Girija: A Ceremonial Monarch Wannabe

Girija Koirala is against the idea of a republic. He is a conservative. He is a status quoist. After having spent months under house arrest after the king's coup, he was still not for a constituent assembly. He is not exactly known for his intellectual curiosities.

But in a democracy, he has a right to whatever political views. The problem is he has not been following democtatic norms inside his own party on this question. Where is the debate in his party's central committee on this question?

Ram Chandra Poudel is a staunch republican. Poudel is the most likely successor to Koirala in the Koirala faction of the Congress.

The Deuba Congress is already for a federal republic. The most obvious casualty of Koirala's republican stance is any possibility that the two Congress factions will become one. And that is the way it should be.

It is not healthy for Nepal's democracy for the two Congress factions to unify. It is Koirala's autocratic ways that split the Congress in the first place. He has not changed one bit.

Girija Koirala should retire. He is past retirement age.

Or the second generation in his party should come forth and revolt. That revolt will make it possible for the two factions to unify.

The two Congress factions should unfiy around the slogan of a federal republic.

I smell foul play. I smell money. It is entirely possible the monarchists are pumping money into this talk of republic or not. Koirala is in need of opaque eletion money. It is with that money that he buys the blind loyalty of his MPs. If you go against Koirala, you might not get a ticket to contest elections. Or you might not get plentiful election money.

I am worried about Congress money. I am worried about Maoist money.

There is a need to put a strong provision in the interim constitution to make all party finances transparent. That is as important as arms management.

Girija's Options

The Nepali Congress, as two factions or as one party, may go for a ceremonial monarchy. But that decision is going to have to be taken by a party convention. Anything else is illegitimate.

That party's last convention said it is now neutral on the monarchy question. What that means is that party may not go for a ceremonial monarchy. To go for a ceremonial monarchy is not to be neutral on the monarchy question. Not even Girija Koirala is above the party. He may not go against what is his party's number one decision during its last convention.

Girija Can Not Claim Credit For The April Revolution

A democratic republic is the clear mandate of the April Revolution. Girija does not get it. How can he claim any credit for the April Revolution?

Girija Koirala is the ceremonial monarch born out of the April Revolution. He acts like a monarch inside his party. His solo utterances in Biratnagar are party policy. Party policy does not get decided through discussions in the central committee. This is unfortunate. This can not be tolerated.

In The News

Maoists to go ahead with Republican Front plan despite Koirala's rejection NepalNews Koirala's assertion that his party "will not be a part of any Front for Republic" ..... Dev Gurung –a member of Maoist talks team – said that such a front is necessary to overthrow monarchy. .... Nepali Congress (Democratic) has also disagreed to join such front. ..... The Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) has not given its official viewpoint about the front idea. "We have not demanded for such a front but we are not opposed to it also," said Jhal Nath Khanal ....... Deputy Prime Minister and president of People's Front Nepal (PFN) Amik Sherchan had recently urged PM Koirala to lead such a republican front. ..... Koirala had said that since NC is a democratic party, it will go to the elections of Constituent Assembly with a separate manifesto ..... Maoists have been saying that they would be willing to show maximum flexibility in the management of their arms and armies if the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), including NC, agrees to join a united republican front to establish republic through the CA or referendum. Senior Maoist leaders have gone on record saying that they would accept making Koirala even the first president of the country.
Government ready to talk with JTMM Hridayesh Tripathy, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, has said that the government has no qualms for holding dialogue with the JTMM. Talking to journalists in Dhobidhara of Saptari, he, however, said that since there were two factions of JTMM, the government is still unclear about how to go about with the peace talks with them. ..... Tripathy's comments came in response to offer for peace talks made by Jai Krishna Goit-led JTMM. Recently, Jwala Singh had floated a separate faction of JTMM. Both are active in Siraha and Saptari district. ....
PM says NC not for republic Koirala has said the Nepali Congress would not be part of the broader republican alliance including the Maoists, which many members of the current Seven Party Alliance have been stressing on. .... Koirala said Nepali Congress, principally, does not believe in republic Nepal. ..... "Republic is not the agenda and policy of the Nepali Congress and it will not be involved in such fronts at any cost," he said. ... He also said unification between the Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress (Democratic) will be completed before the elections to the constituent assembly and the unified congress will have the same agenda during the polls .......
People start retaliating Maoist excesses; seven injured Irate by the continuous excesses of the Maoists, local people of Sarlahi vandalized two barriers at Ranijung area of the district put by the Maoists for collecting taxes from the vehicles plying at the street. ..... The locals also warned Maoists not to collect any form of taxes in the area and also warned of dire consequences if they did not obey. ..... villagers protesting the Maoist atrocities clashed with the Maoists in eastern Jhapa district ..... Three locals and four Maoists were injured, when a group of 15 Maoists attacked locals, who were protesting against Maoist excesses ..... local people of Situwa bazaar of Dhankuta district organized Situwa bazaar bandh (Shut-down) and also blocked the Koshi highway protesting the Maoist excesses.
Policemen and Maoists engage in minor scuffle; Maoists impose traffic blockade this morning
PM Koirala confident about success of peace talks, says it takes time
Nepal's position improved in press freedom index; stands at 159th position
Breaking Deadlock on Arms Management the government and the Maoists want CA elections for different reasons: the government with an aim to disarm the Maoists and resolve the Maoist insurgency problem, whereas, the Maoists with an aim to establish a republic Nepal. ..... Koirala is plotting a so-called “grand design” to maintain the status quo by saving Nepal’s monarchy ..... the Maoists cannot be a part of Nepal’s government so long as the Maoist Party has a separate military wing. ....... Given its long tradition of loyalty to the monarchy, it is a wishful thinking to believe that Nepal Army is now fully under the control of current civilian government. ..... “We are not ready to lay down arms unless a democratic army is formed. The effort to make us lay down arms unilaterally will only derail the peace process.” ....... the UN cannot do much unless both the SPA and the Maoists agree on the modality of arms management. ...... (1) downsize Nepal Army by providing a package for retirement for those who have served more than 15 years or more; (2) Hold the army fully accountable by taking strong actions against those who have been involved in gross human rights violations including disappearance and torture; and (3) Commit fully to implement the findings of the Rayamajhi Commission and punish those to be found guilty of unlawful killings during the April protests. ......... (1) Create a new ministry to oversee the Maoist Army and their expenditure. During the interim period, assign this ministry to a leader from the Maoist Party; (2) Put both Nepal Army and the Maoist Army under the control of National Security Council chaired by the Prime Minister but the Council’s decision should be approved by the interim parliament; (3) Agree that the Security Council will serve as the integrated headquarter of both armies. With the help of UN experts, the Council will develop a plan for merging two armies within next four months or so and the plan will have to be approved by the cabinet and the parliament. The merging will start immediately after the CA elections; and (4) Agree that the access to the arms and armies, will be limited to the UN representatives and the Security Council

Lasting peace to be established in Nepal: PM People's Daily Online, China
Nepal urges all not to favour monarchy Kantipur Online, Nepal Nepal’s remarks have come at a time when Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is saying that his party wouldn’t favour republican setup in the upcoming election to the constituent assembly ......
Maoist Leader Sees NC, NC (D) as Most Regressive Himalayan Times The five left parties are ready to go for a democratic republic with a federal system and ethnic autonomy, the CPN-UML is still unclear and the democrats are still not convinced about doing away with the monarchy ...... the two parties also will have to go for a republic as most of their cadres now support the republican thoughts. ..... "If 'surrenderism' continues, the third round of people's movement will follow. Nobody, not even the army, will be able to prevent another revolution from taking place" ....... We are ready even to lock up 40 per cent of our arms if the government locks 25 per cent of arms belonging to the army ...... So long as the monarchy exists in any form, there is a threat to the seven-party government of a royal coup. ...... "The Newars have contributed for thousands of years to make Nepal a civilised country but still they are not in the state, they have to live like internal refugees." ..... Damannath Dhungana, urged all the parties favouring referendum on monarchy to think over it twice because it would only make the regressive forces active. ...... Chairperson of the Manka Khala Padma Ratna Tuladhar demanded that, like other historic announcements, the House or Representatives declare Nepal Sambat the national calendar.
Nepal Army Reiterates Loyalty to Government Nepal human Rights News, Nepal
Five Hurt as Leftover Bomb Explodes in West Nepal Nepal human Rights News, Nepal
Maoists halt vehicular movement in Nepal capital Zee News, India
Two-Hour Strike Hinders Life in Nepal OhmyNews International, South Korea

‘Goit ordered me to bomb Kantipur office’ Kantipur Jyoti Jha, Morang district coordinator of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), Monday disclosed that Jaykrishna Goit, the central coordinator of JTMM, had ordered him to bomb the eastern regional office building of the Kantipur Publications in Biratnagar in broad daylight. ...... Goit had called Jha to Birpur of India and instructed him to carry out the plan, which, according to Jha, was in retaliation for the publication not covering JTMM's activities but only publishing "false" news about the Morcha. ...... Jha, whom Maoists had taken into control some three weeks ago from Kankalini temple at Bhardaha in Saptari district, revealed details of the plan while talking to journalists at a press meet held inside a Maoist security post at Bharadaha. ..... Goit had pressurized him to do so arguing that such actions would create propaganda and make the Morcha famous among the masses. He also stated he was detained while trying to carry out the plan. ...... Jha also revealed that the JTMM had no plan to murder MP Krishnacharan Shrestha. "However, issuing a statement, Goit falsely owned up to killing Shrestha claiming that it (taking responsibility for the killing of someone renowned) would add to the popularity of the party among the Madhesi communities," Jha said. He further maintained that JTMM cadres had no hand in the killing.

BK Rana: Paper On Kusundas

Significance Of Kusundas And Their Language In The Trans-Himalayan Region
B. K. Rana
Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA
October 21- 22, 2006

General Background:

The Kusunda language does not remain a ‘not well studied and classified’ language anymore now. The government of Nepal funded for its detailed study with some leading linguists in the country. The National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities [NFDIN] brought at least two fluent Kusunda speakers along with few others from western part of Nepal in Kathmandu, funded for their 3 months stay to document data and organized a national seminar on the language on October 10, 2004. Enough data has been obtained and documented. The study shows Kusunda language doesn’t resemble to any other languages in the world.
Since, I left Nepal for USA in 2003, I have been unable to establish any direct communication with the Kusundas whom I could discover among the mid-hills of Nepal in early 2000. However, I could obtain some other crucial data from Ms S. Thapa who brought Gyani Maya, a fluent Kusunda speaker, in her hometown of Butwal in the western plains of Nepal and video-graphed her interview in April 2003. We have already discussed on those data in the Fifth Harvard Roundtable on Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia in Cambridge on May 10 - 11, 2003.

Before the discovery of Raja Mama, a lone Kusunda of Tanahu in west Nepal, the linguistic communities held a belief that Kusundas have already vanished from the face of the earth and eventually their precious language also. But the discovery of Raja Mama opened up a new avenue for Kusunda research in recent years. This also led to the preservation of this important indigenous tribal community and its profound linguistic heritage. Now, another important job has to be done, providing direct benefit to the target community in compliance with the international laws, testing the Kusunda DNA.

The Nepal government has placed high priority to preserve certain near-extinct indigenous communities and their heritage. The National Foundation for Indigenous Nationalities,[NFDIN] a government entity headed by the Prime Minister, in whose governing council, Raja Mama had been nominated a member in 2004. This is a first record in Nepalese history that a Kusunda got nominated to a government entity.

Raja Mama and Lil Bahadur Kusunda:

After his discovery Raja Mama [Kusunda] drew enormous media attention in the country. The media still report him as ‘a lone Kusunda’ of Nepal; however, there are few more others in different parts of western Nepal.

The photo below was taken in February 2000 in Tanahu when I discovered him. He said he was fifty years old. He should have weighed 55 to 60 Kilograms and about 5 feet tall. He said to me he was born in jungle. He doesn’t remember anything about his father. He was a lonely fellow. He told me he used to hunt jungle fowl, forage yam, tuber and fruits. Nowadays, he doesn’t go for a hunt. He helps other in agriculture. He just gave me some 50 Kusunda words

Raja Mama Kusunda

As Tamla Ukyab, then Member Secretary and ex-officio Executive Director of the Foundation told me over phone from Kathmandu that the government deposited in a fixed account Rs. 75,000.00 [little more than US $ 1000.00] in his name so that he could marry and start a family life. Now, he has married a woman – Tamla Ukayb said. Both Tamla Ukyab and Sant B. Gurung played a vital role for the recent study and preservation of Kusunda language. We are thankful of them.

Since, Raja Mama Kusunda had received wide media coverage in the country. Kusundas got prominence which led me to participate in the 4th Harvard Rountable in 2002. After the roundtable, I wrote a few articles on the Kusunda and published in major dailies from Kathamadu. People began taking deep concern in the Kusundas.

Almost one year after the discovery of Raja Mama Kusunda, All Nepal Indigenous Peoples’ Convention, [ANIPC], one of the non-governmental organizations of indigenous peoples, organized its second national convention in Kathmandu in April 2001. Hundreds of representatives from among different indigenous peoples’ communities in the country participated in the convention. The convention organizers told they wanted to hear and understand the issues of the indigenous tribal communities directly from their own mouths.

Lil Bahadur Kusunda, born in 1949

Therefore, the convention organizers had also invited Lil Bahadur Kusunda and his middle son Setu Lal Kusunda from Tiram Ward 6. Budhi Chaur, of Pyuthan district. Lil Bahadur Kusunda had arrived Kathmandu with his particular traditional Kusunda weapons: bow and arrow. This Kusunda has also forgotten most of the Kusunda words as the Raja Mama Kusunda of Tanahu.
Lil Bahadur Kusunda has married a non-Kusunda woman and has 18 members in his family. He told me he lived in the jungle for 28 years. He doesn’t speak any Kusunda. Since his is an inter-caste marriage, his children and grand-children are therefore also unknown about the Kusunda language. He told huru for bow and guru for the arrow. Actually, in Kusunda bow is called tut and arrow - mui.

Chepangs, Rautes, and Kusundas:

Chepangs were also a hunting group of people in the central hills of Nepal whose population size is 52237 [2001]. Nowadays, they don’t hunt. They live in Gorkha, Dhadhing, Makawanpur and Chitwan districts – quite close to Kathmandu. These Chepangs speak one of the TB languages.
Rautes, population 658 [2001], are another group of foraging tribal community in western part of Nepal. They speak Khamchi, a TB language and roam, even today, amongst the deep forests in western part of Nepal. In the jungle they make huts tying together some vines with branches of small trees. Such huts are called ‘rautees’. These Rautes run away from the Kusundas as the latter treat them as their ‘subjects’. Rautes hunt monkeys and eat them.

The Chepangs do not call themselves Thakuris while Rautes and Kusundas have taken Thakuri surnames as: Shahi, Sen, Malla and Shah. A Thakuri erupts in bad temper when one talks of Kusunda in front of him. I had that kind of experience in one of my expeditions in search for Kusundas. The Thakuris are derogatively called ‘Kusundas’. The Kusunda origin story as documented by Reinhard and Toba tells Kusunda, Thakuri and Magars are blood brothers. This story, however, is in indigenous Kusunda language, sounds fairly recent.

Kusundas used to have some taboos: as they would not touch cow-dongs, would not eat or drink anything put in a milk pot. In other words, they would not eat anything if you have put some milk in a jar or bowl or whatever and used it later to give some rice or pulses to the Kusundas. The Kusundas would not live inside a house or hut tied with ropes or vines. The Kusundas would not kill monkeys for meat. These are the striking differences between Kusundas and Rautes. Kusundas do not say themselves Kusunda. They shun this word. In their own language they prefer calling themselves a ‘myahaq’ – a King or ‘gelang de mahaq’ - king of forest. Could this ‘Kusunda’ title be given by some other advanced communities to the Kusundas?

Kusundas, Mundas, Nihals and Jarawas:

While talking of Kusundas, the Mundas also come into our mind. The Santhal or Santhali is one of the Munda languages. Santhals have even developed a script of their own. This is also a pronominalized language.

Sanskrit and Prakrit have derived hundreds of words from the Proto-Munda [Kuiper,1948]. However, the Proto-Munda ‘ka-la(n)ja’ and certain words such as: Sanskrit ‘al-in-jara’, Pali ‘al-an-jara’ and Nihali ‘len-jo’ pose some problems to designate Munda as Austro-Asiatic [Witzel 2000] . Also the view of having some links in Nihali and Kusunda [Fleming, 1996] has also been contested that ‘Nihali no language at all but a `so-called' or seeming language’ [Zide, 1995 ?].

The photo below of a Munda king also looks different than both the Raja Mama and Lil Bahadur Kusunda.

Picture (courtesy HRCBM-Khulna): The poverty striken Anil Munda and his wife. Mr. Anil Munda is the king of Mundas at Koyera, Khulna of Bangladesh http://www.hrtribune.com/Munda/Munda_part-I.html

The picture below of two Jarawa young boys actually does not look like that of Raja Mama Kusunda and Lil Bahadur Kusunda. The boys in this picture look South Indian stock while both Raja Mama and Lil Bahadur Kusunda have longer hair and different facial feature.

Photo courtesy: Ausaf Sayeed http://www.ausafsayeed.com/jarawa.html

A Designated Language Isolate:

The Kusunda has been designated a language isolate. The most recent study carried out by David E. Watters and others again designate Kusunda as a language isolate. He writes the Kusunda has no relationship with any other languages in the world.

There is enough Kusunda vocabulary on the Kusunda language. And, there has been a lot more works on the Kusunda being left undone after Hodgson and Reinhard & Toba.

Until recently the most popular Kusunda sentences among linguists used to be chi kadi gaman (I rice eat), git kadi gaman (He rice eats) and nu kadi naman (You rice eat). Now David Watters has worked on this and finds five basic pronouns as: chi ‘I’, tok ‘we’, nu ‘you’, nok ‘you (plural)’ and gina ‘he, she, that’ and the equivalent of ‘they’ gina dzina ‘they two’, gina da ‘they three’ gina pyangdzang ‘they four’, gina pandang ‘they five’ and gina many, ‘they many’. He offers the following sentences:

First Person:
t-am-an sl ‘I ate’
t-am-da-n pl ‘We ate’
Second Person
n-am-an sl ‘You ate’
n-am-da-n pl ‘You ate’
Third Person:
g-am-an sl ‘He/she ate’
g-am-da-n pl ‘They ate’
The singular morpheme -an is replaced by -du and plural morpheme –da-n by da-k in future tense below:
First Person:
t-am-du sl. ‘I will eat’
t-am-da-k pl. ‘We will eat’
Second Person:
n-am-du sl. ‘You will eat’
n-am-dak pl. ‘ You [pl] will eat’
Third Person:
g-am-du sl. ‘He/she will eat’
g-am-da- k ‘They will eat’

The above Kusunda sentence ‘chi [kadi] gaman’ for English ‘I eat [rice]’ also sometimes spoken ‘taman’. And while speaking, Kusundas say ‘taman’ only leaving ‘kadi = rice’. A phonetic change ‘t’ > ‘ch’ or ‘ch’ > ‘t’ takes place. The Kusunda pronoun ‘chi’ meaning ‘I’ changes into ‘ti’, gets pronominalized ‘taman’ and appears to be a single word.

Kusunda: a Mother language ?

There has been no agreement on whether Kusunda is a language isolate or otherwise. Now, we have enough data with which we can tell that Kusunda doesn’t have any relationship with any other languages in the world, however by accident or whatever, there are quite a number of Kusunda words among different languages.

The Kusunda ‘mai = mother’, ‘suta= thread’, ‘mahi= water buffalo’ and ‘miza or azaki (cf. Sanskrit aja ) = goat are interesting to note here. John Bengston attributes Kusunda ‘mai’ to Proto-Human.

The Kusunda pronoun ‘nu’ and Jarawa, a language spoken in the South and Middle Andaman ‘ni’ offer same meaning - the second person ‘you’. The Jarawa ‘onnaho = tooth’ and Kusunda ‘ouho = tooth’ look alike while Jarawa ‘na:ppo= fish’ and Kusunda ‘nasa= fish’ have nasal sounds in their initial syllables.

John McWhorter points out that Kusunda and Oko-Juwoi, a language once spoken in India, have some similarities by close accident or whatever. He finds Kusunda ‘chi= I’ and Juwoi ‘tui= I’, Kusunda ‘chee = my’ and Juwoi ‘tii-ye = my’ and Kusunda ‘gida= he/she’ and Juwoi ‘kite= my’.

We now understand Kusunda has given its cognates to so many of different languages and therefore it would be reasonable to designate it a Mother Language or similar other title than any isolate. This language is not in isolation but has shared with many others in the world.

References:

Fleming, Harold 1996: Looking to the West and North: Nihali and Kusunda Find Links Mother Tongue II, Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory, Issue II ( December 1996).

Hodgson, Brian H. 1857: Journal of Asiatic Society - Bengal and Asian Educational Services C-2/15, SDA, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016

Justin, Anstice 2000: Who are the Jarawa? http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/originals/Justin/art-justs.htm#1
Kuiper, F.B.J. 1948: Proto-Munda Words in Sanskrit, Amsterdam, Verhandeling der Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akademie Van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde, Nieuwe Reeks Deel Li, No. 3] http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/dictionary/9MUNDA.HTM

McWhorter, John 2004: Can relationships between languages be determined after 80,000 years?
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001037.html

Rana, B. K. 2002: New Materials on the Kusunda Language: The Fourth Harvard Roundtable on Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia Cambridge MA, USA May 11 - 13, 2002. http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/kusunda.htm, http://nepalresearch.org/publications/kusunda_materials.pdf

__________ 2003: Recently Recorded Materials on the Kusunda Language: The Fifth Harvard Roundtable on Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia Cambridge MA, USA May 10 - 11, 2003 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Langhali_Forum/files/

___________ 2005: Additional Data and Analysis on Kusunda (Nepal) – Mother Tongue, Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory, Issue X 2005

Reinhard, J. and Toba, S. 1970: A Preliminary Linguistic Analysis and Vocabulary of the Kusunda Language’ Summer institute of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. September 1970.

Sayeed, Ausaf : Jarawa Tribes -- Confluence of The Present with The Past http://www.ausafsayeed.com/jarawa.html

Watters, David E. et.al 2005 : Notes on Kusunda grammar ( a language isolate of Nepal) – National Foundation for the Development of Indigenous Nationalities, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Witzel, Michael 2000: The Languages of Harappa [February 17, 2000]

Zide, Norman 1995 [?]: The Status of Nihali, University of Chicago http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/austroasiatic/AA/nihali

In The News

Five civilians critically injured in explosion in Kaski NepalNews
We are working hard for peace, says Army chief
NA starts action against five army men
WFP proposal is positive, says Gurung
Govt. to recognize Nepal Sambat as national calendar: PM Koirala
Rights body asks Maoists to release detainees

Committee urges Maoists to properly implement code of conduct NepalNews
WFP to provide food to Maoist fighters over 225 thousand people of 10 districts of mid and far western development region benefited from the emergency food supply programme of WFP.
Seized lands won't be returned before political settlement, says Maoist peasant leader
Key for talks lies in New Delhi, says Bijukchhe

Maoists make public Valley ‘gangsters’ Kantipur Maoists arrested over 70 members allegedly associated with organized criminal gangs in Kathmandu valley in the last three weeks. Maoists set free 60 of those arrested as of Saturday. ...... Speaking at a press conference organized in Lalitpur Saturday, Pawan Man Shrestha, president of Maoist affiliated Newa Mukti Morcha, claimed that the party started Crime Control (CC) operation in Kathmandu Valley some three weeks ago following requests from locals and businesspersons. Claiming that all those arrested were involved in various criminal activities including looting, extortion, kidnapping and murder in different parts of the Valley, Shrestha said, "Altogether 24 others have surrendered themselves to the party over the period." ....... Maoists have claimed that criminal activities in the Valley have gone down considerably after they started their CC operation. ..... Hisila Yami, central committee member of CPN (Maoist) informed that sixty of those arrested have been released after the latter made written commitments not repeat similar acts in the future. Stating that all those released would be under strict supervision of the party, Yami said, "Those released have been set free on condition of arriving at the Party office when summoned." ....... Among those still under Maoist control are Bal Bahadur Limbu (Satdobato), Laxmi Khadgi (Mangalbazar), Sushil Thapa (Palpa), Madhav GC (Nuwakot), Rajesh Shrestha (Chakrapath), Tarani Prasad Thakur (Chakrapath) and Umesh Shrestha (Bhaktapur). Likewise, Dipak Lama (Dhumbarahi), Megh Raj Shrestha (Jhapa) and Krishna Lama (Balaju) are also under Maoist control. ..... Maoists have recovered 4 pistols, 2 revolvers, 59 bullets, six Khukuris, 14 swords, 3 knives, one nunchaku and two sets of pepper sprays. They have also recovered 20 motorcycles, 39 mobile sets and gold jewelery, among others, from the arrested. Shrestha said the party would hold the seized property until those released make sure that they change their behavior. ..... On the occasion, Shrestha also announced the end of CC operation in Kathmandu valley for the moment. Adding that the party would start fresh operation if necessary in future, he said, "We request people to inform about any criminal activities on our hotline [015011120]." ....... Sagar said, "Instead of breaching the cease-fire code of conduct, the PLA is helping police and army in their work."
Next round of talks will be decisive: Dy PM the next round of summit talks would reach a conclusion at any cost. ..... "The upcoming talks will play a pivotal role in the formation of a new Nepal" ...... the next round of summit talks immediately after the Tihar festivities.
Maoists with arms cannot be included in govt: DPM Oli
Govt to introduce new development programmes: Mahat
'माओवादीले हतियार र कांग्रेसले राजामोह त्याग्नुपर्छ'
वनको राजस्व माओवादी कब्जामा
ँनागरिकताका नाममा मधेसीमाथि षड्यन्त्र’ माओवादीनिकटको 'मधेसी राष्ट्रिय मुक्ति मोर्चा' ले मधेसी समुदायलाई नागरिकता दिने नाममा सरकारले षड्यन्त्र गरिरहेको आरोप लगाएको छ । मोर्चाले नागरिकतामा भएको पहाडेकरण र टोपी लगाउनुपर्ने बाध्यात्मक प्रावधानविरुद्घ प्रतिकारात्मक संघर्षमा उत्रन आग्रह पनि गरेको छ । 'नागरिकतालगायत सम्पूर्ण हक अधिकारका लागि हामीले आवाज बुलन्द गरेपछि सत्तामा बसेकाहरू अत्तालिएर नागरिकता दिने टोलीमा पनि षड्यन्त्र हुन थालेको छ,' मोर्चाका मातृकाप्रसाद यादवद्वारा शनिबार जारी विज्ञप्तिमा भनिएको छ । दसबर्षे जनयुद्घ र १९ दिनको जनआन्दोलनबाट पनि मधेसी समस्याबारे शासकहरूको चिन्तन र व्यवहारमा कुनै परिवर्तन नआएको मोर्चाको ठहर छ । यसैगरी मोर्चाले आगामी मंसिर १६ गते र राजधानीमा दोस्रो राष्ट्रिय सम्मेलन गर्ने निर्णय गरेको छ । सम्मेलनका लागि मोर्चाले 'आत्मनिर्णयको अधिकार, स्वशासन समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्व, संघीय शासनका लागि सशक्त आन्दोलन, मधेसी स्वाभिमानको रक्षार्थ तथा राष्ट्रिय पहिचानका लागि दोस्रो राष्ट्रिय सम्मेलन' भन्ने मूल नारा तय गरेको छ ।
दलले राजतन्त्र बोकेर हिँड्दैनन्’
स्थानीयले पढाउँदा गुणस्तर बढ्यो
वाम्बुले राई भाषामा कविगोष्ठी
लमजुङमा इन्टरनेट सेवा लामिछानेले चार वटा कम्प्युटरमा इमेल जोडेका छन् । घन्टाको ३० रुपैयाँ तिरेर आरामसगँ बसीबसी संसार देख्न पाउँदा सबै दंग छन् । विगत ५ वर्षदेखि फोन, फ्याक्सको समेत राम्रो सुविधा उपभोग गर्न नपाएका पत्रकारले इमेलबाट समाचार पठाउन पाएका छन् । ..... माओवादीले ०५८ मा उदीपुर स्थित टेलिफोनको टावर ध्वास्त पारेदखि यहाँका पत्रकारले तीन/चार घन्टा लाइनमा बसेर नेपाल टेलिकमको एक मात्र भिस्याट फोनबाट सञ्चालित फ्याक्सबाट समाचार पठाउनुपर्ने अवस्था चार वर्षसम्म रहेको थियो । लोकतन्त्र स्थापनासँगै लमजुङको टेलिफोन टावर पुनर्निर्माण भएकाले टेलिफोन सञ्चालनमा आएको हो ।
माडीमा माओवादी
गुरुङ सम्पदा मार्ग

Maoists don police role, arrest 70 in Nepal Times of India, India for their alleged involvement in criminal activities, a move slammed by the Kathmandu police. ..... The Maoist affiliated ethnic organization based in Kathmandu Newa Mukti Morcha (NMM) took the 70 people in their custody in the wake of growing criminal activities in the Kathmandu valley and the alleged police failure to curb them, claimed Pawan Man Shreshta, President of NMM The CPN-M has started 'Crime Control' operation in Kathmandu some three weeks ago after receiving "requests" from the local business community and the valley dwellers, he said. .... they have released 60 of them after they gave a written commitment not to indulge in such activities in the future and they will be under strict vigilance of the party ....... Twenty four criminals have already surrendered themselves to the party over the past one month ..... The Maoists have also recovered four pistols, two revolvers, 60 bullets, 14 swords, 6 Khukuris, 20 motorcycles, 39 mobile sets and some gold jewellery from them. ...... Dhak Bahadur Pun, chief of Kathmandu District Police Office. "The action is politically motivated rather than checking crimes in the valley"
Nepal to open up petroleum sector to private players Telugu Portal, India
Nepal Criticises Nepali Congress, Maoists Himalayan Times, Nepal
Nepal Maoists Free Alleged Crime-Hostages Nepal human Rights News, Nepal
Human error, fog to blame for Nepal WWF crash ABC Online
Tibetans shot at by Chinese leave Nepal for India Haveeru Daily, Maldives

Talks will succeed if Koirala agrees on democratic republic: DPM Sherchan NepalNews
Oli says no major pact will be signed during his India visit
JTMM ready for talks with the government Chief of the JTMM Jai Krishna Goit has stated in a statement that his party is ready for talks with the government if the latter calls it for a dialogue. ..... The JTMM has been launching violent activities in Terai districts – mainly Siraha and Saptari – demanding various rights for ethnic Madhesi people. ...... Goit, who is a former influential leader of the Maoists, had walked away from Prachanda's party and floated his own faction nearly two years ago. .... Maoists and JTMM have bitter relations and their cadres regularly engage in bloody clashes. In recent months, JTMM has repeatedly stated that it is also willing to hold peace talks with the government. However, the government has not yet officially reacted to its appeals.
Man dies in Maoist captivity
Maoist, NC responsible for delay in peace talks: UML general secy.
Maoists make public, release people arrested for criminal activities; It's illegal: Police
India's MEA prepares Relevance for India index; Nepal in 8th rank before Pakistan
UN regional disarmament office to be set up in Nepal

Prachanda instructs Maoist army to leave a camp

Game Theory – The Classic Game is Prisoners’ Dilemma

Given the current strain condition between madhesis and paharis, it’s very difficult to trust each other. One may, for assurance sake, argue any thing. But the real fact is paharis had shown no fate on madhesis since last more than 260 years. As a result of which, madhesis could not find any responsibility in state defense, diplomacy, administration, and government representation. On the other hand, madhesi experience of paharis attitude and behavior for last 260 years has made them perceive this attitude as colonial strategy of pahari, which madhesi is not unwilling to accept any more. Breaking the deadlock of last 260, madhesis are asking right to rule themselves.

Explaining in term of Prisoner’s dilemma, madhesis are also facing dilemma. Madhesi's are not able to make strategy for future course, whether they should maintain status quo or march forward for non cooperation. Applying Game theory, one can predict that, the outcome will be the strategy for protecting individual interest. Madhesi and pahari, each one will apply individual rationality, and thus will maximize individual payoff. In the condition of mutual doubt, the resulting outcome is no-cooperation with each other, ultimately resulting in a more strain which can finally lead to a political and geographical line between madhesis and paharis.

The local version of game theory is also quite common.. It is said that, 1 and 1 when comes together, can make power of 11. But, it is only possible if both of them work and cooperate with each other. But if any group betrays, then there will be unequal division of payoff, i.e one group taking more that 5.5 point of payoff from power. This is where discontent arises. If the suppressed group continues to get less than 5.5 point of payoff from power, the relationship will not last longer.

This is the condition between madhesis and paharis right now. Paharis want to take more share of payoff, where as the relationship is believed to be on equality basis. Now even if madhesis is getting some payoff on investment of 1 but is less than 5.5 point of payoff from power, madhesis will not want to be in relationship any further.

The above two concept explains to most extend, the strategy madhesis will adopt further. State restructuring will be the minimum and first step in this direction. Given that majority madhesis are distributed along a specific geography, state restructuring will only ensure of regional administrative equality, but other issues that will be left are participation in state defense, diplomatic and central resource planning & distribution.

Ram Manohar Sah