SEASON OF UNREASON

I am not a fan of king Gyanendra but give the guy a break. He can't even go and receive tika from the Kumari without it being labelled a strange occurrence ('Ending the season of unreason', State of the State, #369)? This hullabaloo about the king's visit is nothing but the politicians and media making a mountain out of a molehill. Get your priorities straight people, we have more pressing matters that need your undivided attention.

T Chanda,
email

. CK Lal's weekly column about the king receiving tika from the Kumari was strange. Kings have been doing it for decades, why the problem now? Isn't the king also a normal person? Who gave Girija or the Maoists the right to protest when someone goes to see the Kumari? Or maybe we need to start referring to Girija as His Majesty Girija Prasad Koirala, President of the Secular Kingdom of Nepal? The attention that people pay to every action of the king is just absurd.

Nalini Shah,
Gairidhara

When goons have arms, they don't listen to any reasoning. Obviously you don't watch Hindi movies, otherwise you would never have written that editorial ('Messing with the messenger', #369). Their leader himself said that he often gets inspiration from Hindi movies. They just intimidate anyone who dares to speak out against them. If you people are still dreaming, God knows where Nepal is heading to.

Alok Dixit,
email

. The Maoists' actions show that they are not into democracy but into absolute communism. Constituent assembly elections were the one thing that all Nepalis wanted more than anything. Now, we can say that this government has failed its mission. This 'interim' government was supposed to be done six months ago. It seems that these dirty politicians will never let Nepalis write their own constitution.

Saurav Sharma,
email

. Maoists atrocities have reached a peak. Nowhere else in the world can we find a parliamentarian leading the mob like Shalik Ram Jammarkatel has done. They are a clear and present danger to life, liberty and democracy. The Americans are right in not removing the Maoists from their terrorist list. They have abused the mandate of the Jana Andolan and dashed the dreams of thousands of Nepalis who died hoping for a better future.

Ram Chaudhary,
Birgunj

Re: 'Arrested in Kathmandu', #368. This is how the American government reigns in our country. They've got all the freedom they need: asking $100 for a simple visa application form, the DV lottery system to steal our brains, commenting unbecomingly on Nepali politics and trying to marginalise a certain political party who are in government, the Maoists. All of this shows how little culture the rulers from the United States have.

N Nirmal,
Spain

Whether you are a Nepali or not depends on your roots. Everyone is proud to be a Nepali, wherever they are. It is only the political leaders who try to divide Nepalis into pahadi and madhesi. We don't want to know that yours is a pahadi paper, but just that it is a Nepali paper. So that is why we don't like it when your columnists ('Our identity crisis', #368) talk about pahadi and madhesi cultures. So, when Prashant won, we celebrated not because he was an Indian national but his roots were in Nepal.

Kishor Kamal,
email

I'd like to thank Nepali Times for its monthly Stargazing column. I've always loved astronomy and have been fascinated by the night sky since grade 9. When I look up at the sky, I feel like I'm seeing old friends. The Kathmandu sky disappoints me with all the dust and pollution but I do try to look up. Thank you for bringing astronomy closer to my heart.

Apildev Neupane,
Kaski

CORRECTION:
The column on Burma 'Revolts of the righteous' (#369) was written by Ian Buruma instead of what inadvertently appeared due to an editing error. Pictures acompanying 'Hidden treasure' (#369) were by Rupa Joshi.