At least now people who read your story ('Step back and wait', #269) will be prepared for what they have to go through at Tribubhan International Airport. I happened to make a trip to Nepal last summer with a mom and her seven-month-old American son under my care. En route to Nepal, we found authorities in other countries very humble and cooperative but that just disappeared at Tribubhan Airport. There, the officers were scouting around and offering favours in exchange for dollars, which I denied and then waited for an hour watching people behind us in the queue go ahead of us.

Madhav Joshi

. Loved the piece by Shradha Ghale. Yes, Kathmandu airport mistreats ordinary Nepalis who don't know anyone in the army, police or government but that is not the only entry point to Nepal. Born in Jhapa and educated in Delhi, I find Indira Gandhi Airport more convenient than Kathmandu airport due to cheaper fares and better connections. Then it's just a two-hour flight to Bagdogra and a two-hour road trip to Kakarbhitta. But that's when things start going wrong. In 2001, I was denied entry into Nepal (though I possess a Nepali passport) because my visa to the US had expired. I had to somehow convince the immigration officer that whether my US visa was valid or not was not a reason to prevent me from entering my own country. Next time I tried to cross the border, Maoists had called a nationwide vehicle strike. So I had to cross Mechi Khola on foot to reach Bhadrapur. A few months back while clearing my immigration at Delhi Airport, I was looked upon and treated like a suspected Maoist. So, even flying home via Delhi and Kakarbhitta isn't an easy option.

Pravesh Saria,
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. Congratulations to Shradha Ghale on another excellent and insightful piece on behalf of Nepal's downtrodden. She lays out the stark facts of discrimination without rancour, sloganeering or rhetoric making her expose of social injustice even more powerful. Let's see more of Ms Ghale in your pages.

Lina Petersen,
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