Suspected Maoists exploded a bomb at the office of Ward No. 6 of Bhaktapur Municipality Monday morning.

The explosion that occurred at around 6:15 a.m. caused minor damage to the office building located at Inachhu while a four-wheeler parked outside the building was also damaged, officials at the Bhaktapur District Police Office said.

Nobody was injured in the blast.

Announcing a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ordered to scrap the controversial Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC).

The Supreme Court. nepalnews.com/rh

The Supreme Court. nepalnews.com/rh
A five-member special bench of SC justices Kedar Prasad Giri, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ram Nagina Singh, Anup Raj Sharma and Ram Prasad Shrestha decided to dissolve the RCCC formed after last year’s February 1 royal move.

The apex court said the formation of the anti-graft body was unconstitutional as it contradicted with Articles 83 (3), 84, 85, 88 (3), 89, 105 (7) and 127 of the Constitution of the Kingdom (1990).

The SC bench also ordered to annul all the actions and decisions taken by the Royal Commission. The apex court in its statement ordered the government to release former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (Democratic) president Sher Bahaudur Deuba, who has been facing jail sentence since last April along with then physical planning minister Prakash Man Singh on charges of corruption in selecting construction contractors of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project.

The RCCC has also fined and slapped jail sentences to dozens of government officials and political leaders on charges of corruption.

Advocate Santosh Kumar Mahato had on 10th August 2005 filed a writ petition at the SC challenging the constitutionality of the commission. The court had heard arguments from the litigants and the government attorneys in different phases.

Meanwhile, law experts have maintained that the SC verdict has upheld the spirit of the constitution and that it has nixed the constitutionality of the February 1 royal move as such.

“The Supreme Court has given its verdict in favour of the constitution. Now the royal move itself has lost all constitutional excuses,” Nepal Bar Association (NBA) member Tika Ram Bhattrai commented talking to Nepalnews.

According to him, all those who faced actions from the RCCC are entitled to compensation. “The government should return the bail amounts and pay compensation to those who have been victims of an unconstitutional body,” he added.

Similarly, commenting on the SC verdict, advocate Satish Krishna Kharel said, “Today’s verdict has proved that the Supreme Court is a responsible interpreter of the constitution. The verdict is in favour of the constitution and the rule of law.”

Meanwhile, hearing on a habeas corpus writ petition filed by jailed PM Deuba is to taka place at the SC on Tuesday. Deuba’s attorneys said the court is expected to release him after a formal hearing on the basis of today’s verdict.

Shrish Shumser Rana (File Photo)

Shrish Shumser Rana (File Photo)
Minster of State for Information and Communications, Shrish Shumser Rana, has described the municipal polls as successful and said that the government is committed to hold parliamentary polls to revive democratic process.

Speaking at a press conference at the Department of Information on Monday, state minister Rana said that the election should not be analyzed on the basis of percentage of votes as the candidates filed their candidacy and voters made the courage to vote despite the life threats from the Maoists.

Stating that people came to cast vote despite the threats of Maoists to protect their rights, he urged people not to remain silent when their rights are violated.

State Minister Rana, who is also the spokesperson of the government, said people should ask the political parties, who boycotted the polls and created obstacles, on the low turnout.

Rana, who devoted most of the time in the one hour long press conference to express dissatisfaction over the activities of the seven political parties and to justify that the election as successful, further said that comments of the foreign countries regarding the validity of the election is a result of misinformation given to them by some national agencies.

Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Japan and the European Union have criticized the municipal polls, saying they would not recognize the results.

He urged the international communities to study the constitutional provisions of the country before commenting on such issues.

Coming down heavily on the mainstream political parties, Rana said that they are taking assistance from Maoists to try to make the government a failure. He questioned if political parties are serious about restoring peace in the country and bringing back democracy on track, why did they compel the Maoists to raise arms and not hold polls during their tenure, adding that the incumbent government was able to hold election despite the Maoist threats and active boycott of the mainstream political parties.

When asked about the low candidacy in the polls, Rana said it is not the duty of the government to ensure full participation and urged journalists to ask about it to those who created such environment.

“The government’s duty is to provide security in the polls and assist the Election Commission (EC), which the government had fulfilled effectively,” Rana added.

On the Maoist issue, Rana claimed that the government is always open for talks with the Maoists if they are ready to come to the mainstream of politics through democratic process and lay down their arms.

He strictly ruled out the possibility of election of the constituent assembly saying the present constitution does not have such provision.

He also claimed the security situation of the country has improved and corruption has decreased during the one year direct rule of the King.

He further said that His Majesty the King took the royal move on the basis of Article 127, the emergency provision of the constitution, not to grab power but to resolve the problems dogging the country.

“There is no Maoist territory in the country and they are not able to attack the security bases, though they are committing some incidents of violence,” Rana added. He however remained tight lipped on recent Maoist attacks in various districts.

Commenting on the recent interview of Maoist supremo Prachanda in some national and international media, state minister Rana said the statement is not clear and urged them to come to the democratic process if they are really serious about the country and people.

Rana was of the view that the publication of Maoist interviews and press statements in some mainstream media was proof of press freedom and the functioning of democracy in the country.

On the one window policy for the distribution of government’s advertisement, he said that the system was enforced for systematic distribution of advertisement. “After the enforcement of this policy, newspapers will be entitled the advertisement on the basis of classification of the Press Council Nepal, not the influence to the bureaucrat or ministers,” Rana added.

Authorities on Monday released 15 student leaders, who were arrested from different protest rallies in Kathmandu on February 3, following a court order.

Nepal Students Union (NSU) president Mahendra Sharma, general secretary Badri Pandey, president of All Nepal National Students Union (ANNFSU) Khim Lal Bhattrai, former NSU president Guru Ghimire and ANNFSU leader Ram Kumari Jhakri were among those released.

Acting on a habeas corpus writ petition, the Supreme Court ordered their release today.

Meanwhile, local authorities in Baglung district today freed four student activists arrested from protest rallies a few days earlier.

Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Prachanda, has reiterated his party is ready to accept any result of the election of the constituent assembly.

Chairman of the CPN (M) Prachanda as seen on the BBC. nepalnews.com/rh

Chairman of the CPN (M) Prachanda as seen on the BBC. nepalnews.com/rh
In the first-ever TV interview with the BBC, Prachanda said his party would accept monarchy if the people decided so.

Talking to BBC’s Charles Haviland at an undisclosed location on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the Maoist insurgency, Prachanda insisted that election for the constituent assembly was the best alternative to resolve the Maoist insurgency. The rebels say the assembly would draft a new constitution for the country.

Prachanda said he believed such an assembly would make Nepal into a republic. But he said his party would accept “the people’s verdict”.

“Whatever decision the people give, we are ready to accept this,” Prachanda told the BBC.

Asked if that meant he would theoretically be able to accept a people’s verdict of keeping the monarchy, he said: “Yes, theoretically it is like that.”

Responding to another query, the rebel supremo said he was “saddened” by the number of deaths in the conflict and by what he called accidents such as the death of children in bomb blasts.

Justifying the violent movement his party has been waging, Prachanda said, “Everyone knows when we were in the parliament, we put forward 40-point demands so that the problems of Nepalis would be solved in a peaceful way. But, when the ruling classes were not ready to solve the problems of Nepalis peacefully, and instead started victimising our party workers and people who supported us in a brutal and illegitimate fashion, they compelled us and the Nepali people to take up arms.”

Regarding the peaceful political outlet of the Maoist insurgency as per the agreement reached with the mainstream political parties in last November, the Maoist leader said, “We are always ready for peace and when we started the people’s war, after a while we said that if the ruling classes would want to peacefully solve the problems of Nepali people, we were ready.

Now, in the agreement with the parties, we are still saying that if there is an environment where people can give their own verdict, through an election of a constituent assembly, where people have a voice on the kind of governance that they want, if that right is with the people, then we are ready to have a political competition with the parties. And this is the truth,” he added.

Asked if the Maoists aimed to conquer the capital, Kathmandu, militarily, he said that foreign help to the government had made that difficult, and that such an action would “cause a lot of harm to the Nepali people”.

He said the king, who took direct political power a year ago, had left no room for compromise.

On the question of permanent ceasefire and peaceful outlet to the insurgency, Prachanda said, “For a peaceful solution of this problem, what we are saying is that both the armies should be monitored by the UN or a similar organization and go to the people; and that later they can be re-organized into a new Nepali army and that we are ready for. That is why we are not the problem.”

Political leaders and civil society representatives have said the present political crisis could find an outlet if the three main players – King, Maoists and political parties – agree for an election to Constitution Assembly.

Speaking at a face-to-face programme organised by the Reporters Club on Monday, leaders of various political parties and the civil society debated the possible way out of the deepening conflict as the Maoist insurgency entered into the 11th year today.

Central Working Committee member of Nepali Congress (NC) Arjun Narsingh KC said that by expressing commitment towards competitive multiparty democratic system, human rights and press freedom, the Maoists have clearly shown their interest in initiating dialogue.

However, KC hesitated to say that parties would work hand in hand with the rebels unless they avoided their goal to capture the state mechanism by armed violence.

Senior leader of CPN (UML) Shanker Pokharel was of the view that the Maoists insurgency has reached such a climax that use of army was never going to make the situation better. The royal government’s indifference towards the call from people for ceasefire and initiate dialogue to restore peace and political stability would make the institution of monarchy more vulnerable.

He also criticised the Maoists’ vague stand about the possible image of Nepali society in a broader democratic system. Now, the mainstream political parties should shoulder the responsibilities to bring the rebels and the royalists back to the track.

The UML leader said that new strategy of the political parties would be to bring the Maoists into peaceful movement. Fusion of the peaceful movement and armed rebellion would ultimately pressurize the king to accept the conditions for election to the Constituent Assembly, which has been the bottom line of both the alliance of mainstream parties and the rebels, he added.

Peace should be sovereign and opinion expressed by the people in the election of Constituent Assembly should be acceptable to all three political powers – king, rebels and parliamentarian political forces, Pokharel added.

There should be independent international observers, chiefly the United Nations should monitor the election of the Assembly so that none of these three parties manipulate the electorate, he further said.

The Maoists have said on different occasions that they would accept the results of assembly elections and they have, to some extent, convinced the civil society leaders and political parties on this. The UN has said it was ready to consider the request for monitoring the peace process.

Speaking at the same programme, Yagya Prasad Acharya, a member of the Raj Parishad (royal council) said that the parties and the Maoists should support the roadmap the King presented “for peace and democracy”.

He added that the King is ready to face any challenge in his bid to protect the institution of monarchy particularly at a time when the voice for a republican setup has grown stronger.

Civil society leader Dr Sundar Mani Dixit maintained that the King should now understand that he cannot rule with support of less than 20 percent population. He warned that the monarch’s support base would decrease in the days ahead if he continues to stick to his tactics to intimidate the agitating political parties.

Prateek Pradhan, editor of The Kathmandu Post, who recently interview Maoist chairman Prachanda, said the present strategic stalemate has indicated that neither of the two warring groups is able to secure victory. Consensus for the election to the Constituent Assembly is the only means to restore peace and political stability in the country, he said.

Nabil Three Star Club (NTSC) beat Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) 2-0 and Mahabir Club (MC) beat Jawalakhel Youth Club (JYC) 1-0 at Dashrath stadium while Machhindra Football Club (MFC) beat Rani Pokhari Corner Team (RCT) 9-8 at Halchowk stadium in the in the ANFA Martyrs’ Memorial San Miguel “A” Division League Football Tournament.

In the NTSC versus MMC match, Bijaya Gurung netted two goals to collect the deserved three points against rivals MMC, revenging the 1-2 bitter defeat in the first leg. Bijaya Gurung broke the deadlock in the 40th minute utilizing a powerful left footed shot from the box. Later in the 56th minute, he scored his second on the cross off Pradeep Maharjan.

“The boys played well as they didn’t leave any room for them to penetrate inside,” NTSC coach Mrigendra Mishra told reporters. “We went down despite playing good,” APF coach Noble Rana reacted.

“I am happy to score goals as I promised,” Bijaya Gurung told Nepalnews. Gurung also promised to display a mature game in the days to come.

In the “controversial” and could be called “friendly” game between relegation threatened MFC and RCT at Halchowk stadium, the scoreline ended at 9-8 in MFC’s favor. RCT’s Rishi Rai suspiciously scored eight goals alone that led him to the highest goal scorer tally with 25 goals.

For the Red Lions (MFC), Bikash Subba scored four goals while Buddha Chemzong netted a hat trick. Gudiya Rai and Manoj Shahi also found the net to fetch three points.

Their win was made worthless because another relegation threatened team Mahabir Club surprised everyone by beating JYC 1-0. Som Lama scored match the winning goal through a spot kick.

Meanwhile, due to suspicions on the 9-8 scoreline, ANFA, in a press statement, cancelled the individual prize for the highest scorer. “We will take strong action if they (teams) are found guilty of match fixing,” ANFA General Secretary Narendra Shrestha told Nepalnews. “We came to this decision after receiving reports from the match inspector and referee,” Shrestha added.

By Bhumika Ghimire

We all in Nepal are familiar with political meddling, be it from south of the border or from the big house in Washington or from the Nepali diaspora All through the history we have seen them, heard about them and in some cases have raised our voices against them. Since the Panchayat system went into “hibernation” in 1990, the meddling have been more “in your face.”

Our neighbors with growing international reputation and military power have actually started to use their influence against us. Many failed hydro electric project are the glaring examples. That is how diplomacy works nowadays, I guess. How Washington diplomacy works is something of a puzzle which I have yet to figure out. Ever since President George Bush has cut off budget for programs which could help poor and elderly citizens the puzzle has grown bigger. American boycott of elected Hamas government is also confusing, since the country has repeated again and again that it will support elections and government elected by the people.

I believe that I have proven my ignorance of diplomatic world, so let me get back to the political games we were talking about.

As a part of Nepali diaspora in USA I am by default part of a political game. We believe that we are proven leaders and visionaries, but we choose to exercise it only after we leave Nepal. That way we are able to prove our love to our motherland, without sacrificing our great American dreams. How do we show our strength?

By taking out rally in Washington DC or New York to support democracy or the King (whichever suits the season) with slogans which are copied from some juvenile comic book. The rallies are fun; don’t have to deal with the army firing at us or the forced showers. We gather at a clean park, shout slogans for a while, and then have some drinks and catch-up with friends. After the rally we all go back to our apartments and look in the mirror and see a future Nepali power house. So in the morning we decide to form another organization, which of course has no fixed principle. It is flexible, we pride in saying that we just want Nepal to get rich and happy for which we will support the parties and King.

The reason I call this political ambition of diaspora as “un-wanted meddling” because we are far from the ground realities in Nepal. We hear what media wants us to hear, we see what we are shown and like that we form our opinion and jump into a conclusion. We are not facing the day to day life in Nepal, we don’t have to take kids to school when we know there is a violent “julus” nearby, we don’t have wait for turns to get drinking water. Living outside Nepal in some cozy and protected environment has clouded our judgment. So I suggest everyone in America who has any political ambition to go back to Nepal and jump-start their career there, live with the reality and try to change it.

I understand that I am a hypocrite who is suggesting everyone to go back while I have no plans to budge. I accept the adjective, but I cannot leave America because I have to watch Desperate Housewives every Sunday.

(A graduate of Schiller University, Florida, Ghimire is currently based in the US and writes on contemporary issues. 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 Maoists on Saturday released 10 security personnel they had abducted during the attacks in Sunwal of Nawalparasi on February 9.

They were released from Humin of Palpa in the presence of journalists and human rights activists. Among the released 10 security personnel, four had been abducted twice. The four were abducted from the Palpa and Nawalparasi clashes.

Two RNA personnel, Kaman Singh Ayer and Chandra Man Ayre are still in captivity.

The released security personnel are policemen Ganga Bahadur Kairan, Kapil Chaudhari and Prem Sagar Chaudhari and RNA soldiers Mahendra Chaudhari, Lil Bahadur Gurung, Dipak Sapkota, Suman Dahal, Rajendra Singh Mahatara, Lokendra Limbu and Dev Bahadur.

A team of scribes and rights activists handed over the freed men to the local chiefs of security agencies.

At least 20 persons, including 15 security personnel and four Maoist rebels, were killed during fierce clashes at Rambhapur of Nawalparasi district along the Mahendra highway on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a report from Kapilvastu said Maoists abducted three government officials including assistant chief district officer (CDO) of Kapilvastu on Saturday.

The rebels abducted assistant CDO Bhawani Parajuli, administrative officer Bimal Acharya and Krishna Ram Koirala, an employee at the Kapilvastu District Court while returning from India at Taulihawa-Khunuwa road section in the district.

The Maoists took the government officials on three motorcycles, family sources of the abductees said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the rebels abducted 151 people from Kotjahari VDC in Rukum district on Thursday.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the MoD said the Maoists forcibly herded the locals including a teacher of a school to an undisclosed location.

Foreign policy experts have said that the country was heading towards a “failed-state” status because of weakening economic conditions, mishandling of foreign policy and political stalemate among the major stakeholders.

They added that official statements of foreigners on the current political situation in Nepal should not be construed as intervention.

Speaking at an interaction in the capital on Saturday, they suggested the major political stakeholders to come together to bail the country out of the political crisis by revival of the House of Representatives.

Former secretary general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Yadav Kant Silwal said, “The concerns and comments of the international community on the deteriorating conditions of the country cannot be termed as intervention.”

“We are heading towards a failed state tag because of deteriorating economic conditions, immature handling of national foreign policy and political deadlock among stakeholders,” Silwal added.

While stating that the king, as the highest stakeholder in the country, should immediately take initiative to bail the country out of the political quagmire, Silwal said, “What will he lose if he takes initiatives to find a solution through dialogues.”

Former ambassador to China, Rajeshwor Acharya, advised the government to listen what major countries in global politics had suggested to Nepal.

“The concerns voiced by countries such as India, China, the USA and the UK must not be taken lightly as these countries are major actors in international politics,” he said, adding, “The government has been totally isolated and defeated from the diplomatic point of view.”

Former ambassador to the US, Bishwo Pradhan, suggested that the King form a task force of independent individuals for national reconciliation among the major political forces.

Joint secretary of the Nepali Congress, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat said, “Why doesn’t the international community speak in a country where the home minister passes orders to shoot at people and vice-chairman of council of minister threatens more bullets?”

Dr Mahat further said that UN intervention in Nepal could not be ruled out on humanitarian grounds, given the government’s insensitivity towards the ongoing bloodshed.

Foreign policy expert, Mohan Lohani, however said that the concerns of the international community cannot be construed as intervention unless it doesn’t seek to impose solution in another country.