrangement will be made to give equal share to all sections of society including Madhesis, Dalits and various ethnic groups in all the structures of the state.

EU expresses concern over Nepal violence

By DPAFeb 7, 2007, 15:27 GMT

Kathmandu - The European Union has expressed concerns over the escalating violence in southern Nepal that has claimed at least 22 lives so far.

A statement issued by the German EU-Presidency in Nepal said it was deeply concerned by the violence in Terai and called on the parties involved to meet for negotiations.

The German EU-Presidency recognized that there were genuine grievances, but violence would not achieve anything. It called for calm and urged all sides to seek a peaceful solution, according to the statement.

The German EU-Presidency also urged all sides to show respect for human rights and shun violence, and the police to show the necessary restraint avoiding the excessive use of force.

The statement came as violence showed no signs of slowing down with more deaths reported from south eastern Nepal.

On Wednesday, police shot dead at least two protestors belonging to the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) in the city of Biratnagar, about 180 kilometres south-east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. The Madhesi people are an ethnic group in Nepal.

Meanwhile, a four-member European Commission exploratory mission arrived in Nepal Wednesday to assess possible European assistance for the elections to the Himalayan nation's constituent assembly.

The team will hold meetings with political leaders as well as security officials to discuss logistics and assistance during the elections scheduled for mid-June.

The team is in Nepal at the invitation of the Nepalese government.

2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Copyright 2006,2007 by monstersandcritics.com. This notice cannot be removed without permission.

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Nepali PM to address nation 2nd time after 8-party meeting

NC backs calls for amending constitution;

The central committee meeting of Nepali Congress (NC) held on Monday evening in Baluwatar concluded by backing the calls for amending the interim constitution to address Terai demands.

After the meeting, NC central committee member Laxman Prasad Ghimire told media that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will address the nation after discussing with eight party leaders possibly on Tuesday.

"The PM has already said that the country will go for federal system. Likewise, demands for proportional representation and population-based reconstitution of constituencies have also been accepted, in principle," Ghimire told reporters.

He said that NC's position will be discussed along with other parties' positions on these issues in the eight party meeting to be held "at the soonest" after which the PM will be addressing the nation.

Earlier, it was widely reported that the PM could address the nation on Monday itself. However, he did not address on Monday. Although, the PM was in favor of amendment in the draft interim constitution it was promulgated without any change. But still it is not late to amend it.

In my article I wrote about the need of the amendment of the draft before promulgation as it was widely criticized by Terai, the PM and Supreme Court.

http://bhupall.blogspot.com/2007/01/prime-minister-and-supreme-court.html/

During the meeting of top leaders of four parties on Monday morning, too, other leaders had urged PM Koirala to address the nation. The UML also held meeting of its standing committee on Monday to set the agenda for emergency meeting of its central committee, which will begin from Tuesday. The UML has called the meeting of central committee to discuss the evolving situation, particularly in Terai.

Nepal: Problems of Madhesh can be resolved addressing demands of Madheshis

Is the Nepalese Maoist Party Chairman in favor of military solution to the Terai unrest? Kantipur media reports, on Thursday during a press meet, Prachanda the supreme of the Maoist Party suggested a joint military operation of the Nepal Army and his PLA to control the violent demonstrations in the region.

There are many people in Nepal who believe that the Maoists seek solutions to every problem through guns, which is impossible. The Chairman’s suggestion is a testimony to conform their convictions.

What can we make out of Prachanda’s suggestion to suppress the Terai movement, which is supposedly for more democratic rights? Some critics labeled the Maoist suggestion as "militant excess" and can lead to further escalation of the violence.

However, the violence in the Terai region has started after a Maoists cadre shot a peaceful nonviolence protester. Since then most of the violence atrocities have been committed either by the Maoists splinters or the state security forces.

In the mean time various party leaders and locals have criticized Chairman Prachanda' s comment to deploy military to resolve the unrest in Terai

Joining the rows of the critics Nepali Congress leader Dr. Ram Baran Yadav was of the view that Prachanda’s irresponsible comment would only fuel the anger of already agitated Madheshi community.

Likewise, Nepali Congress-Democratic leader Bimelandra Nidhi from Janakpur said that Prachanda's comment was against the eight party agreements. "I will be raising this issue within the eight party alliances," Nidhi added that the notion of suppressing the Madheshi movement would be counterproductive to the nation.

Slamming Prachanda's recent comment as "objectionable", CPN-UML central member and Janakpur zone in-charge Ramchandra Jha commented that Prachanda's controversial statement only went to publicise the CPN-M's attitude of Madhesh.

However, it is observed the process of fishing in the troubled waters has begun. A lot of activities in the neighboring Bihar- an Indian state have fueled the violence in the Nepalese Terai region.

The Bihar government’s security measures to stop the flow of traffic transporting fuel and other essential necessities are also becoming counterproductive because they just add up to the misery of the innocent people. This will surly not help to calm down the agitated population.

Still time has not yet passed. Leaders in Nepal from every community should think very coolly. This spiral effect of this ongoing agitation can lead to the catastrophic event, the end of Nepal’s existence.

Problems of Madhesh can only be resolved by addressing the demands of the Madheshi people, not by suppressing them with guns and politicizing each and every positive move for petty group interest

Indo-Nepal Relation; Fishing in troubled waters!!!!!!

Real Nepal asserts itself
By Sandhya Jain
The result is that in hilly areas a constituency may have just 5,000 voters, while in the Terai region, a constituency could have over five lakh voters. This has naturally led to gross under-representation of the populous Terai in the public arena.

In January this year, Maoists joined the interim parliament. Though their promise to surrender arms is supposedly being monitored by the United Nations, media and other reports suggest that in the countryside, the armed goons are continuing to badger and intimidate other political parties.
In one of the most promising developments in Nepal in recent months, the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, which represents the thirteen million people of the Terai region, has succeeded in getting Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to agree to future federal government and fresh delimitation of constituencies on the basis of population and geography. The Forum, which sacrificed eight lives in the course of a tumultuous two week protest for adequate representation in the forthcoming June elections for a new constituent assembly, had been agitating against the gross under-representation of the nation’s food basket in the country’s elected bodies.

Its struggle has forced the beleaguered Shri Koirala to announce that the eight parties in the interim government (seven party alliance plus Maoists) have agreed to restructure the state within a federal framework, and that the existing 205 constituencies will be freshly delimited on the basis of population and geography.

This will be no mean triumph for the Madhesis, who comprise as much as 35 per cent of the population of the Himalayan kingdom, but lack commensurate presence in Parliament as also the political structure of all parties. On the one hand, Nepal’s politics have been traditionally dominated by Brahmins and Kshatriyas (Bahuns and Chhetris), and on the other, the delimitation of constituencies has largely ignored the population layout. The result is that in hilly areas a constituency may have just 5,000 voters, while in the Terai region, a constituency could have over five lakh voters. This has naturally led to gross under-representation of the populous Terai in the public arena.

The announcement is a blow to the Maoists who despise the Maithili, Bhojpuri and Awadhi-speaking Madhesis on account of their affinity with Indian (read Hindu) culture, and a victory for the royalists who took the campaign for retention of the monarchy into the Terai region. But it is not yet a complete victory for the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, as Shri Koirala has not so far invited the Madheshi leadership for negotiations on the issue. Instead, he has only made an appeal to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations and has directed Home Minister K.P. Sitaula to talk to the agitators. The latter detest Shri Sitaula and want him to resign. The Home Minister, however, enjoys the support of the Maoists, who do not want the interim government to recognise the pro-monarchy Forum.

The Forum is also angry that so far the regime has not expressed any regret for the loss of eight lives in the agitation by the Terai people for recognition of their political rights. The Madhesis intensified their agitation after the peace deal brought the Maoists right into parliament with as many as 83 seats, without prior surrender of weaponry, and without any assessment or testing of their ground strength.

But it was the 48-hour wild cat strike last December, when Maoists resorted to violence and highway blockades to protest against the SPA government’s appointment of envoys to fourteen countries, including India, that alerted other groups and communities in the country to their menacing potential. At that time, the cadres walked out of the camps with impunity, displaying their arms in public in a show of strength that rattled the regime and put the appointments on hold.

Seeing the writing on the wall and rightly assessing the weakness of the Koirala regime, the Limbuwan Liberation Front, a formation of the Limbu community in the Himalayan kingdom’s eastern and northern regions, has joined the clamour for autonomy raised by the Madhesis. The Front’s three day general strike (February 1-3) may trigger off similar claims by other groups feeling sidelined by the easy walkover afforded to the Maoists by the weak Koirala regime, and thus bring altogether unexpected results in the June polls.

Much will depend upon how developments unfold in the coming weeks, as the Maoists join the interim government this month, as part of the so-called peace process. In January this year, Maoists joined the interim parliament. Though their promise to surrender arms is supposedly being monitored by the United Nations, media and other reports suggest that in the countryside, the armed goons are continuing to badger and intimidate other political parties. Some foreign observers have also observed that the Maoists are purchasing cheap local weapons from the Indian border and submitting these for lock-up, while retaining the sophisticated weaponry, ostensibly for election time.

The growing power of the Maoists has caused alarm to other groups and communities residing in Nepal, especially after the peace deal gave them a significant parliamentary presence and access to huge resources. Last December, the interim government released Rs. 110 million for the management of the cantonments were the rebels are residing, with the UN ostensibly monitoring the arms and the armed cadres.

King Gyanendra has not been slow to fish in troubled waters, especially in view of India’s virtual betrayal of such a close ally and neighbour. The pro-monarchy Lok Janshakti Party of former prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa; both factions of the Rashtriya Prajatantrik Party led respectively by Pashupati Shamshere Jang Bahadur Rana on one hand and Kamal Thapa and Rabindranath Sharma on the other; as also the Sadbhavna Party, are active in the Terai. For the Madhesis, the election of the new constituent assembly and the writing of a new constitution is a heaven-sent opportunity to assert their claims for political justice. Given Maoist hostility to their legitimate aspirations and the weakness of the Seven Party Alliance, a tacit alliance with the monarchy may yet be their best bet to gain fair political representation and retain cultural identity in Nepal’s emerging political system.

Nepal names team for talks with ethnic protesters

(Recasts with government naming negotiating team)

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Nepal's government formed a team on Friday to etch out an agreement with ethnic Madhesi groups who called for an end to police action as a condition for ending protests in which at least 13 people have died.

The naming of a three-member team came two days after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala vowed to turn Nepal into a federal state and increase representation of ethnic groups in a constituent assembly due to be elected later this year.

Koirala also invited protest leaders for talks with the government in a bid to end the unrest in the southern plains, known as the Terai.

"The team will listen to the grievances of the people in the Terai and discuss various alternatives (with protest leaders) to redress the problems," Tourism Minister Pradip Gyanwali told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

He said the team would be headed by Mahanta Thakur, agriculture minister, who is from the Madhesi community.

Earlier, Upendra Yadav, head of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum, demanded an end to police action against protests. He also said officials responsible for killing people he called peaceful protesters in the Terai should be punished before talks begin.

"The prime minister's offer (of a federal state) is unsatisfactory and does not address our demands completely. We will continue our protests until the genuine demands of the Madhesi people are met," he said.

Angry demonstrations in the Terai, a narrow strip of fertile plains bordering India and populated mainly by Madhesis, have also left scores wounded and cast a shadow over Nepal's fledgling peace process ending a decade-old conflict in which more than 13,000 people were killed.

Yadav's forum has led the protests, saying "ruling elites" dominated mainly by people from the hills had undermined them over jobs in the government, police, army and seats in parliament.

Separately, public transport, shops and businesses in many districts of Nepal's eastern hills were closed on Friday, the third day of a general strike sponsored by ethnic groups living in the mountains and also demanding more seats in the constituent assembly.

The latest turmoil is the worst since Nepal began a peace process with the Maoists following nearly 15 months of absolute rule by King Gyanendra in April last year.

The political changes and subsequent peace deal with Maoists put an end to the all-out crackdown on the independent media and opposition in the country, media group Reporters Without Borders said.

At least 245 journalists were arrested in Nepal in 2006, the Paris-based group said in a report.

Former guerrillas still recruiting child soldiers in Nepal: Human Rights Watch

The Associated Press
Friday, February 2, 2007
KATMANDU, Nepal
Nepal's former communist rebels continue to recruit child soldiers, Human Rights Watch said, despite signing a peace deal with the government that ended 10 years of fighting.

The Maoists also have not released thousands of children in their ranks used to fight the Nepalese government in the 1996-2006 civil war that killed more than 13,000 people, HRW said in a statement to The Associated Press received late Thursday.

"The Maoists should let the children go," HRW's Asia research director Sam Zarifi said. "The peace agreement explicitly forbids the use of child soldiers, and complying with this will be a key test of the Maoists' good faith to uphold the accord."

The former rebels "should immediately begin releasing the thousands of child soldiers in their ranks and cease recruiting more children," the statement said.

The rights group said its information was based on interviews with former child soldiers and Nepali and international monitors. Children as young as 14 received weapons training and carried out crucial military and logistical support duties, it said.

The Maoists, however, denied the allegations saying all of their fighters were over the age of 18.

"U.N. monitors have registered our armies in two camps in south Nepal, and none of them have been found to be under 18 years of age," Maoist leader Prachanda said at a press conference Thursday.

U.N. officials monitoring the disarmament of the former rebels were not immediately available for comment Friday.

Prachanda, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, warned Thursday the former rebels may "return to the path of revolt." He stressed, however, that any protests would be peaceful.

The Maoists say Nepal's current coalition government has been slow in implementing aspects of the peace accord, such as releasing jailed fighters.

They are scheduled to join an interim government that will conduct upcoming elections, but this has been delayed by months, also angering the former guerrillas.

The Maoists began peace talks last year and signed the peace deal with the government in November.

____

Old wounds threaten new Nepal

By Rajesh Sundaram and Shaun Devitt

As Nepal's Maoists settle into their seats as members of the country's new 330-member interim parliament, Rajesh Sundaram and Shaun Devitt visit the country to carry out a series of exclusive interviews.

Amid the atmosphere of hope, they found the country's still fragile peace could be under threat from violent separatist splinter groups and that many questions from 10 years of civil conflict remain unanswered.

Asmita says she is not fond of carrying weapons and killing people but will "do it as history requires, bringing about a change in the society".

Although only 20-years-old she is already familiar with doing both through her role as a cadre with the second division of the Ram Briksh brigade of the Communist party of Nepal, better known as Maoists.

Asmita estimates she has killed between 20 and 25 people, but at her camp near the town of Janakpur several hundred kilometres from the capital, Kathmandu, in the country's southeastern Terai plains she tells Al Jazeera that she and her comrades are now "ready to lay down arms" for the Nepali people.

That moment may now be close as the Maoists come in from the cold both politically and physically and take up their positions in Nepal's new 330-member interim parliament.

Terai threat

The rebels struck a deal in November with the multi-party government that saw a cessation of hostilities in the Himalayan kingdom thus ending a conflict that has so far claimed 13,000 lives.

The peace accord saw the former rebels led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, commonly known as Prachanda, agree to lay down their weapons in return for a promise by Girija Prasad Koirala, the Nepali prime minister, to name them in an interim government.

Now 84 former rebels have taken their seats alongside those they once fought in an administration meant to oversee elections for an assembly that will prepare a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy, which the Maoists want abolished.

But, as unarmed UN officials are deployed across the country to monitor the handover of weapons from both sides, not everyone is excited by the prospect of a "new" Nepal.

At a secret location in an Indian town just over the border from southeast Nepal, Jai Krishna Goit emerges from the shadows to give his first ever television interview.

Goit is a former Maoist and leader of Janatantrik Terai Mutik Morcha (JTMM), which translates as the People's Terai Liberation Front, a deadly splinter group that he established in 2004.

One of JTMM's main political aims is an independent state for the Madhesis, the people of the Terai, the vast southern plains that stretch across Nepal.
Clad head to toe so he cannot be identified, Goit has accused the Maoists of betraying the Madhesis people.

Political killing

His followers and members of another splinter of the JTMM have recently undertaken an increasing number of attacks in regions of the Terai, and Goit says he will fight all those who threaten his people.

"The people of Terai will drive them out," he says. "Every child in Terai will fight against the army and the PLA and is willing to become a martyr."

On September 23 Krishna Srestha, a Nepalese parliamentarian, was shot dead by Goit's men in the Siraha district of Terai.

A mainstream political assassination is something the Maoists have yet to commit in 12 years of armed resistance, but Goit openly admits to the murder.

"We do not wish to take military action against someone, but we are compelled," he says and cites recent violence in the Terai town of Nepalgunj as a reason why the Madhesis feel left behind by the "new Nepal" need to protect themselves.

In an attack that was ethnically rather than politically motivated, gangs from the hills to the north of the town ransacked and torched shops while police looked on.
"Nepalgunj is proof to my point," says Goit, "that unless the Terai is independent, Madhesis will be deprived of their economic, political, cultural, linguistic or any rights. When the Madhesis houses were burnt down they could not find justice ... how will they secure our rights? Elections will not bring solutions."

Kiran Dwyer of the UN says the situation in Terai:"Is a tinder box that could spiral out of control," but after an exhausting journey back to Kathmandu Al Jazeera found the Maoist leader unperturbed by the threat of the JTMM and other disaffected groups.

Maoist abuse

Prachanda, now more a mainstream politician than a guerrilla fighter, dismisses offhandedly the attempts to derail the new interim government.

"The splinter groups in Nepal are very small, they are only located in a few districts they have very small numbers, if we go with them in a clash we can cross them in one week," he says.

The Maoist leader says his movement will eventually fully disarm and integrate into a new Nepal army for the new Nepal but the legacy of the old Nepal and the old Maoists remains.

Indira Adhikari tells Al Jazeera her husband, Mukti Nath, was a good, loyal man and a well respected teacher in a remote village and for these reasons he was not liked by the Maoists.

Three years ago he was tied to a tree, beaten, stabbed and shot by Maoist guerrillas who accused him of spying and then put his body on public display as a warning to others.

Indira no longer fears reprisal from the Maoists but refuses to return to her village because of the public stigma attached to the perception that her husband was a police informant.

She now lives in hiding in Kathmandu and finds it hard to accept that her husband's killers are represented nearby in parliament as she and hundreds of other victims' families have yet to receive a thorough investigation.

The Maoists for their part say such atrocities are part of war and should be forgotten. They have said they are committed to bringing justice to families, but have yet to give details of how they will do so.

Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a communist party spokesman, says: "If a mother has lost her husband or sons in the revolution, it is possible that she can forgive the killers. She could consider the fact it happened during the revolution, that they sacrificed their lives."

Search for justice

While victims of Maoist violence are well documented by the officials, voices of those killed by the army and police have for long been silenced, hidden in the back alleys of Kathmandu.

Sharmila Tripathi's has been spearheading a fruitless campaign to allow families to discover the truth about their missing or deceased relatives.
Her husband Gyanendra, a student leader, was picked up by the army three years ago and she has not heard of him since.

In a tiny room plastered with the images of other people who disappeared after the Nepal army's crack down on Maoist sympathisers she tells us: "We haven't found a single person we have been looking for till date."

For years now the army has refused to give families access to detention centers or even acknowledge their petitions.

Activists estimate the number of missing is in the thousands and the UN, is investigating human rights violations committed by both sides during the conflict years, is receiving very little assistance.

"We have been frustrated with the lack of cooperation we are getting from both parties, under the agreement we have from the government we should have access to all documents and we don't," says Kiran Dwyer.

So, while Nepal embraces a new political era the grievances of the Madhesis and the relatives of those who lost their lives highlight that the wounds of 10 years of civil conflict will take some time yet to heal.