आफ्नै कुरा

हामी, नारी र फेसबूक

2012-01-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

पहिले पहिले (भर्खर भर्खर ईन्टरनेट चलाऊनसिक्दा) याहू च्याट रूममा मान्छे खोजी खोजी च्याट गरिन्थ्यो । चिनेको कोहीअनलाइनमा भेट्टाइयो भने त देउतै भेटेझैं हुन्थ्यो र झन् लामै गफ हनिन्थ्यो ।कतिपल्ट त नजिकैको कम्प्युटरमा बसेको साथी सँग पनि च्याट मै कुरा गरिन्थ्यो ।"ओेइ! मेरो मेसेज आयो ? हेरत !" " खै मुला आएन यार,फेरी पठा त । " यस्तो थियो हाम्रो फकेबूक पूर्वार्धताकाकोजालसंचार ।

फेसबूक आएपछीको समयमा त हामी यति ब्यस्त भयौंकि हाम्रो जीवनशैलीमै बदलाव आयो । 'हाम्रादाई, अंकलहरु बिहानउठ्ने बित्तिकै मुख धुन्थे रे ! हाउ फन्नी, इज नट इट ? ' आजभोलीका युवायुवतीले भन्न चै भनीनसकेका तर ब्यवहारबाट त्यसै साबित गर्दै आएको कुराहो यो ।

अब हामी खुलेर साथी बनाउन थाल्यौं - याहू, हटमेल, जिमेलमा हैन नि फेरी । फेसबूकमा । एउटा अघोषित प्रतिस्पर्धा नै चल्योफेसबूकमा कस्को साथी धेरै भनेर । हामीले कक्ष।का साथी बटुल्यौँ, कलेजमा चिनेजानेका लाई बटुल्यौँ, गाउँघरका लाई पनि बटुल्यौँ, साथीका गर्लफ्रेण्डहरु बटुल्यौँ, आफ्नै गर्ल्फ्रेण्डहरु चै बटुल्न हल्कागाह्रो भयो । तर पनि जे होस् ,धेरैसाथीहरु र उल्लेख्य रुपमा तरुनीहरु बटुल्यौँ ।

साथी भाई थप्दै जाने क्रम बढ्दै जाँदा हाम्रोएकअर्काबिच कुराकानी कम र चियोचर्चो गर्ने क्रमले तिब्रता लियो । अझ हाँसउठ्दोकुरो त के भने हामी तिनै साथीको बारेमा खोजतलास गर्छौ जो अनलाइन मै हुन्छ तर हामीकुरा गर्दैनौ । यसमा हामीलाई 'अफलाइन' भन्ने कुरोले दरो साथ दे'को पनि छ । हामी घण्टौं फेसबूक चलाउछौंतर 'अफलाइन' बसेर । हामी टुलुटुलु अनलाइन देखाइयका साथीहरु लाईहेर्छौ र बेवस्ता गर्छौ - बाटोमा हिँड्दा सामुन्ने परेका अपरिचित मान्छे झैं ।

तर पख्नुस् ! कुरो यत्तिकैमा सकिन्न नि फेरी ।जब त्यो 'अनलाइन' देखाइएका मान्छेहरु ( अब आएर म यहाँ 'साथी'लाईमान्छे भन्न रुचाउछु )को सुचीमा 'केटी' देखा पर्छिन नि , तबउसको साथीत्व हरियो भएर आउछ । आईमाईजातीको फेसबूक प्रयोगमा म अनविग्य भएकोले लिङगतबिभेदमा माफि चाहन्छु । अब तपाईं भन्नुहोला -" साले! आँफै त्यस्तो गर्दो होलाअनी जे पायो तेही लेख्छ" भनेर । मेरो प्रस्टीकरण : म पहिले आफुलाई हेर्छु अनीसमाजलाई हेर्छु ।

"मान्छेहरुको 'प्राइभेसी' भन्ने कुरा पनि त हुन्छ नि । "भन्नु होला । म स्विकार्छु । तर नयाँ लुगा लगायो फोटो खिचेर हालेकै छ, आधा लुगा लगायो त्यो पनि फोटो खिचेरहालेकै छ । अनी अब 'प्राइभेसी' भनेको के हो आँफै भन्नु होला । केमान्छेहरु आईमाईजाती झै गोप्य रुपमा नग्नता नै चाहन्छन् त ? 'प्राइभेट्ली' 'पब्लिक' हुन चाहेका हुन् त ?उनी फेसबूकमा खासै केही लेख्दीनन् तर कमेन्ट भने धेरै चाहन्छिन।

आजभोली फेरी फकेबूकमा साथीहरुसँग भेटघाट कम हुनथालेको छ । त्यसैले होला आजभोली फेरी साथीभाइ अनलाइनमा भेट्दा देउतै भेटे झैंहुन्छ ।

तिम्रो छायाँ

2011-11-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

म उभिँदा दुइओटा छायाँ बने -एउटा बिजुली बत्तीले बनाएको र अर्को आकाशमा उदाएको चन्द्रमाले बनाएको । तर दुबैले बनाएको छायाँमा भने निक्कै अन्तर छ । बत्तीले बनाएको छायाँ अली फिक्का छ भने चन्द्रमाले बनाएको छायाँ गाढा छ । मलाई लाग्यो बत्तीहरु त मेरा नजिक नै हुन्छन टाढा होओस त प्रभाब घट्दै जान्छ । तर चन्द्रमा जती टाढा नै किन नहोस् त्यसको छायाँको गाढापनमा कत्ती फरक पर्दैन । म तिमीलाई चन्द्रमा भन्न सक्छु र तिनीहरु, जो आजभोली मेरा नजिक छन्, ति बत्तीहरु मात्र हुन् । म चन्द्रमा हेर्छु तिमी सम्झन्छु । ति बत्तीहरु मेरा नजिकै छन् र पनि मलाई तिनिहरुप्रती कुनै आशक्ती छैन । तिमी टाढा छौ र पनि तिम्रो याद उतीनै गाढा हुँदै गैरहेछ ।
Image source: http://gregfreedman.ca/Moon_Shadow.html

एउटा हुकुम गर

2011-10-31T04:31:00.000-07:00

तिमी आयौ, जान्छौ था'थ्यो, जाँदैनौ कि लाग्यो ।
नजाउ भनें, तिमी गयौ, फेरी किन दु:ख लाग्यो ?
माया गर्थ्यौ, मैले गरें , संसार रमाइलो भो ।
तिमी बोल्थ्यौ, भाव सट्थ्यौ, साथ राम्रो भो ।

दिन थिए, तिमी रुन्थ्यौ, मलाई सम्झाउथ्यौ ।
मैले सुन्थें, आसुँ झर्थ्यो, तिमीले पुछ्ने गर्थ्यौ।
आज सुन्छु, तिमी रोयौ, कसैले तिमीलाई देख्यो ।
साथ दियो , तिमी हाँस्यौ, मलाई बात लाग्यो ।

म भइंन, तिमी रिसायौ, बिछोड सुरु भयो ।
सानो घर थियो, न्यानो थियो, हुरी आइ उढाइ लाग्यो ।
बसमा छु, अरु छैन, तिमीलाई माया गर्छु ।
तिमी कुर्छु , आउनु पर्छ, तिमी सँग माफी माग्छु ।
म स्विकार्छु, तिमीले सम्झायथ्यौ, मैले कतै मानिन ।
आज गर, एउटा हुकुम गर, जीवन भर छोड्ने छैन
बात केही नलागोस्, हे ईश्वर ! गरुँ बरु म के ?
अध्यरै रहन्छ, उज्ज्यालो हुन्न, बरु मरुँ म के ?

रचनाकाल : २०६२ असार ८ गते राती १०: ०८ बजे

केही कुरा सीपी चौरका

2011-10-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

के

ही दिनपछी आगो खरानी बन्ला कि भनेर हप्तादिन वितीञ्जेलसम्म पनि म घोत्लेको घर गइँन । स्थिती झन् बिग्रिएको छ र सबै दोष मै माथि लगाइएको छ भन्ने सुनेर म उसकै अनुरोधमा उसको घर पुगें । त्यसो त परिस्थितीवश दिनुपर्ने उत्तरहरु, तीनको विश्लेषण, मुल्याङ्कन एवं आलोचनाहरु शुत्रेसँग सि पि चौरमै भैसकेको हुनाले निर्धक्क म ढोका भित्र पसें ।

मुटुको तेज भित्रैदेखी बढीरहेको अनुभुती भैरहेको थियो । होस गुमाउनु मानवतालाई त्याग्नु सम्झने म सरासर भित्र पसे । आन्टी खाना बनाउन व्यस्थ हुनुहुन्थ्यो भने अंकल नजिकको आटमा बसेर चिया खाइरहनु भएको थियो । म केही बोलिन । ढोकामा उभिएर हेरीरहें ।

- "ओहो ! निक्कै पछी दर्शन पाइयो नि । के छ ?" आन्टीको अपेक्ष्याक्रित प्रश्न म माथि तेर्सियो ।

- "अँ , ठिकै छ । " उहाँको प्रश्नले मलाई उत्तर दिनमात्र नभै टुल तानेर थ्याच्च बस्न समेत साहस प्रदान गर्‍यो ।

- "चिया खान्छौ ?"

- " हैन । भर्खर मात्रै खाएको । "

- " त्यसो भए लौ चुरोट नै खाउ न त , सत्कार त गर्नै पर्‍यो नि हैन र ? " पसलको पैसा राख्ने कन्तुरबाट एक खिल्ली याक चुरोट झिक्दै भन्नु भयो । मैले योजनामुताविक उत्तर दिए - "हो तर मलाई अहिले खान मन छैन । "

सबै गुनासो सुन्छु र आफ्नो पनि बिचार राखेर आउँछु । लौरो, लात्ती , डाढु, पन्युँ आदिको पर्वाह गर्दिन भन्ने मानसिकता बनाएर गएको मलाई आन्टीको - "के भन्न आयौ भन त , के वाल्ल परेर बस्छौ ?" भन्ने प्रश्नले झन् जटिलतातर्फ धकेल्यो । ङिंच्च दाँत देखाउने अवसर मैले गुमाइँन । धेरै दिन भएको थियो, मैले आफ्नो दाँत ङिंच्च पारेर देखाउन नपाएको । मैले भने -" केही छैन । "

वातावरण एकछिन मौन रह्यो । सडकमा गाडीहरुको आउजाउ भैरहेको थियो । पानी परेर मात्र नत्र अगाडिको बाटोबाट उड्ने धुलोले घर भित्रको मान्छे भुतजस्तो भैसक्थ्यो । घर अगाडिको चिल्ड्रेन पार्कको ढोकामा केटाकेटीहरु चहै चहै गर्दै पिङ खेलीरहेका थिए । प्रेसर कूकरको सिट्ठीले म झस्किए । -"किन टोलाएको ?" आन्टीले सोध्नु भयो ।

-"त्यसै, केही हैन ।" मैले भनें ।

-"तरकारी खान्छौ ?"

-"के को तरकारी ?"

-"केराउको"

-"खाईहालौ न । "

मुखबाट फुत्त सहमतीको वाक्य झर्यो । मैले पहिले बहिरबाटै कहिले थर्कौउदै त कहिले दङग्यौदै भित्र पसेर प्लेट र चम्चा बजाउँदै तरकारी मागेको दृश्य मेरो आँखा अगाडि नाच्न थाले । समान्यमै म गम्भिर बन्न थालिसकेको थिएँ ।

उहाँले बिचमै झ्वाट्टै प्रश्न तेर्स्यौउनु भयो - " नढाँटिकन भन त, के तिमी पनि चुरोट खान्छौ ? " मैले म खाँदिन भन्दिन भनेर सोचिसकेकोले त्यही भनेँ । सबैकुरा सोचेअनुरुप नै भै'रहेको थियो । तर उहाँहरुले सोचेअनुरुप हामी बन्न सकेनौं । मलाई मन पोल्न थाल्यो ।

-" कति भयो ? "

-" भयो ४ - ५ महिना जती । "

-" नयाँ कलेज भर्ना भएदेखी ?"

-" अँ, त्यस्तै भयो । "

-" मैले त भनेकै थिए नि तिमीलाई " आन्टीले अंकलको मुख हेरेर भन्नुभयो -" यिनीहरुले नयाँ क्याम्पस पढ्न थालेपछी खान सुरु गरेका हुन् भनेर त, त्यो क्याम्पस साह्रै खत्तम रहेछ । "

-" पहिलेको क्याम्पसमा त खाँदैनथ्यौ होला नि हैन ?" पुन: एक पटक मलाई हेर्दै भन्नुभयो ।

-" अँ खाँदैनथ्यौ । " मलाई उत्तर दिन सजिलो भयो । "

-"अनी घोत्लेले त सात बर्ष भैसक्यो भन्छ त ?"

-"खै , त्यसले जे पनि भन्छ । अहिले त्यो जे पनि बोल्छ । त्यसलाई नै थाहा छैन होला कि त्यसले के बोल्यो भनेर । "

मैले घोत्लेको सामान्य बर्तमान मनसिक दुर्बलताको हल्का फाईदा उठाउने मौका पाएँ । जे होस् ता पनि उसैको भलाईमा उसैको असद्देताको सहारा लिनुमा मलाई दु:ख लगेन ।

-"त्यसैले त त्यो अस्ती म सँग त्यसै जङ्गीएको रहेछ त । 'के तपाईंले हाम्रो सात बर्षे मित्रता चुरोटको निहुमा छुटाउन खोज्नुभएको' पो भन्छ बा । अरुको छोराछोरी भए मलाई के मतलब तर तिमीहरु मलाई मेरै छोराहरुजस्तो लाग्छ र त सम्झाउछु र परेको बेलामा कुट्छु पनि । तिम्रो बुवाममीले पनि मेरो छोरालाई आफ्नै जस्तो ब्वहार गर्छन् । पाप सोच्न मिल्दैन । मान्छेले मर्नु पनि पर्छ । "

आन्टीले आफ्नो असन्तुष्टी ब्यक्त गर्नुभयो । त्यतिकैमा अंकलले थप्नुभयो -" म पनि तिमीहरुको मित्रताको कदर गर्छु । तर तिमीहरु स्वम ले पनि आफ्नो मित्रताको कदर गर्नुपर्छ । अरुलाई औंला उठाउने मौका दिनुहुन्न । मलाई थाहा थियो त्यसको बोलिमा सत्यता छैन भनेर । जे सोधेपनी सिधा र ठीक जवाफ कहिल्यै दिदैन । त्यसैले बरु तिमी नै एकपटक उसलाई सम्झाइदेउ न । "

आन्टीको यस्तो आग्रहले म अचम्म मात्र परिन, स्वम आफ्नो कानलाई समेत विश्वास गर्न गाह्रो पर्‍यो । आज म झगडा नै गर्नु परे पनि पछी पर्दिन भनेर गएको थिए । यदी अंकल आन्टीले हाम्रो मित्रतालाई तौलियर बोल्नुभएको खण्डमा म ठुलै च्यलेन्ज दिन्छु र त्यही प्रमणित गरेर फर्कन्छु भन्ने अठोट बोकेर गएको म , एकाएक मैन सरह पग्लन पो थाले । मलाई अझै पनि यात्रो विश्वास ? मैले भगवानलाई साधुबाद दिन करै लाग्यो ।

-" अनी तिमीहरु साथी भएर पनि त्यसलाई सम्झाउन सकेनौ त ?" आन्टीले त्यहा मलाई दोहोरो प्रश्न गरीरहनु भएको मैले प्रस्ट बुझे र चलाख भएर उत्तर दिए -"शुत्रे हामीबाट अली टाढा छ, तपाईंहरुलाई थाहै छ, उ एकदम ब्यस्त छ । " मेरो कुरै सकिन नपाउदै आन्टी विचमा मलाई सहमती जनाउदै भन्नुभयो -" विचरालाई खानेमुत्ने समेत फुर्सद छैन । " अनी म फेरी भन्दै गए -" उसलाई घोत्लेले चुरोट खान्छ खाँदैन नै राम्ररी थाहा छैन, अनी म म भै हाले । आँफै खान्छु । उसलाई कुन मुखले सम्झाउनु ?"

" अनी तिमीहरु बिग्रिदैनौ भन्थ्यौ त ?" कटाक्ष्यस्वरुप प्रश्नका बाढीहरु आउन थाले । "किन खायौ? टेन्सन परेर कि ट्राइजेडी परेर ?"

यस्ता सहज प्रश्नका सहज उत्तर दिएर म सहज रुपले पन्छिन चाहन्नथे । मैले घुमाउरो पाराले भन्दै गए -" मान्छेले टेन्सन परेकोले चुरोट खाएको भन्नु बाहना मात्र हो, त्यसमा मलाई अलिकती पनि सत्यता छ जस्तो लाग्दैन ।" फेरी विचमै आन्टीले पुन: सहमती स्वरुप थप्नुभयो -"त्यसो भए त म अहिल्यै एक बट्टा चुरोट खाइदिन्थे, निको हुने भएदेखी त ।" ममा बल थपीदै जान थाल्यो । म भन्दै गए -" ट्राइजेडी हाम्रो सम्भव छैन, किनकी लव नै परेको छैन । "

यसपालीको कुरामा भने उहाहरु एकछिन भएपनी मन खोलेर हास्नुभयो । धेरै दिन भएको थियो, त्यो घरमा हाँसो नछाएको । अन्ध्यारो, चिसो एवम निरासिलो घर एकाएक उज्यालो हुँदैगैरहेको थियो । तर पनि पूर्ण उज्यालो तवमात्र छ, जबसम्म उहाहरुको मनको बादल हटेर जानेछ । ढिलो चाडो तर अवस्य ति दिन आउने छन ।

-"वास्तवमा अहिले हामीलाई के भएको छ, स्वम हामीलाई नै थाहा छैन ।”म वास्तविकताको नजिकमा रहेर भन्दै गए -" हामीलाई अहिले काल आएको हो अरु केही होइन ।"

अंकलले मेरो भनाइलाई बल पुर्याउदै भन्नुभयो -" घोत्लेको चिना देखाउँदा ज्योतिषले यसलाई ग्रह लागेको छ, जे पनि हुन सक्छ भनेको हुँदा म चुप लागेर बसेको हुँ, नत्र । " अस्पस्ट तर भयानक आक्रोश उहाँको आँखामा झल्किरहेको थियो । त्यहा हाम्रो लहडमा भएको गल्तीलाई अर्कै हिसाबले हेरिएको मैले पाएँ । जे होस् अझै केही बिग्रिएको रहेनछ । म ढुक्क र शान्त हुँदै गएँ ।

"केटीसेटीको चक्करले हो भने भनीहाल, ल्याइहाल्नुपर्‍यो " आन्टीले अझै ठट्टा गर्न छोड्नुभएको थिएन । हल्का हाँसोले मलाई "ल्याउन त हुन्थ्यो तर अर्कैकी परि, आउन नमान्ली कि" भन्न साहस दिलायो ।

अब घरमा हाँसो असामान्य लाग्न थालेन ।

घोत्लेले बाहिरबाट चिहाएको मैले भित्रबाट स्पस्ट देखें । उसलाई म बाट ठुलो आश छ र डर पनि कतै कुरा बिगार्लाकी भनेर । मैले उसलाई जीवनमा पहिलोपल्ट दयाले हेरें ।

शुत्रे र घोत्लेमा म कसैको गल्ती देख्दिन । गल्ती समय र परिस्थितीको हो । शुत्रेले आज पठाएको चिट्ठीमा पनि त्यही भनेको छ । अहिले उ टाढा छ तर छिट्टै आउँदै छ भन्ने मलाई पूर्ण विश्वाश छ ।

म आफु पनि सनकी मान्छे । बिचरी फुच्चूको पनि केही दोष थिएन तर पनि उ सँग त्यसै खनिएँ । मैले यसबारे पछी उ सँग कुरापनी गरें । अहिले कुरा स्पस्ट भैसकेको छ । उ हाम्रो जती नजिक छे र हामी उसको जती नजिक छौ हाम्रो घरपरिवार बाट उ र उसको घरपरिवारबाट हामी त्यती नि टाढा छौ । उ सँग दु:ख पोखेर मन हलुका पार्नुबाहेक तत्काल उसबाट यस मामलामा केही सहयोग पाउन सक्दैनौं । यो हामी सबैलाई राम्ररी थाहा छ ।

कुरालाई सकभर छिट्टै बिट मार्न म आफ्नै कुरा भन्दै गएं -" चुरोट पिउनु हुन्न हामीलाई राम्ररी थाहा छ। यसले कस्तो कस्तो रोगहरु लाग्छ त्यो पनि हामीलाई थाहा छ । र साथीभाइको संगतमा लागेर खाने हाम्रो उमेर पनि गैसक्यो । के राम्रो के नराम्रो छुट्ट्याउन सक्ने पनि भैसक्यौ । " आन्टीले आँखा पिलिक्क झिम्क्याउदै बिचमै हाँस्दै भन्नुभयो -" कुरा त यसले असाध्यै जानेको छ । " मैले आफुलाई रोक्न चाहिन र सायदै सत्त्य कुरा भनें -" तर पनि आन्टी कहिलेकाही यस्तो दिन पनि आउदो रहेछ, सब थाहा हुँदाहुँदै पनि सम्हालिन नसकिने रहेछ । अहिले हामीलाई त्यही भएको हो, अर्थोक केही होइन ।

मैले हाम्रो वास्तविक समस्या जस्ताको तस्तै राखें । अंकल आफ्ना पहिलेका दिनहरु भन्न थाल्नुभयो । म उहाको छेवैमा गएर टुसुक्क बसें । अब चैं बुढाले मर्दैनन् भन्ने विश्वाश पलायर आयो । बुढाले अघीपछी राजनीतिका कुराहरु गर्दा सुन्न बसेंझैं गालामा हात लगाएर म सुन्दै गएं । उहाले भन्दै जानु भयो -" तिमीहरुको उमेर मैले पनि पार गरेरै आएको हो । यो उमेरमा सबैलाई यस्तै पर्छ । मलाई पनि 'ला एक सर्को त हो नि , तान् न तान्, मज्जा आउँछ ' भन्ने धेरै थिए । मैले पनि तिमीहरुको उमेरमा एक दुइ सर्को नतानेको होइन ।" मैले सुसुक्क हासेर आन्टीको मुखमा हेरें । एक्कासी बुढाले के सम्झेछन् कुन्नी आन्टीतर्फ जंगीगै भन्न भन्न थाल्नुभयो -" यसले त झन् ७ -८ बर्षमै स्कूल पढ्न जाँदा पुलमुनी बसेर चुरोट खान्थी , तिमीहरुले त भर्खर र छ । " हाँसोले एक छिन घर 'जिरे खुर्सानी' हेरेझैं भयो ।

बुढाको हरेक गफमा राजनीति घुसेकै हुन्छ । बुढासँग कुरा गर्न जानु पहिले आधाजसो राजनीति त जानेकै हुनुपर्छ । उहाँले अगाडि भन्दै जानु भयो -" तर हाम्रो त तिमीहरुको समय धेरै फरक छ । तिमीहरु पढेलेखेका छौ, भोली देश तिमीहरुकै काधमा आइपुग्छ । त्यसैले यस्ता झिनामसिना मोजमस्ती र कुलतमा लागेर आफ्नो भविष्य बिगार्नु हुँदैन । "

"शुत्रेले भनेको कुर ठिकै हो, चुरोट खानै नहुने भए त बन्ने नै थ थिएन नि । तिमीहरुले अहिले नखाएपनी पछी खान सक्छौ । त्यसबेला समय परिस्थिती अर्कै बन्न सक्छ । आँफै कमाउन सक्छौ, ब्वहारहरु बुझ्दै जान्छौ । तर अहिले नै छोरा टाइसर्ट लगाएर किताब च्यापेर क्याम्पस पढ्न जान्छ भन्ने आशमा बसेका हामी जस्ता बाबुआमाले अकाबिहानै सडकमा खुलेआम क्याम्पसड्रेसमै चुरोट तान्दै हिँडेको कसरी हेर्न सक्छन् ? मैले त्यतीनै खेर घोत्लेलाई बजाइदिन खोजेको थिएँ तर ठुलो भएको छोरालाई के हात हाल्नु भनेर छोडिदिए ।" उहाँको मन अमिलो भैसकेको थियो । म एकोहोरो सुनी बसें ।

"समाजमा हामीले कमाएको इज्जत छोराछोरीले बुझ्नु पर्छ । भोली समाज उसको हातमा हुँदा परिस्थिती अर्कै बन्ला, त्यो बेग्लै कुरा हो । बाबु,शत्रु खोज्न धेर टाढा जानु पर्दैन , छिमेकमै छन् । भोली आउँला उठाउछन । फलनाको छोरा यस्तो , उस्तो भनी नानाथरी भन्छन । यति सम्मकी भोली छोरालाई केटी खोज्न जाँदा 'यसले त चुरोट खान्छ, के छोरी दिनु' भन्छन् । यस्ता कुरा खै तिमीहरुले बुझेको ? तिमी हरुले आफ्नो कर्तब्य भुल्नु भनेको शत्रु बलियो हुनु हो । छोराले मोजमस्ती गरोस् कसका बाबुआमाले नचाहलान् तर हामी भन्दा ठुलो समाज छ , मुल्य र मन्यताहरु छन् ।"

"यी मोराहरुसँग पनि के आदर्शका कुरा गरेको भन्या तिमीले पनि ? टेढपुच्छर ला'उने हैनन् भोली ।" भान्छाकोठाबाट अंकलको बिचारमा सधैंझै आन्टीको बिरोध यता कोठासम्म आइपुग्यो । " अनी अचेलभरी यो किन दुब्लाउदै ग'को त ? कि गाँजा पनि तान्छ ?" मैले प्रतिप्रश्न गरें -"खै, घोत्ले त अचेल म मोटाउदै ग'को छु भन्छ त ? "

"अनी तिमीहरु बेलुका बेलुका सधैं किन हराउछौ त ? " अब भने जटिल प्रश्न त्यर्सियो ।

"शुत्रेलाई प्राय: दिउसो भेट हुन्न, बेलुका आइपुग्छ। अनी यसो बाहिर तिर घुम्न गइन्छ । त्यत्ती हो । " मैले सतही जवाफ दिएँ ।

अंकल फेरी अगाडि भन्दैजानु भयो -" तिमीहरु विहान मर्निङ वाक गर्न नभ्याउने मान्छे साँझतिर घुम्न निस्कनु राम्रो हुन्छ । साथीभाइ भेट्घाट गर्नु, चिया खानु रमाइलो नै हुन्छ । हामी तिमीहरुको हरेक कृयाकलापलाई सकारात्मकरुपले हेर्छौ । तर हाम्रो विश्वाशको तिमीहरुले अनुचित फाईदा लिनु चाँही भएन । मलाई घोत्लेको अरु कुनै कुरामा गुनासो छैन । खानमा जे भए पनि सन्तोषी छ । काम जे जस्तो भन्यो छी , नाइ नास्ती , केही भन्दैन । घरको काम सब उसैले गर्छ । पढ्न पनि पढेकै छ । मामाघर तिर पनि उ 'राम्रो केटो'ले चिनिन्छ । हामी हाम्रो छोराहरुमा कुनै कमजोरी नहोस् भन्ने चाहन्छौ । तर मलाई एउटै कुरामा चित्त दुखेको छ , र त्यो हो - त्यसले चुरोट खाँदो रहेछ । "

कुर फेरी चुरोट मै आएर अड्कियो । मलाई आज सम्म चुरोट खाने बानी नराम्रो लाग्दैनथ्यो तर अंकलको अन्तिम भनाइहरु मेरो मनमा नराम्ररी बिझ्न पुग्यो । र यो कथा लेख्न बसें । यस्तो लाग्दैथ्यो - चन्द्रमामा सानो दाग छ, नत्र ।

साँझ ७ बजीसकेको थियो । मैले आन्टी सँग पूजाको लागि अलिकती पारीजातको फूल लियर घर फर्किंएँ । बाटोमा आफु स्वतन्त्र र निडर रुपले अघीपछी भन्दा बेग्लै हिँडाइको अनुभव गर्दै घर पुगें । सधैं बेलुका चुरोट खाएर आउथें, आज नखाइ आएँ । ममीलाई नडराइकन फूल दिएँ किनभने हिजोका दिनहरुमा जसो आज मेरो मुखमा चुरोट गन्हाउने श्वास थिएन ।

शब्दगान

2011-10-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

मस्तिष्कको सिमित शब्दकोषबाट केही शब्दलाई छानेर, तौलिएर र क्रमबद्ध गरी शब्दको भौतिक परिभाषा दिएर यसको महत्वलाई घटाउने मेरो अभिप्राय होइन । तर शब्दको सर्बब्यापकता शब्दले नै बताउन सजिलो हुने हुँदा म केही भन्न जादैछु । त्यसो त पकृतिको अनुपम छटामा म शब्द नै शब्द पाउँछु । नदीनाला कलकलाउँदै बगिरहेछन् ; सल्लाका घारीहरु सुस्केरा हालि हल्लिरहेछन् ; पहाडहरु थर्कन्छन्-अडिग देखिन्छन् ; मैदानहरु सुस्ताउँछन्, अनि सागरहरु उर्लन्छन् । जहाँ शब्द बाहेक म अरु केहि पाउँदिन । पकृतिको शब्दमय पकृतिले गर्दा नै मलाई पकृति जीवन्त लाग्छ । शब्दमै म शान्ति पाउँछु ; शब्दमै म विद्रोह देख्छु ; शब्दमै म शितलता पाउँछु अनि शब्दमै म आगो बलेको देख्छु । शब्दमै म मान्छे हाँसेको देख्छु ; रोएको देख्छु र समग्रमा शब्दमै मान्छे बाँचको देख्छु । शब्दमै मान्छे मरेको देख्छु । मृत्युलाई चिन्न मैले मर्नै पर्छ जरुरी छैन । बाँचेर नै म शब्दबाट मृत्यु चिन्न सक्छु ,बुझ्न सक्छु र अनुभव पनि गर्न सक्छु । शब्दमै म देशभक्ति पाउँछु ; शब्दमै म विधुवाको वियोग अनुभव गर्न सक्छु र शब्दमै म कालाकारको सृजना नियाल्न सक्छु । मैले आजसम्म जे जति बुझेको छु् केवल शब्दबाटै पाएको छु ।

तपाईंलाई पनि लागेको होला, कतिपय शब्दमा हामि बानि परीसकेका हुन्छौं र हामीलाई ती हामै अभिन्न अङ्गझै लागेको हुन्छ । हाइस्कुलमा पढ्दाखेरी मलाई सरले भन्नुभएको एउटा कुरा याद आयो । यदि पहिले देखिनै पानिलाई आगो र आगोलाई पानि भन्ने शब्द दिईएको भए हामि अहिले त्यहि भन्थ्यौं होला । तर अब कसैले हामिलाई पानि देखाएर यो आगो हो ,यसले पोल्छ भन्यो भने हामि कदापी मान्न तयार हुँदैनौं । हामिलाई आगो शब्दलेनै एकैपल्ट बल्ने र पोल्ने याद गराईहाल्छ ।

शब्द हुँदैमा त्यसले सम्पुर्णता पदान गर्छनै भन्ने चाहिँ छैन । शब्दको कुनै खास अर्थ, उद्देश्य र प्रयोजन हुनुपर्छ । अर्थविनाको शब्द भनेको प्राणविनाको शरीर सरह हो । जसरी प्राण नभई शरीरले केहि काम गर्न सक्दैन त्यसरी नै अर्थविना शब्दले पनि केहि गर्न सक्दैन । म अझ यहाँ शब्दलाई ‘शिव’ र अर्थलाई ‘पार्वती’ भन्न उपयुक्त ठान्दछु । जसरी हामि शिव र पार्वतीलाई आदी शक्तिको रुपमा मान्छौं र तिनै शिवपार्वतीबाट यो भौतिक सृष्टि चलेको मान्छौं । त्यसरी नै शब्द र अर्थबाट मनुष्यको मानसिक संरचनाको संचालन भएको छ भन्ने कुरामा हामिले विश्वास गर्न सक्छौं । मानिसको मस्तिष्क, सोच्ने कला र कल्पनाको गहिराई यिनै हामा शब्द र अर्थबाट निर्देशित छन् ।
मान्छेले संसारलाई त्यतिमात्र बुझेको हुन्छ जति शब्द उसलाई त्यसको बारेमा थाहा छ भन्ने कुरामा तपाई पक्कै सहमत हुनुहुन्छ । दुइबर्षे बालकको संसार उसको घर, आमाबाबु, दिदीबहिनी, दाजुभाइ, दालभात, चिचिपापा आदि जस्ता सामान्य शब्दहरुमा केन्द्रित हुन्छ । उसलाई संसार त्यतिमात्र जस्तो लाग्छ । मान्छे जति हुर्कँदै जान्छ त्यतिनै धेरै शब्दको ज्ञान उसलाई हुँदै जान्छ भन्दा मलाई तपाईँहरुले विश्वास गर्ने ठाँउ धेरै हुन जान्छ । जति शब्दको उसलाई ज्ञान हुँदैजान्छ, उसले त्यतिनै जीवन र जगतलाई भिन्न प्रकारले बुझ्दै जान्छ । तुलनात्मक रुपमा वयष्क व्यक्तिमा बच्चा र वृद्धको भन्दा बढि शब्दभण्डार हुन्छ भन्दा हामा विद्धान वयष्क साथिहरुले नमान्ने कुरै भएन । अब यो समयमा उसले धेरै सृजना र अनुशन्धान एवं विकास गर्न सक्छ । कैयन शब्द तिनका ज्ञानका कारण उसको सोचाई वृहत र परिष्कृत बन्दै जान्छ ।

वास्तवमा ज्ञान अथाह छ - कहिल्यै सकिँदैन । अथाह ज्ञानलाई एकैपटक अनुभव गर्नु पक्कै सजिलो कुरा होईन । तर हामिले अप्ठ्यारो मान्नु पर्दैन । हामा सामु यस्ता शब्दहरु छन् जसको एकै उच्चारण र पयोगमा सम्पुर्ण ज्ञान, दर्शन, सिद्धान्त, विचार र अनुसन्धान जुन त्यो सँग सम्बन्धित छन् ,सबै हामो वसमा आउन सक्छन् । यसलाई म शब्दको जादु भन्न ज्यादा रुचाउँछु । हामिले प्लेटो, सुकरात र अरस्तुलाई शब्दमै चिनेका छौं । बुद्धको बुद्धत्व शब्दमै पढेका छौं र अलेक्जेण्डरको वीरता शब्दमै सुनेका छौं ।

अब म यहाँ मान्छेले सबैभन्दा बढि विश्वास गरेको तर कहिल्यै पनि नदेखेको ईश्वरको स्वरुपको वारेमा वताउँछु । आजसम्म कसैले पनि भगवान श्रीमहादेवको साक्षात् दर्शन गरेका छैनन् भन्ने कुरामा तपाइँ मेरो पक्षमा उभिनुभयो भने मैले तपाइँको ठुलो सहयोग पाएको ठान्ने छु । तर मेरो दिमागमा महादेव भन्ने वित्तिकै श्रीस्वस्थानिमा वर्णन गरिएअनुसारको भेषमा कैलाशपति सम्भोको चित्र आईहाल्छ । यसको लागि तपाईँ एकपटक आफ्नो प्रिय ईश्वरलाई सम्झिएर हेर्नुस् । शब्दले नै यिनै ईश्वर हुन् भन्ने भौतिक र आध्यात्मिक दृश्य हामो आँखा, मन र मस्तिष्कमा कोरिदिएको हुन्छ भन्ने कुरामा अब तपाइँले विश्वास नगरी सुखै छैन ।

मान्छे तबमात्र पुर्ण मान्छे भएर देखियो जबदेखि उसले शब्दको पयोग गर्न सुरु गर्‍यो भन्नेमा तपाईँले कत्ति पनि शंका गर्ने ठाउँ छैन । यदि यो कुरामा तपाईंले शंका गर्ने अलिकति पनि चेष्टा गर्नुभयो भने माफ गर्नुहोस् म तपाईलाई मान्छेको दर्जा दिन सक्दिन । हिसाबै गर्ने हो भने मानिसले तीनलाख वर्षअघिदेखि भाषाको पयोग सुरु गरेको र पैंतिसहजार वर्ष अघिदेखि लिखित सञ्चार सुरु गरेको इतिहासमा भेटिन्छ । भाषा एवं शब्दको उत्पत्ति, पयोग र विकासकै आधारमा मानिस अन्य प्राणी उपर श्रेष्ठ छ । शब्दमै मानिसका अनुभवहरु साटिएका छन् । इतिहास कोरिएका छन् । शब्दमै नियम कानुनहरु बनेका छन् । तिनै अनुभव, इतिहास, नियम, कानुन एवं मुल्य र मान्यताहरुद्धारा मानव समाज निदृष्ट भएर चलेको छ । त्यसमा नै म पशुको र मानवको राज्य बीच फरक पाउँछु ।यदि यहाँसम्म तपाईले मलाई बुझ्नु भएको छ भने अब मलाई शब्दले नै मान्छे जन्माएको हो भन्न गाह्रो पर्दैन ।

शब्द चेतनाको अमर देन हो । वाणीविना जगत् शुन्य छ, जीवन पङ्गु छ । संसारका प्राय: सारा व्यवहार शब्दव्यापारमा निर्भर छन् । सभ्यता र संकृति यसैमा फुल्दछ - फल्दछ । शब्द केवल विचार विनिमयको माध्यममात्र होईन अपितु विश्वमा जे जति सत्य छ, शिव छ, सुन्दर छ, ति सबैको व्यञ्जक पनि हो ।

शब्दबाट शुद्धता, पवित्रता र उपचार । शब्दको अर्को जादु अब म यहाँ देखाउँछु । हामिसँग यस्ता कति शब्दहरु छन् जसको उच्चारणमात्रबाट पनि हामा सबै पापहरु नष्ट हुन्छन् भन्ने हामिले विश्वास गर्दै आएका छौं । कतिपय शब्दबाट हामि पवित्र हुन्छौं र शान्तिको अनुभव गछौं । हिन्दुधर्म दर्शनको एउटा शब्द ‘ॐ’ ले तपाईलाई यो कुरा बुझ्न धेरै सहयोग गर्न सक्छ । मैले बुझेअनुसार ॐ शब्दको उच्चारणबाट हाम्रो शरीर भित्र हुने एक किसिमको विकारयुक्त पदार्थ श्वास मार्फत बाहिर निस्कन्छ र यसबाट हामी शारीरिक र मानसिक दुवै रुपमा शुद्ध भएको महशुस गर्न सक्छौं ।

कतिपय कुराहरु त हामी आफैंले पनि अनुभव गर्दै आएका छौं । हामीले डर, चिन्ता वा अन्य कारणले असजिलोपन अनुभव गरेको वेलामा जब हामी कुनै मन्त्रोच्चारण, जप वा केहीको सम्झना गर्छौं तव हामीलाई मन हलुका भएको महशुस हुन्छ । यो एक स्वभाविक प्रक्रिया हो । त्यस्तै हामा कतिपय मन्त्र, यहाँ मन्त्रलाई शब्दशुत्र भन्नु बढि उपयुक्त हुनसक्छ, ले दैवीशक्तिलाई समेत वसमा पारेको र कहिल्यै निको नहुने असाध्य रोगहरुपनि निको भएका घटनाहरु तपाईँले पनि पक्कै सुनेको हुनुपर्छ । यसलाई मैले शब्दको मनोवैज्ञानिक पभावको रुपमा लिएको छु ।

यति भएपछि अब शब्दबाट अनुभव गर्न नसकिने चिज या वस्तुको अस्वित्व यो संसारमै छैन भन्ने निश्कर्षमा तपाईँ पनि पुग्नुभयो होला भन्ने कुरामा मलाई पुर्ण विश्वास छ । यौवनाको वैंश, प्रेमानुभुति, स्वर्गको कल्पना आदिलाई शब्दबाट आनन्द लिन तपाईं हामीलाई बानि परेको छ । प्रेममा सौंदर्यको वर्णन भएन भने त्यसलाई के भन्ने ? तपाईं आफैं विचार गनुहोस् । पक्रृति र पुरुष बीचको रतिक्रियाको दृश्यवर्णनमा म शब्दको खेल नै ज्यादा भएको अनुभव गर्छु । इमान्दारीपुर्वक भन्नुपर्दा मैले आजसम्म संभोग र जीवनलाई एकै पटक अनुभव गरेको छैन, तपाईं हास्नुहुन्छ मलाई थाहा छ, र मेरो नैतिकताले नदिएसम्म म त्यसको आवाश्यकता पनि ठान्दिन । तर मलाई त्यो सँग जोडिएर आउने शब्दलेनै त्यसको अनुभव प्रदान गरिसकेको छ ।

मान्छेले व्यवहार भन्दा पनि शब्दबाट ज्यादा कुराको अनुभव गरेको हुन्छ भन्ने कुरामा त तपाईं पनि आईपुगिसकेको हुनुपर्छ । यो मनुष्यको छोटो र तुच्छ जीवन वास्तविक जीवन् र जगत् बुझ्न एक अंशपनि सक्षम छैन भन्दा तपाईंले पक्कै नाक खुम्च्याउनु हुन्न । अझ त्यसमा पनि मान्छेले शब्दबाट गर्ने अनुभव र सोचाईंलाई त्यो सानो अंशबाट पनि झिकिदिने हो भने अब उसको भौतिक अनुभव सागरको एक थोपा पानिमा गनिन पुग्छ । अब तपाईं सायद डराउनु पनि भयो होला । तर तपाईंले डर मान्नु पर्दैन । तपाईंले निर्धक्कसँग त्यसको जिम्मा ब्दलाई दिन सक्नुहुन्छ । जीवन, जगत् र पकृति जत्तिकै शब्दपनि विशाल र सजीव छ । तपाईंले सेक्सपियरको रोमियो जुजियट देखि लिएर देवकोटाको मुनामदनसम्म लाई शब्दमै भेट्नु भएको छ । यसलाई शब्दको सजीवता भन्न सकिन्छ ।

त्यसैले सुर्यविनाको संसार र शब्दविनाको मानवजीवन म कल्पना समेत गर्न सक्दिन । शब्दमै म संसारको सार भेट्टाउँछु । शब्द मानिसको आदत बनिसकेको छ । दिनहुँजसो हरेक भाषामा हजारौं शब्दहरु घटिरहन्छन् । त्यस्तै हजारौं शब्दहरु थपिईरहन्छन् । निरन्तर बगिरहने नदीझैं म जीवनमा शब्दको प्रवाह देख्छु । यहाँ मैले खुद शब्दको बखान गर्न समेत शब्दकै सहारा लिनु मेरो आवाश्यकता र बाध्यता दुवै रहेको कुरालाई सायद तपाईंले पनि अनुभव गरिरहनुभएको होला । त्यसैले म शब्दको पूजा गर्छु । शब्दको सम्मान गर्छु । शब्दलाई प्रेम गर्छु । म शब्दसँगै जीउँछु र शब्दसँगै मर्छु पनि ।

इदमन्धं तम कृत्स्नं जायेत भुवनत्रयम् ।
यदि शब्दाह्वयं ज्यातिरासंसारं न दीप्यते ।।
(आचार्य दण्डी (काव्यादर्श )
अर्थात, संसारभर शब्दरुपी ज्योति नबलेको भए तीनै भुवन निष्पट्ट अँध्यारो हुँदो हो ।

क को कत्रो कमाल

2011-07-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

कवाडीमा किलोमा किनेको

किताबको काहानी कत्रो ।

कम्मर कक्र्याइ कक्र्याइ

कपाल कनाइ कनाइ

कापिमा कालो कलमले

काहानी कोरु कस्तो ।

कती किस्सा कुहिसके

कती काम कुच्चीसके

कोप्चो कुनामा कोच्चीएर

कविता कोरुँ कस्तो ।

कतै कल्पनाहरु कराइरहेछन्

कणकणमा कोलाहलले

काउसिएको कमजोर कन्सिरी

कटकट काटीरहेछन

कसैले कहला, किन किनिस्

किन कहु कसरी किनी

कवाडी काइलाले किलोमा किनेको

केटाहरुले किलोमै किने

किन केही कमी कि ?

-रचनाकाल : बेलुकी ४:४० बजे, फागुन ११ , २०६१

हजार र एक

2011-06-30T02:09:00.000-07:00

तिमी हजार बनी आयौ

म एक भई रहें ।

तिमी हजार भइ गयौ

म एकै भइ रहें ।

तिमीले एक भन्या मात्र भए

म हजार गर्ने थिए

तिमी एकमा हजार रहीछ्यौ

म हजारमा एक भएं

तिमी एक बन्न सकिनौ

म हजार हुन सकिन

तिम्रा हजार सपनाहरुमा

मैले एक सपना देखेको थिए

मेरो एक त टुटी गयो

तिम्रा हजार कस्ता रहे ।

तिम्रा हजार दिनहरु एकै भए होलान

मेरा एकै दिन यहाँ हजारहरु भए ।

तिनै हजार दिनहरुमा

म तिमी नै एक खोजीरहेछु ।

Thursday , 02/2005

प्यासी ओछ्यान्

2011-01-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

कोठाको एउटा कुनामा
शान्त, शालिन रुपले
मेरो ओछ्यान् लम्पसार परीरहेछ ।
लाग्छ - उ कसैको पर्खाइमा छ ।

मेरो अनुपस्थितीमा मेरो ओछ्यान्
रातभर नसुतेको हुन्छ ।
र लाग्छ - उ मेरै पर्खाइमा छ ।

थकित मन लिइ म भित्र छिर्दा
रातको प्रहरमा प्यासी ओछ्यान्
अझ राम्री देखिन्छे ।

एकछिन आँखा डुलाउँछु ।
निर्दोश चेहरा, उदांगो शरीर
म रोकिन चाहान्न ।
एउटा मोठो सपना पुरा गर्न
उनीमाथी समाहित हुन्छु - निर्बस्त्र ।

प्यासी ओछ्यान्
काखमा राखेर मलाई सपना देखाउँछिन् ।
स्वर्णिम यात्रा गराउँछिन् ।
जहाँबाट म ब्युझिएर अर्को एउटा संसार हेर्छु ।

फेरी उही रात
उही थकान
उही प्यासी ओछ्यान्
अनी उही हाम्रो
रमाइलो संसार ।

(रचनाकाल : २०६० चैत्र २८ शनिबार बिहान ५:३० बजे )

2011-01-13T15:51:00.000-08:00

यो दशककै सुरुवात ज्यादै तितो भयो
एउटै सपना उनको माया आज रित्तो भयो

फोन उठ्यो केटो बोल्यो मैले तिमी मागें
तिमी आयौ खुशी भएं स्वर मिठो पाएं

फेरी सोधें फोन उठाउने को हो भनी बुझें
अंध्यारो भो चारैतिर म थचक्क बसें

13/01/2011 10:48 am

ठगी सपना

2011-01-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

हिजो राती , के देखे सपनी , चांदलाई चुमेको ।
कोमल बदन, गुलबी ओठ, यो मनै गुमेको ।।

झुकाइ माथ , काखमा उनको, एकै छिन सुस्ताउंदा ।
रोपिए बिझ, इच्छ्याका कैयन, मेरी उनी मुस्कौदा ।।

साथमा उनको,त्यो दिब्य स्वर्ग, ब्युझदा नर्कै भो ।
दुई चार बात, के गरुं भन्दा, संसार अर्कै भो ।।

सुकेका आँखा, एकपल्ट भिजे, थामीएनन् केइ गरी ।
उघ्रेका दिन, रहेनन् सधैं, फर्कीए त्यै झरी ।।

ठग्दछन् कती यी मेरा सपना, मै सोझो देखेर ।
धर्तीकै तुच्छ , मै एक प्राणी, के दियो लेखेर ?

रचनाकाल : २०६१ साल साउन १४ गते बेलुकी ७:२० बजे

Happy Holidays !

2010-12-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

Most Christmas doodles that have graced the homepage of the Google search website over the past 12 years have been relatively simple designs that have changed the familiar Google logo. But the new screens doodle a collection of festive scenes created to suggest that the logo of a rather abstract.

Christmas Doodle has seventeen different frameworks. It was the work of six different artists and over 250 hours of work after six months of planning. All this for a Google Doodle? Wow! No wonder they chose to show their doodle today instead of waiting for Christmas Day, when many offline spend time with their families rather than on their computers. For most of the 17 images illustrate the great international sites like the Acropolis in Athens, the Great Wall of China and Sydney Harbour Bridge or cultural references.

There were bouncing balls, PacMan honor John Lennon sang, and Ina Garten offering cooking tips. What began as a simple tweak to two dimensions for the logo of Google as a private joke with its users has become a cultural marker, awareness of certain dates in the online space group and cause further controversy when some holidays passed for recognition.

The 30-year-old concept (which took about five artists to complete 250 hours) was to show the logo of the famous Via 17 portraits interactive scenes vacation around the world. Lopez wanted to travel on three days, ending on Christmas Day itself. But power had other ideas as they asked for Doodle to mount as a whole, and thus the process of six months has suddenly had a pretty hectic final.

Google has become famous for its regular production of doodles, not only for holidays but also for new events, birthdays and other special occasions. doodles earlier celebrated the Fourth of July, the Olympics, and even Einstein’s birthday. Each doodle plays typically around with the classic logo of Google, transforming it into something that visually can commemorate a special date in time.

Google has tried to appeal to their audience very broad and diverse, so they are challenged to come up with a doodle that celebrates the season without going into religious connotations. If you hover over each picture you can see more details of the individual: it is the Father to make a delivery, a festive meal, and scenes from different holiday worldwide.

देउताको खोजी

2010-12-08T01:14:00.001-08:00

विना देउताको मन्दिर पूजी रै छु आज
मायालु त्यो मनको देउता खोजी रै छु आज

काली बोको भाकल गरी माग्ने छैन कहिले
कसरी म उनलाई पाउँ सोची रै छु आज

यी भिडको कोलाहलमा आफु एक्लाई हराउदै
प्रियसीका ति स्पन्दन रोजी रै छु आज

आँखा मेरा रसाय नि तिम्रा ओभानै छन
यस्तै रै छ पिरती भन्ने बुझी रै छु आज

विना देउताको मन्दिर पूजी रै छु आज
मायालु त्यो मनको देउता खोजी रै छु आज

घ्रिणाको लात

2010-12-08T01:09:00.001-08:00

उही तारा उही जुन उस्तै अध्यारो रात पनि
फरक यती तिमी गयौ एउटा तितो याद बनी

छल हैन माया थियो तिमीले बुझ्न सकेनौ
खेर गयो मेरो निशानी झरेको पात बनी

देख्दिन कतै भूल मेरो तिमीले माया छुटायौ
चस्स बिझ्छ यो मनमा माया निस्ठुरीको वात बनी

जाग्दै थिए जिउने रहर मायाले छाती भरिदा
आएकी थियौ सहारा दिने मायाको हात बनी

त्यो पापी मनले भनौला सायद साले 'निशेद' मलाई
बर्षन्छ तिम्रो चोटीलो बाचन घ्रिणाको नमिठो लात बनी

मायाको आभास

2010-12-08T01:01:00.001-08:00

हे आवाज आज एकै छिन् मौन रही
दुई तन एक गरी सुस्केरामा गाउन दे

संसारलाई आज एकछिन बिर्सिइ
एकान्तमा उनीसँग रमाउन दे

हे सुर्य आज रश्मी लुकाइ
अध्यारोमा उनिसँग हराउन दे

पाखाभरी ढकमक लालीगुरास फुली
मायालुको सिउदो सजाउन दे

हे झरी आज एकछिन बर्सिइ
स्पर्सी मायाको आभास पाउन दे

बरु मर्न सकुँ

2010-12-08T00:55:00.001-08:00

तस्विर तिम्रो हेरी रही केही बात गर्न सकुँ
तस्विर बाटै दर्शन गरी यो म भर्न सकुँ

सर्है छलिंए तिम्रा सुन्दर हेराइ मा म ता
नजर बाटो गरी त्यो मन भित्र सर्न सकुँ

किन किन तिमी त्यसै टाढा लाग्छ मलाई
बर्षातको झरी बनी तिमी माथि झर्न सकुँ

नदेखेको धेरै भयो, नछोएको झनै
उजेलीको किरण अघी तिमी सामु पर्न सकुँ

जागिरहे मेरा यस्ता इछ्या सधैं
तिमीबाट टाढीनुभन्दा पहिले मर्न सकुँ

रै छ

2010-12-07T23:43:00.001-08:00

रोइ रोइ बचेँपनी हस्नै पर्ने रै छ
हासी हासी रोए पनि बाँच्नै पर्ने रै छ

रित्तै हुदो रै छ क्यारे अभागीको कर्म यो
सुख जती आए पनि, दु:ख साच्नै पर्ने रै छ

भित्र के छ कस्लाई के थाहा, देखाओटी छ संसार
खुट्टा खोल्छ्यङ खोल्छ्याङ गर्दै नाच्नै पर्ने रै छ

पाउनु केही मात्रै यहाँ, गुमाउनु छ सबथोक
सर्प मार्दा लट्ठी यहाँ भाँच्नै पर्ने रै छ

रोइ रोइ बचेँपनी हस्नै पर्ने रै छ
हासी हासी रोए पनि बाँच्नै पर्ने रै छ

के को रहर ?

2010-12-07T23:35:00.000-08:00

बाँच्न मलाई के को रहर, आफन्तैले मारेपछी
जित्न मलाई के को रहर, तिमीबाटै हारेपछी

यात्राभरी दौडीरहें, पुग्ने कुनै ठाउँ छैन
खोज्नु मलाई के को रहर, पाइला अन्तै सारेपछी

जे डर थियो त्यै भैदियो, जीवन मेरो सुस्तायो
उठ्न मलाई के को रहर, तिमीले तल झारेपछी

आँखा देख्छ अन्धकार, मन मेरो निराश भो
हांस्न मलाई के को रहर, तिमीले दु:खमा पारेपछी

हुन सक्छ यो जिन्दगी, तिमी सम्झी बिती जाला
खोजी बस्छु तिमी लाई नै, कालले जीवन तारेपनी

निस्ठुरी

2010-12-07T23:25:00.001-08:00

निस्ठुरी

जवानीले आवाज दिएर हजुर, त्यसै आ'को कहाँ हो र
उमेर यस्तै के गरु हजुर, माया ला'को कहाँ हो र

पापी भनी नभन्नु मलाई, दोष मेरो मात्रै थिएन
तिम्रो पनि त इच्छ्या थियो, तेसै भा'को कहाँ हो र

पागल हैन म ता हजुर, दिमाग मेरो उस्तै छ
मनको त्रिश्णा मनले मेट्यो, बुद्धी गा'को कहाँ हो र

होस मै थिए म पनि त हजुर, त्यस्तै पर्न गयो
जवानीमा यस्तै हो हजुर, थाहा न'पा'को कहाँ हो र

भन्छौ मलाई यो 'निशेद' कती सार्हो निस्ठुरी
समय त्स्तै पर्‍यो हजुर, मनले खा,को कहाँ हो र

तिम्रो तस्विर

2010-12-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

किन किन तिम्रो तस्विर आँफैलाई पोल्न थाल्यो
विर्सिएको मायालाई सम्झी मन बिथोल्न थाल्यो

सधैं एक्लै बोल्थें तिम्रो तस्विरहरुसँग रमेर
स्‍मृतिबाट तिम्रो तस्विर आज एक्लै बोल्न थाल्यो

रातदिन तिमीलाई सम्झेपनी बिर्सियझै गर्दैथिए
आँफैलाई ढांट्दै आएको मनको रहस्य खोल्न थाल्यो

उर्लियको मनको भाव बिस्तारै सेलाउदै थियो
धेरै पछी आज आचनक आत्मा मेरो पिरोल्न थाल्यो

माया उनको पाउने रहर जिवित नै थियो
यो 'निशेद' ले गरेको भुलको दस्तुर असुल्न थाल्यो

राजधानी छिर्दा फेरी अर्को भ्रमण तर फरक अनुभव

2010-06-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

राजधानी छिर्दा फेरी अर्को भ्रमण तर फरक अनुभव

2010-06-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

बिर्सेंर फेरी मलाई नहेर

2010-05-23T19:38:00.001-07:00

बिर्सेंर फेरी मलाई नहेर निको भै सकेको पुरानो त्यो घाऊ अनायासै फेरी {बल्झेर दुख्छ}२
{बोकेर चोट अनुरागको जादैछु बाँच्न एकन्तमा आज}२
सम्झना पनि नपठाउ भन्छु कतै जिन्दगीनै {झस्केर उठ्छ}२
बिर्सेंर फेरी ...

{सायद निको नहुने मेरो घाऊ डाहा भै बाच्छ सधैं म भित्र}२
बचेँकै हेर्ने भए फेरी मलाई, हासेको हेर्ने भए फेरी मलाई ।
बचेँको हेर्ने भए फेरी मलाई,हासो नै दिने भए फेरी मलाई
अब नजरले नखोज मलाई, तिम्रो हेराइमा {बल्झेर दुख्छ}२
बिर्सेंर फेरी...

मन्दिरमा छ कि मुर्तिमा माया

2010-05-23T19:20:00.001-07:00

{मन्दिरमा छ कि मुर्तिमा माया}२ पत्थरमा छ कि धुलोमा माया
कोही त देखाउ, कोही त बताउ, खै कहाँ छ माया, कहाँ छ माया
मन्दिरमा छ कि...

{एक अन्जुली मायाको लागि पल पल हृदय चर्कन्छ}२
{साउन र भदौ बनेर आँखा}२ {बर्षाउ बर्ष बर्षन्छ}२
हाँसोमा छ कि आसुँमा माया, फूलमा छ कि काडामा माया
कोही त देखाउ, कोही त बताउ, खै कहाँ छ माया, कहाँ छ माया
मन्दिरमा छ कि ...

{एउटी आमा जिउदै जल्छे छोराको माया ममतामा}२
{एउटा छोरो मरेर बाचछ}२ {आमाको सपना विपनामा}२
रगतमा छ कि नातामा माया, विश्वासमा छ कि वाचामा माया
कोही त देखाउ, कोही त बताउ, खै कहाँ छ माया, कहाँ छ माया
मन्दिरमा छ कि ...

हिमालसरी म

2010-05-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

हिमालसरी म अग्लिरहेछु समात समात समात मलाई, बादलसरी म अग्लिरहेछु सम्हाल सम्हाल सम्हाल मलाई ।
हिमालसरी म ...

{म खोली बनेर सुस्तरी आउला }२ तिमीले सागरमा केही ठाउँ देउ ।
तिम्रो सारा त्रिष्णा मै मेटी देउला, मलाई तिमीमै {समेटिन देउ}२
आकाशसरी म फैलीरहेछु अङगाल अङगाल अङगाल मलाई ।
बादलसरी म ...
हिमालसरी म ...

{यी तारा कती छन म गन्न सकुला}२ तर तिन्को माया कती छ नसोध
{र वरले पिपल अङालेर बस्छ}२ तिम्रो मेरो साईनो त्यतै खोज, त्यतै तिर सोध ।
दुलहीसरी म रङीरहेछु उचाल उचाल उचाल मलाई ।
बादलसरी म ...
हिमालसरी म...

चिनारी हाम्रो...

2010-05-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

चिनारी हाम्रो धेरै पुरानो रहेझै लाग्दछ, नदेखेपनी भेट्घाट सधैं भएझै लाग्दछ ।
चिनारी हाम्रो ...

{सितल दिन्छौ पवन भएर मिर्मिरे याममा}२ मायालु न्यानो स्पर्श दिन्छौ किरणको रुपमा ।
हो , झन्झनै बज्छ संगीत तिम्रो हरेक सन्खमा, आशाको दियो आँफैनै बल्छ अन्ध्यारो कुनामा ।
चिनारी हाम्रो ...

{हजार खोजे त्यो रुप हेर्न पाउदै पाइन}२ मायाले छुने आँखा नखोजे समाउनै सकिन
भनीदेउ आज को हौ तिमी मैले त जानिन, विरङी रुप फेरेर आउने तिमीलाई चिनिन ।
चिनारी हाम्रो ...

विरही माया

2010-05-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

{विरही माया अधुरो रह्यो बिर्सनु कसरी, तड्पाइ दिन्छ जलाई दिन्छ याद आउछ बेस्सरी ।}२
हो याद आउछ बेस्सरी ।

{टप्किन खोज्छन आसुँक थोपा गोधुली साँझमा, डुबाइ गयौ यो जिन्दगानी सगार माझमा । }२
{किनारा छैन }२ साहारा छैन मन थामु कसरी ,तड्पाइ दिन्छ जलाई दिन्छ याद आउछ बेस्सरी ।

{नदीझै बग्ने त्यो तिम्रो माया झरनाझै झरेछ, सपना रम्ने आँखामा मेरो पर्दा नै खसेछ । }२
{गोरेटो छैन}२ उज्यालो छैन मै हिनु कसरी
तड्पाइ दिन्छ जलाई दिन्छ याद आउछ बेस्सरी ।
विरही माया ...

यसैगरी विताइदिन्छु ...

2010-05-23T18:33:00.001-07:00

यसैगरी विताइदिन्छु दुईदिनको जिन्दगी, हाँसोमा लुटाइदिन्छु आफु आसुँमा ढुबी ।
यसैगरी विताइदिन्छु ...

भिड छ, भिडमा आफुलाई बिलाईदिन्छु, बिर्सिदिन्छु आफुलाई होस म हराइदिन्छु ।
सितलु कि यतै कतै छोइ दिन्छु सुस्तरी,हाँसोमा लुटाइदिन्छु आफु आसुँमा ढुबी ।
यसैगरी विताइदिन्छु ...

च्यतिदिन्छु आफुलाई बालीदिन्छु साँझमा,फालीदिन्छु आफुलाई दिनहरुको माझमा ।
गाइदिन्छु गीत आफ्नो आफ्नै गायकी पिइ ।
यसैगरी विताइदिन्छु ...

विपना नभइ बाँचीदिने

2010-05-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

विपना नभइ बाँचीदिने म भित्रका मेरा सपना, म मरेपनी रहिदिने मेरा प्यारा प्यारा सपना
विपना नभइ ...

आसुँसितै पग्ली झर्ने हाँसो भित्रै खेली रहने, प्रीत नपाई रोजी हिड्ने यी अधुरा मेरा सपना ।
विपना नभइ ...

भावनामा अल्झिरहने, कल्पनामा बल्झिरहने, जीवन नपाइ खोजी हिंड्ने ति पुरना मेर सपना
विपना नभइ ...

तिमीलाई भुल्दा ...

2010-05-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

तिमीलाई भुल्दा म एक्लो परेछु, तिमीलाई सम्झे तिमी याद आयौ ।
कुनै चिज मिठो म खोजी रहेथे, म सोची रहेथे, तिमी याद आयौ ।
तिमीलाई भुल्दा ...

उज्यालो बढेझै भयो आज झन् झन्, उज्यालो त मुस्कानले बर्षन्छ भन्छन् ।
कि मैलाई सम्झी तिमी मुस्कुरायौ कि आयौ तिमी चादनी रात आयो ।
कुनै चिज मिठो ...

तिमीले पनि सम्झीएकी भए लौ , सुन्यौ चाहनाले अझै मन परायो ।
मलाई भुलेकी भए के भनु खै, तिमी हर्ष आयौ, बिष्मात आयो ।
कुनै चिज मिठो ...
तिमीलाई भुल्दा ...

Hamro Yatra Part One

2010-05-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hamro Yatra Part Two

2010-05-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

What is Kiss?

2009-08-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

Famous Kiss quotes collected.

“Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop.”

A kiss is the touching of one person’s lips to another place, which is used as an expression of affection, respect, greeting, farewell, good luck, romantic affection or sexual desire. The word comes from Old English cyssan "to kiss", in turn from coss "a kiss".

Smoooooooch! Yes, the photo shows a boy getting ready to kiss his girlfriend. Notice that as he approaches, his nose passes to the side of his girlfriend’s nose. According to recent research conducted by a German psychologist, most people (66 percent) turn their head to the right when kissing so that the noses don’t bump.

“I was reborn when you first kissed me. Part of me died when you left me. But, now I still live, waiting for the day you return to me. "

Kiss me once,
Kiss me twice,
I know it’s silly,
But it’s nice! "

“A kiss is like chocolate cake… once you’ve had it you can never get enough.”

“It’s not the type of kiss you receive, its how you feel inside when you get it.”

Kissing anybody is fun, but being kissed by the one you love is something you’ll not forget. "

Your kisses, your heavenly touch will keep me from letting go of your loss. I will always remember your gentle words. Love lasts forever. "

“A kiss can be a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point.”

The stolen kisses are always the sweetest. "

I want to hold you close to me to kiss your face and share your dreams. I want to wrap you with my love and show you just what I’m made of. I’m holding out my hand to you. "

“I was born when you kissed me, and I died when you left me, but I lived for the two weeks you loved me.”

"Kissing is like real estate. The most important thing is location, location, location."

“A kiss is never a bad kiss unless it’s an unwanted kiss”

"Kissing is like drinking salted water. You drink, and your thirst increases."
-Chinese Proverb

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."
-Albert Einstein

"The first kiss I had was the most disgusting thing in my life. The girl injected about a pound of saliva, into my mouth, and when I walked away I had to spit it all out."
-Leonardo DiCaprio

“It was brief, swift, and then it was done. It was a professional job. I needed to be kissed, and I was kissed.”
-Actress Uma Thurman
On her first kiss

नवबर्षको शुभकामना

2009-04-13T23:41:00.000-07:00

फेरी आए दिन उज्याला
ल्याए खुशी सगुनका प्याला
चमचम चम्किए तारा नक्षेत्र
खुशीले नाचे जगत सारा

म गन्छु पाईला तिमी हिड्दै जाऊ
परिवर्तनको न्यानो आँचल फिँजाऊ
समयले दिएका बिभत्स चोटमा
शीतल खलको मलम लगाऊ

यही छ इच्छ्या यही छ कामना
नवबर्षको हार्दिक शुभकामना

Hottest Politicians

2009-03-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

Source: ninemsn.com.au

Number 10
Former Miss Singapore Eunice Olsen, Singapore's youngest member of parliament when she was elected in 2004.

Number 9
Russian pollie Alina Kabaeva has been a member of parliament since 2007. The 25-year-old was ranked number nine on the list.

Number 8
Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's much-fancied Prime Minister, was ranked eighth on the list.

Number 7
Ireland's Toireasa Ferris was ranked seventh by the newspaper's readers.

Number 6
Blonde bombshell Anna-Maria Galojan shook up Estonia's parliamentary ranks. She also ranked at number six on the hot pollies poll.

Number 5
Mexican congresswoman Sara Luiz Chavez came under fire in 2007 when it was reported she owned a strip club in her home town, but that hasn't deterred voters in the online pole — she ranked fifth.

Number 4
Yuri Fujikawa, a municipal assembly member of Hachinohe, has numerous of fansites across the web dedicated to her. She comes in at number four.

Number 3
Gorgeous Italian politician Mara Cargafna has been the focus of many "hottest" lists before, but only managed to muster number three on this poll. The former model and showgirl was appointed Minister for Equal Opportunity last year.

Number 2
Peruvian foreign commerce and tourism minister Mercedes Araoz was very popular amongst voters. The 47-year-old professor was runner-up.

Number 1(You decide!)
But it's another Peruvian, congresswoman Luciana Leon, who has been crowned the world's sexiest politician.

Number 1
Australian Sports minister Kate Ellis (pictured), climate change minister Penny Wong and Federal MP Melissa Parke are listed in a Spanish newspaper's internet poll to find the world's most beautiful female politician.

Victoria Bushfire

2009-03-10T01:02:00.000-07:00

A tragedy galvanising the nation

The Victorian bush fires have claimed at least 200 victims, up to a million animals and hundreds of homes. They are a disaster of unprecedented magnitude and the public response too is unprecedented. It has galvanised the nation, giving expression to the great potential of a society when its members band together around a common objective.

The country has mobilised at the grassroots to gather support for the victims. Over $90 million had been raised in the community at the time of going to press.

Halls and other temporary depots in country Victoria are overflowing with donations of clothes, blankets, food and other basic supplies brought in from all over Australia . Many Queenslanders suffering the effects of major flooding in the north of their state have donated their aid cheques to the victims of the Victorian fires. Fire fighters are rightfully being celebrated as the heroes of the hour.

Such was the public response to calls for people to give blood that the Australian Red Cross Blood Service called on Victorians to stagger their donations over the coming months. The chief executive of the service said, “It’s been overwhelming. Our resources are stretched. It has been the greatest interest we have had to a single event in the history of the blood service.” As well queuing to give blood, tens of thousands made pledges online.

There were magnificent contributions from emergency service workers – ambulance, health professionals, all the volunteer firefighters; from various tradespeople; businesses big and small; thousands of schools around the country whose students pooled their money to make donations; the trade union movement which immediately swung into action with money donations and volunteers. The various sports – cricket, AFL, NRL, football etc – each handed over amounts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The pervasive spirit of solidarity washes away in an instant the capitalist argument that humans are essentially selfish and greedy, that capitalism accords with these fundamental self-interested drives and that socialism cannot work because it flies in the face of what is falsely called “human nature”.

The response to the Victorian bushfire tragedy is inspiring but not unique. Australians rallied to the aid of the people of Darwin in the wake of Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve 1974 with a toll of 71 lives. People have responded similarly to other natural disasters. The same capacity for stricken communities to organise themselves and for other members of the community to rally to their aid was displayed.

The Communist Party of Australia expresses its sincerest condolences to those who have lost family, friends, their homes, livelihoods and irreplaceable personal possessions.

यस्तै गरी बित्छन हरेक बर्षहरु...

2009-01-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

Massacre of Maoists Threatens Nepal's Peace Process

2007-05-27T00:29:00.000-07:00

Liam Cochrane | Bio | 29 Mar 2007
World Politics Review Exclusive

GAUR, Nepal -- In a small concrete shed next to Gaur town hospital in southern Nepal, the corpses of 13 young Maoists lay sprawled in a mess of drying blood. A red communist flag was bunched under one outstretched hand and outside the shed another 12 bodies were lined up in the midday sun.

The gruesome scene was the aftermath of the worst single day of violence since the Maoists rebels signed a peace agreement with the government last November. A day after the carnage of March 21, leaders of Nepal's top political parties arrived by helicopter to assess the damage, trailed by journalists and human rights workers.

Read more...

The politicians walked across an open field still littered with the sandals of those who had fled for their lives 24 hours before, listening to the accounts of witnesses. Locals said the Maoist-affiliated Madheshi Liberation Front had set up a stage just 100 meters away from a rally being held by the Madheshi People's Right's Forum, who have been agitating for the rights of people living in Nepal's southern flatlands. The two groups have clashed in recent weeks and the situation was so volatile that local police informed the U.N. in advance that trouble was brewing.

Reports differ as to how the violence was sparked. Some say people who appeared to come from the Forum side of the field set fire to the Maoist's stage. Other accounts say that Maoists disrupted the Forum meeting. Shots were fired and the small group of Maoists was set upon by people wielding bamboo sticks split lengthwise to create surprisingly sharp-edged swords.

Within a few minutes, several people were killed on the field, while others who sought shelter in nearby houses were dragged out and hacked to death. A dozen Maoists were chased for more than 5 kilometers before being caught and killed in the village of Hajmonia and dumped in a canal.

"What is heinous is that five of the women were raped in public," said human rights activist Mathur Shresthra, who interviewed witnesses. "Later their breasts were chopped off and [their bodies] burnt to deface their identity."
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More than 40 people were injured in the clash and the death toll soon reached 29, with Maoists claiming a further 50 are still missing.

"Not only do we have a very high number of killed . . . but also the killings have been very brutal," said Lena Sundh, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, after a separate visit to the site on March 22.

Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said the attack was reminiscent of another mass killing of Maoists three years ago in Dorumba and believed the royal palace and Hindu fundamentalists were behind the attack.

"This incident makes us, our party, very serious. . . . I imagine this is just like Dorumba, which makes a political situation disturbed," Mahara said.

The grim face of Home Minister Krishna Prasaad Sitaula as he toured the scene reflected not just the horror of the killings but also the anticipation of political fallout that could end his career. He spoke briefly at a press conference, offering condolence to the families and promising an investigation. When asked by World Politics Watch if the Gaur incident was a failure of the security forces, Sitaula was defensive, saying "this is a crime and the government will control, the government will investigate and the government will take them into custody."

But the Home Minister's words rang hollow to some human rights workers on the scene. Despite the presence of 60 heavily armed police and also military, witnesses say the security forces did little to prevent the attack and it took four days for any arrests to be made -- even though locals had quickly identified some of the attackers.

"Why haven't there been any arrests, ask him that," demanded angry human rights leader Subodh Raj Pyakurel, as he shook his finger in the face of the home minister, the day after the bloodshed.

Madheshi Struggle

The backdrop to the Gaur massacre is not just Nepal's peace process between the Maoists and the government, but also the struggle of the Madheshi community for recognition and rights.

The Madhesh, or Terai, region is a belt of fertile agricultural land that runs along Nepal's southern border with India. Its inhabitants -- Madheshis -- make up more than a third of the country's population, yet claim they are treated as second-class citizens by "hilly people." There are relatively few Madheshi's in key government posts and almost none in the police or army.

"So what we are seeing today is just the manifestation of the long standing issues," said Ram Kewal Shah, a top surgeon and Madheshi activist. "When their silent protest did not work they resolved to violent protest now."

While the majority of Madheshis are peaceful farmers, long-standing discrimination has bred militancy. Two years ago, a group of hardliners broke away from the Maoist army to form the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), which means Terai People's Liberation Front. Late last year, JTMM split into two factions, and in the past few months new extremist groups have emerged, including the Terai Tigers and the Terai Cobras.

The rift between the relatively moderate Madheshi People's Rights Forum and the Maoists began when a young revolutionary shot dead a Forum worker on Jan. 19. Demonstrations swept across the south and in two weeks more than 25 people were killed -- mostly Forum supporters shot by police.

The Forum sealed the India-Nepal border, stopping the imports that prop up Nepal's economy, and when supplies of petrol began to dry up in Kathmandu, Prime Minister G.P. Koirala promised to amend the draft interim constitution to better include Madheshis. However, ten days later the Forum resumed its protests, claiming the government wasn't serious about addressing issues in the Madhesh. The rally in Gaur was a part of this second phase of protests.

Given the tensions between the groups, the Maoists' decision to hold a rally on the same day as the Forum -- which announced its event two weeks prior -- was a clear act of provocation. But the real story may run deeper still. A well-placed local source claimed that the Maoists had planned to kidnap Forum chairman Upendra Yadav when he attended the meeting in Gaur, but the plot was discovered and a counter-attack was coordinated by the two factions of JTMM, along with the Terai Cobras. There is no hard evidence to back up this theory, but a deputy commander of one of the JTMM factions did claim responsibility for the bloodshed later that day.

The fractured political situation in Nepal, however, means any number of groups could have played a part in the massacre. The Conflict Study Center, a local political think tank, says "six types of forces are found to be involved in the incident," including "agitated [Forum] activists, . . . criminals imported from adjoining district Sitamadhi in India, . . . Hindu fundamentalists along with Nepal's Sadhbhava Party-Badri Prasad Mandal [faction], . . . [the] Jwala Singh faction of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), . . . the vigilante groups formed during the King's autocratic rule and provided with weapons against Maoists . . . and hidden forces against peace process, e.g. weapon manufacturers, traders, etc."

Doramba Revisited?

The consequences of this month's killings in Gaur are yet to be fully realized, but the Maoist spokesman's reference to the Doramba incident is worrying. On Aug. 17, 2003, soldiers stumbled upon a Maoist meeting in the town of Dorumba. According to Amnesty International, government troops shot one leader immediately and marched 19 other suspected Maists away, later standing them in a row and shooting them dead. Ten days after the Duramba killings, the seven-month old ceasefire agreement collapsed and the civil war continued for another three years.

"If unity and inclusiveness are not promoted, further bloodshed may result and Nepal's peace process could be imperiled," said a statement released by the U.S. embassy in Kathmandu last week.

Maoist chairman "Prachanda" warned of a "fresh struggle" if the Forum was not banned, and thousands of Maoists fighters left their U.N.-monitored camps to protest on major highways, a clear breach of the peace agreement. There is certainly a risk that the incident could derail the peace process, but the Maoists have much to lose if that happens -- they are closer to power now than at any time during their 10-year armed rebellion.

The peace process, though fragile, is more solid now than ever before. The U.N. Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) to monitor weapons and assist with elections has personnel on the ground and an $88 million budget. It has urged all parties to show "restraint and discipline" and the U.N. Office for Human Rights is conducting an investigation at Gaur.

Nepal faces a daunting task in establishing peace and stability amidst such violent acts of political sabotage. Many fear an organized campaign of mayhem is underway, with the aim of delaying a vote scheduled for mid-June to elect members of an assembly to rewrite the constitution. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly will decide the fate of Nepal's unpopular king and, as monarchy may be the biggest loser if the poll is held, the palace is usually blamed by Maoists and others for stirring up trouble. While some of these accusations may be empty rhetoric, consistent reports from recent clashes in the towns of Nepalgunj, Birgunj and now Gaur have identified known pro-royalists encouraging violence.

In the short term, Nepal's Parliament has established a high-level probe and six people have been arrested by police in connection to the killings. It's too soon to judge the legacy of the Gaur massacre -- it could either result in a strengthened resolve amongst the country's politicians to demand law and order, or it could be a sign of things to come.

Liam Cochrane is a freelance journalist based in Kathmandu.

Restructuring the Nepali state

2007-02-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

-Ameet dhakal

Those of us who were busy parroting the cliché of "New Nepal", still intoxicated by the euphoria of the April Movement, were given a rude awakening by the Madhesi Movement in the third week of January. But for a good reason.

It reminded us of the enormity of the challenge of nation building. The Movement has touched our nerves, and let's hope we have realized how costly complacency can be. Hope we have also understood that tough negotiations, a seemingly unattainable balancing act, and hard work await us ahead.

Explosion of Madhesi rage for identity and dignity was overdue. Whether we - especially the people of hill origin - like it or not, it's a fact that Madhesis were denied their rightful place and respect in the Nepali state and society.
It goes without saying that the Nepali state has remained exclusionary. But for Madhesis, it was even more basic than that: It was about the very identity of being a Nepali.

The Nepali identity cultivated by the Panchayat system was both exclusionary and humiliating for the Madhesi. Though never stated in a formal way, Nepali identity was constructed around three distinct features: Fairer skin color; ability to speak Nepali fluently; and cultural orientation that fairly conforms to hill culture. Madhesis lacked all three, thus, their "Nepaliness" was suspect.

Many of those Madhesis who came to Kathmandu for education or work were "Indians" in the eyes of many Kathmanduites and people who had descended to Kathmandu from the hills but had never seen that Nepalis existed as well in the Southern Plains of the country.

Even those who saw that Madhesh existed in the map of Nepal and that not all the people in Madhesh conformed to the Nepali identity constructed during the Panchyat era also harbored deep suspicions that many of these people could indeed be from India. Such suspicions were so deeply embedded in the minds of bureaucrats of hill origin that they denied many Madhesis their rightful claim to citizenship. In this sense, the problem of the Madhesi people is uniquely different from that of Janajaatis and Dalits. Like Madhesis, they are also excluded from the state, but unlike Madhesis their "Nepaliness" is never questioned.

Problem of social exclusion Broadly speaking, the problem of social exclusion in Nepal has two dimensions. First, people from minority groups feel that their cultural, religious and linguistic rights are not protected and promoted by the state. In some cases they even feel that they are discriminated vis-à-vis their culture, religion and language, among other things. And many such complaints are well founded.

For instance, Khas-Nepali (the language of hill Brahmans and Chettris) has remained the official language of the nation. During Panchaayat times, the entrance exams for officers in the civil service used to have one paper on Nepali language, which acted as a major obstacle for competitors whose mother tongue was other than Nepali.

Every country has one or more official languages for a practical propose. So it is not uniquely a Nepali thing to have an official language but we should also acknowledge that in a country with over 60 active local dialects, the special treatment reserved for one language is in itself a form of discrimination.
Overt or subtle it may be, but discrimination does exist in religious and cultural spheres as well. Till recently such discrimination was institutionalized by the constitution itself. The 1990 constitution defined Nepal as a Hindu state. Such a declaration has cultural ramifications. When the state is declared Hindu and the ruling elites subscribe to the state religion, state mechanisms begin to promote that particular religion, thereby discriminating against other religions. For instance, on a New Moon day Hindus generally don't eat meat. As a result, on that day, goat slaughter and selling of the meat is prohibited in Nepal. Local administrations punish those who violate this unwritten code. This means people from other religions also cannot eat goat on a New Moon day, which amounts to a case of imposing one's religion or cultural practice on others.
Exclusion from state organsExclusion of Madhesis, Janajaatis and Dalits from the state apparatus is an even more serious issue in Nepal. However, when we talk about exclusion, we should also not forget that many so called high-caste families have likewise remained excluded from the state for generations. Since Nepal has remained a feudal society, this exclusion is both caste-based and class-based. But this reality cannot overshadow the other reality that Madhesis, Janajatis and Dalits remain the most excluded from the state apparatus. This exclusion is severe in the administration, the judiciary and even politics.
For instance, according to Govinda Neupane's Nepal Ko Jatiya Prasna, 2001, out of 235 judges in Nepal's judicial system, 181 were Bahun/Chhetri, 32 were Newars, 18 were Madhesis and 4 Janajatis. There was not a single judge from among the Dalits! Similarly, of the 245 heads of public administration, 190 were Bahun/Chherti, 43 were Newars, 3 were Janajatis, 9 Madhesis and again none from the Dalits.

The Integrated Index of Governance prepared by Neupane, taking into account the representation in 12 key public and private sectors, shows that Bahun/Chhetris have a 66.5 percent share in the index though their combined population is only 31.6 percent.

Likewise the share of Newars, Janajatis, Madhesis and Dalits is 15.2, 7.1, 11.2 and 0.3 percent and their population percentage is 5.6, 22.2, 30.9, and 7.8 respectively. (The 2001 census result shows a significant variation in the population composition, which is not taken into account here, to facilitate comparison based on older data).

Challenges aheadThe future challenges in restructuring the state are threefold. 1. Secularization of the state 2. Making the state inclusive, and 3. Recognizing identity and fostering belongingness to the Nepali nation.
Secularization of the state

The interim constitution has declared Nepal a secular state. But undoing Hinduism's place in the state takes time and persistent effort. I am using the term "secularization of the state" in a much broader sense and it encompasses culture and language besides religion. The state becomes secular in a real sense when it does not discriminate between one religion and another, one culture and another and one language and another (except for a practical reason, for instance, accepting one language as the official language).

Making the state inclusive

Exclusion has remained in Nepal for too long and is too deep. And perhaps it could also be one of the most complicated issues to be addressed. This is because exclusion is real not only for certain castes and ethnic groups; instead, it cuts across caste and ethnicity. As Nepal has remained a feudal society since centuries only a handful of families with links and connections to the power elites have benefited from state largesse. Be it during the 104-year Rana oligarchy or the king's absolute rule for 30 years during the Panchaayat system, the ruling elites protected and expanded their vested interests through favoritism.

Those who had connections with the ruling elites or were able to establish connections with them prospered while the majority of the populace floundered in poverty. Mostly it's the Bahun/Chettris who benefited from the largesse of the Shahs and Ranas as they were close to the ruling elites since the very founding of the Nepali state some 240 years ago. But there are also a handful of beneficiaries from various ethnic groups who were used by the rulers as window dressing. From Hira Lal Bishowkarma to Narendra Prasad Choudhary to Parsu Ram Rai to Ranadhir Subba all are examples of such window-dressing. Even the late Harka Gurung, one of the finest scholars and social scientists Nepal has ever produced, was used by the ruling establishment during Panchayat times.
The majority of families in Nepal, across the caste and ethnic divide, are not only poor but have never had a single member in the bureaucracy, judiciary or any other state organ. These are the people who have remained truly excluded from the state apparatus and the real challenge that the Nepali state faces in future is how to increase their participation. Inclusiveness will require some affirmative action but designing such action along caste and ethnic lines alone will institutionalize another form of injustice, against the 600,000 so called high-caste families (Bahun/Chhetris) who are below the poverty line and have never been represented in state organs in generations.
But again not opting for affirmative action would mean continuation of historical gross injustices that currently exist in the country. To sum it up, the real challenge that lies ahead is how to strike a balance between caste and class while designing affirmative action. Recognizing identity and fostering belongingness to the Nepali nation.

The Madhesi movement was for recognition of their identity as equal Nepali citizens as much as it was for fair representation in the state organs. No longer can a centralized and unitary Nepali state represent and promote the identity of Nepal's diverse ethnic groups. Nor do these groups identify themselves with the unitary state. Nepal, therefore, has no option but to opt for federalism. But what type of federation we want to embrace is a big question, so is the basis on which such a federation will be constituted. Many models - ranging from a federation based on geography to consociation of various ethnic groups - have been suggested by different scholars, social advocacy groups and political parties. Since questions of the right model will have to be addressed democratically, the process will be again a key issue. The main challenge, therefore, will be to reach an agreement on the process through which we, Nepalis, will settle the critical issue of restructuring the state.
ameet@kantipur.com.np

Valentine's Day In Shakespeare's Love Equinox: The Birds And The Bees

2007-02-24T22:26:00.001-08:00

Edwin A. Sumcad
February 14, 2007
It only happens in the world of literature. In love, Shakespeare defied Nature’s law by creating his own Vernal Equinox.
Vernal Equinox is “… the first day of the spring season … of the year when the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving northward …” [1] let’s stop here before we reach the edge and fall over the cliff of cosmic science. Here we are talking about love with a spice of literary novelty that knocks at the door of literature which my rusty hand is trying to open.

We are not talking about the Galaxy or about the theory of relativity. We are talking about the birds and the bees in springtime … in Valentine’s Day, if you are Shakespearean. It’s not about Einstein. It’s about Shakespeare. So let’s drop our anchor here before we proceed.

Recalling the rainbow years of my literary days when the sun was shining over the study of Victorian literature as bright as if not brighter than it shines today, it is clear to me that it was Shakespeare who alluded to the 14th day of February as the day sacred to St. Valentine when birds “begin to couple”.

American lexicographer Noah Webster had this lexicon written in stone. [Tryon Edwards, The New Dictionary of Thoughts, Grosset & Dunlap, New York.
It is about six days immediately prior to the 14th day of February [2] that letter carriers bend their back carrying bags of letters and tons of Valentine Cards – approximately half of the total one billion pieces annually -- that profess a lot of love and care for someone dear. [3] This great volume of affectionate cards is second only to an avalanche of Christmas cards that inundates the post office during Yuletide Season.

On top of it, flowers bloom in the heart of lovers – someone’s lover or a lover of someone – and with chocolates and a truckload of gifts, sweep loved ones off their feet!

But let’s say it in a Shakespearean way: It is the time when the birds and the bees start “to couple” – got it?

The preservation of the human specie is no different from the way the birds and the bees preserve their own. As engine of procreation, love works overtime, mostly at night when human couples are too busy working during the day to give each other the required attention, just as bats sleep during the day and works overtime only when the sun is down.

Efficiency-wise, it reminds us of road construction workers who do their thing most cost-effectively from midnight to the first ray of dawn when the flow of traffic is kinder, and roadwork can be done with less obstruction and minimal detractions. On the road, they put the “detour” arrow sign that points “this way”, or “that way to …” In hotel rooms, you don’t knock at the door when you see the “don’t disturb” sign hanging on the doorknob.

Shakespeare would most probably jolt you out of your forty winks. With those peculiar squinted eyes and plaintive smile, Shakespeare would most likely snap: “Don’t knock, it’s occupied. Dig?” That’s because motel rooms are actually “restrooms”. It’s private.

It has been said that Shakespeare’s disciples in the literary world would probe nonchalantly those whose mind snores when attempting to tackle Shakespeare as Shakespeare. In the audience, attention span is normally from narrow to zero. In lectures, there is that irresistible urge to rudely wake them up. I thought of a handy bucketful of ice water that should do the trick.
The sad truth is, high heeled intellectual pretenders would pay handsomely to get to the arts theater to see and attempt to digest and appreciate Shakespeare only for you to see them snore on their seats with their eyes open. The moment you are out of the theater, you cannot talk about the play to a bunch of somnambulists whose minds are blank, and you feel offended when they roll their eyeballs upward because you were trying to strike a conversation which to them was something mentally past midnight.

To me Shakespeare’s emotional tragedy on the stage has also a much more awkward tragedy in the wrong audience

Littérateur extraordinaire, Shakespeare would say in a thousand different words what you think and what I think about the birds and the bees on Valentine’s Day when they “couple”.

The most important point to consider if you want to know more about Shakespeare is that this literary genius may be fiercely dogmatic and brutal in treating the characters of his literary creations -- he stabbed them, choked them, poisoned them, or crowned them with laurels in the throne of success or nailed them down on the cross of failure with unimaginable cruelty like how he exploited the weakness and meanness of man in Macbeth when he wrote about tragic love, trust and treachery with such intellectual aggression and emotional pull, but he was never street-like vulgar, indecently loutish, and has neither been obscene nor has ever been morally compromising with unleashed passion when he wrote his heart out in Romeo and Juliet .

Shakespeare’s natural state of the art skill to obscure the lewd and the obscene [it is not actually what you read or there is more to it than what the words say] when he uses the quill and the ink to good advantage, convinced me that William Shakespeare is one of the smartest brains any investigating scholarly artist may yet discover in the evolving old literary scriptures, and even in the nebulous storybook of modern literature. Trust me for, with conviction, I say this where my mouth, bread and butter have been some years back.

While the legendary fountain has the elixir of youth, springtime has the elixir of love. Yet to Shakespeare it is not in spring but in Valentine’s Day -- just about right in the reclining acme of winter -- that Cupid shoots his arrow and hits the heart and explodes it with infectious love wildly spreading all over the world.
It simply means that Valentine season is when we start to talk about humans, the birds and the bees that “couple”, whereas springtime is about flowers that bloom, which is a strong invitation to romance. It is the Ying and Yang of time when the male pursues the female and vice versa as if it is a natural law only to be obeyed by the living in the animal kingdom.

No one can defy this natural law or go against its powerful command without the specie’s self-destruction [my other self-part in economics established this indomitable finding, i.,e., because of defiance, the progression curve of increase or expansion hits zero and crosses down the negative horizontal axis of the tracking graph]; it is so naturally designed with faultless infinite wisdom that its natural course is like that of the river that only flows downstream, never upstream. Yet, there is a pleasant surprise behind all these.

In literary art as it is in economics, only Shakespeare could make this defiance work with positive results, even turning it into more attractively romantic. At least in the United States and the rest of the northern hemisphere, spring does not arrive until March. If we look at the Gregorian calendar, the first day of spring does not come until in-between March 20th-21st of the year, otherwise known as the arrival of the Vernal Equinox. [Refer to Note (1)] For love, Shakespeare made February the first month of spring.

In springtime, the day is much longer, giving soul-mate seekers ample time for flirting and courting; there is also much more time for the birds and the bees to enjoy life as “couples” loving each other one at a time.
What is happening in spring that makes one feels heavenly attracted to the opposite sex? From the spirit of gardening, Willa Cather has this to say of springtime that seduces the lovestruck:
“The air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust. The air one breathes is saturated with earthy smells, and the grass under foot has a reflection of the blue sky.” [4] Pregnant with possibilities, the earth is there lying naked under the sun, only waiting for someone to touch, this I might add.

But like the river parable, Shakespeare moved springtime upstream -- from March upward to earlier February -- thus breaking the law of the Vernal Equinox. For posterity, American lexicographer Noah Webster recorded Shakespeare’s defiance of Nature’s prescribed law. After all, the literary guru could not be wrong on February the 14th as real love’s dateline ex cathedra. St. Valentine was there to back him up.

It then goes without saying that in love, Shakespeare created his own Equinox. And that’s how powerful the Shakespearean Equinox has become to this day, especially on Valentine’s Day.#
© Copyright Edwin A. Sumcad. Access February 13, 2007

The Philosophy of War

2007-02-19T02:01:00.001-08:00

Dale Netherton
February 18, 2007

With all the striving for peace by those who want to avoid war there is a fundamental oversight that needs to be identified. War is the result of the choices people make and choices cannot be hamstrung by wishes of peace. No matter how fervent the wish, no matter how desperate the wish and no matter what sacrifice required. There is still the choice for some to defend their values from those who would choose to violate them. The surrender of values at the price of peace is simply death in the form of slavery. Living without any chance to obtain and defend values (i.e. by productive effort) is to deny the nature of one’s self. It is the subjugation of that which makes choices i.e. one’s mind .for the wishes of those who hold the sword of intimidation. This was the result of the Taliban, all dictators and all who aspire to enforce beliefs. These are the initiators of that state where fellow humans are placed in a state below their potential. These barbarians exercise their choice to deny choices to others. They cannot be won over by diplomacy. They have rejected reason as venues of agreement and by doing so have started the engine of war. Peace lovers at all cost will perish under this scenario for by rejecting the response to force with force they in effect surrender to the rule of force. They are the sheep that look to the conquerors for mercy and eventually experience a “holocaust” where the peace they sought is a chamber of torture and death. And all because they did not want to prioritize their life and their rational choices above a dream of nebulous “peace” that ignores the bad choices power seekers inflict on the apathetic.
Retaliation is not a word that can be dismissed when dealing with a perpetrator of forceful repression. If a criminal is not retaliated against for performing a criminal act he continues his ways unobstructed. If an invading (or threatening) army is not retaliated against. the victory of their values is assured whether it be repression, conquest , pillage or total submission. Those who cry for diplomacy in the face of treachery, enemy assistance and threats of annihilation can only appeal to those who ignore human nature and fantasize it can be changed. Remember this was the hope of the Soviet Union and observe the results of that hope.
War is not pleasant but neither is fixing a clogged drain under a small sink, but it is a necessary chore. When faced with war or surrender and submission to dictates by fanatics, the choice is clear and must not be compromised by the mobs chanting, demonstrating and opposing. What the mobs are saying is we want to be able to demonstrate but we don’t want to go to war to defend that desire. After seeing what happened to demonstrators in Soviet Russia and a multitude of other repressive regimes just what are they counting on to insure the ability to demonstrate? Demonstrations show desires en masse but they do not necessarily demonstrate a proper policy. They do often reflect opposition which is exactly what war is all about. But war is designed to accomplish a final solution of a conflict between the oppressor and the invaded. This design is often forgotten in today’s age of fighting stalemates without victory or resolution. Man needs war to retaliate against aggressors who attack without provocation to enforce their brand of ideology, conquer and pillage. But retaliation via war serves no purpose without total victory and unconditional surrender of the invading enemy. A half-war as the one with Israel and Hezbollah only left the initiators of that war ( Hezbollah ) with the will to try again. A war that does not have a victor and surrender is merely an ongoing conflict, unresolved, fermenting and waiting for rekindling. The Middle East conflict is a perfect example of this half war policy. Diplomacy has not worked but it is still the hope of the impractical and the foolish. The Six Day War established Israel as a formidable opponent but it did not instill in the enemies of Israel the respect required to leave them in peace. The Six Day War was a sound defeat for Israel’s enemies but subsequent skirmishes have emboldened her enemies to reconsider instituting attacks. The enemy must admit they do not want to consider conquest for a war to be successful. Of course as new generations arise and new invaders are born the lessons of the past may be forgotten but this can have long term effects as the victory of America over Japan and Germany demonstrates.
To summarize the philosophy of war we need to consider the branches of philosophy and how they apply to war. In the metaphysics of war is the reality of war. It is necessary due to the choices of man which may drift into the irrational desire to rule by force which requires retaliation and defense of rational values. In the field of epistemology there are the alternatives of faith and reason. Here faith must yield to reason if war is to be avoided and by the nature of faith this is often not recognized. It follows that retaliation must utilize reason to overcome the dictates of the adherents to faith intent on conquering in the name of the “true’ faith”. The beliefs in superiority have launched a thousand wars. Reason to survive must reject all such notions and be prepared militarily to defend her stature.
In the ethics department war is not about civilized conduct that requires the sacrifice of ones military to “look good in the eyes of the world”. It is not ethical to send soldiers into door to door searches only to face disguised killers posing as innocents. A building of suspects in war is expendable. An American soldier’s life is not. It is not ethical to fight a half way war. Ethical war behavior requires demolishing the enemy and obtaining nothing less than total and unconditional surrender of the enemy. This does not mean favoring one pack of killers over another. If a country is invaded because it is a threat that threat must be removed whether it is a leader or a complete population of zealots fighting to the last person. War by its nature requires ruthlessness. The cruelty of placing our armed forces in harm’s way to be picked off by snipers and suicide bombers is inexcusable and ethically reprehensible.
Finally the politics of war boils down to restricting civilian oversight to setting the objective of victory. The conduct of war is a military activity and must be delegated to the military to accomplish the goal of victory. This is a function of the commander in chief in our form of government where the executive branch oversees the military with approval by Congress under a declaration of war. Once declared it is a military operation and second guesses by political candidates about the conduct of the war is only appropriate if the war is not progressing toward outright victory. War must not be politicized if the cause is just i.e. the defense of the nation is required.
War cannot be dismissed as something that can ever be abolished. There will always be the irrational who seek conquest just as there will always be criminals who will attempt to live off the efforts of those who produce and trade. Those who would say we need to disarm to avoid wars also ascribe to disarming citizens for criminals to loot and kill as they please without fear of retaliation. The saying goes that “War is Hell’ but a far worse Hell would be the inability to wage war against a vicious invading foe. Just as crime can be diminished by proper enforcement policies so too war can be minimized by a philosophy of war that results in victory and a reputation of competence in the conduct of war. It is in the interest of a nation and its citizens to insist on a proper war policy if that nation and the citizens are to survive and prosper. An eclectic pragmatic policy of appeasement and stalemates as we are witnessing is leading us into a perpetual morass of conflict without resolution. This I submit is Un-American.

Why Do Some Affirmations Work - and Others Don't?

2007-02-19T02:01:00.000-08:00

-Sebastian Foss
February 17, 2007
By definition, an affirmation is a statement repeated time and again either verbally or mentally -- or written down. The words of the affirmation statement - in themselves -when spoken, thought of, or written *without* a pictorial (visualized) or emotional connection -- make a very weak affirmation.
Affirmations, when worded correctly -- and when emotionally charged - are able to tap into the unlimited creative power of your subconscious mind, and manifest your desires.
Affirmations are not all created equal. Some are, of course, better than others. There are *power affirmations* that have been proven again and again to work - and I'll reveal some of them in a moment.
When you examine the structure of these power affirmations, you, too, can learn how to create your own powerful affirmations for your specific purposes.
Consider the following:
"I am what I choose to be."
"All my needs are met instantaneously."
"I love and accept myself exactly as I am."
"_____________ comes to me easily and effortlessly."
(Fill in the blank with what you desire.)
"I am now perfectly healthy in body, mind and spirit."
"I now create my wonderful, ideal life."
What do the above power affirmations have in common?
1) They're stated in the present tense.
An affirmation is more effective when stated in the present tense. For example; "I now have a wonderful job." Avoid affirming something in the future tense, e.g. "I am going to have a wonderful job" or the results will always be waiting to happen.

2) They express a positive statement.
Affirmations need to be stated in the most positive terms possible. Avoid negative statements. Affirm what you do want, rather than what you don't want. For example: "I am no longer sick." This is a negative statement. Instead, affirm: "I am now perfectly healthy in body, mind and spirit." This statement is much more powerful as it is positive and reinforces your desired goal and doesn't confuse your subconscious mind with the mention of the undesirable condition.
3) They're short and specific.
Short affirmations are easy to say, and have a far greater impact at the subconscious level than those which are long and wordy. Keeping them specific and to the point adds power as the idea is uncluttered by extraneous elements.
The mechanics that make affirmations powerful are:
* Repetition
The importance of repetition cannot be overemphasized. It imprints the affirmation into your subconscious mind.
* Emotions
Get involved, be passionate, and use your emotions. Think carefully about the meaning of the words as you repeat them rather than just writing, typing or saying them.
* Persistence
Practicing affirmations with persistence achieves results much sooner than practicing them periodically. Successive sessions will have a compounding effect.
* Belief
You don't necessarily have to believe your affirmation initially, in order for it to work. Belief will grow with your forthcoming successes. What you do need is the ability to *feel* what it would be like when the desire you're affirming is fulfilled, or your need met. Every time that you have a need -- and that need is met -- a certain "feeling" is produced in you. You need to evoke that same feeling when you state your affirmation. In other words, you need to feel with every fiber of your being that what you desire has already happened. Without this feeling, your affirmation is powerless.
* Impress Yourself
Personalize your affirmations. They must *resonate* with you -- feel right for you. The stronger your connection with the affirmation, the deeper the impression it makes on your mind, and the sooner you will experience positive results.
So there you have it - the simple formula for creating affirmations that work. Based on the above, you can easily create your own affirmations to manifest any desire or need you have in life.

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Lessions from The Madhesi Movement In Nepal

2007-02-19T01:33:00.000-08:00

-Nished Gautam
On February 7 the Madhesi Movement that was launched on January 19 attained victory in Nepal. The victory has been good enough to get the movement off the streets. The April Revolution last year lasted 19 days and produced 21 martyrs. The Madhesi Movement, the Maghe Kranti, after the Nepali month Magh, this year lasted 21 days and produced 38 martyrs. That goes on to show royal dictatorship is easier to fight than Pahadi prejudice, Bahun prejudice. The April Revolution got rid of an entire regime. Today the Home Minister has to resign as a basic show of respect to the 38 martyred, and the more than 1,000 injured.
Less than 0.1% of the Nepalis in New York City are Madhesi. In America, there is the n-word. In Nepal, there is the m-word. We Madhesi get called madisey, marsya.
I want to briefly touch upon the April Revolution that happened last year in Nepal. I am the only Nepali outside of Nepal who worked full time towards it for about a year before it finally happened. It is my claim that nothing like that has happened in world history. In a country of 27 million people, close to eight million came out into the streets over a period of 19 days to completely shut the country down until the dictator king bowed out. They came out in every single town, every single village, in every hamlet. The movement was total. My favorite story from that revolution is that in this remote village in the middle of nowhere, the women spontaneously came out into the streets banging their pots and pans, chanting "No more cooking! No more cooking!"
If that many people were to come into the streets in China, that would be big. And China is one billion people. And do note that Nepal is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. It is not like people were coordinating with each other using cellphones or MySpace or Facebook, the prime choice of the Obama crowd, or any of these other online tools. The point being, if Nepal can do it, so can any other country, and every other country without democracy should. I think every Arab country should. Countries all over Africa should. Zimbabwe should. Kick Mugabe out. We can envision a total spread of democracy globally, thanks to Nepal.
And also look at it this way. Nepal has 27 million people, Iraq has 27 million people. Nepal proves it does not cost 500 billon dollars, and 3,000 American and over 150,000 Iraqi lives to launch democracy in a country. There is a better way, there is a progressive way. That is Nepal's message to the world. Heck, that is Nepal's message to America.
New York City is a very special place. There is nothing like it on earth. Nepalis in this city played a key role in Nepal's April Revolution. People in this city from all over the world are sufficient unto themselves to engineer a total spread of democracy, all over the world. That is Nepal's message.
The reason I wanted to briefly touch upon the April Revolution is because I intend to argue what happened recently in Nepal for three weeks has been the second chapter of that same April Revolution. That was for democracy and human rights. This has been for social justice.
There are four marginalized groups in Nepal, Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati, Mahila. The Dalit are the low caste people, the so called untouchables. And I think they should all just go ahead and convert to Buddhism. Screw Hinduism and its caste system. The Janajati are the indigenous people, people with last names like Sherpa, Tamang, Magar, Gurung, Rai, Limbu. Madhesi are the people of the southern plains. Mahila is the Nepali word for women. DaMaJaMa. Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati, Mahila.
We Madhesi are taking the lead right now on behalf of the DaMaJaMa. I am a Madhesi. I have been waiting for this movement all my life. Leaders of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, the organization that has been leading this movement, have been on my mailing list, the largest Nepali mailing list in the world, for a long time now. Just the other day, I was on the phone with Jay Prakash Gupta, for example, who until recently was second in command.
Howard Dean organized his entire presidential campaign in 2004 around one blog. My primary tool both for the April Revolution and the Madhesi Movement has been my blog. It has not been jouralism, it has been activism. Welcome to globalization and the internet. There is not a town in Nepal that does not have at least a few internet cafes.
What is happening in Nepal has to be compared to the civil rights movement in America in the 1950s and the 1960s, only we have intended to achieve in one month what the civil rights movement in America achieved in a decade. This is history fast forwarded, this is social revolution 21st century style. I call it nonviolent militancy. You have a few clear basic goals and you shut the country down until those basic goals are met. You get people to come out into the streets in huge numbers. You completely paralyze the state. The movement has to be intense and overwhelming and the victory has to be total.
So who are the Madhesi? What do we want? What are our grievances? How do we hope to achieve them? As to who are the Madhesi? I am one. Just so you know what a Madhesi looks like. We are 40% of Nepal's population. But we are less than 5% in the state bureaucracy, we practically do not exist in the army. In 1991 a Prime Minister said that is because we are "cowards." We are vastly underpresented in the parliament. Less than 0.1% of the Nepalis in New York City are Madhesi. 40% of Madhesis in Nepal have been denied citizenship papers. That statelessness is a fundamental human rights violation. Madhesis without citizenship papers can't vote, they can't buy or sell land, they can't attend college, they can't apply for government jobs, they can't even legally die. It is living hell for them. The cards are stacked against the Madhesi in Nepal. We have been at the receiving end of structural violence for hundreds of years. We have a rich history going back thousands of years, but we are, at the bottom of it all, not even considered Nepali. We are thought to be Indian. We don't belong. That is the suggestion.
So what solution is there? In a few months Nepal is slated to have elections to a constituent assembly. A constituent assembly is the best way to write a new constitution for a new democracy. I have always bought into that. That is not a problem. But if 40% of all Madhesis who have been denied citizenship papers can't vote, and if although half of Nepal lives in the Terai, but it was to get only 80 of the 205 constituencies before February 7, do you think all that is a huge conspiracy to make sure the Madhesi continue to be second class citizens or rather second class non citizens in Nepal? I think so.
Now it has been promised half of all constituencies for the elections to the constituent assembly will be in the Terai. And that is positive. But the Home Minister has still not resigned. 40% of the Madhesis still do not have citizenship papers, and hence no voting rights.
10 years ago a Nepali Congress government, the party that holds the prime ministerial seat also today, put out a report claiming 4.2 million Nepalis have been denied citizenship papers. In a country where 40% of the people are less than 14 years old, people who were six years old back then must be 16 now. So I am guessing today the number of Nepalis who have unfairly been denied citizenship papers is closer to six million. This interim government has said it will issue citizenship papers to three million people before the elections to the constituent assembly so as to solve the citizenship problem "once and for all." That is a conspiracy to keep disenfranchised a huge chunk of Madhesis. And that is not going to fly.
I feel like Nepal is about to be born for the first time ever. You start with 40% of the Madhesis being disenfranchised. You bring that down to 20%, or at least you promise to. And you were to give only 80 of the 205 constituencies to the Terai, as was planned until 38 Madhesis sacrificed their lives protesting it, and of those 80, 40 were likely to have been Pahadi, going by the past pattern of the biggest parties in Nepal. So you were looking at a scenario in the constituent assembly where one Madhesi is not a full person but rather one third of a person. That was the status of the African Americans in the US Constitution in 1776. We Madhesis can not allow that. We are not going to allow that. That is what this Madhesi Movement has been about.
So what should happen next? The very first thing is that the Home Minister has to resign. And we have to end up with a constituent assembly that looks like Nepal in terms of its ethnic and gender composition. I think there should be reserved constituencies for the four groups, the Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati, Mahila. So if there is a constituency that is reserved for Dalits, there still will be elections, but all candidates in that particular constituency have to be Dalit. And all eight parties have to put forth a concrete map for federalism now. Something very similar happened in India after India became independent. And India seems to be doing just fine. Federalism is a sound concept. It is not possible to imagine a sound, vibrant democracy in Nepal without federalism. All eight parties have now agreed to federalism in principle. They did that on February 7. But they have still not produced any maps. We Madhesis want our own state.
And finally I would like to suggest that the Pahadis in New York City should be able to relate to the plight of the Madhesi in Nepal. Nepalis in New York City can't vote. That has to change. We Madhesis are less than 0.1% of the Nepali population in the city. No Nepali is active in the progressive circles in this city like I am, not even close. I think we should work to attain voting rights in this city for the Nepalis here. You are going to stand by me and my people in Nepal, my fellow Madhesis, in their just struggle for equality in the Nepal context. You are going to do that because that is the right thing to do, because the Madhesis will not settle for anything less, and also because it is in your self interest because you need my help here in New York City to earn your right to vote in the city elections. I hope all of us - Pahadi, Madhesi, White, Non-White - can get behind this Madhesi Movement in Nepal to help it reach a successful conclusion, and that is total equality for the Madhesi in Nepal.
To come back to the Iraq parallel. The political class in power in Nepal right now is less than 20% of Nepal, kind of like Saddam Hussein's Sunnis. But unlike in Iraq, in Nepal the 80% are going to attain their rightful place at the table not through a civil war, but through nonviolent protests. I urge all of you to extend your support to the Madhesi Movement in Nepal. We do want a Nepal where everyone is equal, regardless of ethnicity or gender. Let's work towards that.
But now it looks like the Madhesi Movement will have to go back to the streets since the Home Minister has not resigned. If that happens, the movement has to achieve total victory. Nepal has to be declared a federal republic now, the Madhesh state has to be declared now. And the movement will ask for its share in the interim parliament and the interim government.

( cited from Paramendra Bhagat, a Convenor, Coordination Committee, Nepali Organizations In New York City. He blogs at http://www.madhesi.net)

Loktantrik Aandolan of Nepal

2007-02-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

The 2006 Jana Andolan-II or Democracy Movement ( in Nepali : loktantra āndolan) is a name given to the ongoing political agitations against the rule of King Gyanendra of Nepal . The movement is also sometimes referred to as Jana Andolan-II ("People's Movement-II"), implying it being a continuation of the 1990 Jana Aandolan I .

Background:
On February 1, 2005 the royal takeover was further advanced as the King appointed a government led by himself and at the same time enforced martial law. The King argued that civil politicians were unfit to handle the Maoist insurgency. Telephone lines were cut and several high-profile political leaders were detained. Other opposition leaders fled to India and regrouped there. A broad alliance against the royal takeover called the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) was organized, encompassing about 90% of the seats in the old, dissolved parliament.
In December SPA signed a 12-point understanding with the Maoists. Within the framework of that understanding, Maoists committed themselves to multiparty democracy and freedom of speech. SPA, for their part, accepted the Maoist demand for elections to a Constituent Assembly.
At the beginning of 2006, the situation became yet more tense as SPA launched agitation programmes around the country. A series of waves of arrests of opposition leaders were conducted. The agitations reached a peak around the February 8 municipal elections, which were boycotted by the SPA and the Maoists. In total, official figures claimed a participation of about 21%. Opposition sources questioned those claims

(The National Symbol of Nepal :Then ( Jungi Nisan) and Now.)

April general strike:

SPA called for a four-day nationwide general strike between April 5-9. The Maoists called for a cease-fire in the Kathmandu valley. The general strike saw numerous protests. A curfew was announced by the government on April 8, with reported orders to shoot protestors on sight. Despite this, small, disorganized protests continued.
On April 9, SPA announced that it intended to continue its protests indefinitely and called for a tax boycott. The government announced plans to step up its enforcement of the curfew and claimed that the Maoists had infiltrated the protests. Prachanda, the leader of the CPN(M), had said that "this is no longer a protest by opposition parties ... it has become a people's movement," and warned that he himself could lead a revolt in the capital.
Protests continued in the following days, with crowds increasing to sizes estimated at 100,000 to 200,000 in Kathmandu in various estimates, more than 10% of the city population. On April 21, opposition sources claim that about half a million took part in the protests in Kathmandu. More conservative estimates talk about 300,000.
Later the same evening, King Gyanendra announced that he would return political power to the people and called for elections to be held as soon as possible. He called on SPA to nominate a new Prime Minister of Nepal in a speech on a state-owned television station, saying, "We return the executive power of the country to the people. We request the seven-party alliance to recommend a name for the post of prime minister who will have the responsibility to run the government." The position of Prime Minister has been vacant since 1 February 2005 when King Gyanendra removed Sher Bahadur Deuba from office and dissolved the Nepalese Parliament indefinitely. However, the royal proclamation was rebuffed by the opposition. At 3 p.m. the next day, the leaders of SPA met in the capital, and staked out three demands, namely: reinstitution of the old parliament; formation of an all-party government; and elections to a Constituent Assembly that will draft a new constitution.
Reinstitution of Parliament
In a nationally televised address, King Gyanendra reinstated the old Nepal House of Representatives on April 24, 2006.The King called upon the Seven Party Alliance to bear the responsibility of taking the nation on the path to national unity and prosperity, while ensuring permanent peace and safeguarding multiparty democracy.
The reinstitution of Parliament was accepted by the SPA. It declared that Girija Prasad Koirala would lead the new government. The SPA stated that the new parliament will hold elections for a body that would write a new constitution.
The move was rejected by the Maoists. Baburam Bhattarai stated that merely restoring the parliament was not going to resolve the problems and that the rebels planned to continue fighting against government forces. They still demand the formation of a Constituent Assembly and abolition of the monarchy.
On 27 April 2006, however, the Maoist insurgents responded to demands by Girija Prasad Koirala and announced a unilateral three-month truce in the Nepal Civil War. In addition to this, on 1 May, Bhattarai announced that if "the elections [to a Constituent Assembly] are free and fair, one has to respect the result of the elections. Then of course we will abide by the verdict of the people." This was seen as a large step forward as it shows the first signs of Maoist acceptance of the democratic process.
On May 2, Koirala announced the new government cabinet including himself and three other ministers from the Nepali Congress: K.P. Sharma Oli from CPN(UML), Gopal Man Shrestha from Nepali Congress (Democratic) and Prabhu Narayan Chaudhari from the United Left Front. This was followed on May 12 by the arrest of four ministers from the ousted royalist government and an investigation into alleged human rights violations by the army during the General Strike.

18 May Act:

The most dramatic move of the post Loktantra Andolan government came on 18 May 2006 when the Parliament unanimously voted to strip the King of many of his powers. The bill included:
Putting 90,000 troops in the hands of the parliament,
Placing a tax on the royal family and its assets,
Ending the Raj Parishad, a royal advisory council,
Eliminating royal references from army and government titles,
Declaring Nepal a secular country, not a Hindu Kingdom.
The act overrides the 1990 Constitution, written up following the Jana Andolan and has been described as a Nepalese Magna Carta. According to Prime Minister Koirala, "This proclamation represents the feelings of all the people."
However, although they will immediately come into force, the plans are seen as provisional until a new constitution can be drawn up.
May 18 has already been named Loktantrik Day (Democracy Day) by some.

( This article has been published on the occssion of 57th National Democracy Day)

My Words...

2007-02-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

Somewhere hidden inside this big world, Nepal now stands tall, defying autocracy, defying blood shed and defying the war. Nothing can stop the peace, unless there is a will. world ! Learn from us.

Nished Gautam

Kathmandu, Nepal.

Great and Historic Event to build a new Nepal.

2007-02-18T22:34:00.000-08:00

(At the same time, people light candles at Maitighar Mandala welcoming the peace accord.)

2007-02-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

(photo 1 :PM GP Koirala and Maoist supremo Prachanda signing the peace agreement.)
(Photo 2: Congratulation, PM Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist Chairman Prachanda saking hands )

(Photo 3: Talking each other)

(Last Photo: Media’s live coverage.)

2007-02-18T22:22:00.000-08:00

(Political leaders of various party.)

End of the war

2007-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

(The agreement took place at Birendra International Convention Center, Baneswor, Kathmandu. see photo above...)

Much anticipated and long awaited historic deal, Comprehensive Peace Accord, has been signed by the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist supremo Prachanda on Tuesday (Nov21, 2006) evening formally ending Maoist insurgency in Nepal. The entire cabinet, political leaders, foreign ambassadors, dignitaries and members of the international press attended the historic moment at the Birendra International Convention Center (BICC) hall in the capital at 20:25

Ladai Ma Janata ( People in Civil War)

2007-02-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

The real picture of 10 year long civil war.

(Funeral ceromony of Late King , Queen and their family who were killed in The Royal Massacarace in 2001)

(People protesting on the street)

2007-02-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

2007-02-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

2007-02-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

(Nealese soldiers who had shown their bravity, sincerity and courageous in the second war posing for photograph)

(The damaged house by the Maoist)

(Maoist Militia )

(Maios0t combatant )

(The cover page of the book "A people war" .)

Snowfall in valley after 62 years

2007-02-18T21:41:00.000-08:00

For the first time in around 62 years, Kathmandu Valley on Wednesday (Feb 15, 2007) experienced brief snowfall. Areas like Kirtipur, Babarmahal, Lagankhel and others saw snowfall for some minutes. It snowed for about 45 minutes, from 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm at Tribhuwan International Airport. The valley is about 4387 feet above sea level. Meanwhile, most areas in the eastern hilly region saw snowfall, while other areas experienced rainfall.
Jomsom, Sankhu-wasabha, Parbat and some other hilly districts saw about 2-3 feet of snow. The snow along with rainfall was due to the western disturbance in Pakistan and North west India.

2007-02-18T02:20:00.000-08:00

Nished Gautam

Awakening Ethnic Identity and Freedom

2007-02-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

-By Dr Pramod Dhakal

The events unfolding in the eastern terai have made us conscious of the fact that Nepal is boiling under a crisis that is looming along the blurred lines of a struggle for freedom and a struggle for ethnic identity. This blurring has made it difficult for ordinary mortals like me to figure out what is what. This is a painful predicament for people who stand for universal equality of all humans and harmony in the world. When emotions and passions rule over reasoning and aspirations of people take a wrong turn putting “me” against “you” among the oppressed masses, solvable problems become unsolvable ones. It has, therefore, become important for every conscious observer of Nepal to pause for a bit and think of solutions that are compassionate, fair, insightful and lasting.
A handful of visionless and uncompassionate rulers and their henchmen were ruling Nepal for centuries by keeping the population at large in an illiterate, poor, subdued and powerless state. It was next to impossible for the people who were living in perpetual indignity and neglect to experience any event to shore up their self esteem, confidence, emotions and passions. The changes in Nepal that gradually unfolded after 1990, and especially during the 10 years of conflict, brought a heightened awareness among its previously neglected populace. Every belittled human started to figure out that he/she is somebody like every other human and no one could ever dwarf his/her potentials through the continuation of unjust practices.

This awakening is a tremendous blessing for a society that is in a dire need of transformation. This awakening allows the people in power to take huge and bold steps that they could never have taken in the past. Also, it allows them to correct the injustices of centuries in a timeframe of a decade and release fresh energy required to fuel prosperity. Having said that, the same awakening can also turn into a curse if regressive elements become successful in steering it away from a struggle for freedom and turn it into a struggle for ethnic fiefdom. However, who is going to show the oppressed people who are in the process of awakening and searching for that illusive goal of fairness and justice the light?

The answer to this lies in one thing and that is trust. Whoever can gain the trust of the awakened people will be able to steer them to the destiny of his/her choice. It is not difficult to assume that if the trust were to fall in the hands of oppressors, landlords, and the fiefs, the aftermath of the struggle for the people would be no liberation. A challenge has, therefore, emerged in front of all those who stand for human freedom and to those who can expend their intellectual dexterity beyond protest and into a delightful world of serenity and compassion. We are not required to be compassionate to those who are knowingly exploiting the people’s awakening for unethical profit. But we must open our hearts to all those who are awakened with pure sincerity. It would be important to emphasize that others will trust us only if we prove to be trustworthy to them and vice versa.

For the last ten years, the Maoists steered many Nepali people – old, young, men, women, poor, oppressed, and controlled - towards a fight to gain dignity for the oppressed, the devolution of an old feudal power base, correction of old injustices and the construction of a fair society. They showed some of their positive mettle when they demonstrated a balanced sense of representation when sending representatives to the parliament. However, they disappointed many when they could not gain proportionality and federalism in the interim constitution while compromising with the old guard leaders who thought that Nepal had a just, equitable and democratic society in 1990 itself. The Maoists thought that they would fight through the interim parliament but their inability to produce results outright is now being capitalized by regressive elements.

The seven parties (with small exceptions) thought that because they had bowed to the Maoists on every other front, the only big ticket item where they could demonstrate their bravado was in not agreeing on the proposal of proportionality and federalism in the interim constitution. These leaders did not yield to these points in the hopes of limiting the credit that might go to the Maoists for devolving the old state structure of Nepal. However, this was nothing but a sign of attachment to the past. Ideally, it would have been better if their eyes had opened months ago, but it is better late than never; and they have an opportunity to correct their mistakes now. You do not need to do anything for the Terai. You just give what every individual of Nepal who has faced injustices in the past deserves. When a framework for upholding human equality is ensured, people of all ethno-cultural identities will feel a sense of justice including those living in the Terai.

It would be foolhardy to think that most people in the protests are puppets of bad leaders. It is better to think that many people are in the protests not due to any new vision presented by an enlightened leadership but because they are awake and can see that their grievances are not addressed properly by the interim constitution. And, it is also true that some regressive and opportunistic elements have utilized this as a good opportunity to destabilize Nepal; they could not have any better opportunity for pouring ample fuel than when there is fire. That is the reason why hindu fundamentalists and royalists are working day and night to steer this situation to a wrong end.

There is some burden of responsibility on the conscious leaders of the Terai people as well. Spreading an impression with great ferocity, glorifying separation in the same light as liberation! Although such statements inspire us and motivate us, and there are some examples in history that liberations and separations have come together, the destination of any movement depends on its vision, mission, plan, policies, architecture, methodology and system; and, on top of this, a unifying, compassionate, and visionary leadership, and a seasoned management required to deliver lasting liberty, equity, prosperity and peace. I have not come to believe that such mature leadership is in place at the moment in the Madhesi movement. On the contrary, there is a danger for the movement to be exploited by controversial and manipulative elements and opportunists. Fundamentalists opposed to human equality, opposed to democracy, active in bringing back the royalist regime and perpetrators of crimes are shouting as if they are bleeding for the freedom of the people of Madhesh.

We are better off advancing strong and invigorating debates on justice, equity, democracy and a whole host of other areas required to ensure freedom and fairness for all humans – whether they are young, old, men, women, Madheshi, Pahadi, Dallit, Janajati, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and what not. Let us attempt to build a constitution that is accommodative, that encompasses human ingenuity, and is advanced enough to be fitting to today’s connected and conscious world. If such an endeavor proves hopeless, we could all break apart amicably at that point. Let us make a fair attempt first to build one humanity, and, if possible, one world.

(The author is a former faculty member of Tribhuvan University and holds a Ph D in electrical engineering. He is executive director of the Canada Forum for Nepal and lives in Canada)

2006-11-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

-Pratyoush Onta:

The residents of Kathmandu have gotten so used to a range of FM radio broadcasts
that they tend to forget that as late as October 1995, Radio Nepal was the only radio
station that broadcast programs from within Nepal. On 16 November of that year,
Radio Nepal started FM Kathmandu (100 MHz) with its own programs. After being on air for
some months, FM Kathmandu’s program slots were sold to various private operators and
this arrangement continues to date with Classic FM having recently bought all broadcast
hours.

With countries like India and Sri Lanka in the region who have enjoyed a much longer
tenure of democratic freedoms, one would have expected either of them to have hosted the
FM revolution in South Asia. But in all of the countries in the region, FM radio has gone the
furthest in Nepal because of the relatively more flexible legal regime for broadcast media. On
18 May 1997 Radio Sagarmatha FM 102.4 (owned by the NGO Nepal Forum of Environmental
Journalists or NEFEJ) became the first independent station to get a licence. It started its technical

testing phase four days later and its regular broadcast on 24 March 1998. Some months
later, on 14 October 1998, Kantipur FM 96.1 became the first independent commercial
station to go on air (now on 24 hours a day). This was followed by the launch of another
commercial station, K.A.T.H. FM 97.9 (owned by Image Channel FM) on 7 January 1999. Eight
months later, on 18 September 1999, Metro FM 106.7 (owned by Kathmandu Metropolitan)
started its operation. In September 2000, another commercial radio, Himalayan Broadcasting
Corporation FM 94, went on air. From January 2001, one of the former slot operators of FM
Kathmandu, Hits FM 91.2, has started its technical testing broadcast.

Three FM stations outside of Kathmandu started broadcasting regular programs in
the year 2000. Radio Lumbini FM 96.8 in Manigram near the central Tarai town of Butawal
is owned by Lumbini Information and Communication Cooperatives Limited. Radio
Madanpokhara FM 106.9 in the village of Madanpokhara in Palpa district in central Nepal is
owned by the locally elected village development committee, and the commercial
Manakamana FM 92.9 in Hetaunda in the central Tarai is owned by Creative Eyes Multimedia
and Entertainment Company. Apart from Radio Madanpokhara, all the other FM stations are
located in urban Nepal.

FM Radio and the Urbanscape : Seven Considerations

First: FM radio has certainly increased the amount of news available on radio to urban
listeners. Since these FM stations are not supposed to broadcast their own official news
bulletins (as per one of the conditions mentioned in their licence), none of the stations call
their news-oriented programs ‘news’. In terms of content, these programs vary a lot: they
include a reading of the headlines and some main news from major newspapers of the day,
economic reports, sports results, and reportage about literary activities, institutional
events, art exhibitions and other happenings in the Kathmandu society at large. By focus-
76 / Sarai Reader 2001: The Public Domain

FM Radio as Democratic Expression

It might be recalled here that the first licence to an independent FM radio station was issued only eight years ago in May 1997. That licence was given to Radio Sagarmatha. Since that moment of recognition that a radio station could be operated by a non-state owned entity in Nepal, there has been a phenomenal growth in the independent FM radio sector. By the end of 2004, 56 independent operators had been issued licenses, out of which more than 45 stations are already on air. The rest are in various stages of preparation and should go on air shortly barring unforeseen interferences by anti-democratic forces. When all 56 stations go on air, there will be independent radio stations in more than 20 of the 75 districts of the country. More than 40 of the stations will be located outside of the Kathmandu Valley. Apart from those who already have secured their licenses, there are dozens of other institutions who have shown an interest in operating independent radios in parts of the country that do not yet have a radio station. Some of them have already filed their applications for licenses with the concerned authority while others are in various stages of scoping out the possibilities. The spatial distribution of these stations is a clear evidence of democratization in Nepali society. From a Panchayat-era scenario of total media production concentration in Kathmandu, we now have a scene in which almost a third of the districts have a radio station of their own and that number is only going to grow provided we have a democratic environment that will facilitate that growth. This growth has been achieved primarily because of the recognition that people have the right to create broadcasting institutions that fulfill their right to information and their right to exercise their freedom of thought and expression. While the freedom of the print media had been explicitly recognized by Article 13 of the 1990 Constitution, the status of broadcast media on the same issue had been left unspecified in the Constitution. However a landmark decision made by the Supreme Court in July 2001 made up for this inadequacy (that decision is the subject of my article in this paper on 8 July 2004). In essence, broadcast media were assured the same freedoms as those available to print media by the Supreme Court. Apart from the growth in numbers, the ownership pattern of radio stations also reflects the post-Panchayat democratization in Nepali society. NGOs, cooperatives, locally elected bodies and private commercial companies own and manage FM radio stations with their own transmission sets. This possibility in ownership diversity was assured by the National Broadcast Act, 2049 BS. In passing the Act to assure such diversity in ownership, the then people's representatives recognized that the people's right to information and their right to freedom of expression and thought could only be assured by a pluralistic radio ownership model that could not be monopolized by the rich and the powerful elements of society. In addition to institutions who have been given licenses to operate radio stations, there are now several NGOs and private companies (such as Communication Corner) that produce good radio programs that are then broadcast from many FM radio stations located in different parts of the country. Radio stations have also exchanged programs and broadcast them in an effort to share both production resources and facilitate their listeners' knowledge of regions and cultures beyond their primary broadcast area. The spatial distribution of radio stations in different parts of the country, the variety in ownership pattern and the many sources of program production for broadcast over independent FM radio stations are all indisputable facts that suggest how in a democratic environment people will get together to create broadcasting institutions and programs that cater to their information and expression needs. Such an environment also provides the room for radio producers to learn from each other's experiences and provide better services to their listeners at large. As has been often pointed out, radio is the most democratic medium, because it is cheap and can be localized. People in countries with longer encounters with democracy in South Asia, namely India and Sri Lanka, have for long talked about plural possibilities for radio in their respective mediascapes without much to show in terms of achievement. India is mostly doing very expensive, tender-based private radio in the metros. Nepal has gone in the other direction, and this is ideal for a country with so many different identities and region-specific issues. It is for this reason that radio activists in other South Asian countries look up to Nepal's achievements to argue for a more democratic radio operation environment in their own countries. Much of what I have said here has been said before by myself and many others who have worked toward making independent FM radios a robust constituting element of a democratic Nepali society. While there are inadequacies in the independent radio sector (as has been discussed elsewhere), its achievement constitute a slap in the face to those who make it their business to repeat the cliché that 'nothing happened during the era of multiparty democracy.' In repeating myself I join the many other voices of opposition against the draconian efforts to silence FM radio stations, radio journalists and program producing institutions. These efforts by anti-democratic cabals operating from known and unknown quarters have to be opposed and ultimately defeated through the ongoing movement of all who cherish the right to be able to think for oneself and who consider the existence of independent FM radio stations and program producers as an expression of that right. Written by:Pratyoush Onta

FM Radio and the New Urban Public in Nepal
P R AT YO U S H O N TA:

ing mostly on the ‘non-political’, these FMs have already stretched the definition of news.
Second, FM radio has increased the amount of what can be called ‘everyday life’ information.
This includes information about special events, traffic flows in the city, weather forecast,
flight schedule, bus schedule, market prices for vegetables and fruits, air pollution
readings, health tips and horoscopes (for those who believe in them). In addition, FM radio
has provided ‘live’ information about events such as elections, religious gatherings, and
national celebrations.
Third, FM radio is assisting the distribution of knowledge in new forms over the radio
waves. This is being done through programs designed to cater to various curiosities - about
contraceptives and careers, music and movies, stage and sports, language and literature,
health and hobbies and so on. Some of this new knowledge is executed through ‘quiz’ formats,
while others come in the form of chat programs and musicals. Some of this new
knowledge is superfluous but it being on air is a kind of knowledge democratization at work.
Music production has received a shot in the arm due to FM radio.
Fourth, FM radio has increased the amount of social analysis available on radio through
various programming formats. In the form of a monologue it comes as anonymous or attributed
response from persons walking on the streets (‘vox pop’ in radio parlance) or as commentary
from noted social critics such as Rhituraj, Chatyang Master, D. P. Bhandari and
Kishor Nepal (alas, they are all male!). As dialogue, such social analysis comes in the form
of one-to-one interviews between the host and her guest or in the form of multiple dialogues
between the host(s), guests and listeners who call in by phone (e.g., Dabali in Radio
Sagarmatha). Frequently, others have participated in such discussions by sending in their
queries by mail, fax or email before the programs go on air. Such analysis can also be found
in feature reportage focused on a specific theme as innovated by the early team of ‘Hamro
Khaldo’ in Radio Sagarmatha. Some of the subjects covered by these programs have never
been discussed over radio before, and others have received critical treatment impossible
to find on Radio Nepal. This kind of analysis is being done in Nepali and Newari already and
will emerge in other languages as the FM revolution spreads across Nepal.
Fifth, FM radio’s interactions with government officials and politicians have added to
the collective knowledge of urbanites regarding (mis)governance in Nepali society. Similarly,
discussions with practitioners of other professions have demystified specialist knowledge,
intellectually empowering the community of listeners.
Sixth, FM radio has increased the amount of oral history available on the radio. This
has been achieved through programs that present the life history of a ‘big’ person in his own
voice (Mero Kath) or through a profile of a ‘subaltern’ made by a reporter. Alternatively,
personal history often related to love tragedies (but occasional successful romances) has
become very popular in the form of letters to host Kalyan Gautam ("Dear Kalyan" is how
these letters begin in Mero Katha, Mero Git in Hits FM). Interviews by Bhairab Risal with
older folks in Uhile Bajeka Palama are also of this genre.
Seventh, FM radio programs have encouraged cross-media reference as a routine
practice of urban knowledge. While newspaper content has long been read over FM radio,
programs aired have influenced the print media as well. For example, since FM reports highlight
local sports events, broadsheet dailies have had to follow suit by increasing their cov-
Old Media/New Media Ongoing Histories / 77
erage of local sports. Additionally radio program hosts are bringing Internet content
to listeners who do not have direct access to the net and more radio programs are
increasingly becoming available in the Internet.
These seven points hardly exhaust the new knowledge urbanscape FM radio has
helped to generate in Kathmandu. But my intention is not to be exhaustive. Rather it is to
point out suggestively how FM radio is contributing to a new kind of urban public domain in
Kathmandu.
FM Radio and the New Communities
In this section I highlight FM radio communities and discuss their significance for the new
urban public sphere. Why highlight these communities some of which are ‘imagined’ at best?
What have they got to do with the new contours of our urban life? As will be clear from the
examples discussed below, FM radio is not only what goes on air. It is as much what
happens off air. If the programs aired are engendering a new public sphere, then the
communities that produce them and the communities, in turn, produced by them are important
elements of that sphere. The skills, intentions and desires of these communities define
for us some of the broad contours of our own experience of the new city.
First in the list of real communities is FM owning institutions. While Radio Sagarmatha
is owned by an NGO, commercial companies own Kantipur FM, K.A.T.H. FM, HBC FM, Hits
FM, and Manakamana FM. Locally elected government bodies own Metro FM in Kathmandu
and Radio Madanpokhara in Palpa. Radio Lumbini is owned by a cooperative. Companies,
cooperatives, local governments and NGOs are real institutional communities that have
taken up the new challenge of managing an FM station (this variety in ownership is an important
indication of the pluralism possible in radio in the region). The stations might not have
all the skills necessary for optimum operation but they are certainly learning on air. Off-air
they have even tried promotionals such as blood drives, child health camps, music awards
and anti-pollution campaigns to bolster their on-air image.
The group of program producers who either work as freelancers or are employed by
various FM stations comprises the second real community. When serious talk about FM
radios started in Nepal some seven years ago, many wondered where the people who
would run these stations would be found. That worry was genuine but exaggerated. After
all, we have found the people - program producers, technical experts, reporters, talk show
hosts, and music jockeys - indigenously, however inadequate their present skills might be.
Apart from individual producers, we also now have institutional program producers. For
instance, Communication Corner headed by Gopal Guragain in Kathmandu currently
produces a half-hour program called Kayakairan that is simultaneously broadcast over the
three FM radio stations outside of Kathmandu three times a week. Its aim is "to bring
listeners from outside the Valley emotionally close to the center by providing them up-dates
on happenings in Kathmandu". While the program cassettes have to be sent by bus at
the moment, with infrastructural developments, those stations will be able to download the
programs from the Internet directly.
The third real community comprises of a different type of producers - lyricists, musicians,
singers and others related to the music industry. They have benefited from the FM
78 / Sarai Reader 2001: The Public Domain
boom, as there are now more outlets for their creations. Equally, the stations can choose
from a larger pool of talent. But this subject deserves a separate treatment by more knowledgeable
analysts.
The fourth real community comprises of a few FM activists. The Community Radio
Support Centre (headed by Raghu Mainali) of NEFEJ provides support to any institution interested
in opening a community radio station. The Centre will do feasibility studies for them
and give hands-on training to program producers. Communication Corner, the Centre for
Development Communication, Nepal Press Institute and some other organizations have
done research on different aspects of FM and have produced some useful manuals. Mainali
has also filed a writ in the Supreme Court challenging rules imposed by the government on
FM stations that, according to him, violate the Constitution of Nepal and the National
Broadcasting Act 2049. If the Court agrees with him, it will become easier to establish and
run FM stations.
FM radio has also given birth to new imagined or transient communities whose own
importance cannot be underestimated. Constituents of these imagined communities come
in two forms. First are news communities: people and institutions that are interested in
having news about their activities broadcast over radio and people who listen to such broadcasts.
In examining my incomplete records, I was surprised to find just how many members
of this community sent news of various happenings to Radio Sagarmatha’s Halchal program
during a two-month period in mid-1999.
The second imagined community consists of listeners of specific programs such as
Upendra Aryal’s musical Bihani Yatra or Kalyan Gautam’s Mero Katha, Mero Geet. He is by himself.
But he knows that, at that very moment, there are many others listening to the same program.
He will never meet most of them, yet he will feel like he is one with them - an imagined
community of the sort that has been made famous in social science parlance by Benedict
Anderson. FM radio has created many such imagined communities of fans of particular
stations, specific programs or their hosts. At times, a letter of praise or complaint against the
host for being partisan toward other members of the imagined community breaches the
anonymity, but it is never seriously done. On other occasions, such imagined communities
become a bit more real when, for instance, some FM fans went to Sundarijal for a picnic to
celebrate the new year 2000, or fans of Prakash Sayami’s program on ‘eternal’ Nepali songs
met to advance their common interest. Faces were put to known voices heard over the
airwaves but the community was a transient one at best. The fans soon returned to living their
own individual friendships with FM. As critic C.K. Lal put it nearly three years ago, FM is a good
friend to have in the city when families consist of atomized individuals.
Management, production, training, researches, publication and support skills that have
been developed in the context of FM radio are important assets not only for the field of
media but also for urban life and Nepali society at large. Many of these skills have been
transferred from other professions and they in turn will be passed on to other trades.
Whatever might be their trajectories, the communities that possess them are real and they
are here to stay. The imagined communities are also no less important for without them the
circuit of FM broadcast will not be complete. The future of our collective urban imagination
is richer by their presence whatever the politics of taste for FM programs might be.
Old Media/New Media Ongoing Histories / 79

December 24, 2004
Nepal Local FM radio broadcasts the wonderful experience of a young man in Nepal
Local FM radio broadcasts the wonderful experience of a young man in Nepal whose only worry in life was that no girl would marry him. Dr. Birsen Gokyigit, a Seva Volunteer took care of his problem. He feels so confident that he shares this wonderful experience in the local FM radio.
Parami Dhakhwa reports from Nepal
Seva Volunteer, Dr. Birsen Gokyigit
Nov 12th 2004: Arrived NepalNov 13th 2004: Flew to Bharatpur, King Mahendra Memorial Eye HospitalDec 9th 2004: Flew back to Kathmandu and also departed from Kathmandu.
Dr. Birsen Gokyigit of Turkey volunteered on behalf of Seva at King Mahendra Memorial Eye Hospital (KMMEH) Chitwan, Nepal for almost a month. Dr. Gokyigit was introduced to Seva by Dr. J. Merten, a long time Seva Volunteer to Nepal. Rotary International sponsored Dr. Gokyigit’s visit. While she was in Nepal, she dedicated her full time to the patients of Bharatpur. She worked for long hours in the hospital and performed various surgeries.
Every day she examined patients at the outpatient department and in total she performed about 70 surgeries. Especially small children and adult patients with squint benefited from her service.
Lot of patients who had squint took advantage of Dr. Birsen's visit. Prior to her visit squint patients who needed surgery had to travel to Kathmandu, the capital city, to have the surgery. It is very expensive for people to travel to Kathmandu and have surgery. So, generally people lacked proper treatment. Dr. Birsen's service made the treatment of such patients possible at their own community. She performed squint surgery to patients ranging from age 5 to 20. All the patients who had surgery were very happy with the result. One guy felt extremely lucky to have his squint corrected. He was about the age of 20. He worried that no girl would marry him because of his squint. After having the operation he said that he was very happy and he felt confident about himself and will soon find a girl to marry. He was even interviewed in local F.M. station to share his wonderful experience of the operation.
Dr. Birsen also created history by performing surgery to small children. With the help of anesthelogist from General Hospital at Bharatpur, she performed surgery to small kids. Had she not been there these children would have to travel either to Shree Rana Ambika Shah Eye Hospital, at Bhairahawa or to Kathmandu.
Dr. Birsen was not only good at her clinical work but she was also a very disciplined person. She demonstrated qualities a good staff of a hospital should have. She showed other staffs how a patient should be treated and the importance of punctuality and hard work at any working place.
We would like to thank all the wonderful people who made Dr. Birsen's visit to Bharatpur possible. We would also like to express our especial thanks to Dr. Birsen for her excellent service towards the people of Bharatpur.

Community Radio in Nepal
An Interview with Bharat Dutta Koirala published on BRIEFING DOCUMENT: COMMUNITY RADIO IN INDIA, Proceedings of an Internet Conference on The Hoot November 30, 2001 to February 10, 2002
Interview by SEVANTI NINAN
Q: What is the current status of community radio in Nepal, how many independent stations are now running? Could you please give some names and locations.
Out of the 22 independent radio stations now operating in Nepal, four can be called community stations. The others are referred to as commercial stations but most of them have strong public service contents in their programming. Nepal's National Broadcasting Act does not provide clear distinction between commercial and community stations. The community radio stations are identified by their ownership and the power of the transmitters they use. Since license fees are based on the transmitter's capacity, from Rs. 50,000 for using a 100 watt transmitter to Rs.200,000 for using a 500 watt transmitter, the communities prefer to use low power (100 to 200 watts) transmitters since they have very limited financial resources. All of the private stations are on the FM band since the law specifies that private groups can operate radio stations only on the FM band.
Of the four community radio stations one is located in Kathmandu and the other three are in western Nepal. Radio Sagarmatha was established as a community radio with a 100 watt transmitter. But since it has been providing its service to listeners in the whole Kathmandu Valley, along with six other commercial stations, its role has gradually changed from that of a community station to a popular public service station. It has been constantly expanding its programmes, in terms of time and diversity, and because of this expanded role it decided to increase its transmitter's power from 100 watts to 500 watts. The other community radio stations are: 1. Radio Madanpokhara which is located in Palpa District of Western Nepal. It is is owned and operated by the Village Development Committee of Madapokhara. 2. Lumbini FM is located at Manigram which is close to the industrial and commercial town of Butwal, also in Western Nepal. It is owned and operated by a cooperative formed by local entrepreneurs and journalists. 3. Swargadwari FM is located in the town of Ghorai, the headquarters of Dang District in Western Nepal. It is the newest among the community stations and has just started its test transmissions.
Of the private commercial stations there six in Kathmandu, four in Pokhara (a tourist town in Western Nepal), one in Bharatpur (Synergy FM) to the South of Kathmandu, one in Hetauda (Radio Mankamana), one in Itahari (Saptakoshi FM) in Eastern Nepal, one in the industrial town of Biratnagar (Koshi FM) and the re-transmitting station of Kantipur FM at Bhedetar in Eastern Nepal. Metro FM owned and operated by the Kathmandu Municipality, the environmental station in the process of being wset up and owned by an environment NGO (SEF) and the Spiritual FM (also in the process of being established) are three stations which have definite target audiences and have a public service motive.
There are at least 25 applications pending with the Government. No licenses have been issued in the past few months.
Q: How many of these are community owned and managed?
As already described above four of the existing 22 stations are owned and managed by local communities. Radio Madanpokhara is owned by the Village Development Committee, the lowest rung of the government structure. Radio Lumbini and Swargadwari are owned by local cooperatives and Radio Sagarmatha is owned by Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists. Among the 25 applications yet to be reviewed by the govlernment many of lthem are for community stations. In most cases local individuals have set cooperatives and then applied for licenses. However, in all cases there arfe broad-based broadcasting committees that oversee the work of the stations and are involved in making policies and deciding on programming.
Q: What has been the experience of Nepal in financing community radio? Has finance been easy to come by? Is it possible to give an approximate figure of what it costs to set up a small community radio station? What would be its reach?
The first two community stations in Nepal, Radio Sagarmatha (set up in 1997) and Radio Madanpokhara (set up in 1999) were financed through IPDC (UNESCO) grants. They have since then been supporting themselves both through donor assistance for specific projects and through their own income from advertising and sponsored programms. Both are now largely self-supporting. Lumbini FM at Manigram was set up by a cooperative with an initial investment of US$10,000 raised from among the members of the cooperative. Since then they have expanded their facilities both through their own income from advertising and sponsorship and a grant from DANIDA to set up a second studio and to buy a new transmitter. Swargadwari FM in Dang, too was set up by a cooperative with their own money but DANIDA provided the initial expenses to buy transmitting and studio equipment. They seem confident they will be self-supporting once they go on the air with their regular programmes. Finance has not been the main problem with the community radio movement in Nepal. Many communities that have applied for licenses plan to raise their own investment money, and in some cases, they have already done so. There are several donors who realize the value of community broadcasting in a country like Nepal and ready to offer assistance in setting up community stations. The real bottleneck is in the licensing process. Even though the process is very clear in the National Broadcasting Act and the National Broadcasting Regulations, the government has failed to promptly review the applications and grant licenses where the pre-requisites have been met.
It is difficult to say exactly how much it costs to set up a community radio station since a lot depends on the local circumstances. From our own experience we have found that a station like Radio Sagarmatha which serves a population of over a million people requires more than US$30,000 to set up the station. The operating costs are also relatively high. A really rural station like Radio Madanpokhara was set up and fully equipped with less than US$20,000. Based on these experiences we figure it will cost US$15,000 to make a rural-based station fully operational while an urban-based station will cost about US$30,000.
But, it must be remembered that community radio can be set up and broadcast with much less since all it takes is a transmitter and a few microphones to go on the air with local programms. What is required is the motivation and enthusiasm of the local community to use the medium.
Q: What is the most common source of financing, is there any financing by the community? Is there any revenue from advertising?
In all cases there has been some local financing. While some received initial funding from UNESCO or DANIDA, there were others that raised money locally both to set up and operate their stations. In the case oworried about financing. In tghe case of the Manigram station, they have so much advertising that they are no longer worried about financing. Radio Madanpokhara has saved enough money to money property and building a new structure to house a studio and offices. Swargadwari FM has raised enough money to operate the station; donor money was used to buy equipment. Madanpokhara holds period meetings of the community to discuss how more resources can be mobilized to make the station sustainable. Yes, there is some advertising revenue in all cases. These stations, not being commercial, have a policy to broadcasting limited number of advertising messages and be more selective in the type of advertisements to be accepted by the station.
Q: Is there much interference from the government in running community radio?
Surprisingly, there has not been much interference from the government. One of the conditions imposed at the time granting the license is to broadcast Radio Nepal's main news, which all stations do. Recently, the independent stations received a letter from the government to use 25% of their time in broadcasting programms of Radio Nepal. The stations decided not to do it and the Minister of Information and Communication claimed he was unaware of such a letter. On the whole the stations are quite independent. What is sad is that the government is not issuing licenses on a continuing basis. Q: In countries like lndia fear of misuse in insurgency is cited as a common reason for not permitting community radio stations. Given the Maoist insurgency in Nepal how has community radio managed to be permitted by the government?
Fear of misuse in insurgency is only an excuse for not granting licenses to operate community radio stations. In Latin America where there are thousands of community radio stations, there has not been cases of such stations being taken over or misused by insurgents. In the Philippines where there are many community radio stations, even in the area most affected by insurgencies, the radio stations continue to operate and serve their communities. Insurgents are not interested in local stations, they would rather capture government stations which are better endowed and have wider reach. Besides, insurgents are often members of communities that operate the stations and would, therefore, like to see the station continue to inform and entertain the community. In Nepal, none of the stations have become the targets of the Maoist insurgency even though the stations exist in some of the most sensitive areas. Frankly, the flow of information that local radio stations generate is the best safeguard against insurgency. Local stations are the most effective means of promoting democratic education.
Q: What sort of safeguards are there against such radio stations being hijacked by people with political agendas? Have the Maoists established or attempted to establish any radio stations?
It is true that unscrupulous politicians could try to hijack such stations with their own political agenda. But there are enough safeguards to prevent this from happening. First, the legal framework should provide the initial safeguards. In the case of Nepal, the National Broadcasting Act clearly states that private radio stations should not be used for a political purpose, rather it should be a medium for the education and entertainment of the people. Second, the broad-based broadcasting committee which the community appoints to oversee the work of the station should be so balanced that no individual or party can hijack the station. Third, since the stations are on the FM band, they are able to reach only the members of the community who react promptly to any attempt by politicians to impose their agenda. There was a piece of news a few weeks ago which spoke about a Maoist radio station in the mid-western hills. It did not specify where exactly the station was and what it broadcast. There has not beenany other information to corroborate the published news item.
Q: Now that stations like Sagarmatha have been running for a few years,What sort of problems are cropping up here, or elsewhere if any?
Yes, Sagarmatha has been running since 1997 and it has been able to establish itself as a free, independent and high credible station. Since most of the private radio stations are of commercial nature, Radio Sagarmatha has the distinction of being the only public service stations that could survive the competition. There several problems that the station has faced. First, how to survive with limited advertising and more educational service-oriented programmes. Second, how retain creative and dynamic journalists and producers in a competitive world. Two such producers are working at the BBC in London. Third, how to learn management techniques (of running radio stations) on a continuing basis. Fourth, how to create a marketing strategy and a dynamic marketing team in a small, low-cost station. Finally, how to motivate volunteers who could produce programmes without posing a burden on the limited resources.
Q: Is sustainability becoming a problem or not?
Sustainability is a topic that always comes up when there a is discussion on community radio stations. I found the same thing in the Philippines where there are many community radio stations that have been operating for a nunmber of years. The question of sustainability comes up because many such stations have been set up through grants by donors with the initial misgivings that the communities would not be able to manage the stations once the support is with drawn. The very fact that most of the stations are running, many of them are doing very well and some have even saved enough to expand their facilities and services confirms our belief that community radio can become fully sustainable. But, to be able to do so, the community must be intimately involved in the planning, establishment and operation of the station. Once the people feel that it is their station, that they must run it, and that it must continue to serve the community, the station will become sustainable. Any outside support should be limited to purchase of new equipment and training in techniques and management.
When we have many stations, there will be some which will do very well,some will manage to exist, while a few may even close down. This is a fact of life we must accept. But, looking at the present status of community radio in Nepal there is every reason to expect the existing stations to become fully sustainable.

Source: The Hoot

2006-09-25T04:37:00.000-07:00

2006-04-27T03:44:00.000-07:00

Int'l Community Welcomes Royal Address

THT Online

Kathmandu, April 27:The European Union (EU) has urged the implementation of the King's announcement to reinstate the House of Representatives without further ado.

The EU took careful note of the royal proclamations on April 21 and April 24 and the Nepali people's reaction to the twin addresses. It also welcomed the monarch's decision to hand back sovereignty to the people.

"EU fully supports the Nepali people in their aspiration for peace and democracy." The EU has also called on alliance leaders to work out a roadmap for the establishment of peace and democracy in the country.

"Action is needed without delay to restore peace to the country and to put in place a democratic, accountable government," said an EU press release issued on Wednesday.

The EU also welcomed the alliance's nomination of Girija Prasad Koirala as Prime Minister. The EU expects security forces to refrain from using force against pro-democracy demonstrations and to be prepared to work under a democratic government, the statement said.

"The EU continues to urge the transition of the CPN (Maoist) into the democratic political mainstream, but this process must include the renunciation of violence and decommissioning of weapons," said the release.

The EU expressed its commitment to facilitate the functioning of all democratic institutions in Nepal.Meanwhile, Australia also welcomed the reinstatement of parliament. "I welcome King Gyanendra's April 24 announcement that the Nepalese parliament is to be reinstated and will recommence sitting on April 28," said Alexander Downer, Australian minister for foreign affairs in a press statement.

He said Australia supported Nepal's return to multiparty democracy and called on the political parties to join hands to form a responsible and effective government."The Maoists should now cease armed violence, turn to mainstream politics and support the rebuilding of peace, democracy and social development in Nepal," Downer said while expressing Australia's commitment to monitor developments here closely.UK foreign office minister Kim Howells also welcomed King Gyanendra's announcement. "This is a tribute to the Nepali people's desire for democracy and peace. We therefore welcome the King's announcement and the reinstatement of parliament," said Howells in a press statement.The statement said that with the return of multi-party democracy and a government with full executive powers, the moment that the political parties were long looking for had come."The Maoists now need to prove their commitment to democracy by giving up violence and by entering into a peace process with the new government, beginning with ceasefire," the release said.The minister reiterated the UK's readiness to assist the new government and the people of Nepal, while also promoting peace, democracy and development in the country.Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Norway would resume its financial assistance following the King's announcement.

2006-04-26T02:01:00.000-07:00

Nepalis cautious over king's move

They came in their thousands, young and old, men and women, all marching along the ring road that encircles the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu

Tens of thousands of Nepalese had planned to attend a major opposition rally in protest against the king. Instead, they found themselves rallying for victory.
The king's late night announcement that he was restoring the country's parliament has been welcomed by the political parties which on Tuesday named veteran leader Girija Prasad Koirala as their candidate for prime minister.
"The new parliament will meet on Friday, an interim government will be formed and we will pass resolutions on beginning a dialogue with the Maoist rebels as well as holding elections to a constituent assembly," Communist Party (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal told the BBC.
However, in a strong statement, the Maoists rejected the king's move and said by welcoming the royal proclamation, the parties were making a big mistake.
Senior Maoist leader, Baburam Bhattarai, told the BBC Nepali service that merely restoring the parliament was not going to resolve the problems and that the rebels planned to continue fighting against government forces.
The Maoists and the seven party opposition alliance struck a 12-point agreement last year, which included agreeing to set up an interim government and a constituent assembly.
The Maoists control vast swathes of the countryside and are also heavily armed, one reason why they command a high degree of influence.
Many people also believe that the Maoists have not given up on their goal of turning Nepal into a communist republic.
Flashpoint
Not surprisingly, the mood on the streets of Kathmandu is mixed.
While there is an overwhelming sense of relief that the protests have come to an end, many feel that merely restoring parliament is not enough.
The neighbourhood of Kalanki, in the south-east of the capital, has been one of the flashpoints of the rallies - three protesters were killed here last week, shot dead by police.

Some 20,000 protesters gathered here on Tuesday, chanting and cheering.
But in a reminder of the violence that had taken place, many in the crowd held posters and placards with pictures of the dead men.
"We want justice for those who have died," said one protester, Madhav Gurung.
"The police commander who ordered the shooting must be arrested and tried," he said.
Bikash Sharma, 29, teaches English at a local college.
He said the protesters would not be satisfied until the king was overthrown.
"A constituent assembly is needed so that we can have the people's mandate. The king must be replaced by the people's man."
While many welcomed the appointment of a new prime minister, others warned that the political parties should not squander the opportunity.
"The politicians should not fight among each other as they have in the past and try and pursue personal agendas," said another protester, Gyanendra Bhattarai.
"GP Koirala needs to improve on his previous performance," he said.
Mr Koirala has been prime minister on three previous occasions but Nepal's experience of democratic government has been an unhappy one.
The country has had 13 prime ministers since parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1990. Internal bickering and political rivalries meant that all the prime ministers were unseated by rivals before they had completed a term.
Moreover government corruption was seen as a widespread problem by Many Nepalis.

By Sanjoy Majumder BBC News, Kathmandu

From BBC

2006-04-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

Nepalis celebrate protest victory

Thousands of Nepalis have held a victory rally in theKathmandu after the king gave in to their demands to reinstate parliament. The seven party opposition alliance said it had called off its weeks of demonstrations and a nationwide strike.

It has chosen former Prime Minister GP Koirala to head a new government.

But Maoist rebels behind a 10-year insurgency rejected King Gyanendra's deal with the opposition, and vowed to continue blockading the capital.

People gathered for the victory rally, waving party and national flags, and shouting slogans against the king from the roofs of vehicles.

"Gyanendra, thief, leave the country," shouted some protesters who had gathered near the royal palace, saying they would not stop demonstrating until the king was stripped of his powers.

'Ploy'

Meanwhile the city began to return to normal, after a crippling strike. Taxis were back on the streets, shops were reopened, and mobile phone connections were restored. Riot police were still in evidence, though.

Despite the hardships imposed by the strike, Nepalis insisted it had been worthwhile.

"It is only a small sacrifice for the good of the country," said Sabita Tamang, who has earned nothing from her grocery store for three weeks.

"The prices of food went up so high I had to cut down on what I eat," said Rajendra Sahi, a college student.

He added: "The people have done their part. Now it is the leaders who need to do theirs.

" The king assumed direct powers in February 2005, saying opposition parties were failing to manage the Maoist insurgency.

Communist Party (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal told the BBC the formation of a new government would be "the first step towards a constituent assembly", which would be tasked with redrawing the constitution.

Maoists' next move

But the Maoists said in agreeing the deal with the king, the opposition had betrayed an agreement it made with them in November, which called for fresh elections and an end to an "autocratic monarchy".

The king's concession was "a new ploy to break the Nepali people and save his autocratic monarchy", said Maoist leader Prachanda in a statement.

Until the November agreement was implemented in full, they would blockade Kathmandu and all district capitals, the statement added.

Another senior rebel, Baburam Bhattarai, told the BBC: "The minimum demand is a free election to a constituent assembly."

King's address

During the recent protests, the demonstrators had repeatedly defied shoot-on-sight curfews despite the deaths of 14 people. Girija Prasad Koirala will head the new government In a late-night TV address on Monday, King Gyanendra expressed his "heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the people's movement and wish the injured speedy recovery". He added: "We are confident that the nation will forge ahead towards sustainable peace, progress, full-fledged democracy and national unity." He said the lower house of parliament would reconvene on Friday. The US welcomed the king's announcement and said he should now consider assuming a "ceremonial role". More than 13,000 people have died in the Maoist insurgency. Violence has escalated since the rebels ended a truce in January - although they declared a ceasefire in Kathmandu this month as the street protests began.

New York Times

2006-04-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

In a Retreat, Nepal's King Says He Will Reinstate Parliament
KATMANDU

Binod Joshi/Associated Press
There were street celebrations in Katmandu, Nepal, after King Gyanendra went on television late this evening to concede to the demands of the angry pro-democracy demonstrations.

A four-hour television series and interactive web site by The Times, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the ZDF network of Germany.

His offer came on the eve of what were billed as the largest demonstrations to date. The political parties that began the protests 19 days ago had been preparing to encircle the city center on Tuesday. Instead, celebrations broke out late Monday night on the streets of the capital, Katmandu.
"We are confident this house will contribute to the overall welfare of Nepal and the Nepali people," the king, looking ashen, told the nation in an address broadcast on state-owned television. "We are confident that the nation will forge ahead toward sustainable peace, progress, full-fledged democracy and national unity."
For the first time, the king acknowledged the protests that have prompted hordes of Nepalese to defy shoot-on-sight curfew orders and have brought the capital to a virtual standstill. At least 13 people have been killed by police officers and soldiers since the demonstrations began. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost their lives to the people's movement," the king said.
He did not, however, explicitly address the demands for a referendum to redraw the nation's Constitution and let the Nepalese people decide on the future of the monarchy. The vote on the Constitution is a principal demand of the Maoist rebels, who have fought a bruising 10-year insurgency to defeat the monarchy.
They have lately linked arms with Nepal's political leaders and offered their blessings to the protests. Their influence has also been felt on the streets, with demonstrators ever more loudly calling for the end of the monarchy.
Whether the Maoists, Nepal's political leaders and the people in the streets would allow King Gyanendra to hold onto the monarchy remained an open question. It also remained to be seen whether the king's latest concession would be resisted by the more radical members of the opposition.
"This is the victory of the people on the street," Ram Chandra Poudel, a central committee member of the Nepali Congress Party, said minutes after the king's address.
The Maoists issued no comment on the king's speech on Monday night. But the previous night, the army said, they attacked government buildings in a small town barely five hours by road from the capital, luring the Royal Nepalese Army into a gunfight that killed six people, including one soldier.
Initially at least, protesters and political leaders greeted the address with glee, though the king stopped short of fulfilling what for him is certainly their most unpalatable demand: his abdication. The king did not renounce the throne, only the power he seized 14 months ago and retained with the help of the security forces under his command.
Certainly, he also gave up more than he had intended. Only three days ago, the king offered to allow the political parties to appoint a prime minister of their choosing. The parties turned down that offer, pinched as they were between pressure from the Maoists, their angry foot soldiers on the street, and their own distrust of the king.
Flouting pressure from abroad, party leaders insisted at the time that they would not stop agitating until the king agreed to reinstate Parliament and permit a referendum on the Constitution, which enshrines the monarchy and gives it control of the military.
Still, the king's offer on Monday to restore Parliament, effective Friday, was a significant retreat.
Within minutes of his appearance, the streets of Katmandu exploded in jubilation.
In the Tinkune section of the capital, a man with bandages around his head jumped and shouted. "I wouldn't mind losing my life for democracy," said Bhagawan Bhandari, 44. He had been injured by King Gyanendra's baton-wielding police force at a protest on Friday.
The State Department issued a statement saying that the king "should now hand power over to the parties and assume a ceremonial role in his country's governance," Reuters reported. The king's announcement came hours after the State Department had ordered all nonessential embassy staff and family members to leave the country.

Tilak P. Pokharel contributed reporting for this article.

2006-04-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

2006-04-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

April 24

2006-04-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

.Full text of the royal proclamation
House of Representatives reinstated
KATHMANDU, April 24 - Beloved Countrymen,
Convinced that the source of State Authority and Sovereignty of the Kingdom of Nepal is inherent in the people of Nepal and cognizant of the spirit of the ongoing people's movement as well as to resolve the on-going violent conflict and other problems facing the country according to the road map of the agitating Seven Party Alliance, we, through this Proclamation, reinstate the House of Representatives which was dissolved on 22 May 2002 on the advice of the then Prime Minister in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990. We call upon the Seven Party Alliance to bear the responsibility of taking the nation on the path to national unity and prosperity, while ensuring permanent peace and safeguarding multiparty democracy. We also summon the session of the reinstated House of Representatives at the Sansad Bhawan, Singha Durbar at 1 P.M. on Friday, 28 April 2006.
We are confident that this House will contribute to the overall welfare of Nepal and the Nepalese people.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the people's movement and wish the injured speedy recovery. We are confident that the nation will forge ahead towards sustainable peace, progress, full-fledged democracy and national unity.
May Lord Pashupatinath bless us all! Jaya Nepal!

People wins

2006-04-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Nepalis cheer climbdown by king
Nished Gautam

Jubilant Nepalis have taken to the streets in celebration after embattled King Gyanendra agreed to their demands to reinstate parliament.
"This is the people's victory! Long live democracy!" hundreds chanted in parts of the capital Kathmandu.
Opposition leaders say a huge anti-monarchy protest planned for Tuesday will now be a victory rally.
The king's announcement follows weeks of unrest by opponents to his absolute rule. At least 14 people have died.
A tired and tense-looking King Gyanendra announced the move in a late-night televised address, saying it was aimed at "protecting multi-party democracy and restoring peace".

He said the lower house of parliament would reconvene on Friday.
The US welcomed his announcement and said he should now consider assuming a "ceremonial role" in the country's governance.
On Monday, thousands of demonstrators defied a shoot-on-sight curfew in Kathmandu.
But the mood turned to one of celebration after the king's address at 2330 local time (around 1800GMT).
Hundreds streamed into the streets of Kathmandu and other towns, chanting, clapping and singing.
"The people from every corner are pleased to come and celebrate," bank employee Prakash Nepal, 40, told the Associated Press.
Condolences
The opposition alliance is due to meet to discuss the next step in resolving the country's crisis, opposition leader Shobhakar Parajuli told the BBC.
He said the mass rallies planned for Tuesday would go ahead, but would be a victory celebration and no longer a protest rally.

In his address, the king expressed his "heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the people's movement and wish the injured speedy recovery".
He added: "We are confident that the nation will forge ahead towards sustainable peace, progress, full-fledged democracy and national unity."
The protests and a crippling strike led the United States to order all its non-essential diplomatic staff and their families to leave Nepal.
More than 13,000 people have died in the 10-year Maoist insurgency aimed at replacing the monarchy with a communist republic.
The king assumed direct powers in February 2005 saying parties were unable to deal with Maoist rebels.
Violence has escalated since the rebels ended a truce in January - although they declared a ceasefire in Kathmandu this month as street protests began against King Gyanendra.
A series of curfews have been in force in the city in recent days, but ignored by demonstrators.

bbcnews.com

2006-04-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

Embattled King of Nepal Offers Gesture to Protesters

Manish Swarup/Associated Press

Police officers used clubs to break up an antimonarchy demonstration Friday in Katmandu. King Gyanendra said later that he would turn over power to a prime minister chosen by the political parties, but his statement seemed to bring little relief in the national crisis.

By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: April 22, 2006
KATMANDU, Nepal, April 21 — Nepal's embattled King Gyanendra said Friday evening that he would turn over the reins of government to a prime minister chosen by the country's principal political parties, but his gesture brought little relief to a nation on the verge of paralysis.
Skip to next paragraph
Tomas van Houtryve for The New York Times
A photograph of King Gyanendra landed in a ditch Friday with other items tossed there by demonstrators in Katmandu, the Nepalese capital.
"Executive power of the Kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall, from this day, be returned to the people," the king said, in a long-awaited, surprisingly short address on state-owned television.
Earlier Friday, more than 100,000 demonstrators flooded the heavily fortified main road in Katmandu, the capital, in defiance of a daylong shoot-on-sight curfew, gathering in the largest pro-democracy protests to date. By late evening, there was no official reaction from the country's political leaders, who were huddled in meetings and were to render their verdict on Saturday.
In a statement that said nothing about the king's address, the seven-party alliance that has led the demonstrators vowed to intensify the protests.
"The movement will continue like this until further notice," it read. "We call upon people from all walks of life to take to the streets and bring everything in the capital and all across the country to a complete halt."
The mood on the streets, swept by 16 days of often violent confrontations between pro-democracy protesters and the security forces, remained uneasy. At least 12 people have been killed by police officers and soldiers in the demonstrations, hundreds have been injured and several thousand arrested.
"There's nothing for those who were killed in these protests," Raj Narayan Thakur, 26, said of the king's speech, as bonfires burned on a street in a western suburb, Chabahil, and protesters milled around in the pitch dark.
"It doesn't work," said Bishwokiran Shakya, 46, with a brisk wave of his hand. "No good."
It remained unclear this evening whether the leaders of the seven-party alliance would seize the king's offer and, if they did, whether they could sell it to either the Nepalese people who have poured into the streets or the Maoist rebels with whom they have linked arms in a effort to wrest power from the palace.
In an accord signed last fall, the politicians agreed to the central Maoist demand for a referendum on the Constitution; in exchange, the Maoists agreed, among other things, to play by the rules of parliamentary democracy.
The king, who took over the government 14 months ago in what he said was an effort to defeat a Maoist rebellion, agreed to give up control of the state. But he did not address the two principal demands of the politicians and their foot soldiers on the street: restoration of the elected Parliament, suspended in May 2002, and a referendum to review the Constitution and decide whether Nepal still needs a king.
Calls for an end to monarchy, which is enshrined in the Nepalese Constitution, have grown louder and more brazen in the past weeks. The king's speech made it plain that he was in favor of maintaining the status quo: a multiparty democracy with a constitutional monarchy.
He spoke hours after Katmandu was engulfed in the largest protests to date, as several large neighborhood rallies converged on the sealed Ring Road that circles the city center. They shouted gleefully for the king's head, burned effigies and, at one point, toppled a small tin-roofed police post and set it alight, as a gantlet of police officers in riot gear, backed by soldiers, watched.
Apparently anticipating further discontent, the government extended the curfew on Friday evening until midnight.
There was no question that after two weeks of angry protests and a heavy-handed state crackdown, it will be harder for those clamoring for an end to Gyanendra's rule and the establishment of a democratic republic to accept any political deal that maintains the monarchy.
Favorable nods for the king came from abroad. Nepal's neighbor and most vital ally, India, swiftly endorsed the king's offer, saying in a statement that the king's words "should now pave the way for the restoration of political stability and economic recovery of the country."

2006-04-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

Why the world is watching Nepal
By Paul Reynolds World Affairs correspondent, BBC News website

Tourists hoping to visit a mountain Shangri-La have been surprisedWhile it would be an exaggeration to say that Nepal occupies a strategic position in the world - isolated as it is in the Himalayas - its future is being watched closely.
Partly this is for sentimental reasons. The kingdom used to be the destination of choice for thousands of Western hippies who thought of it as a mountain Shangri-la.
The one-time guru of the Beatles, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, had connections in Nepal and once broadcast his vision of saving the world by "Transcendental Meditation" on Nepali television.
So there is a great interest in the West to see how that quiet and peaceful place (perhaps not so quiet underneath) has developed into the scene of civil war, repression, riot and uprising.
It is the government of India that is the most concerned. India itself has considerable problems with Maoist rebels
The Yogi's message does not seem to have worked. But then the 1960s and their message of flower power are a long time ago. The world has moved on in more violent ways, and Nepal is a part of that movement.
Then there is the Everest trek that keeps Nepal in a wider public eye. Currently teams of climbers are preparing for their attempts on the summit during the calm period between now and the end of May. They have largely escaped the recent troubles, although two climbers were injured last November when Maoist rebels attacked their vehicle on its way to base camp.
And there is the added factor in Britain because Nepal is home to the Ghurka fighters who serve in the British army.

Feedback

2006-04-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

We salute people of Nepal: US
Kantipur Report

KATHMANDU, April 21 - The Unites States on Friday saluted the courage and resilience of the people of Nepal in their struggle for democracy and expressed the hope that King Gyanendra, who announced handing power back to people in his address today, would live up to his words.
“We are pleased that King Gyanendra’s message today made it clear that that sovereignty resides with the people,” said Sean McCormack, spokesman of the US Department of State. “We expect the king to live up to his words, and allow the parties to form the government.”
McCormack also urged the political parties – the seven-party alliance – to respond quickly by choosing a prime minister and a cabinet. “We urge all sides to refrain from violence to allow the restoration of democracy to take place swiftly and peacefully.”

The king has taken bold step: Karan Singh

Minutes after the nationally-televised address, India's Special Envoy Dr Karan Singh has welcomed the king's offer, saying the king has taken a bold step.
"I think it is the right thing to do to difuse the situation," he told the Post, adding, "Now the political parties have the shoulder the responsibility and take the process forward. The sooner that can happen the better, it will be."
The government of India is expected to make a statement along the same lines soon.

Politics

2006-04-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

Full text: Nepal king's speech

The text of Nepal's King Gyanendra address to the nation, broadcast by Radio Nepal, in which announced handing over political power to the people and asked a seven-party alliance to choose a new prime minister.

Beloved Countrymen,
You are all aware that given the situation prevailing in the country then, we were compelled to take the decision of 1 February 2005 to set in motion a meaningful exercise in multiparty democracy by activating all elected bodies, ensuring peace and security and a corruption-free good government through the collective wisdom, understanding and the united efforts of all the Nepalese.

By supporting our decision, the Nepalese people made amply clear their desire for peace and democracy and the civil servants demonstrated sincerity towards their duty. We are appreciative of this. We also have high regard for the dutifulness, valour and discipline displayed by the security personnel by upholding their glorious tradition.

By visiting different parts of the country we made honest endeavours to acquaint ourselves with the hopes and aspirations of our people, mitigate their hardships and boost their morale. We also called on the political parties to enter into a dialogue in the interest of the nation and the people afflicted by violence and terror. However, this did not materialise.
The ideals of democracy can only be realised through the active participation of political parties.
In keeping with the tradition of the Shah dynasty to reign in accordance with the popular will, in the greater interest of the nation and people and our unflinching commitment towards constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy, we through this proclamation affirm that the executive power of the Kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall from this day be returned to the people and the exercise according to Article 35 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990.

As the source of sovereign authority is inherent in the people, harmony and understanding must be preserved in the interest of the nation and people in an environment of peace and security.
While safeguarding multiparty democracy, the nation must be taken ahead along the road to peace and prosperity by bringing into the democratic mainstream those who have deviated from the constitutional path. Similarly, a meaningful exercise in democracy must be ensured with the activation of representative bodies through elections as soon as possible.
We therefore call on the seven-party alliance to recommend a name for the post of the prime minister at the earliest for the constitution of a council of ministers which will bear the responsibility of governing the country in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990. The present Council of Ministers will continue to function until the appointment of the prime minister.

May Lord Pashupatinath bless us all.
Jai Nepal

2006-04-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

Gathering anger against Nepal's king

2006-04-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

By Sanjoy Majumder BBC News, Kathmandu

Hundreds of people joined a protest in Kirtipur, Kathmandu
"I hope you've brought peace to our troubled land."
The immigration officer at Kathmandu 's Tribhuvan international airport looked up as he stamped my passport, resplendent in his blue uniform.
"We need democracy, total democracy not partial," he said.
"Make sure you put that in your report. Without democracy we cannot develop as a nation. Enough is enough."
For the past few days, the tide appears to have turned against King Gyanendra.
What started out as a political protest by a seven-party alliance, and then translated into a show of people power as Nepalis stormed the streets across the country, has finally crossed another frontier.
Professionals, lawyers and now bureaucrats - including from the all-powerful home ministry - have joined the struggle, some in spirit and others more substantially.
Public sentiment
The one institution above all others that has remained loyal to the king has been the Royal Nepalese Army.
But as flak-jacketed soldiers patrol the corner of every street in the Nepalese capital, they are acutely aware of the public mood.
"The public sentiment here is far too strong," says one local journalist.
"The protests have spread far wider and appear to be much more intense than those of 1990," he added, careful to remain unnamed, with the administration particularly severe against the media.
The king... is so removed from reality that he has to step aside
Lakshmi, protester
That was the year when the former monarch, King Birendra, was forced to usher in multi-party democracy in the wake of public protests.
The mood against his brother, who ascended the throne after King Birendra's brutal murder in the 2001 palace massacre, is equally strong.
On the eve of a planned mass protest in the capital, political rallies took place in pockets around Kathmandu.
In the suburb of Kirtipur, more than 1,000 people gathered at the main market square as speaker after speaker railed against the king.
"This is a criminal regime," shouted one speaker, representing local traders.
"The king must go - he must go now."
"He must go - he must go now," chanted the crowd, cheering and clapping.
Single issue
Narayan Rathod Singh is a local member of the mainstream Nepali Congress Party.
He says things have moved beyond party politics.
"It is no longer important which party you belong to or what you believe in," he says.
The king is not somebody with our interests at heart
Pawan, protester
"There is only one issue before us - restore democracy.
"There is not a single person here who does not support that," he said waving his hand at the crowd.
"I grew up believing in the king and what the monarchy represents," says Lakshmi, who was attending the rally with her children.
"But the king has let us down. He is so removed from reality that he has to step aside.
"I don't think they should grow up in a Nepal which is an absolute monarchy," she says looking down at her little son and daughter.
Ravi Thapa and his friend, Pawan, are students.
He admits that joining the protests at first was fun - daring even - but that he had thought little about the issues at stake.
Now, however, he is clear in his mind.
"When the shootings started and the beatings I knew that this was serious.
"I also realised that the king is not somebody with our interests at heart. If he did, he wouldn't have filled the jails with ordinary people.
"He wouldn't have ordered his army to open fire on innocent civilians.
"He is not an aristocrat - he's an autocrat."
A few hundred metres away from the Kirtipur rally, smoke rises from a still smouldering burnt tyre.
Children run past it shouting, unmindful of what it represents.
But for King Gyanendra, safely ensconced behind the high walls of Kathmandu's Narayanhiti Palace, it is a sign that the public mood could quite easily turn ugly.

Time's run out

The Kathmandu Post

The rulers and elite have always ditched the Nepali people. The dark history dates back to 1768, when a smart warrior king unified the country with the help of the poor people, but his successors never recognized their rights and sovereignty. The oppressed denizens, who woke up to fight for their rights in 1950, successfully toppled the Rana oligarchy. Unfortunately, the 1950 agreement brought the monarchy to the fore. Consequently, the successive monarchs played the "cat-and-mouse" game with people's representatives to deny their rights. In December 1960, King Mahendra ousted the elected government and established the autocratic Panchayati that lasted for 30 years. In 1990, the late King Birendra showed certain farsightedness and bowed down before the people. However, the elite and monarchists immediately started hatching conspiracy against the restored democracy. In order to show one-upmanship to his slain brother, King Gyanendra usurped all state authority by staging a coup on Feb 1, 2005. But in just over a year, the king's move has culminated in a deep political crisis.
The Nepali people of 21st century have become so infuriated with the king that many wonder whether he will manage to save his crown. If the monarch dilays further to address the problem, the country will not remain a kingdom. For the king the time has run out. More than 12 people have already lost their lives since the people's movement waged by the seven party alliance began on April 6. On the fifteenth day alone, the security forces shot dead three protestors in the capital and critically injured dozens of demonstrators. No ruler can get away by killing innocent people. King Gyanendra will certainly be held accountable for the deaths and injuries of so many people. If the chairman-cum-king continues to play with the fire and refuses to bow down before the people, he is waiting for a political disaster.
Reportedly, the king is trying to seek a solution by appointing a middleman like former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai as the prime minister. But the movement has reached a new level of intensity where neither an individual nor any political party can rescue the monarch out of the current political imbroglio. We believe the king has gone to the extent of no return. Even if he restores people's sovereignty as per people's wishes, he may not be able to protect the 237-year old institution. The country is in flame. It has witnessed a dozen of deaths. Who is responsible for these deaths? The people know it well. If such peaceful demonstrations continue to see more deaths, the people would not accept any peaceful settlement. Let us hope Indian and other foreign envoys have transpired the message to the king.

2006-04-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

Nepal braced for fresh protests

The protesters are demanding an end to absolute rule
The government of Nepal has imposed a new shoot-to-kill curfew in Kathmandu, in the wake of escalating violence between police and protesters.
The curfew, which will remain in force throughout Friday, coincides with a planned rally called by the opposition.
Police on Thursday opened fire on demonstrators who defied the curfew, killing three and wounding many more.
The protesters, who have staged mass strikes for the past two weeks, want the king to give up direct rule.
King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed direct powers in February 2005, saying this was necessary to quell the long-running insurgency by Maoist rebels.
'Indiscriminate fire'
The opposition alliance has called for its supporters to demonstrate on Kathmandu's ring road on Friday.
Protesters burnt tyres on some city streets and on the outskirts ahead of the curfew, and opposition parties pledged to defy the curfew for the second day.
"So many people have come out on the street despite the curfew and crackdown. It is an indication that our movement has succeeded. We will continue this until the result comes in favour of the people," Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula told Reuters.

The curfew began at 0900 (0315 GMT) and is not due to be lifted until 2000 (1415 GMT).
Government workers were asked to be in their workplaces before it took effect.
Police opened fire on Thursday as tens of thousands people tried to defy the daytime curfew.
Demonstrations against King Gyanendra's absolute rule or against the monarchy altogether had been going on for two weeks and the day was promised as the culmination.
Huge groups of anti-royal protestors, totalling perhaps 100,000, approached the capital from all directions, in each case coming up against barrages of security forces guarding the curfew zone.
On the north-east side of the city, the demonstration took place in a carnival atmosphere, the BBC's Charles Haviland reports from Kathmandu.
But at the western suburb of Kalanki, things turned violent when tens of thousands descended to the road from the hills.
HAVE YOUR SAY The king should understand he will never anymore be able to continue his regime. It is only a matter of time when he will fall down Sudeep Kafle, Kathmandu Send us your comments
Eyewitnesses said the police had opened fire indiscriminately and that in addition to those who died, many had been seriously injured.
Another person died on Friday in the town Gulariya, some 500km (300 miles) south-west of Kathmandu, after being injured in protests a day earlier, reports say.
At least 14 demonstrators have now died around the country in two weeks of protests.
A special envoy from India, Karan Singh, has held talks with King Gyanendra.
Indian diplomatic sources said he had conveyed Delhi's view that the monarch should urgently restore multi-party democracy.
Later, Mr Singh said he hoped the King would soon make an announcement to defuse the situation in Nepal.
"Certainly the situation has spun virtually if not out of control at least it is spinning out of control. Therefore some drastic and urgent steps are needed, and that was really my message to him," he said.

Deep meditation for peace of Nepal

2006-04-21T00:48:00.000-07:00

India's key role in Nepal affairs

2006-04-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

By Rabindra Mishra
BBC Nepali service

Recent clandestine meetings in India between leading Nepalese politicians and Maoist leaders have once again highlighted the crucial role India continues to play in Nepal's internal affairs.
Nepalese leaders have denied any face-to-face meeting with rebel leaders in India, let alone in a government guest house where talks are believed to have taken place.
For its part, India denies knowledge of any Maoist leaders on its soil and has declared them "terrorists". But it has been a long established fact that some top Maoist leaders do reside in India.
Since the 1 February royal coup, Nepalese leaders have regularly visited Delhi, but last week saw an unprecedented jamboree in the Indian capital.
Delhi 'check-ups'
What surprised many was the sudden visit of a leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), Madhav Kumar Nepal, to Delhi.
Mr Nepal's visit took place less than a week after he had returned from an extended three-week tour of India, during which he met several Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
As soon as he returned home, he had a series of meetings in Kathmandu with British Ambassador Keith Bloomfield, American ambassador James Moriarty and Indian Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, as efforts to find a solution to Nepal's political impasse continued.
Mr Nepal then headed off to Delhi again after the meetings. Mr Moriarty, who has remained active in co-ordinating a uniform international approach towards Nepal, was already there.
Mr Nepal insisted he had gone for a "heart check-up", while Mr Moriarty said his was a regular visit for consultations with Indian officials.
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress president and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was in Delhi too, also for a "health check-up".
And a leader of a smaller partner in Nepal's seven-party opposition alliance had gone there for his "son's health check-up". There were other leaders too.
Crucial time
What baffles many is the role Delhi is suspected to have played in all these movements.
Last week, the Indian foreign ministry denied any information about the latest meetings.
However, it is difficult to believe that the movement of top Nepali leaders in the heart of Delhi and meetings with rebel leaders declared terrorists at a politically crucial time could have gone unnoticed by the Indian authorities or intelligence officials.
General Ashok Mehta, a leading Indian security expert, believes that Indian intelligence established links with the Nepalese Maoists at least two years ago.
Speaking to the BBC, he once said "in circumstances as that of the Maoists, government strategy is implemented through intelligence agencies and not the official channels".
However, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran tries to avoid any direct reference to an alleged link between the Indian establishment and the rebels.
He said the Indian government was engaged in dialogue with all key political actors of Nepal, but did not mention the Maoists by name.
India was the first country to call the Maoists "terrorists" in September 2001, even before Nepal did so. At that time the Nepalese government was engaged in peace talks with the rebels.
Ironically, leading Maoist negotiator Krishna Bahadur Mahara travelled to Kathmandu from Delhi to participate in peace talks in November that year.

'Anti-nationalist'

India's role has been crucial in every major political change and the sustenance of such changes that Nepal has witnessed since the late 1940s.
After late King Mahendra sacked the elected government and took control of state power in 1960, the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, made his displeasure public.
However, within six months, his government had signed four aid agreements with Nepal and normal friendship resumed.
Many believe that the self-serving change in Indian attitude helped the continuation of the monarchy's rule for 30 years.
Similarly, many believe India played a crucial role in the collapse of the royal regime in 1990.
Supporters of the current king have been trying to portray Delhi-rushing leaders as "anti-nationalist".
However, it is very common for Nepalese political actors to maintain silence if the involvement of India helps them - and curse it if it does not.
The latest Delhi saga is only likely to strengthen the belief of many Nepalese that Kathmandu remains a hostage of Indian national interest, which they say, has led India to constantly manipulate the politics of its tiny, land-locked neighbour.

2006-04-20T23:57:00.000-07:00

Eyewitness: 'I was shot'

Violent clashes between police and anti-monarchy protesters are continuing across Nepal as thousands of people defy a curfew imposed by the royal government.

The BBC News website spoke to one man, Milan Lamsal, in the resort town of Pokhara who was shot and wounded by security forces at the weekend.

After seeing a big crowd of demonstrators in the main street on 8 April, I could not stay indoors.
Within a matter of seconds, the wound had become excruciatingly painful Nepalis describe chaos I have been a supporter of the pro-democracy movement and the slogans protesters chanted outside were something I could not ignore.
Despite my wife's reservations, I went out and joined the protest rally that was heading towards Mahendra Pul to the north of Pokhara.
There were thousands of protesters and all looked quite energetic and determined for democracy. That injected the spirit of a true democratic demonstrator in me.
But even when every one was marching ahead with that sense of confidence, I think many had this sneaking feeling that sooner or later we would confront security personnel.
On the contrary, we saw a group of security personnel being chased by another group of demonstrators. Soon, many demonstrators in our group started pelting stones at the fleeing security personnel.
'Piece of bullet'
Suddenly, I saw someone falling down (later on I found it was Bhimsen Dahal who had died on the way to hospital).
Crowds have been fired on a number of times in Pokhara
I was not sure what was going on. Then, someone said the police had opened fire. I thought I should run.
Just when I had begun to do so, I felt something like a needle-prick in the tricep of my right arm.
There was something that had pierced through my shirt and the t-shirt I was wearing.
Within a matter of seconds, the wound had become excruciatingly painful. I did not realise that I had fallen down. I started crying for help.
Fortunately two fellow protesters carried me to a nearby hospital. The doctors took out a piece of lead from my arm and said that it was a piece of bullet.
I am surprised that the bullet could pierce though my arm but not make any hole in my shirt and t-shirt.
'Sad'
I am under medication now and I feel much better except for an occasional pain. The incident has made me more fearless, that is why I have been participating in protest rallies almost every day, even if that means defying curfew orders.
I think the country is demanding change - the monarchy will have to make compromises
I feel sad to remember now that the person whom I had seen falling before another bullet hit me was Bhimsen Dahal.
We knew each other although we were not so close. He was hardly 15 metres away from me when the bullet hit him and he fell down. I could not hear him because everyone was shouting and fleeing the scene.
Opening fire on the demonstrators was totally unnecessary.
True, some protesters had thrown stones at security personnel. But they could have tackled the situation in different ways, for example with baton charges or by firing blanks.
The more such brutal actions take place, the more protesters become determined.
I believe this movement should end up with a proper conclusion. I think the country is demanding change - the monarchy will have to make compromises.

आफ्नै कुरा

हामी, नारी र फेसबूक

तिम्रो छायाँ

एउटा हुकुम गर

केही कुरा सीपी चौरका

शब्दगान

क को कत्रो कमाल

हजार र एक

प्यासी ओछ्यान्

ठगी सपना

Happy Holidays !

देउताको खोजी

घ्रिणाको लात

मायाको आभास

बरु मर्न सकुँ

रै छ

के को रहर ?

निस्ठुरी

तिम्रो तस्विर

राजधानी छिर्दा फेरी अर्को भ्रमण तर फरक अनुभव

राजधानी छिर्दा फेरी अर्को भ्रमण तर फरक अनुभव

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