PARAS OFFENSIVE
Your contributor in the web edition Eric Ellis has taken it upon himself to attack the journalistic integrity of Singapore's The New Paper (and the Singapore media in general) for publishing the recent interview with former crown prince Paras ('Paras' PR offensive', by Eric Ellis, www.nepalitimes.com).

"Paras," claims Ellis, "is not a nice man" or "a particularly bright man," and maintains that any true journalist (apparently counting himself in) would have made certain that these points received the most emphasis in any journalistic treatment of the former prince. What precise relevance, if any, that such an ad hominem attack on Paras would have to his recollections of the 2001 palace massacre, or on the his long-term plans for the future, is not mentioned in Ellis' little rant.

Nor does Ellis bother to explain to us why an interview with the ex-prince on the subject of the massacre should be considered a "snowjob," when the Maoists themselves have brought the 2001 incident back into the political limelight for their own purposes. A public statement from one of the first-hand witnesses to that tragedy is both topical and welcome.

It is shameful for Ellis to criticise the journalistic professionalism of others when he clearly has so very little of his own. It is equally shameful for the Nepali Times to give prominence to such ill-mannered and bad-tempered petulance as this. Although I have not always found myself in total sympathy with the former prince, he has surely suffered enough abuse at the hands of journalistic hacks like Eric Ellis.

John M Kelleher,
email

April Fools!
John Child
Eric Ellis is right in his blog on the Nepali Times site: the na?ve editor of The New Paper in Singapore obviously thinks it's the Daily Mail and is trying to boost its sales through titillating paparazzi-style royal gossip. The fact that a guy from a public relations firm wrote the serialised story doesn't seem to bother the editor. Luckily, most Nepalis will never read The New Paper and the article, and a publicity-seeking ex-prince, will soon be forgotten.

Gyan Subba,
Kumaripati

CHANGE
I am among the many Nepalis who want to live in Nepal where I can utilise my personal capability. Apart from a handful that were in power or were in close proximity to the illegitimate power structure, this was an impossible dream for millions of Nepalis. We had hoped that after the bloody 'people's war', April Uprising, and successful completion of the CA election, things would be different. That discrimination would end, that we would no longer have to rely on the mercy of whimsical and selfish leaders. But those hopes have been dashed. The situation has turned from bad to worse.

How long will we have to wait till our grievances are properly addressed? What about the thousands who were killed in the war? Did they die so that a handful of selfish leaders would rule from Singha Darbar? Recently, at a hotel in Diu, a union territory of India bordering Gujarat, I found a hotel full of Nepali staff. In our conversation they all repeated the same thing - there's no work in Nepal and even though they get meager salaries in India, at least they have jobs and can save a little to send home so their children can get a good education. They hoped that their children will see better days than them. What hurts me the most is that their hopes will once again be shattered.

Akesh Jaiswal,
Gujarat

CALL BYPASS
After reading your story on the scam involving the channeling of incoming international calls through VOIP ('Fraud calls', #442) I have no doubt that NT employees are in cahoots with the international mafia. On a recent conference call with Dubai, my incoming calls all had local Mero mobile caller IDs. It would be relatively easy for NTC and Mero to go after the crooks. Here are the numbers through which the incoming conference call was routed: 9804772630, 9803947156, 9804775045, 9804773420, 9804772618, 9804772524, 9808026010,980477068, 9803946477. The reason there are so many numbers is because my conference call kept getting interrupted because of the shoddy quality of the line.

Name withheld,
email

CA
I have two words to sum up the moods of my fellow countrymen for all that goes on in our parliament?'who cares'?

Prasanna KC,
Gyaneshwar