By Pratibedan Baidya

Like other sectors, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB)–the semi-autonomous body established for promotion of tourism in the country — has also been affected due to recent political changes in the country.

The row emerged after recently formed “Democratic Tourism Society (DTS)” padlocked the NTB office building at Bhrikuti Mandap on Monday demanding resignation of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NTB, Tek Bahadur Dangi, and overall restructuring in the organizational structure of the NTB. The central office of NTB remains padlocked for the third day Wednesday.

They accused Dangi of supporting the royal regime and not working for revival of the ailing tourism industry. They also demanded fair and inclusive participation of all sectors of tourism in the NTB.

The agitators said they would not reopen the office until CEO resigns. Some junior officials of the NTB claimed that Dangi had threatened them of termination from the job for supporting ‘jana andolan.’

However, issuing a statement on Tuesday, NTB said it was dismayed by the activities of the DTS to padlock the NTB, which it said was likely to have negative impact on the tourism industry.

The statement, signed by CEO Dangi, alleged that the protest was sponsored by some ex-employees and employees of the NTB, whose job contract was nearing termination, to fulfill their vested interests.

Dangi also challenged the protesters to furnish proof that the NTB had disbursed money to vigilantes to suppress the pro-democracy movement.

Established in 1998 by an act passed by the parliament, NTB was modeled after the public-private partnership in which private sector would play a lead role to develop and market Nepal as an attractive tourist destination.

A statement issued by 40 employees of the NTB on Wednesday said the forced closure of the Nepal Tourism Board was against the interests of the NTB and that of tourism industry in the country.

The NTB employees also submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation demanding that the government take immediate measures to open the NTB and resume regular work.

In a joint statement issued Wednesday, eight leading tourism related organisations said at a time when there was a need to work unitedly to harness immense potentials opened up by the restoration of peace and democracy in the country, the protest programmes launched by a group of persons to settle their personal scores made them to bow their heads down.

Organisations– including Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), PATA Nepal chapter, Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN), Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) and Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) – condemned the act of gheraoing the NTB office and said they had reservations towards the ‘anarchic activities’ carried out within the premises of the NTB.

Talking to Nepalnews, coordinator of the Democratic Tourism Society, Dipak Mahat, refuted allegations that his organization had personal agenda to fulfill by organizing protests at the NTB. “We have been demanding restructuring of the NTB in an institutional and inclusive way in accordance with the principle of Public-Private Partnership. He said the protests were being carried out the NTB employees themselves.

Mahat also claimed at least two out of eight organizations did not agree to the joint statement and that those who welcomed the royal takeover of last year and did not utter a word against the brutal suppression of the people’s movement had now come forward against the demand for restructuring of the NTB.

Talking to Nepalnews, CEO of NTB, Tek Bahadur Dangi, termed the protest programmes as “undemocratic and anarchic.” He said most of the NTB employees were against such activities. “Such activities have hampered the NTB’s attempts to capitalize on the open and peaceful environment afforded by the restoration of multi-party democracy in the country,” he added.

Similarly, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Govinda Bahadur Pandey, who is also the chairman of the board of directors of the NTB, said that the “lock out” had adversely affected the day-to-day activities of the NTB and was likely to convey negative message to the tourism industry.

“It is unfortunate that the NTB, which played an important role to assist tourists during the difficult situation of general strikes and curfews for the upliftment of the tourism sector of the country has been deprived from working in the name of democracy,” Pandey added.

Pandey urged all concerned parties to immediately resolve the issue through dialogue and to assist for the promotion of tourism industry as the country was moving towards the path of peace and stability, raising hope for tourism sector of the country.

The most pressing danger is that the Seven Party Alliance will revert to form and lead Nepal into a ‘Kerensky moment’ for the Maoists, as occurred with the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917-18

By Dr. Thomas A. Marks

As Nepal moves towards a new order, its governing parliamentarians would do well to heed that most fundamental of maxims: hope is not a method. To date, events have gone reasonably smoothly, but there continue to be ominous signs that a rougher road lies ahead. Not least of the elements for concern is what has been at the heart of the matter all along: the motives of the Maoist insurgents.

Contrary to much ill-considered opinion, the Maoists have not opted for peace in our time. Instead, their forces remain intact, even as they encourage the Government to dismantle the only surviving force that stands between the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (CPN-M), and its ability to work its will, the security forces.

Their grudging moves towards negotiations notwithstanding, the Maoists have been very consistent. In their verbiage, in their briefings to their cadres, and even in their interviews given to members of the international media, they make clear that they do not accept the present state of things and remain convinced that they are riding the “will of history” that will see the complete ouster of the old order.

The Maoists view the present course of the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) as an error of major proportions and are fearful that ‘the people’ will be ‘betrayed’. They certainly do not accept parliamentary democracy as the end-state, unless it emerges in a form of which they approve.

What stands behind their present tactical maneuvering is a willingness to go with the flow so long as the river does not leap its banks. If the SPA will do the work that armed rebellion could not accomplish – especially, dismantle the security forces and do away with even a figurehead monarchy – that is agreeable. But one cannot expect them, if things do not go their way, simply to shrug and say they had their moment.

There is a veritable cottage industry of historical falsification abounding, in Nepal and abroad, producing the fiction that the Maoists turned to insurgency only because they were not allowed to participate in 1991 parliamentary elections (as Masal). That is false. The machinations that led to one wing of Masal being allowed to run using party identification were an intra-Masal squabble, not something the system engineered.

“The Royal Nepal Army’s ‘field elements’ now accept parliamentary supremacy and seek a more professional, ’21st Century military’. Officers know there are numerous friendly states with extensive experience in implementing and consolidating the proper mechanisms.”
Likewise, the outrageous claim that the monarchy is somehow responsible for the violence of the Maoists is as astonishing as it is absurd. The Maoists first systematically laid waste to Nepal and its weak democracy, then systematically carried out a campaign to claim the reigning monarch had killed his brother and engineered what they, the Maoists, had in fact done – destroy Nepal.

Having turned to armed insurgency, CPN-M methodically destroyed the structure of the state, in the process eliminating all who opposed the local presence of the Maoists. Having gained control of widespread areas, which they will continue to control during any proposed ‘elections’, they are not about to allow their rivals to freely contest within ‘liberated space’.

This is classic “machine politics”, as the Maoists claim the Nepal Congress (NC) and Communist Party of Nepal – United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML, or simply UML) have been playing all these years. Since UML buys into this logic, at least partially, it is willing to front for the Maoists. The extremist wing of the UML does more than front – it works with the Maoists.

Ironically, anti-communist India has ended up letting its own Marxists have their moment by unduly influencing New Delhi’s Nepal policy. This should not surprise, given the realities of coalition politics. With its dependency on the Left Front, particularly the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) in Parliament, compounded by divisions within its own ranks as to the proper policy towards Nepal, the Congress-led Government has acceded to the CPI-M demands. As a consequence, CPI-M figures such as Sitaram Yechury have become regular visitors to Kathmandu as they conduct the Indian Left’s ‘foreign policy within a foreign policy’.

The issue of Indian policy or intervention is not one that need detain any analysis at this moment. It will ultimately be decided, one way or another, as it was in Sri Lanka, by nationalism in the target state. Nepali nationalism, to be sure, is something, which has rarely reared its head in anything save platitudes about “never having been a colony”. In fact, Nepal is as thorough a colony as ever there was (of India and of the international community through its utter dependence upon external aid).

Still, to be clear: first, India has no desire to become bogged down in the Nepalese quicksand, so having ‘democratic allies’ in power is the proper route to realization of its geo-strategic designs; second, there is a strong wing of Indian politics that sees the present policy towards Nepal as misguided, counterproductive, and downright dangerous, given India’s own Maoist threat. The claim that there are no connections between the Nepali and Indian Maoists is falsified by a wealth of evidence, not least the pronouncements and actions of the Nepali Maoists before they became more media savvy.

The threat to Nepali sovereignty, then, is not from India per se but from the present situation that India has ‘enabled’. Its view is that it can ‘handle’ the situation. This remains to be seen – just as India proved quite incapable of ‘handling’ the Tamil insurgents in Sri Lanka .

The most pressing danger, at this juncture, is that SPA, dominated by NC and UML, will revert to form (on full display during the dozen or so years of full democracy) and lead Nepal into a ‘Kerensky moment’ for the Maoists, as occurred with the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917-18.

The Leninists were not the strongest party in post-Czarist Russia, only the party with a preponderance of force at the decisive point(s). This allowed them to gain control of the state and then to do what was necessary to consolidate their hold. This is also how Hitler consolidated his hold on Germany, despite having only one-third of the Parliament (Reichstag). It is what the Sandinistas did in post-Somoza Nicaragua. One already sees the Maoist thugs threatening even UML politicians (who, in any case, have always been on the cutting-edge as victims of the Maoists). What all the preceding cases share is that the security forces had fallen apart. This is not yet the case in Nepal.

The key, therefore, is to make the new-order understand that the security forces have every intention and desire to serve democracy – and that they will not stand by and see restored democracy and Nepali sovereignty compromised. The Maoists, however, have stated repeatedly that they have other goals: trials for those central to the old-order, especially for the monarch and the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) officer corps (the Maoist leadership has asserted both of these goals in its less guarded moments). This is also what they have been saying to their cadres.

They have rejected integration into the RNA by any name and demanded a new National Army, which they will dominate by default. This is just how the scenario played itself out in Nicaragua, the result being the Sandinista dictatorship, which rapidly produced its own counterrevolutionary insurgency by abusing the people. (Contrary to the hoary left-wing myth, the CIA could not even arm all the contras, so abundant was the influx of peasant manpower demanding the right to resist the Managua Marxist-Leninist dictatorship). In this situation, what is both puzzling and counterproductive is how little realistic consideration has emerged concerning the future of the security forces, of which the RNA is the dominant element.

This is puzzling, because the security forces are quite intact and – contrary to yet another theme pushed by both activist elements of the new regime and their international activist backers – exercised remarkable restraint during the recent mass agitation. Lathi charges and rubber bullets are not semiautomatic volleys, and the latter did not occur. There are at least 150,000 armed Government security forces in completely intact units. It is naïve to assume that they are going to march off to oblivion, surrender, or slaughter. The last two options are what the Maoists envisage, and what they expect to extract from the ruling SPA as their price for ‘nonviolent participation’ in the state. To judge that this inevitably will lead to confrontation requires no analytical acumen – simply looking at the Nepali security forces with clear eyes. What is now on the field is a force quite different from that, which entered the conflict in November 2001, when the RNA was attacked by the Maoists. This is especially so in the key middle grades and extending even to the younger brigadiers. It is also true in the Armed Police Force (APF), perhaps to a lesser extent in the Nepal Police (NP).

The RNA’s ‘field elements’ now accept parliamentary supremacy and seek a more professional, ’21st Century military’. Officers know there are numerous friendly states with extensive experience in implementing and consolidating the proper mechanisms. Many of these younger RNA officers have even considered the passing of the monarchy, but they are worldly enough to see that this leaves open the question of what institution or figure would serve the referee’s position. Hence, they believe it is preferable that a constitutional monarchy remain. What they do not accept is the position demanded by the Maoists and their left wing allies: ‘replacing’ one force by another, or of ‘purging’ one force only to install the cadres of another.

Reconciliation, to their mind, demands amalgamation, even if this is accompanied by reduction in overall numbers. Under no circumstances will any force accept being disbanded in favor of Maoist replacements. To do so would guarantee left-wing dictatorship. For their part, APF and NP are critical to the normal law and order of the state. Ironically, whatever the precise manner in which events unfold, the sitting Government is bound to find, in the months ahead, normal policing and security duties will assume heightened importance. A clear understanding must be worked out by the Government as to what is expected to arrest a dangerous societal drift that has set in. Armed thugs, often claiming to be representing ‘the people’ but invariably cadres of Maoist front organizations, roam all major population centers in Nepal and must be brought within the normal rule of law. This is a job particularly for the Police, supported by the APF, but it is inevitable that RNA will be involved. The present situation, including the widespread intimidation of individuals and institutions, cannot go unchecked. Politically, RNA is confronted with a Faustian bargain: It must serve the state even with the knowledge that the unity of SPAM (Seven Party Alliance + the Maoists) depends upon the SPA placating the Maoists. The Maoists see the victory as theirs and see themselves as dictating the terms of surrender – and envisage only trials for those who have resisted them. Hence, the security forces must keep order even as they are plotted against (in certain circles) and held up as a bargaining chip (in others).

Their logical advocates, the Indians, who have the most to lose from a Maoist-dominated Nepal, remain very much an unknown element, given the array of actors waging mini-foreign policies. One factor has not changed as any perusal of large segments of the Indian press reveals: New Delhi has been ill-informed by a good fraction of its so-called ‘Nepal experts’, in just the manner it was led astray, two decades ago, by its ‘Sri Lanka experts’. It cannot be said that Indian analysts have developed much actual knowledge of the workings of Nepali Maoism.

The dominant position is that the CPN-M can be bought off or simply directed – an astonishing position given what India seems to have realized quite belatedly the Stalinist, anti-democratic essence of its own Maoists. The CPI-M, in particular, has little comprehension of Nepali insurgent ground realities. The Indian Left Wing political pilgrims to Nepal deal with their opposite numbers in the UML. If they meet a ‘Maoist’, they deal with personalities of their ‘own stratum’, who can be as engaging and sophisticated as any.

They do not deal with what is in the hills, thus gaining no comprehension that there is an organization of LTTE clones, every bit as dogmatic and ruthless. For those who have dealt with the Tamil insurgents, one conclusion is salient: the orientation of manpower is never the issue in a situation such as this. It is leaders who are the lynchpin, who produce the endless cycle of insurgent brutality in Sri Lanka, a struggle that has long since seen its original causes vanish. The situation in Nepal is similar. It is the Maoist leaders who are following an ideological play-book; their followers are thrown up by local grievances.

Maoist manpower is just as eager for ‘peace’ as anyone else, but they expect to get something out of their campaign. They have been told consistently that the new order will belong to them and will bring justice and prosperity. There is no way to do that in the short term except by taking from the old and giving to the new. That this is playing a losing hand has been made clear in study after study, most recently by the simple but telling calculations of Dr. Steve Gorzula. As he notes: divide the arable land of Nepal (22,627 km2) by the population (28 million in July 2006 estimates), and the result is a society that has exceeded the carrying capacity of the land. Lip-serve is paid to the only real possibility – development of hydropower – and the result is a vacuum in which Maoist coercive utopian solutions have no competitors. Lenin would certainly be proud of his Maoist pupils. On the side of democracy, however, there is little worthy of praise. The stormy course ahead will require more steady seamanship than has hitherto been demonstrated in the short history of Nepali democracy. More than ‘hope (it all works out)’ will be required.

The role of the security forces will be paramount, for they are the only guarantee that Maoist violence will not be the trump card. Thus normal functioning of those security forces will have to be maintained at all costs, so as to avoid demoralization and possible desertion. Clear explanations of what is happening are imperative, with the emphasis upon ‘transition to parliamentary supremacy’. Any impression of ‘defeat’ must be banished, despite the concerted efforts of the Left Wing to push this claim in the ongoing struggle for control of the narrative describing recent events. Already, the Maoists claim their revolutionary forces were the key in the recent agitation (their cadres did incite violence and cache explosives in urban areas).

‘Reform’, then, must be the order of the day, as has long been called for by all interested parties, but this word finds no place in the Maoist vocabulary. Consequently, forces of actual democracy (as opposed to ‘people’s democracy’) will be called upon to face the inevitable backlash. It is for the politicians to deal with this reality, and the security forces can be their shield.

It is possible that international mediation and even involvement may create new possibilities. For the moment, however, the Maoists have no intention of participating in a new version of the old-order. They are demanding and expecting that a constitutional convention will deliver a people’s republic in form if not in immediate practice. They are determined to exact vengeance.

They are not, in other words, seeking ‘democracy’ as we know the word. There is a strong thread of thought which claims the Maoists will choose the path trod by the ‘other’ insurgent groups in Sri Lanka (e.g., People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front), groups that agreed, with certain misgivings, to work within the system. More likely, the Maoists will go the way of the LTTE that, after each hopeful pause, resumed its revolutionary project.

It hardly needs highlighting that such a course of action by the Maoists would put them squarely at odds with the desires of the Nepali masses – just as LTTE cannot today be said to represent much more than the aspirations of its rump state. If the CPN-M is astute, it will realize this. Unfortunately, history does not provide grounds for optimism. There is no Maoist insurgency that has displayed such foresight. Neither do operational realities provide any more hope: the Maoists are not in any way standing down.

The up side? If the Maoists move as driven by their hate-filled ideology and resume their struggle, they will find themselves just where LTTE is – on the wrong side of history and facing a reasonably united, democratic society, amply assisted by friendly powers, including India.

(A Honolulu-based political risk consultant, Dr. Thomas A. Marks has authored a number of benchmark works on Maoist insurgency. This article was first published in South Asia Intelligence Review. Please send your comments to [email protected] or [email protected])

(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to [email protected])

The Finance Ministry is holding consultations with the donors to seek their support for the reconstruction of the damaged physical infrastructure and to give impetus to economic activities in the country.

Talking to Nepalnews, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Pramod Karki, informed that Nepal will present its need for reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and other help essential for the economic development of the country and seek support from donor agencies.

Karki, who had also participated in the 39th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad last week, informed that Nepal has urged the donors to make available between US$1.25 to $1.50 billion to carry out massive reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes.

Since the meeting was a high-level one and was meant for discussing the issues of economic situation of the country, we did not put forth our demand in the floor but made the proposal to the donor countries during the sidelines meetings, said he.

“We will present the real scenario of the country and the exact need of assistance for the reconstruction and rehabilitation during the meetings of the local donors and approach for assistance through them,” Karki added.

He informed that the ministry was going to call a meeting of local donors within next one or two weeks after internal preparation at the Ministry.

The ADB president and other donor countries are positive about the political development of the country and have expressed readiness to assist us, he said.

“Though the meeting did not commit to provide assistance, the donors are positive to extend support to Nepal,” he added.

“I had meeting with Indian Prime Minister and Finance Minister in which they inquired about the situation in Nepal and also assured to give special package to Nepal,” Karki added.

Talking to Nepalnews Dr. Shankar Sharma, former vice-president of the National Planning Commission, said that the planning body had pointed out the need to double the foreign assistance to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

“We demanded to double the foreign aid of US$ 400 million per year to meet the targets of MDGs’,” Sharma said, adding, “There is need of investment in the infrastructures development for economic growth, employment generation and for the market development.

We should also give high priority for the development of infrastructures at the moment, Dr. Sharma added.

Major countries and organizations had suspended their assistance to Nepal following the February 1 royal takeover of last year, terming the move as a setback to democracy.

Many donor countries and organizations have pledged their assistance to Nepal Following the recent political change in the country and asked the government to present its development needs.

Norwegian Minister for International Development, Erik Solheim, during his recent visit to Nepal also expressed commitment, on behalf of his government, towards continued support to Nepal.

Senior delegates of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) have said even though democracy and freedom of press have been restored after the April Movement, Nepali media still have a long battle to fight for complete independence.

Speaking at a press conference upon arrival in Kathmandu on a media mission Monday, SAFMA representatives and intellectuals lauded the struggle of the Nepali people and the press for democracy and press freedom and stressed that Nepali press should continue its fight.

SAFMA secretary general Intiaz Alam, who is leading the mission, said at the press conference that Nepal has set a fine example of struggle for democracy and press freedom. “Nepal is an example of fight for democracy and freedom of press for the South Asian region. But there are still challenges ahead for the press,” he said and added that SAFMA had serious concern about the Media Ordinance enforced by the previous government which has not yet been scrapped.

“I would also urge the Maoists to allow journalists to work freely in areas controlled by them,” Alam said. He informed that preparations were underway to establish the branch of South Asia Press Commission in Nepal.

Binod Sharma, general secretary of SAFMA India Chapter and associate editor of Hindustan Times, said that some credit for recent achievement after the people’s movement should go to the Nepali press for its relentless fight.

Sharma was of the view that the Maoists have to prove their democratic credentials by expressing commitment for free press.

Royajuddin Ahemed, general secretary of SAFMA-Bangladesh, said that democracy came in Nepal and Bangladesh almost at the same time (1990) but the media in both countries had to go through many hurdles. Restoration of democracy, according to him, does not automatically ensure press freedom thereby creating a need for the press to continue struggle.

Speaking at the same program, SAFMA president Gopal Thapaliya said SAFMA had been working for free flow of information in the Sough Asian region.

Raja C. Mohan, associate editor of Indian Express, said the media must remain vigilant even when the political system is democratic.

General secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Mahendra Bista, stressed that journalists must have fair participation in the process to draft new constitution so that press freedom could be ensured.

SAFMA vice-president Yabaraj Ghimire, former president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists and secretary of South Asian Press Commission, Naqbi Hussein, also stressed the need for further struggle for press freedom and freedom of expression in Nepal.

The mission is scheduled to meet editors, representatives of media groups and political leaders and discuss ways to ensure press freedom in Nepal, SAFMA officials said.

As the government is making political decisions and replacing bureaucrats on its own, the chiefs of the three security wings did not attend a function held at the Home Ministry Monday to install the new Home Secretary breaking the tradition.

Shyam Bhakta Thapa, Sahabir Thapa and Devi Ram Sharma, chiefs respectively of the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force (APF) and the National Investigation Department (NID) that operate under the Ministry, didn’t attend the function despite being invited, sources said.

On the occasion, Umesh Mainali formally replaced Balkrishna Prasain as Home Secretary.

However, second-rung police officials were at hand. Om Bikram Rana, Rajendra Bahadur Singh and Rup Sagar Moktan of Nepal Police; Basudev Oli, Rohit Thapa and Ravi Raj Thapa of the APF; and Dhan Singh Karki of the NID were present on the occasion, according to reports.

People from various quarters, including parliamentarians, have urged the government to immediately sack the security chiefs including Chief of Army Staff Pyar Jung Thapa, for their alleged involvement in suppressing the people’s movement.

Umesh Mainali, who was sent to reserve pool by the royal government has been appointed as the secretary of the Home Ministry.

The Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) has said that that political decision on every issue might lead to anarchy and has suggested that the government prioritise the ‘genuine’ Maoist issue to guarantee security and unobstructed movement to the people rather than engage in other issues.

Monday’s meeting of the RJP has decided to discuss four issues: present trend of taking political decisions on every issue, how to focus on the Maoist problem, restructuring of the state and on avoiding further political conflict between the King and the seven-party alliance during its central committee meeting beginning Tuesday.

RJP chief Surya Bahadur Thapa had raised these four points on the second day of the meeting of the House. “We are sure the central committee meeting will accept the four points,” party spokesperson Sarbendra Nath Shukla informed.

The meeting is also expected to discuss the party’s future strategy in the changed political scenario. The party believes that since a direct political conflict between the King and the seven-party alliance has come to an end, any further conflict between the two must be avoided.

The meeting is also expected to pressure the government to guarantee equal and respectable participation and inclusion of Dalits, women, Janajatis and members of the backward communities in the democratic process.

Vice-chairman of the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), Ram Dev Acharya has accused the government of delaying the dissolution of the House and formation of an interim government.

Speaking at an interaction in Dhangadhi, he said the interim government would draft an interim constitution for a democratic republican set-up in the country.

He further said preparations to revive the local bodies after the reinstatement of the House of Representatives (HoR) is not acceptable to the Maoists.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the slow pace of the proceeding in the HoR, he said, “Instead of taking up core issues in the discussions that take place in the House, the members are engaged in addressing other unnecessary issues like dissolving the Rajparishad and renaming ‘His Majesty’s Government’ as Nepal Government. It is only wasting time.”

He also made it clear that Maoists cannot surrender arms unless asked by the Nepali people to do so as the ‘People’s Liberation Army’ is part of the Nepali masses.

The student leader also said one of the clauses in the 12-point understanding between the seven political parties and the Maoists which states that the United Nations or any other reliable international body will supervise the arms, has been misinterpreted.

Acharya said that the weapons may be supervised by a credible international body, but not surrendered.

Stating that there are rumours that the elections to a Constituent Assembly will be held after a minor amendment to the 1990 constitution, Acharya said the 1990 statute should be scrapped.

CPN-UML Standing Committee member Jhalanath Khanal on Monday urged the ongoing session of parliament to adopt a special declaration immediately to legitimize its decisions.

Speaking at an interaction organized by South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) Nepal, Khanal said, “An unequivocal declaration from the parliament is urgently needed so that neither the court nor any other institution shall be able to challenge or test its decisions in the future.”

Speaking at the same programme, Raghuji Pant of UML asked all security chiefs to immediately quit their posts or face dismissal by the government, so that the commission would be able to collect necessary information from these organizations, according to reports.

He also said that the upcoming constitution through constituent assembly should not only ensure press freedom and independent press, it must also provide necessary security to the media as well.

Meanwhile, report quoted Bharat Mohan Adhikari, chief of the task force constituted by the CPN-UML to collect suggestions on constitutional structure as saying that over 150 individuals, including CPN-UML lawmakers, leaders and representatives of the seven-party alliance, its sister organisations and intellectuals, speaking at an interaction on Monday, suggested that the parliament declare itself supreme.

“The participants suggested that the revived parliament declare itself supreme,” Adhikari said.

“Every decision the parliament takes should be deemed legitimate and they should not be challenged in the court of law,” Adhikari quoted the participants as saying.

A SAFMA team led by its general secretary Imtiaz Alam arrived in the capital on Monday to access the situation of media after the restoration of democracy and people’s sovereignty in Nepal.

The visiting team would meet various political leaders and media representatives and discuss the possible ways to enhance free press and independent media in Nepal.

Latest reports say the number of children killed when a tempo (three-wheeler vehicle) they were traveling in fell into Chatara canal in the eastern district of Sunsari Tuesday morning has reached thirteen.

According to Police, 13 bodies of school children have been recovered from the canal so far. Seven children had been rescued by local people after the accident. One injured child has been undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

Over 20 children—most of them below ten years of age—were on their way to Moondrops Boarding school at Jhumka when the accident took place.

Police said an investigation is underway.

A journalist on the scene said parents of the school children were arriving on the site and that a heart-rending scenario had emerged as they were unable to come to terms that their beloved ones were no more with them.

Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel has said that the Supreme Court is committed towards fulfilling the people’s aspirations towards justice by making it prompt and accessible.

In a message on the occasion of the Law Day-2006 on Tuesday, Chief Justice Poudel pointed out the need of bringing timely reforms in the judicial system as per the desire, wishes and aspirations of the independent and sovereign people while protecting the rule of law and fundamental human rights of the people.

Poudel also expressed the belief that the rule of law would furthermore take concrete shape with the constructive collaboration of the Bar and the Bench, which he said are the two wheels of the judicial chariot.

Stating that the Supreme Court, the apex body of the independent judiciary which is the pillar of faith and confidence of the Nepali people in whom sovereignty is vested, has entered the 50th year of its establishment, Chief Justice Poudel has expressed best wishes to all the lawyers, judges, legal practitioners and all the people, including the beneficiaries of justice on this occasion.

The Chief Justice has extended hearty gratitude to the scholars, law professionals, employees, judges and students of law playing an important role towards the achievement of the objectives of the Judiciary. He has, also, expected the same level of cooperation from all sides in future also.

Chief Justice Poudel began initiatives to patch up differences between him and Nepal Bar Association (NBA), a day after parliamentarians warned CJ of impeachment.

CJ Poudel, who was dragged to controversy following the appointment of Prof. Pawan Kumar Ojha in the post of Ad-hoc justice of the SC assured NBA officials that he could review the appointment of Justice Ojha as demanded by NBA if his relation with lawyers improves.