FRUSTRATED
Finance Minister Bhattarai seems to believe that ignorance is bliss, otherwise why would he say that the situation for business is not getting worse ("I am not frustrated, and no one should be" # 433). There are 16 hours of power cuts every day, the security situation is getting worse, business owners are treated like dogs and his own party goons are the front runners in that. Maoist unions are creating havoc. Everyone was optimistic about economic reforms when Bhattarai became finance minister but that sadly has been converted to despair by his government's lax policies and focus on vote-bank politics. I cannot recall a worse crisis than this for Nepal.

Swagat R Pyakurel,
Biratnagar

ARMY
CK Lal's column was ambiguous ('It is Nepal's army,' #433)" There is no doubt that the army is Nepal's Army but the question is how to keep politics out of it. The army may have some flaws but its contributions to the nation are much more.

As far as the Madhesis' discontent regarding racial composition of Nepal Army is concerned, the selection of Gurkha soldiers by the British Army gives us some insight as to why a certain institution prefers a certain group of people. The size of the army was increased to counter the Maoists after the police failed miserably. The threats from Maoists have not yet ended as we are witnessing in our everyday lives. here are number of terrorist groups evolving in the Tarai.

Neeraj Roy, Asian College of Journalism,
Chennai

PASHUPATI
Culture does not create power. Power, the quest for it and the use of it, creates culture. Take for example the current institutionalisation of anarchy ala competing interest groups within Nepal. This culture of violence was created as a result of the quest for power by the Maoist clich? and the ambition's eventual fulfilment. The idea of an all encompassing national deity in the Pashupatinath temple was used by the monarchical Nepali state to push this policy of homogenisation. However, realities of power differences meant that national identity would have to be sacrificed while choosing the priest for this particular symbol of national identity.

The Maoists are playing on the historical idea of using the Nepali identity to keep their power status through the support of a larger majority. In a system such as Nepal, which lacks strong authority, all actors vying for power feel insecure and want to increase their quest for survival.

Nishant Acharya,
email

SPINNING OUT
Lying, it is said, is a mark of a good politician ('Spinning out of control, # 433) but when you hear it every day it gets boring. Inflicting such boredom upon the majority of informed and generally excitement-loving Nepalis may be the route for ultimate demise for the Maoists. They live in a parallel universe. Back in the jungle, it probably went like this: the big guys spoke, rest listened, nobody questioned. It took Tarzan a while to learn the ways of the civilised world; it will take the Maoists some time too.

Arun Neupane,
Texas

THE OX
Nandi is not an ox (page 1 picture, #433). Nandi is Shiva's carrier, gatekeeper but definitively a bull, a glorious example of bovine malehood. My translator's sensibility is disturbed by your calling him an ox. Poor Nandi shouldn't loose his virility in translation.

Kalpana Ghimire Nourisson,
email