By Gaury S Adhikary
Letter from Michigan
I just got back from Kathmandu yesterday (2 March). Here is my perspective on current Nepal and where we might be heading in future. Nepal has many positives in the making, for example:
1. Little more than 10 percents of youth are heading out of Nepal for better opportunities outside India. I met many of these young lads on the way to Doha . Many of them are working in semiskilled and unskilled works, Mostly they are in service industries. It looks like the market has matured and Nepali workforce in Middle east has adopted its new workplace.
2. Kathmandu is awash with money: Real or imagined. Valley is built up form pillar to post and there is no spare land within the center of the city. There are more than 200 large brick factory working on overdrive. Financial institutions are lending money as if there is no tomorrow. So much so, Karmachari Sancahya Kosh is worth 55 Billion rupees and still needs vehicle for investment. Every hill top around Kathmandu is built up with a monastery or private house.
Kathmandu rivers are thoroughly polluted and it shows that valley is at the phase of meteoric growth rate. Similarly, as Kathmandu grows out of being a small trading route town to big metropolis of 3 million inhabitants, it has its share of vices: gangs kidnapping people for ransom, dancing bars for brothel etc. etc.
Kathmandu Growth rate soon needs to be stabilized and consolidated. I suspect this will start soon as the roads out of valley will connect rest of Nepal in next phase of growth.
3. Service sector in Kahtmandu is exploding. Means of transportations are plenty. Microbus Rs 10 per trip, Safa tempo, and taxis are plenty. Motorbikes and cars are freely available for credit (unheard in the past). Hospitals, both public and private, schools and tourist center are flourishing and maturing in its services to public as we speak. Almost all the roads within the valley are black topped.
4. Wholesale increase in professional group of Nepali is evident by what happened to me. I just stepped in my friend’s home for a dinner party. Someone handed over a phone and asked me to speak to the person on line. It turned out Kantipur was coming out with a Naya Nepal issue for Falgun 7th day and was seeking peoples’ opinion. I was briefly interviewed and my photograph was taken by a digital camera and sent over the internet. Next day issue was published on time!
While I was in Kathmandu, my brother was interviewed live in one of its “call in service” by a FM radio at Dang, Chitawan and Pokhara at various times. People asking questions were precise and animated, it felt alive!
5. I spoke to Bhim Bahadur Tamang, Nepali Congress Central Committee member and former minister after his visit to Nuwakot to assess Party position. He felt NC has its voter base intact and people are animated politically. I also got the feedback that CPN UML is well organized and looking forward to elections. Maoists are militant and committed and well organized. They are the wild card and their voter base is “unknown quantity” at the time. Madheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF or MRPF) is a very recent spontaneous movement; its total impact on body politics of Nepal is unpredictable. However it has given enough energy to Madheshi people to organize better for future. Similarly, Limbu, Rai, Magar etc will have similar voices in Nepali politics in future. There is no question about it. What will be total impact is too early to predict at this time.
6. Finally, I had an opportunity to visit a village in Kavre (Bahune pati) on a day trip. What I saw in the village astounded me. It is in Panchkhal valley. From what I remember from my past memory is that this valley used to be surrounded by dry arid hills with little red dirt peeking out of naked hills all across. There was hardly any greenery in the past. This time the whole valley was irrigated, potato was planted row after row with Indrawati flowing on the side. All the naked hills were covered with lush green pines: thanks to community forestry; villager were looking after it as if life depended upon them. In the village I spoke to few community leaders which included ladies form local Fishermen community. They all seemed to be doing quite well for a village in Nepal. There was disposable income with them, village was served with a local health post connected with Dhulikhel hospital, it had 10 +2 school and the area was connected with rest of Nepal by all weather road.
[Just to digress: A novel “Abiral Bagdachha Indrabati” was based on social condition of this place. Basically this novel depicts a local village headman exploiting the poor condition of local Majhii community. It ends upon sad note that the condition has prevailed form time immemorial and must likely will continue. Just to prove it wrong, Majhi women I spoke to were assertive and seem to live in self dignity. Nepali village has definitely changed. Houses across the hills were two storied, with galvanized zinc roof top. I did not see any thatched low house of the past.]
To my pleasant surprise I found Nepali villager animated, sharing pain and pleasure as before, I saw children running around carefree, girls singing and dancing (it was Shiva Ratri day) and there was no evidence of depressed mood (that I expected following 10 years of violence in the villages). It looked like Nepali villagers have taken the changes in stride and are looking ahead for Naya Nepal.
What does it tell me?
I think Nepali have used their time to do the best they could on given situation. I feel Nepali people know and they have said: we want to be left alone to live in dignity, and they have a clear and loud message to political big wigs that they would like to have permanent peace.
This message has been heard loud and clear by all parties concerned. It includes major political parties, Nepal army and police, India and the US. There is lot of undercurrent for that power positioning in the center. That is what gives a sense of despair in Kathmandu but underneath everyone is jockeying for their consolidated power before going to Constituent Assembly election. At the time, politically Nepal is at the cross road. Any prediction is going to be laced with lots of uncertainties. But when we look at overall growth of Nepal and Nepali capabilities , political process cannot go backward or be hijacked by anyone group. I am confident Nepali people with their resilience and wisdom will bring the Nepali politics back to where it belongs: at the Center!
With best,
Gaury S Adhikary
Ann arbor, MI
United States
[UWB: This article first appeared in a private discussion group on the Internet and is reproduced here with writer’s permission.]
United We Blog 
Comments
31 responses to “My Perspective on Current Nepal”
Optimistic article…that confused me with it’s ending..politics to belong at the Center? That’s the problem with Nepal-over centralization. Whatever little progress you saw was a result of decentralization…we need more of it.
Mr. or Dr. Adhikari, you come on a 10-20 days vacation to nepal and start commenting on the position and the development of Nepal. There are a lot of places where Nepal is very very worse off.
Please stick to your medical profession and leave Nepal to the Nepalese and not to the Non Resident Nepalese.
sonam: I don’t think Mr. Adhikary is claiming to know everything about Nepal. He/She was simply saying what this person saw. There is no need for this anti-non resident Nepalese tone you seem to have. I agree though that this analysis is off the mark. I think Nepal is far worse off then before with some serious problems.
I hope things to turn as Mr. Adhikari has predicted. I am out of Nepal since just a couple of months, thus upon compared my heart might have more fear than what I assumed of Mr. Adhikari (by reading his article). But being emotional dosent works here, and my attempt to compare can be stupidity and outcome futile. Once again, I pray god, the ray of light Mr. Adhikari has seen or is talking about turns out to be happenning very soon and we Nepali can live without looking up in the sky having many holes in our Umbrella.
Well, hope the things that Mr. Adhikary has precieved and the light that he has seen will come true. And, it is really true that the people of Nepal even of the most remote area are also seem very much sincered and aware in politics of the country. Recently, i have also visited one of the hilly parts of the country and have made some interaction with the local people then i have found the change.
Thank you Mr. Gaury S Adhikary
Once Nepali people get their civil liberty guarenteed and civil right protected in the constitution of new democratic Nepal – meaning they are given rights to govern themselves (as they are managing community forest) through democratic electoral procedures with the federal governance structures, Nepal will be the Switzerland of Asia.
Nepali People’s Rights Forum appreciates Mr. Gaury S Adhikary reveiw of Nepal that is brought back by the People’s Movement II. This is how Nepal gonna go forward despite too many Royalists BRATS commenting on this blog with negative responses.
Nepal as Mr. Gaury S Adhikary have mentioned, has so many prospects for the development to serve and benefit from globle emonomics:
– Tourism: tours, travel, mountaineerings, trekking, rafting and so on
– Agriculture – horticulture, livestocks, timbers, fishery etc
-Power: Hydor-electricity, windmeals, solar-power etc
-Industries – semi-processed, processed, semi-assembled, assembled etc.
– The industries must develop in the Terai and inner-Terai with east and west Locomotion and auto-mobile services. Once that develops to some capacity, the populations in the Mountain will decrease. Instead of agriculture livelihood people will seek industrial jobs in production and services.
As a result all the mountains of Nepal will be empty for the forest, livestocks and horticulture developments. You need to plant only then do nothing else but just harvest the fruits and get the woods and timbers.
Mountains will turn green from the greater attractions for the tourists of all sorts – trekking, mountaineering and rafting will be the journey of wonderland.
However, there are here many negative and hopeless Royalists commenting on Mr. Gaury S Adhikary writing with their regressive political intentions.
They want remain as feudalists as they were to suck the blood of marginalized people of Nepal (whom the proponders of the royalists kept peple in marginal level of their livelihood)
Nepali People’s Rights Forum will fight against these online Royalists Brats as long as they are active here with their corrupt money to buy PC and connections of the internet.
Down to Royalist Brats
Glory to the Nepali People’s Rights Forum.
Glory to People of Nepal and the motherland Nepal
………………..
Notice to UWB:
Nepali People’s Rights Forum is an online movement for Nepali People’s Rights in Nepal and online to defend from the Royalist Brats who are so negative and regressive of the current development of Nepal.
Nepali People’s Rights Forum declares that Nepal will be the Switzerland of Asia
1- If it is declared ‘Federal Democratic Republic’ either by the House of Representatives or through the CA elections.
2 – If SPA leaderships have vision for Nepal, especially the Nepali Cogress, UML and the Maoists for letting people of Nepal to manage their home (local governance) affair on their on establishing Federal Governance Structures for the democratic electoral procedures.
3- If CA elections are performed successfully in a peaceful environment without gorkhali-bakhadis, dadagiris, huliayas, royalists-braties, then we will be able to document our new constitution that will guartentee the civil liberty and civil rights of people of Nepal – all inclusives to passimistic royalist brats online and offline. Then there will be less room for the Hulaya-Royalist-Brats to take chances in destroying the aspirations of the people for the better life in Democracy.
Nepali People’s Rights Forum is for the establishment of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
To all good wishers on this blog and to Wagle Nepali People’s Rights Forum request to read extensively the Switzerland’s Federal Governance Structures which has more than hunderd years functioning development.
Switzerland also had civil war like ours and studing the history of it will help us to see how we can restructure our new Nepal under Federal Governance Structure.
Mr. Wagle must publish some detail article on Swiss Federal Governance Structure to inspire people through this blog.
Down to Royalist brats online and offline.
Down to Nepali-people’s blood suchers.
Glory to the UWB and Nepali People’s Rights Forum.
Nepali People’s Rights Forum request all ethnic groups and movements to merge in Nepali People’s Rights Forum for our new Democratic Nepal.
Glory to Nepal and Nepali People.
…………….
Get rolling with the Movements of Nepali People’s Rights Forum
– Rights of all Nepali people who are marginalized by the Royalist brats online and the country, by feudal oligarchic elements of the country, regressive mindsets of old regime and ruling elites.
– Nepali People’s Rights Forum requests all Nepali people who love Nepal to be a successful Federal Democratic Republic in near future with economic prosperty and people’s civil liberty and civil justice must at this transition point of the political changes SUSPEND their ‘personal, familial, communal, political, gangusterous and huliganous interest’ for the sake of our new Democratic Nepal.
We must create a win win situations in the country with the national solidarity to beat up the royalist-brats online especially and offline on the ground.
Glory to the New Democratic Nepal – ‘Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal’!
Down to the regressive, negative-mindset royalists online and off line.
Glory to the Nepali People’s Rights Forum.
Get together with NPRF & Move on with our New Democratic National Solidarity.
Glory to UWB and Wagle’s honest journalistic attempt for Democracy.
Down to negetive-responder-royalist-brats and their regressive motives.
……………..
For honest national solidarity contact Nepali People’s Rights Forum at nepalipeoplesrightsforum@yahoo.com
Organize constructive discussions and dialogues at UWB on ‘Federal Democratic Republic’ and kick off the sporodic unstructured comments of the royalist brats on UWB.
Wagle has done good job on posting constructive and structured articles for new democratic Nepal.
In the past during th people’s movement II Wagle done great jobs.
Now we need to campaign those negetive responders of the UWB who have intruded to spread the royalist influence just like the royalists in Terai movements and Janajati movements.
This is a greave concern of the Nepali People’s Right Forum on UWB.
We need to sweep out of the UWB and all honest Nepali people who are for the bright future of Nepal are welcome to join the Nepal People’s Rrights Forum online.
For furthur information correspond on nepalipeoplesrightsforum@yahoo.com
Glory to the prospects of New Democratic Nepal and Nepali people.
Down to the negetive and regressive forces of the royalist brats online.
We have to do the same on nepalnews.com podium too.
Join the NPRF and sweep out the royalist brats from online.
UWB notice: While we happily accept critical comments and occasional appros please make you don’t praise us more than necessary.
I’m Neil Horning, and I approve of this message.
UWB: comment deleted
A parachute commentor!
But I liked how Adhikari presented.
Mr/Ms. Adhikary,
very bright picture of Nepal you have painted, so bright that I need sun glares, optimisim of such intensity has danger of turning you blind. but, to notice a few positive things at present bleakness, sure should be lauded for the spirit…
some queries and counter points:
1. Where did you get that stat of 10% or more of our youth heading to Middle East? And your claim of maturing market. What market what maturation? Elaborate, if you are reading this comment. But, if this is one of those beer session rants, than thats fine.
2. Kathmandu is awash with money.
May be, but how that relates to rest of Nepal?
3. Service sector in Kathmandu is exploding
If you are taking about bus driver, tampoo driver, taxi driver, dish washer, waiters in the restaurant then you are correct. But, what about the employment for educated youths?
What kind of maturation of services you are talking about? Schools, hospitals etc. etc. probably you visited the private ones? To make such a tall claim without covering the significant parameters is a lousy way of doing analysis.
4. What a lousy analogy to draw from your observation of Panchkhal valley. for god’s sake, it’s just 30KM of the ‘Rani phokhari.’ If you fart in KTM, you can hear in Kavre, obviously some development had to spill over. I wish you could say the same with all the villages in Nepal.
5. Well, you observation of politics, what it is, is what it is. Politics after all,
I am confident Nepali people with their resilience and wisdom will bring the Nepali politics back to where it belongs: at the Center!
That was the problem, all along it has been in center, cozy and indifferent, so movements like of Maoists had to come and give a jolt, reminding that there are other villages in Nepal other than ‘Panchkhal’ too.
i guess, when you say ‘CENTER,’ you mean political ideology rather than geography.
rajtantra, panchayat, prajatantra, loktantra and other some half a** tantras were all politically at center.
ha! what good did that middle path do? brothers from the Madhesh have shown how to a kick in the rear of center gives an efficient and quick solution.
No more terroism! no more shit on the name of republic nepal! You all bloodhungry bats! STOP sponsoring terroism! Stop it! Stop it!!
NEPAL. The word evokes an image of a far off place of wonder. The ultimate travel destination: trekking through the mountains and countryside, exotic locations, hiking through the mountain kingdom nestled in the Himalayas. Yet underneath the wonder and majestic landscape lives one of the poorest countries in the world, rife with human rights violations, especially towards women and children. Every year approximately 10,000 girls from the ages of 9 to 16 are sold, stolen or forced into the brothels of Bombay or Kathmandu. At a time when technological innovation could help prevent human rights violations through education and awareness, the Internet has become a tool to find the locations where young girls are available for prostitution, perpetuating the need for young girls to work in the sex entertainment trade.
2. Description
Nepal is a small mountain kingdom in the Himalayas on the border of India. It is one of the poorest countries in Asia. Nearly all of the people live in small villages around the Kathmandu valley, trying to survive on subsistence farming. Women are viewed as second-class citizens, raised to obey their fathers, brothers and husbands. They have also become a valuable commodity to the poorer regions, and an easy target for pimps and procurers from Bombay brothels. In recent decades, economic and social factors have fueled the boom in prostitution and trafficking of women.
The population of Nepal is doubling every 26 years (23,107,464- July 1997 est.), leading to acute land shortage which is disastrous to a country in which agriculture for the livelihood of over 80 percent of the population and 40% of the GDP. Unemployment (46% in 1995- described as NA%-substantial underemployment in 1996), poverty (per capita annual income (1997) is $200) and illiteracy (73 percent overall; 86 percent female) have combined to produce an enormous pressure to either sell the girl-children or become prostitutes.{1}
Nepalese Socioeconomic Factors which Increase Child Exploitation Population 23,107,464 (1997 est.)
GDP US$200
Unemployment NA% -substantial underemployment
(46% in 1995)
Income US$200
Illiteracy 73% overall / 86% females
Current Issues
Beli’s story:
Beli was only fourteen years old when she was sold in to a life of prostitution. The brothel madams beat her, starved her, assaulted her both physically and mentally, and locked her in a room until she lost the will to escape. After nearly four years in a brothel, of never being allowed out on the street to buy anything, of living and working in a tiny room with four other people, servicing up to 45 men a day, Beli has escaped to a shelter in Bombay, rescued by Vinod Gupta, a millionaire social worker dedicated to helping these young girls escape the prostitution rings.
But Beli will never shake the legacy of the brothel. Now, at 17, she has found out that she is HIV-positive. She doesn’t want to return home, and she has refused to see her brother after he spit in her face when told she had AIDS.
Life would seem desperate to others not in Beli’s position. But she will be kept safe and happy, among her new family at Anuradha Koirala’s shelter, and looks forward to being able to provide for herself after she completes her painting courses.
Beli’s story of kidnapping and rape is not uncommon. Experts believe there are more than 10,000 Nepalese prostitutes in India, many of whom were forcibly abducted or tricked into going there by friends and family who sold them to pimps or brothel owners for prices that range from US $40 to US $1,000.{2} While prostitution is not a crime in India, soliciting and sexual contact with children under 18 is illegal. Areas notorious for selling their innocent girls to India consist of: Ichok, Mahankal, Thakani, Duwachaur of Sinduphalchowk District, and Sikharbese. Also included are Gyangphedi, Kulu, Dhade, Bolgapm, Pating Sireese, Likhu and Kharbuji of Nawakot District. These are the most common villages where deceit is not often necessary. The families willingly sell their young girls for ‘big money.'{3} The practice of selling the girl-child is so commonly accepted in some areas that entire villages have been depopulated of women. With the sale of a young woman bringing as much as 10 year’s income, there is little surprise at the support to sell the girls. Other times, the girls will return to their villages with new clothes, cash, and jewelry, recruiting even more people into the trafficking ring.
The Constitution of Nepal stipulates that children (a person who has not reached the age of 16) shall not be employed in factories, mines, or similar hazardous work. It also forbids slavery, bonded labor, and trafficking of individuals. The government has a poor record for enforcing the constitutional provisions protecting human rights. Many government and private reports conclude that not enough is known about child prostitution and trafficking in Nepal to do anything, although some estimates state that between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese women and girls are taken to Indian brothels each year. Social activists say that 20 percent are younger than 16 and more than one third are taken by force or lured with the false promise of jobs or marriage. {4}
Girls are often recruited with promises of work, wealth, and freedom in the big city. This is a far cry from the life they would lead if they stay in the villages, where they are considered little more than chattel. Traffickers buy them from their families, and sell them to interested individuals and groups running prostitution rings or brothels, or as bonded labor in carpet factories. Kathmandu is the only boom economy in the poor country of Nepal. Cheap, unskilled labor is in great demand, especially in the carpet industry. Many women and girls leave their villages as laborers to find work in the carpet factory. In order to cover the cost of buying labor, the factory owners will sell the prettiest girls to the city brothels, making this industry one of the first contact points for prostitution.
Nepalese women are favored in India because of their light skin and facial structure. Some are taken as early as nine years old. The trafficking of these young girls from Nepal has become a booming business for the brothels, so much so that the pimps and procurers have set up a system to “break in” the new girls by teaching them how to dress, how to talk, and how to put on their make-up. Also during this breaking in period they are locked in a room so they cannot escape, raped, beaten and barely fed. They are then forced to have sex with as many as 35 men per day, for as little as 60 – 100 rupees or US$1 – $2 per client, depending on their age and beauty. Younger girls are worked especially hard to get as much money out of them as possible before they become too old or disease ridden. Almost all of the proceeds go directly to the brothel madams to pay off their “buying price” from the pimps and procurers. The girls never know how much they have been bought for, nor do they know how much they make per client. They can spend nearly 10 years trying to repay the money, virtually enslaving them to the brothel madams.
YO! YO!! Kinda intresting slap! Liked that!
Although the village you visited cannot or does not represent the whole picture of the villages across Nepal, this is certainly a part of reality. The people in Nepal do not see it because they are too closer to it ( batti muni andharo) and Nepal here in USA (shall I call them NRN!?) are to busy with there American cynicism to realize it.
Good piece of work Adhikariji! I hope other Nepali people here in US would see it that way!
Sorry for some misspellings!
I mean the Nepalese here in USA are too busy with their American cynicism!
Gauri ji, I am not sure of your mission to Nepal but it is definitely a nice journal. As someone indicated, the places you visited are not representative of Nepal’s whole picture. Probably, it would be lively to discuss with you by phone if you care to share the tel no or email, etc.
Comrade NPRF pretty much sounds like an imbecile North Korean cadre chanting Glory to the Fatherland, Glory to the Great Leader KIM Il JOng. You can take your irrelevant, obsolete and acrimonious propaganda elsewhere. Poor chap, what could he do? Brain-washed to the hilt.
As for Doc Adhikary, he paints this rosy picture of his “beloved Nepal” to appease his fellow-Yahoo “democratic” forum all the while sipping Starbucks latte and driving his Lexus SUV.
I am now reading a news report that thives broke into Pashupathinath. This has to be the ultimate zenith in Nepal’s history. That pathetic sorry excuse for a human being Sh*itula needs to be hanged in a public lynching. That’s the only option I see. These Maoists will burn in hell for sure!
Along with Shi*tula the Nepalese people needs to also publicly lynch/stone worthless journalists and clowns like “Nepali People’s Rights Forum”.
When will people like this intellectually challenged moron come up with genuine strategies for improving Nepal? This “Royalist” “Conspiracy” BS is getting really old. They need a good hard slap across their face – the kind that leaves a handprint.
See the picture of terai. Almost all industries and export and import are being closed for almost 2 months in Nepal. The country is loosing about Rs. 5 billions per day. So, the time is running out for this government. There are three choices for this government (1) it has to negotiate with madheshi people in the table (2) obey the demand of the madheshi movement immediately without talk (3) control the terai bandh by whatever means.
We have heard too much blamed on conflicts, but an essential fact for Nepal to do better with or without conflict is proper government policies and it’s implementation. Easy for politicans to blame the conflict, but then Bangladeh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and even India have ongoing conficts and yet they grow strongly. If this peace process reaches a positive end, I believe politicans will have no excuses left.
This is one kind of article that like to see in UWB, it shows a true image of NEPAL. No any political point of view neither supporting any political party.
cks: our political leaders will always have an excuse. And even if they don’t it doesn’t mean they will do anything different. Where have you been for the last 15 years bud?
Bhudai,
It is more of a hope then anything else. One hopes these things will change in the new context. Otherwise we might as well hunker down and expect more andolans at frequent intervals. Personally, I feel the younger generation will make a change for the better. To answer your question, I have been very much here for the past fifteen years, also I did’nt really get what you’re trying to imply by the question?????
ck2: I wasn’t implying anything. I was just asking you to look at the time even when there wasn’t a conflict – were our leaders different? I don’t think so.
Until this entire layer of leadership goes I don’t see anything changing in Nepal. You talk about the younger generation. I have heard this before but I ask where this younger generation will come from. Will they come from Nepal’s educational system? Just look at the rowdy politicized college campuses and I don’t see any hope.
Thanks Gaury for at least seeing some good happening in Nepal. Reading negative comments above from few of the bloggers, what comes to mind is that how skeptical have we become.
I believe that the new Nepal situation has given an opportunity (real good one)for improvement and that is what I see from Gaury’s article. I like it. Keep going sir.
Thanks Mr. Adhikari for showing the silver lining. However, I think that all the progress that you saw was in spite of everything that happening around. Just imagine how much better-off we would have been if we could just by-pass the whole conflict; and the conflict after that conflict. I fear that the cycle will go on for a while but would be relieved if I am proven wrong.
Also, you must have guessed that the money that you saw in Kathmandu is all due to the Nepali workers oversees. There have been different studies that have shown that the economy of Nepal has survived solely because of remittance.
What we see are problems that existed coming up all at once. On the brighter side we are still on track to accomplish many of our Millenium Development Goals, we are still a nation of youth going out and doing the best we can, we still have many people here clearly with the right ideas, we really have opportunities ahead as peace seems to be just over the horizon. Yes, the politics is very fragile, but I strongly believe that it is something that the politicians have to sort out, the people have given them a lot of room even the likes of MJF demands are not at all unachieveable and unreasonable, but if the Home Minister feels he is more valuable in his post then the demand of him resigning I really don’t know what to say. A great weakness on the part of SPAM was trying to rush everything, if sense prevails they should have a long hard look and approach things practically. I clearly remember many people (nationals and foreigners) saying that the CA election after arms management would take up to 2 years and yet the politicians decided on a year. I don’t know about the rest of you, but if the SPAM announced that the elections will be shifted back a few months while they iron out their issues, would that be so bad?
No wonder UN and transient gringos have similar perspective as Adhikari BUT not the living and breathing Nepalese here. By the way- in certain village or what they call VDC- naked men are terrorizing- it was in the national news. May be someday nudist will call bandh and demand 47 seats in the assembly- if they do I do not blame them.
To the first comment (Kirat),
I believe what the author meant by politics to belong at the centre meant the political ideology as in centrist politics (left of centre and right of centre or there abouts) as opposed to left wing or right wing politics.