INDIAN CHILD LIFTER NABBED ON BORDER IN FAR-WEST

INDIAN CHILD ABDUCTOR IN FAR-WEST
Kathmandu, 11 Oct.: Border Police Post Jayaspur on Monday nabbed an Indian national while he was abducting a child, RSS reports from Nepalgunj.

Police arrested Sarpu Ali claiming to be a resident of Paliya of India while he was kidnapping five-year-old son of Jagannath Kahar of Sapur-9, Chhabilal Kahar by keeping him inside a sack.
Culprit Ali was arrested after the locals caught him from the south of Nepalgunj Customs Office while he was bringing the child by secretly putting him inside a closed sack.

Sarpu was reportedly wandering in and around Jayaspur area for the past few days pretending to be mentally retarded.
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AHMAD MURDER A CHALLENGE TO MUSLIMS
Kathmandu, 11 Oct.: For the Muslim community, the murder of Faizan Ahmad on September 26 is not just the death of a Muslim scholar. The killing 0of one more Muslim member in Kathmandu in the last two years has posed a real challenge to Muslims wscho are trying to make a difference in the society in the name of humanity, according to Taaj Mohammad Miya in The Kathmandu Post.
This challenge, as largely speculated by Muslim leaders and public, including the government, comes from the extremist forces and underworld gangs in the neighbouring country that leaves a negative perception towards Islam.
Ahmad’s residence lies in a narrow alley of Maitidevi—a place where it would have been far easy for the shooters to kill anyone and flee without any risk. His murder under nose of police in a highly guarded Ghantaghar, which is also considered a high security alert area of Kathmandu, has a different metaphoric mystery.
By shooting Ahmad near the mosque, in front of public and at just a few meters away from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s Office (MPCO), the assailants clearly want to instill fear into other Muslim members that they can easily kill them and no one can do anything to save them.
The murder site, where policemen could not come on time and arrest the culprits, raises a question about the hand of police in the killing. The suspicion arises as the police took no immediate action, even when the sounds of bullets rocked the whole area when Ahmed was gunned down. While everyone in the 100-metre radius of the murder site could make out the sounds of gunfire, police remained mute spectators even though they were close to 15 meters from the scene.
Moreover, government failure so far to provide relief to the bereaved family, as pledged by Home Minister Bijay Gachchadar on the same day, also indicates that there are some external forces pressing authorities to stay cool no matter how worse the situation becomes.
In our meeting with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai last Thursday, we got a very bad impression of the steps being taken by the state to address this case. Unlike the controversial faces murdered earlier, Ahmad had no any controversy behind him. Still, the PM, against his own will, seemed very reluctant to take any immediate action and solve this murder mystery. However, he has pledged that the family would be provided with relief at the earliest.
When a murder case takes place, many, including a few in India as well as in Nepal too, accuse the Muslim community of tying up with terrorism groups of Pakistan and Gulf countries. But this is not true. We are committed to nationality like any other Nepali and we are proud of it. As claimed by many, Islam in Nepal is not a migrated religion, rather we are here since the times immemorial and are concerned about the progress of Nepal.
Miya is chairman of Nepal Muslim Sangh
(As told to Ankit Adhikari)
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NC HOPES FOR BREAKTHROUGH WITH MAOISTS
Kathmandu, 11 Oct.: The main opposition, Nepali Congress (NC), on Monday expressed hope that the peace process could see a 'breakthrough' in the next few days, Kamal Dev Bhattarai and Phanindra Dahal write in The Kathmandu Post.
Following two-hour long talks with top leaders of the UCPN (Maoist) on Monday evening--the first since the Dashain festivals began--NC Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel said, "If the Maoists live up to their commitment in today's meeting, we can find a meeting point."
Poudel was accompanied by NC President Sushil Koirala and others in the first high-level discussions between the two parties held at Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal's residence.
A range of issues including the integration process, constitution drafting and truth and reconciliation bill were discussed during the meeting, NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula said.
Dahal said his party would like to move ahead in the constitution making process by first making progress in the peace process, according to NC leaders.
Responding to NC's fear that the Maoists wanted to retain a distinct identity of its former combatants in the national army even after the integration process, the Maoist chairman assured that his party would abide by the standard norms of the Nepal Army and that it was not in favour of creating a "new army within the Nepal Army."
"This is the first time the Maoists have accepted that the constitution making cannot move forward unless the peace process reaches a logical conclusion. The Maoists have finally accepted the stand that we were consistently voicing after the Constituent Assembly elections," Sitaula said.
"They have made a fact-based commitment and that makes us hopeful that there will be a breakthrough in the peace process within a week."
Though NC leaders appeared optimistic, mindful of the hardliners' opposition to any potential compromises, the Maoist leaders were guardedly cautious in giving a positive spin to the development. Maoist Vice Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha said they held candid and open discussions with the NC on the peace and constitution writing processes.
The discussions were held among Koirala, Poudel, senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, Special Committee members Ram Sharan Mahat and Minendra Rijal, Sitaula, Dahal, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
Dahal is learnt to have told the NC leaders that his party was eager to give momentum to the peace process by starting to regroup combatants into the integration and rehabilitation groups. In what appears to be a marked shift from his earlier position, Dahal said his party wanted to see agreement on all contentious issues--numbers, modality, norms, rank determination and the rehabilitation package--together.
Reciprocating the Maoist gesture, the NC leadership also assured the Maoists that they would accept an experts' panel to determine state restructuring instead of a state restructuring commission once there is progress in the peace process.
The two parties also agreed to take the third largest party, the CPN-UML, into confidence and take forward the current negotiations.
On Monday, the Post had reported that UML leaders had felt increasingly 'sidelined' from the NC-Maoist discussions.
The NC is scheduled to hold talks with the UML on Tuesday before sitting again with Maoist leaders on Wednesday. "We had almost signed an agreement on the peace process with the UML when Jhala Nath Khanal was the prime minister. The fundamental difference in the peace process is between the Congress and us," said a Maoist leader. "We are now concentrating on narrowing down the differences with the Congress before reaching out to the UML."
Meanwhile, Speaker Subas Nembang called on Koirala and highlighted the need of 'serious, continuous and meaningful' negotiations between parties to conclude the peace process. He also expressed concern over disputes within the NC and stressed that internal rift in the party should not affect the peace process.
"The constitution drafting process cannot make progress unless parties find an agreement in concluding the peace process," the Speaker said. "I have appealed to the parties to give up the trend of holding talks just for formality, but engage in decisive dialogue," he said.
In the meeting held at Maharajgunj, Koirala said the peace process and constitution making will not be affected by differences in the NC. He reiterated that the NC will not play the role of opposition while tackling issues related to peace and constitution making.
Nembang met PM Bhattarai and Maoist Chairman Dahal on Saturday and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal on Sunday. The Speaker said he sensed urgency among the parties to make progress in the peace process before the November 30 deadline of the CA.
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PROCEDURE TO SEND WORKERS TO ISRAEL APPROVED BY PM

Kathmandu, 11 Oct.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai Monday approved a procedure prepared by labour ministry to send workers to Israel, Home Karki writes in Kantipur.
Israel government banned Nepali workers April 2009 saying workers were charged more money.
The procedure was prepared after consultations with the concerned.
Manpower companies sending workers will be listed, according to the procedure.
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