Received: from mp.cs.niu.edu (mp.cs.niu.edu [131.156.1.2]) by library.wustl.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id VAA13034; Fri, 1 May 1998 21:01:51 -0500 (CDT) Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA05053 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-dist); Fri, 1 May 1998 19:52:51 -0500 Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA05049 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-list); Fri, 1 May 1998 19:52:50 -0500 Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 19:52:50 -0500 Message-Id: <199805020052.AA05049@mp.cs.niu.edu> Reply-To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> From: The Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu> Sender: "Rajpal J.P. Singh" <A10RJS1@cs.niu.edu> Subject: The Nepal Digest - May 1, 1998 (14 Baishakh 2055 BkSm) To: <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> Content-Type: text Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 262
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The Nepal Digest Fri May 1, 1998: Baishakh 14 2055BS: Year7 Volume74 Issue1
H A P P Y N E W Y E A R B S 2 0 5 5 !!!!!!
Today's Topics:
Nepali News
Fund Raising Dinner in Storrs, Connecticut
Happy New Year 2055
Economics + Environment.
Are Nepali women human?
How did Bag-Chaal originate
URGENT APPEAL to TND
The Problems of Chritianity
******************************************************************************
* TND (The Nepal Digest) Editorial Board *
* -------------------------------------- *
* *
* The Nepal Digest: General Information tnd@nepal.org *
* Chief Editor: Rajpal JP Singh a10rjs1@mp.cs.niu.edu *
* (Open Position) *
* Editorial Columnist: Pramod K. Mishra pkm@acpub.duke.edu *
* Sports Correspondent: Avinaya Rana avinayar@touro.edu *
* Co-ordinating Director - Australia Chapter (TND Foundation) *
* Dr. Krishna B. Hamal HamalK@dist.gov.au *
* Co-ordinating Director - Canada Chapter (TND Foundation) *
* Anil Shrestha SHRESTHA@CROP.UOGUELPH.CA *
* SCN Correspondent: Open Position *
* *
* TND Archives: http://library.wustl.edu/~listmgr/tnd/ *
* TND Foundation: http://www.nepal.org tnd@nepal.org *
* WebSlingers: Pradeep Bista,Naresh Kattel,Robin Rajbhandari *
* Rabi Tripathi, Prakash Bista tnd@nepal.org *
* *
* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* *
* "Heros are the ones who give a bit of themselves to the community" *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" -Sirdar_Khalifa *
* *
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 20:01:56 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Nepali News
Source: The Kathmandu Post (duely acknowledged)
UML leaders heap abuse on ML
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, April 22 - Top leaders of Communist Party of Nepal(UML) put out their venom
against the breakaway Communist Party of Nepal (ML) today, alleging them as opportunists,
indisciplined and highly ambitious individuals.
Speaking at a meeting of party workers jointly organized by UML Central Office and Kathmandu
Valley Coordination Committee, party General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said the party was
split by two individuals to fulfil their ambitions.
"Since they have come up with the strange theory that division is strength, their party will break again
and again and at the end one person will be found standing alone in his village in Jhapa and another
will be found alone in Bardia," Nepal said hinting at C P Mainali and Bam Dev Gautam, the two
prominent leaders of ML.
Nepal said the bunch of ambitious, indisciplined, and opportunist people who are not committed to
the Communist ideology have followed the breakaway party. Nepal also alleged that the party lacks
ideological grounds and therefore endorses the peoples multiparty democracy, made popular by
UML. "They have even made claims on sun, the election symbol of UML," he said in his
two-hour-long diatribe against ML leaders.
Nepal alleged the ML leaders of fighting only for posts in the party and also in the government. "They
asked for 40 percent seats in the central committee after all the differences had been settled.
Likewise, they bargained recently with the Nepali Congress for ministerial berths, " Nepal said.
Severely criticizing Gautam on his stand on nationalism, Nepal said Gautams nationalism is a fake
nationalism which falls asleep while he is in power and rixes noisily when he is out of power.
Gautam, who broke the UML parliamentary party to form a new communist party early March this
year, counted the chief differences with UML leadership as their attitude towards India and the USA.
Nepal accused Gautam of trying to sell his fake nationalism for his personal gains in the elections. But
the people will reject it, he said.
"Each and every deal with India and USA will come to light, who is hobnobbing with whom will be
known," Nepal said. "Apart from fake nationalism, they have very friendly relationship with Mandale
type rightists. Since they have intimacy with the rightists their views also are similar to them," he said,
adding Bamdev was the first person to declare RPP as a patriotic force.
Nepal accused the ML of coming down to hooliganism after the people rejected them because of
their dual nature and lack of a sound ideological ground. "They have been distributing money without
limit. They believe that money, power and ministerial position can do anything which is a Fascist
thinking and dictatorial tendency. But the people will reject them," he said. UML President
Manmohan Adhikari speaking at the same occasion accused the ML leaders of breaking the party
and termed their works as political crime.
He said the UML leadership was tired of the corrupt behaviour of the UML ministers in the
seven-month-old cabinet of Lokendra Bahadur Chand. Bam Dev Gautam held the post of deputy
prime minister and home minister in the Chand government which was embroiled in controversy
about the appointment of a convicted police officer.
"The cabinet was surrounded by the mafia. What was the motive behind appointing Narahari
Sangraula and deputing him at the Tribhuvan International Airport?" he asked and further said: "The
only motive was to amass political fund by smuggling bagfuls of gold."
Standing committee member Jhala Nath Khanal, central committee members Ishwor Pokharel,
Raghuji Panta and other UML central leaders spoke on the programme held to mark the birthday of
Lenin and golden jubilee year of the establishment of Communist Party of Nepal.
---------------------------------------------
ML stages mass show of strength
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, April 22 - In a massive show of strength, the newly formed Communist Party of
Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) organised a mass meeting here today attended by over 30 thousand people
from the capital and the neighbouring villages.
The turnout of the meet came as a major morale booster for the top leaders of the party coming as it
did only weeks after an embarrassingly poorly attended rally of the party here. So low was the
turnout in the partys mass rally organised three weeks ago that it had to be wrapped up at Ratna
Park against the original plan of holding a mass meeting at the open theatre.
But todays rally and also the turnout was a marked improvement which also had interesting features
to arouse the inquisitiveness of the people. The several thousand strong rally was led by about two
hundred khaki-dress clad "volunteers," reminiscent of the Chinese Red Army, with a commander.
The organisers invited a number of people with a lot of emotional appeal to the mass to attend their
first major show of strength. Among those sharing their seats with the ML leaders were Hasina Devi
Shrestha, widow of martyr Ganga Lal who was executed by the Ranas for his involvement in the
pro-democracy activities in 1941. Her appearance was enough to create awe among the people who
offered her a standing ovation. Shresthas sister-in-law, Sahana Pradhan, incidentally chaired the
function in her capacity as the president of the CPN (ML).
Upbeat about the massive turnout, ML leaders launched a venomous attack on the main opposition
CPN(UML) for their "anti-national and defeatist attitude," declared their target of forming the next
government and, with their attacks on the USA and India, gave a clear indication that the mainstream
left politics in Nepal was likely to turn left from its present near-centre line
"They (UML) have failed to accept republicanism as a principle thinking of the communist movement
in Nepal," ML parliamentarian Siddi Lal Singh said. "And they are not concerned about left unity
since they have offered unconditional support to the Nepali Congress government."
Taking over from Singh, partys political bureau member, Chandra Prakash Mainali, accused UML
leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Khadga Prasad Oli of being anti-national. "They engineered the
passage of Mahakali Treaty in the partys Central Committee through fraudulent and undemocratic
practises.
"Our party has come into existence to check the defeatist, anti-national and anti-people tendencies in
the Communist movement in Nepal represented at the moment principally by the UML
The major attack on the UML for its "defeatist policies" came from the ML secretary general Bam
Dev Gautam who accused his mother party of following the policies of Khrushchev (of USSR) in the
early 1970s.
His logic: the main opposition party is following the same conciliatory policies towards the
"expansionist and imperialist forces" as followed by Khrushchev then. His reference was clearly
towards the UMLs political document which, unlike any communist document in the world, does not
identify India and the USA as imperialist forces.
Declaring his partys target of leading the left front--which is yet to come into effect--to victory in the
next elections, Gautam said the present NC government was basically a status quoist and not much
could be expected of it. "The Congress has formed the government not because of the peoples
support to it but because of the fraudulent initiatives of the UML.
Gautam also called upon the Indian government to withdraw its army from the Kalapani site in
Darchula. "We will not let the land go to India," he said. He announced the formation of the property
investigation commission, as per the partys manifesto, to probe into the holdings of party leaders.
At the beginning of the mass meeting, the "volunteers" offered a "guard of honour" playing to the tune
of the international Communist song. The honour was followed by the hoisting of party flag by the
ML secretary general Bam Dev Gautam.
The presence of Prem Bhandary, a younger brother of the late UML secretary general Madan
Kumar Bhandary, added to the already upbeat mood of the ML workers. His appearance on the
stage came as a major morale booster for the ML activists who fought tooth and nail for days with
the UML leadership to win him over to their side. As he began delivering his speech, which mainly
had curses for the UML leadership, the crowd was for a moment confused that the voice could well
have been of the late Bhandary. Spontaneous rounds of applause followed in memory of the late
leader, a widely acclaimed public speaker.
*******************************************************************************
Subject: Fund Raising Dinner in Storrs, Connecticut
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 98 13:28:04 -0400
From: Ranjeet <RANJEET@UConnVM.UConn.Edu>
To: <Nepal@cs.niu.edu>
The Nepalese community of Connecticut is hosting a fund raising dinner
to support construction of Nepal Education and Cultural Center/Temple in
Maryland on behalf of the Association of Nepalese in the Americas (ANA).
Date and Time: Saturday, May 9 1998, 6:30-9:00
Place: Bishop Center (Room 7), University of Connecticut, Storrs,
Connecticut.
For more information please contact me (860) 423-5564 or Hemanta Shrestha
- 860-487-0046
Please plan to attend the fund raising dinner and pass the information to
family and friends.
See you on May 9th.
Bidya Ranjeet
---------------------------------------------------------------------
RESERVATION FORM: ANA FUND RAISING DINNER
Storrs, Connecticut
Meals: Adults (___ Persons X $15.00 each) =
__________
Children (17 years and younger; _____ persons X $5.00 each =
__________
Additional Donation
(Optional, but your generosity will be greatly appreciated):
_________
Total:
_________
Your Name _________________________________ Tel# ____________________
Address_______________________________________________________________
Please send this form and check (by May 1st, made out to the ANA)to:
Hemanta
Shrestha
16-Nothwood
Apt.
Storrs, CT
06268
(Note: Any donation you make is tax deductible)
***********************************************************************
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Happy New Year 2055
From: Shrestha Bijaya Krishna <shrestha@ud.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 16:28:30 +0900
The Nepal Digest Family
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Bijaya K. Shrestha
Urban Design Laboratory
University of Tokyo
*********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 13:57:13 +0200
From: Devendra Rana <devendra.rana@wwfnet.org>
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu, ida@wlink.com.np
Subject: TO TND : KURAKANI - Economics + Environment.
Happy new year to you all.
with regards,
Devendra Rana
2:38 AM ET 04/13/98
Enron pulls out of giant power project in Nepal
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. power
giant Enron Corp
has withdrawn its application for a hydropower
project in Nepal
which was to have involved investment of up to $6.0
billion, a
senior government official said on Monday.
``They have withdrawn their application for
survey
licence,'' a senior official of the Water Resources
Ministry
told Reuters.
However, the official quoted Enron as saying
that it would
continue to monitor the power market and might
reconsider the
project at a later date.
``After reviewing the power and financial
market...we
withdraw our application for survey licence,'' the
ministry
official, who asked not to be identified, quoted Enron
as
telling the Nepali government.
In 1996, the Enron Renewable Energy Corp
had proposed
building a dam on the Karnali river in western Nepal
to produce
a maximum of 10,800 megawatts of hydropower for
export to India
and China.
The Houston-based company had applied to
the government for
a survey licence for the plant, which was to be
among the
world's biggest and would have taken several years
to build.
Enron had also planned to build transmission
lines across
the Himalayas to supply power to China. The plant
was to have
been handed over to Nepal after 50 years.
Analysts said the move could be a blow to
Nepal, which has
been wooing foreign investment to lift its sagging
economy.
In August 1995, the World Bank abandoned
plans to lend $175
million for the $1-billion Arun III hydroelectric project
in
eastern Nepal, saying that the Himalayan kingdom
needed to focus
on smaller and less ambitious power plants on its
many rivers.
Nepal's numerous rivers cascading from the
snow-covered
Himalayas have a combined potential for generating
up to 83,000
megawatts of power.
Water resources and tourism are two key
areas in which the
Nepali government is trying to attract foreign
investment.
Nepal last year allowed Australia's Snowy
Mountain
Engineering Corp to build a $1-billion, 750 MW dam
on West Seti
river in western Nepal.
One of the world's poorest nations, Nepal
uses just over 300
MW, or less than 0.5 percent of its estimated
potential, in the
absence of funds and technical know-how to utilise
the resource.
Only 15 percent of Nepal's 22 million people
has access to
electricity.
In 1996 Nepal and India signed a
controversial treaty to
build a dam on the Mahakali river on the kingdom's
western
borders with India.
***********************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 23:49:19 -0400 (EDT)
Forwarded by: Ashutosh Tiwari <tiwari@fas.harvard.edu>
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Are Nepali women human? An essay by Seira Tamang
Are Nepali Women Human?
An essay by Seira Tamang
To ask "Are Nepali women Human?" may seem at first too
obvious and indeed a little bizarre a queston to pose. It thus
might be helpful if we first inquire "Are Nepali women Citizens?",
as a means with which to set up the context for asking and
responding to the initial question.
If the debates on the right to property of women have made clear anything,
it is that women are not the same citizens that men are in the state of
Nepal. In fact, from the laws of property to those on divorce, citizenship
and adoption, it is obvious that Nepali women are not real citizens.
Ours is a pseudo - citizenship. A fake, mock, phony citizenship carrying
limited rights, abridged liberties, and restricted prerogatives. Given
that Nepali women are not Nepali citizens in the sense that Nepali men
are Nepali citizens and that trying to say that one can be "a sort of
a citizen" (usually phrased as being "a second-class citizen") is akin
to saying that one can be "sort of pregnant", - the answer to the
question "Are Nepali women citizens?", becomes a clear "No".
Citizenship-less, and hence state-less in that no state has bestowed
upon us full rights and duties, our legal status as persons only
appear to be fully protected via our "human rights"; ie. those
minimal rights as living beings gained in part from our
differentiation from animals, vegetables and objects and in part
from our membership in a community of equal human beings.
Yet,even this status of "human-ness" appears not secure
I point here to the clauses in the Mulukin Ain which state if a man rapes
a female over the age of 14, he is punishable with 3 to 5 years of
imprisonment and if he rapes a prostitute, he is liable to a fine of up to
Rs. 500 or up to 1 year of imprisonment. Leaving aside the logistics of
law implementation and general inadequacy of rape laws, and looking
solely at the legal consequences of the above clauses, it appears that
raping a prostitute is not really the same as raping a woman.
Judging by the prison terms to be served by rapists, if the criminals serve
the minimum sentence of 3 years for raping a woman who is not a prostitute,
and the maximum amount of 1 year for raping a woman who is a
prostitute, the equation appears that the prostitute is at the most
equal to one third of a non-prostitute woman. Clearly, the prostitute is
not a "real" woman, a "real" female human being.
It thus does not matter that she too, despite her protests and physical
efforts, has had her body used against her will to satisify the rapists
sexual drives. Her identity as a human with sovereign rights and
authority over her own body equal to that of other humans in the
community of human beings, is not only challenged, but over-ruled .
The basic necessity of recognizing her "human-ness", and indeed her
differentiation from an object, comes into question by virtue of her
virtue - or the purported lack thereof.
To make a reference to prostitution is of course to acknowledge that
unsavoury under-world inhabitated by "those" sorts of people.
The impact of the above legalities appears inconsequential for
women safely esconced from such "seedy" activities. In fact, it is
by their very distance from the world of prostitutes that these
uterus-bearers "earn" the privilege of being described as "ladies" -
the paragons of virtuous "real women".
However positions on the "ladies" to "prostitute" moral continuum is far
from being stable and/or guaranteed. Indeed, our existence, from birth to
death, is circumscribed by societal norms and values which seek to ensure
our "safe" positioning on the continuum. What clothes we wear, with whom we
talk, the volume of our laughter, the hours we keep, how we sit, our
cooking ability, the length of our hair, where and how much we speak, the
way we serve food, the profession we choose, how we show our anger, the
amount of noise we make, where we walk - all these and much more have
to be daily policed to match the standards regulated by society.
For to be a woman, and more specifically a socially acceptable woman
(the "true lady"), is a craft that has to be learnt and a role that
needs to be constantly performed.
To fail in the daily regimentation of our performances is to endanger our
moral status and concomitant "respectability rank" within society. It is
furthermore to slip towards the "women of disrepute", "prostitute" end
of the continnum, where with each slide, our status as "real women" and
"humans" fit for equal respect and proprietary rights over our bodies
increasingly comes into question. The dividing line between being a
woman and being one third of a human is most permeable - if indeed it
exists at all.
To return to our question "Are Nepali women human?", it thus appears t
hat for us Nepali women, the claim to being human is neither self-evident,
not guaranteed. It is at best tenuous and based on our ability and
willingness to perform and adhere to societally imagined moral roles.
In such a context its seems pertinent to ask, patriotic rhetoric aside,
what exact stake do we non-citizens and tenuous humans have in this
country's dominanat project of "national development"? And is our
stake the same stake as that of our inalienably human, fully citizen-ized
fathers, brothers and sons?
Seira Tamang
******************************************************************
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 10:51:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gaury Adhikary <adhikary@umich.edu>
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Re: The Nepal Digest - April 10, 1998 (25 Chaitra 2054 BkSm)
To the editor,
The Nepal Digest
I was absolutely taken aback by the very simple, yet profound analysis of
present day Nepali situation ( The Politics of Knowledge our Oppresive
present by Pratyoush Onta, The Kathmandu Post, March 13, 1998.)
posted in this forum.
In the article Mr. Onta succinctly describes our present day malady under
the heading of Capsule history of betrayal-- in which he describes the
modum operandi of the Rana, the Panchayat and present day political
system of Nepal . After reading the article one comes with the feeling,
we, as a Nepali society have changed very little in our thinking and our
democaracy and rhetoric thereof is limited to what it actually is:
rhetoric only!
Needless to say I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Onta's analysis, in doing
so I could not resist to post this response.
Unfortunately TND did not post the whole article (from the Kathmandu
Post) but towards the very end Mr. Onta seemed to ask for some feedback
from the readers as to how we could actually get out of this oppressive
web of affairs.
Here is my two cents worth:
I think first of all Mr. Onta's article must be published in Nepali (if
already not done so) and made avilable to widest possible group of
people. There should be a group of people (all inclusive citizen group)
willing to work for the sake of finding the truth/ facts. People must be
drawn from all walks of life (Administrative apparatus: high and low,
army, Police,
politician, journalists, professionals, farmers, business houses).In
short, Nepali of all colors and creed i.e: acceptance without
prejudgments. If Nelson Mandela can do it in Post Apartheid South Africa,
surely Nepal can do it as well!
These people should then inform (deliberate leaks) the public through the
Citizen group. The facts provided by the informant are studied
dispassoinately and deliberately and if the facts merit further action
it should be
brought to the judicial enquiry and efficiently dealt with. It is
imperative that group acts based only on documented evidence; the simple
dictum is: if it was not written it did not happen!
The Citizen group will organize the townhall meeting/ street corner
meeting to keep up its profile very much people oriented and people feel
less fearful and come forward to divulge the facts more readily.Townhall
meeting/ village meeting must be the hall mark of the group and it should
be held all across the country. People working for Citizen group must
understand the gravity of the mission and if they see a
conflict of interest at anytime, while working for the group,
should leave the group voluntarily. People working for the group must
understand that there is no tangible compensation to their effort other
than the power of making the "wrong" "right" and ultimately making Nepal
a
little bit better place to live.
I think these are hard choices but difficult time demand strict discipline
in life , more so if we are to work for the greater good of the people.
Jai Nepal!
Gaury S Adhikary.
Ann Arbor
adhikary@umich.edu
***********************************************************************************************
***********************************************************************************************
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 18:34:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ashutosh Tiwari <tiwari@fas.harvard.edu>
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: How did Bag-Chaal originate
Does anyone how the popular game of Bagh-Chaal originate in Nepal?
I've been told that it was invented by gothalos (shepherds) in some
Nepali village as a way of amusing themselves under the shade of a atree
while their goats and baa.khras and sheep grazed nearby.
(If so, whoever invented Bagh-Chaal must been one helluva brilliant person,
as any strategy-buff who has played Bagh-Chaal can testify!)
A gothalo's inventing the game plausible: but does anyone
have stories, from their villages and so forth?
Please either send a response here or send me an e-mail.
thanks
ashu
--------------------------------
The Mahakali Dance Revisited
by Pratyoush Onta
In the weeks leading up to and since the official split of the CPN-UML into
the majority UML camp and the minortiy ML camp, the Mahakali Treaty has
been evoked many a time to promote each side's nationalistic credentials.
The viewspapers that each camp sponsors have carried writings on this
theme.
Weeklies such as Chalphal, Dristi, Budhabar, Suryadaya and Sambodhan
have carried the UML view and others such as Nava Awaj, Prakash, Sourya,
Janaastha, Janadharana, Samadristi, and Pratipaksha have carried the
counter views of the ML camp. For media watchers, this war of words -
carried at the level of the high netas, their middle-level idealogues, and
low-level reporting cadres - has been one of the most sorry spectacles in
the recent history of this beleaguered nation.
In this essay I do not revisit this exchange to provide any dignity to it.
Instead I question the assertions made by the respective camps regarding
each side's claimed connection between the Mahakali Treaty and its
championing of nationalism. I suggest that beyond engaging in what can only
be called an absurd Mahakali Dance in the national political stage, it is
utterly bogus for both parties to tie up notions of nationalism to their
proclaimed commitment or opposition to the Treaty.
So let us examine one extant version put forth by the minority ML camp.
This camp alleges that in a rush to pass the Treaty without working out the
details, the UML camp led by Madhav Nepal and Khadga Oli joined its hands
with the NC (under the then PM Deuba). This was done to please Delhi Durbar
without whose blessings the CPN-UML could not come to power here.
This need
to please ones political masters explains the wierd accounting of Oli when
he claimed that the Mahakali Treaty would accrue an annual benefit of
rupees 120 arabs to Nepal (never mind the fact that even an essential
detail like the height of the dam to be built in Pancheswar has not been
determined). This also explains why the Treaty was passed despite its text
limiting Nepal's rights over the waters of the Mahakali (a provision that
was said to have been improved upon through a resolution passed in the
Nepali Parliament even when it is not clear why India would have to honor a
resolution that is not an integral part of the Treaty).
It also becomes
easy to understand how the Treaty could be passed without there being an
agreement with India regarding the "avoided cost" principle
under which the power generated from Pancheswar would be bought by it
(being paid under the so called "cost plus" principle means we have
foregone the position to bargain for the market-prices for our product, the
power generated).
The ML camp further claims that its leaders such as Bamdem Gautam, C P
Mainali and others had pointed out these deficiencies of the Treaty before
its signing. It further claims that these leaders had suggested that the
conditions of the Treaty that put Nepal in a disadvantage should be
rectified before the Treaty was signed. However when the Nepal-Oli camp
thought that its position was weak inside the Party regarding the Treaty,
it resorted to both threats and position-buyings and hence the Treaty was
passed.
Nearly 20 months later, when the DPR (which was said to be
finalized within six months) has not been finalized, the UML has remained
quiet, so the ML camp claims, because it is obliged to certain "power
centres" and hence can say nothing in public.
This ML version then goes to claim that the Nepal-Oli camp and hence the
UML, consists of 'rastraghatis' - traitors. Perhaps hijacking the main
agenda of smaller communist parties to its own left, the ML camp has been
riding the nationalist wave by displaying its camp leaders' self-described
oppositional role during the signing of the Treaty. But ML's attempts to
build up its nationalistic credentials based on this 'record' needs to be
exposed for what it really is.
To begin with we need to point out that during the actual voting, except
for one lawmaker who is now in the ML camp, all of the ML leaders including
Gautam and Mainali did not vote in opposition to the Treaty; they simply
abstained from voting. Secondly we need to ask how a major political party
can drum up the nationalistic cause over a project that is most unlikely to
be built.
To elaborate on the second point, we need to consider some specifics of
the so-called Pancheswar Project to be built under this Treaty. Large
projects like Pancheswar (Nepal's proposed version will make it a 6500 MW
project) are unlikely to be built because the necessary funding is not
going to be forthcoming from multilateral banks. The private sector has
thus far not shown a willingness to invest in projects larger than medium
size (that too of the run of the river type).
The largest hydropower
project under construction by the private sector at the moment anywhere
ranges in the vicinity of 500 MW and hence it will be some time before much
larger projects will be taken up by the private sector. Furthermore, with a
proposed dam height nearing 300m, the private sector will not invest in
Pancheswar because, in the spectrum of possibilities, experts now argue
that big dams are not economic and they contain too many uncertainties,
technical and otherwise.
There are many other arguments (whose details I have omitted) that make the
building of Pancheswar unlikely. Moreover, even it is built, Nepali
politicians will not be able to clinch a financially rewarding deal for
Nepal. Hence the revenues promised are more like fruits in the sky.
While the two biggest Communist Parties do their Mahakali Dance and they
and the rest salivate over the prospects of private sector investment in
mega-projects such as the Karnali Chisapani, we must remind ourselves that
none of the political parties are concentrating on real policy issues that
would result in practical, manageable within our own resources (savings of
the Nepali financial institutions could easily be used to construct a 30 MW
scheme every year) and imminent hydropower projects.
They hardly engage in
the longterm work that is necessary to prepare a solid position on such
relevant themes as the Power Development Fund, the private sector's role in
small and medium scale projects, and even on Karnali until they are
actually in power. In such a scenario they end up with no ready
alternatives but continue to succumb to the temptation of promising big
projects for "making Nepal a Singapore."
The ideas proposed by Nepali experts and engineers and the work of the
small private sector within Nepal in the 1990s should convince anyone that
a lot could be done in the hydropower sector now if our political leaders
decide to build up the sector from the ground up. Instead we are left to
watch the theatre of the absurd where much of the political rhetoric about
hydro development is about projects that are unlikely to be built during
our life-time or those which entail giant uncertainties regarding benefits
for the country even if they were to be built.
It is time that the nationalistic gimmicks of CPN-ML (and those of the UML,
NC, RPP camps as well) be exposed for what they are: rhetorical political
warfare that will not increase the living standards of the Nepali people at
large. Mahakali or any such dance in the name of nationalism must be
thoroughly rejected, for once and all.
******************************************************
Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 22:21:41 +0530
To: a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu
From: Mary Des Chene <deschene@mos.com.np>
Subject: URGENT APPEAL to TND
1 May, 1998
Kathmandu
Dear Rajpalji,
The Kaalo Kanun has been introduced in the parliament once again. Below is
an appeal for support for abroad which we sent out a few days ago. Like
last year, Dr. Mahesh Maskey and Chitra K. Tiwari have quickly responded,
and have once again written a statement of protest and are circulating it
for signatures. That statement is appended here following our letter and a
translation of core parts of the current bill.
Time is of the essence - and Dr. Maskey and Dr. Tiwari have set a deadline
of Monday, May 4 at 5pm to receive the name of anyone who wants to add
their signature to the joint statement. We are requesting that you
immediately circulate this message in its entirety to the subscriber list
of TND so that the greatest possible number of people will be informed and
have the chance to add their names to the statement. Thanks in advance for
your help in keeping alive the right to speak about Nepal *in* Nepal.
Sincerely,
Mary Des Chene
Saroj Dhital
(N.B. Requests to add your name to the joint statement should be sent
directly to mmaskey@bu.edu or cktiwari@erlos.com)
********************
29 April 1998
Kathmandu, Nepal
Dear Friends,
Not even a year has passed since we appealed to you to join us in protest
of a proposed "Anti-Terrorist" Bill that contravened the constitution and
international treaty accords, and would have provided the government with a
license to terrorize any citizen. At that time many of you responded and we
believe that the international outcry was an essential element of the
successful protest against the bill.
Sadly, it is time to begin again. The Thapa government (RPP/NC coalition),
which has just relinquished power, had called such a bill unnecessry when
it came into office. But in its final days it reintroduced the essence of
the anti-Terrorist bill into the parliament. The NC government of Girija
Prasad Koirala which is now in power is preparing to push for its passage.
This time it has been presented not as an independent bill, but as an
amendment to the Anti-State Crime and Punishment Act, 2046 v.s. (an Act, it
should be remembered, that was created in an effort to crush the 1990
People's Movement). The strategy of amending an existing law is no doubt
meant to make it easier to pass and to divert public attention from its
import. Be assured that the evil, anti-democratic, anti-people heart of the
Anti-Terrorist bill is preserved in the proposed amendment bill. The
proposed bill, though short, would accomplish overriding of the judiciary
and of the public's basic rights.
We are appending a translation of core portions of the amendment bill below
for your information. We bring your attention particularly to the following:
1) Objectives and Reasons: "since there has been no law yet to discourage
individuals,
groups or organizations engaged in creating fear and terror among the people."
Comment: A working paper prepared by lawyers during last year's protest,
which set out the existing legal powers to control actual terrorism,
murder, violent crimes against individuals and destruction or stealing of
property, under many separate current laws, clearly showed that this claim
is manifestly false. What is really at issue is the public right to
dissent. As anyone who recalls the Panchayat era will know, there were many
means inscribed in law to arrest at the will and whim of the government.
The great majority of those laws remain on the books. The Public Security
Act in particular, is being increasingly used to arrest at will, and the
definition of "anti-state" activities is quickly heading toward the
Panchayat-era definition of any hint of deviation from the views of those
in power.
2) Destructive and Terrorist Acts: "creating fear and terror among the
general public".
Comment: It is important to understand the scope that this line gives, in
practice, to the government. As we emphasized last year, the definition of
"terror" being used is so broad as to include raising any doubts in the
mind of the public as to the government's every act being first of all
devoted to the people's best interests, creating any alarm regarding
safety, security, the present condition of the country, the future, etc.
Thus it amounts to terror to think critically in public. From such a
definition it is a short step to harsh censorship of the press, arrest of
dissenting intellectuals, and silencing of the majority of the population
in the countryside. We are already seeing acts like the arrest last month
in Kathmandu of 52 members of a Peasant's March which had travelled by foot
through 7 districts for 1 1/2 months. Their crime? Peacefully distributing
leaflets about their march and its purposes. During the commemoration of
the massacre of 24 Chaitra, 2046 at the end of the People's Movement, many
were arrested during peaceful marches. Journalist Shakti Lamsal has just
been released. Suresh Ale Magar, President of the Akhil Nepal Janajati
Sangh, whom some of you may have met during his recent participation in a
conference at Harvard University, continues to be incarcerated. After the
weekly paper Jana Astha reported that the Maoists had obtained a copy of
the army's counter-guerrilla warfare plan, and published a photo of the
cover of that document, military personnel held the paper's employees at
gunpoint, ransacked the offices and the editor interrogated. These acts and
many others are being perpetrated under the Public Security Act.
3) "6a. TO BE DECLARED ILLEGAL: Any union, association, organization or group
engaged in crimes punishable under this Act can be declared illegal by His
Majesty's Government of Nepal."
Comment: Under the extremely broad definition of terror and harm to the
public inscribed in this Act, this amounts to a right to outlaw any group
distasteful to those in power or antithetical to their interests, including
citizen's groups of all kinds, rival political party's organizations, and
the media.
We wish to stress that speaking out against this act *does not equal*
voicing supporting for the Maoist People's War. The government claims it is
compelled to seek the powers of this act in order to "meet the Maoist
problem". First of all, it has much scope in present law to punish actual
crimes and acts of violence, by Maoists or anyone else, if it is able to
exert its authority. Second, the government is at once claiming that it
wishes to seek a political solution, and has appointed independent MP
Padmaratna Tuladhar to seek talks between the government and the Maoists.
By bringing this bill to the parliament again at the same time it clearly
shows its lack of seriousness about dialogue and undermines those efforts.
Third, as the history of many countries shows us, whatever the challenges
that face a government, legalizing state terrorism is never a means to the
protection or promotion of democracy. Finally, the government's current
abuses of Panchayat era laws show that, while it seeks passage of this act
in the name of controlling the Maoist People's War, it is ready to use such
powers widely against citizens of many political views.
The Movement to Save Democratic Rights (MSDR), which was formed last year
to work against passaage of the Anti-Terrorist Act, has remained active on
other issues since that time. It it now, once again, concentrating its
attention on the revived bill. Yesterday it organized a press conference at
the offices of the National Journalist's Association. A public discussion
forum will be held on Saturday at which legal experts will speak and as
many people as possible will be given a chance to speak in order to
collectively devise effective protest strategies. 9 opposition parties are
also jointly organizing in protest of the bill. A few days ago a march
through the city and rally in the Tundikhel was organized by this group.
(Interestingly, the CPN(ML) recently formed from the split of CPN(UML) has
joined in this protest group. The CPN(ML)'s leader, Bam Dev Gautam, as Home
Minister last year, was the primary advocate of the Anti-Terrorist bill.
Apparently the view from the opposition bench looks different! But it
remains to be seen whether this change of heart is genuine). Many women's
organizations are also joining together in protest of the proposed bill.
Although protest is organizing quickly, admist the many crises of
government and daily life, it is a difficult task to raise public awareness
about the implications of a dryly worded amendment to an existing law.
Protests in many forms and from many quarters are needed.
We thus appeal to you to once again make your objection to this
anti-democratic act known to the government and the political parties. We
believe that collective protest has the greatest impact. If, however, you
wish to lodge your own protest instead, or in addition, fax numbers are
provided below.
Sincerely,
Dr. Saroj Dhital
Advisor, Physicians for Social Responsibility Nepal
Dr. Mary Des Chene
Martin Chautari
***********
Unofficial Translation of key portions of proposed Anti-State Crimes and
Punishment (First Amendment) Act, 2054 v.s.:
OBJECTIVES AND REASONS
"This bill is being presented for the addition of articles 5a and 6a in the
Crimes against the State and Punishment Act, 2046 (1990) to make legal
arrangement to prevent terrorist and destructive acts in various parts of
the kingdom since there has been no law yet to discourage individuals,
groups or organizations engaged in creating fear and terror among the
people and that there have been legal problems of their release on bail
once actions are taken under the existing law that provides less than three
years of imprisonment leading to further increase in the confidence of
terrorists and destructive elements creating serious disorder and the
situation of anarchy in the country against the Preamble and the main
spirits of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047 (1991)."
"5a. DESTRUCTIVE AND TERRORIST ACTS: Anyone engaged in robbery, vandalism,
attack, destructive act or by any other means or harms to private, public
or government's property; creating fear and terror among the general public
or involved in carrying bombs, gelatin or other explosive materials or
collection, transportation, sale or use of arms with such objectives or
similar conspiracies; provided assistance or encouragement or gathered to
commit such acts or engaged in publicity or collection of donations for
such acts in cash or kind or provided protection to individuals engaged in
such acts or involved in training for such acts or made attempts to commit
destructive and terrorist acts shall be punishable from four to 10 years of
imprisonment with fines as equal to the loss of property, and life
imprisonment in case of a death."
"6a. TO BE DECLARED ILLEGAL: Any union, association, organization or group
engaged in crimes punishable under this Act can be declared illegal by His
Majesty's Government of Nepal."
********
Fax Numbers for Letters of Protest (country/city code: 977-1)
1. Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala
Fax: 977-1-227286 (tel: 228555)
2. Hon. Govinda Raj Joshi, Home Minister
Fax: 977-1-240942 (tel: 228031)
3. Hon. Achyut Krishna Kharel, Inspector-General of Police
Fax: 977-1-415593 (tel: 412432)
4. Mr. Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Leader, Nepali Congress
Fax: 977-1-227747 (tel: 227217)
5. Hon. Man Mohan Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition, House of
Representatives, and Chairman, Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist &
Leninist (CPN-UML)
Fax: 977-1-278084 (tel: 278081/278082)
6. Hon. Bam Dev Gautam, MP & Secretary-General, Communist Party of
Nepal-Marxist & Leninist (CPN-ML) (third largest opposition party in the
House of Representatives), tel/fax: 977-1- 223827
7. Hon. Surya Bahadur Thapa, MP & Chairman, National Democratic Party
Fax: 977-1- 417341 (tel: 423722)
8. Hon. Lokendra Bahadur Chand, MP & Chairman, (New) National Democractic Party
Fax: 977-1-411633 (tel:223044/223089)
AND PLEASE COPY TO YOUR LOCAL NEPALI EMBASSY/MISSION.
*********************************
JOINT STATEMENT OF PROTEST:
*********************************
Dear friends,
Following is our statement against the proposed amendment to Anti-State
Crime and Punishment Act, 2054. This statement reiterates the main points
of our earlier statement against Anti-Terrorist Bill (7 August,1997),
then introduced by RPP/UML government . Since we are receiving urgent calls
from Nepal to respond from our side, for the sake of time efficiency,
we have presented this statement with the signature of the all the persons
who had signed earlier. Those who have not signed before are requested to
sign their names in. For some reason if people whose names are in the
list, but do not wish to be included as signatories, please inform us
latest by 5 pm Monday, 4th of May 1998. To those whose names are not in the
list but want to sign in we also want to request the same. We intend to fax
the statement at 7PM of Monday evening.
Thank you.
Dr. Mahesh Maskey, MD MPH
Boston University
mmaskey@bu.edu
Chitra K. Tiwari, PhD
Washington D.C
cktiwari@erlos.com
STATEMENT AGAINST "ANTI-STATE CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT (FIRST AMENDMENT) ACT,
2054"
About eight months ago, responding to the concern of the intellectual
community in
Nepal, and in solidarity with them, we had strongly condemned the then
RPP(Chand)/UML government's efforts to pass the infamous "Anti-Terrorist
Bill" from the parliament. We were witness to fierce public opposition
inside and outside the country which forced the government to backtrack and
abandon such anti-people adventure. And it had appeared to us that
government do fear public opinion in Nepal. However, in utter disregard to
this historical precedent, the newly formed minority government of Nepali
Congress led by G.P. Koirala has again tried to revive the old
Anti-Terrorist Bill as "amendments" to the existing Anti-State Crime and
Punishment Act.
The Anti-Terrorist bill was originally hatched in the tenure of Nepali
Congress/ RPP government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, passed by the cabinet
in RPP/UML government but prevented by the public pressure from being
ratified in the parliament. RPP/ NC government led by Surya Bahadur Thapa
government initially claimed such an Act unnecessary but introduced the
above-mentioned amendment bill in its last remaining days. At the height of
public protest last year G.P. Koirala too had called the bill unnecessary
but is now trying to bring it into law in the form of an amendment to the
Anti-State Crimes and Punishment Act - 2046 v.s., retaining the despotic
essence of its predecessor.
Those who do not learn from the mistakes committed in the past are
condemned to repeat them again. And Nepali Congress is no exemption. The
fury of public opinion, inside and outside Nepal, is already being unleashed
against the government's attempt to pass this amendment bill into the law.
We the Nepali people in USA and abroad , and Friends of Nepal, reiterate our
condemnation of this draconian bill. We believe that no government in Nepal
can curb the sovereign rights of the Nepali people, any attempt to do so
would only discredit and ultimately lead to the downfall of the government
in question. We express our solidarity with all the intellectuals, human
right forums, political parties and the people at large who are standing
firmly against this nefarious bill. And we further believe, this combined
strength will again force the government to refrain from passing this
draconian bill that will give unlimited and extra-constitutional powers to
security organs of state.
Signed:
Nepalis in USA and abroad and Friends of Nepal.
Dr. Mahesh Maskey, MD MPH Boston University, MA, USA
Chitra K.Tiwari, Ph.D Arlington, Virginia, USA
Dr. Balram Aryal Maryland, USA
Sukh Dev Shah, Ph.D. Arlington, Virginia, USA
Stephen L. Mikesell, Ph.D. Birmingham,
Alabama, USA
Dr. Jamuna Shrestha, D.M.S. Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Dr. Karl-Heinz Kraemer Hennef, Germany
Lhapa Sherpani Hennef, Germany
Dr. Andrew Russell University of Durham, U.K.
Sherry B. Ortner, Ph.D. Columbia University, NY, USA
Dr. Arjun Guneratne,PhD Macalester College,
MN, USA
Kamal Raj Adhikary University of
Texas,Austin, USA
Dr. Stephen Bezruchka MD, MPH University of
Washington, USA
Kalyani Rai, Ph.D. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Bikash Pandey Berkeley, California, USA
Manisha Aryal Berkeley, California, USA
Krishna Pradhan, Ph.D. Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Bishnu Pradhan Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Sil Kumari Shrestha Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Lauren Leve Princeton University, NJ, USA
Katharine Rankin Cornell University, USA
Coralynn Davis University of Michigan, USA
David Kirkman
(Asst. Atorney General) North Carolina Department of
Justice, USA
Lazima Onta-Bhatta, Ph.D candidate Cornell University, New York, USA
Pramod Parajuli, Ph.D, Syracuse, NY, USA
Allison Macfarlane, Ph.D. Harvard University, USA
Rakesh Karmacharya New York, USA
Manju Thapa, Seattle, Washington, USA
Rajesh B. Shrestha Cambridge, MA, USA
Shree Krishna Pandey San Diego, CA, USA
Bikash Thapliya Vienna, VA, USA
Robert B. Keiter,
(James I. Farr Professor of Law) University of Utah College of
Law,UT , USA
Robin Sharma Durham,
NorthCarolina, USA
Mandira Sharma Durham, North Carolina, USA
Arun Sharma Chicago, Illinois, USA
Sushma Sharma Chicago, Illinois, USA
Santosh Basnet Chicago, Illinois, USA
Niraj Ojha Chicago, Illinois, USA
Debra Skinner University of NorthCarolina,
Chapel Hill, USA
Ann Forbes Dartmouth College, USA
Ashok Gurung Columbia University.
Bikas Joshi Columbia University, NY,
USA.
Bernardo A. Michael University of Hawaii, Manoa, USA
Clay Leonard
Susan Hangen University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, USA
Tika Gurung University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, USA
Damber K. Gurung, Ph.D. Clemson, SC, USA
Ellen E. Skeele Mill Valley CA , USA
Upendra Dev Acharya SJD candidate,Univeresity of Wisconsin,Wisconsin,USA
Parashu Nepal
Basant Shrestha New Hampshire College ,
NewHampshire, USA
Mary M. Cameron, Ph.D. Auburn University, AL , USA
Pramod Mishra , PhD Duke Univeristy, USA
David Seddon MA Ph D Professor of Development Studies
University of East
Anglia UK
Guenter Rose, Ph.D. University of Michigan, USA
William F. Fisher, Ph.D.
King Beach Sociocultural Research Group (SCRG)
Michigan State University
Madhav P. Bhatta School of Public Health
University of Alabama at
Birmingham, USA
Aiko Joshi Georgia State University, Atlanta,
GA USA
Katharine N. Rankin City and Regional Planning, Cornell
University, USA
Rajiv Rawat Harvard School of Public Health
Malinda Seneviratne Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Ali Mir Assistant Professor, School of
Business
Indiana-Purdue
Univesity, USA
Eknath Belbase Cornell University, Ithaca, NY USA
Shuchi Kapila Cornell University, Ithaca, NY USA
Saurav Dev Bhatta Cornell University, USA
Stacy Leigh Pigg, Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Burnanby BC Canada
Abi Sharma, North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Nalini Visvanathan School for International Training
Dr. Mahendra K. Karki General Sciences Corporation
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD USA
Dwight R. Holmes Florida State Univeristy, Tallahassee FL USA
Cabeiri deBergh Robinson Department of Anthropology, Cornell University
M. V. Ramana, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, USA
Dr. Andrew Russell Department of Anthropolofy, University of
Durham , U.K.
**********************************************************************
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 13:53:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Pramod K. Mishra" <pkm@acpub.duke.edu>
To: The Nepal digest Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: The Problems of Chritianity
> I'm not suggesting that Nepali leaders should only examine religious
> issues through rose-colored spectacles. The growing Christian community
> within Nepal, not to mention the Christian foreigners who come to the
> country with an interest in converting Nepalis, present very real and
> knotty problems -- especially when so much of Nepal's rich and beautiful
> culture stems from its traditional religions. Allegations that Christian
> groups have sought to make conversions by offering money or education
> opportunities to potential converts should be investigated, and (if proven
> to be true) the perpetrators should be punished.
I agree with you partly here. But the question I ask is, Why is it that
not many alumni of St. Xavier's and St Mary's, many of whom
live and work in the West, have converted to Christianity in spite
of long association with the parphernalia of Christian missionary
education? And why is it that many of Nepal's poor and oppressed in the
remote areas have so easily converted? As long as the
powerful in the Hindu religion continue to treat the oppressed among them
as sub-humans, these oppressed have every right to find other
dispnsations. I think that sooner they did, the better for the sake of
recuperating their humanity. And those among the oppressed who are
adamantly refusing to convert and staying as Hindus, it's their
greatness and generosity. High caste Hindus would do well to worship
them; their children should be taken by the Sanskrit schools in order to
teach them Sanskrit and make them priests free of cost. I know that not
everyone could be B.R. Ambedkar, the Indian dalit leader, who, was sent to
school by a Maharaja, later drafted the Indian constitution and,
defeated by Hinduism's intrangency, converted to Buddhism.
However, individual Christians have
> _undeniably_ done a great deal of good for Nepal. My father (to pick a
> close-to-home example) was responsible for the construction both of Patan
> Hospital and of the Andhikhola hydroelectric project. The late Father
> Gafney was respected by all, as a man whose Christian convictions led him
> to do good works (without expecting those he helped to convert to
> Christianity).
People like your father and other such individuals (Gandhi's friend
Joseph Andrews comes to mind) have been the saving grace in any
religion. No doubt about it.
And I've personally witnessed the efforts of many Nepali
> Christians to improve the food, shelter, and life of those around them.
Laudable as they are, I'm not sure if this is going to amount much in the
long term. I don't have much faith in such feel-good work. For
centuries such works have not been able to bring about much change in
fundamental lifestyle of the people.
> Subject: It is dangerous to fall in love with Jesus
>
> Like many before him, he confuses the church and Jesus. He follows a well
> worn path of four centuries of critics of the church in western culture. The
> Enlightenment philosphers have "progressed" from scepticism to atheism, to
> meaningless despair. Now in post-modern, post-Christian times, western
> culture is on the brink of spiritual collapse. People like Jason, in
> rejecting the roots of their culture have come to reject the culture itself.
Dr. Lewis, what do you say about the colonial studies? It's not the
Enlightenment philosophers, who themselves have come under heavy
criticism, but scholars of postcoloniality who have questioned both. I'd
like to hear your engagement with postcolonial discourse.
> For those who come to know Jesus there is a dangerous decision to make - a
> life turning decision. I am no longer my own, now Jesus lives in me. For
> this reason I went to Nepal and spent seven years working in the health
> field.
You talk like a veteran missionary here. While I respect the work of
your kind, I have no faith in your unquestionable faith in only Jesus.
Sure, Jesus was a great men, but so are many others--Gandhi, Buddha,
Mohammad, Vardhamana Mahabira, Zoroaster, Kabir and so on. Why not Buddha,
too? However, it's your personal choice, and I have nothing much to
say about it.
> Listen too, you Nepali secularists - which is a bigger threat to you,
> Christianity or global cultural imperialism via the market and the media?
You speak as though there's no third choice for Nepal. This and your
tone again reveal what you think of Nepal and the Nepali people.
> After four years back in Australia I still read TND because I love Nepal,
> and I still pray for it and my Nepali friends.
Nepal has gone down the tube because of too much prayer. So, Dr.
Lewis, Nepal doesn't need your prayers as much as it needs the foresight
and vision of its political leaders. It needs infrastructure-building
foreign aid. It needs the sanity and selflessness of its
democratically committed political leaders instead of their inter and
intra party quibblings like children.
I'd be interested in your response, but please don't talk as Joel did about
Jason's paper, using terms like "lies" and "chips on the shoulders."
Best wishes and God speed.
******************************************************************************
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 11 2000 - 11:16:00 CST