WARNING
Brave and well-argued editorial ('Prime Minister Dahal', #405). Our politicians must start planning for economic development otherwise even Lord Pashupatinath won't be able to help our future rulers. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Megh Gurung,
Pokhara

* It is ridiculous to see the so-called civil society of Kathmandu pursuing the single agenda of humiliating the royal family even after its hasty derecognition ('Same old Nepal', #404). The handful of ultra-revolutionary socialites
seem to need an enemy and have chosen the mother and grandmother of the ex-monarch. It's a sheer disgrace that civil society is not more concerned about the people's woes: the petroleum crisis, the transportation stoppage, soaring food prices, deforestation, lack of books in schools. Come on, the civil elites pay attention to the statelessness otherwise you will be seen as 'uncivil society'.

P Sharma,
Mumbai

* Well I guess getting rid of the monarchy didn't solve all the problems did it? What a waste of effort. Other than squabbling over position and power, nothing will change. Same old faces, leading thousands of sheep down a path of destruction as always. But let's not blame anyone, we voted these people in, we are accountable.

A Bhandari,
Sydney

ENGLISH MEDIUM
After reading 'Reading, writing, arithmetic, revolution'(#404) it struck me that English should be the medium of instruction in all government schools. It would certainly be a large scale operation but i think it would be worth it. All Nepali high school graduates, and even some dropouts would be able to speak some English and it would certainly go a long way in improving job prospects of Nepalis in the Gulf, Malaysia and the rest of the world. I work in Qatar and see Nepalis toiling in the desert heat for meagre salaries while their Filipino counterparts work inside air conditioned offices. It goes without saying the latter get paid much more. New political parties may claim they will solve all of Nepal's woes in 10-40 years but what do we do till then? Making Nepalis competent communicators in English would help compete in higher education and the overseas job market.

Manohar Budhathoki,
email

RURAL HEALTH
As a medical officer in Dhulikhel I was moved after reading 'Stopping the haemorrhage' (#403). In a developing country like ours, the rural areas is where health care is needed most. Nepal now produces a lot of doctors, and every year more are returning from Bangladesh and China. How do we get them to serve in the districts? After reading the article, I felt glad that I am serving Nepal where my services are most required.

Name withheld,
email

RULE OF LAW
A much needed piece ('Work in progress', #405) to open discussion on this topic. As a legal practitioner, my take is that among a host of other factors, two critical elements in establishing rule of law are missing in Nepal i) dearth of impartial/neutral trial of cases ii) lack of enforcement mechanisms So even if we write the most comprehensive, substantive and procedural law for our country, rule of law will keep evading our society as long as judges are biased and tainted and as long as our enforcement apparatus remains tenuous.

Chanda Thapa,
email