ETHNIC CARD
"But there should be zero tolerance for incitement of ethnic intolerance and hatred for short-term political gain" ('The ethnic card,' # 454)?very well said indeed! This wise line left me wondering how different our lives may have been had they come a few years earlier when the Maoists were cracking open the 'genie-bottle'. Unfortunately, back then most of our intelligentsia, media, civil society were busy championing the Maoists as the Robin Hood of the poor and downtrodden. Has it taken all this while for the lights to finally go on, or had the Kathmandu intelligentsia simply 'papered over' their knowledge of Maoists' misuse of this 'combustible mixture' for some short-term gain of their own?

Satyajeet Nepali,
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l Your editorial ('The ethnic card', #454) is an early warning to this country that if politicians can't resist the temptation to use ethnicity to forward their cause then all is lost. The former Yugoslavia had only four ethnic groups, we have 103. Imagine a multiple civil war over ethnicity. It will make the Jana Yuddha look like a picnic. We are already seeing signs of the fissures. The Limbus are beating up Rais because of overlapping territorial claims. The Banepa riots were between Newars and Tamang. The Tharus and Mahdesis are already in confrontation. Politicans should wake up and nip this in the bud.

Kiran Mainali,
Pokhara

BHUWAN AND JUNA
Thank you for that heart-warming cover story on Bhuwan and Juna (#454). You have shown how at a fundamental level Nepalis are all brothers and sisters and reconciliation is possible. The Rai siblings have shown your political leaders the way, but unfortunately I don't think they're paying any attention. They are too busy quarrelling, and now even thrashing each other.

Lina Sorensen,
Dhankuta

YESTERDAY'S MEN
CK Lal has taken a potshot again at the political parties ('Yesterday's men...,' #454). They are a soft target because they won't threaten him or beat him up like the YCL would. There are two types of forces in this country, ones that believe in (and use) violence as a political tool and the others that don't. It should be pretty clear to Nepali Times which side it should be on since your editor was at the receiving end of physical assault recently.

Name withheld,
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