FORMER KING OFFERS PUJA AT KAILALI TEMPLES

FORMER KING OFFERS PUJA AT TEMPLES IN KAILALI
Kathmandu, 31 March: Former King Gyanendra Saturday offered prayers and puja at Nainadebi Bhagawati and Laxminarayan temples in Kailali
The former king spent five hours in Mahendranagar offering puja and worship Siddhinath temple and holding discussions with supporters Friday in Mahendranagar.
He started a visit last week of Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in the far-West for the first time after declaration of a republic.
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SRC REPORT SENT TO CONSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEE
Kathmandu, 31 March: Chairman Subash Nemwang of constituent assembly (CA) Friday sent a report of the government-nominated state reorganization commission (SRC) to the main constituent assembly (CA) headed by Nilambar Acharya.
A report of was sent after the CA completed an extend five-day debate of the commission report.
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MEDIA GOOGLE
“Nepal should become a bridge not a barricade between the two countries. Then only our dream of developing country will come true.”
(PM Baburam Bhattarai, The Kathmandu Post, 31 March)
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NEW DELHI NO TO RAM KARKI AS AMBASSADOR TO INDIA
Kathmandu, 31 March: An official word from New Delhi or Kathmandu is yet to come, but it will not be wrong to now conclude that proposed ambassador to India Ram Karki has probably been rejected by the South Block, Mahesh Acharya reports in The Kathmandu Post..
There are a number of theories behind the supposed Indian disapproval of Karki. That Karki’s past ‘support’ the Gorkhaland movement and that his wife is an Indian citizen and is holding a government job in Sikkim have been much discussed.
Indian official sources, however, have not confirmed any of these. They have rather obliquely hinted at a case related to Karki in Delhi High Court a decade ago.
Interestingly, documents obtained by the Post do not establish the court theory either. The documents show that the court did not convict Karki when he was arrested in Delhi in 2002 during the height of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. The status report at the Special Cell of the Indian police that submitted an intelligence report to the court also does not confirm his alleged links with Indian Maoists.
The Reality
The Special Cell detained 13 activists—nine Indian and four Nepalis—from Triveni Kala Sangam at Mandi House in New Delhi when they were holding a meeting in 2002. The detained Indian citizens were notable human rights activists and senior journalists, such as Anand Swaroop Verma, Gautam Naulakh and Pankaj Singh. Among Nepalis were Karki, Maheshwor Dahal, Aditi Shah and Motiprasad Rijal.
Quoting details given by the erstwhile Royal Nepal Embassy, the Special Cell had mentioned that Partha Chettri, aka Ram Karki, is “an intellectual with ultra left leanings with contacts with Maoist Supremo Prachanda”, while Karki was an active member of the banned Akhil Bharatiya Nepali Ekta Samaj.
Though the Cell claimed that the activists were holding a secret meeting, a press note issued by Anand Swaroop Verma on behalf of India-Nepal People’s Solidarity Forum had said they were holding an open meeting to discuss human rights situation in Nepal.
“There have been grave violations of human rights after emergency was imposed in Nepal and foreign interference is increasing in the name of Maoism in South Asia. To retaliate this, we were planning to hold a large meeting on August 3,” the press release said.
The detained activists were then taken to the Special Cell at Lodhi Colony, where the nine Indians were released after interrogation. The incident invited widespread criticism in India. Though the Indian activists were released after a few hours of detention, the four Nepalis were taken to the Foreign Regional Registration Office. They were served a ‘Quit India Notice’ and handed over to the Banke district police at Rupaidah check oost on the Nepal-India border in Uttar Pradesh the next day.
After news of their deportation appeared in newspapers, Verma filed a Habeas Corpus petition in the Delhi High court seeking the whereabouts of his four Nepali colleagues.
Sherab Shenga, Ram Karki’s wife, also filed a similar petition where she claimed that she married Karki according to Hindu rites in 1994 and that “he could have applied for the Indian citizenship under section 5(1) (c ) of the Indian Citizenship Act, but in view of the status of Nepalis under the Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty, there was no need for him to do so.”
After the petitions were filed, the court issued a show cause notice to the Indian government and directed that until the next date of hearing, the four persons named in the petition would not be deported. However, the court, while issuing the stay, was unaware of their deportation a day after the detention.
On behalf of the government, a status report with the name and signature of the Assistant Commissioner of Special Cell Rajbir Singh was submitted to the court. The Cell informed the court that the activities of the four Nepali nationals were detrimental to the interests of India and hence they were deported to Nepal.
After the government’s reply, the court delivered a verdict on August 8, 2002. As both the petitions had been filed with almost identical relief, the bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and RS Sodhi addressed the matter by the common judgement.
The court disposed of the petitions, arguing that the deportation of the Nepalis did not violate the law. However, it directed the government to make serious endeavours to get information on the whereabouts of the petitioner’s husband from Nepali government and inform her.
‘Karki in Delhi’
While the agreemo case created a brouhaha, it is learnt that Karki himself came to Delhi to know about the ground situation. Though high level Indian political sources confirmed this report, they did not divulge details. Efforts to have Karki clarify on this matter failed despite attempts. Meanwhile, the Post has learnt that Karki had telephoned some Indian figures close to him to inquire on the matter after ‘he reportedly heard about New Delhi’s preparation to disapprove his appointment.

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DEUBA SUPPORTERS INJURED IN CLASH
Kathmandu, 31 March: Around a dozen Nepal Student Union (NSU) leaders close to Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba were injured when the police used force to disperse the students who were trying to padlock the NSU central office on Friday, The Kathmandu Post reports.
Police resorted to baton-charge to disperse the NSU cadres after they marched towards their central office for the padlock as part of their protest against the party’s decision to form a general convention preparatory committee. NSU leaders from the camp are protesting saying that the committee was formed unilaterally and against the union’s statute.
The NC on March 18 formed a 101-member committee, with 73 members from the establishment faction, and a three-member election committee for holding the general convention of the student body. Twenty-eight leaders from the Deuba camp have resigned from the committee.
According to former NSU Vice-president Nain Sigh Mahar, police intervened in the rally of over 300 students while it was about to reach the central office. He claimed the police were prepared to obstruct as wanted by the establishment faction.
“We have come to know that President Sushil Koirala had asked the government authorities to stop the padlocking,” said Mahar. The injured include former General Secretary Jit Jung Basnet, Deputy General Secretary Saroj Thapa, Sunita Pokharel, Santosh Shrestha, Sanjay Prajapati, Tika Dahal, Sanjay Prajapati and Surendra Shrestha. Basnet and Surendra were seriously injured in the head. All of them are receiving care at Kathmandu Model Hospital.
However, police said they were compelled to use force as the two factions were likely to clash. “One side was preparing to padlock the office while the other was ready to retaliate. Therefore, we had to use force to avert a clash,” said DSP Dhiraj Pratap Shah.
Basnet said their protests would continue until the present committee is not dissolved. He also demanded formation of a new committee with proportional representation from both factions.
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