THREE CHINESE ASTRONAUTS RETURN Kathmandu, 29 June: Three Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth after achieving China's first manual docking in orbit, a milestone in the country's effort to build a space station by the end of the decade, AFP reports from Beijing. The return of the trio, including the country's first female astronaut, to a landing zone in a remote and sandy area of northern China was broadcast to a national audience on state television. The return capsule of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, which lifted off on June 16, hit the ground about 10:00am (0200 GMT) on Friday, after an approach slowed by a large parachute. Rescue workers quickly surrounded the capsule but did not immediately open it, so the trio's conditions were not immediately clear. The crew had successfully carried out China's first manual space docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 module, a difficult move that is essential in the process of building a space station -- which Beijing aims to do by 2020. The manoeuvre -- completed by the Americans and Russians in the 1960s -- requires two vessels orbiting Earth at thousands of kilometres (miles) per hour to come together very gently to avoid destroying each other. It was the main goal of the mission, China's fourth manned trip to space. China sees its space programme as a symbol of its global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation. The Shenzhou-9 team was headed by Jing Haipeng, a veteran astronaut on his third space mission. Liu Wang carried out the manual docking and the third crew member was Liu Yang, the first woman China has sent into space who has been hailed a national heroine. nnnn OPINION HAPPY TO BE ‘RIGHTIST’ Kathmandu, 29 June: Going through the highly readable and tickling Babler’s tidbits in the PEOPLE’S REVIEW, this writer came across an item that inspired this week’s column. There are heroes who suffer great hardships, risking life and limb for the cause of national interest and social welfare. We pygmies are nowhere being any hero but, as alert and attentive citizens, some of us can at least afford to stand by our conviction, whatever the wrath it might incur, Trikal Vastavik writes in People’s Review.; . It has now dawned on all Nepalis without any room for doubts that they had been taken through the garden path all along by the champions of “New Nepal” were keen in procuring power by means fair or otherwise. The incessant squabbling over who gets what posts from which group, the ceaseless foot-dragging over the constitution-making process on one pretext or another, and the running resource drain mocking at the hapless, impoverished, half-starved people were the indicators that had since long made it crystal clear that a black comedy was in the offing. The June 27 formal demise of the constituent assembly and its effects have predictably but tragically generated a revulsion in the public against all major political parties and their leaders who shamelessly go about without any earnest apology to the voting public that installed them to power four years ago to a two-year task. Instead of completing their mandated assignment within the stipulated deadline, most parties arbitrarily joined a chorus triggered by their own self-interests to extend the term of the constituent assembly four times. By the time the Supreme Court ordered the constituent assembly not to extend the term beyond June 27, the people’s “representatives” drew widespread public criticism. When a body entrusted to complete a task in two years goes on to overextend its tenure by two more years, public disenchantment is not surprising at all. A very positive outcome of all this is that all so-called senior leaders from different parties have been exposed for their duplicity, doubletalk and enormous deficit in delivering to the public what they pledged. That democracy is not just votes has been amply underscored. The whole electoral process and commitment to election manifestos, political principles, including accountability, and the letter and spirit of the constitution combine to shape the quality of governance. The past four years, not to speak of the previous two, have been destructive, uprooting many cherished institutions and prized cultural possessions. It will take a long, long while for recovery but to what shape and structure is uncertain. When society denies history and denigrates even the founder of the nation, the malaise sinks deep into the vitals of its arteries and veins. What was accepted as 240 years of construction till a few years is now sought to be interpreted as a dark period of destruction. Those who uphold such stance today are the ones who exhort the people to “live in harmony as they have been doing since centuries.” Undeniably, there were many shortcomings in the past. But the attempt at erasing it all as if nothing positive had happened is to delude oneself. The danger is that the trend might cause relentless damage without care for reversing it. For destruction is far easy than construction, as the loktantrik years have reiterated. Conviction cannot be equated with dogmatism. The idea is to leave ourselves open to correction and improvement. The institution of monarchy is no good institution for a full-fledged, functioning democracy where a citizen has all the reasons for ensuring equality of opportunity, social harmony, equitable distribution of wealth and, last but not the least, maintenance of law and order. The loktantrik years so far have rubbished all this in practice. The result is before us all who have seen and experienced it. This author has no hesitation in saying that the years from 1990 to 2005 were appreciably better than the loktantrik years. The shortcomings witnessed under the 1990 constitution are easily outstripped by the sufferings the recent years have produced for this country of nearly 30 million people. A democratically elected government headed by Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba called for the dissolution of the House of Representatives and called for elections. Deuba was, however, not able to hold elections within the deadline he himself had set. As the custodian of the constitution, King Gyanendra intervened to address the vacuum left by Deuba’s act. Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) leaders, including Deuba and Madhav Kumar Nepal, vied for nomination as prime minister and with mixed results. Three nominated cabinets and yet complete failure to cope with the armed Maoist rebellion, organized by comrades who pitched their camps in the outskirts of New Delhi for eight and a half years. Capacity to organise is missing among independent Nepalis and floating voters. The so-called civil society members are either political party activists or posing as fronts for INGOs or both. Testrength they draw from green dollars and extraneous inspiration produces people like Krishna Bhattachan and Krishna Sundar Malla. Some of them openly talk of slitting the throats who do not agree with their scheme of things. Other civil society activists pretend not to hear of the terrifying fatwas. INGOs pumping in cash to such statement originators and activity that are hoped to enable Nepalis to comprehend and appreciate the values of foreign sponsored faith that precedes and immerses in the power of foreign currency. Nepalis have begun to get acquainted with the knots and bolts of the issues at stake. There is extensive disenchantment seething under the surface of what politicians think to be public acceptance of whatever they do. Deeply humiliated and seething with anger, people are ready to express their inner feelings when the dam ultimately bursts. How and when the action gets unfolded is only a matter of time. A string of Nepali Congress activists, claiming to represent civil society, five weeks ago issued a statement against the Baburam Bhattarai government. They would have issued similar statements if a Bhattarai of their own party, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, had displeased Girija Prasad Koirala who brought such serious setbacks for decades to come to his party. The current chaos calls for the revival of the tried and tested 1990 constitution with suitable and practical changes. If this means a “rightist” stand, so be it. It will restore Nepali pride in the international sector, promote national unity and deliver democratic practices, provided political actors democratically. Otherwise the solution currently being devised will only result in divisive and destructive political climate, come autumn. nnnn