POLL DRAMA

This election is very crucial to all Nepalis as it will determine the future of the country ('Poll drama', #390). The election must be free and fair, and it will be disastrous if any group uses violence to get their desired outcome. We should not believe the communist rhetoric of a proletarian revolution, as at least up till now they have delivered nothing but bloodshed.

PB Rana,
email

. It's very important that the CA elections are free and fair, so Nepal can show that although we are poor we are still able to establish a functioning democracy. It would have been good thing if the electoral commission had made voting compulsory so that all the people's voice would be heard.

Nirmal Ghimire,
Spain

DAVID SEDDON

My question to David Seddon, with due respect, is this. Can the CPN-Maoist, which is modelled on Peru's Sendero Luminoso, really conform to mainstream politics to make a modern republic? And if the answer is yes, how can one reconcile the difference between their ideology and that of multi-party democracy? Maybe it's true that the NC failed to empower the people, but you should be aware that the empowerment that occurred after 1990 was more implicit than explicit, as it allowed ordinary people to realise that change was both necessary and possible in Nepal. I would have difficulty voting for a party whose ideology and policy seem to be conflicting. Even though the Maoists have set an agenda, will they compensate all the people they have harmed while doing so?

Pradipta R,
email

WOMEN'S DAY

The article 'Deepa, Pushpa, Sita and Maiya' (#390) on International Women's Day was touching. Thanks for featuring the stories of these four women who have shown that they can struggle against all odds. They are reminders that we need to do more to help the families that were affected by the war. Many seminars are held on the subject in five star hotels in Kathmandu, but how will they benefit many more women like Deepa, Pushpa, Sita and Maiya out there?

Manoj Aryal,
email

ASININE

Much as I admire your Ass, sometimes he can be rather, well, asinine. A case in point, his little rant about the British 'requiring Nepalis to apply for visas in Delhi' (Backside, #389). Nonsense! Nepali citizens will continue to apply, as now, for British visas at the VFS Global Visa Application Centre in Nag Pokhari, Kathmandu. All that's changed is that, instead of passing the applications to my Embassy for a decision by immigration officers here, the VAC will courier the documents to our High Commission in New Delhi (at no extra cost to the applicant) where the decision will be made. Applications are turned round quickly and there is no need for the applicant to visit Delhi at any stage in the process. This is all part of a worldwide move to issue all British visas from a handful of regional centres in the interests of efficiency and higher standards of service. And of course, there will always be a warm welcome from the UK to all genuine Nepali visitors.
So, please don't be mulish. Provide your Ass with a decent fact-checker otherwise he will end up talking out of his derriere (that's diplomatic speak for.. oh, never mind!).

Andrew Hall,
British Ambassador, Kathmandu