Leaders of various faiths in Nepal have called on chief of the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal, Ian Martin, and apprised him of their views regarding resolving the decade-old armed conflict in the country.
Ian Martin
Ian Martin (File Photo)
During their meeting on Friday, the religious leaders urged Martin to play a pro-active role in protecting and promoting human rights in the country and said the religious community was of the view that both the sides in the Nepal conflict must renounce violence and return to the table of negotiation without preconditions.
During the meeting, Martin said the religious communities could play an important and meaningful role in ending violence and restoring a durable peace in Nepal. He said the UN as well as its Secretary General Kofi Annan was concerned about the deteriorating rights situation in Nepal and was ever ready to offer its good offices to help find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The delegation led by chairman of Inter-Religious Peace Committee Nepal (IRPCN) Achyut Raj Regmi included vice chairman of the committee, Dr KB. Rokaya, secretary KP Chaulagain, Bhikku Anand, Rev. Simon Gurung, Hamid Ansari and Mrs Indira Manandhar, among others.
The delegation represented Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Bahai communities in Nepal, according to the IRPCN.
Traffic has resumed along Dhangadhi-Mahendranagar section of the Mahendra highway from Sunday afternoon after security personnel cleared the road.
According to reports, a Royal Nepalese Army personnel was injured critically due to an explosion while trying to remove road blocks placed by the Maoist rebels last week to enforce their week-long ‘Nepal bandh’—the nationwide shutdown strike.
Though the CPN (Maoist) called off its strike on Wednesday (after four days), traffic along major highways remained disrupted due to road blocks placed by them. The rebels had indiscriminately felled down trees and placed explosives to block major highways in the country. Over one and half dozen security personnel were reportedly killed during clashes with the rebels in the south-western district of Nawalparasi last week while they were trying to clear the highway.
Butwal-Palpa and parts of other highways still remain blocked due to the roadblocks, according to reports.
In a separate incident, three civilians have been injured critically when a bomb left behind by suspected Maoists exploded this afternoon at Dhangadhi municipality ward no. 7, according to reports.
All of them are undergoing treatment at the Seti zonal hospital at Dhangadhi. The rebels had planted bombs at various places as part of their bid to disrupt municipal polls that was held on last Wednesday.
Students shout anti-government slogans inside the Kathmandu District Court premises after being released on Sunday. (Photo source : THT)
Students shout anti-government slogans inside the Kathmandu District Court premises after being released on Sunday. (Photo source : THT)
Authorities on Sunday released 13 students arrested during pro-democracy rallies in Kathmandu.
12 student activists were released from the No.2 Battalion of the police while one student was released from the Naxal Ward Police Office. Those released today include Baldev Timilsina, Yubaraj Singh, Hari Ram Acharya and Prakash Bhattrai.
Hundreds of leaders and activists of the seven-party alliance and dozens of students were arrested from protest rallies in Kathmandu and outside ahead of February 8 municipal elections. Many of them are still in government detention.
A woman was killed in a landmine explosion in Murgiya area on the Mahendra Highway in Rupandehi district on Sunday.
According to reports, Parwati BK, a resident of Murgiya in Parbaha VDC died on the spot death when the landmine planted by suspected Maoists went off at around 4:30 p.m. Two other persons, namely Dhaniram Choudhari and Kali Thapa were injured in the blast.
The two injured persons have been admitted at Lumbini Zonal Hospital for treatment, reports added.
Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) comfortably beat Sankata Club (SC) 3-0 and Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) routed tail ender Boudha Football Club (BFC) 4-0 at Dashrath Stadium while Jawalakhel Youth Club (JYC) versus Friends club (FC) and Boys Union Club (BUC) versus New Road Team (NRT) played to a 1-1 draw at Halchowk stadium in the ANFA Martyrs’ Memorial San Miguel “A” Division League Football Tournament today.
At the match at Dashrath stadium, Nurudeen Olawale struck twice for MMC while class midfielder Basanta Gauchan added another to grab three points to go atop the table with 59 points. The match was completely dominated by MMC with Sankata not able to even threaten the den of MMC.
Manang Marshyangdi club (MMC) have signed another Nigerian, Felix Chimaokwu, based in Kolkata. He has reportedly been offered Rs 6,000 IC per game with full accommodation. “We are happy to sign him, as he has great ability to set the game,” MMC coach Cheering Lopsang said. “Stanley Cyprian, who looks like Gjibrel Cisse by his hair style, and Felix have added more vigor in the MMC squad,” he added.
In the other match at the stadium, TAC routed BFC 4-0, which saw TAC skipper Janamat Karki scoring a hat trick and joining Brigade Boys Club Nigerian import Obagbemiro Junior with 21 goals a piece. Bishwo Bairag Samal added another to thrash the fragile rival.
The loss has confirmed BFC’s relegation with just 11 points in hand.
Elsewhere at Halchowk Stadium, Jawalakhel Youth Club shared a 1-1 tie with Friends club in the Lalitpur derby match. Dipesh Thapa put JYC ahead in the 20th minute but Sishir Adhikari restored parity in the 32nd minute. The second half was scoreless.
In the other match there, BUC and NRT also played to a 1-1 draw. Binaya Chowdhary put BUC ahead in the 59th minute but Kiran Kapali equalized late in injury time (90+2) minutes to share honors.
The other relegation threatened teams Machhindra FC and Mahabir Club will lock horns tomorrow to see who survives the relegation zone.
– By Sheela Tripathee
‘Leave the country in any way you can: go to Australia, Europe, the US or anywhere for that matter but do not waste your time here…’ has become the motto of the Nepalis today. The US Diversity Visa programme truly provides an exit strategy for Nepalis wanting to do just that. If you are lucky, you can go to America with your family without the need of admittance to a college or having to pay an agent. For average Nepali, it strikes as a perfect scenario. May be that is why, “Oh he is very lucky, he got the DV this year, he is going to America with his family and has already resigned from the job….” is a common conversation in any Nepali neighbourhood or gatherings.
With the Internet bringing the world closer, the glamour of western life is a very effective pulling factor for Nepalis currently suffering from political, social and economic instability. On the surface, winning a DV lottery appeals as being the perfect opportunity for a good source of employment, stability and education. It has now been more than 15 years since the DV lottery was conceptualized and many Nepalis have been living in the US under the programme. Has the DV programme lived up to the dreams of Nepalis who got to the US as winners or have they lost everything and their dream has now become a living nightmare? I think this is the time to reconsider.
Hundreds of Nepalis from every walk of life have come to the US along with their families through the DV programme in recent years, many of them leaving behind respectable jobs. For some, especially the young, single and healthy Nepalis, who came here with the intention of working or studying hard, it has generally proved to be a good opportunity for income and education. Some of them have even been able to save some money to send back to their families and relatives in Nepal. But for those who have had comfortable lives in Nepal, very soon they realize that to win a lottery is not always being lucky because the life here is not as easy as they dreamed of.
Most Nepalis coming to the US through DV programme choose either big cities, with more job opportunities and good public health care services, such as New York or smaller places, such as suburbs of Baltimore and Washington D.C., where the cost of living is much lower. Most of the people initially come to live with or close to someone they know from Nepal. When they arrive, all of them have dreams of further education and a good job, at least better than what they were doing back in Nepal. Often some have misconception that a lot of benefits and help await their arrival in the US.
The reality hits pretty hard not long after they arrive here. Here rents are sky high and when they start converting currencies to Nepali rupees, they start thinking twice about buying literally anything, even food. When you realize you have to work 60 hours a week of hard, unforgiving and low-paid work, just to be able to afford your apartment, spending on education becomes a luxury. When they see many other Nepalis like them engaging in non-stop work, they realize the harsh realities of survival here and start working in whatever job they can get their hands on. In most of the cases because of the lack of fluency in English language, and no recognition of their work experience or education in Nepal, they are unable to find a good job. Most jobs do not provide basic employee rights or benefits and demand long and arduous working hours. On the other hand the clash in culture and lifestyle automatically separates them as outsiders and they eventually settle themselves down within the Nepalese community, which still is not hugely prominent or influential in the USA. The dream starts to fade out.
Typically many Nepalis work in fast food chains, Indian restaurants, nail and beauty parlours, and as maids or baby sitters to wealthy families. For starters, these are not very well paying jobs, usually paying around 5 dollars an hour, so people work 6 or 7 days a week and 10 to 18 hours a day. As a result, there is very little time for them to spend with the family. It may be good for those who are happy only with converting dollars into rupees, but deep down many people feel this hurts their pride and dignity that they had in their professions or society in Nepal.
The question here is: are the DV winners really satisfied with the life in the US? If not, why are they still here, even if there is a way out by going back to Nepal? In the beginning, the promise of the dreamland full of opportunities dragged them here. Upon arrival many compulsions for survival and adjustment grab them by the neck. Over time, they forget their original identity and reputation back in Nepal and start convincing themselves that life after all is livable with what they have. Compromise becomes a part of life and does not bother anyone anymore. Otherwise it is impossible to imagine a civil engineer to be happy as a waiter in an Indian restaurant, or a renowned political leader in Nepal to be a maid in someone’s house and for some landlords to share a tiny one-bedroom apartment with two other families.
Children often end up paying the biggest price. Private schools are expensive and unaffordable. The public school system in the US is based on where you live. You can send your children to the school close to where you live. The neighbourhoods where most Nepalis live are usually where rents are relatively low; hence such locations have mainly low income and unemployed families living there. The schools usually reflect the neighbourhoods they are located in and in poorer neighborhoods the schools are not very good academically and discipline-wise. Sometimes the racial discrimination and bullying they face at school, especially in the early years, affects them psychologically.
Considering the fact that most Nepalis living here under the DV programme could afford the best private schools in Nepal, the education of kids here suffers a lot. On the other hand growing up with parents who are extremely busy and don’t have much time for their children and for the community, the children often lack social, moral and Nepali language skills.
People in Nepal usually boast about some of their close family members being in the US because of the DV lottery. Often they receive money and gifts from relatives in the US but not the story behind how it was earned. Sometimes Nepalis in the US do not reveal about the difficult life they have to endure because they do not want anyone in Nepal to know the whole story. Some family members that are left behind in Nepal, especially the old parents of the DV winners, also suffer in the absence of their loved ones. Despite what people may believe, it is almost impossible for them to follow their children to the US. In some cases, the wives of DV winner husbands have to endure years in Nepal without their husbands because they cannot follow their husbands to the US immediately.
The most common reason for many people leaving Nepal is that there is nothing to do in Nepal: there is no future and stability. It is true to some extent, but is it a good idea to abandon the house if there is something wrong, which can eventually be fixed? Seriously, do we leave our cottage to be the servant in someone’s palace? So for those of you who are preparing to apply for a DV lottery and aim to come to the US, especially for all of you with a young family, think hard before you decide to say good-bye to the loved ones, quit your job, book the flight and pack your bags. Please consider what you are about to lose and what you expect to gain.
Keeping your eyes on a bogus prize could be the biggest mistake of life.
A senior at the City University of New York, Hunter College, Tripathee is majoring in media studies. She had also worked as a programme producer and presenter at Kalika FM, Chitwan. Please send your comments to [email protected] or [email protected] [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 Rastriya Prajatanta Party (RPP) has urged the government to form an independent commission to probe the killing of a CPN-UML cadre Umesh Chandra Thapa in Dang on Wednesday.
A press statement issue by the party on Friday demanded that the government take strongest action against the culprit and provide compensation to the victim’s family.
The party had demanded Home Minister Kamal Thapa’s resignation on moral ground.
On the eve of election, Thapa had said that security personnel were empowered to even shoot at those disrupting the polls.
Security personnel shot dead Thapa in Dang when he was returning to his home after taking part in a peaceful protest rally organized by the seven party opposition alliance at Ghorahi of Dang district on Wednesday.
The Defense Ministry, however, claimed that Thapa was killed when security personnel opened fire in self-defense after an unruly crowd tried to attack a polling center at Bal Mandir and somebody from the crowd opened fire injuring a police inspector.
RPP also said it could not recognize the municipal poll held with almost zero turn out of the people.
Supreme Court (File photo)
The Supreme Court (SC) issued an order to the government to promulgate law in order to provide relief to the victim of ongoing conflict in the country.
Acting upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a displaced journalist and a teacher from Doti and Ramechhap districts, Bhim Prakash Oli and Keshav Lama, a division bench of Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Rajendra Kumar Bhandari issued the order on Friday.
“Promulgate necessary law to define conflict victims and categorise their status in order to provide relief to them,” the bench ordered.
Pleading on behalf of the petitioner, advocates Raju Prasad Chapagain and Tek Tamrakar argued that the ongoing conflict has become a major problem in the country and that should be settled through legal and political means and demanded the court’s order to form law in this regard.
Due to the conflict, we have lost our right to life and equality, though the Constitution has guaranteed these rights, the petitioner claimed.
“They moved the apex court as they could not get relief from the government,” said Chapagain.
They had demanded the government either to provide opportunities for jobs abroad or provide them with any other means of sustenance.
The insurgency that erupted in 1996 had already claimed lives of more than 13,000 people displaced thousands.
Dr Tulsi Giri
(File photo)
The vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers, Dr Tulsi Giri, has termed the international response to the municipal polls as “narrow minded”.
Talking to journalists after a programme organised by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority to mark its anniversary in the capital on Friday, Dr Giri said, “That’s the narrow mindedness shown by them (international communities), adding, “We can term the elections they have conducted (in iraq and Afganistan) in the given situation hollow, not ours.”
Coming down heavily on “baseless comments of national and international forces” on low voter turnout in the municipal elections, he said it was an outcome of the political parties’ negative activities.
United States marked the polls as ‘a hollow attempt’ and called on the King to release political detainees and open dialogue with the political parties.
In its reaction, India questioned the credibility of the municipal elections.
Japan has also ‘deplored’ the way the elections were held “without a broad support” of the Nepali people.
The United Kingdom (UK) has marked the municipal elections as a meaningless exercise to resolve the political crisis of the country.
Dr Giri further said that parliamentary elections will be held in the same manner as the municipal polls.
Nearly 20 percent of the eligible 1.4 million voters took part in the municipal polls, which was actively boycotted by the seven opposition parties.
Commenting on the killing of one UML activist on the day of election on Wednesday, he said the government did not order forces to shoot but to use their maximum authority against those disrupting the elections.
“The Election Commission will call all political parties to take part in the elections and fix a time frame. The polls will, however, go ahead even if they do not participate in them,” Dr Giri said.
In the programme, Dr Giri called on government institutions, media and civil society to fight corruption and maintain the rule of law in the country.
He also said the government has not changed its stance on the Maoists. “They are terrorists. We cannot hold dialogue with them until they surrender their arms and stop terrorist activities,” he said. Dr Giri also said the recently-published interview of Maoist leader Prachanda was full of contradictions.
In his interview Prachanda has said that they are ready to abandon violence if the government creates conducive environment for it.
His Majesty King Gyanendra (File photo)
His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev received credentials from newly appointed ambassadors of Australia, Zambia and Morocco at a special function held at the Narayanhiti royal palace Friday.
Newly appointed Austrian ambassador to Nepal Graeme Lade, Zambian Ambassador Sipakeli Keli Walubita and Moroccan Ambassador Larbi Moukhariq presented their credentials to His Majesty the King on the occasion.
His Majesty the King granted audience to newly appointed ambassadors after receiving credentials.