CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda
Maoist chairman Prachanda has said that he has already directed his party machinery to facilitate the return of seized lands and properties.
Talking to reporters in Dang, Sunday, Prachanda said that the process of returning the seized properties will begin from Dang district.
“We have only asked the owners not to sell off these properties before the Constituent Assembly election and to provide around half the production (from the land) to the farmers who had been using it,” said Prachanda.
“This process will start from Dang and then will be implemented in Bardiya and Kailali districts,” he said.
In the peace agreement and the recent 23-point agreement, the Maoists had promised to return the seized properties. nepalnews.com sd Feb 03 08
United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, has said that there has not been any progress in ending the culture of impunity in Nepal despite the peace agreement being in place for more than a year.
Minister of State for Education and Sports Mohan Singh Rathore speaking at a programme in the capital said there is no need to mobilise the army for security in the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) polls, Saturday, Feb 02 08. nepalnews.com/ANA
Visiting UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang…
Addressing a news conference in Kathmandu at the end of her five-day visit to Nepal, Kang said, “When the High Commissioner (Louise Arbour) visited Nepal one year ago, she focused on two main issues: the need to end impunity and the need to address deep-rooted discrimination. A year later, impunity remains unchecked in Nepal and not one perpetrator of past or on-going human rights violations has been convicted as a result of a criminal investigation.”
Saying that consolidation of the peace process will continue to be at risk without political will on the part of the authorities to end the culture of impunity, the Deputy High Commissioner emphasised that the agreements between the parties to set up the commission on disappearances and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, must be implemented at the earliest.
“These Commissions must be set up in accordance with international standards if they are to guarantee the rights of victims and their relatives to truth, justice and reparations. OHCHR-Nepal Office has already offered assistance and advice and will continue to do so,” Kang added.
She noted that the prevailing impunity as well as a security vacuum due to weak law enforcement and criminal justice has led to an increase in violent actions, including killings and abductions by armed groups.
“We are especially concerned about the increasing number of explosions in the context of political rallies, some of which occurred during my visit. The explosions and other violent actions have had a serious impact on the enjoyment of the human rights of the population in the Terai, particularly the rights to life, freedom of assembly and association,” she said and added that these acts of violence only served the interests of those seeking to disrupt the peace process and upset the forthcoming constituent assembly elections.
Kang also said that caste-based, gender-based and ethnicity-based discrimination still remained entrenched in Nepali society.
“I was alarmed by the testimonies from the family of victims of gender based violence in Nepalgunj and from members of civil society fighting to end such violence. Discrimination in all its forms must be addressed systematically and with determination or it will continue to place the peace process at risk.”
She, however, expressed satisfaction some of the developments including the appointment of commissioners to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Supreme Court’s order on involuntary disappearances.
During her stay here, the Deputy High Commissioner visited Banke and Kapilvastu districts, the two districts worst affected by communal violence last year, and held interactions with government ministers, senior army officials, Maoist leadership and officials of the NHRC. nepalnews.com mk Feb 03 08
Kathmandu Valley Water Management Board (KVWMB) and Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Company Limited (KVDWCL) have taken the charge of drinking water management for Kathmandu valley from Sunday.
The KVWMB will look after the policy matter while the KVDWCL will manage the supply of water and repair infrastructure.
Speaking a special function organised in the capital Sunday to hand over the responsibility to the new agencies, Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hishila Yami described the shift in water supply management as a historical development and expressed hope that it would ease water crunch in the capital city.
Transfer of responsibility to these new agencies was the pre-condition put forward by the Asian Development Bank for grants and loan for the construction of Melamchi Drinking Water Project expected to be completed by end of 2011.
With the transfer of responsibilities to news agencies, the Nepal Water
Supply Corporation will end its role in Kathmandu valley. However, it will continue working on water supply management outside Kathmandu.
The assets and liabilities owned by the corporation in Kathmandu valley will be transferred to the Board, which consists of 11 members from three municipalities in the valley – Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur – Federation of Nepali Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC), representatives from three District Development Committees (DDC), Consumers’ Forum and INGOs working in the field of water management. nepalnews.com ia Feb 03 08
People of Jamune village in far-western Salyan district celebrated the arrival of the first motor-vehicle in their remote, impoverished village with much fanfare.
Rejoicing what to them was a sign of development and a better prospect with their village just being connected to the district headquarters Khalanga – lying some 50 kilometers away – through a dirt road, the villagers danced and frolicked and threw flowers at the approaching vehicle.
Some of the residents of the village had never seen any vehicle before.
The jeep with the number place Lu 1 Ja 1171 had reached the village at 2 pm Friday afternoon. The villagers then immediately greeted the driver by putting a garland on his shoulders and smearing vermillion over his face applauding him
“I received so much love that I can never forget,” the jubilant looking driver later said.
Most of villages and even some district headquarters in the country have still not been linked by roads despite the government’s claims, and the arrival of vehicles are often celebrated in similar fashion in far-off villages. nepalnews.com ag Feb 03 08
A series of blasts rocked the southern town of Rajbiraj, Saptari district, where the Nepali Congress (NC) was organising a mass meeting, Sunday afternoon.
Eight explosions took place simultaneously outside Raj Stadium, where senior NC leader and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was attending a mass gathering organised by the party’s trade union. At least 11 people including a policeman were injured in the blast, reports said.
The injured persons have been undergoing treatment at the Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital, Rajbiraj.
Apparently, the explosions were intended to terrorise those participating in the mass meeting.
Altogether 51 suspected of involved in the blast attacks have been arrested.
Even after the blasts, the mass meeting continued inside the stadium. Addressing the programme, Deuba said that bombings and threats would not deter the forthcoming constituent assembly polls.
Security has been massively beefed up in Rajbiraj after the blasts.
On Saturday, an armed outfit called Madhesi Mukti Tigers had detonated a bomb in Inaruwa, Sunsari district, when Deuba was attending a mass meeting organised by the NC there. nepalnews.com mk/ia Feb 03 08
Chairman of Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekta Party Keshav Prasad Mainali said Sunday that large number of Nepali citizenship certificates were “illegally” distributed in Terai region and added that Constituent Assembly (CA) elections would not be possible until the illegal citizenships are scrapped.
Speaking at a programme in the capital Sunday, Mainali not only threatened to boycott the election if the “illegal citizenship certificates” were not invalidated, but also warned of a protest movement against it.
“Large number of citizenship certificates were distributed to foreigners [in Terai], “ Mainali accused, hinting that Indian nationals were the ones who received such citizenship certificates, “Till those citizenship are not invalidated, there can’t be a free and fair election and we don’t also have any intention to take part in such meaningless election.”
A couple of days ago police had arrested Dhirendra Yadav, an Indian national enlisted as one of most-wanted criminals in Bihar state for creating terror among local businessmen with frequent kidnappings including threats and extortions in border districts of eastern Nepal since long. Yadav, who is also being suspected of murdering Agricultural Development Bank’s Rajbiraj branch manager Bikram Prasad Sah, was found to have received Nepali citizenship certificate a year ago from the same district.
From the past many years there have been concerns about Nepali citizenship certificates being easily handed out to large number of Indians, especially criminals like Yadav fleeing the law there on bribe money. But, with the reinstatement of democracy following the fall of the royal regime, the concern has been heightened what with the government being criticized for haphazardly distributing millions of citizenship certificates in Terai without following due procedures.
Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekta Party came into the limelight during the Terai unrest last year when it raised voices against the government’s apathy towards Pahades (people of hilly origin) living in the Chure and the Terai belt who bore the brunt of attacks, especially armed Madhesi outfits demanding citizenship certificates to genuine Madhesis who have been denied the right. nepalnews.com ag Feb 03 08
Days after UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal, Matthew Kahane, was reported to have told an Indian news agency that India’s help in keeping Terai groups under control would be enormously helpful, the UN has tried to play down his comments.
According to the Reuters, the United Nations sought, on Friday, to play down reported remarks by a senior UN official suggesting India should rein in rebel groups in Nepal, saying he did not mean New Delhi controlled them.
The Press Trust of India had, last week, quoted Matthew Kahane, as telling: “Some of these groups that are making life difficult in Terai may have some kind of links in North India…”
“It would be enormously helpful if Indian authorities are able to to keep these people under control,” Kahane was quoted as saying.
The Reuters report adds that a UN statement seeking to “clarify” the remark said: “His comments were not intended to suggest that the Government of India has influence over Nepalese groups that have recently been limiting the steady flow of essential goods into the Terai region of Nepal, such as food.”
“India is an important partner in the region and we appreciate very much the unfailing and long-standing assistance and support that India has provided to the United Nations and, more importantly, to the people of Nepal.”
On Thursday, the world body had said that Kahane “was not speaking on instructions,” adding: “We will see that he sets the record straight upon his return to Kathmandu.”
Moreover, just after Kahane’s comment to PTI, the same news agency had interviewed Home Minister Krishna Sitaula who had said, “The people and the government of India have extended moral and political support to Nepal’s democratic movement in 2006 and Nepal has been receiving decisive help and cooperation from the government of India in her ongoing peace process and elections to the constituent assembly.” nepalnews.com sd Feb 03 08
The central and eastern terai region of Nepal continues to remain hostage to shutdown strike organised by various Madhesi groups to press the government to fulfill their demands.
To mark the end of its second phase of protest programmes organised to pressure the government into implementing the 22-pt deal it reached with MJF last year, United Madhesi Front (UMF), an amalgamation of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) and Rajendra Mahato led Nepal Sadbhawana Party has gone ahead with the two-day Madhes bandh beginning Sunday, crippling life in many terai districts in the process.
On the first day of the bandh, mainly the mid and eastern terai districts of Bara, Parsa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Morang, Sunsari have been affected, causing much agony and distress to people there.
Life has also been adversely affected in urban centers like Biratnagar, Rajbiraj, Janakpur, Birgunj, Kalaiya due to the shutdown strike. In most of these places, reports say, the main market places including factories, offices, educational centers have remained completely shut while vehicles have largely stayed off the road due to fear of reprisal from bandh organisers. Thousands of passengers of long-haul buses are also said to have been left in a lurch in the highways that traverse through the affected districts.
Agitators belonging to Madhes Raksha Bahini (Madhes Defense Brigade), a “youth wing” of NSP, has been staging demonstrations in various parts of Birgunj and other places to make the shutdown strike a success. They are said to be forcibly closing down shops and businesses and stopping vehicles from plying in the road, and turning violent wherever they are met with resistance.
Similarly, reports from Siraha say that MJF cadres vandalised and later torched a passenger bus in Asanpur for operating despite the bandh Sunday morning. They haven’t even allowed small stalls in the highway market to open.
The bandh in the terai districts has caused Nepali Congress to postpone its electoral mass meeting in Biratnagar, on Sunday.
Yesterday, a child was seriously injured in a bomb explosion in Inaruwa of Sunsari district. The blast was carried out by Madhesi Mukti Tigers to disrupt the Nepali Congress electoral mass meet in the district.
The meet later went ahead amidst tight security presence.
In another report, people in eastern hilly districts including Taplejung and Ilam have been reeling under the “Limbuwan” Bandh called by the Federal Limbuwan State Council from the past three days.
The Council has been struggling for an autonomous state of “Limbuwan” comprising of number of eastern hilly districts including aforesaid two where ethnic Limbus form the majority.
Dhankuta, Ilam, Jhapa including other eastern Nepal districts are reported to be badly affected due to the shutdown strike.
Protesting the arrest of three of its cadres by police for illegally collecting taxes in Mechi highway some days ago, the Council had at first disrupted vehicular traffic in Mechi highway.
Meanwhile back in the capital, public transport operators withdrew the strike they had called Sunday onwards in Kathmandu valley following a commitment from the government during a meeting with Nepal Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs to ensure smooth supply of petroleum products from Wednesday. nepalnews.com ag Feb 03 08
More than 7,000 people in the far-western town of Mahendranagar turned up on Friday and Saturday for the photo exhibition ‘A People War’.
Visitors at A People War photo exhibiton in Mahendranagar.
The exhibition tour arrived in Kanchanpur after traversing Nepal from east to west with 70 photographs from nepa-laya’s picture book, ‘A People War’. The book is a collection of images by 75 photographers from Nepal and abroad.
The tour is currently on its third phase, which will also take it to Dadeldhura, Surkhet, Ghorahi(Dang), Syangja, Baglung, Beni, Besisahar, Gorkha and Kathmandu throughout February.
As elsewhere, citizens of Kanchanpur showed up in overwhelming numbers and looked visibly moved after seeing the photographs.
“Why are you showing us these pictures?” asked one visitor from Bajura, “show them to Gyanendra, Girija and Prachanda.”
Others said Nepal had seen enough of conflict and brutality depicted in the pictures. “The current violence in the eastern tarai is proof that violence doesn’t solve anything but makes the situation worse,” said another visitor. nepalnews.com Feb 03 08
CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda
Maoist chairman Prachanda has ruled out the possibility of mobilising army to ensure security during election.
Talking to journalists in Dang, Sunday morning, Prachanda said deployment of army would affect the peace process. He said it would be foolish to even try that move.
He said that the problem of Terai should be resolved politically and added that army deployment could fan the fire of revolt there.
He also stressed on the imperative of holding Constituent Assembly (CA) election.
He said that the Maoists would have to capture power to hold the election if the current government fails to hold it. nepalnews.com sd Feb 03 08