Three-way Contention for Power

The Spotlight (May 7-13) in its editorial said, ‘the vicious triangular contention to hold on, to recapture or to seize the power between the three feuding factors has only contributed to aggravate the miseries of one of the poorest peoples of the world.’  Further, it opined that the nineteen-month rule under the monarch helped to discredit the King himself and erode people’s faith in the institution.  The paper stated that the King himself had the ‘biggest stake in the solidarity of the state’ and insisted on a strong home base rather than a strong foreign support.  As such, he had no alternative but to act most expeditiously to meet his commitment to restore democracy through a free and fair general election.  The editorial indicted the political parties that ‘have totally failed to arouse the masses’ and said ‘if there is some momentum in the agitation, it is only due to the imbecility of the Government.’  The Spotlight suggested that the political parties give way to new leadership of more honest and dedicated youths, who are more patriotic and sensitive to the miseries of the poor.  While referring to the Maoists, the editorial condemned the violent insurgency, which has only wreaked havoc on the country and said, ‘they (Maoists) are running after a chimera’.  Refuting the objective of establishing of a Maoist republic, the editorial demanded that the Maoist leadership give up ‘terror activities’ and come to the mainstream politics.  Finally, it called on the people not to support corrupt politicians and to encourage new and honest faces to emerge.

People at Peril?

Nepali daily Rajdhani (11 May) in its editorial charged the government, the Maoists, the five agitating political parties as well as the donor agencies for making the life of rural Nepalis more difficult.  First, it condemned the Maoists indefinite road blockades in Accham district, which led to the closure of the Tatopani border and the subsequent loss of revenue of Rs.4.1 million everyday.  Second, the editorial accused the political parties for their nation-wide strike, which targeted the powerful forces but affected more the poor and ordinary Nepali citizens.  Last, it indicted the donor agencies, which have suspended their developmental project work at the crucial stage in the country’s most impoverished and underdeveloped regions by citing insecurity and threats towards their staffs.

Annapurna Post (15 May) reported that 30,000 freed kamaiyas (bonded laborers) face major problems after two foreign development partners, Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) and GTZ halted their programs recently in the far-western development region, citing security reasons after recent rebel attacks on their Dhangadhi district offices.  Reports quoting the coordinator of the development programs said, ‘the Maoists’ activities hindered development and had a negative impact on financial assistance derived from foreign aid’.  Meanwhile, the Maoists reiterated that they would not allow any NGOs to work in the area without their permission and they barred the US and UK agencies from running any programs.

Media under Duress

An editorial in The Weekly Telegraph (5 May) expressed distress about the problems of Nepali media saying ‘we (the Media) have been compromising our integrity each and every moment in the name of sustaining our existence or in the name of amassing wealth out of commercials’.  It picturised the ‘fraudulent’ character of the media sector and indicted the growing level of corruption and academic dishonesty in providing correct and reliable information.  The editorial accuses the political masters, who victimize the credibility of the media by establishing their command over it and distracting the media from the ‘rules of the game’.  It held forth strongly for media independence and freedom of the press from the clutches of the Government.

Future of the Army

In Nepal Samacharpatra (11 May), Dhrubahari Adhikari has questioned the future of the newly enlarged Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), and warned the country would end up with so many problems along with financial burden from the huge army, after the insurgency was resolved.  It noted the Nepal Army’s plans to push its strength up to 100,000 from the current level of about 50,000, came at a time of force reduction internationally and also in Asian region.  He suggested a smaller, better-trained force in place of a big ‘standby army’.

Rebelling against the Rebels

A report in the vernacular Nepal (30 May), cited the huge gathering of the madhesi people armed with traditional weapons like bows and arrows, axes, swords and spades in Biratnagar.  The madhesi assembly has displayed their solidarity and unity against the Maoists and said ‘they are tired of the rebels’ injustice and domination, and decided to publicly protest and condemn Maoist atrocities against innocent civilians’.  It quoted furious villagers saying, ‘there is a limit to our silence and fear’ and that they had formed madhesi security units to fight against the Maoists.