CRISIS
The president may be the supreme commander of the country as you argue in your online edition ('Constitutional crisis', www.nepalitimes.com) and it may be his duty to appoint the COAS, but he is a constitutional president and not an executive one. In another words he is a rubber stamp just like the Indian president. The president will stamp what the prime minister appoints and stamp on who the prime minister decides to sack. This is the plain truth. Obviously what is happening in Nepal is a conspiracy, and there is no rule of law.
Toksang Tamang, email

The Maoist-leaning civil society stalwarts should remember that the president has saved this country from totalitarianism by making the right move at the right time. These self-appointed 'civil society' protestors whom no one elected are paid lackeys of the Maoists.
Tirtha Thapa, email

STATELESS STATE
I have not missed a single issue of Nepali Times since I left Nepal eight years go. Despite the country's slide, your paper always offered solutions and profiled Nepalis who were making a difference despite all odds. But after following Kunda Dixit's East-West travelblog, I have never been so depressed about my country. The writing is so vivid and personalised that I almost cried reading the one about Janakpur ('State of statelessness', www.nepalitimes.com) I can visualise what it was like 10 years ago. I phoned my 80-year-old old mother this morning in Dhanusha and she says things have never been so bad. My mother, Nepali Ama, sounded so down and hopeless that my heart went out to her. Thanks for portraying our country's gritty reality.
Nir Sharma, email

After reading Kunda Dixit 'State of statelessness' about his travels across Nepal, I couldn't help thinking, isn't there an end to all this insanity? I was hoping to return to Nepal later this year, now I am having second thoughts. Nothing seems to change and it feels like we are in some theatre of the absurd and macabre. As the Janakpur writer says, "Something really has snapped in our society. I never thought I would ever say this, but remember how much better the bad old days used to be?"
Pemba Lama, USA

BRAND NEPAL
Unlike what the Beed says, the debate is not over whether we should vote for a right-wing pro-Hindu party ('Brand Nepali,' #448). Rather people are asking if they should vote for Gorkhaland or against it.

A Nepali speaking candidate is yet to reach a high enough profile in Indian politics (which is incidentally also one of the reasons for Gorkhaland) to make her/his voice heard in the parliament. Therefore, we are supporting Jaswant Singh, who is a former foreign/defence/finance minister of India, so when he speaks it matters and if he wins, his voice, and through him our voice, will be heard in parliament.

Nepali politics does not affect us in any manner, neither does it matter to us. We have been demanding a separate administrative set up of our own since 1907. So your argument that maybe your ex-king has something to do with our demand is baseless.

'Gorkhali' is the term used by Indian citizens whose mother tongue is Nepali (in India). We are different from Nepalis in Nepal, so what applies to you does not apply across the border. We have hydro-electricity, tea, resources to attract tourism, horticulture, agriculture, medicinal herbs and forests. This is precisely the reason why the government of West Bengal isn't willing to let us go.
Upendra Mani Pradhan, email