Hundreds flock to Nepal shrine for 'sweating' idol

Hundreds of people have flocked to a remote village in eastern Nepal to see a "sweating" idol of a Hindu god, a sign of impending turmoil or natural disaster for the devoutly religious nation.
Witnesses said that sweat seeped out of the idol of the Bhimeshwor god at a temple in Dolakha, a few hours drive from Kathmandu, during evening prayers at the weekend.
"I saw the right side of the black stone idol had become wet because of sweating," said Shanta Krishna Shrestha, chairman of a committee responsible for maintaining the temple.
"This denotes something like major political change or a natural calamity," said Shrestha.
"We must hold special prayers and make sacrifices asking for forgiveness."
Sacrificing animals such as goats or roosters to appease gods is common among Hindus in Nepal.
Sweating was seen on the idol in 2001, media reported, months before a palace massacre when King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family were shot dead in a drug-and-drink fuelled shooting spree by the then crown prince, who later turned the gun on himself.

Ethnic Bhutanese in Nepal face eviction

While Washington's offer of resettlement has given the first ray of hope to Bhutanese refugees living like prisoners in camps in Nepal for 16 long years, it has also fuelled an insidious fear among over 80,000 ethnic Bhutanese in the kingdom, who apprehend it will be their turn to be forcibly evicted once the resettlement process begins. Bhutanese of Nepali origin have been burdened with more misgivings since April 2006, when the Population and Census Commission made public the result of the 2005 census, fixing the population at 634,972. The catch is, the commission says it includes both bona fide citizens and "foreigners". The number of such "foreigners" has been calculated to be almost 80,000. Interestingly, nearly 70,000 have been prevented from taking part in the mock election. The fear has spread to the seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal, where the victims of the 1991 persecution have been living under the supervision of the UN High Commission for Refugees for nearly two decades. On Wednesday, yellow pamphlets began to appear in the Beldangi camp, urging the refugees to ready for an armed struggle to restore democracy in Bhutan. Though the refugees remain tightlipped, the source of fear is said to be the rising militant groups of young people: the Bhutan Communist Party- Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, Bhutan Tigers and War and Peace Group. The last sent a signed threat note to two camp secretaries who were explaining to residents the implication of the US offer. However, the militants, five out of six Bhutan parties operating from India and Nepal are opposed to third-country resettlement. "While repatriation would be the best option for most refugees, it can only be viable if Bhutan upholds its duty to guarantee the returnees' human rights," said Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch. "People feel insecure," young man in the camp said.

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Locals protest Maoist vandalism

Civilians and students at Ramnagar (Mirchaiya), protesting the Maoists' destruction of a private school building, today disrupted traffic on the highway for three hours - from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm.
They demanded that the Maoists apologise for their act, return looted goods and restrict their entrance in the educational sector.
Traffic resumed after the local administration, the Maoists and the school administration agreed to hold a trialogue on April 23, the Mirchaiya area police office (APO) said.
Local Maoist cadres destroyed the building of Chandra Jyoti School that was being constructed by Dhaniklal Shah and Kishor Khatiwada on 10 katthas of land at Mirchaiya-4 at 11 pm on Tuesday. The Maoists took the construction materials away on a tractor.
"The Maoists were threatening since the start of the construction of the school building," Dhaniklal Shah said, adding that they had been claiming that the land belonged to Shova Shahi of the royal family. Shah and Khatiwada claimed that they purchased the land from Birenda Shah of Kalyanpur for Rs 30 lakhs last year.
Meanwhile, Maoist district secretary Abinash said that the land belonged to a relative of the royal family. "Our cadres stopped construction of the building.
Their stance was that the building should not be built on that land at a time when the process of nationalising the property of royal family has been initiated," he added.

Maoists Vow to Make Nepal Republic

Nepal's Maoists on Monday said they would agree to a delay of nationwide elections if Nepal is declared a republic.

Elections for a constituent assembly had been scheduled for June 20.

The new legislators are to decide the fate of Nepal's unpopular monarchy.

Speaking to reporters at a Kathmandu hotel Monday, Maoist leader Prachanda appealed for the interim parliament to declare the country a republic.

"If it is not going to happen, if other parties will not agree then there are some other options. The referendum may be another option - a most democratic option," he said. "Even if it is also not agreed then we should have to go among the masses. We shall have to appeal to the masses to rouse again against this feudal system"

A peace deal last year brought the Maoists into the political process after a decade long insurgency that claimed 14,000 lives.

The former rebels agreed to enter the interim coalition government if elections were held in June.

Nepal's election commission says nationwide polling can not take place that soon because of technical and security problems. The government has not set a new election date.

King Gyanendra gave up absolute power last year following demonstrations organized by the political mainstream and the Maoists.

Prachanda on Tuesday rejected speculation that the king would be allowed to remain as a ceremonial figure. He said the position the Maoists once took to allow a constitutional monarch was the biggest mistake they ever made. He said the Maoists have brought the unpopular king to his knees and they will not back off their hard line anti-royalist position.

UN Continues Peace Process in Nepal

The United Nations participated in registering and storing weapons of the Nepalese Army on Thursday, part of its continued assistance to the peace process in the Asian country, according to a UN report from Katmandu.


The arms registration is in accord with the peace process signed last year between the Nepalese government and the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal to end 10 years of hostilities.



The peace accords require the Nepalese Armed Forces to register and store the same number of weapons delivered by the Maoist army, under supervision of the UN Political Mission in Nepal.



High officials of the UN Political Mission expressed their satisfaction at the course of the peace process and total cooperation of the Nepalese Army.



The officials said the process, which began Tuesday with Nepalese Army presentation of 850 weapons in Katmandu s Chhauni Camp, and involves 14 teams supported by the UN Development Program, will possibly end this week.



The Maoist army presented 2,855 weapons, with 523 still in their hands on their security perimeter as well as another 96, pending a security agreement.



The civil war in Nepal cost the lives of 15,000 people and displacement of 100,000.

Diversity Visa victims on fast-unto-death

Diversity Visa victims on fast-unto-death 
 
Seven members of the American Diversity Visa Victims Association today decided to go on fast-unto-death outside American Embassy in Panipokhari.
"The victims want that the American Embassy refund the money they spent to appear for the visa interview, along with necessary compensation," the DV victims said in a press conference organised today.

Ghanashyam Basyal, president of the ADVVA, said, "We don't want American visa. If people think that we are protesting to get the visa, they are wrong. We are against the American policy of rejecting Nepalis' visas without tendering any reasons."

He said the embassy made each of them spend Rs 55,000 for the visa and rejected it without sufficient ground. "There are some families with six members whose spent around Rs 330,000 but none of them got a visa," he added.

"Our efforts to talk to the embassy officials and the Nepal government went in vain. Their apathy has compelled the victims to go on fast-unto-death," said Govinda Adhikari, vice-president of the ADVVA. He said the government and the American Embassy would be responsible if something happens to those on fast. "We tried our best to make them understand our problem, but to no avail. We have enough evidence to prove that we are right," he added.

While, Sharon Hudson-Jean, acting public relation officer of the An American Embassy official, when contacted, said the embassy had already made it clear to the concerned people that compensation could not be granted. She added that the embassy wants them not to go on hunger strike. "We don't want any harm to their health," she said.

The DV victims started their protest in October. For two months they organised sit-in outside the American Embassy and since December 26 they had been on 24-hour relay fast.

14th SAARC summit, a chance for member nations to mutually benefit, says PM Koirala

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Friday said that the 14th SAARC summit was a huge success and that it provided an opportunity for member nations to find ways to mutually benefit from each other.
PM Koirala, who had left for New Delhi on April 1 to attend the 14th SAARC summit, made the comments while talking to media persons upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport this afternoon.

PM Koirala expressed his happiness that the other member nations had conveyed their full support to the proposals made by Nepal during the meet. The PM had forwarded Nepal's proposal on issues including flood control in areas along the Indo-Nepal border, efficient use of resources and poverty alleviation.

PM Koirala also said that the member nations during the two-day SAARC summit reached a consensus on such issues as flood control, energy utilization and poverty alleviation, among others, in a bid to make SAARC a more effective body in the days to come.

During his visit to India this time around, PM Koirala had held separate meetings with Indian Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh along with holding meetings with his other counterparts from participating nations.

The PM opined that the introduction of observer nations and Afghanistan into the SAARC has served to strengthen the South Asian body.

Stating that SAARC will become active within six months, PM Koirala said that the significance of SAARC has grown in the wake of the interest from powerful nations towards this South Asian body.

However, PM Koirala opted to keep mum on queries related to monarchy. A day earlier, talking to Nepali journalists in New Delhi, PM Koirala, in a roundabout way, had hinted at the republican set up. PM Koirala had taken a shot at the press when he answered a question with, "Are you talking about Gyanendra or king Gyanendra?"

Minister for Foreign Affairs Sahana Pradhan, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and other government officials who had accompanied the PM also returned to the capital today.
Foreign Minister Pradhan commented that the international community had attached importance to Nepal because of the example Nepal had set through its peace process.

Informing media persons regarding the discussions about the Bhutanese refugee crisis with her Indian counterpart, Pradhan said that the Indian government had given its word that it would look into this matter.
She further said that India was positive in regards to cooperation in controlling crime in the border region.

On the eve of his departure from New Delhi, PM Koirala also held meeting with former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee. PM Koirala and Bajpayee discussed issues like the peace process in Nepal, recent Terai unrest and monarchy among others.
Similarly, PM Koriala’s meeting with Bhutanese Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk was said to be quite fruitful as the Bhutanese PM gave his assurance that the issue would be resolved during the next bilateral ministerial-level meet.

Police Arrest Four of ‘Black Spider’ Group

Police Arrest Four of 'Black Spider' Group

THT Online

Kathmandu, April 5 Key persons of the so-called International Black Spider Group, who attacked entrepreneurs, businessmen and doctors in various places and threatened them to death, have been arrested. Those arrested are Bir Bahadur Khatri alias Aakash KC of Hatpate-5 of Sindhuli district, Kedar Shrestha of Kamalmai-10 of the same district, Ganesh Kumar Lama of Bengadawar-2 of Dhanusa district and Manoj Tamang of Ratnagar-3 of Chitwan district. At a press conference organised on Wednesday by the Metropolis Police Commissioner Office, Ranipokhari, Metropolis Police Commissioner Dipak Singh Thangden said the four were arrested from the New Bus Park by a special team of the Police Head Office, Department of Criminal Investigation and Metropolis Police Criminal Division. Police have seized a pistol, $500, IRs 5,230, a fake passport and hashish from them. The foursome attacked Dr Hemanga Dixit, Dr Birman Shamsher Rana and LP Sawa, said inspector at the department, Rajendraman Shrestha. The foursome also sought ransom from businessmen and entrepreneurs, Shrestha said. FOUR FOUND DEAD IN CITY KATHMANDU: Four persons were found dead in Kathmandu on Wednesday, police said. The body of a six-year-old, Bhawani Rai, of Udayapur, was found wrapped up in a sack on the ground floor of a house in Naxal. Police said they are investigating the case. Police also found the body of a 50-year-old man at Basundhara on Wednesday. The man has not been identified yet. A 17-year-old, Radhika Shrestha, a resident of Indrayani, was also found hanging from the ladder in her room, police said, adding that a 30-year-old Udaya Singh Baral, cook in Para-Troopers Tranning School, Maharajgunj, was also found dead in his quarter. DOCTOR KIDNAPPED IN RAJBIRAJ RAJBIRAJ: An unidentified armed group kidnapped Dr Murali Prasad Singh of Rajbiraj municipality-9 on Tuesday evening, family sources said on Wednesday. Dr Singh was returning to his residence from his clinic at Rajbiraj-8 when he was kidnapped. He was on leave from the Narayani Sub Regional Hospital situated at Birgunj for the past few months. Dr Singh's wife Dina said she didn't have any information regarding the whereabouts of Dr Singh or why he was kidnapped. Singh's car (Ba 2 Cha 9316) was found deserted near Khado River at Biraul of Saptari, the family sources said. A joint police team from Hanumannagar Kanchanpur Area Police Office and Bhardaha police post arrested two activists of the Jay Krishna Goit-led Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) after conducting a search in the area, DSP of Saptari Yamuna Rajak said. The police have suspected JTMM activists' hand in the kidnapping. However, JTMM's Saptari district deputy commander Bikash denied the allegation. The JTMM activists -Binod Yadav and Umesh Chaudhari- were arrested along with a motorcycle (Ba 1 Pa 240), one homemade pistol and some bullets, DSP Rajak said.

Everest Clean Up Campaign Next Week

Twelve mountaineers, including nine Nepali Sherpas and three Japanese, will climb Mt Everest next week to clean up the north ridge of the world's tallest peak.

Ken Noguchi, a Japanese mountaineer who holds the record of climbing all seven tallest peaks of all the continents, is leading the clean-up campaign. He has led such campaigns to Everest four times earlier and collected trash from the north and the south sides.
The campaign this year will concentrate mainly on the advance base camp situated at 6400m of the north ridge, Noguchi said, adding that they expect to collect as much as one tonne of garbage including tents, ropes, oxygen cylinders and food cans.

"The highlight of this cleaning campaign is that a similar campaign will be going on simultaneously at the Japan's tallest peak Mt Fuji with over 200 participants," he said. "This will be telecast live through satellite television. I, believe this will be crucial for creating awareness among the mountaineers and common people on the adverse effects of litters and their impact on global warming in the Himalayas," Noguchi added.

In addition, two women mountaineers -- one Japanese Kei Taniguchi and Pasang Lhamu Sherpa of Solukhumbhu -- are also eyeing to put their feet on the summit of the world's tallest peak.

The same expedition also has another feature -- Pemba Dorjee Sherpa, the fastest Everest summiteer, is planning to hoist the national flags of all the countries and flags of the eight political parties atop Everest. Sherpa also plans to take photos of Lord Buddha and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala with him to the summit and pray for world peace and fraternity.