I would like to add my tribute to what Kunda Dixit and Daniel Lak had to say in the last issue about the gruesome murder of ex-Major Mohan Khatri in Mude ("The villagers' support keeps me going.", "Valley of Unreality", #116). Aside from everything he did for the community by building schools and hospitals, he was hard working and always tried to be a perfectionist.

He built the resort literally with his bare hands and he ran it with a personalised touch. His food was superb, hospitality without a blemish and the rooms were very clean, cosy with all the needed amenities. If such innocent and hardworking people are the targets of Maoists, then they should be ashamed of themselves. They are inhuman, irrational and do not have a shred of feeling.

Dr Amrit KC
Bishalnagar

. Reading Kunda Dixit's tribute to Mohan Khatri brought tears to our eyes. We didn't know the late major, but the article in your online edition brought him and his work alive to us, and we are outraged at his murderers. We want to tell them: you are cowards for killing a defenceless, selfless social worker. Is this the meaning of your revolution, when you kill someone who actually understood your cause better than your "class enemies"? Reading the wise words Mohan Khatri wrote to his friend before he died that are quoted in the article, we felt nothing but sorrow for our Mother Nepal which has lost a devoted son, and nothing but anger at the anti-nationalists who perpetrated this crime. We want to tell the leaders of the people who killed Mohan Khatri: one day, comrades, you will pay for this.

Dilip, Govind, Rajat, Sujan, Shristi
Nepali students in India

. Nepal is going back 100 years. And the only blame for this goes to this situation is 12 years of the multiparty system and the political leaders who stewarded it. ("Common sense in uncommon times", #116). I took part in the pro-democracy demonstrations in 1990, and as a Nepali citizen I want to ask politicians what you have given to the country and its citizens for last 12 years. I have the answer: only fear, corruption, no security, no education, no health. So, it is now time to do something for the country and the nation. Why blame the king and the monarchy? The king wasn't running the country since 1990, you were. So, if you really feel responsible for the future of the country (as you should) then go hand-in-hand with the king and come up with a conclusion that may help rebuild the country and restore peace. Sri Pashupatinath le sabai lai sat budhi diyos.

Purushotam Bhattarai
Dillibazar, Ghattekula