MAHARAJGUNJ RESIDENTS STOP ATTEMPT TO INSTAL GIRIJA STATUE

FURTHER DETAILS OF GACHEDHAR STATEMENT

Kathmandu, 21 March: MJFD Chairman Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar said Sunday India is worried with the emerging Maoist/UML alliance
that has captured power through election in parliament and is against another extension of the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA). .
“I found New Delhi worried over the alliance of the left parties and the possibility of drafting a people’s constitution,” he said after returning home following high-level political discussions with Indian political party leaders and government officials.
“In meetings with us [three leaders of three political parties], Indian leaders, they suggested the peace process should be completed by 28 May. India
isn’t in favour of extending the tenure of the constituent assembly again.
‘Maoists have claimed after the formation of the communist party they have a two-third majority. We don’t accept this,” he told reporters.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Maoist Chairman Prachanda attempted expand the government by holding talks with MJFN Chairman Upendra Yadav Sunday; the talks between the three party leaders were inconclusive.
Yadav’s party is the only major terai party negotiating a deal to join government.
Khanal was elected 3 February with Maoist support and hasn’t
succeeded in expanding his eight-member government of Maoist and uML representatives.
Main opposition NC Sunday rejected invitation from the two ruling communist parties to join government even as UML and Maoists offered to amend a secret 7-point agreement between the chairmen of the two
parties detailing basis to run the government.
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MAHARAJGUNJ RESIDENTS PROTEST ATTEMPT TO BEGIN CONSTUCTION OF GIRIJA STATUE

Kathmandu, 21 March: Locals at a park in Maharajgunj Monday afternoon protested attempts by NC to lay a foundation stone of a statue of Girija Prasad Koirala whose first death anniversary is being observed nation-wide Monday.
The area was tense following protests.
Locals protested the installation of a political party leader at the busy park
The death anniversary of the NC president and former prime minister is being marked according Monday 21 March although he died 20 March.
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WOMAN HACKED TO DEATH IN SIRAHA

Kathmandu, 21 March: Violence continues unabated in terai as a woman
was hacked to death in Siraha Saturday.
Jagati Debi Sah, 55, was stabbed to death in her home at Badahadamala VDC-3.
Twenty-one persons have been killed in escalating violence in
one year in the district.
Siraha, Saptari abd Parsa and the most violent terai districts
bordering India.
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PLA INTEGRATION ONLY AFTER POLITICAL DEAL: MAOIST MILITARY LEADER
RSS




Kathmandu, 21 March: Spokesperson of the PLA combatants Chandra Prakash Khanal has said army integration process will not move ahead sans political agreement among the parties, RSS reports.
Releasing a memoir written by PLA Commander of 5th Division Raj Bahadur Budha in the capital today (Sunday], Khanal said the task of army integration and constitution writing will be completed within two months if the parties forge consensus.
He said the UCPN (Maoist) has proposed three modalities-- separate force of PLA combatants, mixed force by adjusting all security forces and unit to unit army integration-- for the completion of the army integration process. He said the parties have not discussed in other modalities than the three proposals floated by the Maoists.
He said the statement of the Nepal Army that the PLA combatants can be integrated only on the basis of NA’s established standards was inappropriate.
On the occasion, Budha said he has depicted the memoirs of decade long war vividly in the book.
Commenting on the newly released book, Prof Dr Jagadishchandra Bhandari and Prof Dr Nandis Adhiakri said this is a new kind of book based on the chronological development of the people’s war.
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DEMAND FOR NEPALI WORKERS DROPS FOLLOWING UNREST IN NORTH AFRICA, GULF
Kathmandu, 21 March: The political crisis sweeping the Arab world may reduce the number of Nepalis joining overseas jobs, which in turn can have some unfavourable effects on the economy, Th Himalayan Times reports.

People unrest, which began from Egypt in February, gradually spread to other countries in the Gulf region where almost 65 per cent of migrant Nepali workers are employed. Currently, Oman and Bahrain have political problems but they have not reached the level of Libya, said Kumud Khanal, General Secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies.

Around 60,000 Nepalis are believed to be working in these destinations. The government has rescued 1,747 Nepalis from Libya. The rescue efforts went on for 23 days.

“If the protests reach Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it will be horrible, he said. “How can we rescue over 1.2 million people,” he said. Political situation of Saudi Arabia is volatile and may cause problem to migrant workers. According to Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), around 3,50,000 Nepalis are working in the destination.

Reduced demands from Gulf countries in Fagun (mid-February to mid-March) indicate to the gloomy prospects that lie ahead for Nepali migrant workers. Demand for Nepali workers has dropped by 11 per cent during the period.

Outsourcing agents attributed attrition in demand to shortage of Machine Readable Passport (MRP) and political unrest in destination countries. We can manage the MRP fallout but not the political unrest in top labour markets, said Madan Mahat, senior vice-president of Foreign Employment Association Nepal.

According to him, shortage of MRP is affecting demands from Saudi Arabia while another preferred destination Malaysia is turning to Bangladeshi workers. Malaysia has opened its door for Bangladeshi workers in Agriculture, Plantation and Construction sectors last week.

Bangladesh is lobbying to open Malaysian manufacturing and service sectors that provide jobs to 80 per cent of Nepalis working in the destination. Labour expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal said this is a possible disaster that can affect the Nepali economy seriously.

Nepalis working in Gulf countries are contributing 50 per cent of the total remittance inflow to Nepal.

So, if the entire of Gulf job market is affected by the ongoing political unrest, it will make a mammoth impact on the country’s economy. “The economy could crash,” he said, adding that the government should minutely analyse the situation and take precautionary measures at the earliest.

GOVT. DECISION CRITICIZED

Experts and outsourcing agents criticised the government for abandoning its responsibility of Nepalis in overseas jobs. According to them, the government cannot escape from the responsibility because the state is responsible for the safety of its citizens. “It is the universal principle,” said labour expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal. The government has opened 108 countries for foreign employment and it should take the responsibility of Nepalis working in those destinations. Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) will protest against the irresponsible decision of the government, said general secretary Kumud Khanal. A meeting of Secretaries of Council of Ministers, Ministry of labour and Transport Management and Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the decision on Friday. The association has submitted a memorandum to Minister for Labour and Transport Management Top Bahadur Rayamajhi on Sunday.
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BURIALGROUND AT PASHUPATI CONTNUES

OST REPORT-
Kathmandu, 21 March: Leaders from different religious communities have supported the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision not to prevent anyone from burying their dead in Sleshmantak forest, but leaders from the Hindu community are disgruntled, The Kathmandu Post reports.

The SC on Friday had ordered the government and the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) not to prevent anyone from burying their dead in the forest.

Addressing an interaction on Sunday on ‘inter-religious tolerance and commitment to religious and cultural rights’ organised by the Christian Advisory Committee for a New Constitution, Pasang Bajra Lama, vice-president of Nepal Tamang Ghedun Association said it was better not to interfere in other’s religious practices. He added Christians should be allowed the facility in the area until an alternative is suggested as the government has allowed the community to perform burial ritual there.

Isujan Karki, vice-president of the advisory committee , said the government should find an alternative plot of land for the Christian community to bury it dead. Karki added all religious groups should be treated equally as Nepal had been a secular country. “The government should introduce an Act on religion, establish guthis and a commission,” Karki said.

Mohammadhin Ali, secretary of National Muslim Forum, said debate on the issue would not be a good thing. Each religious group should help other religious groups at their times of need. He added the government should also play the role of a guardian by providing equal privileges to all religious groups and should provide alternatives at the earliest.

Damodar Gautam, president of World Hindu Federation, said all religious communities have right to their cultural practices but added none should hamper others’ religious faith. He said the Pashupati temple area is famous worldwide as a place for Hindus. It is also a cremation spot for them. So Nepali Christian groups should not disturb the religious beliefs and practices of Hindus by digging graves in the area. “Either the Christian community should look for an alternative graveyard themselves or the government should manage that for them,” Gautam said, adding that Kirants should be allowed to bury their dead if they follow Hindu rituals.

PADT Treasurer Narottam Baidhya had stated after the court’s decision that the court order was against the Hindu community across the world.
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