fredag 5 februari 2010
torsdag 4 februari 2010
298 days of bandhas
A common sight in Nepal are trucks with politically motivated parties of various sizes roaming through the streets with leaflets and megaphones, declaring upcoming strikes. Sometimes proclaiming maoist national strikes which usually includes a total transport strike as well as an attempt o close down public facilities such as schools, shops et cetera.
Last year there were 298 days of strikes. In Nepali simply called Bahndas(close downs)and when I have asked what happends if they are not obeyed that answer on the street was that they might tear down your shop and beat you, or you might be abducted and kidnapped or worse.
Talking about kidnappings, leafing through the The Himalayan Times yesterday the front page news ran with 11 maoists arrested for kidnapping businessman. According to the story, Businessman Pasang Sherpa claimed that he was kidnapped on monday evening by 22 maoists that wanted to interrogate him regarding a truck carrying illegal goods that was impounded by the Revenue Investigation Unit Office and he also said that they stole Rs 3,5 Lakh which has to be considered a substantial amount of money. While he escaped and filed charges leading to the arrests, this is a pretty common piece of news. More so during the insurgency between the maoists and the state of Nepal that lasted between 1996-2006 but still present.
It might be of interest to know that the maoist combattants(to use a neutral words, guerilla or members of the PLA or Peoples Army is common among the maoists themselves or their supporters)won the election that placed them in power in the Maoist-led government that fell in may 2009. Nepal today has a 22-party(and 54 ministers the rumour says, I have to fact check this but it is possible)ruling coalition led by the so-called centrist Communist Party of Nepal(Unified-Marxist-Leninist), UML.
Someone put it well when asked about the situation in Nepal:
- Nepal is a mess!
There are the standing thorny issue of two armies of which one is the roughly 4000 maoist combattants, many of them still in the cantonement guraded and minded by the United Nations Mission to Nepal, UNMIN. Add the peace process in general, the lack of a constitution, the many minorities(both ethically, caste wise and politically) that are voicing claims to be seen, hear and understood in the context of applied self-determination.
And here I am, studying the elusive language of Nepal and learning how to haltingly speak in past tense, how to address and use the three layers of 'respectful' ways of communication- to children, to the closed ones and family and to elders and people in office, power and to whom Nepalis are taught since childhood to show linguistic respect for. Not quite in the position to answer fluently why I am here and what I think of the political situation here so for now I trot around in the irregularities of Nepali verbs and cross my fingers that I will understand more as time goes by.
Last year there were 298 days of strikes. In Nepali simply called Bahndas(close downs)and when I have asked what happends if they are not obeyed that answer on the street was that they might tear down your shop and beat you, or you might be abducted and kidnapped or worse.
Talking about kidnappings, leafing through the The Himalayan Times yesterday the front page news ran with 11 maoists arrested for kidnapping businessman. According to the story, Businessman Pasang Sherpa claimed that he was kidnapped on monday evening by 22 maoists that wanted to interrogate him regarding a truck carrying illegal goods that was impounded by the Revenue Investigation Unit Office and he also said that they stole Rs 3,5 Lakh which has to be considered a substantial amount of money. While he escaped and filed charges leading to the arrests, this is a pretty common piece of news. More so during the insurgency between the maoists and the state of Nepal that lasted between 1996-2006 but still present.
It might be of interest to know that the maoist combattants(to use a neutral words, guerilla or members of the PLA or Peoples Army is common among the maoists themselves or their supporters)won the election that placed them in power in the Maoist-led government that fell in may 2009. Nepal today has a 22-party(and 54 ministers the rumour says, I have to fact check this but it is possible)ruling coalition led by the so-called centrist Communist Party of Nepal(Unified-Marxist-Leninist), UML.
Someone put it well when asked about the situation in Nepal:
- Nepal is a mess!
There are the standing thorny issue of two armies of which one is the roughly 4000 maoist combattants, many of them still in the cantonement guraded and minded by the United Nations Mission to Nepal, UNMIN. Add the peace process in general, the lack of a constitution, the many minorities(both ethically, caste wise and politically) that are voicing claims to be seen, hear and understood in the context of applied self-determination.
And here I am, studying the elusive language of Nepal and learning how to haltingly speak in past tense, how to address and use the three layers of 'respectful' ways of communication- to children, to the closed ones and family and to elders and people in office, power and to whom Nepalis are taught since childhood to show linguistic respect for. Not quite in the position to answer fluently why I am here and what I think of the political situation here so for now I trot around in the irregularities of Nepali verbs and cross my fingers that I will understand more as time goes by.
onsdag 3 februari 2010
Garbage strike over
For a city with that depend on their faithful garbage collectors to sweep and collect the piles of garbage that pile up in big heaps in and on the streets of Kathmandu, the garbage strike that has been in effect since January 21 has left the city stinking. Today the strike ended but the employees of Dharan municipality might still have to air out their offices after furious locals "sprinkled garbage in all the rooms" the day before yesterday.
A more serious matter of discussion today is the Maoist disruption of the Upper Karnali Hydro Project. This project is partly funded by foreign(not Nepali)money and partly built to generate power being used electricity. According to the Maoist vice chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, also known as "Prakash" said that the party did not instruct the local wing to obstruct the project. He said however that, "our party has raise the issue of national independence and has been saying big projects should not be initiated during the transitional period". The transitional period being the present period before the dead line in late May when the dead line for writing a Nepali constitution runs out.
The problem of electricity is a major problem, not only because it does interrupt every day life in an annoying but minor way for a passer through like myself. Not being able to charge my cell phone of watch a dvd is hardly a major problem. And there are always candles at night. It would of course be nice to have a continuous access to water but since the water pump is located under our house and dependent on electricity to pump this is not always the case. Still, I run no business that now has folded because of lack of dependable electricity. I have no fridge or freezer that can't work because it is turned off three times a day and I sit in no bank or university and swear because the so-called emergency generator doesn't generate enough power to make my daily tasks possible.
The good news, or...eh, information expressed yesterday by the State Minister for Energy Chandra Singh Bhattarai was that the power-cuts will not exceed 12 hours a day(we have 9-11 now). He also claimed that the country will be free from power cuts within 3 years and, he adds "We are going to confiscate the electricity licences taken by the water maffias and take action against them".
Hmmm...water maffia? I though the power cuts were due to not enough electricity being generated because of an unusually dry winter season(no rain and therefor no energy)or because of lack of funds for being power from India but what do I know...
A more serious matter of discussion today is the Maoist disruption of the Upper Karnali Hydro Project. This project is partly funded by foreign(not Nepali)money and partly built to generate power being used electricity. According to the Maoist vice chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, also known as "Prakash" said that the party did not instruct the local wing to obstruct the project. He said however that, "our party has raise the issue of national independence and has been saying big projects should not be initiated during the transitional period". The transitional period being the present period before the dead line in late May when the dead line for writing a Nepali constitution runs out.
The problem of electricity is a major problem, not only because it does interrupt every day life in an annoying but minor way for a passer through like myself. Not being able to charge my cell phone of watch a dvd is hardly a major problem. And there are always candles at night. It would of course be nice to have a continuous access to water but since the water pump is located under our house and dependent on electricity to pump this is not always the case. Still, I run no business that now has folded because of lack of dependable electricity. I have no fridge or freezer that can't work because it is turned off three times a day and I sit in no bank or university and swear because the so-called emergency generator doesn't generate enough power to make my daily tasks possible.
The good news, or...eh, information expressed yesterday by the State Minister for Energy Chandra Singh Bhattarai was that the power-cuts will not exceed 12 hours a day(we have 9-11 now). He also claimed that the country will be free from power cuts within 3 years and, he adds "We are going to confiscate the electricity licences taken by the water maffias and take action against them".
Hmmm...water maffia? I though the power cuts were due to not enough electricity being generated because of an unusually dry winter season(no rain and therefor no energy)or because of lack of funds for being power from India but what do I know...
tisdag 2 februari 2010
Sleeping in sheds
Evening is creeping up on Kathmandu city and I am sitting in a semi-functioning Cybershop as they are called over here, pondering my aging self and the situation here in Nepal. Picking up the odd Patrika English(Nepali newspaper in English) I read of state visits from powerful states, menstruating women who die in cowsheds as they are placed there in their unclean time. Impresssions from new and old times mingle and I wonder how it is to grow up here. This time I see young girls in minishirts(ok, it happend once), tight pants and western garb that look the same as in Stockholm. I hear English spoken that is far better than mine and at the same time I walk around the lepars and other beggers on the street.
Which reminds me that I read that leprocy now is officially eradicated in Nepal, being one of the last states in the world who at the beginning of 2010 were still on the WHO's list with the disease hitting more that 1 % of the population.
I also found out that the minimum wage for a coffe shop grunt is 4600 Nepali rupees a month, which converts to roughly $70. No wonder working as a maid at the Yak & Yeti 5* hotel seems like an economic leap, being tipped hundreds of rupees just for carrying a bag for somebody.
Which reminds me that I read that leprocy now is officially eradicated in Nepal, being one of the last states in the world who at the beginning of 2010 were still on the WHO's list with the disease hitting more that 1 % of the population.
I also found out that the minimum wage for a coffe shop grunt is 4600 Nepali rupees a month, which converts to roughly $70. No wonder working as a maid at the Yak & Yeti 5* hotel seems like an economic leap, being tipped hundreds of rupees just for carrying a bag for somebody.
Prenumerera på:
Inlägg (Atom)