NEPAL BUDDHISTS CONCERNED WITH ATTACKS IN BANGLADESH Kathmandu, 15 Oct. :The Buddhism Protection Concerned Coordination- Nepal has expressed serious concern over the arson attack on September 30 on Buddhist temples and monasteries around the Cox´s Bazaar area in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and over the destruction of hundreds of Buddha´s idols there in the course of such attacks. In a statement, the religious body condemned the attacks by hooligans saying that to carry out such acts leading to the destruction of Buddhist temples and monasteries as well as Hindu temples and shrines was against the human civilization. President of Buddhism Protection Concerned Coordination-Nepal, Lakpa Sherpa, stated that since such kind of anarchic activities disturb the religious tolerance, the Bangladesh government should identify the community perpetrating the attacks and prevent such activities forthwith. He also demanded stern action against the perpetrators. Fourteen important Buddhist temples and three Hindu temples were destroyed and 30 families attacked by an unruly mob in the incident. nnnn NEPALI LAW STUDENT GANG RAPED IN INDIA Kathmandu, 15 Oct.: A 20-year-old National Law School student was allegedly gang-raped in the Jnanabharathi campus on Saturday night, reported the Asian Age on Monday, agencies report from Bengalura. The victim, who hails from Nepal, was reportedly with her boyfriend when a gang of eight accosted them, close to her hostel. According to police, the gang waylaid them off the main road in an attempted robbery. The victim had gone out of the hostel around 8 pm with her friend Nirmal, an IBM employee. On their way back, Nirmal parked the car on a secluded stretch and they walked along the road. The gang struck around 9.30 pm and demanded money from them. When Nirmal told his wallet was in the car, they held the girl captive and asked him to get the money. The gang later dragged her into a thickly wooded area nearby and raped her. A case has been registered in Jnanabharathi police station. P3 police station. At a time when the series of rapes in Haryana are making headlines across the nation, the rape of a law student on the Jnanabharathi campus here has shocked Bengaluru. An inebriated gang of eight men accosted a 20-year-old student of National law School in Nagarabhavi and allegedly raped her. While the city police refused to confirm the rape till they receive the medical reports, they did admit there was an attempt to outrage the modesty of the student, who hails from Nepal. According to the complaint with the Jnanabharathi police, the victim has been pursuing her law degree at the National Law School and stays at the college hostel. On Saturday, she left the hostel around 8 pm along with her friend Nirmal, a resident of Banashankari. Sources said they had become friends through a social networking website and, on Saturday, they moved around the University campus and were driving back to the hostel. “As per the complaint, they came on Jnanabharathi main road and took a turn on a stretch which leads to the hostel. Apparently, Nirmal stopped the car and they walked into the wooded area off the road. As they walked around 4 km off the road, the gang accosted them and demanded money. This stretch is closed for movement between 9 pm and 6 am. The victim and her friend seemed to have entered the stretch before 9 pm on Saturday,” a senior police official said, who said the gang had also smashed the window pane of Nirmal’s VolksWagen car, which was parked on the main road. According to the complaint, when Nirmal told the attackers his wallet was in the car, the accused held the victim and asked him to get the money. The gang also snatched Nirmal's mobile phone and iPad. Police said Nirmal walked till the main road and found no one upon his return. He again came back to the main road when he encountered a night beat constable. According to police, Nirmal explained to the constable about the robbery and sought his help in locating his friend. They ventured into the densely-wooded area and searched for over an hour, but did not find her and returned to the main road. The victim stated that she was taken deep inside the forest area and let off around 11 pm. The gang had snatched away her mobile phone, but returned it to her while leaving the place. The victim stated that she called up for help at the hostel and reached the hostel around 12 midnight. Senior police officials, including DCP (West) Sidramappa, rushed to the spot in the night and shifted the victim to Vani Vilas Hospital. According to police, the victim was again taken to the hospital on Sunday morning. “ It's a shocking incident and should be condemned. The police and university authorities have failed to make the BU Jnanabharathi campus free of such incidents. So far, only northern states were blamed for such crimes, but even in Karnataka, women are not safe. The Women's Commission must summon every stakeholder so that, in future, such incidents do not take place“ -Ms Prameela Nesargi, former chairperson, State Women's Commission She was treated as out-patient: Doctors Doctors at Vani Vilas Hospital, where the rape victim was admitted for medical examination, said the girl was treated as an out-patient and there were no serious injuries. “There was no particular sign of rape and such violation. She has only minor casual abrasion on the leg. The samples will be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) on Monday for further tests,“ said a hospital source. Nnnn INTERVIEW DRAW CLEARLINE BETWEEN POLITICS, CRIMINALITY The Sudan Scam, in which three retired police chiefs were convicted of corruption, is a black spot in the history of the police, says Kuber Singh Rana, the new Inspecter General of Police. Rana’s appointment came after a tussle between the Prime Minister, who favoured him on grounds of ‘seniority and competence’, and the Home Minister, who favoured a different candidate. Still, questions have also been raised about Rana’s alleged role in the disappearances of five youth in Dhanusha in 2003. The Post’s Dewan Rai and Gyanu Adhikari spoke with Rana on a range of issues sourrounding the police force. Excerpts: There’s a perception that the Nepal Police is incompetent and corrupt. Why is that? I disagree with the statement. It’s not a general perception. We’ve proven our competence though our performance. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement, however. Perhaps the perception arose because many criminal cases don’t get closure, although the police is good at holding press conferences and highlighting its successes. Investigations on a lot of cases have been successful. In cases where they aren’t, they aren’t closed. They fall under KIP—Keep In View—with continuous follow up. Some of these cases have been successfully investigated even after 10 or 15 years. The number of cases that goes into Keep In View must be really high then. Not so, at least 75 percent of our cases are investigated and reach closure. Going into a specific case, why hasn’t the investigation of the assassination of Supreme Court Justice Rana Bahadur Bam led anywhere? This is a high-profile case. We moved forward with the investigation using technical, human and social intelligence. Still, unfortunately, the investigation hasn’t been successful. Is it because the Nepal Police is not capable of carrying out such high-profile investigations? No, we’ve investigated it minutely, and looked at all dimensions of the possible causes. In fact, the intelligence that surfaced on the trail of this chase has prevented many other crimes and foiled terrorist activities. For example, bombings planned by the Nepal Defence Army in heavily populated areas, such as shopping malls in Kathmandu and Biratnagar, have been prevented. It has also touched on cases of cybercrime and gundagardi. Did you seek international support in this case? We did, actually. There was a threatening email which claimed responsibility for the assassination. We traced it back to America [US]. Through Interpol, we reached the FBI, sought permissions from an American [US] court and carried out a technical investigation. We reached the source but it turned out the email sender had nothing to do with the murder. Was it a political assassination? Or did politics have anything to do with the case not being successfully investigated? We can’t rule out ‘politics’. Let’s put it this way—there might be many reasons. The cause of the incident is not clear. Let’s change tracks a little bit. There’s a perception that police officials in high posts make a lot of money. Have you? I want to be clear on this. My family is from Palpa. I have a house in Kathmandu, which I’ve rented out. My family’s livelihood is maintained by the salary from my job and the rent I receive from my house. I have some inherited land in the Tarai. That is all. But senior police posts surely provide lots of opportunities for personal enrichment. That’s not true. Those who’ve earned a lot by abusing their authority have been investigated and indicted. We have to remember that after 2048 BS (1992-93), many police officers got opportunities to serve in UN Missions. They save up quite a lot, up to Rs 3 million a year. Some retired chiefs of police were found to be guilty of embezzlement while procuring equipment for the UN mission in Sudan. But why weren’t the bureaucrats and the politicians investigated, even when the parliamentary committee’s probe said they should be? The investigations have to be based on objective facts and should follow due legal process. Legally, whoever is found liable, that person will bear the investigation. There is an outstanding human rights case against you related to disappearances during the insurgency. What happened to it? Like other cases from the conflict-era, that case is under investigation. When will that investigation be completed, if ever? A lot remains to be done. The corpses have been exhumed. DNA testing and identifying remain. The Supreme Court and other courts have repeatedly ordered the Nepal Police to investigate cases related to human rights abuses. But none of them have moved forward, why? Investigations don’t conclude just because someone says they should. Take, for example, the case of Justice Bam. That’s also under investigation. We can’t conclude it even if we want to. Is there political pressure to stall the investigation? Or maybe there is a shortage of human resource in the police force? Nobody is stopping it. But the fact is also that conflict-era cases…be they cases against security agencies or the parties engaged in the conflict, they have to be looked at in a proper context...it’s true that the peace process moved ahead with understanding between the parties…the fact is that the peace process won’t be complete by aggravating individual cases alone. If political understanding is necessary, then the individual, under no circumstance, will be held responsible. All over the world, during conflicts, such types of incidents have happened. Nobody from a law enforcement agency would do such things voluntarily. These actions were prompted by the situation then. Whether you agree or not, situations hugely determine actions. The justice system won’t function without police investigations. So if the police are unwilling to investigate, then how will… No, no, it’s not like that…do you think the police haven’t done any investigations? There was a peace agreement after the conflict. Constituent Assembly elections were held. The country entered into a new era. Look at the situation after that. How can you put the current and conflict-era situation in the same basket? Are you saying the crimes committed then shouldn’t be punished today? There are promotions taking place even when cases are under investigation. In an organisation, a person gets promoted according to abilities and time served. Nothing can stop that. The case that you mention is simply an accusation. Until the accusation is proven, legally, that person is as innocent as others. Changing the topic, is Nepali politics getting increasingly criminalised? They say there’s a nexus of criminals, politicians and businessmen. Our many investigations and experience reveal this at one place or another. This is extremely sensitive. It’s a result of our political sphere being immature. There’s no politics of integrity and principles. We have a politics of votes and a lot of elements, good and bad, are used to get votes. In particular, the use of criminals for votes has led to a mingling of politics and crime. Are votes the reason parties are keen to control the Home Ministry? This has been around for a long time. That authority and power helps during elections is true not only in Nepal, but the whole of South Asia. Speaking of our context, the social structure and value system we have is not one of principled politics. All kinds of techniques are used to get votes. It’s well known that criminal elements also enter the politicians’ umbrella to keep themselves secure. Naturally, such protection can be in return for something. So, basically, the parties are protecting thugs? I hope this is not taken otherwise, but they [the thugs] do say that they [thugs] have connections with so and so. The police can’t arrest people like Ganesh Lama, who often shares the stage with you; people like Balkrishna Dhungel, who is convicted by the court. Do you feel helpless? Let’s not call it helplessness. As I said, the state was in a conflict and the situation was different. There was a war-like situation where normal law and values didn’t work. After that, a new situation arose and Nepal became a democratic republic, a major breakthrough happened. How to reconcile the events during that period in a way that doesn’t hamper the peace process is a concern for the whole country. But to keep prodding things that happened then and comparing them with normal times is meaningless. It might be good to question what happened, but cases from the conflict era should be dealt with separately. Beside vote politics, where is the business-politics-criminal nexus visible? Many of those who engaged in criminal activities and those who ran organised business syndicates have made a place for themselves in society. Their colour has changed. They’ve turned “white”. Some have received political appointments. The political parties have to think seriously about how to segregate criminality from politics. The tools of state could perhaps do this, but the political leadership must want it first. A clean political leadership is essential for the country. A clear line must distinguish what is politics from what is criminal. It’s a very daunting task. nnnn