Daily Archives: June 3, 2006

Women Reservation in Nepal: Flawed Policy Prescription

Posted on June 3, 2006 by | 15 Comments

This Bill is biased towards narrow-band of urban-based women, in terms of the government jobs, and fails to address much larger and more deprived rural-based women population.

By Chattra Bahadur
An Analysis. UWB received this article in email.

Within few weeks of popular uprising, the reinstated Parliament passed the Women Reservation Bill unanimously reserving 33% of the governmental positions to the women. According to the advocates and supporters of this Bill, this will ensure equality and remove imbalance between men and women, at least in terms of job opportunities in the government, in the long run. The more appropriate term at this juncture is ‘revolutionary’ in the context of male-dominated societal structure of Nepal. Unfortunately, this Bill is flawed in variety of ways. Continue reading →

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Posted in Nepali Society

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A Nepali Girl's American Experience

Posted on June 3, 2006 by | 71 Comments

By Kanchan Burathoki
Saturday BlogDiary of a Nepali student

Every now and then some girls who take politics classes ask me about Nepal and express their sympathy, but I wonder if they really care…. On a recent bus ride, an American asked me, “I know you think we are dumb because we don’t know anything about other countries.” Sick of being undermined just because I am from a poor country, for the first time I dared and said, “Because you are.”

I work in the dining hall of my college twice a week on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5 to 8. On Tuesdays I am the checker and the job is easy; just sit and swipe the students’ cards for two hours and at the end, clean up the salad bar and sweep the dining hall. Wednesdays, I clean up the “Pots”—literally huge utensils used for mass cooking. It is the most dreadful work, but well, I get paid. Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Column

A Nepali Girl’s American Experience

Posted on June 3, 2006 by | 43 Comments

By Kanchan Burathoki
Saturday BlogDiary of a Nepali student

Every now and then some girls who take politics classes ask me about Nepal and express their sympathy, but I wonder if they really care…. On a recent bus ride, an American asked me, “I know you think we are dumb because we don’t know anything about other countries.” Sick of being undermined just because I am from a poor country, for the first time I dared and said, “Because you are.”

I work in the dining hall of my college twice a week on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5 to 8. On Tuesdays I am the checker and the job is easy; just sit and swipe the students’ cards for two hours and at the end, clean up the salad bar and sweep the dining hall. Wednesdays, I clean up the “Pots”—literally huge utensils used for mass cooking. It is the most dreadful work, but well, I get paid. Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Column

Maoist Mass Meeting: City Girl’s Perspective

Posted on June 3, 2006 by | 31 Comments

By Zade 15
After attending the Maoist Mass Meeting in Khula Manch, Kathmandu.

…I see no reason for the crowd to get so excited. So the Maoists will be closer to our doorsteps, how happy should one feel? Who can you trust? The same applies to the SPA (Seven Party Alliance). The mass meetings in Khulamanch seem more of a fashion to me. I have been to all of them held after the 19-day movement (April). And on the stage speakers seem to lose their minds promising everything they can’t even make an attempt to think about. Big talk, always talk and petty actions. The monotony is killing me.

Jestha 19, 2063. The day is finally here. She calls me to come along. I am more than glad to accompany her. We get the Press Pass. The “Bepatta Pairwar Samaj” (Society of Disappeared Peoples’ Families) office is just across the office where we get the pass. A man there speaks in English. His elder brother “Deepak Neupane” disappeared one day after he went to Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara. It was in 2061 B.S. Police in plain clothes arrested him as soon he stepped out of the campus premises. Continue reading →

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Posted in Nepali Politics 2

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Images from the Maoist Mass Meeting in Kathmandu-II

Posted on June 3, 2006 by | 15 Comments

Photo blog by Dinesh Wagle
Last of Two Parts. Here is the first part.

Images from Maoist Mass Meeting in Kathmandu
Sharmila. Works in a carpet factory in Atterkhel, Gokarna. She came to see the Maoist mass meeting with her friends. She was too shy to talk to me about her participation so her friend Kabita (below) came forward. Continue reading →

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Posted in UWB Photo Blog 2