His Majesty King Gyanendra graced the Ghodejatra feu de joie performance organised by the Royal Nepalese Army at Tundikhel, Kathmandu, Wednesday afternoon.

On the occasion, the King gave away prizes to the winning performers of the programme. Her Majesty Queen Komal Shah was present on the occasion.

Various games of horse race, show jumps and group tent-pegging were performed by the army and the police as part of Ghodejatra function.

Present on the occassion were Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel, vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers Kirtinidhi Bista, heads of constitutional bodies and representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Nepal.

Hundreds of people had thronged around Tundikhel to watch the Ghodejatra function. A public holiday was observed in the Kathmandu Valley on the occasion of Ghodejatra.

At least four Maoists and two civilians were killed when security forces launched an aerial attack in Thokarpa area of Sindhupalchowk district on Monday.

The RNA launched the aerial raid n the area following information that Maoists had assembled at Baghbhairab Higher Secondary School in Thokarpa for a mass meeting, according to reports.

Security forces launched the attack from a helicopter at around 12:45 p.m. when the Maoists were preparing to hold a mass meeting in the eastern part of the district.

As soon as Maoists targeted an army chopper that had reached the skies above the school, four other army choppers bombarded the area.

The bombardment continued for one-and-a-half hours, locals said.

Though the details of the attack and subsequent casualties were yet to be received, locals said more than 10 civilian houses near the hostel were damaged in the attack.

One of the civilians killed in the attack was a security guard of a Japanese journalist, who is taking shelter in a local’s house, according to reports.

Local people suspect large human casualties in the incident.

Maoists were reported to have invited officials of local level committees and civilians from Kavre, Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk to attend the programme.

It is also said Maoists’ central-level leaders were scheduled to attend the programme.

The identity of deceased Maoists and the civilians were yet to be identified.

The agitating seven political parties are working to reschedule its planned mass meeting in the capital on April 8.

According to a new strategy, the parties will hold rallies in all 75 districts during the four-day general strike from April 6-9. There will be rally in the capital, too, but it will be part of similar rallies in the districts.

Earlier, the alliance of seven political parties had decided to hold valley centred agitation from April 6-9.

However the top leaders of the seven party alliance are yet to take formal decision in this regard.

Speaking at an interaction at the Reporters’ Club on Monday, acting general secretary of CPN-UML, Amrit Kumar Bohara said, “Now we will take out protest rallies in all 75 districts and major city junctures.”

He further said that changes were made considering the continued violent activities of Maoists and respecting suggestions from various democratic quarters.

He however urged the Maoists to declare ceasefire to facilitate the parties’ plan to hold grand rallies.

Sushil Koirala, vice-president of Nepali Congress, however, claimed that the rally of April 8 in the capital would be a big one and will have support from all quarters.

The seven opposition political parties that are protesting against the February 1 royal takeover of last year had said that the valley centred agitation will be a decisive one.

The government has beefed up security in and outside Kathmandu Valley to control the possible ‘infiltration of Maoist rebels’ in the protest programmes of the seven-party opposition alliance slated for the next week.

Various newspapers reports quoted security sources as saying that the infiltration of the rebels was very likely after the SPA (Seven Party Alliance) and the Maoists reached to an understanding to launch movement against the present regime.

The Himalayan Times quoted Additional Inspector General of Police, Krishna Basnet, confirming the tightening of security in the valley. Similarly, Rajdhani quoted sources that joint teams of Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), Armed Police Force (APF), Nepal Police and National Investigation Department have been deployed under cover to watch about the movement of leaders of the seven parties and their sister organizations.

The dailies also quoted the officials as saying that security forces have been monitoring people arriving in Kathmandu valley in the recent days. “We are in close contact with the hotel and lodge owners and collecting information on people staying there,” Basnet told The Himalayan Times.

The government is said to have been discussing to arrest some 200 leaders before the start of general strike called by the political parties from April 6 and their mass protest programme on April 8. Rajdhani stated that a security meeting was held in home ministry on Monday to discuss ways to suppress the movement and force the transport entrepreneurs to continue their services during the bandhs.

The home ministry has already notified that security in Kathmandu valley has been tightened. The ministry also banned pillion riders on motorbikes claiming that Maoists have been using motorbikes for violent activities. The ban on pillion riding would be in place till April 12, the home ministry has said.

Apart from ban on pillion riding, security checks and patrols have also been intensified both in the valley and in those vehicles traveling on long routes. Armoured Personnel Carriers, Ferrets and Mine Protected Vehicles may be mobilized in major cities and highways during the general strike.

The Himalayan Times also quoted sources as saying that the security chief’s meeting has been discussing if the cell-phone service can be blocked again for a few days, which the government has several times in the past.

Hundreds of leaders were arrested from across the country a day before the mass rally of seven-party alliance on January 20 stating that the Maoists rebels may infiltrate the movement. Many leaders and human rights activists arrested on that day still remain in custody while others have been released on orders given by the Supreme Court.

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), umbrella organization of working journalists has decided to celebrate its 51st anniversary on Wednesday as part of its ongoing movement of press freedom.

Issuing a press statement on Monday, FNJ has urged all its branches and associates to celebrate the anniversary as part of its ongoing movement for press freedom and democracy.

The statement further said, FNJ would organize a rally from New Banehswor to Maitighar mandala on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, FNJ central committee Monday sacked 14 its members including P Kharel, Komal Woli, and Jiva Ram Bhandari, among others, from the ordinary membership saying they failed to furnish clarifications as asked by it.

Bottlers Nepal, the mega sponsor of ANFA a decade ago, has again signed a new sponsorship deal with ANFA targeting schools.
The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and Coca Cola signed a three-year sponsorship deal for the Inter-school Football Championship on Monday. Country Manager of Coca Cola Mike Smith and ANFA president Ganesh Thapa signed the Memorandum of Understanding amid a function.

According to the MoU, ANFA will get Rs 800,000 per year for the next three years to organise the tournament. The top four winners will win Rs 200,000, Rs 100,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.

Smith said Bottlers Nepal Limited wanted a long association with the ANFA. “The sponsorship deal in the years to come will be done in a full-fledged way, if the tournaments are successful,” he said.

Human rights activists have condemned the murder of Daya Ram Pariyar, a human rights activist affiliated with National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

A joint press statement issued by rights activists including former speaker Daman Nath Dhungana, chairman of Forum for Human Rights Protection Padma Ratana Tuladhar and former justice of Supreme Court Laxman Prashad Aryal among others said, the murder of Pariyar is an example of growing arbitrariness of security force.

Pariyar, who was shot by police personnel at Janakchowk of Janakpur on 24th March died while undergoing treatment at Teaching Hospital Kathmandu this morning, the report adds.

The statement further said the incident proves that the government is devoted to create terror among rights activists to discourage them from carrying out their duties.

The statement urged the government to take strict action against the culprit and to initiate measures to check such activities of security personnel.

This is the first incident in the country, in which a rights defender was shot by security personnel.

There has been no comment from the government’s side in the case .

A senior government official has claimed that the ratio of handing over school management to community is encouraging and the quality of education has improved after handing over school management to communities.

Talking to Nepalnews, Spokesperson at the Ministry of Education and Sports Lava Prasad Tripathi said that the government handed over management of nearly 2,300 schools to community, so far. The government started transferring government schools to communities from 2002.

As per the target the government has to handover 3,500 schools to the community in this fiscal year, which has just three months left for completion.

He however expressed confidence that they will meet the target.

The Maoist affiliated student union has been warning communities not to accept management of schools saying it is a ploy of government to transfer economic burden to communities, but refuting such claims, Tripathi said it is handover of management to provide quality education through direct involvement of communities.

In many areas local Maoists have warned communities not to accept the management responsibility over their own schools and where the transfer had already happened, return the responsibility to the government.

“It is only to handover the monitoring and evaluation duty to the parents not the government leaving its responsibility,” Tripathi added.

He also claimed that the quality of education has increased in schools after community took the responsibility of school management as the stakeholders directly participate in the process.

“The attendance of student and teachers increased, the condition of sanitation also improved as guardians started to participate in the management process of the school,” he added.

There are 26,000 public schools in the country and 107,000 teachers are involved in these schools.

Conflict of the country and misconception of people about handing over school management to the communities are the main hindrances for it, Tripathi added.

Saying that the ongoing conflict in Nepal has put the civilians at greater risk, a renowned international human rights group has called for increased international pressure to tackle the crisis.

Releasing its report “Nepal’s Civil War: The Conflict Resumes” on Tuesday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the civilian casualties have soared after the breakdown of the Maoist ceasefire on January 2 this year.

“Civilian casualties, which decreased significantly during the ceasefire, quickly returned to previous levels once fighting resumed. The ten-year-old civil war continues to place the civilian population at serious risk of war crimes and human rights abuses while hindering economic development of the impoverished countryside,” the 17-page report said, urging the international community to take steps to protect human rights in the Himalayan Kingdom.

HRW report further said human rights and political scenario and freedom of expression in Nepal have deteriorated after the seizure of power by the King on February 1, 2005. “The king has repeatedly subjected critical political activists, journalists, and human rights monitors to arbitrary arrest and censorship, only releasing detainees and relaxing restrictions under intense international pressure.”

HRW that had conducted a three-week long research trip to Nepal in late February and March this year to assess the situation after the ceasefire pointed out that violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war) by both the Maoists and the security forces – including indiscriminate aerial bombardment by the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) in civilian areas – had grown while the civilians were facing risk with the escalation of confrontation between the Maoists and the vigilante groups. In the meantime, the rebels have not stopped recruiting children for military purposes, it said.

The report further added, “Recent international pressure has made a difference in promoting greater respect for human rights by both government forces and the Maoists. We found that both the Maoists and the RNA had taken appropriate action during some of the clashes we investigated to minimize the harm to civilians.”

“The RNA seems to have taken steps to reduce the practice of extrajudicial executions and “disappearances” of suspected Maoists and now turns many detainees over to police custody within a month. Security forces also allowed the Nepal Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, established in 2005, access to military barracks and other places of detention

The international rights group in its report also urged Nepal’s major arms suppliers like India, UK and USA to continue to suspend their military assistance.

“Nepal’s largest arms suppliers, India, the U.S., and the U.K., should continue to suspend lethal military assistance to Nepal until the government complies with international human rights and humanitarian law. Countries reportedly engaged in or contemplating lethal military assistance to Nepal, such as China, Pakistan, and Israel must also refrain from transferring any arms to Nepal.”

Home Minister Kamal Thapa has claimed that the four-day general strike (April 6-9) called by the Seven Party alliance (SPA) is in fact the programme of the CPN (Maoist) and said the government will foil it at any cost.

Addressing an interaction organized by the Reporters Club of Nepal in the capital on Tuesday, Minister Thapa said the Maoists had first announced the indefinite strike beginning April 6. “Upon entering into second understanding with the Maoists, the SPA preponed its protest programme beginning April 6. Hence, there should be no illusion that the four-day strike is, in fact, the Maoists’ programme,” said the interior minister.

In response to a query, Minister Thapa said the government had credible information that terrorists had entered into the capital and were likely to infiltrate the general strike and mass rally announced by the opposition alliance. “If we get hold of the rebels, even if they are found participating in the opposition rally, they will be dealt with in accordance with the anti-terror law,” he warned.

Nepal government refers to Maoist rebels as terrorists.

Minister Thapa, however, urged the opposition parties to break up their “alliance” with the Maoists and engage in constructive dialogue with the constitutional forces. He said such a dialogue could take place even if some of the opposition leaders were in jail. He did not elaborate.

The Home Minister said the government had tightened security in the capital and other parts of the country in view of the proposed protests announced by the opposition parties. He, however, claimed that violent activities had gone up in the country and morale of the Maoists had gone up after entering into an understanding with the opposition parties.

The seven party alliance has said the four-day general strike—against the last year’s royal takeover—would be peaceful and would continue unless the king gives up his direct rule.