I disagree with the statement in your editorial 'Even though the kingdom was not designated a secular state, Nepal has never been as Hindu as it was made out to be by the ancien regim&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;216;' ('Theocracy to democracy', #300). The 1990 constitution simply took over the religious fanaticism imposed by King Mahendra when he declared Nepal a Hindu state in 1960. From 1962 many Nepali Christian leaders found themselves in prison for no other reason than their faith in Jesus Christ. One in Okhaldunga succumbed to police torture, and is the first known Nepali Christian martyr. When Nepal became democratic in 1990 two British MPs, David Alton and David Atkinson pleaded with KP Bhattarai's interim government for the release of 60 Christians behind bars. One elderly pastor in Dharan has been in and out of jails 14 times. Although such imprisonment ceased after 1990, no Christian organisation has succeeded in getting legal registration as an NGO without deleting terms like 'Christian' or 'Bible' from application forms or guidelines. Churches never even had the option.
After the historic 18 May declaration of Nepal as a secular state, Nepali Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains feel they too are now first class citizens of their own country. Before, advocates of other religions had to make use of Hindu means for progress, as the anthropologist Prayag Raj Sharma so aptly states. Thus contrary to your editorial opinion the executive, legislature, and the judiciary promoted Hinduism with state mechanism and finance.
Ramesh Khatry,
Arubari
. It is absolutely outrageous to see the kind of publicity the Maoists are getting in the local media. Each Prachanda statement is greeted by the leading Nepali media houses with front page space accompanied by his picture which I am sure makes the surviving families of the 13,000 people killed in the past decade awfully sick to their stomach. Merely repeating their rhetoric that the current change in Nepal was their doing doesn't absolve them of the crimes that they have committed and are still committing. For all the flip-flopping we have witnessed on their part, the Maoists yet don't deserve any benefit of doubt. They have intensified their tax and donation collections using severe coercion. Let the Maoists come out first and explain to us properly what they mean by the new political and economic order that they want to create in Nepal, let them give up their arms, let them stop their intimidating tactics, let them tell us categorically that the resulting situation will mean more rights for people and not less. Until that happens, please don't publish pictures, life histories and propaganda of the Maoists.
And please don't let them fool the people that they are on the side of peace. Going to war can never be a means of establishing lasting peace anywhere. Of course, we will all rejoice when there is this lasting peace in the country that every one is looking forward to but please don't torture us in the interim by glorifying a group of terrorists who are yet to prove that they mean business for the ordinary people of Nepal.
Sunil Sharma,
Teku
. Ref: Pravin Rana's article, 'Loving to hate the NA' (Guest Column, #300) and response-letters to it (#301). Any time issues of 'militarisation' comes up, it is invariably the national army that is held up to blame. It is easily forgotten that the 40,000-strong (R)NA soldiers were happy enough doing their morning and evening drills inside their barracks and disaster-relief work outside until the Maoists drew them to battle in 2001. It is the Maoists who put guns into the hands of common Nepalis, many of them teenagers. They were abducted and indoctrinated with extreme left ideology that exalts armed rebellion. Why is it the NA still bears the prime guilt for 'militarisation'? Even more ridiculous is the charge about 'unprofessionalism'. Any organisation is clearly limited in its aim (to be as 'professional' as possible) by the pool it recruits from and the training it can provide to these recruits. Can we look around our poorly developed nation and find it teeming with other 'professional' institutions which the NA would do well to emulate? As an institution, the NA clearly aims to respect human rights and minimise civilian casualties. But the fact that even the world's most advanced army, in the most advanced democracy, still falls short should help provide a sense of perspective when judging these issues.
No intention to condone the NA's mistakes here. But war, by its very nature, is an ugly business. Given that war was thrust upon the Nepal Army, Mr Rana makes a valid point. The Nepali military is different from militaries in action anywhere else in the world (and he has the numbers to prove it). But the continuous harangue the NA faces from the very people enjoying the security it provides is probably unrivalled anywhere on earth. The psychological effects of such demoralising and hostile reaction upon those giving up their lives to prevent war from engulfing the whole nation needs to be taken into account when analysing incidents such as Nuwakot and Belbari.
Abhishek Basnyat,
email
