Activists of the United Madheshi Front (UMF) have as per the party’s previously scheduled protest programme padlocked administrative offices in various Terai districts Friday.
The Front, which was recently formed by Upendra Yadav’s Madheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) and Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhawana Party, padlocked more than a dozen District Administration Offices including Dhanusha, Siraha and Saptari in Terai region as part of its second phase of protest to apply pressure on the government to implement the 22-point deal it had reached with MJF on August 30, 2007.
The UMF’s second phase of protest will continue till February 3.
While forcibly locking down the government offices, the UMF activists also clashed with the security personnel in various districts resulting in a number of its party’s activists being injured.
Reports from Rajbiraj say that some half a dozen agitators were injured when police used force to bar them from shutting down the district’s administration office while Chief District Officer of Dhanusha Ram Sharan Chimuriya has said that they would defy the Front’s warnings and continue providing service to the general people.
Meanwhile, reports say the Front and Mahantha-Thakur led Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party (TMLP) have forged a working alliance to push the Madhes agitation. The decision was taken at a meeting held recently between the two parties in Kathmandu after the Front agreed to the 11-ponit demand put forth by TMLP. nepalnews.com ag Feb 01 08
Senior UN human rights officials visited Kapilvastu on Friday to assess first hand the works being done to address the causes and impact of the deadly riots there in September 2007.
Visiting Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang and OHCHR-Nepal Representative Richard Bennett interacted with people from different sectors in Kapilvastu and took stock of the situation there.
Saying that there have been encouraging local initiatives, apart from investigations by a special inquiry commission and the appointment of a chief district officer from the Terai region, to bring together communities divided by the violence, OHCHR said there is a need for further government action to address underlying causes of the violence, including tensions related to land and social exclusion, impunity for violence related to the decade-long conflict, as well as for more recent violence, and inadequate measures to provide security.
“All sectors should work together to find common solutions to grievances in a non-violent way and in the spirit of the peace process,” said OHCHR-Nepal Representative Richard Bennett.
The murder of local political leader Mohit Khan on 16 September had triggered five days of relentless violence that gripped Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and Dang districts. The worst violence took place in Kapilvastu where 14 people were killed, at least nine injured and several thousands displaced. nepalnews.com mk Feb 01 08
US ambassador to Nepal Nancy J. Powell has discussed the current political situation in Nepal with senior officials of India’s External Affairs Ministry.
US ambassador to Nepal Nancy J Powell.
Powell met the External Affairs Ministry officials on Wednesday and Thursday to understand India’s position on the situation in Nepal as well as to ‘synchronise’ the response of the US and India to the developments here, reports said.
The US envoy also interacted with border management division officials of the India’s Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday. The uneasy situation in the Terai region came also up for discussion, The Hindu daily reported.
The forthcoming constituent assembly election in Nepal and activities of the Maoist youth wing, the Young Communist League (YCL), also figured during the meetings.
The daily also quoted diplomatic sources as describing the US ambassador’s visit as “routine but significant”. nepalnews.com mk Feb 01 08
The vehicular strike called by a faction of Federal Limbuwan State Council along the Mechi Highway in eastern hills has hit the normal life in some eastern districts on Friday.
The cadres of the council pelted stones at a passenger bus heading towards Jhapa district Thursday evening and vandalized five vehicles at Charali of the same on Friday morning.
The council called strike along the highway after the police arrested two of its cadres – Ganesh Angdembe and Kiran Fago – from Ilam on Thursday while collecting tax illegally from transporters and businessmen.
Public transport in Ilam, Pachthar and Fidim has come to halt. The effect of the bandh is seen in Jhapa district as well. Mechi highway connects Jhapa with eastern hilly districts.
The council cadres pelted stones at a passenger bus heading towards Jhapa on Thursday evening.
The council said the strike would continue until its cadres are released immediately and unconditionally. nepalnews.com ia Feb 01 08
Saying that the Kulekhani II power-plant needed complete overhauling, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is set to make consumers face 46 hours of load-shedding a week from Friday. According to NEA, consumers would now have to face 8 hours of power cuts for three days a week and 7 1/2 hours of power cuts for the next three.
Till Thursday, consumers had been facing 36 hours of load-shedding six days of a week in 4 different times with 3 hours of powers cuts two times a day.
NEA officials say they were forced to increase load-shedding hours after Kulekhani II stopped supplying 3 hundred thousand units of electricity from Friday following the start of repair works there.
According to NEA, consumers would have to face 3 1/2 hours of load-shedding in the evening and 4 hours during the day. Like before consumers won’t have to face any power cuts one day a week.
NEA has said that it may take at least two weeks for it to fix the turbine of Kulekhani II that has been in need of repairs since 10 months ago. nepalnews.com ag Feb 01 08
Two Finnish forensic experts are visiting Nepal early February to investigate suspected burial or cremation site of civilians who disappeared during the decade-long Maoist insurgency, news reports said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had in December found a site with half-burnt logs, partially buried pieces of clothes and plastic bags on a forested slope in the army-protected Shivapuri National Park at the outskirts of Kathmandu.
The Finnish government is sending Professors Helena Ranta of the University of Helsinki and Pekka Saukko from the University of Turku on Feb. 4 to Shivapuri for two weeks to carry out preliminary investigations on the request of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Reuters news agency said.
A team of Nepali experts led by Dr Harihar Wasti has been carrying out an investigation at the site since December 19. nepalnews.com ag Feb 01 08
Even before forming the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and a Commission to probe Disappeared persons, the government has inserted provisions in the respective draft acts, thereby effectively making them toothless, says a report.
Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports that the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry has given final touches to these draft acts, which could be introduced as an ordinance since the parliament is not sitting currently.
The daily adds that since responsible political leaders, high-level officials, and army officials could be implicated for war crimes and crimes related with forced disappearances, the Ministry has inserted provisions to provide them with amnesty.
A senior official at the Ministry, however, said that the government wanted to promote reconciliation. “The respective commissions themselves will probe who is guilty and who is not,” said Shyam Sundar Sharma, spokesperson of the Ministry.
On the other hand, rights activist Dr. Gopal Krishna Shiwakoti smells a rat in the whole process. He questions the intention of introducing such important legislations in the form of ordinance. This, he said, could further the culture of impunity. nepalnews.com sd Feb 01 08\
The Finance Ministry has handed over Rs One billion to the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) on Thursday.
The money was made available to NOC to pay to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
The government had earlier promised NOC of the amount after it was forced to roll back the hike in fuel price.
The NOC, which still has outstanding dues worth Rs 2 billion with IOC, paid the money to IOC on Thursday itself.
“Now we will bring 4000 kiloliters of petroleum products per day,” said NOC executive director Digambar Jha. On average, Nepal’s daily fuel demand lies at around 3300 kiloliters.
In recent days, the acute scarcity of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas have hit the consumers. nepalnews.com sd Feb 01 08
After the taskforce led by Local Development Minister and senior Maoist leader Dev Gurung was unable to resolve the issue of forming local bodies, Friday, they have decided to forward the issue to top leadership.
The meeting of the taskforce, which includes representatives from seven parties, could not reach to any consensus after the Nepali Congress (NC) and Maoists could not be convinced with Unified Marxist Leninist (UML’s) argument for restoring the local bodies as per the previous election result.
In the 1997 local election, the UML had garnered around two-third majority.
Dev Gurung
A senior Maoist leader Dev Gurung
Minister Dev Gurung has said that the issue will now be discussed by the top leadership of the seven parties.
Since the previous local bodies’ tenure expired, a new election has not been held. Successive governments have played with installing bureaucrats or nominating local leadership to head the 58 municipalities, 75 District Development Committees (DDCs) and 3913 Village Development Committees (VDCs).
In recent times, the government-appointed VDC secretaries have also demanded that the political mechanism be appointed to lead the local bodies.
The VDC secretaries have been launching agitations demanding security and installment of local bodies. nepalnews.com sd Feb 01 08
King Gyanendra is reported to have said that he has remained silent to let the peace process succeed.
In a chat with Hari Lamsal, Editor of Rastra Bani weekly, which was published on Wednesday’s edition of the weekly, King Gyanendra is quoted as saying that he remained silent to make the peace process successful.
Nepali people themselves should speak out on where the nation is heading, on the direction it is taking and on why it is becoming chaotic, the King is reported to have said.
King Gyanendra has also refuted that monarchy has ever sought power.
When asked why he did not speak out till now, the King said, “Silence is also (an) action.”
In the weekly’s report, which has been published at a time when the interim parliament has amended the interim constitution declaring Nepal a federal republic, subject to endorsement by Constituent Assembly, the King has said that the monarchy predates the unification of Nepal itself.
He asked, where would we be today had the nation-builder Prithvi Narayan Shah not unified Nepal?
King Gyanendra also said Nepal has such a large heart where every Nepali can find shelter.
He also recalled his February 1, 2005 move – which prompted political parties to unite with the Maoists that ultimately forced the King to step down. He accepted that his move turned out to be a failure.
Stating that the monarchy should never involve in politics, the King pointed out the need to strengthen relations between monarchy and democracy.
Editor Lamsal has said that he met with the King last Friday at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace. Although it was not a formal interview, Lamsal said, he took permission to publish the King’s views at the end of his audience. nepalnews.com sd Jan 31 08