PM ABANDONS LOCALLY ASSEBLED MUSTANG FOR INDIAN CAR AFTER REGULAR VOMITING Kathmandu,14 Oct. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has stopped traveling in locally assembled “Mustang Max” on long routes and instead rides a Scorpio manufactured by Mahindra of India, Samundra Paudel writes in Nagarik from Tanahu. The premier and his wife Hishula drove Friday across Dhading. Tanahu and Gorkha in a Scorpio. ‘Brake of Mustang Max smells soon. The prime minister changed the car after vomiting when the brake smelt very fast.,” a source said. He had to be flown to the capital by helicopter after regular vomiting on long routes using the locally assembled vehicle. ‘Mustang Max s slower than other vehicles,” Secretary Phanindra Dahal said and it is difficult negotiating .turns The premier still used a Mustang in the capital. nnnn CONFLICT VICTIMS OPPOSE AMNESTY Kathamandu, 14 Oct. Years after her husband was abducted from the Nepali Army Bhairabnath Battalion and his whereabouts still unknown, tears trickle down from Dil Kumari Gurung’s eyes when she thinks about her bitter fate, The Himalayan Times reports from Rolpa . “Instead of wiping our tears and punishing the guilty the government has rewarded them, thus reviving our old wounds,” said Dil Kumari of Korchabang VDC-3, adding, “We have been expecting the government would punish the guilty and make the status of disappeared public, but much to our much surprise it rewarded the guilty.” During the emergency period, Dil Kumari’s husband Dal Bahadur Gurung, who was then a worker in a brick kiln in Kathmandu, had been taken to the Bhairabnath Battalion from where he was declared ‘disappeared’. “I went to inquire about his condition time and again, but they would never let me to meet him. Instead, they would tell me that he was in good condition,” she said, adding, though the army had let 15 other perso-ns detained with him after a week, it never freed him. Her pleas to the International Committee of the Red Cross for help fell on the deaf ears. “If the government wants peace to prevail it should make public the status of the disappeared ones like my husband and punish the guilty,” demanded the mother of two girls, who is eking out her living in the absence of the family bread-winner. Similar is the case of Dhawang’s Tula Oli. Her husband was made to disappear following his abduction by the former Maoist rebels, has almost lost her hope of seeing her husband again. “It has been almost seven years since the end of the conflict but since the former rebels are all walking freely in the public they might have murdered him back then itself,” she said, adding, “It is the duty of the government towards its citizens to make public status of the disappeared – we have to get the justice.” In fact, like Dil Kumari and Tula about 350 single women are living a pathetic life after their husbands were killed or made to disappear during the decade-long conflict. They have accused the government and the political parties of being apathetic towards their plight. In Rolpa alone, 52 persons have been disappeared during the co-nflict period, most of whom, according to the Human Rights Protection and Legal Service Centre (HRPLSC), are suffering from the trauma of losing their husbands. “They are compelled to spend their days crying, without knowing for long if their dear ones are alive or already dead,” said Nepal Red Cross Society President Nolsingh Pun Magar. In Rolpa, the birth place of the Maoist insurgency, 1,017 persons have lost their lives while hundreds of others have been rendered homeless, handicapped and wounded due to the decade-long insurgency. Most of them are yet to get justice from the state. “It is complete irresponsibility on the part of the political parties as no steps have been taken years after there was an agreement to ma-ke public the disappeared persons within 60 days following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord,” argued CPN-M bureau member Phabindra Acharya. “The government should soon probe the human rights violations. No one either from the state or from the side of the then rebels should be granted general amnesty if found guilty,” argued Kshitiz, also a retired former Maoist combatant, criticising the government for submitting an ordinance to the President with the provision of amnesty. Society of the Families of the Disappeared Chairperson Sher Bahadur Budha demanded the government make public soon status of the disappeared persons and take a political decision to provide compensation to the victims. “Years have gone by since we waited to know the status of our disappeared kin,” he said, wondering how long they had to still wait. According to the stakeholders of the district, it would be complete injustice to all victims if the state granted general amnesty to the guilty persons on the basis of the mere political agreement without the consent of the conflict victims. “If the guilty persons are not punished it will create chaos in the nation,” said the victims. They demanded a fair probe of the past criminal acts by forming a truth finding commission on the basis of consensus. “The decision to deprive the victims of justice and granting amnesty to the gui-lty could again plunge the country into another conflict,” said Madhav Acharya, district chairperson of the Nepal Bar Association. nnnn EXAM.SCAM BLOW TO BUREAUCRACY Kathmandu,14 Oct.; The recent revelation that a joint secretary at the Ministry of Education and a former government secretary were tasked with marking answer sheets of their wife and daughter, who sat for a Public Service Commission examination, has questioned the credibility of the commission and tarnished the image of government employees, The Himalayan Times writes.. After the revelation, the PSC has already scrapped the tests of the two examinees — Antima Kumari Sinha, daughter of former secretary Ram Swarup Sinha and Indira Dhakal Gautam, wife of joint secretary Surya Prasad Gautam. Not only were former secretary Sinha and joint secretary Gautam to mark their kin’s answer sheets; they were also part of an experts’ panel that had set questions for the test in question. As per the law, a person cannot be part of an expert committee set up for PSC exams if his or her relatives are among the examinees. This incident has tainted the credibility of the PSC, assistant spokesperson for the education ministry, Rojnath Pande, said, demanding action against the guilty. Echoing Pande, joint secretary and legal division chief at the Ministry of Energy, Rabi Sharma Aryal, said that just like a judge cannot hear his or her relatives’ cases, a PSC official cannot be part of an experts’ panel tasked with setting questions or marking answer sheets of PSC tests that have their close kin as examinees. Former secretary Arjun Bhandari suspected PSC management’s involvement in the entire episode and demanded stern action against those breaching the examination code of conduct. “It’s a professional indiscipline and a shameful act on the part of a top government official and a retiree. They have given a bad name to the institution,”a former PSC member said. Asked to comment on joint secretary Gautam, Education Secretary Suresh Man Shrestha said he will only comment after joining his office on Sunday . Joint secy can be suspended Joint government attorney Yubaraj Subedi said on Saturday that joint secretary Gautam can be suspended and a corruption case can be filed against former secretary Sinha as per the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Act 2002 if they are found guilty. “If media reports are correct, the department concerned will take action against all people involved in the act, including PSC officials.” CIAA spokesperson Ishwari Prasad Paudel is learnt to have asked the PSC to forward the report for further investigation. nnnn