UNITY IN DIVERSITY
CK Lal has touched my heart this time ('The ties that bind', State of the State #337). I always felt he was against the Nepali identity in his writings (especially for pahadi bahuns like me who are the focus of multipronged attacks in present day Nepal). But being somebody who thinks discrimination can be annihilated by educating people and not by trampling upon the dhaka topi, I totally agree that we need to find common ground amidst our diversity and learn to celebrate both. Hats off to Mr Lal.
Sandeep Dhungana,
Lancashire, UK
. I would like to congratulate CK Lal and his analysis on maintaining the integrity of Nepal. We should all respect each one other's uniqueness, but try to bring commonalities in the front if there is an eruption of differences. For co-existence we have to accept common principles. Madhesis were right to bring out their issues. Does it matter if Upendra Mahato of the MJF speaks Nepali instead of Hindi? After all, Hindi is a more likely threat to Maithali than Nepali. Maithali is more respected in Nepal and has a potential to flourish in Nepal rather than in Bihar. The root language of all these dialects are the same anyway.
B Bhandari,
email
. Re: Mark Turin's excellent article 'My tongue or yours' (#336). The briefest and simplest answer should be an emphatic: 'BOTH!' It is unfortunate that language policy and linguistic rights, and in particular, mother tongue education in Nepal are 'thorny political issues', as Turin correctly observes. In fact, language is not in the first place a political issue, although it is used and made as such. Language has to do with all that is 'culture', literature, art, history. It is also about the cognitive process of each individual. Perhaps because the rights of minority language groups have been neglected for so long, activists are now set to fight for their rights to the degree of being unreasonable. The reaction of the government to demands for mother tongue education has been changing over the years from definitely negative to carefully positive to even trying to provide textbooks for 12 languages. Indeed, the task is overwhelming if seen from the perspective of a central government: many of the minority languages are not well known in Kathmandu. Even less known are the real needs of the people, because for each language the situation is different, each has a different need. Before any action can be taken, surveys have to be undertaken to assess the language attitudes, the actual situation and the actual need in the mother tongues.
It does not hurt the position of Nepali as the prestige language if other languages are also used as medium of instruction. Linguists can testify that many of the languages spoken in Nepal have inbuilt mechanisms to coin new words, or fill terms with new content. How much, or rather how little, Nepali is really understood by speakers of other languages is reflected in the high dropout rate of students whose mother tongue is not Nepali. Children can handle several languages at the same time without getting confused, in fact, their cognitive abilities are strengthened compared to monolingual children. Even if the mother tongue is not the language of higher studies, it will not be forgotten if there is a good foundation early on. Education in the mother tongue will be the base of language preservation, and this is what we wish to happen in Nepal where we still have an immense treasure of diverse languages.
I Toba,
email
UNMIN
UNMIN's report on the first phase of registering 3,428 guns and 30,852 Maoist combatants leaves a lot of unanswered questions. We are seeking a political peace model solution, also known as the 'pieces of peace' with many political and social intra-linkages currently tied up its overall success. Ian Martin says 'the UN can't say if the Maoists returned all their weapons' which leaves two possibilities: either not all arms were registered or else the Maoists were merely fighting a psy-ops war for the past decade. Forget the weapons countdown issue, what is more important is for the Maoists to be on board the political mainstream.
Conflict prevention and peace-building efforts in other countries show that the process of peace-building starts once government and the rebels sign a peace agreement for comprehensive political settlement and post-conflict reconstruction, followed by the donor community developing a framework for rehabilitation, reconstruction and development, after which it passes through three overlapping yet distinct phases: the initial stabilisation of a war-torn society, the transformation or institutional building and the consolidation of the peace effort. Where ever we are on all three, it must address the Nepalis' desire for peace.
Surya B Prasai,
email
. Whether you like Chairman Prachanda or not, one should give the devil his due. If there is any leader who has the audacity and capacity to outsmart everybody then it is P K Dahal. The Maoists have everything to gain from the peace deal whereas other parties have everything to lose. Even if the whole peace deal fizzles out there is only one party which would gain from both eventualities. The parties have dug their own grave conceding to all the demands of the Maoists without understanding the repercussions on their own political future. These blunders are impossible to retract or amend. Thanks to the government, the Maoist increased their numbers from 9,000 to 35,000. It is the most significant gain the Maoists have made. This will work as a safety valve in the eventuality of going back to jungle and if they want to face the election then they still have the arms, human resources and money (provided by the government) to win single handedly, putting all three to good use. Now our government is even more vulnerable to Maoist diktat. Shree Girija Koirala has to choose between devil and the deep blue sea.
P B Rana,
email
CHELIS
I'd congratulated the Charitrahin Chelis in your paper when they first appeared with their daring agenda four years ago. But then they just vanished into thin air. Their sudden comeback has been a little worrying, are they limiting their roles as anti-males, that too, by emulating the same self-destructive macho male image? When will they move away from this Freudian penis-envy? Their proposition of 50 percent representation in the house is certainly relevant and they are right in carrying out various shock-therapies on the pathologically sex-obsessed mindset of our society. But why pass such revolutionary resolutions through rounds of whisky and cigarettes in an underground midnight bhatti? Can't they make an open declaration in broad daylight so the message is delivered to all sections of society, including that large percentage of their sisters who do not read papers? If they really wish to change the discriminatory and hypocritical attitude of the society they must play a consistent pro-active role, not just by venting off reactive outbursts once in a while.
D Divas,
email
. Way to go CHC! Yeah, show 'em that the toonas of your cholis and ijar of your petikots are staying tied until they meet all of your demands. Next step: how about a video tit&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#'&#̵'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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&'216; 'Nepali Girls Gone Wild'?
Nirmal Niroula,
email
TRASHY
Re: 'Nepal in New York' (#337). Is your newspaper a legit news outlet or a gossip mag? This article is pure trash that you would find in grocery line gossip section and is a disgrace.
Name withheld,
email
UNION OF BIDESHIS IN NEPAL
In my on-going effort to adapt as much to local culture and customs as possible, and to blend in with and respect local traditions and actions in Nepal, I have decided that it would only be logical to form a union of my own: the first union of Bideshis in Nepal. I say 'first', because, as all things in Nepal, it is certain to:
be copied (perhaps the greatest 'poverty' in Nepal is that of initiative, creativity, and professional ethics, among Nepalis and international 'development' workers). It is also likley to splinter into a variety of factions with complaints, issues, oppositions, public resolutions, and much tea drinking and speeches between us, while we work as hard as possible to skim as much funds from the community as we can. As an opening action to announce our presence, and demand our rights we demand a 10 percent tax from all Nepalis (in addition to 13 percent VAT).
Then we shall stop all Nepalis on the road, and demand donations to our various 'temple construction' projects. Once unionised properly, it would only be natural for us to start back-biting and betraying each other, splinter off in to other groups with similar aims, and compete in declaring nationwide bandas.
Someone explain to me how a nation can work so diligently at self-sabotage and self-destruction, and in the same breath, demand international assistance to correct those same misguided efforts?
Johnnie Chai,
email
