I usually like CK Lal's columns, they are original and insightful analyses of the present social phenomena in Nepal. But I had fundamental differences with the part of his column "Disadvantaged abroad" (#108) where he puts forward the theory that "HANSA" (Hindu, Aryan, Nepali-speaking Administrators) are the sole cause of the misery faced by our forex-earning brothers and sisters. Although the article made me feel sorry for their plight, it also made me uneasy that my favourite columnist was taking such a reductionist stand. I expected CK Lal to be more careful in paying attention to other facets of the issue.

Kapil Dahal
Gorkha

. "Disadvantaged abroad" by CK Lal was one of the best reads in recent times. Especially his depiction of HANSAs who make people of Mongolian origin miserable when you have to obtain a passport. I have seen it with my own eyes when my uncle tried to obtain a passport, and it took nearly three months. It would have taken longer but my father was fed up with the officer on duty and paid him some money to expedite the process. Some of my relatives have had problems with employers in Malaysia and Kuwait, but none of the Nepali labour officials anywhere are the least bit interested in helping them. There are hundreds of similar stories if you want to publish them. If the poor and the uneducated don't get justice and assistance from the government when they try to go abroad to work, then you will have the unwanted consequences of Maoism.

R Subba
Kuwait