Re: CK Lal's "Fatalism, capitalism and altruism" (#89). What has happened to us along the way? Have we become so self-absorbed and selfish that we have forgotten the art of giving? If we should receive, must we not give? Isn't that what our mothers taught us? Wake up, enlightened Hindu rich.

Tapas Thapa
Thapathali

As an American citizen, I understand that America, as the only superpower, will receive international criticism from a significant minority no matter what our government's policies are. I also will be the first to acknowledge that many times American policy or IMF policy seeks primarily to benefit itself both politically and economically. However, CK Lal's "Do our banners yet wave" (#90) is yet another example of the Nepali "elite" blaming everybody else but themselves. The truth is that Nepal has no one to blame but itself and its aphno manche culture for the situation it finds itself in. Primary allegiance to family or clan, not the common good, is the root cause of the Maoist uprising. This tree and its root have sprung not from abroad, but from the soil of Nepal. Mr Lal and the Nepali elite need to look in the mirror if they want to discover the cause.

S Troutman
Kathmandu

While it is not surprising that your readers like Dr Amrit KC took offence at CK Lal's exemplification of General Rana's red tika (Letters, #89), it seems to me that both parties have overlooked the obvious: Nepal is not a secular state but officially self-proclaims itself to be a Hindu kingdom. It should therefore come as no surprise that the commander-in-chief exhibits his religious affiliation publicly.
In your editorial ("Feckless pluralism," #89) you state that "it took the Europeans two hundred years to perfect the system." This may be an understatement. Nepal is actually going through a struggle similar to that which Europe went through in the 1600s, circa King Henry VIII, when states started to let go of priestly feudal systems. Although in most western countries citizenship is the legal birthright of all genders and social and ethnic classes, monarchs can still retain rule over religious systems, and the states and the civil services are largely secular. The systems are still far from perfect. These things take time to evolve, and serious, fearless soul-searching, by pro-active civic participants.

(Name withheld)

CK Lal calls Julia Chang Bloch a "viceroy" (#90). To be a viceroy one has to be a governor acting in the name of a king or a king-emperor. Madam Chang, for all her strutting around, was not qualified to be a viceroy in Nepal. That distinction has always gone to the successor of the British resident, the envoy of the Delhi Darbar in Kathmandu.

G Rimal
Kathmandu