Abolish monarchy, cry citizens

When the prime minister is using all his strength to save monarchy with all the possible prefixes like child, baby, ceremonial and what not, the citizens, not belonging to any party, cried to the sky, "abolish monarchy", don't give a single penny to the royal palace". This is what is the people's volice.

Nilambar Acharya, a member of 1990 constitution drafting committee, today said that the issue of the republican system should be cleared before holding election of the constituent assembly to assure its fairness and acceptability.

“You cannot imagine of free and fair election of constituent assembly when there is remains of monarchy in Nepal,” he said, while addressing the “warning mass meeting” of Civil Movement for Democracy and Peace.

He said that when the declaration of the House of Representatives has already decided to nationalise property of the late king Birendra and King Gyanendra, the king should not be allowed to reside in the Narayan Hiti Palace.

He also said that only making the names of the convicted from the Rayamajhi Commission is not enough, the leaders of the February 1 suppression should be penalised to keep the report’s legitimacy intact.

Member of the legislature-parliament Malla K Sundar said that the civil society are not convinced that the election of the constituent would be held in November because the leaders of the parties had cheated the people two times in giving dates of the election and not withdrawing.

The leader of CMDP Dr Devendra Raj Panday said that king must be ousted to hold free and fair election of constituent assembly.

“The king should go first to hold the election. We are spending our time and energy on king when we have to devote ourselves on what kind of constitution we are making,” he said.

Dr Sundar Mani Dixit, another civil society movement leader, said urged the political parties to go to the villages and disseminate information about the election.

“We do not want to see political leaders enjoying easy life in the capital. They must be holding mass meetings in villages, if they are committed to constituent assembly,” he said.

He also said that the newly passed Member of Constituent Assembly Act is also misleading which says that the convicted of the Rayamahi Commission would not be able to candidate when the commission is not made public.

Leader of Nepal Students Union Gagan Thapa urged the leaders of eight political parties to come up with straightforward opinion on monarchy and the convicted of the Rayamajhi Commission before holding the election.

“The king is not going to say good by after the first meeting of constituent assembly. When the leaders are delivering ambiguous comments here, the king must be working to divide the top leaders in all parties,” he said, adding that most of top leaders will show their “real face” concerning monarchy very soon.

“The youths, who trust NC, have recently have urged the leadership to abandone love for monarchy. Now the president of NC must respect the voice of the youth, who constitute 51 percent of Nepal’s total population,” he said.

Story of a wise man

Once upon a time, there was a wise man. A man with European height, thick glasses, and long bear – the very appearance will remind of a great Russian poet or a scientist. But, fortunately enough, he is a lawyer. A lawyer with a very dashing logic and amazing willpower to win the whole world. His name indicates that he is a thinker. Let's remember the days when he was honoured by the locals of Kali Gandaki. He loves poor people, people conserving water and drinking it too.

From the very beginning of the Melamchi story, he was against the ambitious project. From both the end, that is, from Melamchi valley as well as from Kathmandu Valley he won support from the locals. He is very good at collecting protest. He really did it. Thanks to the advocacy of his kind, a strong group of consumers at Melamchi are ready to jump into the river at his signal. I salute him. He has a machine in his pocket, which issues press releases on any trivial issue.

And his voice was on the highest pitch when the government tried to amend the ordinance on the NWSC etc that would open door way to "privatisation". He has always said no to privatisation in all places - in Kalimati and in Basantapur.

He had a great skill to ignite staffers of NWSC and raise a typhoon in Tripureshwor.

His valuable speeches, which reminds us of those of Churchill, are as adorable as weekly newspapers. I heard that he has seen Pashupati Shamsher Rana as Nepal's future prime minister.

So much so, he did not let a public hearing continue at Basantapur and he was the hero at hurling chair on the stage.

Now, thanks to Minister Yami and others, the Severn Trent have run away from this Valley and she is thinking about letting the Melamchi project run in some other way. The latest development of the whole story is that as the story took some positive turns, the wise man suddenly disappears from the scene. Incredibly.

No doubt, we know that he is a lawyer and he can keep him busy with cases of any nature, just for money's sake. But it is mysterious, why he is silent for months, when such and such pleasant changes are taking place in Singha Durbar. I wonder, how he can remain indifferent.

I know that ADB is strange. It can spend any money on anybody, just to let things go in the way the bank wants. I also know that it even pays money to those who oppose the it in the public. May be, it has some staffers here who go to the street and chant slogans like "ADB, go home". But still, I don't want to think that that beared man is an ADB-agent. Just leave him alone.

We remember, Wrold Bank left Melamchi, saying that there is a single bidder. Now, ADB wants an excuse to say good bye to Melamchi. It's just a wild guess, who knows.

But I certainly would like to see him coming to the street and saying something from his heart. He is a man of my fathers' age, but to be frank, I miss him a thousand time these days.

This wiered jatra at Kupandole

I was more than shocked to see some cops stopping me from entering my home yesterday at noon. It was okay for me to come out of my home at Kupandole and cross the bridge in the morning but when I wanted to return home, the cops said it was not allowed. For what good reason? They said there is "Kupandole Jatra". Hell.

A couple of gundas - on behalf of 'Friends Club' wanted to have fun by blocking the main road and letting some fashionable girls stroll all the day along the road. Does this mean that one million residents of Kathmandu and Lalitpur have to suffer? Is it what you call Loktantra?

It was surprising enough to see the Maosits cadres at the Janabargiya Office in the middle of Kupandol were just helpless and watching in the mood of Lata-le kera hereko jasto. And you know better what kind of police we have - you pay them thick bucks and they will help you commit the most heinous crime in the broad day light. Their support for the jatra is just another example.

We know Kupandole and the Thapathali bridge is the only (usable) link between Kathmandu and Lalitpur. Nearly one-third the population of the valley live there. It is the only straight link road to Sainbu, Bhainsepati, Khokana, Bungamati, Satdobato, Thaiba, Thecho, Harisiddhi, Chapagaon and many more villages of the south. People do not use the road only for merrymaking. It helps people to bring commodity to bazaar, take necessary things from Kathmandu, take patients to hospitals and also to visit people for socialisation. See what a small whim of a group of people can destroy the whole chain of civilisation.

I wonder, have the Friends taken any permission to hold that chaos in their area? What kind of administration is it if they really had. And what makes somebody authority to let a group of people to use the road in a what that it violates rights of millions? What is the use of the tax we pay on road if we cannot use it when we want it? We now and again condemn the bandh-callers. But, is there anybody to say something on this kind of bandh, which is in fact a blockade of the kind PrithiNarayan Shah slapped 240 years ago to have things done in the way he wanted.

Speak up man, or I will hod another jatra in front of your house tomorrow!

Tale of Two Ministers

It was a nice evening yesterday. I went all to Soaltee to listen to two ministers all the in the rain. And I found two jokers, begging for alms there.

One was Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. He had a lot of things to say. He says that we need all - big hydro-projects to export electricity to India, medium-size projects to consume in our cities and small projects to electrify small villages. He knows all that. I bet, we did his doctorate in the importance of hydro-electricity projects and this is why he was made finance minister, without counting the votes he earned. What else he can say? There are much to preach to criticise others. But he cannot say one thing. He cannot say how much Finance Ministry is going to invest in developing one single hydroelectricity plant in the year to come. This is indeed a fun time for the ministers. They don't' have to do anything than assuring that the election of the Constituent Assembly will take place in time (may by mid November these days). Thank God, he did not have anything to say that Severn Trend is the best company to handle Kathmandu Valley's water.

And then the great Environment minister Mahantha Thakur. What else he could say? He sincerely read out the handout he was given with. All he could do was to beg the European Commission to extend the project of Renewable Energy Project. Very honestly, he did what he was told to.

Friends, I lately came to know that the whole programme was held (in the invitation, it was said that a workshop was taking place) to pressure the donors, that is, European Commission, to extend the project, which is scheduled to be complete by 31 December 2008. As the government and the NGOs were more busy in enjoying the project facilities (loot ko dhan phoopu ko shreaddha), the government fails to complete it in the given time and there was no other option than to beg the donors for more money (to swim in the dollar-pool) for some more years.

And you see, the failure project implementers had at least money to host a cocktail dinner at the Soaltee hotel ! This is Nepal, man, try to understand.

Celebrate World Environment Day with dielsel tempos

We really celebrated the World Environment Day, didn't we? We did it because we had to. After ebbing of all the gimmicks, now remains the question - with what? With rallies, seminars, press releases, paid-messages in broadsheet newspapers and what not? Only one think lacked in the chaos of celebration - a promise to upgrade pollution scenario in Nepal.

When the journalists were thinking about the best peg to write a story on World Environment Day, some officers in the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (http://moest.gov.np) were trying there best to let diesel three-wheelers ply again in the Kathmandu Valley ! Just remember it took a mountain of efforts for us to ban Bikram Tempos three and a half years ago (ad it was again replaced with a hell of micro-buses). Shame on you, shame on me!!!

Sad but true, melting of snow is not hot topic here, but melting of commission at the cost of the country's environment is hotter. May be security of Sitaram Prasai is the hottest.

I have lately known that a direct pressure from the cabinet of ministers brought a quake in the ministry to let diesel tempos enter the valley, though it is not allowed by the present legal provision. I won't still say that any minister or his daughter is involved in this masala.

None other than Morang Auto Works (the infamous importer of two-stroke RX 100) and Chaudhary Group were in search of some loopholes in the ministry and the government laws to let innumerable tempos run again in the valley. The Marwadis ( have have to go to their jatts, because it matters) could not find worse ways to pollute this poor, small and sacred valley than again importing diesel vehicles. They are just a handful of outsiders, who will collect all their money and run away to India after they find that it is impossible to live here in valley and make money out of black smoke. And tell me dear minister, what we poor residents of this valley are going to do, who have done nothing harm in past 2000 years in this valley?

Meantime, some of the key conservationists are enjoying junket in Netherlands to participate in the CITES (http://cites.org/) COP14. Those "conservationists" who could not save rhinos, tigers or monkeys must be drinking beer with the award-winning crocodile tears. I'm afraid they will ask the CITES authority to let red-sandalwood come to Nepal for smuggling - for it was making a good money for top-level leaders.