Land fit for heroes? Not if you're Gurkhas

Vicki Woods

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 30/06/2007

Next Wednesday evening, an 84-year-old Nepali citizen, frail and in poor health, will arrive at Heathrow on a Virgin flight from New Delhi, to be met by a near-royal reception: an official guard of honour from the Royal Gurkha Regiment. After which, the old boy will be whisked off into a merry sea of hundreds of the wellwishers and campaigners who forced the Home Office into the tightlipped and begrudging U-turn over his entry visa.

The frail Nepali is of course the (now) globally celebrated Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun VC, who has been granted "indefinite leave to remain" (ILR) in Britain, the country he was prepared to die for during the Burma campaign. He is thrilled by the thought of the ceremonial that will greet him (having done honour guard duty himself "many times"), but he is upset that he won't be able to see it clearly. (His eyesight being very poor now.)

Shamingly, I'd never heard of Tulbahadur Pun VC until I read about him on the Army Rumour Service website (ARRSE) in May. (Shamingly because my late pa fought alongside the Gurkha Rifles in Burma.) But everyone's heard of him now: he's on Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook; he's the top hit on Google for "Gurkha VC hero".

ARRSE first mentioned him on May 24, saying he'd applied for a visa to the British Embassy in Kathmandu, which was refused, in the formulaic words of the British Consul, Richard Beeson, because Pun VC had "failed to demonstrate close ties to the UK". This lunatic judgment reduced first hundreds, then thousands of ARRSE-posters to gibbering outrage. The next day, a post popped up from Kieran O'Rourke of Howe & Co, saying they were Mr Pun's solicitors, working pro bono and preparing to appeal the Home Office decision. They'd set up an online campaign: www.vchero.co.uk, which you should look up; it reduced me to choked snuffles.

O'Rourke said his firm was working for many other Gurkhas who'd been refused ILR as well (on the same slimy "no ties" grounds). ARRSE is a site for former and serving military personnel, and it went completely crazy (as it did its sister sites for the RAF and the Navy). They began emailing MPs, MEPs, MSPs, Lords, the Queen, the Prince of Wales (C-in-C of the Royal Gurkha Regiment), the Home Office, the ambassador in Kathmandu, the hapless Richard Beeson, TV and radio stations, Viscount Slim. They urged each other to use "snail-mail" as well, to ring official phones and leave annoyingly lengthy (but constrained) expressions of outrage.

I think it was ARRSE who worked out that Joanna Lumley's father was in the same horrific firefight at the railway bridge at Mogaung in June 1943, where Pun's unbelievable bravery saved the day (and Major Lumley's life, she believes), singlehandedly. I wish I had room for the clipped, precise VC citation, but you can find it at www.vchero.co.uk. "Outstanding courage", it reads, and "superb gallantry in the face of almost certain death".

Howe & Co are in Nepal as I write, to accompany Pun VC home to Britain and seeing as many of their 2,000 other Gurkha clients as they can while they're there. TWO THOUSAND. I do hope Jacqui Smith and young Dave Miliband find that figure as interesting as I do, though it was Liam Byrne's decision, in fact, as the minister i/c letting 'em in (asylum, immigration) as well as keeping 'em out (Gurkhas).

"They're the bravest of the brave," said O'Rourke yesterday on a dodgy line from Pokhara, Nepal, where it's raining harder than here. "That's the old line about Gurkhas and it's true: these men were Gurkhas themselves, their grandfathers fought in Burma and they have sons and nephews serving now in Iraq and Afghanistan. The state some of them are in is pitiful; there's so much poverty."

Their pension is about £100 a month. "Mr Pun had a three-day journey to get it; the whole first day being carried in a wicker basket 14,000ft down the mountain. And if you're too ill to go in person, you don't get paid." He wants them all let in, all these men whose "ties to the UK" are so close you'd have to be mad not to see them. I want them let in, too. It's only 150,000 or so.

It was the sheer weight of public outrage that forced Liam Byrne's U-turn on Pun. "It was less than three weeks, and it was getting bigger all the time. Martin [Howe] went on Radio 4 and in two hours we got 6,000 emails. Not a single negative one, not one.

"But they're outraged about the Gurkhas. 'I fought with them in Malaya'; 'I've got the Burma Star, here's a £10 cheque'; 'I've never sent an email in my life - my son's helping me'." One old lady came round to our offices and tried to give us £500! In cash! We said we couldn't take it off her."

Howe & Co's next campaign is for L/Cpl Gyanendra Rai, who fought and nearly died at Bluff Cove in the Falklands. He was saved by British Army doctors, who grafted skin from a British soldier on to his appalling wounds. He still suffers from his wounds, but gets no pension at all, having been invalided out before he finished his 15 years. Look him up: his story will make you howl.

"I will try my utmost," said PM Brown on the steps of Number 10. (Actually, he said "my outmost", but whether from first-night nerves or from regional vowel shift, we'll never know.) He and his duff Defence Secretary should try their utmost to work out what "close ties to the UK" actually mean. In my book, battlefield flesh and blood come pretty close.

Crackdown On Kissing, Cuddling In Nepal Temples

Fresh out of the jaws of one danger, Kathmandu's famed temples and royal palaces now face another peril - 'immoral and disgraceful activities' on their premises.

The Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu is one of the main tourist attractions of Nepal with its complex of palaces, courtyards and temples, including the residence of Kumari, the 'Living Child Goddess'. They were built between the 12th and 18th centuries by the Malla kings.

However, the sprawling buildings that are mostly unguarded and accessible to all are also the haunt of young couples and even drug users, local residents complain.

'Scenes of youths (sic) kissing and hugging each other have been a common sight on temple premises, especially during morning and evening hours,' a local daily said Thursday.

The trend has raised the concern of the Kathmandu metropolitan city authorities, who Wednesday began putting up notices warning against 'immoral and disgraceful activities... on the premises of historical temples', the Himalayan Times said.

'Photographs of people involved in such activities in public will be made public,' cautioned the notices pasted on temple walls.

Raju Shrestha, an official with the Durbar Area Conservation Programme, reportedly told the daily that the authorities took the step after complaints began pouring in from the local residents.

Many of the young pairs are students bunking school, given away by their school uniforms.

Shrestha said the sight is also regarded as unseemly by the tourists flocking to the area.

Ironically, some of the temples are famed for erotic sculptures, like the famous Khajuraho figures in neighbouring India.

The Basantapur Durbar Square has been recognised by Unesco as one of the world heritage sites.

Nepal, though one of the smallest countries in South Asia, boasts of six other world heritage sites.

The sites however became endangered due to uncontrolled building activities in Kathmandu valley and were put on Unesco's list of endangered heritage sites.

This month, the Unesco World Heritage Committee held its 31st meeting in New Zealand, where it lauded Nepal's conservation efforts and said the seven sites were now out of danger.

Female Gurkha Soldiers a new Beginning

The British defence ministry said the recruitment process for women in Gurkha regiment would begin soon with 50 young women taken in the first batch.

The Guardian news agency quoted Colonel Jeremy Ellis, the British defence attache in Nepal and commander of the Brigade of Gurkhas Nepal as saying that women will soon be alongside men, drawing the Gurkhas' famous khukuris. With the announcement of the British government to allow the entry of female members in its regiment, Yam Bahadur Gurung, a retired soldier has been running training camp for girls in Pokhara since a few months to make them fit for service.

The report said that many of the women hoping to join the British army are hardened members of the Maoist party. However, the Maoists have always been against the tradition of Gurkha Soldiers.

The British government takes in some 230 Nepali soldiers every year to serve in Gurkha regiment of its defence force. At present there are about 3,500 male Gurkha soldiers serving with the British army.

During the two World Wars, the Gurkhas suffered 43,000 casualties and won 26 Victoria Crosses, more than any other regiment.

Jimmy Carter as evangelist

By Sandhya Jain
THE sudden decision of the interim parliament of Nepal to arrogate to itself the power to abolish the monarchy precisely when former US President Jimmy Carter arrived on a four-day visit should ring alarm bells in this country. Prior to Mr. George Bush Jr, the American President most committed to an evangelical agenda for the world was Mr. Jimmy Carter, and his visit comes in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to appoint a bishop in the Himalayan kingdom.
As Nepal is already slated to hold elections to a new Constituent Assembly to decide the survival of the monarchy and other matters, this Maoist-inspired move to pre-empt the democratic will of the Nepalese people stinks of an attempted coup. It is well known that all the top Maoist leaders of Nepal are Christian converts. The fact that the Maoists cannot wait for the people’s verdict is proof of their poor electoral prospects, and the plea that the monarch may interfere with the poll process is a weak excuse. It shows nervousness that the nation of 28 million cannot be trusted to fully oust the weakened King Gyanendra, who was forced to restore Parliament in April 2006 and has already been stripped of much of his power.
What needs explanation, however, is why Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, who has secured maximum powers under the interim constitution, succumbs to Prachanda and his illegitimate demands. This suggests an external influence, and since India under UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has abdicated its role in the country, this is probably the handiwork of the United States and the UN operating to American diktat or machinations.
Mr. Jimmy Carter reportedly visited Nepal to encourage its leaders to “continue on the path of peace” as they prepare for elections, according to the Carter Center for Human Rights and Democracy, which sounds suspiciously like the Karl Popper-George Soros Open Society branches that triggered revolutions in the Central Asian states until Russia and the ruling elites woke up to the threat.
Mr. Carter’s visit to the Electoral Commission of Nepal is significant, given its sensitive task of delimiting constituencies afresh to reflect the ethnic population in the Terai and other regions, which are opposed to the Maoists.
The former US President’s praise of Mr. Koirala as a man who “has been a hero for me with his reputation and his integrity,” and a “focal point around which the peace and future democracy of this country has been built,” rings hollow as the real purpose of his visit was to meet with Maoist leaders, possibly on behalf of the US government.
India should not be fooled by the fact that the US government still lists the Maoists as terrorists; Washington is quite happy to play ball surreptitiously with such groups in pursuit of its geo-political ends.
The formal abolition of the Nepal monarch will help America delink the nation’s Hindu civilization and ethos from its political culture, and evangelize more aggressively in the region. The American desire for Nepal as a client state, which can be used to keep a check on China, also needs recognition in New Delhi.
Prachanda is more than willing to play ball. “I told Carter we would like to establish amicable diplomatic relations with the US,” he gushed after an hour-long meeting with the former President.
It is significant that Mr. Carter is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, though no one quite knows what his contribution to world peace is or was—he was one of the most colourless American Presidents but it is a fact that the Nobel Peace Prize is given only to those who serve the Western Christian agenda of world dominion.
Mr. Carter made some polite noises against Prachanda’s Young Communist League, which has returned (if it ever left) to the path of violence and extortions against businessmen, and open conflict with Madhesis in the Terai.
The Madhesis are giving it back with all they have, and a few Maoist cadre have been killed in recent days. This has agitated the Maoists and ideologue Chandra Prakash Gajurel has threatened a new agitation to counter the resistance to Maoist domination in the plains. Predictably, Mr. Carter called upon the current US administration to hold talks with the Maoists after Prachanda and his deputy Baburam Bhattarai sought his help in removing the organisation from the US terrorist list.
Mr. Carter claimed that “it is obvious that the people of Nepal have accepted the Maoists as playing a role in the shaping of the future of this country,” but did not give the grounds upon which he made this assessment.
This is dangerous as his Atlanta-based Carter Center is helping the Nepalese government with Constituent Assembly elections to be held later this year. If New Delhi wakes up to find the Maoists in power and an American military base on its eastern border—there are already bases in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia—it will only have itself to blame.

'Chemical Ali' to be Hanged till death

June 23, 2007 at 11:00 pm · VOA
Iraq's High Tribunal has sentenced Saddam Hussein's cousin and top henchman to hang for his role in the massacre of tens of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq in the 1980s known as the Anfal campaign. From Baghdad, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more on the verdict.
Chief Judge Mohammed al-Oreibi read the court's decision, finding Ali Hassan al-Majid guilty of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Also known by the grim nickname "Chemical Ali" for orchestrating the gassing of the Kurds, he was sentenced Sunday to hang for his crimes.
Two other high-ranking regime members were also sentenced to death: former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Tai and a former army commander Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti.
Sabir al-Douri, the former Director of Military Intelligence, and Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, former Head of Military Intelligence's Eastern Regional Office both received life sentences for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A sixth defendant, Taher Muhammed al-Ani, a former governor of Mosul province, was cleared of all charges due to insufficient evidence.
In Northern Iraq's Kurdistan Region, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told VOA by telephone that his government is satisfied with the verdict. He says it is important that the court recognized that the atrocities committed against the Kurds were genocide.
Mr. Barzani says the Anfal campaign was a "holocaust" for his people, and he hopes the international community will recognize it as such. He also called for the Iraqi government to compensate survivors.
The defendants had argued that they were acting on orders at a time when Saddam's government viewed the rebellious, independence-minded Kurds as cooperating with Iran during the 1980s war between the two countries.
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was also a defendant in the case, but was executed in December following his conviction in an earlier trial. He received the death penalty for ordering the executions of 148 Shiite men and boys in the town of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt against him there in 1982.
The court has 10 days to send all relevant documents to a nine-judge appeals panel that automatically reviews all life or death sentences. If upheld, the sentences will have to be carried out within 30 days of the appeal-court ruling, but there is no time limit for the panel to certify the verdicts.
In February 1988, Saddam Hussein's army began a campaign of mass murder against Iraqi Kurds living in the north. When it ended the following September, tens of thousands of Kurdish men, women and children had been killed or had disappeared. Some human-rights groups estimate the number of dead to be as high as 182,000. Four-thousand Kurdish villages were destroyed.
The regime's codename for the operation was "al-Anfal," the title of a chapter in the Koran that means "spoils of war." Iraqi Kurds celebrated Sunday's verdicts, honking horns and dancing in the streets.
Layla, a school teacher living in the Kurdish city of Irbil, says she is very happy with the verdict and hopes Chemical Ali will be hanged in Halabja.
One of the worst attacks during this period was against the town of Halabja, on the Iran-Iraq border. The regime is accused of ordering the use of chemical weapons, killing about 5,000 civilians. This crime was so horrific that the Iraqi High Tribunal will consider it in a separate trial.

Ms. Nancy J. Powell, US ambassador Nepal a hard nut

Ms. Nancy J. Powell, US ambassador designated to Nepal, has said the Maoists were not at all abiding by the clauses of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement they signed with the state. She was responding to a query of John Kerry, a member of the US senate.
She said, “Although the Maoists joined the government on April 1, they continue to violate commitments they made in the course of the peace process”. She added,
"With the YCL coming into the scene, instances of violence, abduction and intimidation have grown tremendously".
“Law and order situation remains yet to return to normal for that the CA polls can be conducted in a free and fair manner”, she said.
Ms Powell said: “it’s necessary to observe if the results will not be accepted by all including the Maoists”.
Analysts observe that the ambassador designate is not pleased with the EPA dictatorial practices which does not allow others to participate in the CA election except the eight parties in the alliance.
Responding to another query Ms. Powell said it is unclear that the Maoists had just 3000 weapons that were deposited to the UN team.
It seems with her answers at the Senate Ms. Powell will be a hard nut to crack as her predecessor Moriarty who is going back to Washington.

Lebanese government declares itself victorious over militants

By Tom Peter

Despite the Lebanese government's assertion that it has "crushed" Fatah al-Islam militants in the north, unease persists amid sporadic violence and concerns that the battle may have deepened rifts between Lebanon's Shiites and Sunnis.

According to an Associated Press report, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said that the Nahr Al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, where the fighting took place, will remain "a theater of operations and under siege" until Fatah al-Islam completely surrenders. Mr. Murr demanded the body of the militant group's leader, Shaker al-Abssi, reportedly killed in the fighting, as proof that the Al Qaeda-inspired organization was ready to surrender.

"The Lebanese army has destroyed all Fatah Islam positions," Defense Minister Elias Murr told the private Lebanese Broadcasting Television Thursday night. ``The army is combing the area. This terrorist organization has been uprooted.''

Sheik Mohammed Haj of the Palestinian Scholars Association, a mediator who met with the militants' leaders during the week, said that Fatah Islam ``has declared a cease-fire and will comply with the Lebanese army's decision to end military operations.''

He said the militants would abide by conditions set by the army to end the fighting, but did not elaborate. TV stations and newspapers said the deal included handing over Fatah Islam's wounded and dismantling the group.

As gunfire quiets down in Nahr Al-Bared, some of the more than 31,000 Palestinian refugees are demanding that the Lebanese Army allow them to return to their homes, reports Reuters. Dozens of Palestinian students from Nahr Al-Bared who fled to the nearby Beddawi refugee camp protested in front of the UN school there, calling for a prompt return to their homes.

"We're hearing that the fighting has stopped but there are still some explosions," Hind Abdulal, a 35-year-old mother of 10, told Reuters at the nearby Beddawi camp where she and her family, like thousands of refugees, had taken shelter.

"We're ready to go and stay on the sand instead of staying here (but) we know there are mines and booby traps," she said.

A 1969 agreement prohibits Lebanese forces from entering any of the country's 12 refugee camps, complicating the effort to build a lasting stability. The past month's fighting took place in Nahr Al-Bared neighborhoods constructed outside the camp's official boundaries, built to accommodate the Palestinian population that has expanded considerably since it first arrived to the country in 1948. However, Agence France-Presse reports that a Palestinian force may be required to police inside the camp.

(Mohammed al-Hajj, spokesman for a group of Palestinian clerics) had said the "deployment of a Palestinian force between the two sides in the old camp is imperative if the fighting is to end," and that the army talks were expected "to fix the details of setting up this force" that would protect remaining refugees in the camp and prevent militants from escaping.

At least 75 Lebanese soldiers, 60 Fatah al-Islam miltants, and 20 civlians were killed in the fighting. Al Jazeera reports that although both sides may be moving towards peace, it would still be premature to call this a victory for the Lebanese Army.

Zeina Khodr, Al Jazeera's correspondent in northern Lebanon, said: "From where we are standing we are not hearing any resistance, it is just the Lebanese army pounding positions and detonating bombs.

"It is very early to say that this is a victory, very early to say that this crisis is over."

Even if the fighting has died down, the battle has fueled regional and sectarian feuds. The BBC reports that the Lebanese government believes that Syrian intelligence supported Fatah al-Islam to destabilize the country, an allegation that Syria denies. Relations between the nations remain tense.

Syria has closed a border crossing in the north-east of Lebanon for "security" reasons.

Damascus closed two other crossings when fighting first broke out in the camp, also for safety reasons. Only the Masnaa crossing remains open.

Many in Lebanon also blame Syria for the recent bombing that killed Lebanese Sunni MP Walid Eido. The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly reports that Sunnis expressed their rage at the MP's funeral.

Adding to widespread fears of a "hot summer" of civil unrest, an angry mob shouted sectarian slogans at the Sunni parliamentarian's funeral. "The blood of the Sunnis is boiling", they roared, as they chanted for Iraq's Saddam Hussein, a symbol of the Sunni strongman since his execution in December.

As Lebanon begins to crackdown on other Islamic militants throughout the country, most of which are Sunni, the Los Angeles Times reports that many fear Sunni rage may boil over.

The community has been fractured by a battle between the Lebanese army and an extremist Sunni group inspired by Al Qaeda, and an ensuing government crackdown against Islamists. More radical Sunnis are facing off against moderate supporters of the U.S.-backed government.

"We're beginning to see cracks in the Sunni community," said Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut. Khashan, like the Sunni-led government, charged that Syria had helped the Fatah al Islam militant group establish itself in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon in order to create instability.

"Syria is trying to cause the Sunni sect to splinter," he said.

Nepal defence army a reality?

A band of former soldiers, ex-police personnel and victims of Maoist guerrillas have united in Nepal to form a Hindu army with suicide bombers to fight Islamic and Christian zealots as well as communists.

Called the Nepal Defence Army, the group is headed by a former policeman who says he joined the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist as a schoolboy but has now begun waging war on his former comrades.

The ex-cop, who today calls himself 'Parivartan' (change), claims his band has nearly 1,200 trained soldiers who possess arms and have the expertise to manufacture explosives.

Earlier this year, the Nepal Defence Army made its debut with a couple of blasts, including at the well-guarded office of the Maoists in Kathmandu.

On Wednesday, a Nepali tabloid carried an extensive interview with the shadowy leader, saying he had walked into the tabloid's city office to talk about his organisation.

'Nepal Defence Army has been founded to fight for Hinduism,' Parivartan told Nepali weekly Ghanata R. Bichar. 'Hindus worldwide support us, including the families of top Maoist leaders. Our soldiers are being trained across the border in India and we get the ingredients for manufacturing explosives from India.'

However, the new revolutionary said his group had no links with King Gyanendra.

'We are not funded by the palace,' he said. 'If the palace had tried to promote Hinduism and Nepal as a Hindu state, we wouldn't have to wage our war. We don't dabble in politics. Our sole aim is to form a Hindu state.'

Parivartan told the weekly that his party didn't want bloodshed.

'The bombs we threw at the Maoist office were intended as a warning and not to kill,' he said. 'I stopped plans to assassinate Maoist chief Prachanda and Maoist minister Dev Gurung.

'But if the warning is not taken seriously, the eight-party ruling alliance can suffer serious losses.'

The shadowy leader held Maoists as their main enemy.

'During their 10-year war, the Maoists destroyed and desecrated temples and attacked priests,' he said. 'But they never destroyed any church or mosque.'

However, he added that Maoists' families still remained devout Hindus.

'During the civil war, Prachanda's mother would wake up early in the morning and offer water to the sun god to pray for her son's safety,' he said. 'It shows they are Hindus and would support Hinduism.'

Parivartan ended with a dire warning.

'The Maoists had also begun in a small way,' he said. 'We learnt how to make bombs from Prachanda's teachings.

'Now, like the Al Qaeda, we are training suicide squads.

'We have trained five suicide bombers who can go anywhere, including Singh Durbar (the heart of administration in Nepal, where the prime minister's office, key ministries and parliament are located.

India and Nepali PLA

'India to assist PLA cantonments'
By Binod Tripathi
BHARATPUR, June 18 - Indian Ambassador Shiv Shanker Mukherjee on Monday said that the Indian government would provide necessary equipment for the Maoist PLA cantonments.
"I found that the Nepal government has completely neglected management of the Maoist camps," Mukharjee told PLA combatants after an inspection of the 3rd division PLA Cantonment Headquarters at Chitwan's Shaktikhor, adding "It is the Nepal government's responsibility to manage the necessary physical infrastructure for the combatants."
Stating that he was there to inspect whether the tents provided by the Indian government were being used properly or not, Mukherjee urged the government to immediately pay attention to the habitation of the fighters.
India had provided 50 tents for the Shaktikhor camp.
"I found that the number of tents we had provided were grossly inadequate," the Indian envoy said, "The Indian government is ready to make arrangements for proper quarters to stop the rain."
According to division spokesperson Abiral, the Indain ambassador had handed his assurance to take the necessary initiative once a written request for assistance was submitted to the Indian Embassy.
601 PLA combatants are currently stationed at the four camps including three satellite camps in Chitwan.

Although Prachanda will appreciate the comments of the India envoy because he is not James F. Moriarty, people in Nepal will make out there is not yet a royal road to Peace and Security in Nepal.

Nepal’s Endangered Kumaris

By Deepak Shimkhada, Ph.D.
Professor of Religious Studies
Claremont McKenna College, California, USA

I do not usually become involved in matters that occur twelve thousand miles away. My rationale is that I can do very little from my location in a distant country. But when I read Surendra Phuyal's article ("Nepal 'goddess' inquiry ordered," BBC News, November 6, 2006), I felt compelled to respond.

The article reports that the petition to the court was filed last year by a human rights group on the grounds of exploitation and psychological damage suffered by the girls selected as Kumaris. I am surprised that the court saw sufficient merit in the petition to order full investigation of the complaint. Chunda Bajracharya, a researcher on Newari culture, told the BBC that the tradition has not affected Kumaris' individual rights. In fact, it has elevated their status in society as "someone divine, someone who's above the rest."

It is true that the girls selected to be Kumaris are separated from their families and are required to live in the Kumari House until they complete their term. That the young girls who would otherwise be in school playing with their friends are now suddenly plucked out of the household and kept in a controlled environment may beg issues for discussion. However, we have to weigh other benefits accorded to the young girls such as special care, veneration, security, and home schooling, which they otherwise would not likely receive on their own. Let us not forget also that the parents are often allowed to live with the Kumari at her residence to avoid any emotional problems that she may suffer. Although she may have no freedom to go out to play or do chores like any normal girls of her age, she is sufficiently kept entertained in her residence by her caretakers. The human rights group charges that the Kumaris have been exploited. But exactly how and by whom they failed to explain.

Such terms as "exploitation" and "psychological damage" are loaded with ambiguities. Has the group really researched the situation of the Kumaris? Have they interviewed the Kumaris to see how they feel about this issue? What is the actual percentage of them that do not get married after they leave the Kumari House? What is their mental health while they try to lead a normal life? If there is a preponderance of evidence to suggest that they indeed suffer emotional damage due to social discrimination and cultural victimization, then we need to find ways to rehabilitate them by providing vocational training, jobs and a retirement package so that they may be brought into the mainstream of society. Asking to do away with the Kumari tradition is not the answer. This only shows the insensitivity of the human rights group to a tradition serving society for hundreds of years. Doesn't the group have better things to do than to go after an age-old tradition that has elevated young girls to the level of "living goddesses"?

I am sure that the Kumaris feel empowered and special, even if only for a few years. If the Kumaris do not feel that they have been exploited, isn't the human rights group acting as Big Brother/Sister? Is this really such a significant social problem of Nepal that it requires court intervention? Why is the government involved in religious matters? Shouldn't there be a separation of church and state (in Nepal's case, separation of temple and state)?

Nepal has many social problems. To name a few examples: Girls are being sold into prostitution every day. In some parts of the country, girls who are barely thirteen years old are being married to much older men. These girls tend to become pregnant at a young age, exposing them to birth complications and even death. Most girls are not given the opportunity to get an education. Instead of attending school, many underage girls are forced to work. These are not practices essential to Nepali religious tradition. Abolishing Kumari tradition is not going to solve these more serious problems. This tradition should be left alone, and attention should be focused on issues that really matter.

I can name a few customs practiced by most Hindu women that have been around for hundreds of years. For example, even today some traditional Nepali women observe ritual pollution during menstruation. Will the human rights group find this to be a form of discrimination against women? Some individuals observe vrata (fasting) during Ekadasis and other religious holidays. Will the human rights group find it a form of physical punishment or torture? Is observing Kriya (funeral rite) for thirteen days in seclusion, while removing salt, dairy products, and meat from one's diet, another form of punishment? Is shaving the son's head when one of his parents dies like branding an animal? If the human rights folks had their way, they would certainly outlaw these practices as well. Must we do away with all these cultural customs that constitute Hinduism? Ritual is part of culture, and it is the ritual that distinguishes one culture from another. Without rituals and customs, what distinguishes us as being a Nepali or a Hindu or a Buddhist? When we lose all of our traditions, what do we have left?

I recommend that the human rights group look into other problems. For example, many affluent Nepali families send their children at a very young age to boarding schools where they live in strict discipline for several years separated from their parents. This separation can lead to many social problems later in their lives not to mention the "psychological problems." The children who attend convent schools are subjected to proselytization. Many have confided in me their traumatic experience at a convent school. They were constantly coerced to convert. Why doesn't the human rights group defend these children's rights to practice their religion and stop being "psychologically" traumatized by authorities of another faith? We should distinguish between social practices which harm or deny people basic human rights and religious practices which enrich our cultural traditions.

By doing away with harmless, age-old customs, I personally believe that we are wiping out our culture, our history and our identity as Nepalis. Cultural identity is more important than political identity. As we move toward assuring essential human rights for all, we should preserve those customs that make us who we are. I would hope that the court will not entertain the petition, let alone rule on it. Such petitions should be viewed as frivolous and hence thrown out of court.

Carter: U.S. should engage Nepal Maoists

Former US President Jimmy Carter called on his country's government Saturday to establish relations with Nepal's former rebel Maoists, who remain on a list of US terrorist organisations.
"My opinion is that the US should establish some communication with the Maoists. The people of Nepal have accepted them as political players," Carter told journalists at the end of a four-day visit to Nepal.
The US remains highly critical of the Maoists, despite the fact they signed a landmark peace deal last year and entered government in April.
Earlier this week the US ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty said that the ultra-leftists' "addiction to violence, extortion and intimidation continues unabated."
During his visit, Carter met with Prachanda, the Maoist leader whose nom-de-guerre means "the fierce one."
The 82-year-old former president admitted he was worried about the activities of the Young Communist League (YCL), the Maoist youth wing that has frequently been accused of using mafia-like tactics.
"I am still concerned about some of the activities of the YCL. My hope is that they will be corrected," Carter told reporters at a hotel in the capital.
"I have expressed my concern to him (Prachanda) and he has assured me he will do whatever possible to correct the problem," Carter said.
The former president's Carter Centre has been invited to provide election monitors in crucial polls planned for November.
The vote will elect a body that will rewrite Nepal's constitution and decide the future of the sidelined monarchy.
The US embassy in Kathmandu have been at pains to emphasise that Carter is visiting as a private US citizen.

US Government's Back door Diplomacy

Carter to meet Maoist leaders in Nepal trip
By IE
Wednesday June 13, 01:59 AM In what may well lead to embarrassment for the Bush administration, former US President Jimmy Carter is all s et to meet top Maoist leaders in Nepal who are still on the US terror list.

In a four-day visit beginning tomorrow, the former US president will meet Maoist chief Prachanda and key ideologue Baburam Bhattarai, Prime Minister G P Koirala, leaders of political parties, representatives of the Election Commission and civil society leaders. Carter's visit is intended to "encourage Nepal's political leaders to continue on the path to peace as they prepare to hold Constituent Assembly elections later in 2007", a Carter Center release issued from Atlanta said.

There are indications that apart from extending administrative support, the US embassy will not be involved in Carter's visit. However, Ambassador James Moriarty, as part of protocol, is likely to brief him about the current situation in Nepal .

Jimmy Carter not scheduled to meet the Maoists leaders in Kathmandu

President Jimmy Carter is set to arrive in Kathmandu on Wednesday for a four-day visit to Nepal.

The objective of Carter’s visit is to encourage Nepal’s political leaders to continue on the path to peace as they prepare to hold constituent assembly elections.

During his visit, Carter will meet with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, other top political leaders, officials of the Election Commission and representatives of civil society organizations and marginalized groups. However, there is not any news about his meeting with the Maoists leaders Prachanda and Babu Ram.

2002 Nobel Laureate the 84-year-old former President will be accompanied by former US Ambassador A. Peter Burleigh, Carter Center Democracy Program Director Dr. David Carroll, and Carter Center Nepal Field Director Darren Nance.

Carter will be apprised with the updates from The Carter Center’s long-term election observers who have been deployed throughout Nepal since March. The Carter Center was formally invited by the Government of Nepal to observe the constituent assembly election process and is the only international election observation organization currently deployed here.

After completing this second visit to Nepal, he will address a news conference on June 16

Nepal assures more security for diplomats???

Are the diplomats in Nepal safe to travel from one part of the country to another? The answer to this question has been provided to all by the news reports in the government media.

The Nepalese government has assured increased security for diplomats based in Nepal following complaints by foreign missions, official reports said yesterday.

The assurance came during a meeting between the Nepalese government, security officials and diplomats in the capital Kathmandu on Friday.

“Nepalese foreign minister Sahana Pradhan said the safety and security of the entire diplomatic community residing in Nepal was one of foremost concerns of the government,” the official RSS news agency reported.

The government has made commitments to increase security at diplomatic missions and residences.

The news agency quoted Pradhan as saying that the government had asked diplomats to provide details about their travel plans outside Kathmandu and they should be prepared to cancel their visits if needed.

Last week, 15 diplomatic missions in Kathmandu including those of the United States, Germany, India, Britain and Finland expressed serious concerns about an “upsurge of security incidents” involving the diplomatic corp.

In May, US Ambassador James F Moriarty's vehicle was pelted with stones and other objects by Maoists while he was on a visit to United Nations run refugee camps in eastern Nepal.

One can easily imagine the security situation in Nepal even the diplomats could be pelted with stones what could be the condition of Nepali people and the tourists travelling the beautiful country.

Maoists announce indefinite Kapilvastu strike

The Maoists on Saturday announced an indefinite strike in Kapilvastu district from Saturday demanding the relocation of a Nepal Army (NA) base camp.

The CPN-Maoist district leadership had announced the indefinite strike demanding the immediate relocation of the army camp which lies near the home of the then Maoist Retaliation Committee chairman Mahit Khan in Kudarbetwa of Kapilvastu.

The local administration has been maintaining that as per the peace accord, the base camp cannot be made to shift based solely on local level decision.

Dozens of vehicles and hundreds of passangers have been left in a lurch after the Kapilvastu stretch of the Mahendra Highway was closed down due to the strike.

Vehicles from the east have been halted at Butwal while those coming from the west have been halted at Dang.

What can we Nepali make out of this kind of decision of the Maoists who are in the government of Nepal?