Video of Ex-King Gyanendra's Press Conference

Here are some videos related to the conference. The major attraction of this video are the retarded media people, who showed utter lack of discipline. The fake journalist, Rishi Dhamala, is the guy at the last that shouts, "Will you now come into politics or continue business?"

Avenues TV showed how some of these retards went on to vandalize some of the chairs in the palace, and how some of them quarreled over to sit on that chair on which Gyanendra sat after he left. When asked why he was sitting there the guy replied ," I just want to feel how it feels to sit on the chair on which the ex-King sat".

The video is continued below.

Read More...

A Series of Unfortunate Events

The following is an article published in nepalnews.com. It is a tragic story, but is really strange. 

In an unexpected turn of events, manager of a newspaper based in Kathmandu died upon hearing the death of his paper's editor on Tuesday morning.

Kamal Joshi, 64, editor of Nepalipatra Weekly died early this morning while undergoing medical treatment for lung cancer. Joshi worked as a journalist for the last 25 years and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

Shocked by the news of Joshi's death, the paper's manager Sundar Shrestha also died due to heart failure this morning.

Last rites of both persons were performed on Tuesday. Various organizations including the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) have expressed condolences on demise of Joshi and Shrestha. (June 10, 08)

Read More...

The Last Royal Press Conference

King Gyanendra gave his last Royal Conference from the Narayanhiti Royal Palace today. Though the program was scheduled to start at 5, he appeared at around 5:20 because of the mismanagement of the reporters inside the palace. His last speech showed that he had accepted the decision of the constituent assembly elections to step over as the King of Nepal, live as an ordinary citizen, and vacate the Narayanhiti Royal Palace. 

His speech today has challenged the populist claims that the Maoists and different political parties have made time and again to denounce the institution of monarchy. He and his family had been alleged to have played a role in the Royal Massacre. Denouncing all such claims, his speech today has challenged such people, who came up with such claims in the past, to produce evidence. The ball is now in their courts.

Furthermore, many of the writers including Khagendra Sangraula, who basically can't earn enough for survival if he doesn't vilify others in their writings had written enough about ex-King Gyanendra having billions of property in foreign countries. He stressed that all his property was only in Nepal and not anywhere else. Though this might not necessarily be a true statement, it is now up to the others, who have from time and again accused him of having amassed poor Nepali's money and storing them in foreign lands, to prove their point.

Most of us Nepalis have a tendency to praise those in power and criticize them as soon as they are no longer in power. It seems to be the same situation with ex-King Gyanendra. There are now people, who call themselves representatives of the civil society that demand action against him because a lot of people were killed by the state during his reign. Are they that stupid? Are they not able to make sound judgements? There were similar events in the past during the reign of Nepali Congress or the UML. Furthermore, the CPN Maoists have, by a significant amount, committed more inhumane crimes than him. How can they raise such voices against him only and not against anyone else? How stupid? Further, even in the recent times, more people were killed in the Terai agitation than that killed in course of the Nepali People's Andolan against ex-King Gyanendra's autocratic regime. That was committed by the Maoists, the NC, the UML and all the parties that rule over the country now. How can they forget that so easily? 

Though I never have advocated for an autocratic regime of the King, I feel for him because I think that he was a nationalist. Put anyone else in his place - Prachanda, Baburam, or that octogenarian Girija - they would not have enough sense and love for the country to leave such a coveted throne without any bloodshed. Further, I am excited that he now plans to work for the country. I feel the crown and the throne are a hurdle for anyone because it is really easy for those people such as the Maoists to make a punching bag out of it and have people agitated for no reason at all. Now, he is a commoner, and I think he has more power than anyone else or anyone ever had. He has established himself as one of the most glorious Kings in the history of the world, and as a proud Nepal.

May Pashupatinath bless him and us all.

May Pashupatinath give some sense to these present leaders.

Jay Nepal. 

Read More...

Museum of Palace's Properties

The following is an article that was published in today's Kantipur. I was irritated while I was towards the middle because I felt the writer was not able to convey what he wanted to say in a clear way. This was a direct and fast translation, so I might have messed up on English. Besides, I felt there were many examples that he needn't have given. Here it is -


A significant event took place in the history of Nepal. A revolutionary change took place. The monarchy ended without any bloodshed. Now is there not only the end of the King’s rule, the whole regime of the Shah dynasty is over. There’s no more King’s rule in Nepal; the system of monarchy has also ended. However, in the course of the rule of the Shah dynasty, three times the Kings were crowned without obeying the rule-line. Gyanendra, who became the King, after the death of the whole family of Birendra, including his daughter, who had already married and gone away including ten other people, is also now no more in power. Narayanhiti Palace is now empty. The meeting of the Constituent Assembly has already decided to turn this palace into a great museum. This is a really good thing, but it’s also a bit late.

After the 2058, Jestha 19 Massacre of the Royal Family, the gory palace was empty. The then vacant palace should have been turned into a museum right then. Even though Nepal wasn’t formally declared a republic, there was a powerful democratic government present then. How can the palace turn into a museum only by the removal of the King from there? It was more important to pay consideration to the preservation and handover of the important historical and cultural objects than to remove Gyanendra from the palace. The people should be aware about this. We should learn lessons from history.

Democrary was established in 2007 BS. During that time, everyone only considered the removal of the Shree Tin Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher from Singha Durbar rather than the preservation and management of the important cultural and historical objects in Singha Durbar. The same thing is recurring with the Shree Panch that happened with the Shree Tin. That one mistake in the past turned the country into this situation for 57 years. Furthermore, during that time the whole power was centralized in the palace of the Shree Tin. All the physical facilities were centralized there and also the historical heritages. No one thought about preserving those things for the country. Mohan Shumsher shifted to his own house, but no one knows what happened to the important historical objects. More than that even no one knows what happened to the crown of the Shree Tin. All the crowns of the Rana Generals would have been precious objects. The crown was sold right then for ninety lakh rupees to a foreigner. Even a simple table made of precious bones was sold for ten thousand rupees. The same person, who sold it, retold this. This is just an example. There were several such objects. All were lost; none of our younger generations got to see that.

Immediately after the Royal Massacre, I told that the Narayanhiti Palace should be turned into a museum. No one listened to what I said then. I even wrote about that to notify the government. Not only was I ridiculed about what I wrote; my argument was simply nullified as well. Truly, if before the new King had been able to enter the palace, had the government showed that it wanted to turn the palace into a museum, the King would have had to think thrice to enter the Ghost-House, as it was then. Even ordinary people hesitate to live in a house in which people have died a horrendous death. In the 42 Year Parva, Raddodip Singh died in this place. The Ranas did not stay in this place, and handed it over to the Shah King. While the ancestors of the King were in Gorkha, a prince hanged himself to death and hence after that no one stayed at that place. His room, with all his belongings, is still locked. It’s opened only twice a year just to clean and no one even goes inside the room at other times. My argument then was belittled by saying – Even if the King dies, all his property is transferred over to the next King. The King is of the country, and the country is of the King. Even from this line of argument, since there’s no King any more, all that belonged to the King now belongs to the country. Let the bygones be bygones, but now we should not commit the mistake over again. When the King leaves, let the palace be not empty as Singha Durbar was. Let Gyanendra return similarly from the palace as he had entered it. Let all the objects in the palace remain as they are; they will have a very significant value later. By looking at these objects the people can picture an image of the events in the palace. But why is no one considering these things. People are just concerned about politics. There seems to be no interest in preserving these cultural heritages. There’s so much going on for flags.

Now the people should be aware that all the important emeralds, jewels, ornaments, from the time of King Prithivi Narayan Shah are deposited in the palace; all the gifts from different countries are stacked in there; all the new and expensive objects from far over are deposited there; all the letters of the different treaties of Nepal, expensive stuffs, gifts, important documents, letters, old stamps, books, manuscripts, and the Lalbakash – which contains secret documents of the palace are stored in the palace; the precious objects made from animal skins and bones are still in the palace. We all should tell the King to leave all these things either to the people’s representatives or the Government of Nepal before he leaves the palace. The government should be focused on this without wasting any more time.

Even in foreign countries, big palaces like this have been turned into museums. People can’t finish looking at those things within one-two days. In our neighboring contry India, there are plenty of museums. The house in which Indira Gandi was killed is small; even then her stuffs are well placed, her bed, study room, cutleries of the kitchen, the utensils used in worshipping are taken as signs of her and preserved. Even her blood that was spilled is kept intact by covering with a glass. (Some lines omitted)

After I had written about converting Narayanhiti Palace into a great museum, I had also prepared a simple plan to do that. If we want to follow that we should increase the size of this palace. Now the government should take any steps it has to, to preserve these important heritages. Let these precious objects not be lost.

- Gyanmani Nepal

Read More...

Proud Gurkha Tradition

During the process of building a greater Nepal, Balabhadra Kunwar and Amarsingh Thapa had extended the boundary of Nepal up to Tista in the east and Kangada in the west. In the 1814 AD Battle of Nalapani, Balabhadra built a fort with walls and stones and stayed there with around 700 Nepali soldiers for its protection. On the other side, there were thousands of British soldiers armed with heavy weapons under the leadership of General Gillespie. Even after months of battle the British could not defeat the Nepalese. Because of the brave fighting skills of the Nepalese a large number of the British became casualties. Gillespie sent a letter to Balabhadra asking him to surrender for the sake of his life. In reply Balabhadra said – “It’s better to die with hot bullets than to bow in front of the enemy.” At last, the British used the inhumane means of blocking the water supply to the fort and forced the Nepalese to leave the fort. The Nepalese had Khukuris, stones, sticks and homemade weapons for fighting, whereas, the British were heavily armed with modern weapons. From the Nepalese side, along with small children even women breastfeeding their infants were engaged in the battle, while carrying their children on their backs.

In the battle, a lot of the British soldiers including General Gillespie lost their lives. Before his death, Gillespie, in respect for Balabhadra and the Nepalese, who fought fiercely against his regiment, had praised the bravery of the Nepalese and had referred to them as “Brave Gorkhalis”. The description of this bravery of the Nepalese and their battle skills is engraved in an inscription near Nalapani that is 9 kms away from Dehradun.

After this battle, impressed with the Nepalese bravery, the British Government decided to enroll the Nepalese in the British Army. We thought that this opportunity to get into the British army was a sign of respect. After India became independent of the British regime, the Nepalese soldiers that had worked as British soldiers became divided into the Indian and British divisions. In the Indian Army, there are 1,3,4,5,8,9 and 11 Gurkha Rifle Regiments. Besides the Gurkha Regiment, there are Nepalese soldiers in other units as well. At that time, the British took the 2,6,7 and 10 Gurkha Regiments along with them to Britain. Later Britain cut the amount of Gurkha Regiments, as a result of which, now there are only two-three Gurkha Regiments.

Disapproval of Admitting Gurkhas

In their Constituent Assembly Manifesto, the Maoists wrote, “The shameful system of admitting Nepalese soldiers into foreign military forces should be ended.” After the elections, the Maoists are in a position to lead the government as they have been established as the biggest party. Recently Shyam Sharan, the Indian Foreign Secretary said, “If Nepal wants the Gurkha Admission Centres can be closed.”

Advantages of the Gurkha System

• The bravery, loyalty and dutifulness of the Nepalese have been renowned world over.
• More than one lakh Nepalese have been employed in the Indian Gurkha Rifle Regiments and other regiments.
• The pensions of the former Gurkha soldiers contribute around 20 % to the Gross Domestic Product of Nepal.
• The families of the soldiers in course of their stay in Britain or India have had the opportunities of higher education, which has enabled them to gain technical knowledge and skills that has enabled them to help in the development of Nepal.
• The relationship of Nepal also improves with Britain and India when the Nepalese soldiers are in those countries.
• When the Nepalese are in the Indian and British forces, these countries want to continue the economic, technical and social helps to Nepal. For example, the Indian Embassy situated in Kathmandu gives 6 crores of economic help to Nepal annually through the Ex-Gurkhas.
• After admission into the foreign forces, the youth think that with the salaries, bonuses, skills, pensions and other facilities their lifestyle would be upgraded.
• When these soldiers working for foreign countries return back, Nepal gets civilized, educated, dedicated and independent citizens.
• The loyalty, work ethics, skills and knowledge in these ex-soldiers can be used in the rebuilding of Nepal.
• The citizens in the army service are more disciplined and more dedicated towards their duties than other citizens, and hence they give inspiration to all the others as well.
• The ex-soldiers use the properties and the knowledge they have gained from foreign lands to build houses with many different facilities, which helps in planed urbanization.
• Because of the attractive pension system, the lifestyle of the ex-soldiers and their wives becomes simple and safe. For example, a honorary captain in the Indian Army gets around 15,000 to 20,000 per month. Similarly, an ex-captain in the British army gets around 45,000-50,000 as pension.

What if we end this System?

• More than one lakh people will be unemployed. It will be really difficult to re-employ them with such facilities again in Nepal.
• The country will face losses of crores of rupees every year.
• The youths, who have prepared themselves for this service would be depressed and might become inactive and take the wrong path. This will increase the social evils.
• The number of people who go to the Middle East in low salaries will increase.
• The friendly relations between these countries with Nepalese can decrease.
• The monetary help that Britain and India provide to Nepal can be cancelled.
• If the embassies and the district soldier boards of India and Britain close then hundreds of Nepalese, who work there will lose their jobs and Nepal may face losses of crores of rupees.
• The respect that foreigners give to Nepalese for their lack of fear of death might be lost.

Proud Tradition

The Maoists’ act of referring to the Gurkha Admission Centres as shameful tradition is a shortsighted work. Basing this tradition on historical records, we should take it as a glorifying tradition. The Nepalese youths do not go to Gurkha Regiments because of weak nationalism. Since the world has called the Nepalese “Brave Warriors”, they have just gone there to work to continue this proud history of Nepal.

Because of the poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and backwardness, the country cannot provide attractive and respectful employment to more than one lakh of Nepalese youths. When these admission centres are closed, Nepal’s gross domestic product would suffer losses of up to 20 %. This can have negative influence on the economy of the country, which also creates obstacles in development work. That’s why, just for cheap popularity, the Nepalese government should not choose to adopt a policy of closing down these centres without any research into this, since these would have a long term impact on Nepal’s progress and development.

By Colonel Dhan Bahadur Maski Rana, Ex Indian Soldier
Article Originally Published in Kantipur in Nepali

Read More...

The Man Infront of the Camera - Hail D

Yeah, if you are a Nepali, you must already have some knowledge about what I am about to write about today. It’s none other that our front-runner media man, Rishi Dhamala. A lot of people criticize him – he’s reviled as a person of no talent but a cunning person, who seeks self-aggrandizement, publicity, and a sycophant of political leaders.

Dhamala has been working as the President of Reporter’s Club for a long time now. I knew his name before I saw him on TV. In any program – you name it – that was organized by Reporter’s Club – every television channel or radio station broadcasted the news as – Rishi Dhamala ko adyakshyatama baseko ukta baithak, meaning, The meeting that took place under the leadership of Rishi Dhamal. As a child, when I first heard his name, I imagined Rishi Dhamala to be an old man with a long white beard and a white moustache, wearing yellow clothes. I imagined him like an actual Rishi. That was, however, not to be.

When I asked my father who Rishi Dhamala was, he showed me a guy wearing a suit. He was nowhere near my imagination. A tall guy, probably in his mid 20’s, Dhamala looks as if he is always on the go. From that day, my father showed Dhamala, I have never failed to find him on the news. He is always behind politicians, who are being interviewed. Sometimes, he seems to be talking on the phone, sometimes he is raising his hand as if to say hello to someone who is on the other side of the camera.

You would imagine that a journalist would be with people who are being interviewed with a camera, or recorder, or if nothing at all – with just a pen and a paper. But, Dhamala carries none of the above. He looks at the interviewee, at the interviewers and the camera. Sometimes he smiles while he does the latter.  

There’s another distinct quality about him. He wears a neat shirt, and a coat on top of that all the time. Summer’s hot – I can’t stand in the sun even with a t-shirt and shorts, but he wears all those clothes and runs around in the sun all the time. Why he does that, I do not know. Maybe he wants to impress girls out there, or he feels comfortable in the sun, or if he need more hotness in his life.

However, there’s no denying that other media personnel have accepted his status. No one dares to take his position behind prominent men – either they are afraid of Dhamala, or they are afraid of the shame they would be subjected to if they act like Dhamala. Cameramen also seem to keep Dhamala within the focus of their cameras. If he’s on the right of the person interviewed, then the camera shows Dhamala on the right, and the interviewee on the left and vice versa if he’s on the left of the interviewee.

Nonetheless, like him or not, he’s become a prominent media man now. Almost everyone who has an access to television knows his face and his name. Even ambassadors visited him when he was sick. This was our old Nepal, and no matter what they say, things will not change in the so-called New Nepal as well.

Hail Dhamala, and all those who wear suits now including, but not limited to, Prachanda, Baburam and the likes.

Read More...

Peace Song

This is a really patriotic song advocating Peace in Nepal, and unity of all the different races of the people that live in Nepal. The song is sung by Ani Choying Dolma, and if history is anything that helps make judgements, I have a feeling that the composer is Nyhu Bajracharya and the lyrics is written by Durga Lal Shrestha. 

Without further ado, here's the video.

Read More...