Monday 4 May 2009

Resignation

This afternoon the (Maoist) Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka "Prachanda", resigned in a televised address to the nation. This followed his attempted sacking of the Army chief yesterday (see yesterday's post) being overruled by the President, Ram Baran Yadav. I imagine other Maoist ministers will follow suit later on today.

I do have some empathy for Mr Dahal. Last year he stated that he'd found it easier to manage a conflict during the "People's War" than to run the country in peacetime. Nepal can be a very frustrating place to try and get positive results or to attempt to move quickly with any kind of initiative. It's a shame that there is such inertia as underneath it all the economic possibilities for this country are huge in spite of this being the world's fourteenth poorest nation.

Sunday 3 May 2009

Caterwauling in Kathmandu

Today the Maoist Prime leadership in the coalition government of Nepal decided to sack the head of the Nepalese Army, General Rookmangud Katawal.

This controversial move was the culmination of deliberations over the last couple of weeks as to what to do with a General who had, on the face of it, taken decisions in what he saw as being in the best interests of the Army but that went against the wishes of the government as the ultimate authority within a democracy. The dismissal has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons with Maoist opponents believing that the Maoists are pursuing an agenda of securing supreme control through the emasculation of the Army (along with the judiciary and the media).

These national concerns are reflected in India, whose ambassador to Nepal has been shuttling between Kathmandu and Delhi in a bid to convey the displeasure of the Indian government at the prospect of Katwal's removal. For India has its own Maoist insurgency and the authorities there are very concerned about a sympathetic regime in Nepal supporting that cause. The Nepalese army has been seen by the Indians as a bulwark against a Maoist takeover and they made it known that they would oppose the sacking of Katawal which they could not acknowledge as being an internal matter for Nepal. It remains to be seen how India will retaliate.

Meanwhile, the other main parties in Nepal have all objected to apparent Maoist high-handedness and this evening one of the coalition government partners, the mainstream communist party, pulled out of government. As for Katawal he has refused to accept his dismissal.

So this Sunday evening everything is up in the air. It is quite predictable that the coming week will see widespread protests and demonstrations both for and against the decision to fire Katawal. Of course I have no view one way or the other, but this kind of disruption doesn't help with us trying to get on with the task of making Nepal a better place for its children. This is the worst that the situation has been in Nepal for a very long time.

Saturday 2 May 2009

Oh no, it's the breeding season....

...for snakes. Our snake in the garden problem became worse today as we spotted two of them, writhing and intertwined in ecstasy. Soon we'll have a real infestation. All we need now is an outbreak of snake flu to compound the problem further.

Concerned by the possibility of the snakes being venomous I had bought a couple of days ago the definitive text on the subject "The Herpetology of Nepal" by Dr T K Shrestha.
It didn't help much as many of the pictures were in black and white and the descriptions included statements like "the females lay eggs" and "the pupils are round". I wasn't going close enough today to find out the shape of the pupils of the snake in question but I imagine that they were fairly dilated. My best guess is that this is a common rat snake which is only aggressive when attacked, so sooner or later my dog Bryher is in for a shock.

Today marked the start of my two year old's sex education - "what is those snakes doing?" she asked. This must be Nepal's variation on the birds and the bees.

Friday 1 May 2009

Missing the point

One of our partner NGOs in Nepal, the Nepal Child Welfare Foundation (NCWF), is based in Bhairahawa which is just 20km from the birthplace of the Buddha at Lumbini. The Lumbini Garden, which measures 7.7 square kilometres, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been developed over the years by the Lumbini Development Trust. It includes the spot where the Buddha was born in 623 B.C. and incorporate within its large area a number of temples that reflect the differing temple architecture of Buddhist nations around the world.

As part of my charity fundraising this year, I had planned to complete my fourth 10km run at a new event we'd set up ourselves as "The Lumbini 10km". The concept was to have an early morning run one Saturday in November that would take sponsored runners through the park area (away from dangerous Nepali traffic) with the event all over and done with by 9 a.m. This would raise badly-needed funds for the NCWF's ongoing childcare and allow me to hit my personal £40k fundraising target. Initial approaches to the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) were encouraging and included discussions of possible routes with one Board member, Mr Hari Rai. However two days ago our team at last managed to arrange a meeting with Mr Parma Syangbo Sherpa, the Board Secretary. Dressed in his monk's yellow robes he flatly refused permission to allow the event to go ahead, saying that it would disturb the serenity of the place.

I have now written to the LDT, questioning Mr Sherpa's authority to take such a unilateral decision, that has such far reaching consequences, without consulting the Board. Moreover I have pointed out that his stance seems to be at variance with the remit of LDT to develop the site (sensitively and sustainably) as a national and international tourist site. We'll see what the Board says.

But sometimes I feel some of those who are central figures within organised religions are so immersed in their religious practices that they miss the point and forget the (almost universal) central calling to help the most needy members of society.