CONSIDER THIS
1. The leader of the main opposition party is a joke, a man who has no sense of political or personal direction.
2. Our PM doesn't have the moral right to lead the country, but he does. He gets the limo treatment and the first family gets free rides on taxpayers' money. Noone complains.
3. Girija Prasad is disillusioned if he still believes he can solve the political stalemate. As I see it, he is the biggest hurdle in Nepali politics.
4. Civil society is anything but civil. It is a biased organisation bent on giving the ruling parties and the army a hard time knowing well that they cannot beat them up.
5. Notice the only vehicles plying the streets these days with a full tank of petrol have blue plates. Someone tell me why even the Maoists who blatantly torch ambulances allow them to function when the entire country is shut? Does anyone know what these missions even do anymore?
6. Lastly, notice the intelligent and smart people of the country, young and old alike, lined up for visas outside the embassies?

A new Nepal ? Yes indeed.

Prasanna K.C.,
Kathmandu

INCLUDING THE EXCLUDED
Affirmative action is another debate, but the charge against donors couldn't be truer ('Including the excluded', #481). People forget there's nothing humanistic about donor programs. They're mere tools to meet a country's foreign policy objectives. Granted, you can make a qualitative distinction between donor agencies if you like, but they're still just extensions of their respective foreign ministries.

Gyanu

WE'RE WITH YOU
What does it say about Nepal's status among nations when, half a century after the defeat of white colonialism in South Asia, the head of the Nepal Army goes to India and offers to open his country for recruitment of Nepalis into the Indian Army, to fight their battles against their enemies? "India is now deeply worried about the unfolding events in Nepal," writes Prashant Jha ('We're with you', #481). Actually, a lot of us are more worried about events unfolding in New Delhi.

Gangalal

XMAS? CHEERS!
Finally, an article that doesn't disparage Christianity ('Xmas? Cheers!', #481). Being a Nepali and a second-generation Christian myself, I'm disheartened by the fact that so few journalists in Nepal say anything positive about Christianity. To them, I ask: have you met Christians or listened to them? Have gone to a church in Kathmandu, and seen how helpful people are to each other?

THE REGAL RUBBER STAMP
CK Lal is spot on ('The regal rubber stamp', #481). Extreme left and right wing ideologues have created a vacuum in the country. Unless this vacuum is filled soon, Nepal will see more bloodshed and chaos, not to mention a deepening economic crisis.

Yanpras

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Junkets aren't as bad as you think, as they are an economic activity in themselves and generate employment ('Sustainable development', #481). Think of the marketing skills that went into taking 600 Nepalis to Copenhagen. It's a tribute to our entrepreneurial skills and it's big business.

Jange