21st century King??????

THIMPHU (Reuters) - He was supposed to look on regally from on high as warriors, monks and masked dancers celebrated his coronation, but Bhutan's new Dragon King instead showed royal star quality by descending to mingle with the crowds on Friday.
The 28-year-old Oxford educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who assumed the Raven Crown on Thursday, spent most of the afternoon among the 20,000 spectators, chatting, joking, and greeting old friends, ordinary people, and tourists.
"He is very gracious and he has amazing charisma," said 36-year-old Patty Wu from San Francisco, after the king stopped to jokingly enquire if her friends were wearing suncream, and to talk about California.
"We felt like we were the only people in the stadium," added 37-year-old photographer Jay Hu at her side.
A few steps on, the Druk Gyalpo or Dragon King picked out a 70-year-old man from several rows back in the crowd. Phuentsho had spent most of his life working for the royal household.
"He joked that I had never made the pilgrimage I had promised to, but told me I had worked very hard," said the laughing old man, dressed in a Bhutanese gho, the national knee-length gown, and a woolly Nike hat.
This is the style of Bhutan's new "People's King", as he has inevitably been nicknamed, a young man who has also been educated in the United States and India and now wants to help shepherd his ancient Himalayan kingdom into the modern world.
With his slicked-back black hair, sideburns and winning smile he has the kind of star quality royal families dream of, looking a bit like a cross between a Hong Kong movie star and a young Elvis Presley.

Governance, Maoist style

The government has failed to build consensus with the opposition and keep the House occupied in law making A section of the media including the Kathmandu Post's editorial has complained that the Nepali Congress (NC) has been unduly critical of the Maoist functioning of the government and the allegation of totalitarian objective of the Maoists may be little harsh. They suggest that the criticisms need to be more nuanced and tempered. It would be useful to present some facts here.
It has been about three months since the Maoists have been in power and formed a coalition government, which command approximately two-third support in the Constituent Assembly. The opposition has been generally supportive in ensuring its smooth functioning. They have shown extra consideration in ensuring the passage of major government policies in record time. The government's annual policy and programme as presented in the Presidential Address was passed in a record three days. The budget debate including the discussions in the appropriation bills of various ministries which normally would take two to three months have been compressed into a week. The opposition also agreed to condense the discussions on appropriation of two dozen ministries to four days, making any meaningful discussion practically farce. In normal time each ministry received at least two to three days.
The House also has not seen the physical obstruction for days and weeks that happened in previous days. But what has the government done? They have failed to take advantage of the situation in listening to the opposition and be sensitive to their concerns. On the contrary, they have spent most of their time in provoking and inciting controversy, consolidating political power through unfair means and making a mockery of the rule of law.
Prime Minister Dahal pledged to return the seized property to rightful owners and vacate the illegally occupied public and private buildings within a month of coming to power. But so far no action has been taken to that end. Close on the heels of Matrika Yadav's open involvement in the land grab campaign in Siraha, a CA member from the Maoist party boasts that they have seized 1200 bighas of land in that district. Some 300 hutments were erected in eight VDCs from Sakraun to Prayagpur. The government has displayed total inaction after showing initial action in destroying the illegal hutments. The internally displaced families are running pillar to post seeking fair treatment and justice.
The Kantipur Publications has thrown a bombshell by reporting that Kali Bahadur Kham Magar alias Bibidh, the alleged killer of Ram Hari Shrestha in Shaktikhor Maoist camp, has been doing his normal functions in the camp. This man who has been under police search warrant for the last six month was seen recently in the company of the Defence Minister. The Maoists leadership had earlier pledged to handover Kham Magar to the police administration. The Maoist leadership's complicity in the murder has thus become public. This is also a telling commentary on the nature of activity that happens in the cantonment.
Despite bold posture by the Home Minister about enforcing law and order and punish the guilty, he seems hopelessly incapable of making any dent on the issue in the face of the Maoist conduct. His enthusiasm to curtail nightlife activities by banning night bars and restaurants after 11 PM may be well intentioned but highly controversial. But he stuck to his gun because the targets were the hapless hoteliers and small time entertainers. But he put his foot down when it came to providing security to the proposed Beauty Contest in the country's capital, because the opposition came from the Maoist's Women Wing which seems more interested in imposing its own version of Taliban-like moral and cultural values. He expressed his inability to protect the planned extravaganza.
The cabinet transferred 16 permanent secretaries and promoted 20 joint secretaries as acting secretaries without consulting the Public Service Commission. At a time when there have been glaring cases of redundant secretarial posts without well defined functions, they have created six such additional posts on an ad hoc basis without proper homework. In addition to adding financial burden on the exchequer, the new posts are certain to create more confusion, demoralization and personality clashes at the higher levels of the bureaucracy. Clearly, the new decision has devalued the senior level positions in the civil service. The government has also affected large scale transfer at the middle level creating instability and panic in the system. The government has openly violated the existing civil service regulation which requires a minimum of two years in a job before civil servants are transferred elsewhere -- a measure adopted in the past to avoid administrative instability caused by political considerations.
How justifiable is the government's move to withdraw the ambassadors close to the NC? These ambassadors were chosen based on their contribution to the April Uprising, following consultations with principal political parties and with their suitability confirmed in the process of parliamentary hearing. They represent the nation, not the parties in power. The argument that NC is no longer in the government does not hold water. Maoist nominees were given ambassadorial assignments when they were not part of the government. Apart from political, moral and fair play considerations, changing ambassadors frequently imposes a huge financial burden to the nation.
Normally, a session of the House would see dozens of bills presented by the government. But there are practically none in this session. The government has failed to keep the House occupied and engaged in law making which remains the principal task of a legislative body. The constitution drafting process is yet to start. The onus of responsibility may lie with both the ruling and opposition parties. But the leadership and initiative should naturally come from the majority group.
Facts like these are multiple and speak for themselves. Nepal is at the critical juncture of national life. The prospect of a totalitarian state may be far-fetched. The people will never accept it. But freedom loving people are seriously concerned about the way the Maoists' speak and act. The Prime Minister says many of the right things. One suspects this is for internal and external consumption. If he really means it, he has not shown the leadership required to act. His party stalwarts talk differently, and the government and party mechanism act differently. A leader is the one who can transcend and rise above partisan interest. B.P. Koirala did it after the national referendum of 1980. G.P. Koirala showed this quality in the peace process.
Koirala did not waver in his mission despite dissatisfaction in his own party. Many acts of omission and commission were tolerated. This appeasement was intended to bring the Maoists to the peace and electoral process. Now the Maoists themselves are running the government. But they have failed to implement the agreement they signed. They continue to break and violate the law. They have failed to show the leadership required for consensus building, an essential feature of the peace process so assiduously nurtured by the NC-led government in the past. The Nepali Congress, being the principal opposition and the party with the longest history of democratic credentials, will be failing in its moral and political duty, if it does not raise its voice at this critical phase of the nation's history.

By Ram S. Mahat

Clashes in Kathmandu over government moves

Large parts of Kathmandu city centre shut down Sunday following clashes between police and protestors demonstrating a government decision not to finance traditional animal sacrifice. Thousands of protestors, mostly from the Newar community - considered the original inhabitants of Kathmandu Valley - forced shops, educational institutions and main markets to shut down and prevented transport from operating in the Old City area.
Police said at least a dozen vehicles that defied the strike were vandalized by the demonstrators.
They also burnt tyres to set up road blocks and clashed with police in several parts of the city.
The government deployed hundreds of extra police to prevent the violence from spreading, but were facing difficulties controlling the crowd.
"The government is trying to interfere with our culture and is attempting to undermine it," said Pabitra Bajracharya, president Newar National Association. "The government must apologize and correct its decisions."
The protests first flared up on Friday night during Indra Jatra, one of the most important festivals of Newar community.
The protests and clashes stopped the chariot procession of the living goddess Kumari, and prevented Nepalese president Ram Baran Yadav from receiving blessing from her.
It was the first time the tradition has been broken since it began nearly four centuries ago.
As part of tradition, the head of state receives blessing during the five-day festival in a symbolic gesture to rule the country for another year.
Until last year, the blessing was received by king, but president as the head of state took up the cultural duties after the country abolished the monarchy earlier this year.
Last week, the government said it would not provide funding for the animal sacrifice that is considered essential for several Hindu festivals across Nepal, calling it necessary to cut government expenditure.
Local media said the government decision to cut the funding would affect all major festivals across Nepal.
Last year, the Nepalese government spent nearly 12.3 million rupees (166,000 dollars) on animal sacrifices. It spent another 54 million rupees organizing and funding various festivals, reports said.

Massive evacuation as millions hit by Nepal-India floods

More than 300,000 people trapped in Nepal-India's worst floods in 50 years have been rescued but nearly double that number remain stranded without food or water, officials said Saturday.
About 60 people have died and three million have been affected since the Kosi river breached its banks earlier this month on the border with Nepal and changed course, swamping hundreds of villages in eastern Bihar state.
"Large-scale evacuation will continue till all the marooned people are rescued in the next three to four days," disaster management official Prataya Amrit told AFP.
The government said the situation was unlikely to return to normal for months and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) voiced fears about illnesses breaking out at congested relief camps.
"We will have to provide food and shelter to the survivors until October as they will not be able to return home," the state's disaster management minister Nitish Mishra told AFP.
The government has set up more than 100 shelters, but officials said nearly 600,000 people were still waiting to be rescued.
The floods have caused extensive damage and disruption to roads, water and electricity supplies in the affected areas, UNICEF said.
"Essential commodities including food are now being transported by boat," the UN body said in a statement.
In New Delhi, a home ministry statement said 84 boats and five helicopters were being despatched to Bihar to ferry people to safety.
"More army personnel and medical teams have been sent to the affected districts with tents, rubber sheets, medicines and water purification tablets," a home ministry official said.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Nepal, where thousands of Indians seeking shelter from floods in Bihar have also migrated.
At least 15 people died and some were still missing after an army rescue boat carrying flood survivors capsized on Friday.
Soldiers were facing problems tracing possible survivors because of strong currents, disaster management official R.K. Singh said.
A family trapped on a tractor for several days made desperate pleas to be rescued as flood waters rose steadily around them, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
"We have been stuck here for the past 10 days with no rescue team reaching here. Our food and water stocks have run out. Our mobiles (phones) are working, but they too will fail any moment," Laxmi Singh was quoted as saying.
Survivors at relief shelters said they were not getting anything to eat.
"We have absolutely nothing with us here. We left everything behind," one woman at a crowded relief camp told NDTV news network.
Premier Manmohan Singh has described the situation as a "national calamity" and announced a relief package of 228 million dollars and 125,000 tonnes of grain.
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has sent condolences to the families of victims.
"The Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the loss of life and damage to property in Bihar, due to flooding," his office said in a statement.
The Kosi, which flows into the Ganges, is known as the "River of Sorrow" due to its record of disastrous floods during the monsoon season.
More than 800 people have been killed in monsoon-related accidents following the heavy June-to-September rains across India.
Bihar officials said the death toll could climb further as many areas were inaccessible.

The Maoists' move is likely to cause political turmoil in this Himalayan nation

Nepal's first president elected by new republic's governing assembly

Nepal's governing assembly has elected the new republic's first president, defeating the candidate backed by the former communist rebels who emerged in recent elections as the largest political party.

Senior leaders of the former rebels, formally known as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), warned after the results were announced Monday that they would withdraw plans to form the new government.

Constituent Assembly Chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced the assembly has elected Ram Baran Yadav, a physician from the Madheshi ethnic community in southern Nepal.

Yadav's victory was a blow for the Maoists, who won the most assembly seats in April elections and hoped to form the country's new government.

Security Challanges in Nepal

Incident No 1

An unidentified group Sunday detonated a bomb at the newly constructed building of Malangawa municipility in Sarlahi district.

The explosion slightly damaged the ground floor of the building and broke five shutters.

Acting chief of the municipality Raj Kapur Mahato informed that none of the municipality staffers, who were working on the upper floor of the building, was injured.

He said that an underground armed outfit Terai Army had threatened the municipality demanding a ransom of Rs 5,00,000.

The group are suspected to have carried out the explosion.

Incident No 2

In what appears to be the first such case of collective revolt by junior security personnel against their high level officers in Nepal, the junior personnel of Shamshergunj battalion of Armed Police Force (APF), in Banke district, have taken hold of the battalion assaulting and repelling the officers.

Claiming that they were provided with 'sub-standard rations' and meted out 'unbecoming behavior' by senior officers, the 'revolting' personnel physically assaulted the chief of the battalion Superintendent of Police Hari Shankar Budhathoki – who has now been brought to Kathmandu for treatment.

The 'revolting' personnel have locked up the battalion and refused entry to other officials, media as well as human rights people since the 'revolt' broke out late in the evening on Saturday.

Incident No 3

Unidentified assailants murdered a school principal after abducting him in Dhanusha district Sunday.

Bindeshwor Mahato, principal of Rastriya Secondary School in Hariharpur VDC was abducted two days ago along with one other man Kapaleshwor Saha before being shot dead.
However, Saha had managed to escape from the clutches of the abductors.
What can a Nepali make out of these incidents going on in Nepal?

Nepal arrests Tibetan leaders

Nepalese authorities arrested three Tibetan leaders and charged them with anti-China activities, leading to protest from a pro-Tibet group based in Washington.

Police said the three Tibetans - Kelsang Chung, director of the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Kathmandu, Ngawang Sangmo and Tashi Dolma, senior officials of the regional Tibetan Women's Association - were taken in on Thursday on charges of "anti-China activities".

Their arrests came amid street protests on Thursday, which saw hundreds of Tibetan exiles, including nuns and monks, shouting anti-China slogans and scuffling with police in Kathmandu before being hauled into waiting trucks and taken to detention centres.

Nearly 600 protesters were detained on Thursday for trying to storm a visa office of the Chinese embassy but it was not clear if they had been charged.

Police officer Sarbendra Khana said on Friday the three Tibetan leaders were detained under Nepal's Public Security Act and could be held in custody for 90 days. Nepali authorities have not said what prompted their arrests.

Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) criticised the government for the leaders' arrest, and said the three Tibetans should be released immediately. "These arrests are deeply disturbing at a time of transition to a new government in Nepal, when Tibetans already vulnerable in Nepal, are very nervous about Chinese government influence and presence in Kathmandu," Mary Beth Markey, a vice-president of the Washington-based said in a statement.
"We call for the immediate release of these three prominent Tibetans," the group said on Friday.

Nepal is presently going through a political transition, with former Maoist rebels, who scored a surprise victory in the April elections for a constituent assembly, expected to form a new government soon. The impoverished Himlayan state considers Tibet part of China, a key aid donor, and does not allow anti-China protests by Tibetans who fled their homeland after the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

Beijing wants Kathmandu to do more to stop the protests and Nepali authorities have recently toughened their position against refugees living in Nepal.

More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in the Himalayan nation after a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule in 1959. Kathmandu allows the exiled Tibetans to live in Nepal, but they are prohibited from organising political activities against its influential neighbour.

Thousands of Tibetans have been detained and later freed in recent months in Nepal for protesting against the Chinese crackdown on protests in Tibet in mid-March.

Treaty review will not sabotage Special Indo-Nepal ties: Prachanda

Kathmandu, May 17

Allaying fears that reviewing the 1950 Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty will "sabotage" bilateral ties, Maoist chief Prachanda has said he wanted a "close" and "special" relationship with India on the basis of a "new" understanding.

"There should be some sort of special relation between Kathmandu and Delhi.... We want a new relationship with India, which means better relation, better understanding and better cooperation," Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, said.

The Maoist leader, believed to be Nepal's prime minister-in-waiting, said he wanted "each and every" provision of the treaty to be reviewed in the "new changing context" for "better" relationship between two countries.

"People feel that that it (treaty) is not benefiting them, there is some kind of inequality in it, so people have, time and again, raised concern for reviewing the 1950 treaty," he told Karan Thapar here in an interview for CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme. "I don't think reviewing the treaty will sabotage the relation," he said.

New Delhi has expressed its readiness to have a re-look at the 58-year-old treaty after the Maoists voiced the demand following their triumph in the April Constituent Assembly poll.

Prachanda, however, favoured "equidistant" from both New Delhi and Beijing at the "political level".

"At the political level we will never side one country against another," he said. "We will try to maintain equidistant between Delhi and Beijing in political sense, but not in practical sense and in matters of cooperation." Prachanda denied that he was indulging in doublespeak on ties with India--demanding review of the treaty and seeking "equidistant" from Beijing and New Delhi on one hand and favouring close ties on the other. But political observers think he is indulging in doublespeak.

What can people of Nepal and India make out of such a contradictory statements from Nepal's revolutionary PM waiting?

Dialogue with Beijing 'vital': Tibetan exiled government

The Tibetan government-in-exile said Monday a new round of talks with China had been "vital" and that it was pleased Beijing had committed itself to continued dialogue.
"The fact we are once again in contact is very vital for a solution to the Tibetan issue," said Thubten Samphel, spokesman of the northern India-based Tibetan government-in-exile.
"It is also very good that China agreed to honour a meeting later," he told AFP by telephone from the hill town of Dharamshala, home of the exiled administration of spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
The one day of closed-door talks, the first between the two sides in over a year, concluded on Sunday with no reported breakthrough in ending the Tibet crisis, but few other details emerged.
The meeting came after global leaders pressured China to reopen dialogue amid seven weeks of deadly unrest in Tibet that has marred the nation's Olympic build-up.
"The issue of Tibet is too complicated and one cannot expect one or two rounds of talks will lead to solutions, but what is important is that the two sides are talking, which will help in dispelling mistrust," Samphel said.
"There is no alternative to talks, and so once there is trust this dialogue process will move forward and so we need to keep talking," he added.
The envoys who held talks with Chinese officials in Shenzhen in southern China were due to return to India on Tuesday or Wednesday and would then brief the Dalai Lama, Tibetan officials said.
One senior Tibetan source, however, hinted that the lack of tangible progress was a disappointment.
"We were at least expecting an assurance that the crackdown would end. We await our representatives to return and brief us on what transpired," the Tibetan official said on condition he not be named.
China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of wanting independence for his homeland and of fomenting the recent unrest in an effort to shine a world spotlight on Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
The 1989 Nobel laureate has rejected these charges, but has accused China of widespread human rights violations of his people and maintained his push for greater Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule.
Chinese troops entered Tibet in 1950 and annexed the region the following year. The Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed 1959 uprising.

Nepal Royalists warn of civil war

Analyst believes ouster would push country into Maoist-Hindu violence KATHMANDU:

Allies of Nepal’s embattled king have warned that the Himalayan nation could slide back into civil war if landmark elections next month lead to abolition of the monarchy.

Several prominent royalists insisted many people in the deeply traditional Hindu-majority nation wanted the 239-year-old institution to stay and were opposed to the rise of former Maoist rebels, in interviews with AFP.

The April 10 polls will be a culmination of a peace deal between the republican Maoists and mainstream secular parties that ended a decade-long insurgency aimed at toppling the monarchy that claimed 13,000 lives.

The ex-rebels and the parties have already agreed King Gyanendra will have to go after the polls to elect a body that will rewrite Nepal’s constitution. But Major General Bharat Keshwer Simha, a long-time royal aide who accompanied the royals on foreign visits for decades, forecast a violent backlash in the impoverished nation wedged between India and China.

Maoist-Hindu: “If the Maoists can take up arms and come to power, Hindus will also take up arms. It will be worse than the Maoists’ war and many people will be killed,” he said. Kunda Dixit, editor of the English language weekly Nepali Times, agreed the king would not take the abolition of his dynasty lying down. “Given the personality of the king, he’s not the type that is going to step down quietly,” Dixit said. But he saw the monarchists’ dire warnings as a last-ditch bid to try to derail the elections that will lead to the abolition of the institution.

“Things are pretty volatile and can be stoked - all it would take is a few acts” to force cancellation of the polls, he said. Diplomats close to the process have consistently warned that the political peace is fragile with all sides ready to resort to violence.

King Gyanendra, 60, was vaulted to the throne in 2001 after the massacre of his popular brother Birendra and most of the rest of the royal family by a drink-and-drug fuelled crown prince.

Conspiracy theories linking Gyanendra and his unpopular son Prince Paras to the massacre have made the king “the most unpopular man in Nepal,” said Dixit.

At the same time “the people make a distinction between a vote for the person of the monarch and the institution of monarchy,” Kunda said. “The latest polls have shown about half the population would prefer to keep some kind of symbolic monarchy,” he said.

Major General Simha said many people in the Hindu nation continue to revere the king as an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and consider the monarchy to be important for the small country.

“Hindu feeling in Nepal is very strong. It’s like a volcano that could erupt at any moment,” said Simha.

Kamal Thapa, who was home minister during the king’s direct rule, also predicted turmoil.

“There’s so much social diversity in Nepal and the monarchy has always been a binding force for national unity. So if the monarchy is abolished, the country will disintegrate,” he said.

Pak: Hindus threaten poll boycott over kidnappings

Islamabad (PTI): Hindus in two districts of Pakistan's Balochistan province on Wednesday warned that the minority community would boycott the upcoming general election if authorities fail to trace three kidnapped Hindu traders even as armed men abducted another businessman's son.

The panchayats of Jaffarabad and Nasirabad districts demanded that the government should trace Kundan Lal, Parkash Kumar and Dilip Kumar - who were kidnapped by four armed men on Saturday - within the next two days.

If this is not done, the Hindu community would boycott the February 18 parliamentary polls, Mukhia Manak Chand told a Hindu panchayat meeting in Dera Murad Jamali town.

Hours after the meeting, four armed men kidnapped Ravi Kumar, the son of rice mill owner Seth Haripal Das, in Jaffarabad tonight. Police said the armed men broke into the Baloch Rice Mill and abducted Kumar.

Police cordoned off the area and launched efforts to trace the kidnapped youth.

Manak Chand said the kidnapping of the men had created restlessness and panic among Hindus and this could be resolved only through the early release of the traders. He also emphasised the need for measures for the security of the Hindu community.

The three traders were kidnapped from a Jacobabad-bound van in Jaffarabad district. They had come to Dera Murad Jamali on a business trip from Jacobabad. The kidnappers, who were travelling in the same van, stopped the vehicle and abducted the traders at gun point.

Jaffarabad district police chief Sohail Ahmed Sheikh said "strenuous efforts" are being made to trace the traders as soon as possible.

The police investigation was proceeding in the right direction and would soon lead "to the gang involved in this heinous crime", he said.

The federal interior ministry has taken "keen interest" in the case and directed the Inspector General of Balochistan Police to ensure the early release of the traders and to take "concrete measures" for the security of the Hindu community in the province, sources told state-run APP news agency.