mikeldunham

NEPAL ARMY, Defender of Endangered Species: Ugly as Hell GHARIALS -- PART SEVEN

 

JUNE 26, 2018

 

Chitwan National Park

 

 

In 1978, Chitwan National Park established a captive breeding center for the gharials, one of the most off-putting reptiles on earth. Even by crocodilian standards, the gharial looks like bad news. Their size alone is unnerving. Males commonly attain a length of 10-17 feet and weigh up to 550 pounds. Females are somewhat smaller. Both sexes look equally intimidating.

 

 

Adding to the effect is a feature that distinguishes them from their cousins: a narrow and freakishly elongated snout. Its jaws open and shut with the rigidity of a movie clapboard. 110 very sharp interdigitated teeth peek out between lipless lips, creating the grimmest smile you’ll ever hope to encounter.

 

Other than that, the gharial’s expression gives nothing away. Especially the eyes. The jaundiced-green irises are split down the center by black razor-thin slits. The slits allow the creature to scan the shoreline for its next prey without moving its head.

 

If my description sounds intentionally harsh, it is. I want to underline the irony behind human-gharial relations. Affinity, based on looks, may be the main reason people are indifferent to the gharial’s survival. Man can simultaneously love and fear tigers (sumptuously striped fur, sexy stealth) or rhinos (power incarnate clad in mediaeval armor) because, well, because those predators are just plain cool. Seen any “Save the Gharial” bumper stickers on America cars lately?

 

Gharials are, in fact, shy. Except in very rare cases, they do not harm humans. Yes, gharials repulse us, but – unlike tigers and rhinos – they don’t kill us. Quite the opposite. It is human encroachment that has all but rendered gharials extinct.

 

A century ago, the gharial inhabited all the major river systems of the Indian Subcontinent. Today, its distribution has shriveled to 2% of its former range. As per the census in 2016, Nepal’s wild population is 198 (166 in Chitwan and 32 in Bardiya.) The uphill battle to save the gharial is foiled by continuing loss and fragmentation of riverine habitat, (where they bask and bury their eggs), depletion of fish resources, and entanglement in fishing nets. It is now listed as critically endangered.

 

Nevertheless, in spite of overwhelming odds against success, conservationists and the Nepal Army are doing their best to stabilize the gharial population, if not increase it.

 

 

The Gharial Conservation and Breeding Center – a popular tourist attraction in Chitwan – contains over a dozen concrete pools to nurture young gharials. The process begins with harvesting eggs. Every year their eggs are collected along the rivers to be hatched back at the center. The babies are reared at the Center until they reach adolescence, between six and nine years old.

 

 

Lt. Col. Lokesh and I walked down the central sidewalk that separates the pools, each basin populated by gharials segregated by age. Lokesh explained that periodically – once the reptiles reached a length of about five feet – they are removed from the hatchery and released into the Narayani-Rapti river system.

 

 

Only a few days before, the Breeding Center had released 24 gharials into the Rapti River not far from where I had mistaken a gharial for a log. Lokesh pointed toward a stack of sturdy wooden crates. “Those were what we used to transport the animals to the river.”

 

Members of local communities were waiting at the designated site for what was basically a handover ceremony. Breeding Center officials unloaded the crates, but it was the locals who conducted the release of the gharials into the Rapti. It may seem like an insignificant gesture, but conservationists feel strongly that the people who depend solely on the river for survival should be the ones to reintroduce the endangered species back into the river system. It instills a feeling of empathy among the locals – of ownership. Indeed, the natives have come to believe that they share the responsibility of protecting gharials which, after all, are river natives just like they are.

 

But what happens to the reptiles after their release? A gharial’s waterway habitat can extend as much as 125 miles. Chitwan’s rivers flow downstream about 62 miles before crossing into India. The problem is that gharials can no longer swim back to Nepal, if and when they reach India. Currents coming the other way are too strong and human-made barrages block the way. As a result, about 75% of the gharials released in Nepali become permanent Indian residents, beyond the purview of Nepali protection. And even if they remain in Nepal, depletion of fish resources and fishnet entanglements further reduce their odds for survival.

 

On my final morning in Chitwan, I went on a two-raft armed patrol on the Rapti River. Lt. Colonel Lokesh led the team. My hope was to see adult gharials up close. I was in the heart of one their last safe havens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We descended an embankment and the squad fell into line to received instructions. A troop of gray langurs, perched in nearby trees, squawked and chattered and, in general, talked over the patrol’s directive. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We shoved off and glided into the Rapti. Unlike the Karnali River, the Rapti is modest in width. The southern embankment was colonized by aquatic plants and grasses, and, rising behind, dense forest. In stark contrast, the northern bank was a vast expanse of sand-and-pebble beach. A single row of chitals, one of the smallest deer reaching only three-feet high – were traversing the beach diagonally, toward the river’s edge. A peacock, in response to their approach, took wing for a few feet before settling back down behind some scrub brush.

 

The rowers fell into rhythmic pull and so did my thoughts.

 

A team of ducks paddled to one side of our raft, in deference of our advance. Waders along the shore included storks, kingfishers and hornbills. The Army’s Nature Conservation School couldn’t be more perfectly situated, I thought. Forget the slide shows: Everything outside the lecture hall is this Imax version, a 3D laboratory of nature replete with disrespectful monkeys.

 

Lokesh tapped me on the shoulder. Twenty feet away from us on the edge of sandbank was an adult male gharial. I knew he was male because of the unsavory protuberance at the end of his snout – a twisted mound that looked like a tumor. Nothing decorative about it. Even the gharial’s name implies that. “Gharial” comes from the Hindi word ghara, a lowly earthenware pot. And what is it purpose? Biologists have failed to agree on the function of the unseemly growth.

 

 

It may seem absurd but -- as I began photographing the creatures -- the mystery of the knot instilled in me a newfound respect for the creature. Suddenly, the animal was anything but repulsive.

 

 

 

Maybe it had to do with my experience the day before – having witnessed the gharials’ slow developmental stages at the Breeding Center – understanding the years it took them to reach maturity, the struggle to exist in a world over which they had no control.

 

We oared past perhaps a dozen grown gharials that morning, all in similar poses: parallel to the river’s edge, motionless and forever uninviting.

 

What was their sense of self-preservation? Surely, it had to be at least on par with a human’s. And yet it was only us, the human race, that could protect them. That’s what had befallen them in the 21^st century.

 

Did they somehow intuit the end of their species?

 

One thing for sure: The military wasn’t giving up on them.

 

It made me proud to be a vicarious partner and witness to the determination and professionalism of the Nepal Army.

 

They deserve all the recognition that comes their way.

 

 

 

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Defender of Endangered Species: Nepal Army's Nature Conservation School -- PART SIX

 

JUNE 24, 2018

 

Chitwan National Park

 

 

Conservation is an auxiliary Nepal Army duty. Its two primary duties are to defend the country from outside threats and to assist the government in maintaining internal security. And yet it’s difficult to keep the pecking order in mind, once you’ve been embedded with armed patrols in the Bardiya and Chitwan jungles. That’s because the army is preforming at such high levels in the national parks.

 

For one thing, its pursuance in preserving Nepal’s wildlife and forest resources is frontloaded with innovation and genuine enthusiasm. What might have been a “duty calls” boilerplate conservation plan has evolved into a program that has been recognized as the advance guard of conservation.

 

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) certainly thinks so: Nepal Army units and personnel have been the recipients of a long list of WWF’s Abhram Conservation Awards. As of this writing, Conservation Assured – Tiger Standards (CA-TS), an international review process that assesses excellence in tiger site management, has given its seal of approval to only two reserves worldwide. One of them is Chitwan National Park.

 

 

Like Major Karki and other officers I met in both Bardiya and Chitwan, Lieutenant Colonel Lokesh K.C. exemplifies the army’s determination to perpetuate a stellar reputation.

 

Lokesh is the Officiating Commandant of the Nature Conservation School, one of the army’s more recent innovations. Located in Kasara, it’s within walking distance from Army Headquarters. The school – the first of its kind – was created three years ago, in 2015.

 

The school’s initial objective was to prepare soldiers for their unique duties in Chitwan prior to being deployed. The institution has grown and now provides nine different types of training for NA soldiers, including: how to minimize personal life-threatening risks once they go out on patrols, how to support wildlife research works, how to conduct wildlife census, and how to control encroachment, illegal poaching and deforestation, among other conservation-specific issues.

 

Beyond that, the school has developed into a joint conservation institution, which means – in addition to army personnel – park officials, conservation partners and other civilian stake-holders work hand-in-hand. The Social Service syllabus includes increasing conservation awareness within local communities, afforestation, repairing and renovating schools and shrines, assisting health centers in the park and the buffer zones, assisting medical care and water supply, and construction of bridges and service roads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The school’s third course of study covers disaster management. Training programs target the specific challenges that occur in Nepal’s floodplains throughout the rainy season. Lt. Col. Lokesh and I discussed the destruction incurred by the most recent monsoon.

 

By August 2017, at the peak of the monsoon, incessant flooding had inundated huge swathes of the southern plains, damaging roads, cutting off access to communities, creating widespread power outages, devastating crops, killing at least 130 people and displacing tens of thousands. Army rescue teams were at the vanguard of response efforts for people affected by the catastrophe.

 

 

But the flooding took its toll on the wildlife population as well. The torrents were powerful enough to sweep 4000-pound rhinos downstream and across the southern border. Once the flood waters receded, Chitwan soldiers were able to retrieve seven rhinos discovered in the Bihar state of India. Aided by 100 Indian wildlife officials, Nepal Army loaded the tranquilized beasts into crates and trucked them back to their home in Chitwan National Park, 150 kilometers to the north.

 

 

Lt. Col. Lokesh is well suited for his job. To some extent he acts as an emissary to the civilian population. He’s smart and amiable, a combination that obviously lends itself to interacting with environmentalists and locals alike. He is also driven by a steely sense of purpose, committed to the school’s expansion strategies, one of which is to invite foreign student officers for specialized trainings. He took me on a tour of the facilities, centered around a domed hall, spacious enough to accommodate large groups of trainees.

 

The building is situated on a slight promontory within a few steps of the Rapti River. We walked over to the ledge of the vertical embankment and paused for a moment to view the river –  significantly smaller during the dry months. 20 feet below us, a rhino lolled in the shallows next to the bank. Its one-horned head pivoted toward us. The rest of its body was entirely submerged. With semi-prehensile lips, it grasped an aquatic plant stem, bit off the top and began to chew.

The opposite riverbank was a sprawling sand-and-pebble shoal. (According to Lokesh, the sandbar would be entirely underwater come monsoon season, transforming our vista into an expansive lake.) He pointed at something fifteen-feet-long near the edge of the receding riverbank. “See that?” he asked.

 

I did see something, but It was identical to the color of the sandbank and I’m nearsighted. At that distance the object in question was out of focus. I hazarded a guess. Whatever it was, it was motionless, certainly not a living thing. Without too much conviction, I proposed that it was a tree trunk that had been washed ashore.

 

Lokesh laughed. “Gharial. Out in the open is the best place to hide. Come on, I’ll show you some gharials up close.”

 

And with that, we proceeded to the Gharial Conservation and Breeding Center, not far from the Nature Conservation School.

 

 

to be continued...

 

 

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MIKEL DUNHAM ON PATROL with NEPAL ARMY, Defender of Endangered Species, PART FIVE: Armed Elephant Patrol in Chitwan

 

June 21, 2018

 

 

CHITWAN: 

It was just after lunch. The barefooted mahout (elephant driver) jiggled his toes behind the elephant’s ear flaps and the elephant backed up. From where I stood, gazing down from a 13-foot scaffolding, the pachyderm resembled a broad gray boat carefully docking astern.

 

Looking upward, a corporal gave me the signal to be the first to “mount”, which is probably not the right word. Rather than hoisting up, I stretched one leg out over the edge of the scaffolding and took the long step below – onto the hathi howdah. The hathi howdah (elephant saddle) is a wooden platform. It rests atop multiple blankets and a lampat, (a jute mat packed with straw and covered with a cotton cushion), which protects the animal’s spine. Once aboard, I squatted until I was directed to sidle forward just behind the mahout.

 

The construction of the square-shaped hathi howdah included a foot-high guardrail connected at the four corners by knobby newel posts. I extended my legs under the guardrail on either side of my designated newel post, then dropped my feet over the top of the elephant’s front left side.

 

Peering over the mahout’s shoulder, I had a confidential view of his far more comfortable saddle, which was the massive neck of the elephant. The mahout’s legs straddled the thick loose skin. In one hand he held a stick for prodding if a trail situation became serious. His other hand affectionately patted the dome of the animal’s head. I was observing a long-term intimacy between the mahout and his 10,000 companion. At such close quarters, I felt like an eavesdropping alien, which of course I was – and an envious one at that. 

 

Major Purshotum Karki, Officiating Commander of Chitwan's Batuk Battalion, plopped down next to me on the right, followed by two other men, who occupied the back two corners of the howdah. There were three elephants in our armed patrol that day, four soldiers atop each elephant.

 

 

Trained elephants can understand at least 30 verbal commands. While we waited for the other elephants to load, Major Karki handed the mahout a brass Nepali coin. The mahout casually flipped it into a nearby clump of underbrush, gave a command to the elephant, who extended its trunk, delicately extracted the coin from the brush, back-curled its trunk and returned it to the mahout’s outstretched hand. Elephant cognition – communication, memory and all the rest – is a thing to behold.

 

An elephant’s mode of locomotion is equally experiential. Its four-legged stride creates four-directional plunges that can clearly be distinguished by a passenger: front right dip, back left dip, front left dip, back right dip. Rock-and-roll on the rugged side. A vessel on open sea. Believe me, you learn very quickly to stiffen your back and use the newel post as a saddle horn. Mind you, that’s on level ground.

 

But why, in the modern era of tough-terrain vehicles, does the army still require elephants? (I am aware of the controversy surrounding the abusive treatment of domestic elephants. I witnessed none with the army’s small herd. The animals are very well cared for. And unlike the complaints leveled against the tourist industry, army elephants are not overused. In Chitwan, elephant patrols are limited to two excursions per week.) The advantage of the army having elephants for security operations is two-fold.  Obviously, sitting ten feet above the jungle floor greatly improves the soldier’s range of vision and degree of safety. With rare exception, the sheer size of an elephant wards off predacious wildlife. But there is an equally important advantage. Elephants are anatomically constructed to negotiate, sustain and overpower terrain utterly inaccessible to vehicles.

 

Once we left the main dirt road, which was slightly elevated, we headed down a narrow jungle tract that had been cleared by the army at natural ground level. This was in mid-March, the dry season, and you could see from the tire tracks that jeeps found the road passable. But Major Karki gestured to the dense woodland on both sides of the trail and said that it was treacherous in there. It would worsen with the arrival of the three-month summer monsoon. Much of this area would become either unpredictably sodden – as mushy as a wet sponge – or completely underwater. Ergo, elephants.

 

 

If I wasn’t convinced that using elephants was essential, I soon would be.

As if on cue, the elephant ahead of us turned to the left, bullied through some saplings and slowly made a path for itself in the virgin forest. Our elephant followed suit, although it chose a different means of access. Snapping undergrowth became our soundtrack. Tree limbs a dozen feet above the ground mutated into limber whips ready and able to smack us in the face, if we weren’t quick enough to ward them off with our hands.

 

 

Adding to the jarring shift was the utter unevenness of the jungle floor. With every leisurely elephant step, the ground seemed to shift or sink. Entangled tree-root systems heaved aboveground. Colossal simal trees, which develop expansive cathedral-like buttresses at their bases, impeded the way. Dense thickets were penetrated by shear force. Gullies and unstable embankments had to be negotiated. Monstrous vines like the strangler fig, twined and looped upward, using larger trees for support until the trees collapsed under the creeping weight. A fallen tree of considerable girth was up ahead. The elephant simple stepped over it.

 

OK, I got it. The riverine jungle was Impossible for vehicles and dangerous for man on foot. Still, how did the elephant negotiate all the treacherous deviations?

 

For one thing, an elephant’s foot is designed in such a way that it actually walks on the tips of its toes. In spite of its weight, there’s a great deal of delicacy underfoot. Furthermore – and this has been discovered only recently – their legs work like a four-wheel drive vehicle, making them possibly unique in the animal kingdom. Their "four-leg-drive" system means power is applied independently to each limb, both for acceleration and braking. Elephants set the gold standard for sure-footedness.

 

The deeper into the forest we went, the more overwhelming the abundance of flora and fauna became. I saw numerous tree species native to the subcontinent: the saj with its distinctive bark that resembles crocodile skin; the lofty Kusum, with its new foliage sprouting in fiery red; the Haldu, which, like the simal has a gothic-otherworldly trunk; and the karam, regarded as the tree of fertility in the Hindu tradition. Now and then, we passed termite mounds with spires ten-feet high. Interlacing the trees were birds of all descriptions, including emerald parakeets, goldenbacked woodpeckers and blackheaded orioles. The most impressive fowl, pecking about the jungle floor, was a wild peacock, scratching around in leaf litter for anything that moved – from ants to poisonous snakes.

 

 

I asked the major what would happen if we encountered wild elephants. (The day before, while on jeep patrol, we had gotten word that a wild herd was just up the road and some of the males were becoming restless, if not frenzied. We pulled over until we received word that the herd had moved on.) Major Karki shrugged.

 

Studies have shown that domestic elephants that escape or are set free have no problem returning to the wild. Encountering wild elephants isn’t usually a problem unless there’s bull in musth. Musth is a periodic condition in which testosterone levels of males can be as much as 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times. (I flashed on the deadly mood swings of Renaldo, the deranged and, perhaps disconsolate denizen of Chitwan.)

 

Eventually, the three elephants headed back toward camp, edging toward the narrow tract from which we started. Afternoon sun filtered through the foliage at an angle.

 

Unexpectedly, my elephant suddenly came to a halt. It uprooted a lengthy broad-leaved plant and stuffed it into its mouth. I peered over the shoulder of the mahout and checked his bare feet: They remained motionless under the earflaps, apparently content with his companion’s impromptu snack.

 

A few feet beyond and above my head, something flashed. I looked up. It was a sprawling cobweb quivering from tree-filtered sunlight. Toward the top of the web was a golden orb web spider with a very impressive wingspan. The elephant plucked another plant from the earth. I reached for my iphone, intending to take a photo of the spider. But then I noticed something else behind the spider’s home: CCTV surveillance was attached to a sal trunk 15 feet above the jungle floor. I was the observer being technologically observed. Should I wave to the guys monitoring things back at JCOC? Too late: My ride suddenly flapped his ears and plunged forward, taking me beyond the digital eyes of the forest.

 

 

to be continued...

 

 

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MIKEL DUNHAM ON PATROL with NEPAL ARMY, Defender of Endangered Species, PART FOUR: OPERATION MAHAHUNT, Special Forces and Night Patrols

 

JUNE 20, 2018

 

Operation Mahahunt, Special Forces and Night Patrols

 

 

The dry season – December through June – is when poaching is most likely to take place. Water levels are at their lowest and the difficult tracts through the dense riverine forests are easiest to penetrate for poachers. Thus, the dry season corresponds with the annual activation of Nepal Army’s “Operation Mahahunt”, initiated in Chitwan in 2011. The goal was to add muscle to regular army patrols and to concentrate on the most sensitive areas in and around the park. Gradually, the operation has come to include the cooperation of the national park authorities and the local communities. This year, Operation Mahahunt is being conducted with the assistance of special ops forces (SOF), brought in from Mid-Division Headquarters.

 

It should also be understood that daily patrols are not enough to achieve Zero Poaching. The most likely crossing places of poachers are located between outposts and under the cover of darkness. The army implements 42-plus nightly patrols, referred to as ambushes. They range from 4-man teams to platoon-size forces, paying particular attention to known hotspots for illegal activity.

 

One evening, Major Karki took me along on an Operation Mahahunt night ambush. It combined Batuk Dal Battalion troops and Special Ops. The SOF contingent, a platoon of foot soldiers, was 29-men strong.

 

The SOF moved out first. It was around sunset. I was embedded with Major Karki’s jeep patrol We deployed about two hours after SOF. Our jeeps traversed the Rapti Bridge, just north of Kasara, then headed due west across the Buffer Zone, through the open floodplains (now dry and cultivated for crops) under a moonless sky.

 

Around 8:40 pm, just as we were approaching the outskirts of a darkened village, we caught up with the SOF platoon. They were in single file and moving at an impressive pace. Major Karki ordered our jeeps to halt, jumped out and informed me that we would join the SOF on foot.

 

I was introduced to Major Bogati, the SOF platoon leader. He was of impressive build and height. His head was shaven and his young face was dripping with sweat.  He shouldered a heavy backpack. He and his men would be camping out later that night at an especially sensitive location. If he was fatigued after 2 ½ hours of brisk marching, his voice didn’t reveal it.

 

As an American, I couldn’t help thinking that Major Bogati would be a perfect candidate for a U.S. Ranger regiment or a spot in the U.S. Army War College. You often see this type of man in the Nepal Army. In fact, many Nepali officers have attended Ranger School and the War College in the U.S. as part of their ongoing training.

 

We moved forward on foot, into the sleeping community before us. The rudimentary road went straight through the center of town. There were no sidewalks to separate the houses and storefronts from the narrow throughway.

 

The road was rock-strewn, highlighted by crisscrossing beams of army flashlights – switched on, no doubt, for my benefit. Apart from an occasional kerosene lamp glowing through a curtained window, the town was a blackout: no vehicles coming from the other direction, no farmers returning home for the night – only an unseen chorus of dogs protesting our territorial intrusion.

 

Major Bogati gestured toward the two-story houses and explained that gathering local intelligence was one of the great advantages of patrolling at night. This was when many villagers, under the cover of darkness, mustered the courage to slip out of their homes, catch up with moving units and relay rumors of poaching activities about to take place.

 

Community-based disclosures, he continued, were one of the army’s most valued sources of intelligence – essential for successful army ambushes, arrests and, ultimately, prosecutions.

 

Progress through town proceeded without incident. No informants emerged from their dwellings to pass along information. At the far end of the village, we returned to the jeeps, leaving Major Bogati and his men to continue on foot without us.

 

30 or 40 minutes later, we approached the convergence of the Narayani and Rapti rivers, then headed northeast, parallel to the embankment of the Narayani, although we couldn’t actually see the water in the darkness. (I also knew that we were nearing popular leopard territory but searching for them wasn’t on that night’s agenda.)

 

 

We gained altitude and, eventually, we stopped at a dirt cul-de-sac near an outpost called Bimle. Several jeeps of men had been awaiting our arrival. These were from local and SOF units. We exited the jeeps and proceeded on foot up a path and climbed over a six-foot stone style.

 

Beyond, rose the silhouette of a 40-50-foot observation tower at the apex of a hill. It was constructed from heavy timber. No one spoke except in whispers. When we reached the base of the tower, I followed Major Karki up three flights of ladders, which led to the top.

 

Looking down from the balcony, I could see that we were now even with the canopy of trees, but I could nevertheless discern the dim pattern of intersecting footpaths described beneath the foliage.

 

It was explained to me that, a few years before, six rhinos had been slaughtered nearby. The massacre tipped off the army that Bimle was an overlooked entry point for poachers and the lookout tower was erected soon after.

 

Major Karki briefly conferred with one of the two SOF sentries stationed on the balcony. So far, no unusual activity had been detected that evening. Soon after, Karki and I descended, leaving the skeleton detail to keep watch through the night. “Next time,” someone muttered behind me.

 

As I returned to Chitwan Headquarters with the major, bumping along in the jeep, I thought of all the surreptitious troop movement being conducted that night – as stealthy as the leopards, who were also hunting under cover of darkness, and would remain elusive during my investigation. “Next time,” the guy had said, which was just another way of saying “patience.”

 

Professionalism, Pervasiveness and Patience seemed to be the motto of the jungle patrols.

 

to be continued...

 

Link here for PART ONE

 

Link here for PART TWO

 

Link here for PART THREE

 

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MIKEL DUNHAM ON PATROL with NEPAL ARMY: Defender of Endangered Species- PART THREE. Nepal Army's Zero Poaching Toolkit

 

JUNE 19, 2018

 

Nepal Army's Zero Poaching Toolkit

 

 

The Zero-Poaching concept was initiated by the army in 2011. Numerous tactics are involved. Technology has already been mentioned (see PART TWO): Using the most up-to-date computers, telecommunications, etc., gives enforcement a decisive edge over poachers.

 

Another aspect is deploying the troops to optimize effective command. The Batuk Dal Battalion has been divided into five sectors with 47 permanently established outposts covering the breadth and length of the Chitwan reserve.

 

Capacity: Increasing the battalion’s ability and motivation to protect wildlife is also crucial if Zero-Poaching is to continue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Major Karki took me on an armed jeep patrol to visit many of these 47 posts. The tour included Chitwan Park’s Tourist Center, a major checkpoint. At the bus stop, two K9 teams were at work. The German Shepard was sniffing the passengers, who had just been dislodged from their bus. The Labrador Retriever was inside the vehicle, bounding over and snuffling under the seats, where any baggage and parcels remained.

 

 

 

 

 

We also ventured into buffer zone areas. Along the way, we saw armed foot, bicycle, and motorcycle patrols in active reconnaissance. Clearly, the sheer pervasiveness of the army – the multiplicity of its activities in and of itself – has to be a potent deterrent for would-be poachers.

 

 

When the army does capture a poacher, he is turned over to the civilian authorities in charge of prosecution. A well-functioning judicial-criminal process is imperative to achieve Zero-Poaching.  Apprehending poachers is one thing; punishing them to the full extent of the law is another. Governmental corruption within the judicial-criminal process is nothing new in Nepal and it creates an atmosphere of unpredictability. And although the judicial system is beyond the army’s jurisdiction, close monitoring of who is prosecuted and who is not prosecuted is definitely on the army’s radar.

 

There is another consequence of unpredictability, when striving to protect wildlife.

 

 

 

 

Half-way through the jeep tour, we pulled up to the gated entrance of Dharampur, a wooded fenced-in outpost sheltering several barracks. Major Karki told me this was the spot where, only four months before (on November 10, 2017), Captain Rajkumar Shrestha was savagely attacked by a rogue elephant and died a few weeks later. I asked Karki how frequently lethal soldier-wildlife conflict occurred in Chitwan. Since 1975, when the army was first assigned to protect Chitwan, 111 soldiers have died in the line of duty.

 

 

But it’s not just army personnel that are at risk. Karki was quick to point out that lethal attacks are more frequent within the border communities. In the last year, villagers have suffered three deaths and eleven injuries. One death was caused by tiger attack and two by elephants. (There is one tusker currently on the loose, who’s unpredictable behavior has earned him the nickname Renaldo – referring to footballer Cristiano Renaldo, presumably because of the superstar’s versatility and trickery in attacking opponents.) Also, in the last year, four local people have been attacked by rhinos and six by sloth bears. Human-wildlife conflict (and livestock casualties) constantly cloud the water.

 

It follows that recognizing how to best include local communities in protection efforts is an essential tactic for achieving Zero-Poaching.

 

 

What happens, for instance, when a local villager is killed by a man-eating tiger? Once the animal has been located, it is either eliminated or removed from the park. When possible, the army tranquilizes the beast and has it transported it to Kathmandu’s zoo. Sometimes, the latter is not an option and the animal must be put down. Either way, the remedy may temporarily placate a local’s apprehension… but does it allay his or her fear of future attacks?

 

Tigers, elephants and rhinos are life-threatening. Period. Take the rhino, for example: The farmers know all too well what happens when a rhino attacks.  Unlike the African Rhino, which uses its horn to toss and gore its adversaries, the Asian One-Horned Rhino relies on its bottom canine teeth to rip and slash into human flesh. And it will attack, if threatened or antagonized.

 

Rhinos also compromise villagers’ economic well-being. They can devastate locals’ crops and properties and kill livestock in a short time span. The average male rhino is 12-feet long, stands 7-feet high and tips the scale at two tons. Villagers don’t mistake its enormity for sluggishness. Rhinos at a full run have been clocked at 34 mph. Horses gallop at an average of 25-30 mph by comparison. A farmer’s wheat field or – even more frightening – his house built of bamboo-lattice and mud-plaster walls is no defense against such a massive browser. (Linguaphiles take note: There’s a legitimate reason the collective noun for a group of rhinos is a CRASH of rhinos.)

 

 

As I had learned in Bardiya, one method the army uses to appease the villagers’ animosity toward wild animals is to conduct community-awareness programs. Among other things, these underline the economic benefits for supporting wildlife preservation. The tourist industry: People come from all over the world to see Nepal’s rhinos and tigers and other endangered species. Tourism accounts for 7.5 percent of Nepal’s GDP and is forecast to rise 4.3 percent annually. More to the point: These tourist dollars have been proven to boost the income of the communities close to the parks.

 

Still, awareness is a two-way street. In conducting awareness programs, it’s imperative that the army remain sensitive to the local communities very real fears. The army realizes that human-wildlife conflict is and will remain an ever-present chessboard of complications.

 

Community cooperation with the army vs. sleepless nights while rhinos snort or tigers snarl or tuskers rumble out in the darkness. Dams vs. free-flowing rivers. Cable-stayed bridges vs. dugout canoes. The army’s challenge is to keep up with the fluidity of human-wildlife conflict and the changes brought on by 21^st-century dynamics without ignoring the natives’ traditional ways of living. Thus, the final aspect of Zero-Poaching is: constantly assess how effective the army’s tactics have been and modify those tactics accordingly.

 

to be continued....

 

Link here for PART ONE

 

Link here for PART TWO

 

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MIKEL DUNHAM ON PATROL with NEPAL ARMY: Defender of Endangered Species- PART TWO. Chitwan National Park and the Rhino

 

June 18, 2018

 

Embedded with Batuk Dal Battalion

 

 

Chitwan National Park – a full-day’s drive east from Bardiya National Park – is located in south-central Nepal along the Indian border. It is a World Heritage Site and is Nepal’s third most popular tourist destination, even though visitors are required to adhere to strict regulations. Among other closely monitored rules, tourists are strictly prohibited to walk within the park between sunset and sunrise.

 

My first morning in Chitwan began in Kasara, the centrally-located headquarters for army security forces. A briefing was held in a building called the Joint Conservation Operation Cell (JCOC). The meeting was led by Major Purshotam Karki, Officiating Commander of Chitwan’s Batuk Dal Battalion.

 

There is nothing tentative about the man. His discipline is informed by his unflinching sense of purpose. He’s fighting fit and a perfectionist on every level, giving new meaning to the word “punctuality. He enjoys a good laugh. In fact, he has a great sense of humor.

 

 

Major Karki takes pride in the JCOC, as well he should. Evidence of the army’s success with digital technology throbs in the JCOC. Applications include a vehicle monitoring system, smart eye, CCTV surveillance, tower-based long-range cameras utilizing fiber optic cable, phones with IP signaling protocols, and radio collars (with VHF radio sets) for tracking endangered species. The army has introduced camera traps, used to capture images of wildlife with as little human interference as possible. (The cameras, interspersed throughout the jungle, are remotely activated with motion sensors.) Batuk Dal Battalion also operates a fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones.

 

 

 

 

Particularly worth noting is the army’s Real Time Patrol System, which implements Near-field Communication protocols. In layman terms, the Real Time Patrol System enables two electronic devices – computers at the JCOC and the mobile phones of the jungle patrols – to link. The result is around-the-clock tracking of troops throughout the large reserve. Red pin-point lights blink on the computer-screen map indicating the exact locations of all troops in real time. This tracking system is invaluable, given the fact that the army conducts more than 170 patrols daily through a subtropical riverine terrain of almost unimaginable biological and botanical diversity.

 

Three extensive river systems – Narayani, Rapti and Reu – flow through the park. Its forests, which constitute 70% of the reserve, are primarily populated by sal, interspersed with khair (of the Acacia family), red silk cotton, sheesham (Indian rosewood) and other species unfamiliar to the Western eye. Natural pastures are also interspersed throughout the river floodplains with over 50 varieties of grasses, including the phenomenal elephant grass, which grows up to 20 feet in height.

 

 

 

Jungle, water, grassland: This is the backdrop for a lavish variety of zoological species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world: 68 mammals including One-Horned Rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger and Asian Elephant; 49 reptiles – from pythons and cobras and other poisonous snakes to two rare crocodile varieties, marsh muggers and gharials; 120 types of fish; 576 types of birds, 22 of which are critically endangered; and 150 types of butterflies.

 

 

Chitwan has the distinction of being Nepal’s major habitat for Bengal Tigers. The latest count is 120.

 

But I hadn’t come to Chitwan to study tigers. I wanted to focus on the park’s Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros. Chitwan has the second largest population of one-horned rhinos in the world.

 

 

 

Rhinos, the Real Unicorns? A Death Sentence

 

 

Once widespread across the entire northern swath of the Indian sub-continent, the One-Horned Rhino population plummeted in the 1900s. Their numbers dwindled due to overhunting for sport, destruction of their habitat, and the increase in poaching. By the end of the 20th century, fewer than 200 Greater One-Horned Rhinos remained extant in Nepal.

 

The manner in which a poached rhino dies is barbaric. Since the poacher’s interest is primarily in the rhino’s horn and getting away from the scene of the crime as quickly and silently as possible, he often foregoes shooting the rhino, but rather hacks off the horn while the animal is still alive, leaving the rhino to slowly bleed to death.

 

Poaching syndicates can sell nearly all parts of the rhino as folk medicine, however. Dried tongue “cures” children with speech impediments. “Urine” cures asthma. Placed under an expectant mother’s pillow, rhino tail “allays labor pain”. Powdered rhino horn “reduces” fever and “stops” convulsions. The make-believe list goes on and on. All of these traditional remedies are void of applied-science corroboration but try telling that to racketeers making fortunes in China, other southeast Asian countries, and even in the Arabian Peninsula.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to some estimates, nearly 40% of rhino horn is sold to Yemen, used for the handles of the men’ jambiyas, (short, curved daggers tucked into the front of their robes). In Yemen society, hilts carved from rhino horn connote a man’s wealth and presuppose his superior masculinity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The newest country attracted to the fictional powers attributed to rhino horn – again, the nouveau riche phenomenon – is Viet Nam. According to The Atlantic, powdered rhino horn has become “the alcoholic drink of Vietnamese millionaires” promoted on the groundless belief that it cures cancer and is a panacea for overtaxed livers. A horn goes for around $300,000 in Viet Nam, giving it a cult-like luxury-item status. Among late-night club-goers, it’s “seen as a cocaine-like party drug.”

 

 

 

For the record, rhino horn is made up of keratin, a protein found in human hair and fingernails. The Vietnamese might as well sweep up barbershop clippings, put them in a blender, add booze, hit PUREE and gulp down the concoction. The resultant effect – nothing from the keratin, inebriation from the alcohol – will perfectly duplicate the drinking of a rhino-horn cocktail, replete with sky-bars, with two notable differences: The barbershop version is 1) dirt cheap and 2) doesn’t entail the slaughter of magnificent beasts.

 

Did Disney animations ever portray unicorns with as many make-believe properties as the ones attributed to One-Horned Rhinos? There’s a popular meme on the internet: “Unicorns are real. They’re just fat and grey and we call them rhinos.” The author of that joke may be closer to the truth than she or he realizes. The blurring of identity may be the source of the rhino’s vulnerability.

 

Did the fairy-tale belief in unicorns spring from bona fide ancestors of 21^st-century rhinos? The Siberian Rhinoceros, (Elasmotherium sibiricum) – thought to have become extinct 300,000 years ago – was dramatically reevaluated in 2016, when paleontologists discovered partial remains in present-day Kazakhstan. Radiocarbon dating of the skull fossil adduced that it was alive as recently as 29,000 years ago. Although the discovery doesn’t pretend to suggest that the species was the source of the unicorn myth, it does remind prehistorians that one-horned rhinos lived at the same time as early humans, thereby providing a memory bank for future fables, believed to be popularized and promulgated during the classical Greek period. Even before that, the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon is adorned by what was thought by many as a unicorn.

 

 

Unicorn myth may be the rhino’s worst enemy. Obviously, it’s beyond Nepal Army’s purview to change the fads of foreign millionaires or eradicate universally treasured fairytales.  What the army can do –  what it is doing – is to adhere to a no-nonsense four-pronged operation: Protect the rhinos’ natural habitat, bring military might to the conservations’ programs, thwart poachers, and raise awareness within local buffer zone communities.

 

This strategy, as Major Karki proved in his briefing, has paid off. From less than 200 rhinos in Nepal in 2000, the count has risen to an astounding 645 in 2018, 605 of which reside in Chitwan National Park. Even more notable is the fact that the army has been able to celebrate Zero Poaching in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018. How this has come about is one of Asia’s greatest success stories in anti-poaching crusades.

 

 

To be continued...

 

For PART ONE     LINK HERE

 

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Lisa Choegyal’s tribute to Elizabeth Hawley (1923-2018), the undisputed authority of world-class mountaineering in Nepal.

 

February 3, 2018

 

Originally published in Nepali Times:

 

Elizabeth Hawley, who died in Kathmandu on 26 January 2018 aged 94 years, was an American journalist living in Nepal since 1960, regarded as the undisputed authority on mountaineering in Nepal. She was famed worldwide as a ‘one-woman mountaineering institution’ because of her systematic compilation of a detailed Himalayan database of expeditions still maintained today by her team of volunteers, and published by the American Alpine Club.

 

Respected for her astute political antennae and famously formidable, Miss Hawley represented Time Life and later Reuters since 1960 as Nepal correspondent. She is credited with mentoring reporters and setting journalistic standards in Nepal, competing to file stories from the communications-challenged Nepal of the 1960s. She worked with the pioneer adventure tourism operators, Tiger Tops, from its inception in 1965 with John Copeman, until she retired as AV Jim Edward’s trusted adviser in 2007.

 

She managed the Himalayan Trust for Sir Edmund Hillary since it started in the mid-1960s, dispensing funds to build hospitals, schools, bridges, forest nurseries and scholarships for the people of the Everest region. Generations of Sherpas remember being overawed by the rigour of Miss Hawley’s interviews, and quake at the memory of her cross-examinations when collecting their scholarship funds.

 

Hillary described Elizabeth Hawley as “a most remarkable person ... a woman of great courage and determination.” She served as New Zealand Honorary Consul to Nepal for 20 years until retiring in 2010.

 

 

Elizabeth first came to Nepal via India for a couple of weeks in February 1959. She was on a two-year round the world trip that took her to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South Asia. Bored with her job as researcher-reporter with Fortune magazine in New York, she had cashed her savings to travel as long as they lasted. Nepal had been on her mind since reading a 1955 New York Times article about the first tourists who visited the kingdom.

 

Because of her media contacts, the Time Life Delhi bureau chief asked her to report on Nepal’s politics. It was an interesting time -- as one of only four foreign journalists, she was present when King Mahendra handed over the first parliamentary constitution, which paved the way for democracy in Nepal. Fascinated by Nepal’s politics and the idea of an isolated country emerging into the modern 20th century, she returned in 1960 and never left, living in the same Dilli Bazar apartment, the same blue Volkswagen Beetle car, and generations of faithful retainers.

 

 

A diminutive figure of slight build with a keen look, Elizabeth was bemused at the universal attention she received. Her Himalayan Database expedition records are trusted by mountaineers, newswires, scholars, and climbing publications worldwide, published by Richard Salisbury and the American Alpine Club. She was one of only 25 honorary members of the Alpine Club of London, and has been formally recognised by the New Zealand Alpine Club and the Nepal Mountaineering Association. In 2004 she received the Queen's Service Medal for Public Services for her work as New Zealand honorary consul and executive officer of Sir Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust. She was awarded the King Albert I Memorial Foundation medal and was the first recipient of the Sagarmatha National Award from the Government of Nepal.

 

 

Elizabeth’s career in the collection of mountaineering data started by accident: “I’ve never climbed a mountain, or even done much trekking.” As part of her Reuters’ job, she began to report on mountaineering activities and in those pioneering days of first ascents and mountain exploration, there was strong media interest in Himalayan expeditions. She relied heavily on the knowledge of mountaineer Col Jimmy Roberts, founder of Mountain Travel.

Since 1963 she has met every expedition to the Nepal Himalaya both before and after their ascents, including those who climbed from Tibet. Her records contain detailed information about more than 20,000 ascents of about 460 Nepali peaks, including those that border with China and India. Over the course of some 7,000 expedition interviews, her research work has sparked and resolved controversies. Elizabeth has seen the Nepal mountaineering scene transformed from an exclusive club to a mainstream obsession. 

 

Elizabeth did not suffer fools gladly. Though some mountaineers were intimidated by her interrogations -- sometimes jokingly referred to as an expedition's ‘second summit’, serious alpinists greatly admired her. "If I need information about climbing 8,000-meter peaks, I used to go to her," recalls Italian climbing legend Reinhold Messner. Nepali trek operator and environmentalist Dawa Steven Sherpa underlines the point: "Although it's the authorities that should have been doing this, they're not as strict or accurate as Miss Hawley. One of her biggest contributions is keeping mountaineers honest." 

 

Elizabeth applied her trademark scrupulous precision to summarising the political and development events in Nepal in her monthly diary, published in 2015 in two volumes as The Nepal Scene: Chronicles of Elizabeth Hawley --1988-2007The Nepal Scene: Chronicles of Elizabeth Hawley 1988-2007. They stand as a faithful and unique historical record of the extraordinary changes that took place in Nepal over nearly two decades. 

 

 

Her enviable journalistic sources were based on long friendships with the political, panchayat and Rana elite. She had the confidence of a wide range of prominent Nepalis, and shared a hairdresser with the Queen. Educated as a historian, Elizabeth regarded herself as a reporter not a writer, stringently recording Nepal’s political and mountaineering facts with minimal opinion or analysis. Although there is no disguising her liberal bent and her admiration for the force of democracy. 

Former American Ambassador Peter Bodde said, Elizabeth Hawley was one of Nepal’s “living treasures ... her contribution to the depth of knowledge and understanding between Nepal and the US was immense.”

 

Elizabeth Hawley’s achievements have featured in many books and articles about Nepal, and her biography by Bernadette McDonald, I’ll Call You in Kathmandu, was published in 2005, then updated and reprinted as Keeper of the Mountains. In 2013, to mark the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest, Elizabeth was featured in the award-winning US television documentary of the same name, produced by Allison Otto. On screen in Keeper of the Mountains, her straightforward manner and fearless modesty made her something of a cult classic. In 2014 the Nepal government named a 6,182 m peak in honour of her contribution to mountaineering. Elizabeth was not impressed: "I thought it was just a joke. Mountains should not be named after people."

Miss Elizabeth Hawley is the last of the first generation of foreigners who made their life in Nepal, single and determinedly independent. She is survived by her nephew Michael Hawley Leonard and has bequeathed her library and records to the American Alpine Club. As both a successful woman in a man’s world and a highly visible foreigner recording Nepal’s history, we are all in her debt. She defied the conventions of her time, and determined to live life on her own terms and in her own incomparable style. 

 

 

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Lisa Choegyal is a tourism specialist and was a longtime associate of Ms. Hawley, working with her at Tiger Mountain and subsequently as New Zealand Honorary Consul. Choegyal has several books to her credit, including Kathmandu Valley Style and Afghanistan Revisited, as well as serving as co-editor of The Nepal Scene: Chronicles of Elizabeth Hawley -- 1988-2007.

 

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COCINA MITHO CHHA: Nepali entrepreneur, delicious organic food, orphanage tie-in

 

June 25, 2017

 

Kathmandu

Five years ago, Debendra Pokharel launched Cocina Mitho Chha, a “sustainable social enterprise”, located in Lazimpat. Situated just off Diplomatic Row, it’s a world unto itself – a haven from the bustle and noise of the metropolis surrounding it.

 

 

Debendra, originally from Gorkha, has established a fine restaurant with indoor-outdoor seating separated by a small garden. Flanking it is a seven-room bed and breakfast, the guests of which seem to have settled into the city for extended stays. The overall feeling is one of intimacy – of finding oneself in a family-run lodge with the inherent hospitality one might expect in a Gorkhan village. And what further distinguishes Cocina Mitho Chha from other places in the capital is that it provides hotel training for young people from local orphanages.

 

 

Courses are offered in Cooking, Food, Beverage and Barista service, Front Hotel Business Office Skills and Housekeeping. Courses are designed to last between 15 days & 6 months for up to 10 young people. All funds to support the running of the school and the scholarship program are raised from the restaurant and the B&B.

 

 

The results of the staff's efforts get to the yummy part. Cocina Mitho Chha’s menu offers freshly prepared food produced by Debendra’s organic greenhouse in the Valley and augmented by local produce.

 

 

The dishes are primarily Nepali, although immaculately prepared European and Asian dishes are recommended as well. Just ask Debendra and he’ll be delighted to show you around the kitchen and introduce you to his staff.

 

 

For Nepalis and Westerners alike, I strongly recommend popping into Cocina Mitho Chha for lunch...

 

 

...or, better yet, for a delicious leisurely dinner and drinks under an evening sky.

 

 

It’s the perfect setting – as casual as it gets! – for fine dining with family and friends, for kicking back in an unpretentious and soulful setting. It’s one of my favorite Nepali haunts.

 

__________________________________________

For more information:

T: 977-01- 4428374

M: 977-01-9851019374

E: [email protected]

Visit: www.cocinamithochha.com

Facebook: Cocina Mitho Chha

Location: Neel Sarswoti Marg, Lazimpat, Kathmandu

 

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Increasing archeological proof that Buddha was from Nepal, not India

 

November 21, 1016

 

 

Occasionally, an Indian assertion arises that Lord Buddha’s birthplace was India, not Nepal. Nepalis take it as a slap in their faces. It underlines Nepalis’ perception that India is guilty of a pervasive disregard (and ignorance) of Nepal’s proud heritage, often overlooking cold hard facts. When determining where Lord Buddha spent the first 29 years of his life, ancient chronicles and contemporary science are thoroughly on Nepal’s side.

 

 

 

Case in point: in 2009, Bollywood produced a comedy/martial-arts movie called “Chandni Chowk to China” in which the voice-over narrator says that Lord Buddha was born in India. After Nepal’s censor board banned the showing of the film in Nepal because of the misstatement, the Indian film producer publicly apologized for the gaffe. But there was no indication that he would edit out the offending sequence in international distribution.

 

WHAT ARE THE FACTS BEHIND LOCATING BUDDHA’S BIRTHPLACE IN LUMBINI?

 

According to Buddhist tradition, based on ancient chronicles, Lord Buddha, (also known as Shakyamuni, Gautama Buddha and, as a youth, Siddhartha Gautama) was born sometime between 623 BC and 563 BC, depending on one's sources.

Ancient Buddhist literature, including the famous travel documents of a 4^th century Chinese monk named Fa-hsien, indicate the Lord Buddha’s birthplace was located in present-day Lumbini. A seventh century Chinese monk travelled to Nepal and identified the location of the Buddha’s birthplace by citing the famous capital city of the ancient kingdom of Kapilavatsu as being approximately 30 kilometers from Lumbini. In modern reckoning, that capital is 28 kilometers from Lumbini.

 

 

In the interim, sequential digs and analyses of artifacts unearthed in Lumbini, support the traditional belief that Lord Buddha was born in Lumbini.

But it was not until 2013 that an excavation team, sponsored by UNESCO, using modern technology, produced positive evidence that Lumbini dated back to at least the sixth century BC, thus matching the site to the time of the historical Buddha’s life. It made international headlines because, in the third century BC, Ashoka, the Indian emperor remodeled the site, inadvertently destroying earlier remains. Durable brick architecture supplanted non-durable timber.   

The UNESCO team (funded by the Government of Japan) sought to overcome these limitations by providing direct archaeological evidence of the nature of a pre-Ashoka Buddhist shrine and thus securing a viable chronology. Indeed, the excavations revealed a sequence of earlier structures preceding the major rebuilding by Asoka during the third century BC.

 

 

 

"This is one of those rare occasions when belief, tradition, archaeology and science actually come together," Professor Robin Coningham of Durham University in UK and co-director of the archeological team working in Lumbini, said at the time. "We know the entirety of the shrine sequence started in the sixth century B.C., and this sheds light on a very long debate."

 

 

 

WHAT TECHNOLOGY WAS USED TO SECURE THE DATING?

 

Kosh Prasad Acharya (former Director General of Nepal’s Department of Archaeology, and currently Executive Director of the Pashupati Area Development Trust) told me in an INTERVIEW that the team had tested fragments of charcoal and grains of sand from the site, using a combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques.

 

 

 

 

Some of this analyzed sediment confirmed the presence of ancient tree roots within the main temple shrine in Lumbini. From a Buddhist point of view, evidence of a shrine revering a tree is extremely significant: According to Buddhist tradition, Queen Maya Devi, mother of Lord Buddha, gave birth to him while holding on to the branch of a Bodhi or fig tree (Ficus religiosa) at the Lumbini gardens, midway between the kingdoms of her husband (Kapilvastu) and her parents' kingdom (Nawalparasi). See map below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“With the help of these findings, many other historical facts can come out,” said Acharya. “And I do want to clear the misconception of a few who think Buddha was born in India, as such discoveries at Lumbini will make it easier for them to accept the reality.”

Coningham also said that even older remains of a village dating back to as early as 1300 BC were found a few hundred meters south of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, pushing back the date of the settlement of the region a thousand years. Thus, Lumbini’s history extends far before the visit of Emperor Ashoka. 

 

HOW DID THE NEPAL VS. INDIA CONTROVERSY BEGIN?

 

In 1898, a buried stupa was discovered in India by William Claxton Peppe, a British colonial engineer and landowner, who owned an estate where the discovery was made. The name of the place was Piprahawa, south of the Nepal border.

Peppe led a team in excavating a large earthen mound on his land. Having cleared away scrub and jungle, they set to work building a deep trench through the mound.

Eventually they came to a large stone coffer which contained five small vases containing bone fragments, ashes and jewels. On one of the vases was a Brahmi inscription which was translated to mean "This relic-shrine of divine Buddha (is the donation) of the Shakya-Sukiti brothers, associated with their sisters, sons, and wives", implying that the bone fragments were part of the remains of Gautama Buddha.

 

 

This led some scholars to suggest that modern-day Piprahawa was the site of the ancient city of Kapilvastu, the capital of the Shakya kingdom, where Siddhartha Gautama – later referred to as Shakyamuni – spent the first 29 years of his life. The king of Kapilvastu was Lord Buddha’s father, Śuddhodana. Other scholars, however, challenged the opinion and proposed that it referred to the Buddha’s kinsman rather than the Buddha himself.

Almost a century later, from 1971-1973, a team of the Archaeological Survey of India led by K.M. Srivastava resumed excavations at the Piprahawa stupa site. The Indian team discovered a casket containing fragments of charred bone at a location several feet deeper than the coffer that W.C. Peppe had previously excavated. As the relic containers were found in the deposits from the period of Northern Black Polished Ware, Srivastava dated the find to the fifth-fourth centuries BCE, which would be, more or less, consistent with the period in which the Buddha is believed to have lived.

The news was a sensation in India. More than ten million people reportedly paid homage to the relics when they were first exhibited in Sri Lanka in 1978.

But the vast majority of scholars found Srivastava’s claim dubious, noting the challenges that isolated finds present to paleographical study. One of the foremost epigraphists and authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology, Ahmad Hasan Dani, observed in 1997 that "The Piprahawa vase… has an inscription scratched on the steatite stone in a careless manner. The style of writing is very poor, and there is nothing in it that speaks of the hand of the Asokan scribes". He concluded that "the inscription may be confidently dated to the earlier half of the second century B.C."

 

SO WHERE DID PRINCE SIDDHARTHA SPEND THE FIRST 29 YEARS OF HIS LIFE?

 

Most scholars now agree that the future Lord Buddha spent his childhood, youth and early adulthood in Tilaurakot, Nepal, 28 kilometers west of Lumbini.

 

 

The evidence that Tilaurakot was the capital of Kapilvastu is overwhelming.

First, one must take into account the sheer size of the ancient Shakya kingdom of Kapilvastu, ruled by Prince Siddhartha’s father, King Śuddhodana.

 

The ancient chronicles describe the Kingdom of Kapilvastu as extending, from east to west, between two famous rivers, Rohini and Rapti. From north to south, it touched the Himalayas and approached Kushinagar and Pava in present-day India. In other words, the Kingdom of Kapilavatsu extended down into the Indian plains, including the hamlet of Piprahawa.

Piprahawa was not the capital of Kapilvastu. The ruins there are of an ancient monastery, a vihara complex of considerable significance amidst the Indian jungle, in all probability under the purveyance of the King of Kapilvastu.

 

EVIDENCE SUPORTING KAPILVASTU AS APPOSED TO PIPRAHAWA PROVIDED BY ANCIENT LITERARY SOURCES

 

The Jataka Stories mention numerous associations of laborers employed by the Shakya kings in their palace and in their country, including coin smiths, weaponry smiths, stoneworkers, ivory workers and jewelers. Why is this relevant? During Nepalese and Japanese joint archaeological excavation at Tilaurakot (1967-77) a large hoard of coins, weapons, ivory objects and jewelry were uncovered from the Kapilvastu site.

The previously mentioned Chinese monk Fa-hsien visited Kapilvastu in the fourth century AD and provided a detailed account of how to get there, which matches modern-day locations.

 

EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY ANCIENT ROADS

 

In the vicinity of the Tilaurakot’s fortified area, Mishra unearthed ancient roads dating as far back as 7th – 6th century BC. The roads were very wide and paved with bricks and brickbats. Some roads have stone edging on both sides. Very interestingly, some roads have eight inches soling – under layers – made from iron slag. Such an improved road transport in the vicinity indicates that Tilaurakot was a very important hub indeed.

 

EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY LOCATION OF RIVER

 

Based on the early Buddhist sources, the capital of Kapilvastu was near the Banganga River. From Tilaurakot, one can see the Banganga River in the distance. It supplied the water for Tilaurakot’s moats. There are no rivers in the vicinity of Piprahawa.

 

EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS

  

Well over a century of archeological digs conducted in Tilaurakot fulfill all the conditions described by ancient texts. Renowned archeologists include Dr. A. Fuhrer (1897), P. C. Mukherji (1899), Debala Mitra (1962), Tarananda Mishra (1967-72), Babu Krishna Rijal (1972-73) and a joint team from Rissho University of Japan DoA, Nepal (1967-77). More current digs also have been conducted wherein the vestiges of the fortification walls, moats, palaces, stupas, temples, viharas, (monasteries), ponds and guardrooms have been revealed further solidifying Tilaurakot as the home of a great king.

 

In the spring of 2016, Robin Coningham, the chief archaeologist, announced the findings of his three-year excavation project in Tilaurakot. He said the ancient infrastructure he unearthed could be at least 2,800 years old.

Coningham’s team was comprised of 10 professors from Stirling University and Durham University of the United Kingdom, two UNESCO consultants, five experts from Nepal’s Department of Archeology, four people from the Lumbini Development Trust, and a handful of students.

What they found was astounding: the remnants of houses, roads, walls surrounding the palace grounds, extended palace infrastructure, guardhouses, and the east and west entry gates into the widespread grounds.

More digging will resume in January 2017.

For Buddhists, the Eastern Gate of Tilaurakot is of particular significance. This is the gate from where Prince Siddhartha, at the age of twenty-nine, rode away in a chariot pulled by his favorite horse, Kanthaka. By his side was Chhanna, his charioteer.

After crossing the Anoma River, Siddhartha shaved his head and formally entered the world of monkshood, leaving the world of luxury forever. From here on out, he would walk. He sent Chhanna and Kanthaka back home.

According to Buddhist tradition, Kanthaka had a sole purpose to accomplish: to usher the future Buddha into the real world of human suffering. Just before Kanthaka and Chhanna arrived back at the eastern gate of Tilaurakot, the horse died of exhaustion. A stupa was built in his honor and you can still make out the mound from the eastern gate.

 

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There is a great deal more evidence to be found at the Lumbini Development Trust’s website:

 

 

         CLICK HERE         

 

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Nepal Himalaya: A Journey through Time, by Sujoy Das and Lisa Choegyal -- highly recommended

 

July 13, 2016

 

My friends -- photographer Sujoy Das and author Lisa Choegyal -- have spent a lifetime in Nepal. Nepal Himalaya: A Journey through Time captures their journey, combining Sujoy's beautiful black and white mountain images with a reflective essay by Lisa on how tourism first started in Nepal. The Foreword by famed mountaineer Reinhold Messner is included below.

 

A seasoned trekker and photographer, Sujoy Das (www.sujoydas.com) feels most at home in the high Himalaya. Founder of South Col Expeditions, he has introduced many trekkers to the magic of the Everest and Annapurna regions in Nepal, where he has been photographing for more than 25 years.  His images and accompanying essays have featured in Washington Post, Insight Guides, Outdoor Journal, Outlook Traveller and many other publications. He has co-authored and photographed several books including Sikkim - A Travellers Guide and Lonely Planet Nepal for the Indian Traveller.

 

 

British-born Lisa Choegyal has made Kathmandu her home since the 1970s, deeply involved with Nepal tourism and conservation. Lisa worked for 25 years with Tiger Tops Nepal and the Tiger Mountain group, one of Asia’s foremost nature and adventure tourism pioneers. As a specialist consultant in pro-poor sustainable tourism, she works throughout the Asia Pacific region. Author and editor of several books including Kathmandu Valley Style, The Nepal Scene, Offerings from Nepal and South Asia titles of the Insight Guide series, and serves as a trustee on a number of social and conservation organizations. Since 2010, Lisa is New Zealand's Honorary Consul to Nepal.

 

Reinhold Messner is an Italian mountaineer, adventurer, explorer, and author of over 60 books.

He made the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, along with Peter Habeler, and was the first climber to ascend all fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters (26,000 ft) above sea level, including Mount Everest. Below is his Foreword:

 

FOREWORD by Reinhold Messner

The country of Nepal has recently suffered greatly with both natural and man made disasters. This beautiful book with its stark and startling black and white images shows us the very essence of Nepal's mountains and Himalayan peoples, evoking the unparalleled scenery, resilience and charm of this extraordinary country. Sujoy Das has a long association with Nepal, leading many treks throughout the length and breadth of the country. The epilogue in memory of the terrible earthquakes of April and May 2015 is particularly poignant, and reminds us of the harsh realities of mountain life in this seismically active zone. Climate change has resulted in droughts, floods, and melting glaciers, and driven many of the younger population to abandon their hill villages to seek work overseas. Lisa Choegyal’s introduction and captions remind us how key tourism has been in bringing benefits to local communities since trekking first began in the mid-1960s. Even today, trekking and mountaineering are essential to help restore the economy after the earthquakes. Visitors to Nepal not only bring money to rebuild lives after the massive destruction of villages, but also bring hope that the world cares about Nepal’s plight. This book conveys the magic and beauty, and is an exciting new addition to the body of work inspired by the Nepal Himalaya. My respect for the schicksalsergeben (resigned to one’s fate) and strength of the Nepali people is infinite, but without our help and support their road to recovery will be much harder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEPAL HIMALAYA - A JOURNEY IN TIME

Published by VAJRA Books Kathmandu

pages 164 size 11.5 inches  x 8.33 inches

Rs3,600.

It is also available on Amazon.com

CLICK HERE for AMAZON

 

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In Memoriam. Dr. Charles McDougal, 1930-2016. Nepal’s lifelong friend and protector of its tigers

 

May 13, 2016

 

The following obituary was written by Lisa Choegyal, New Zealand Honorary Consul to Nepal.

 

Dr. Charles McDougal PhD passed away peacefully on 11 May 2016 in Kathmandu. Always known as Chuck, he was a leading tiger ecologist, conservationist, researcher and writer, who pioneered responsible wildlife tourism standards in South Asia. He is survived by his devoted wife Margie, and children Robert, Juan Carlos, Malcolm and Linda.

Originally from Colorado USA, Chuck first came to the subcontinent as an anthropologist studying the Juang tribal peoples in Orissa in eastern India and undertook the definitive study on the Kulunge Rai in Nepal.  Inspired by the jungle life of Jim Corbett’s books, Chuck switched his attention to tigers, initially to hunting then soon to research and conservation, based in Nepal since the early 1960s. Chuck was a dedicated and self-effacing man with a gentle and modest manner, widely respected for his uncompromising approach to tiger conservation, and exacting standards for wildlife tourism.

As Director of Wildlife of Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge, Chitwan National Park was Chuck’s base for tiger research since 1972, giving him unrivalled access to the study and long-term monitoring of the world’s most powerful predator. Working with the government of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the Smithsonian Institution of Washington DC, and teams of locally recruited trackers and naturalists, Chuck pioneered tiger census methods and introduced camera-trapping techniques to photograph and record tigers.

His painstaking research followed generations of individual animals in Chitwan National Park, resulting in one of the largest and longest-running data sets of any tiger population in the world. Chuck’s decades of work uncovered the secret world of tigers and what they need to survive in their forest habitat, providing today’s wildlife managers with the vital information required to protect these iconic animals. Chuck’s work has raised considerable donations and helped authorities develop anti-poaching policies that put many tiger poachers in gaol.

Crucial to the data collection was Chuck’s innovative development of camera-trapping in the 1970s. I vividly recall his uncharacteristic excitement when the first tiger successfully photographed himself. Chuck's Nikon F2 camera had an accessory electronic shutter release, which he wired to a switch in a homemade pressure plate, strategically placed on a path known to be used by tigers patrolling their territory. Built from two wooden planks, compression springs held the electrical contact apart. The pressure pad was buried in a shallow depression so that when a heavy animal stepped on the wooden pad the battery-powered circuit was closed, triggering the camera and its flash. Over the years he photographed hundreds of different tigers and also an impressive inventory of other creatures including sloth bears, leopards, jungle cats and the rare honey badger.

Chuck’s authoritative book, Face of the Tiger, was published in 1977, the result of thousands of hours of observation and tracking that examines the life of the tiger. Senior scientist Dr. George Schaller much admired Chuck’s work, and wrote: “His well-documented book … presents the best available account of the tiger’s social life.” Always generous by encouraging fellow researchers as co-authors, Chuck published many scientific papers himself and with colleagues, notably Professor J.L. David Smith of the University of Minnesota with whom a major work on the tiger is being published by Harvard University Press. Chuck recently completed a collection of jungle tales that will be published posthumously, which perfectly capture his abiding passion for nature and love for life in the wild.

Chuck’s interest in Asia dated back to childhood when, aged 11, he and a school friend set off walking to Tibet to meet the Dalai Lama, as part of a school project. They planned to head up through Canada to Alaska, across the Bering Straits through Russia and China to Lhasa, only to be picked up by the Chicago police on the shores of Lake Michigan! In the early 1950s he was commissioned into the US Marine Corps, before leaving military life in favour of academic studies at the University of New Mexico and at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) University of London, studying with the renowned Himalayan anthropologist, Dr. Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf.

Having made his way to Nepal he soon teamed up with English-born A.V. Jim Edwards, an enthusiast then working for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) in New York, to found Nepal Wildlife Adventures, an early hunting company in the Nepal Terai. A winning partnership of entrepreneurial energy and wildlife acumen, the pair realised it was time to abandon hunting and embrace conservation ideals. In February 1972, Jim and Chuck took over the management of Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge from the two Texan millionaires and big game hunters, Toddy Lee Wynne Jr and Herbert W. Klein, who had started the venture in 1964 in what was then a Terai rhinoceros sanctuary. Wildlife attractions in Chitwan include tiger, rhino, gaur (South Asia’s imposing wild cattle), leopard, deer, wild boar, monkeys, crocodiles and over 540 bird species, against the backdrop of the snow-capped Himalayan peaks.

Together their brand of purist wildlife expertise combined with commercial realities to set global standards for the adventure tourism industry. Whilst Jim Edwards took care of business and marketing from the Kathmandu office, Chuck avoided the limelight. Preferring to be based in his natural habitat of the Chitwan jungles, he established Tiger Tops’ awesome reputation for high quality wildlife experiences, skilled naturalist guiding, and fierce wildlife integrity – “no bullshit” was Chuck’s creed. The evening slide show educating guests about the flora, fauna and environmental issues was written by him, narrated in his soft drawl. With a strong emphasis on nature interpretation, at its height, Tiger Tops wildlife lodges and tented camps extended throughout India as well as Nepal, with activities in Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Tibet and beyond. Tiger Tops formula of responsible wildlife tourism and conservation synergy was an acknowledged model long before ecotourism became an established concept and buzzword.

Chuck not only mentored scientists, researchers, naturalists and ornithologists, but worked with many wildlife filmmakers, including cameramen from BBC and Survival Anglia television who relied on his unrivalled field expertise to get their shots. Wildlife operations throughout South Asia today are still managed and staffed by Chuck McDougal-trained specialists, who regard the quiet American as their guru and inspiration. He had an uncanny gift for imparting information without being didactic or overbearing, always supportive to acolytes, and with a twinkle in his eye for those ready to appreciate it.

Chuck retired from Tiger Tops in 2001, and devoted himself to travel, research and writing, continuing his tiger monitoring programmes in the Nepal Terai through the International Trust for Nature Conservation of which he remained an active Trustee. Co-author of the first tiger conservation strategy for the Royal Government of Bhutan, Chuck also observed the unique tiger population of the Bangladesh Sundarbans. Among other accolades, his work received awards from Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation in 1997 for his “lifelong dedication to tiger conservation in Nepal”, from WWF the Abraham Conservation Award in 2006, and from Himalayan Nature the Brian Hodgson Award in 2012. The Nepal Tiger Trust recognised him in 2014 “… for passionately mentoring ad coaching a younger generation of conservationists”.

In later years, Chuck developed a pessimistic ambivalence towards the more rampant impacts of tourism, advocating that benefits only accrue when tourism is more carefully controlled and channelled as a positive force for conservation. However, he leaves behind him legions of tourists forever grateful to him for revealing and interpreting the wonders of the subcontinent’s wildlife and jungles, and a generation of trained South Asian scientists and naturalists with unparalleled guiding integrity, skilled at showing visitors a glimpse of the wild tiger world that he so loved and valued.

 

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Risky Business: Nepal reopens quake-damaged World Heritage Sites to woo tourists

 

June 16, 2015

 

 

Yesterday, in an effort to bring in tourist dollars, the Nepali government reopened six heritage sites, in spite of warnings from UNESCO.

 

Sites include Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath, Lumbini, Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square and Bhaktapur Durbar Square.

 

The historic value of the three Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan, are invaluable to the culture and economy of Nepal. They date back to the period between the 12^th and 18^th centuries, when the Kathmandu Valley was divided into three Hindu kingdoms. They and the temple complexes of Changu Narayan and Swayambhu were the most damaged by the earthquakes. Two other heritage areas in the valley, Boudhanath stupa and Pashupatinath temple, suffered only minor damage and remained open to the public after the earthquakes.

 

And it is true that Nepal’s tourism industry has been devastated by the disaster that struck the country almost two months ago. Out of a total 741 shrines across Nepal – major tourist draws – 133 were completely destroyed. The Nepal Economic Forum, a Kathmandu-based think tank, says 80 per cent of hotel reservations have been cancelled since the quake. There’s no doubt that this lack of tourist dollars will further detain renovations and reconstruction overseen by a cash-strapped government. It’s estimated that in the first year a  Rs. 1.8 billion budget is required for restoration and renovation of  shrines, which will be but the first phase of reconstruction.

 

But how wise is it to rush things and spin an optimistic assessment of the sites’ safety? What are the risks for further damage to the monuments as well as gambling with sightseers’ safety? 

 

In a statement released last week, UNESCO raised serious safety concerns calling the situation “precarious” and advised against reopening. urgeing the tourism and archeological bodies “to carefully plan the reopening process, prioritizing safety and security.”

 

Yesterday, Christian Manhart, head of UNESCO’s Nepal office in Kathmandu, told the New York Times that he believed that two of the sites, in particular, were still either unsafe or vulnerable to theft because the rubble from the earthquake was not yet cleared:

 

“At Kathmandu Durbar Square there is the huge palace museum — one very big building which is totally shaky,” he said. “The walls are disconnected from one another so this big wall can fall down at any moment. There is still a risk that buildings might collapse.”

 

Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation sees it differently:

 

“Tourists will have to take guides with them who will know about the safe routes around the monuments.”

 

When asked about the museum, Nepal’s Tourism Department said yesterday that the museum would remain closed.

 

Mr. Manhart, however, insisted that even allowing visitors close to the museum could be dangerous. Referring to the ministry, he said, “They say that there is some pressure to reopen those sites so they can request entrance fees, which is badly needed.”

 

Perhaps Simon Watkinson, a British travel agent in Nepal, should have the last word. In an interview with Agence France Presse, he said the reopening of the heritage sites would not bring back tourists. “It does not change anything given that foreign countries have issued advisories saying that Nepal is unsafe,” he said.

 

In the meantime, Nepal continues to have aftershocks above 4.0.

 

  

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Nepal Implements New Rules After Worst Trekking Disaster

 

October 27, 2014

 

Claims Journal report filed by BINAJ GURUBACHARYA

 

Last wekk, Nepal said it will introduce new rules, improve weather forecasts and better monitor the movement of trekkers after the Himalayan country’s worst hiking disaster left dozens dead last week.

 

Tourism Department official Tulasi Gautam said trekkers venturing to mountain trails will be required to take trained local guides, and will have to rent a GPS tracking unit to help authorities trace them in case of an emergency.

 

Gautam said the government plans to announce the new rules nationwide before the next trekking season in the spring.

 

“The main reason for the high number of casualties is that those trekkers without proper guides were prompted to continue with their trek in attempts to beat the storm. So we plan to strictly enforce new rules of no trekking without porters or proper guides,” Gautam said.

 

At least 43 people were killed last week when a blizzard and avalanches swept the mountains of the Annapurna region in northern Nepal. Of those, 21 were foreign trekkers and mountaineers from countries including India, Israel, Canada, Poland, Japan, China and Slovakia. Twenty-two were Nepalese guides, porters and villagers.

 

Many of the trekkers around the Annapurna route are independent hikers who do not hire guides. The route is also dotted with lodges and tea stalls that sell food, snacks and lodging.

 

Authorities also plan to improve the weather forecasting system and make it easier to deliver information to remote trekking routes.

 

The government also said all trekkers must now register at check posts while entering and exiting the trekking areas. Previously, foreign trekkers were required to buy permits or at least register before entering trekking areas, but Nepalese nationals were not. And no one was required to check out when they left.

 

Home Ministry Secretary Surya Prasad Silwal said rescuers were able to fly 518 stranded trekkers, including 310 foreigners, to safety before the search operation ended Monday.

 

“It was the biggest rescue operation in Nepal that included hundreds of soldiers, policemen and local officials. Swift response saved many lives,” Silwal said. He added that every available helicopter was used in the effort.

 

 

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Rescuers search for dozens of Nepalis and trekkers after avalanche. 27 known dead. Many more missing.

 

October 17, 2014

 

 

Reuters report filed by Andrew MacAskill; editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Robert Birsel.

 

Mountain rescue teams in Nepal searched for scores of missing trekkers on Thursday after unseasonal blizzards and avalanches killed at least 27 people along the high altitude Annapurna mountain route popular with backpackers.

 

Army and civilian rescue workers say between 73 and 85 trekkers registered on the trail were unaccounted for. Not all of those people were necessarily trapped by the weather and some may have left the area, rescue workers said.But the death toll, which included 11 foreigners and three yak herders, was expected to rise with so many unaccounted for after snowstorms brought by the tail end of a cyclone that struck eastern India last weekend.

 

It was the second major mountain disaster to strike in Nepal this year, after an ice-avalanche killed 16 sherpa guides on Mount Everest in April."This is one of the worst mountaineering accidents that I can remember," said Gopal Babu Shrestha, the treasurer of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, who has been helping with the rescue.

 

"It is inevitable that the death toll will rise from here."

 

Shrestha took part in helicopter rescue operations on Wednesday and said he had seen what looked like bright jackets and backpacks scattered near the Thorang-La pass, at an altitude of 5,416 meters (17,769 feet).

 

The pass is the highest point of the trail that loops around the Annapurna peak, the world's 10th highest mountain.

 

A Facebook page set up on Wednesday to help friends and relatives trace loved ones trekking in Nepal quickly filled with concerned posts from the United States, Canada, Australia and South Korea.

 

Rescue efforts focused on the Thorang-La area, where a blizzard on Wednesday killed six Nepali citizens, three Polish nationals and three Israeli hikers. Separately, in the neighboring district of Manang, four Canadian hikers and an Indian national were killed in an avalanche.

 

About 15 people have been rescued, and some are recovering in hospital in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.

 

MORE HELICOPTERS

 

The 240 km (150 mile) Annapurna circuit offers spectacular views of jagged peaks and Buddhist villages.

 

Taking almost three weeks to complete, it is perhaps the most popular walking routes in the Himalayas and is dubbed the "apple pie" circuit because of the teahouses lining the route that offer cold beer and home baking.

 

"It is our most popular trek," said Hari Thapoliya, a member of the Trekking Team Group in Kathmandu, which offers guides to tourists. "It is not particularly challenging. If you keep fit by running or doing other exercise you can do it." The hikers' deaths come during the peak trekking season in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest.For two days this week, Nepal was lashed by heavy rain brought by the cyclone that also battered neighboring India, killing at least 24 people. In Nepal, the weather triggered blizzards at high altitudes.A ground team of about 50 soldiers and police joined army helicopters looking for survivors or bodies."The weather is good," said Baburam Bhandari, district governor of Mustang district, the area worst hit by the disaster. "One army helicopter has already left for the site and more helicopters will be pressed into service later." Nepal's climbing business is still recovering from the shock of an ice avalanche that struck the lower reaches of Mount Everest in April, killing 16 guides in the worst disaster in the history of the world's highest peak.

 

More than a tenth of the nearly 800,000 tourists who visited Nepal in 2013 went hiking or climbing, providing a key revenue stream for the aid-dependent nation, which relies on income from tourism for 4 percent of its gross domestic product.

 

 

 

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19-minute film on LUMBINI, birthplace of Lord Buddha

 

May 18, 2014

 

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE LUMBINI, THE BIRTHPLACE OF LORD BUDDHA is a 19-minute documentary that premiered in Lumbini this week on the occasion of Lord Buddha’s Buddha Jayanti (birthday).

 

It’s beautifully shot, focusing on the site’s historical significance as well as emphasizing the importance of proceeding carefully with future tourism development in and around the Greater Lumbini area. Of particular interest is the filmmakers’ concern for the well being of the impoverished local population.

 

The documentary is a joint collaboration between the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu and UNDP Nepal, with the assistance of the Lumbini Development Trust.

 

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FILM 

 

 

 

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Last Rites of Everest Avalanche Victims: Photographic Essay by Thomas L. Kelly

 

April 30, 2014

 

For decades, renowned photojournalist Thomas L. Kelly has tirelessly explored various Asian cultures and the human rights issues arising therein.

 

Yesterday, Thomas was kind enough to send me photographs he took on April 21, documenting the last rites of the 16 Sherpa guides who lost their lives in the Everest avalanche of April 18, 2014. The bodies of the deceased were flown to Kathmandu and paraded to their cremations. Below are a few of those photographs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mingma Sherpa is Managing Director of Seven Summit Treks Pvt. Ltd. He is fighting the government on behalf of the 16 Sherpas who passed away in the Everest disaster: 1 million Nepali Rupees for each family;  30% of the royalty the government receives from foreign climbers to be placed in a fund; and the organization of a fund for the children of the deceased fathers until they reach class 10.

 

 

 

 

 

To view more of Kelly's work, 

CLICK HERE

 

 

 

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Fresh Everest avalanches -- all bets off in spite of rosy spin from Nepal’s Tourist Ministry

 

April 27, 2014

 

On Thursday, fresh ice avalanches struck the same perilous Everest route where 16 Sherpas were killed last week, making it almost certain this climbing season is over.

 

Contrary to claims touted by Nepal’s Tourism Ministry – published by THE HINDU and, unfortunately, repeated in this blog on Friday – the Sherpas have not agreed to resume work but, rather, have left the mountain.

 

According to Californian mountain guide Adrian Ballinger (as reported by Reuters), “even before the latest avalanches, there had been an exodus of teams from base camp due to the aggressive behaviour of a group of younger Sherpas there.

 

He said these Sherpas were determined to ensure that no one scaled Everest from the south side during this year's climbing season, which ends around May 25.

 

Yesterday, THE GUARDIAN reported  that,  “even as the pujas for the souls of the Sherpas were being held, a new mood took hold: anger. Its first and most obvious target was the government, which had announced a compensation package of 40,000 Nepalese rupees (£245). This was a derisory sum to the Sherpas, whose funeral rites could cost 10 times that figure, and a demonstration last Monday followed the religious ceremonies.”

 

Nevertheless, “amid growing calls for an immediate end to climbing on Everest as a mark of respect to the dead, Madhusudan Burlakoti, a senior official at the tourism ministry, quashed the idea that the season should end: ‘The expeditions will continue up the mountain. There is no reason to think it's unsafe now because of this natural disaster. These things happen in cycles and we will address them as they come.’”

 

THE GUARDIAN further reported that:

 

Such breezy reassurances did nothing to quell the growing anger among Sherpas that it is they who take the risk on Nepal's mountains and the government that takes a disproportionate share of the profits.

 

“Those who do not come from the region remained in camp, talking about what should happen next. Younger workers from other regions of Nepal that in the last decade came under the influence of Maoist political tactics of coercion and threat found the atmosphere of grief and anger the perfect moment to pursue a more aggressive agenda.

 

Two strands emerged at base camp, a 13-point plan demanding reform of Sherpa working conditions and a greater share of revenue for local people, and a more strident, less developed agenda that demanded an immediate end to climbing. A religious ceremony on Tuesday ended in a well-orchestrated demonstration.

 

More darkly, the team of Sherpas known as the Icefall Doctors who fix the ropes up this part of the mountain were told not to go back to work. Filmmakers were ordered to put their cameras away. One foreign expedition had communications cables cut during the night. Climbers and Sherpas alike speak of an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

 

Last year, following an assault on three European climbers by an angry mob of Sherpas at camp two, the government promised better security on the mountain, including a "facilitation office" with a police and military presence. It also promised that expedition liaison officers, who rarely bother to visit base camp, would be more visible. None of this happened. When the bodies of the Sherpas were airlifted to base camp, there were no officials on hand to record the names of the dead.

 

In a bid to shore up government authority, Nepal's tourism minister, Bhim Acharya, flew to base camp on Thursday, an oxygen mask on hand, to bolster morale, agree to most Sherpa demands for improved working conditions, and promise foreign climbers their permits would be valid for five years should their expeditions quit the mountain.

 

It was already too late. The exodus was under way, and as each of the bigger, better-resourced teams quit, the rest followed. Dave Hamilton, leader of British commercial expedition organisers Jagged Globe, told me: "The season is over. Almost all teams, including us, have cancelled for a variety of reasons. But it really comes down to the vast majority of Sherpas do not want to work. The minority who do have been threatened and intimidated into joining the action."

 

One thing is certain: The profile of Everest climbers has changed dramatically since Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary first climbed the peak in 1953. Hardcore alpinists have been replaced by rich vanity mountaineers, who pay a fortune to have their picture taken on the summit, while Sherpas do all the heavy lifting and risk their lives in the process.

 

 

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Today, Nepal Sherpas agreed to resume work after Everest disaster

 

April 25, 2014

 

 

Nepal’s agitating Sherpa mountain guides on Friday agreed to resume work on Mount Everest following negotiations with the government on their demands in the wake of the deadly avalanche that killed 16 of their colleagues in the worst disaster on the world’s highest peak.

 

The mountain guides had halted work in the Himalayas for a week to mourn the death of their comrades last Friday.

 

The Sherpas had threatened to halt work indefinitely to press for fulfillment of their demands relating to increasing insurance coverage, facilities, providing compensation and ensuring their safety in the Himalayas.

 

After a visit by top government officials led by Tourism Minister Bhim Prasad Acharya to the Everest base camp, the Sherpas have agreed to resume work, officials said.

 

While discussing with the Sherpas, the minister had urged all the mountaineering teams to continue their climbing expeditions, the Tourism Ministry said in a press release.

 

“The minister had also urged all concerned agencies to fix ladder and rope. In response to the request made by the minister the supporting climbers have agreed to support expedition activities,” the ministry said.

 

 

 

 

If some climbing teams want to quit their expeditions for this season and want to extend their permits, the ministry would make necessary arrangement to extend the time of their permit for next five years for the expedition teams of spring 2014,” the ministry added.

 

The ministry however requested all the teams to continue their expeditions as all necessary arrangements have already been made for the same.

 

The government earlier agreed to provide compensation to the kin of the deceased climbers, increase their insurance money by 50 per cent to $15,000, bear necessary expenses of the injured climbers and install a memorial of those killed in the accidents on Everest.

 

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Indian-sponsored plan imperils Nepal’s Chitwan National Park

 

February 17, 2014

 

The following article was originally published by the Nepali Times under title “Trespassing into Nature” (January 24-30 edition), co-written by Bhrikuti Rai and Sunir Pandey.

 

 

 

When Finance Minister Shankar Koirala presented the annual budget last July, he highlighted “projects of national pride” that he said would be the “lifeline for the economy”.

 

Besides hydropower and irrigation projects, he unveiled the East-West Electric Railway and the Tarai Hulaki Highway. No one would argue against more efficient mass transit along the Tarai, but the proposed route of the two projects cut through Chitwan National Park, threatening tourism and decades of conservation that has rescued the tiger and rhino from the brink of extinction.

 

On paper, the idea of upgrading the East-West Highway completed 30 years ago makes sense, since more than half the country’s population now lives in the Tarai and the plains provide easier connectivity than the mountains.

 

All proposed alignments of the new railway, however, would slice through the sanctuary. Chitwan Valley lies in the Inner Tarai and unlike other parts of southern Nepal, does not have plains bordering India to its south. The national park and its buffer zones therefore lay astride the proposed railroad alignments.

 

 

“What will remain of the national park when we have trains passing across the protected areas in 10 years?” rues Chief Warden Kamal Jung Kunwar of Chitwan National Park.

 

A feasibility study prepared in 2010 for the East-West Railway first took the tracks along the foot of the Someswor Hills near the famous Tiger Tops Resort in Meghauli. But that region is an important corridor for wildlife migration and the national park objected to it, proposing that the railway alignment follow the current Hetauda-Bharatpur road which skirts the park.

 

“There is no rationale for building a road or railway through one of the world’s most outstanding and successfully operating national parks,” says Hemanta Mishra, Nepal’s foremost tiger and rhino conservationist and architect of the Chitwan National Park in 1973. “A railway line and a road through the park without a comprehensive environmental and social impact assessment would undo 40 years of investment by the government, private sector, and the local community.”

 

A leaked detailed project report (DPR) prepared by the Department of Railways and obtained by Nepali Times shows various routes have been proposed, all of which cut through the sanctuary (see online). One of the routes involves digging two tunnels 14km and 11km long, but has been abandoned because of cost. The report most favours an alignment that will take the railway south along the Madi to Jagatpur track, across the Narayani in Amarapuri, then south-west across the Chure Hills to Tribeni (see map below).

 

 

Chief Warden Kunwar doesn’t understand why the railway has to go through the park at all when it could easily follow the existing East-West Highway. He says the impact of the road and railway would be what has been seen on the Tikauli jungle corridor where traffic has seriously disturbed wildlife. “If we cut the national park into pieces with road and rail, it will discourage animals from breeding and reduce the number of tigers and rhinos,” he says.

 

Eco-tourism activists are also worried about the potential impact of a reduction of wildlife and drop in visitor numbers to Chitwan. More than 150,000 people visited the national park in 2013, bringing in revenue of over Rs 177 million in entry fees alone.

 

Director General of the Department of Railways Rajeswor Man Singh, however, says it is too early to say with certainty if the railway will go through the park. “We still haven’t prepared a final report and we will recommend the contractor to take all precautions to make sure the national park is not disturbed.”

 

Additional leaked portions of the east-west railway DPR:

 

 

 

The department doesn’t seem to want to follow the exiting East-West Highway because it will add about 30km to the length and prefers a shortcut through the park. If that happens, the question will be which route would be the least harmful to the reserve. In the future, Bharatpur will be a strategic hub for not just east-west transportation, but also the shortest rail connection between Uttar Pradesh in India and Kerung in Tibet. Already five km of railtrack has been commissioned westward from Simara and the department is requisitioning land along the proposed route and five border links to Indian railways.

 

Some conservationists think a railway cutting through Chitwan is inevitable and are proposing underpasses for wildlife and fencing to reduce disturbances. Says former Chief Warden Jhamak Karki: “There are examples from around the world of roads and trains cutting through protected areas and there are ways to ease friction between conservation and development.”

 

The balancing act

 

Jhamak Karki, former chief warden of Chitwan National Park, was labelled ‘anti-development’ when he protested the construction of the bridge connecting Ghailaghari and Kasara in 2001. Two years later, the Rapti River flooded the bordering Jagatpur VDC killing nine and destroying 10km of canal, 180 metres embankment transmission line, and 10km of National Park fencing. 

 

“If it wasn’t for the short-sightedness of the planners, people wouldn’t have lost their lives. The bridge should have been built five kilometres downstream,” explains Karki. “The state cannot afford to neglect the well-being of local communities and the environment when building infrastructure.”

 

Ramiya Chaudhary (pic, above) of Ghailaghari is among the hundreds who lost their land and property in the 2003 disaster. “The river destroyed everything and I lived at make shift tents after the flood,” she says. “It took me more than year to build a new house.”

 

The current chief warden of the park, Kamal Jung Kunwar, now worries that bridges being built for roads and railways might overlook social costs in the name of reducing construction costs and there might be a repeat of the Ghailaghari tragedy.

 

Passing the buck

 

It is not just the prospect of trains roaring through the Chitwan National Park that is giving conservationists nightmares, it is the construction of feeder roads that will soon crisscross the sanctuary in eight locations (see map).The Ministry of Infrastructure Development awarded a contract for a bridge across the Narayani inside the reserve for the road, but after the park objected, the bridge was shifted further upstream.

 

“Upgrading the feeder roads around Chitwan and Narayani River will cut through the national park and the government is trying to circumvent the Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environment Assessment despite our constant reminders,” says Chief Warden Kamal Jung Kunwar.

 

The Hulaki Road network is an Indian-assisted project launched in 2006 and entails upgrading old postal and feeder roads, totalling over 1,450km across the Tarai. The Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) is involved in the Rs 11 billion project that is designed to improve connectivity in the Tarai.

 

Project chief Bijendra Bade Shrestha insists that the proposed route of the feeder roads in Chitwan National Park can be changed based on an Environment Impact Assessment. Shrestha says his office has asked the park to conduct the study, while Kunwar says he has received no such request.

 

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Earliest Buddhist shrine—dating back to Buddha’s lifetime—unearthed in Nepal

 

December 2, 2013

 

For the first time, scientists have uncovered archaeological evidence of when the Buddha's life occurred. Excavations completed in Nepal, have positively dated a Buddhist shrine in Lumbini that dates back to the sixth century B.C.

 

Lumbini was the birthplace of the historical Buddha.

 

The research, published in Antiquity Journal, describes the remains of a timber structure about the same size and shape as a temple built at the same site in the third century B.C.

 

From Antiquity Journal, December 2013 issue:  Key locations identified with the lives of important religious founders have often been extensively remodelled in later periods, entraining the destruction of many of the earlier remains. Recent UNESCO-sponsored work at the major Buddhist centre of Lumbini in Nepal has sought to overcome these limitations, providing direct archaeological evidence of the nature of an early Buddhist shrine and a secure chronology. The excavations revealed a sequence of early structures preceding the major rebuilding by Asoka during the third century BC. The sequence of durable brick architecture supplanting non-durable timber was foreseen by British prehistorian Stuart Piggott when he was stationed in India over 70 years ago. Lumbini provides a rare and valuable insight into the structure and character of the earliest Buddhist shrines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"This is one of those rare occasions when belief, tradition, archaeology and science actually come together," Professor Robin Coningham of Durham University in UK and co-director of the archeological team working in Lumbini, said at a press briefing Monday.

 

It is a very significant contribution in verifying that the Buddha's actual life overlapped with the popularly recognized time frame of 563-483 B.C.

 

"We know the entirety of the shrine sequence started in the sixth century B.C., and this sheds light on a very long debate," Coningham added.

 

Kosh Prasad Acharya (former Director General of Nepal’s Department of Archaeology, and currently Executive Director of the Pashupati Area Development Trust) said that in order to establish the actual date of the timber shrine and a previously unknown early brick structure above it, his team had tested fragments of charcoal and grains of sand from the site, using a combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques.

 

Geo-archaeological research has confirmed the presence of ancient tree roots within the temples central void. They had also sent fragments of the charcoal and the sand grains to a laboratory in the UK for cross checks and final confirmation.

 

 

 

 

Evidence of a shrine revering a tree is extremely significant, from a Buddhist point of view: According to Buddhist tradition, Queen Maya Devi, mother of the Buddha, gave birth to him while holding on to the branch of a tree at the Lumbini gardens, midway between the kingdoms of her husband and her parents.

 

“With the help of these findings, many other historical facts can come out,” said Acharya. “And I do want to clear the misconception of a few who think Buddha was born in India, as such discoveries at Lumbini will make it easier for them to accept the reality.”

 

Click here for my interview with KSOH PRASAD ACHARYA

 

 

Until now, the earliest Buddhist temples have been attributed to Emperor Ashoka, who in the 3rd century BC spread Buddhism across the region, as evidenced by his Pillar and brick built temple in Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage property since 1997.

 

“For the first time in South Asia, excavations have revealed a pre-Ashokan temple of brick, which itself was built over an earlier one of timber”, explained Professor Coningham at a press conference held in Kathmandu last week.

 

A team of Nepali and international experts worked together within the framework of a UNESCO project funded by the Government of Japan through the Japanese Funds in Trust for the Preservation of the World Cultural Heritage to UNESCO.  The first phase of the project was completed this month.

 

Coningham also said that even older remains of a village dating back to as early as 1300 BC were found a few hundred meters south of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, pushing the date of the settlement of the region back by a thousand years.

 

“We have now very robust proof that Lumbini’s history extends far before the visit of Emperor Ashoka.  The government of Nepal will step-up its efforts to preserve the outstanding universal value of the site”, says Sushil Ghimire, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I am pleased that the project that the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu has implemented in close cooperation with the Lumbini Development Trust and the Department of Archaeology has resulted in such important discoveries”, says Axel Plathe, Head of the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu and UNESCO Representative to Nepal.

 

Click here for my interview with AXEL PLATHE 

 

The Lumbini site in Nepal is one of four principal locations that are believed to be connected with the Buddha's life. Bodh Gaya is where he is became enlightened, Sarnath is where he first preached and Kusinagara is where he died.

 

 

 

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LUMBINI: Important new archeological finds followed by terrorist alert at the birthplace of Lord Buddha

 

July 15, 2012

 

Nepal has stepped up security in Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, with security personnel frisking every tourist entering the central shrine, nearly a week after a terror attack occurred at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, India, the site where Buddha attained enlightenment.

 

An emergency meeting of the Lumbini Development Trust held on Thursday decided to step up the security for immediate and long-term purposes in Lumbini, which is enlisted in the World Heritage Site of the UNESCO.

 

Lumbini, where only a few policemen were deployed earlier, is now guarded by a team of additional 30 policemen under the command of a Police Inspector, according to officials.

 

Armed Police Force personnel have been mobilized in the shrine to avert any untoward incident, the police said.

 

Special security arrangements have been made in the area while in some border areas and checkpoints more security personnel have been mobilized in plain clothes.

 

Besides Lumbini, nearby places with Buddhist links have been put under high security watch, according to officials at the Lumbini Development Trust, the nodal organization to manage the affairs of Lumbini.

 

 

Each and every tourist is checked thoroughly before being allowed to enter the shrine in view of the recent security issues.

 

Even the internal security of the main temple of the area has been stepped up, according to the Trust officials.

 

 

UNESCO archeological discoveries of major historic importance

  

The heightened security follows on the heels of new excavations within the Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini, Nepal. UNESCO reports that they have revealed evidence of a series of shrines extending the history of the site to a much earlier date than previously known.

Until now, the earliest Buddhist temples have been attributed to Emperor Ashoka, who in the 3rd century BC spread Buddhism across the region, as evidenced by his Pillar and brick built temple in Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage property since 1997.

 

“For the first time in South Asia, excavations have revealed a pre-Ashokan temple of brick, which itself was built over an earlier one of timber”, says Professor Robin Coningham of Durham University in UK, who co-directed a team of Nepali and international experts together with Kosh Prasad Acharya, at a press conference in Kathmandu today.

 

The team worked with the framework of a UNESCO project funded by the Government of Japan through the Japanese Funds in Trust for the Preservation of the World Cultural Heritage to UNESCO.  The first phase of the project was completed this month in Lumbini in Southern Nepal.

 

Coningham also said that even older remains of a village dating back to as early as 1300 BC were found a few hundred metres south of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, pushing the date of the settlement of the region back by a thousand years.

 

“These two discoveries are great steps which help us to better understand the origins of Lord Buddha’s life and the spiritual importance of Lumbini”, says Acharya Karma Sango Sherpa, the vice-chair the Lumbini Development Trust that looks after the preservation and management of the site.

 

“We have now very robust proof that Lumbini’s history extends far before the visit of Emperor Ashoka.  The government of Nepal will step-up its efforts to preserve the outstanding universal value of the site”, says Sushil Ghimire, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

 

“I am pleased that the project that the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu has implemented in close cooperation with the Lumbini Development Trust and the Department of Archaeology has resulted in such important discoveries”, says Axel Plathe, Head of the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu and UNESCO Representative to Nepal.

 

“Japan is honoured to have been able to contribute to the success of this flagship project”, says H. E. Kunio Takahashi, the Ambassador of Japan to Nepal.

 

The project has produced a number of other significant results.  It has enhanced the conservation of the three most emblematic monuments of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, namely the Marker Stone, the Nativity Sculpture and the Ashoka Pillar.  It has established an operational plan for the implementation of the Kenzo Tange Master Plan for the Sacred Garden and confirmed the continuous relevance of the Plan. It has established a comprehensive management framework for the property.  And it has increased the capacity of national experts and institutions to manage the site.

 

The project has demonstrated that the preservation and management of the World Heritage property of Lumbini cannot be isolated from the management of the rich cultural landscape of the greater Lumbini area.  Therefore a second phase of the project extending the scope of just completed project, is expected to begin shortly.

 

 

For more information, link to the official UNESCO LUMBINI WEBSITE:

 

 

CLICK HERE 

 

 

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Due respect, finally, for Nepal’s famed mountain guides

 

March 11, 2013

 

The following report appeared in this week’s issue of Nepali Times; written by Kanak Mani Dixit

 

 

After a decade of struggle and perseverance, the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA) has finally been certified by the International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations (IFMGA).

 

What makes this award special is that Nepal is the only other country in Asia besides Japan to be recognised by the IFMGA and it means our mountaineering guides are now part of an elite rank and can display skills and expertise from the Alps to the Andes and the Himalaya.

 

 

 

 

 

The journey to the top took more than three decades. In 1982, guides Tashi Jangbu Sherpa, Jimpa Jangbu Sherpa, and Padam Ghale became the first Nepali guides to receive instructor training at Chamonix in the French Alps. Ghale along with former and current directors of NNMGA, the late Iman Gurung, Pemba Gyalje Sherpa, and member Prem Gurung have been at the forefront of improving guiding standards.

 

 

The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) started in 1973, too, played a key role. For the last 20 years it has been offering basic and advanced training courses producing a pool of well-qualified, professional Nepali mountaineers.

 

However, politicisation and over-commercialisation have tarnished the institution’s value. Enrolling trainees based on political influence or bribes instead of ability has become common practice. But now that climbers can get certified directly through IFMGA, this will hopefully push NMA to become a more professional organisation on par with European and other counterparts.

 

A group of Nepali guides who received trainee diplomas from IFMGA in 2006 completed their final round of examinations in the Annapurna region last May. They were tested in ice and rock climbing, mountain medicine, meteorology, and rescue. This pioneer group was awarded certificates recently at a function at Shanker Hotel and NNMGA was formally welcomed to the international fold.

 

The final push for IFMGA membership came from an unexpected quarter: Chief Secretary Lila Mani Poudel got a first-hand understanding of the challenges faced by Nepal’s mountain guides when he led a team of 15 government employees on an Everest expedition in 2011.

 

For far too long Nepali guides have been regarded with suspicion and used only as porters or helpers on foreign-led expeditions. However, experience shows that they are better at acclimatisation, can carry heavier loads, identify alternative routes, and lead rescue efforts as well as their Western counterparts. They have even conquered technical peaks like Ama Dablam.

 

Full membership of IFMGA means new avenues for mountaineering in Nepal will open up, providing jobs to thousands. Most importantly, people across the country will be encouraged to take up climbing as a profession. Nepali mountaineering has finally arrived.

 

 

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HOW TO BUY LUMBINI: Prachanda inks deal with Chinese without consulting Nepal government

 

November 9, 2012 

 

On Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, former military commander of rebel Maoist forces in Nepal, now chairman of the Unified Communist Party and chairman of the Lumbini Development National Directive Committee of Nepal (LDNDC), inked a deal with the China-backed Asia Pacific Exchange Cooperation Foundation (APECF) that will bring in a reported $3 billion to develop Buddha's birthplace at Lumbini.

 

Prachanda signed this Memorandum of Understanding with Xiao Wunan, executive vice chairman of APECF Foundation. Presumably, Prachanda took it upon himself to make the deal in his capacity as chairman of Nepal's steering committee. But leaders of other political parties, including Dr. Minendra Rijal, member of LDNDC and ex-Minister of Culture, challenged Prachanda’s right to sign the deal unilaterally.

 

“The issue was not discussed in the committee, and it has not authorized Prachanda to sign it in the manner he did,” Indian Express quoted Rizal.

 

Apparently, no one in Nepal’s government was privy to Prachanda’s deal with the Chinese. The signing of the MoU was behind closed doors. The media was not invited. No details of cost, development projects or time needed to complete the projects were provided.

 

The Prachanda-APECF connection has been controversial from the beginning—not only for its questionable motives, but for its furtiveness (if not its out-and-out dishonesty) as well. (CLICK HERE for details.)

 

Yesterday, GlobalPost’s Jason Overdorf pointed out:

 

… some see China's enthusiasm for Lumbini as part of a larger "battle for Buddha," pitting Beijing versus New Delhi in the quest to expand "soft power," or cultural influence, within the region.

 

In this struggle, India seeks to use its common cultural heritage to overcome China's ethnic ties to the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and China seeks to limit the damage from its repression of religious freedom in Tibet and its incessant sparring with the Dalai Lama.

 

“This is part of China's effort to use Buddhism to gain an entry into Nepal, [and] to show to their Buddhists that they're showing equal attention to Buddhism outside the country,” Jayaveda Ranade, formerly additional secretary for East Asia with the Indian government, told GlobalPost of the Chinese proposal for the development of Lumbini.

 

… Prachanda was among the nine vice-chairs of the APECF foundation last year when it announced that the project was a done deal. But he had to backtrack following a protest from the Nepalese authorities, due to perceived irregularities in the way the agreement was forged.

 

Bizarrely, for instance, China's state-run People's Daily first reported that APECF had inked a deal with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to create a “special cultural zone” in Lumbini, only to be forced to retract the story when first UNIDO, then Nepal, denied any knowledge of the pact. Even weirder, it surfaced that not only Prachanda but also the controversial Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Nepal's former crown prince, held positions on APECF's board of directors.

 

As GlobalPost wrote then: at nearly one-tenth of Nepal's entire gross domestic product, $3 billion was a stupendous sum — and, some suspect, a wholly fictional one: a carnival barker's cry, crude propaganda, or a “trial balloon” to gauge how Nepal might react.

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Even the LDNDC came under fire from the Buddhist community. When LDNDC was created one year ago, Buddhist leaders pointed out that they had not been consulted, adding that, according to Outlook, the plan was “an attempt to commercialize the sacred place without their consent.”

 

One thing is obvious after Wednesday’s signing: Neither APECF nor Prachanda’s penchant for underhanded dealing is going to fade away. Quite the opposite: APECF and Prachanda keep raising the stakes, hell-bent on turning Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha, into a horrid theme park of gargantuan proportions.

 

 

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LUMBINI: The Tibet - Maoist - APECF connection

 

 

October 29, 2012

 

The following is an Oct. 26 DNA article written by Jayadeva Ranade, originally titled “A concerned dragon: China’s fresh overture to Tibetans”

 

As China prepares to usher in a new leadership at the 18th Party Congress scheduled to open in Beijing on November 8, there is mounting concern in senior echelons of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the rising resentment in the ethnic Tibetan minority.

 

Particularly worrying would have been the self-immolation on October 15, by the grandfather of the 10-year old Beijing-recognised VIIth Gungthang Rinpoche, which highlights the strained relationship between Tibetans and Communist authorities. A new feature is that recently thousands of Tibetans, disregarding heavy armed police presence, assemble at sites of the self-immolations to pray for the deceased and mark the spot.

 

[Note: Voice of America’s Tibetan service is reporting that Tamdrin Dorjee killed himself near the Tsoe monastery in northwest China’s Gansu province. Witnesses say after setting himself on fire, he shouted “long live Dalai Lama,” “free Tibet” and “let the Dalai Lama return to Tibet.” This latest protest raises the number of self-immolations in Tibetan regions of China to 55 since February 2009. The Tibetan government-in-exile says 45 of those cases have resulted in deaths.

China accuses Tibetan exiles of self-immolating as part of a separatist struggle. But representatives of the Dalai Lama say protesters are driven to self-immolate largely because they cannot tolerate China’s policies in Tibet.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a recent apparent bid to ease these tensions, Chinese authorities quietly sent an emissary and contacted Tibetan leaders in Dharamsala. Thinly cloaked as a venture of ‘Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation’ (APECF), a Chinese government-sponsored NGO manned by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres, the initiative seeks to revive plans to consolidate and expand China’s presence in Nepal and ingress India and its border regions, ostensibly by encouraging Buddhist tourism in Lumbini in Nepal. At least one executive director of APECF has links to China’s military establishment.

 

CLICK HERE for extensive information on APECF's controversial bid for Lumbini

 

Xiao Wunan, a senior CCP cadre and executive vicepresident of APECF visited India and was received in Dharamsala on August 16 by the Dalai Lama, Lobsang Sangay, then ‘Kalon Tripa’ (prime minister) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and Ugyen Thinley Dorjee, who is formally approved by the Dalai Lama and Beijing as the XVIIth Gyalwa Karmapa, or head of the Karma Kargyu sect. Xiao Wunan was accompanied byGong Tingyu, a Deputy Secretary General of APECF and Simon Kei Shek Ming, reportedly a journalist of the Hong Kong magazine Yazhou Zhoukan.

 

During his meeting with the Dalai Lama, Xiao Wunan probably carried a personal message from a senior Chinese leader, possibly Xi Jinping. He could have informed the Dalai Lama that he was welcome to spend his last days in Beijing provided he gave up ‘anti-China’ activities and expressed support for the Communist regime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xiao Wunan’s meeting with Lobsang Sangay, elected head of the CTA, is significant. It suggests Beijing may be willing to talk to its representatives. Lobsang Sangay is also ‘known’ to the UFWD for facilitating contacts between Chinese academics and the Dalai Lama. Coincidentally, within a month of the meeting the designation of the Head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) was changed from ‘Kalon Tripa’ (or prime minister) to the less controversial — from Beijing’s perspective —’Sikyong’ (or political leader).

 

Xiao Wunan’s meeting with Ugyen Thinley Dorjee reportedly ended abruptly when the monk took offence at the tenor of his questions. Xiao Wunan’s photograph with Ugyen Thinley Dorjee is, however, posted on APECF’s website.

 

Xiao Wunan also visited Nalanda when he met officials of the proposed university and assured financial assistance. In Delhi he met officials in the Ministries of Culture and Tourism. Returning to Kathmandu, Xiao Wunan disingenuously announced that APECF now has the support of the Government of India and would be organising three and four-day package tours for Buddhist pilgrims travelling from Lumbini to India.

 

Interestingly, Xiao Wunan separated from an official Chinese delegation visiting Kathmandu to visit India. The Chinese delegation included Zou Lanming, vice general manager of the Lanzhou-based China Railway 21st Bureau. Xiao Wunan’s presence could suggest China plans to extend the railway from Xigaze to possibly Lumbini, on the border with India. A month later Xiao Wunan announced that APECF had signed an MoU with UK’s Vertical Theme Park (VTP) Group for a Lumbini Cloud Tower project, with the Nepal Government’s approval.

 

Nepal’s My Republica on October 11, reported the Nepal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation’s denial that it was aware of any deal to develop Lumbini as an ‘international peace city’. Prachanda, leader of the Unified Communist Party-Marxist Leninist (UCP-ML), however, continues to be a vice president of APECF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile the CCP’s policy governing Tibetans, of combining economic incentives with intense political persuasion, remains unchanged. In an unusually candid interview to the Party mouthpiece People’s Daily on September 21, 2012, Chen Quanguo, party secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), enumerated the economic benefits extended to the people of Tibet. Disclosing measures to ensure ‘social stability’, he listed that 21,804 cadres had been sent to work in 5,451 administrative villages, that the Party had compiled complete sets of files and that 698 police stations had been established. All monasteries and temples now have photographs of the ‘four leaders’ (Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao), the national flag and a copy each of the People’s Daily and Tibet Daily. A project has also been started to ‘cultivate’ 100 senior monks and ‘guide’ Tibetan Buddhism to ‘adapt itself to socialist society’.

 

 

Jayadeva Ranade is a former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India.

  

 

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Lumbini’s cultural and historical integrity once again under fire – this time with the joined forces of China and UK theme park developer

 

 

 

 

October 13, 2012

 

According to yesterday’s report by Purna Basnet for Republica, the controversial Chinese government-connected Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) and Britain-based Vertical Theme Park (VTP) Group have inked a deal on developing Nepal´s Lumbini as an “international peace city”.

 

 

This blows previous Lumbini development projects out of the water, in terms of aesthetics, investment and the viability of preserving the cultural heritage of Lumbini, birthplace of the historical Buddha.

 

APECF had last year made public a three billion dollar project on developing the birthplace of Buddha. For complete details on APECF’s foiled proposal in spite of its Maoist-Beijing connection, click here:  LUMBINI IN PERIL

 

 

RELIGION AS LUCRATIVE ENTERTAINMENT: WHAT IS THE BRITISH-OWNED VTP GROUP’S EXPERTISE IN DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL CENTERS?

 

According to VTP’s mission statement, found in its website:

 

VTP Global are tower specialists and experts in major city centre entertainment and tourism projects.

 

Our team have a wealth of experience in the design, delivery, and long-term safe operation of entertainment towers, major urban attractions, theme parks, extreme activities and real estate.

 

VTP Global have assembled a world class delivery and operations team with significant experience in real estate development, leisure and theme park operations, ride design, health and safety and destination marketing. The business is majority owned by the Pettifer family (85%), with the remainder held by senior management and Intamin.

 

VTP Global deliver VTPs as turnkey projects and will advise as to the most suitable design, height and ride mix for a particular city, at all times working to an agreed project budget. Our team can conduct a desktop analysis on any new VTP opportunity within four weeks including site analysis, validation, visitor flows, real estate and financial structuring.

 

The operating team is headed up by Richard Pawley who is one of the most recognised figures in the leisure industry. Richard's achievements include being the first in the world to develop and operate innovative rides such as the "stand-up freefall", the UK's first "reversible log flume" and "stand-up spiral corkscrew roller coaster".
 

 

 

 

Republica reports that VTP Group’s realtors are “close to the United Kingdom´s royal family members.”

 

Again, from Republica:

 

"VTP Global Special Project Team has signed an agreement on developing Lumbini as an international religious destination," the VTP Group has stated on its website on September 13. As per the deal, VTP would work as the main development manager of the project.

 

Also, Xiao Wunan, executive vice-chairman of APECF, upon his arrival in Hong Kong told Republica that they have reached the deal after a series of discussions with officials from VTP group.

 

"VTP group was keenly observing the Lumbini project for the last one year. The group wants to apply the western concept and role in the project," said Wunan.

 

VTP group is a renowned international company, which has built towers, city centers and tourism destinations. The group is already working on a design of Lumbini Cloud Tower to be built as an "International Symbol of Buddhist Philosophy" in the northern side of the Lumbini Village.

 

"In London, the APECF delegation had an in-depth exchange with VTP Group regarding the Lumbini project and signed MoU with the company.

Subsequently the APECF delegation held a discussion with Eric Kuhne, the designer of Lumbini Cloud Tower, and both sides reached consensus," the APECF stated on its website.

 

Last year, the APECF had announced to have reached an agreement with the UN´s Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on developing Lumbini as an international peace city.

 

But later, the deal was dragged into controversy as the government of Nepal said it had received no notification in this connection.

 

APECF´s involvement in the proposed Lumbini project drew political attention as well because UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is co-chairman of the foundation and is actively involved in the Lumbini development project.

 

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Nepal: Survivors’ interviews of Manaslu avalanche– one of the deadliest slides in mountaineering history

 

September 29, 2012

 

Climbers who survived the avalanche on the world’s eighth highest peak (26,759 feet) have added light to the September 23^rd tragedy. As dawn began to break over Camp 2, bodies of their companions littered the mountain.

 

Nine people, including four French climbers, a Spaniard, an Italian, a German and a Nepali guide, were killed while two Frenchmen and a Canadian man remain missing.

 

Italian climber Christian Gobbi, 42, said he and his friend, Silvio Mondinelli, 54, had woken and were talking when suddenly their voices were drowned out by a giant roar before their tent was swept away.

 

"It was only a few seconds and we did not know what had happened, but we had slid more than 200 metres (650 feet). Then it stopped," he told AFP.

 

Gobbi and Mondinelli ventured outside their tent in the pitch black. But as the sun came up, they discovered the body of Dawa Sherpa, the Nepali guide who had led them on the hazardous trek and their friend, Italian Alberto Mariano, among broken tents, scattered belongings and the bodies of the other climbers.

 

"We were terrified -- we didn't know what to do," said Mondinelli, one of the world's most experienced climbers, who in 2007 became the sixth person in history to scale all 14 of the world's peaks above 8,000m without oxygen cylinders.

 

Rescuers found 13 people alive after the avalanche, described by survivors as looking like a "war zone", with several flown to hospitals in Kathmandu by helicopters.

 

"We were without boots and gloves -- we had only the sleeping bags. We waited an hour until sunlight and we found some boots and wore them," said Gobbi.

 

"There was one American, who was screaming and asking for help, but we couldn't do anything."

 

Gobbi said he and Mondinelli were not injured and were able to walk down to a lower camp, helping people along the way and applying dressings to their wounds.

 

"We checked to find out who was alive and who died. I alone saw seven dead bodies," said Gobbi.

 

A team of high-altitude sherpas ended a third unsuccessful search this week for three missing climbers, police said, with almost no hope that they would be rescued. District police chief Basanta Bahadur Kunwar said the sherpas had been using snow shovels, ice axes and bamboo sticks to search for the missing.

 

"I feel miserable, I don't know where I am anymore. I keep thinking of those who disappeared in the crevasses, who will probably never be found. It's a real shock," said French survivorvArnaud de Fouchier.

 

Experts have questioned the timing of the Manaslu expedition, arguing that the mountaineers should have waited a few more days. New snowfall, associated with the autumn season, which comes after the monsoon, is the most frequent cause of avalanches.

 

"Though the monsoon season usually ends by mid-September, they were a little early. One should attempt the summit in late September or early October," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, vice-president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

 

But there are questions being raised about whether too many people were on Manaslu last weekend. There were 30 teams registered to climb Manaslu, a 50 per cent increase from the previous year, Nepalese outfitter Ang Tshering told the Associated Press. In all, there were 231 climbers and guides camped along the trail leading up to the peak.

 

Overcrowding is in large part due to the result of heightened tensions between Chinese authorities and Tibetans; China rejected climbing permits this year for mountaineers hoping to scale peaks in the Tibetan Himalayas, forcing many onto mountains in Nepal.

 

….

 

 

 

 

 

 

A violent gust of wind stirred Greg Hill awake as he lay in his sleeping bag Sunday, his tent staked in the snow on one of the tallest mountains in the world.

 

It was 4:45 a.m. The Canadian extreme skier and his group had set up camp at 6,400 metres above sea level on Nepal’s Mount Manaslu, just above Camp 2 and off to the right to avoid the path of a potential snow slide. It took only a moment for them to realize that an avalanche had indeed hit.

 

“Right away, we started hearing voices and people shouting and so we got out of our tents and looked up the hill and we could see headlamps in the dark,” Mr. Hill said from Kathmandu.

 

The six of them gathered their gear and hiked up. It took them about 30 minutes to reach the disaster. They were the first rescuers to arrive. Tents and bodies, some alive and some dead, were everywhere.

 

The rescuers first focused on helping the people they could see atop the snow, providing oxygen bottles, laying people on mats and wrapping them in sleeping bags to keep them warm from the bitter cold.

 

Mr. Hill and his group dug with their hands and shovels to free those who were partially buried, including one man who was enveloped by snow to his shoulders and stuck in his tent. Among the climbers caught in the avalanche was American freestyle skier Glen Plake, who escaped with a black eye, broken teeth and sore arm. His expedition partner, French skier Greg Costa, is among the missing.

 

After a frantic hour, other climbers began to arrive to help.

 

“For about five hours, we basically rescued those that we could and dug up those that we couldn’t rescue,” recounted Mr. Hill to The Globe and Mail-Canada. “It was extremely tragic,” he said. “I have never witnessed death first-hand before.”

 

Mr. Hill and his group had initially planned to climb Cho Oyu in the Tibetan region of China, but changed their destination when they couldn’t secure a permit from Chinese authorities. Mr. Hill was serving as a videographer for an expedition accompanying German climbers Benedikt Bohm and Sebastian Haag. The German pair was attempting to set a speed-climbing record to Manaslu’s 8,156-metre summit.

 

The day before Sunday’s avalanche, Mr. Hill remembers seeing more than 100 people working their way up a rope line. “Looking up seeing all these people there, no doubt made me wonder if it is in fact a safe thing to have that many people on a mountain,” Mr. Hill said.

 

….

 

 

 

 

Renowned American extreme skier Glen Plake was another survivor.

 

Plake is a champion hot-dog skier who has appeared in many extreme-skiing documentaries, including 1988's "The Blizzard of AAHHH's," and also is well known for the tall mohawk he wears on the slopes. He had planned to ski down Manalsu, after reaching the summit.

 

"I was awake in my tent reading my Bible. ... The tent began to shake. We thought it was the wind but in fact it was an avalanche," Plake told reporters Wednesday at the Katmandu airport after returning from the mountain in a helicopter. "It was like an earthquake; it was like a tsunami."

 

Though he said he is "probably the luckiest person in the world," he was unable to find his friends and climbing companions, Remy George Lecluse and Gregory Ugo Costa, both of France.

 

"You are doing everything you can do because your friends' lives depend on your next action," he said. "Unfortunately everything I did proved to produce nothing. At that point, I had to think about my own life and start preparing."

 

Lecluse, Costa and a third person are still missing.

 

Nepalese mountaineering officials say eight bodies have been recovered: Fabrice Priez, Philippe Lucien Bos, Catherine Marie Andree Richard and Ludovic Paul Nicolas Challeat of France; German Christian Mittermeyer; Italian Alberto Magliano; Spaniard Marti Roirg Gasull; and Nepali Dawa Dorji.

 

 

……………………………………………………………..

 

LUMBINI, Part Fourteen: When China Smiles on Buddhism -- Mikel Dunham’s interview with Jayadeva Ranade

 

March 27, 2012

The huge Chinese offer to develop Lumbini, birthplace of Lord Buddha, has been shelved. The Hong Kong organization behind the $3 billion offer, the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), has regrouped in the wake of outcry over the paucity of its credentials, evidence that China’s government was behind the scheme and the questionable suitability of Prachanda being named co-chairman in the first place.

This week, APECF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nepali government to spend US$ 100,000 a year for the next five years -- a far cry from the original $3 billion but still a significant sum.

And still, the tainted scent of the APECF model lingers. APECF has not gone away. APECF hasn't changed. The forces behind APECF haven't changed. Only the amount it intends to spend in Lumbini has changed.

What is really behind Beijing’s interest in Buddhism and Lumbini? What would Lumbini look and feel like if China were given free reign?

I asked Jayadeva Ranade, one of India’s leading strategic analysts to discuss these questions in a recent interview.

LUMBINI, Part Twelve: Interview with a rickshaw driver

March 17, 2012

DUNHAM: How old are you?

DRIVER: 20 years old.

DUNHAM: How long have you been pulling a rickshaw in Lumbini?

DRIVER: For 4 years

DUNHAM: Where do you live?

DRIVER:  In a place near here. The village is called Parsa.

DUNHAM: Have you heard about the 3 billion dollar project in Lumbini?

LUMBINI, Part Eleven: The Prachanda/Ban Ki-moon affair – What’s the message?

 

March 16, 2012

 

On February 28, I posted a lengthy interview with KUL CHANDRA GAUTAM, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. This was two weeks before it was announced that Ban Ki-moon, current Secretary General of the United Nations, would attend a meeting in Lumbini on April 28, 2012 at the invitation of Prachanda.

What is one to make of it?

What kind of message is being sent when two such disparate personalities meet and oblige the media with the prerequisite handshaking and beaming smiles – the birthplace of the Lord Buddha rising in the background?

On the one hand, it is a major publicity boon for Prachanda, who led a violent ten-year armed insurgency in Nepal and who is now intent on presenting a kinder, gentler persona – at least to the international community. That’s the easy part to analyze.

But what does it say about Ban Ki-moon, the leader of the peacekeeping United Nations?

In an editorial written two days ago, Kul Chandra Gautam attempts to answer this question. Below is his article, released on March 9, 2012:

 

LUMBINI, Part Ten: Himalayan Buddhist community wants its say too

 

March 15, 2012

 

For almost a month now, I’ve posted exhaustive interviews with experts and stakeholders in the development of Lumbini, a topic that has gained increasing international attention since a Chinese-funded development offer came to light in July 2011. The Hong Kong-based organization in question calls itself the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF). It’s pedigree is nebulous; even its address and telephone number listed on its website have proven to be phony. Ex-Prime Minister and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” was named Co-Chairman of APECF, a detail that immediately raised eyebrows in regard to the appropriateness of a leader of a ten-year armed struggle taking the reins of a site that universally symbolizes non-violence. In the event, the gist of the controversial offer (now on hold, if not permanently debunked) was to pour an unprecedented three billion dollars into and around the Sacred Garden, where the historical Lord Buddha was born.

Regardless of APECF’s legitimacy, coming to terms with the finalization of a master plan before additional development resumes in Lumbini seems to have been ratcheted up in recent months. Only last week, it was announced that the UN’s General Secretary Ban Ki-moon would visit Lumbini on April 29, at the bequest of Prachanda and his recently-created “Greater Lumbini Development National Steering Committee.” And the three billion dollars, which probably never existed except in the fantasy world of Chinese businessmen – a staggeringly tantalizing sum for a nation in which three billion dollars equals 10% of Nepal’s annual GDP – has opened Nepal’s eyes concerning the very real value, (at least monetarily), of Lumbini as a tourism bonanza.

Experts and stakeholders recently interviewed by me include publisher-author KANAK MANI DIXIT, seasoned diplomat and civic leader KUL CHANDRA GAUTAM, internationally renown tourism consultant LISA CHOEGYAL, Greater Lumbini Development National Steering Committee member MINENDRA RIJAL, UNESCO Representative to Nepal AXEL PLATHE, Vice-Chairman of Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) ACHARYA KARMA SANGBO SHERPA, and long-time Lumbini archeologist KOSH PRASAD ACHARYA.

LUMBINI, Part Nine: More photos from Lumbini

 

March 13, 2012

 

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LUMBINI, Part Eight: Mikel Dunham’s interview with Lumbini archeologist Kosh Prasad Acharya

 

March 11, 2012 

Kosh Prasad Acharya, former Director General of the Department of Archaeology, under the Ministry of Culture, is currently Executive Director of the Pashupati Area Development Trust, Governing Council. He spent many years in Lumbini and Greater Lumbini as Nepal’s leading archeologist.

 

 

 

 

DUNHAM: I’d like to begin with your career.

ACHARYA: Basically, I’m an archeologist by profession but, later on, became a heritage manager as well. I’ve had the opportunity to work in Lumbini since 1985 – not continuously, but whenever required. Today, I am involved in the archeological investigations in Lumbini and Greater Lumbini. I worked for the Department of Archeology for more than 32 years and I retired as the Director General of the Department of Archeology, less than three years ago.

DUNHAM: In 1985, when you began working in Lumbini, at what stage was the Kenzo Tange master plan?

LUMBINI, Part Seven: Mikel Dunham’s interview with Vice-Chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust (LTD) Acharya Karma Sangbo Sherpa

 

March 9, 2012

 

Acharya Karma Sangbo Sherpa is a fully ordained monk of Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery. Currently, he is Vice-Chairman of Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) appointed by the government of Nepal. Mr. Sherpa is also an advisor to Nepal Sherpa Association, Pasuvali Nisedha Chetana Abhiyan and several other related organizations. He is also a selection committee member of the International Gautam Buddha International Peace Award.

Minutes before I interviewed Mr. Sherpa, he announced to the press that Ban Ki-moon would be visiting Lumbini April 28-30, 2012.

DUNHAM: Just as I was coming into your office this morning, the local news media was swarming the entrance of your office. Prachanda, Minister of Culture Gopal Kirati, former Minister Minendra Rijal and the other members of the Greater Lumbini Development National Steering Committee were just leaving the building. Was this your fourth meeting since the committee was formed?

LUMBINI, Part Six: Mikel Dunham's interview with UNESCO's Axel Plathe

 

March 8, 2012

Axel Plathe is the Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Nepal. I spoke to him in his office in Kathmandu, March 6, 2012.

 

DUNHAM: Perhaps the best way to begin is for you to describe UNESCO’s interest and involvement with Lumbini.

PLATHE: As you know, the site was inscribed in 1997 in the World Heritage list. Since then UNESCO has been engaged in Lumbini more or less strongly. We have particularly been helping, throughout the years, since the inscription, in managing the site. We have helped the government in establishing an approach on how to manage this World Heritage site.

LUMBINI, Part Five: Mikel Dunham’s interview with Dr. Minendra Rijal

 
March 7, 2012

Dr. Rijal is a member of Nepal’s recently created Greater Lumbini Development National Steering Committee, chaired by ex-Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”. Dr. Rijal, a member of the Nepali Congress political party, is also a current member of the Constituent Assembly, ex-Minister of Culture and Chairman of Apex College. 

DUNHAM: You’ve recently been appointed as a Member of the Greater Lumbini Development National Steering Committee. Now that the committee has been created, what progress can be reported?

LUMBINI, Part Four: Mikel Dunham’s interview with Lisa Choegyal

March 5, 2012

A conversation with an expert on the nuts and bolts of Nepali tourism

Lisa Choegyal is a tourism consultant who works throughout the Asia Pacific region, specializing in pro-poor sustainable tourism planning and marketing. With a background in the private sector, she was for over 20 years Director of Marketing of Tiger Mountain, Nepal’s pioneer trekking, adventure and wildlife operator. Based in Kathmandu, she has worked since 1992 as a senior associate of TRC Tourism (formerly Tourism Resource Consultants) in Wellington, New Zealand  (www.trctourism.com). Lisa was Team Leader of the ADB Ecotourism Project 2000-2001, DFID tourism monitor on TRPAP 2001-2005, tourism-marketing specialist for the ADB SASEC program 2004-2008, and prepared the UK Aid DFID Great Himalaya Trail development program for SNV Nepal 2006-2010. She serves on a number of non-profit boards related to tourism and conservation, and is New Zealand Honorary Consul to Nepal since 2010.

LUMBINI, Part Three: Dunham's photos taken on March 3, 2012

 

March 5, 2012

click on images to enlarge

LUMBINI, Part Two: Mikel Dunham’s interview with Kul Chandra Gautam

 

February 28, 2012

Kul Chandra Gautam is one of Nepal’s most distinguished international civil servants. He served as Assistant Secretary General of the UN and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. He was Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal on International Affairs and the Peace Process. He is a seasoned diplomat and civic leader and serves on the Boards of a number of international and national foundations and charitable organizations. 

He is also now listed by Lalrakshak, the magazine backed by the UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, as an “enemy of the people”.  

Why would Gautam be fingered as an enemy of the Maoists? Mr. Gautam has consistently argued that Prachanda’s involvement in Lumbini – specifically, Prachanda’s appointment as director of the controversial $3 billion Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) project – be more transparent. Toward the end of 2011, Gautam published an article in Republica called “Ten Question on APECF’s Plans”, cautioning the country to take a much closer look at both China’s and Prachanda’s roles in the Lumbini proposal. 

Yesterday, I spoke with Mr. Gautam in Kathmandu. The “Ten Questions” article is included at the end of his interview.

 

DUNHAM: When I say “Lumbini Project” what comes to your mind?

GAUTUM: There is no one Lumbini Project, there are many Lumbini projects. 

Actually, the whole effort to develop Lumbini started when U-Thant visited Nepal three decades ago and set up a Lumbini Development Committee at the United Nations, comprised of many countries. And the Lumbini Development Trust [LDT] was started here [in Nepal]. A few development activities started. You had Kenzo Tange, who prepared a master plan. That was supposed to be the plan we were going to follow for the development of Lumbini. So that was the origin.

The LDT, in a way, continues. It has gone through ups and downs. There have times of, “Wow! This is a great thing for us to do! Lots of excitement with King Mahendra, King Birendra, all the leaders of Nepal!” There were very exciting times when U-Thant was personally lending his authority. And there were many, many Buddhist countries – Japan, Thailand, Korea, and Sri Lanka – showing interest, trying to help develop Lumbini. As you know, there are many temples, monasteries in Lumbini built by various countries. 

But the master plan was never fully implemented. 

Meanwhile, I see that even in the last few years there are multiple development ideas that many people have offered. There is the official LDT. That is a government entity, but it seems not very active these days. It is there. It has some ex officio members: The Minister of Culture is the Chairman; the Vice-Chairman is now Acharya Karma Sangbo Sherpa. The chair in the old days used to be the King. The Vice-Chairmen were there for a long time. But they did not really seem to achieve much. 

The International Committee for Development of Lumbini, at the U.N. used to meet, from time to time. It’s chair was, at one point, I remember, maybe it was twenty years ago, the former King Gyanendra, when he was a prince: He was the Chair. But that committee has become defunct. It kind of just died after U-Thant died and the other Secretary Generals did not take as strong an interest. And Nepal, itself, was not pushing for it. So that was kind of disbanded. 

But meanwhile, many entrepreneurs have presented many ideas – Nepalis as well as international entrepreneurs. There is a Korean group very interested in development. There is a Malaysian group very interested in developing an airport and bringing in Air Asia.  All kinds of ideas! There is a Chinese group trying to build the tallest Buddha in the world in Lumbini. And I would say the most recent group, the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Forum [APECF] is the latest entrant into the panorama of so many groups being interested. 

But meanwhile, Nepalis have also, from time to time, taken an active role. They go hot and cold, as you know, but a few months ago, the Nepal government decided to form a committee or board for the development of Lumbini under the chairmanship of the Maoist Chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
This committee went to New York to visit the Secretary General. The Secretary General had shown interest. And UNESCO, which should be involved, had also shown its interest, from time to time. It was UNESCO that declared Lumbini a world heritage site. 

DUNHAM: And the APECF?

GAUTAM: This APECF organization kind of came out of the blue. Nobody had heard of it. But, as you rightly say, they came dangling three billion dollars of “Monopoly” money or whatever fictitious money it is, and they were kind of dazzling everybody with an international group of advisors, investors, venture capitalists – whoever they are – prominent people from USA, from Thailand, from Malaysia, etc., and with Prachanda and Prince Paras (at one point) as co-chairs. 

So, that is what I understand is the latest lay of the land, as it were. 

There are the private entrepreneurs wanting to contribute to the development of Lumbini. And there is the official part, which are the LDT, the UN and the government. So a lot of talk. But actually in terms of the real development of Lumbini, that is another story. This is not Rome, this not Mecca, this not like any of the important world religious headquarters. In fact, I have the feeling that some of the other Buddhist sites in India are being developed better and getting more attention.

Last year, I was in Bhod Gaya. I think there is a lot more happening there. There is a very nice new airport. The Bodh Gaya temple complex looks nice and clean and tidy. It’s much more impressive than Lumbini. And of course, in India, there is an effort to develop the old Buddhist university: Nalanda, the world’s oldest university. There is also some effort going on to develop the whole Buddhist circuit, with Sarnath, Bodh Gaya etc. 

Compared to the efforts going on in India, I think there is nothing comparable happening in Nepal at the moment. But I think we all dream about Lumbini being the major world pilgrimage site for Buddhists all over the world. Those who may not necessarily be Buddhists, but who are inspired by the teachings of Buddha on peace and non-violence – it is there place as well.

DUNHAM: Which would include Hindus.

GAUTAM: Yes, yes.

DUNHAM: What are the ramifications of a Chinese backed three billion dollar project, dropped into a site four kilometers from the Indian border?

GAUTAM: I’m not sure how seriously we should take the APECF project in the first instance. The possibility of this happening is a big question mark. This might all fizzle out into nothing. Or it might develop into something. Still, I think we should be watching, observing and being alert. The most important thing that is needed is transparency.

Let us be clear as to what this is all about. There were ten questions that I asked [see article below] that APECF needed to clarify. “Who are they? What are they? What are their objectives? What else do they do? Is their motive profit making or non-profit? Is there motive spiritual or commercial?” 

This is all very murky. The documents that we have seen were prepared hurriedly. The documents don’t read like a three billion dollar project. These are documents that you or I could write at Shangri-la Hotel in a few hours! So this could be all fly-by-night, dazzling stuff. 

But on the other hand, some of the people that they say are part of their board or their group are very prominent people: a former deputy prime minister of Thailand, a big business tycoon in Malaysia, a Rockefeller from America, etc. You cannot easily dismiss that either. 

In terms of ramifications, I would not want to go overboard in either scaring people or underestimating it. It is right now a bit fictitious. I’m not sure how much importance we should give it. 

If it were to happen, as APECF says it would happen in their original document, then obviously there would be ramifications. The question is would it happen transparently or in an opaque way. If it would happen transparently – everything on the table – it could be a wonderful thing. 

But it should be subject to debate and discussion and input...

DUNHAM: And scrutiny…

GAUTAM: And scrutiny. I have the feeling that this group wanted to pull a fast one. We can’t accept that. Many Nepalis and the international community have spoken about this.

One day, suddenly, some high profile name, an Australian “somebody” ends up in Lumbini. No prior notice, no agreement, no announcement and then suddenly they say they have a press conference. You do not do a three billion dollar project like that. It has to be much more mature, thoughtful and transparent. 

I hesitate to speculate on a project that seems so flimsy. 

If it were to happen, I think that we would want to ensure a couple of things. 

1) Lumbini, first and foremost, is a religious and spiritual site. That must be respected and must be put center stage. We have Kenzo Tange’s master plan. That cannot be thrown out the window. It was a seriously prepared plan. It was very thoughtfully done. We can do more than that plan but it must remain at the core. So first and foremost: the spiritual dimension; and there you will need the input –not from businessmen and tycoons but – people who are scholars and with religious personalities with in-depth knowledge of these issues.

2) My understanding is that they want to build a much bigger infrastrucure, not necessarily at the sacred places of Lumbini but in the surrounding area. Building an airport, helping the community develop, etc. To me, some of that, if done thoughtfully, would be a good thing. The only thing I would want to avoid is: don’t turn this sacred area into a Disneyland or a Los Vegas. It has to be done tastefully and befitting a spiritually site. 

But let’s remember that there are ordinary people living in the surrounding communities. If we can do anything to uplift their living standards, that’s a wonderful thing to do. We must do that. I would be quite positive about developing the hinterland. I would be very pleased if we could the development extend beyond Lumbini – going to the neighboring districts and other archeological sites. That would be a wonderful thing to do. Nothing like that has been done. And that is the kind of thing that would require two, three, four billion dollars! 

You were also asking about India, China and the international dimensions. Frankly, my feeling is that, if such a project is done transparently, with involvement of Nepalis who are experts in the various areas, who are responsible, who are accountable – I do not think that there aught to be too many sensitivities. 
 

Nepal’s foreign policy is such that we want to be friends with both India and China. We do not want to do anything against the interests of India or China. It is a sound policy. And there need not be international problems.

If we do something of that [$3 billion] scale, I would hope that we would link up with India and their plans to develop the Buddhist circuit from Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, to Kushinagar to Sarnath – and let it all fit into an even larger master plan. 

OK, so there could be Chinese groups along with the others developing – let’s do it in a coordinated manner so that it all becomes a wonderfully huge Buddhist circuit. It can be done and in a non-threatening way…to anybody.

What we need to avoid is hush-hush, hanky-panky goings-on. If we are transparent, let’s take India into our confidence. The more openly we do it, the better it is. 

China and India – the way I look at it – they want to develop good relations. I think in this country, we are too full of conspiracy theories. People think, “Oh! India is against China! We play this card and that card!” All of this is nonsense, to me. China and India are two huge world powers and, as world powers, they have their strategic interests, but they are not petty – trying to take advantage, a little here, a little there. That’s what many Nepalis imagine. I think Nepal and Lumbini are only small pieces in terms of China-India relations. They are talking about 100 billion dollars in trade. They look at it from that kind of perspective.  Let’s not be overly suspicious and speculating about their interests. I don’t like to do that. Let’s bring everybody into confidence. Let’s do it aboveboard. 

……….

 

TEN QUESTIONS ON APECF’S PLANS By Kul Chandra Gautam (first published in Republica)

There has been great excitement, debate and controversy about the plans of the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) to mobilize investment of US$3 billion plus for the development of Lumbini as a Special Development Zone (SDZ).

After four decades of failed attempts to develop Lumbini into a global pilgrimage site worthy of one of the world’s oldest and greatest religions with nearly a billion followers, any serious and ambitious plan for its development should be warmly welcomed. So far, Nepal has never had any development project worth US$3 billion in foreign direct investment. So naturally the proposed project by APECF arouses a mixture of awe, enthusiasm, curiosity and questions.

The mystery surrounding APECF, its history, origins, the secretive manner in which it seems to operate, its highly unorthodox approach – e.g. sudden unannounced Board meetings, sudden unplanned “guerilla ambush” type of visits to project sites, the lack of any published records of its constitution, criteria for selection of board members, no information on its bank accounts, financial procedures, etc. raise serious questions about the credibility of the organization.

One gets the impression that this is the initiative of some well-connected entrepreneurs who want to bamboozle a poor, chaotic country in transition, with promises of huge investment invoking the names of some big business tycoons and political personalities of various countries. The intention seems to be to dazzle the investment-hungry Nepalis by dangling big names and huge sums of money to secure a profitable investment opportunity bypassing normal due diligence review of projects of such magnitude and importance.

Before this project goes any further, its sponsors need to answer the following 10 questions:

(1) What is the real purpose of APECF? Besides development of Lumbini, what other projects has it implemented so far? Where can we find the records of its past activities and achievements?

(2) Is APECF a private foundation? A charity? An investment company? What does it offer to potential investors? Are the members of the Foundation included as investors, lobbyists, or as voluntary, philanthropic individuals?

(3) What exactly are its links with the Government of China? Perhaps the high-level Chinese delegation arriving in Nepal today can explain this, and clarify how mindful it is of the geo-political sensitivities concerning a project of this nature and magnitude being negotiated with a transitional government in the current unstable circumstances of Nepal.

(4) A MOU signed between APECF and UNIDO in Beijing on June 15, 2011 says that the mission of APECF is to “provide full range of support for the project entitled ‘promotion of South East Asian IPA Network’. What is this project, and the IPA network? How does Lumbini fit into this network? How does Nepal, a country in South Asia, fit into a ‘South East Asian’ network?

(5) Is there a constitution of the Foundation? Does it specify how its Board members are selected? How were Prince Paras and Pushpa Kamal Dahal (identified as Mr Prachandpath in the plaque provided to the chairman of the UCPN (Maoist) by the organization) selected to be co-chairpersons of the Foundation? Who proposed their names?

(6) A Mr Xiao Wunan is apparently the executive vice-chairman. So who is the chairman? Why is the chairman’s name kept a secret? Who are the other office-holders? How many full-time staff does APECF employ? Are there minutes of the APECF meetings, including the ones said to have been attended by the Nepali co-chairmen? Are these minutes available for the public to review?

(7) Where does APECF keep its bank account(s)? What are its sources of income and the breakdown of its expenditures? Who audits its financial reports? Is an audited report of its financial accounts available?

(8) Did Pushpa Kamal Dahal consult his party or the Government of Nepal before joining the Foundation as its co-chairperson? As a former prime minister, influential political leader, and potential future Head of State or Government of Nepal, will Mr Dahal refrain from participating or voting or influencing any decision-making on the possible Lumbini project to avoid any conflict of interest?

(9) Are the co-chairpersons of the Foundation paid honoraria? Do they get any shares or dividends in this Foundation’s investment or profits? Does APECF pay for the travel and other costs of persons accompanying co-chairpersons Paras and Prachanda when they attend its Board meetings?

(10) Is it within the jurisdiction of the UNIDO office in China to sign a project agreement with a private foundation based in Hong Kong for the development of a project in a third sovereign Member State of the United Nations, without official consultation with or concurrence of the government of such country, and without any coordination with the UN country team in that country?

Unless these very basic questions are answered satisfactorily, the Government of Nepal would be ill-advised to proceed any further with this project. The government should treat APECF as any other private investor or consortium of investors looking for an investment opportunity in Nepal. Government ministers and officials are expected to keep a certain distance from private investors seeking government contracts and business opportunities, so as not to compromise their objectivity vis-a-vis other competing potential investors, and to avoid any conflict of interest in their official duties.

APECF is not a multilateral or bilateral donor agency, nor an inter-governmental organization like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, or a UN agency. So it is highly inappropriate for any senior government official or autonomous government body like the Lumbini Development Trust to roll-out the red carpet to receive a business delegation that parachutes into Kathmandu or Lumbini without prior notice, invitation or mutually agreed plan.

Nepal risks turning into a “Banana Republic” if any visitor dangling the promise of a big bundle of cash is welcomed as a state guest, and organizations with dubious credentials, no prior track record of any achievement, and with secretive working methods, are treated as serious investors without any due diligence vetting.

We must warmly welcome potential partners and investors who come with good intentions and serious plans for the development of Lumbini, keeping in mind its historical, religious and cultural importance of the national as well as global pilgrimage site. We must protect the sanctity of the World Heritage Site even as we seek to develop Lumbini and its surrounding region for the sake of the people of Nepal. Lumbini’s development must respect the letter and intent of the carefully prepared master-plan of architect Kenzo Tange. It must involve credible and concerned international organizations like UNESCO and the United Nations itself.

The views and advice of Buddhist scholars and archeologists should be sought in developing Lumbini so that we do not inadvertently turn a sacred spiritual site into a money-making Disneyland or Las Vegas. Lumbini is too sacred to be turned into an experimental ground for unscrupulous venture capitalists, but true investors and partners conducting their operations with professionalism, dignity and transparency should be welcomed with open arms, and the customary hospitality of the Nepali society.

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LUMBINI, Part One: Mikel Dunham’s interview with Kanak Mani Dixit

 

February 27, 2012

 

Yesterday, in Kathmandu, I interviewed Kanak Mani Dixit. I asked him to address the controversial issue of the recent $3 billion proposal, apparently spearheaded by a Hong Kong organization, to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. The project would transform a backwater holy pilgrimage into an international tourist Mecca. For an impoverished country such as Nepal, whose GDP was $35 billion last year, the Lumbini project would be worth almost 10% of Nepal’s annual GDP.

Where will this money come from? Beijing denies that the Chinese government is financing the project. But evidence suggests that the organizers have close contacts with the Chinese government. The organization is called the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), a quasi-governmental, non-governmental organization whose executive vice present, Xiao Wunan, is a member of the Communist Party and holds a position at the National Development and Reform Commission, a state agency. It may also be relevant to point out that the first place China’s new ambassador to Nepal chose to visit, following his appointment several months ago, was Lumbini. One additional twist in this story: The Nepali director of the APECF project is Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known to the Western world by his nom de guerre “Prachanda.”

Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh’s “The Great Himalaya PLANT GUIDE”: All trekkers please take survey!

 

January 21, 2012

The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (RBGE) is planning to bring out a Great Himalaya Trail guide in print and electronic format on plants and their use along the GHT, the first of a series that will enrich interpretation for Nepal trekkers, improve the visitor experience, and promote local cultural / environmental awareness along the Trail. Here’s what RBGE needs from tourists, trekkers and mountaineers:

"At the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh we are embarking on a new venture to produce authoritative botanical guidebooks for Nepal. The aim is to help visitors and guides to learn about the plants they encounter on the Great Himalaya Trail. The guides, in print and electronic format, will concentrate on conspicuous plants seen along trail and give information on how these plants are used by the local people.

"To ensure we best serve the needs of potential users (trekkers, tourists, trek guides, trekking agents, tour operators and naturalists) we are seeking guidance and suggestions on what people would like the guidebooks to provide and in what format. With over 6000 plant species known from Nepal we will necessarily need to be selective in the plants and their place in local culture.

THE GREAT HIMALAYA TRAIL: Tourism, Climate Adaptation and a Way Forward for Nepal

January 14, 2012

Climate change’s impact on the Himalaya is visible everywhere one travels in Nepal. Erratic monsoons and changes in rain and snowfall patterns are leading to unpredictable and intense flash floods and landslides. Increasing intensity and frequency of forest fires are threatening bio-diversity. These and other negative impacts created by climate change are threatening the welfare of the Nepali people and the nation’s economy, including its tourism industry, a leading source of income.

Recently, one solution for turning Nepal into a climate-resilient nation has been launched in which the people of Nepal are being offered positive forms of climate adaptation through responsible tourism-led economic development. The Great Himalaya Trail Development Programme (GHTDP) has joined hands with the Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI) to introduce and establish eco-friendly tourism, while bringing sustainable development opportunities to remote and poor communities in the Himalayan region.

Mikel Dunham on Radio Free Asia: Move over Nepal, China wants Lumbini (PART II)

 

 

August 24, 2011

A little-known Chinese foundation has announced plans to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in Nepal, as a major tourist destination, but the project's future is uncertain. The controversial $3 billion development plan aims to convert the area into a 'Mecca' for Buddhists.

 The Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) said it wants to develop Lumbini “into a magnet for Buddhists in the same way as Mecca is to Muslims and the Vatican for Catholics.”

The plans call for hotels, an airport, and conference halls to be established in the out-of-the-way pilgrimage site in southern Nepal, near the Indian border.

Nepal’s government has yet to approve the project, however, and questions remain about the mysterious foundation and its backers and the role of the United Nations in the controversial venture, which is expected to cost $3 billion.

The plan to commercially develop Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been “blessed by the Chinese government,” said project promoter Xiao Wunan, APECF executive vice chairman, in a statement on the foundation’s website.

Reached for comment about whether it supports the plan, and about possible damage to the site if the project goes ahead, UNESCO said only that it supports “the integration of heritage protection concerns into any regional planning.”

“UNESCO advocates for a development of the Greater Lumbini Area that is focused on the spiritual, cultural, and archaeological assets linked to Buddha,” said Axel Plathe, director of the UNESCO office in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

APECF, which boasts a “secretariat” in Beijing, did not respond to questions on funding sources or on ties to China’s government directed to its Hong Kong office.

Confusion over deal

Nepal’s ministries of culture and foreign affairs have been kept uninformed of developments related to the project, according to local press reports.

And the Vienna-based United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) denied last week that it had authorized a document, signed in Beijing by a China office representative on July 15, to support the foundation’s plans to develop the pilgrimage site.

“An intended Memorandum of Understanding between UNIDO and APECF was never approved by the responsible UNIDO approval bodies,” said UNIDO advocacy assistant Ravindra Wickremasinghe in a statement sent to the Kathmandu Post and reported on Aug. 19.

“Any reference to a UNIDO involvement in the Lumbini Special Development Zone is thus without any legal and substantive basis,” Wickremasinghe said.

UNIDO is the specialized U.N. agency promoting industrial development for poverty reduction, “inclusive” globalization, and environmental sustainability.

According to sources familiar with the plan, the memorandum had been signed by the local UNIDO representative without the necessary clearance from the agency’s headquarters, according to a report in India’s The Hindu newspaper.

On Friday,  Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav was quoted as saying in Kathmandu that following the UNIDO clarification, “the APECF chapter has been closed from today.”  He did not elaborate.  

Who will gain financially?

Mikel Dunham, a writer and blogger on Nepal’s politics, said that APECF’s plans are “still shrouded in a lot of mystery.”

Dunham noted that Maoist former Nepalese prime minister Prachanda and Prince Paras, a member of Nepal’s royal family, are on board as prominent backers of the project.

“Nobody’s talking about who really is going to gain financially from this,” Dunham said.

"Who is going to be making this money? Why is Prachanda a co-chairman? What is he getting out of this deal?"

Though some building of temples and roads in Lumbini has already taken place over the years, the site was still largely undeveloped as recently as 1989, said Dunham, who travels frequently to Nepal.

“In its disrepair, it had also retained a kind of purity,” he said.

“Traditionally, in pilgrimages, you go to places where enlightened beings have been so that your own spiritual practice will benefit.”

“How do you separate religious intentions from people who are there to make a quick buck?”

 

Reported by Richard Finney.

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LUMBINI, NEPAL: Chinese-Maoist Scheme to Commandeer the Birthplace of Buddha

 

August 12, 2011

A Chinese NGO has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UN Industrial Development Organization to transform Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, into a mega-complex of international tourism. The problem is that the Nepal government wasn’t notified of the project. To make matters worse, it now has been revealed that Maoist Supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” is co-chairman of the controversial (and up until now little known)NGO. 

Since when did the Chinese and the Maoists in Nepal get to decide what’s best for Nepal without bothering to confer with the government of Nepal? 

The NGO in question is the Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation and Exchange Foundation (APECEF).

Mikel Dunham on Radio Free Asia: Nepal Arrests Dalai Lama's Envoy

 

August 6, 2011

 

 

Authorities in Nepal arrested on Friday the Dalai Lama's new representative in the Himalayan territory after he held a news conference calling for protection of Tibetan refugee rights, sources said.

The arrest of Thinley Lama, volunteer coordinator of the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office, came amid persistent pressure from Beijing urging the Nepalese government to stop “anti-China activities” by Tibetan refugees.

He was taken away and interrogated by police after he held a press conference asking the Nepal government to ensure the rights of the country’s 20,000 Tibetan refugees under Nepal’s new constitution.

The press conference, held at a Kathmandu hotel, was Thinley Lama’s first since his June appointment. (Full transcript translated into English provided below.)

Thinley Lama, a Nepali citizen, was expected to be released after signing  specific "commitments," a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“They want him to shackle himself in future press conferences,” the source said.

PERSECUTION

Rights groups criticized the Nepali government and called for strong action from the international community and an end to what they called "persecution" of Tibetan refugees in Nepal.

"I think this gesture—arresting this representative of the Tibetan government in exile—brings us to a new low," Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch's Asia advocacy director, told RFA.

"We have not seen behavior this specific, this aggressive, and frankly this baseless, in quite some time, and it is a very alarming development that requires a fairly vociferous response from the international community to make sure that the government of Nepal is upholding its obligations to Tibetans," she said. 

China has been more aggressive in urging Nepal to take action against Tibetan refugees since last month when the new Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Yang Houlan, assumed office, news reports said. 

Yang had reminded the Nepali government and political parties in the country against allowing any “anti-China activity” by Tibetans living in Nepal, the reports said.

Tibetan refugees living in Nepal are under pressure to avoid asserting their national identity as their host country moves closer to its powerful northern neighbor China, analysts say.

Even religious ceremonies and community gatherings by Tibetans are increasingly viewed with suspicion by authorities in Nepal. They were also prevented from celebrating the birthday of the Dalai Lama last month.

Many of the refugees arrived in Nepal following a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in which thousands fled south across the Himalayas.

Many still flee Tibet each year, hoping to transit Nepal to India, home of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

At the press conference on Friday, Thinley referred to four treaties signed between Nepal and Tibet as two "sovereign countries" in 1645, 1789, 1792 and 1856, the Times of India reported. 

He noted that on the basis of amicable relations with Tibet, earlier Nepali governments had given sanctuary to Tibetans forced to leave their countries as "political refugees," the report said. China says there are no Tibetan “refugees,” only illegal immigrants.

"I guess the thing that really ‘got their goat’ was that he referenced old treaties between Nepal and Tibet," said Mikel Dunham, an American writer and blogger on Nepal’s politics who frequently travels to the country."That would not have gone down well, particularly with the new Chinese ambassador in Nepal, Yang Houlan, who seems to be the feistiest of all the [Chinese] ambassadors so far."

Nepal 2011: Hosting the most magnificent Himalayan trek … ever

 

January 4, 2011

 

To attract tourists from all over the world, Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has come up with an ambitious plan: “Visit Nepal Tourism Year 2011”. An organization called The Great Himalayan Trail has come a long way to ensure that, indeed, Nepal tourism will reach new heights in 2011.

For those who are planning to visit Nepal for the first time, the trekking opportunities have never been more exciting. For those of you have already trekked the Himalaya, the bar has just been raised:

Now available in English: “Sherpas: The True Heroes of Mt. Everest”

 

November 10, 2010

Last year, the Kathmandu International Film Festival awarded Best Film to “Sherpas: The True Heroes of Mt. Everest”, directed by Frank Senn, Hari Thapa and Otto C. Honneger.

This is an incredible documentary – and long overdue. It focuses on the vital role that Sherpas play in making it possible for wealthy Westerners to summit the mountain. Even more engrossing is the fact that it is primarily told from the Sherpas’ point of view. It is the Sherpas who mule the oxygen tanks, the heavy loads of equipment, fuel and food. It is the Sherpas who forge ahead – well in advance of the Western climbers – testing and bridging the crevasses and identifying the sinkholes that constantly shift with every expedition. It is the Sherpas who ensure with smiling faces that each successive base camp is set up – tea boiling – when the Westerners arrive from a day’s climb. And if catastrophe strikes, it is the Sherpas who are responsible for bringing down the injured or dead.  

 


The original version was released with German subtitles, which rather limited a wider audience. Now, however, an English version has been released and I recommend it to all mountaineers, trekkers or any Westerners who are simply interested in the sociological and moral ramifications of putting Sherpas’ life at risk for the sake of the personal glory.

This is a priceless addition to a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Nepali.

                                          Click here for youtube  Trailer for Sherpas: The True Heroes of Mt. Everest

 

To purchase your copy of the DVD, you can contact directly the Nepali director Hari Thapa. I received my copy (sent to America) within about a week. If you are in Europe, it might be easier to contact Frank Senn. Here are their emails:

 

Hari Thapa: [email protected] 

 

Frank Senn: [email protected] 

 

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2009 Economic Forecast for Nepal: Don't Forget the Vampires

February 7, 2009






































Last autumn, when the new government took control of the country, it was hoped that the international economic crisis would have minimal impact on Nepal’s fledging economy. The reasoning went that, since Nepal was only marginally involved with global finance, the country could emerge from a world recession relatively unscathed.

When I interviewed Finance Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai (September 2008) and asked him about the possible ripple effect of the plunging world market, he was cautiously optimistic: “Actually, it has some impact,” he agreed, “but it’s not very big because our economy is at the far periphery of the global economy. In that sense, I think the impact will be minimal. So we will work out measures, keeping this in mind.”

Nepal Political Update: The new Dark Age

 

January 13, 2009

   

For those Nepalis who went to the polling booths last April hoping that Maoist leadership would serve as a restorative to a succession of inept governments – a parade of political parties that, one after another, proved to be subsumed by personal or political agendas at the expense of the nation’s well being – those same optimistic voters may find themselves now surreptitiously consulting their calendars and wondering what is happening in the “new” Nepal. What happened to Prachanda’s magic wand? What happened to his momentum? The Maoist Prime Minister, whose cardinal duty is to help secure a lasting peace by orchestrating the creation of a new constitution, seems deadlocked with vying parties, dogged by a power crisis with no end in sight, intransigent in his dealings with the Nepal army, and sidetracked by secondary issues that may be of great ideological importance to his party but ill-timed if his main goal truly is to, first and foremost, get a new constitution up and running. The problems are titanic for any man who takes the helm of a poor and unstable nation. But in the first 100 days or so of his tenure, Prachanda’s steering of the Ship of State seems to be handicapped with a faulty compass. Has he taken his eye off the prize in order to keep peace within the adversarial leadership of his own party? Where’s the pragmatism that is essential in a leader if he is to garner support from the broadest constituency possible and prod the country forward? Has he gone myopic and inadvertently isolated himself from a large chunk of the people who took a deep breath and wished him well last April?

Currently, the Prime Minister’s most pressing problem is to quite literally rescue the country from darkness. No government can survive the 21st century without providing its people with an adequate source of electricity.

























THE POWER CRISIS

Toward the end of December, the new government declared a national power crisis. This is the dry season in Nepal, a country that depends on hydropower for most of its electricity. The water levels in the major rivers are low and mountain snows aren’t melting fast enough to make up for the deficit.

But the electrical shortage is not just a seasonal one. Bishnu Poudel, minister for water resources recently warned, “It will take at least five years to free the country form power shortages even if everything works out as planned.”

The State-run Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) generates a mere 300 megawatts of electricity against a demand of 800 megawatts; public demand for electricity is growing 10% annually. The picture becomes even gloomier when one takes into account that only 40% of the Nepali population has ever had access to electricity. The majority of the Nepal’s population still relies on wood -- an increasingly precious natural resource -- for their cooking and heating needs.




The power shortage has severely hobbled industry and business productivity and now, in mid-January, private television stations announced that they have been forced to cut broadcasting time by five hours a day.

The news gets worse: Beginning last week, the NEA increased the length of load shedding to 16 hours a day. Basically and quite literally, Nepal is living in the dark with a reportedly marked increase in crime in the urban areas. Frustration and anger and resentment will only continue to fester and grow – not the healthiest scenario for the world’s youngest republic, which is attempting to take its first steps toward a brighter future.

 

THE QUESTION OF THE ARMY




Another stumbling block for Prachanda is how to deal with the army. The peace process is already fragile enough without the additional gamble of forcing Maoist integration into the armed services, especially when there are numerous alternative solutions available. The question of the army does not have to be an “all or nothing” proposition.

Moreover, the question of the army must be resolved by political consensus. The Maoists prevailed in the April 2008 elections, but they did not get the kind of resounding mandate that would allow them to simply bulldoze their way into the army and reconfigure it to their liking. The sooner the Maoists quit behaving as if they have a monopoly on the army question, the sooner the country can get on with the peace process. The Maoists must work with the other parties on this issue. Without comprehensive, collective support the peace process cannot move forward.

What are the alternatives to integrating ex-rebels into the Nepal Army? One thing is certain: The Maoist combatants must be addressed with as much sensitivity and promptness as possible. There are dire social, economic and political implications if they are not handled with kid gloves. 32,250 Maoist cadres registered in 28 cantonments – all of who are basically idle and under-skilled, while the politicos determine their fate – must feel that they have the right to choose, that they are part of this process. Instead of forcing them into the army, they should be given the option of returning to the community with assistance to pursue further education and employment opportunities, with health benefits and financial support in place to shore up the odds of successful re-integration into civilian society.










In the meantime, the army must be allowed to thrive. It serves no one’s interest for the military status quo to be compromised. Yet this became a white-hot issue last week when the army announced its ongoing intention of recruiting 2,884 personnel to fill vacant positions and Prachanda rejected the proposal. Chief of Army Staff General Rookmangud Katawal responded by saying that the army was above politics, that its duty to the people of Nepal was to ensure territorial integrity, national unity and sovereignty.



A behind-the-scene meeting took place a few days later between the general and the Maoist’s defense minister, Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal. It was reported that heated words were exchanged, that both men were infuriated, although the general later dismissed it as a routine meeting.

Regardless, the army is unlikely to willingly accept integration into its ranks politically indoctrinated combatants – men and women who they once fought bitterly, for a decade. Nor is General Katawal likely to ever “bear the flag of any particular party”, as he was reported to have said last weekend.

Perhaps the present government should heed the philosophy of Nepal’s most famous native, the Buddha, and follow a “middle path” instead of clutching to and demanding that there is only one possible solution.


A TOTALLY UNNECESSARY DISTRACTION: PASHUPATINATH

The holiest Hindu temple in Nepal, Pashupatinath, was turned into a political free-for-all these last few weeks when Prachanda sacked three Indian priests -- including the head priest -- thus breaking a time-honored tradition dating back nearly three centuries. The peremptory decision to replace the Indians with Nepali priests touched a raw nerve among the devotees of Lord Pashupatinath and threw into question the Maoist-led government’s apparent desire to become the self-appointed arbiters of all things spiritual.

Apart from the main Pashupatinath temple, the complex encompasses 518 temples, monuments, cremations ghats along the sacred Bagmati River, and is listed by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site. Its regarded as one of the eight holiest Hindu shrines in the world. Tens of thousands of pilgrims, both Nepali and Indian, annually pay homage there.




It came as little surprise, then, when protests erupted in both Nepal and neighboring India.

Nepali Congress, the opposition party in Nepal, was quick to condemn the “slap in the face” to ancient Hindu customs, particularly in light of the fact that the party attempting to re-write religious tradition boasts an atheistic ideology.

Former King Gyanendra, who has shied away from the spotlight since the abolishment of his monarchy, made a rare public statement: “I request and urge the Nepal government, devotees and all others to keep the Lord Pashupatinath Temple above politics. Faith, tradition and religious practices are matters closely linked with the right and responsibility of our life and nationalism.”

The Supreme Court chimed in by asking temple authorities not to honor Prime Minister Prachanda’s edict but, rather, stay the appointment of the new head priest.

Reaction from the Maoist youth organization (YCL) was swift and aggressive: Cadres assaulted temple priests, who were preparing to address a press conference to protest governmental interference. On January 5, the Pashupatinath Area Development Trust, an autonomous body that manages the shrine, banned all rallies and press conferences within the environs of Pashupatinath.

On the same day, Nepal’s major parties joined the chorus of condemnation, thus putting pressure on the Prime Minister to rethink his position. It seems to have worked. After a hasty meeting with President Ram Baran Yadav, Prachanda relented and promised on State-run television that, “We will honor the order of the Supreme Court.”






Finally, on January 7, Prachanda cancelled his appointment of the new Nepali chief priest altogether, thus vindicating those who denounced his attempt to interfere with strictly religious affairs. The episode has done nothing to improve Prachanda’s popularity among the rank and file. Nor has it improved his image abroad. Nepal has been known as a shining example of religious tolerance in Asia. For the ruling party to now attempt to ride rough shod over temple leaders is not only ill-advised but a distraction from the Constituent Assembly’s primary function: to create a new constitution in a timely fashion.

CONFUSION OVER LAND HOLDINGS AND MAOIST LEADERSHIP




Although Prachanda has assured journalists that private properties, which were seized by the Maoists during the ten-year struggle, would be returned to previous owners, Maoist Central Committee member Matrika Prasad Yadav contradicted that promise several weeks ago. Speaking in Biratnagar, he said, “We [the Maoists] prefer to take up arms than return those properties that have been already distributed to the needy population of this country. …I totally disagree with what Prime Minister Dahal has been uttering in public, whether it is Dahal or Girija, no one has the right to confiscate lands back from the poor – the new holders of the land. The leader of feudal elements – the monarchy has been already abolished, yet new monarchs have begun emerging in Nepali politics.”

So which is it? Are the lands to be returned or not? Who is in charge of the Maoist party? Are members of the Central Committee now referring to Prachanda as a “new monarch”?

According to Newsblaze (Jan. 4, 2009), Prachanda’s “own lieutenant, Chandra Prakash Gajurel, lambasted the Maoist-led government’s non performance, saying it had hardly done 10 things during its first 100 days in power.”

TOURISM TRAVESTY


Since the 2006 peace accord, tourism in Nepal has bounded back: The industry brought in $230.6 million dollars in 2007 and accounted for 4% of GDP. The government has designated 2011 as “Nepal Tourism Year”, hoping to receive one million visitors during the campaign.

Given the present worldwide economic crisis, it might be prudent to rethink such bounty in 2011. Most economists discount any sort of quick recovery from the international recession. Certainly in the U.S., even the most optimistic experts aren’t predicting improvement much before mid-2010; a full recovery could take years. In America and Europe, even affluent travelers are having second thoughts about charting far-flung vacations. Obviously, the Nepal tourist industry has no leverage against people who are tightening their purse strings. But what they can do is to protect and maintain Nepal’s newfound reputation for being a safe and reliable destination.

This was jeopardized last week in Pokhara, a tourist Mecca for foreigners, rightfully regard as one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. Pokhara closed down.

Or rather, Pokhara had no choice but to close down. All hotels and restaurants were forced to lock their doors for four days because Maoist trade unions went on strike demanding salary hikes. Hoteliers were forced to kick out their guests, leaving them stranded until they could make their way to other destinations. Other tourists, who were planning to visit Pokhara, cancelled their flights.

One wonders if the strikers in Pokhara have any idea of the extent to which bad press like this ripples throughout the foreign tourism industry. What Western travel agent is going to recommend Nepal if some of their clients had a horrible, exasperating experience there?

The Maoist unions need a reality check. Do they really want to strike their way to joblessness? Times are very hard in the West. Very hard. Do not underestimate how hard times really are in the West. Do not estrange the few visitors who are still willing or able to pay to visit your country. Especially in the next year or two, accepting salary freezes may be the new world order – not just a local one.

TIME FOR A REASSESSMENT

The bottom line is that Nepali citizens are beginning to ask what progress, in the eight months since the elections, has been made toward penning a new constitution. The answer is little to none and Maoist leadership would do well to look at themselves to see if this is not, at least in part, because of shortcomings within their own party. They blame Nepali Congress. They blame the Marxist-Leninists. They blame the Indians. They blame the United States. They blame the Madeshis. Which leaves no time, I suppose, for self-criticism.

In the meantime, most Nepalis just want their damn lights turned back on.

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Mikel Dunham’s interview with Nepal’s Finance Minister Dr. Bhattarai

 

September 23, 2008

Early this morning, I had my third interview with Maoist-second-in-command Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, the newly appointed Finance Minister of Nepal. Dr. Bhattarai’s first act in office was to introduce the national budget on September 19. This morning we spoke on several issues –tourism, Tibetan refugee deportation, crime against women, inflation – all of which have an impact on the stability of the world’s newest republic.

On Tourism

 
DUNHAM: Mr. Minister, if this new administration succeeds, history will remember it as the government that broke the chains of the old ways, returned peace to the land, and charted a completely new and innovative course toward Nepali prosperity in the 21st century. As the Minister of Finance you have a great deal to say as to the manner in which the government proceeds.

In the last two weeks I’ve talked to a variety of leading businessmen and what’s most surprised me is that, no matter what political affiliation they may be with, they seem to genuinely hope that you and the Maoist –led government succeed. They are saying, “Let’s wait and see and be patient and hope for the best.”

Patience may be a virtue, but in the political world, an administration cannot expect to enjoy public patience indefinitely. A year from now, you will need to be able to identify improvements that have been made in the financial sector. People will want to see at least the beginnings of a better life for them.

Your government’s plans are bold in meeting those challenges. But there are certain sectors within the Nepal business world that already show vigor – asking only to be left alone, at least for the time-being.

I’m thinking particularly of the tourist industry. Its leaders tell me that they are poised for a very robust October and November 2008, for instance. Foreigners will be pouring in and filling the hotels and seeking Nepal’s natural beauty like never before.
But…

One thing they are concerned about is the visa hike reportedly proposed. They’re saying, “Please not yet, Mr. Minister. Because of the shaky financial market and high oil prices, tourists are looking at all travel costs very closely. The visa hike would be a real turn-off for many tourists. Once we’ve got a full head of steam, then it’s a good time to raise the visa. Don’t cut us off at the ankles just when we have gotten back on our feet again.”

Here is one of those industries that you can hold up to the public a year from now and say, “See how tourism has improved since our administration?”

How do you respond to this and what discussions have you had with the leaders of the tourist industry about the raised visa cost and other industry-related concerns?

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABARAM BHATTARAI: As you know, the Nepalese people have been going through exciting times these last few years – very exciting times in Nepalese history. The people have put their faith in us. We are in a newly formed government, only one month old. We have put forward the policies and programs and the new budget. There has been comparatively positive response to all of this.

As you know, our main task is peace and development. Peace and development are interlinked. Until and unless we have peace, we can’t have development. And until we have development, we can’t have sustainable peace. So that’s why we are focusing on development: to have sustainable peace. That’s why, in our budget and policies and programs of the government, we have prioritized certain sectors.

One is modernization of our agriculture sector. Our agriculture had been traditional, feudal and two-thirds of our labor force has been engaged in that. That’s why we want to modernize and commercialize agriculture: so that the majority of the labor force engaged –two-thirds – can switch over to non-agriculture jobs in the service sector jobs. 

The other sectors we have focused on are tourism and hydropower. We will be focusing on these sectors in the coming days.

You have correctly pointed out that tourism is one of the kingpins of our development process. And for that, the situation is comparatively positive and favorable. With the coming of the tourist season, there is a lot of expectation for the success in this sector. To stimulate the economy, we are trying to develop plans to attract more tourists and to provide good tourism infrastructure.

As you asked, the visa should be a non-issue. I haven’t gone through visa charges. I’ve just learned this from you. If it is too high, then we can look into that.

But the main thing is we want to welcome tourists. Nepal is a very beautiful place and the tourism industry can be a very good contributing factor for our long-term development. Therefore, we don’t want to put up any such barriers, which would discourage the tourist arrivals. We will look into that.

On the possibility of re-settling Tibetan refugees: Send them to America?

 
DUNHAM: In order to achieve your fiscal goals, you must cut out the fat when and where you see unnecessary expenditure occurring. It seems to me that one way to reduce expenditure and win foreign hearts is to allow any Tibetans currently living in Nepal who want to, to be repatriated to American soil. The American government has made it clear that they would be willing to bring these Tibetans to the U.S, but have felt blocked and shut out by previous Nepali governments. Why not let those who want to go, go to American if invited? As it stands now, aren’t they a burden on the budget rather than an asset?


FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: We will look into the Tibetan issue.

Since the new government has just formed since one month before, we haven’t had time to go into that. We will look into that. We don’t want them to make a burden on our economy. But in our budgetary allocation, and elsewhere, there is no allocation for Tibetan refugees. I think they have been surviving from other some other sources of income.

The Tibetan issue is slightly tricky, also. Since Nepal is sandwiched between the big countries, China and India, we have to balance our foreign policy very delicately. Keeping that in mind, we will try to solve this issue.

DUNHAM: Recently, 137 Tibetans were detained at the Tibetan Reception Center. It’s been predicted that at least half of them do not have the refugee certificate card. They will therefore be deported to India. When I spoke to the Home Minister a few days ago, he assured me that, in the future, they will continue to be deported to India, contrary to the rumor that they might be deported to China.

Couldn’t it also be possible that, if there are future deportees and the United States is willing to bring them to American soil, couldn’t the deportees just as easily be sent to America? Is that a possibility?

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: That…that we have to look into that. I would like to look into that further.

On crimes against women and the need for more policewomen

 
DUNHAM: In the past few weeks, I’ve been talking with a number of women in the police force. Out of 57,000 police officers only 2000 of them are women. But this small minority has made a real difference out there in the field in helping victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking. Women are essential in creating a trust between the victim and the police officer. Female victims need to be able to talk to other women.

The Women’s and Children’s Service Center, for example, is doing a terrific job even though they are extremely understaffed and financed to operate a successful operation. Reducing violence against women and curtailing sex-trafficking will be, over the long run, sound economic policy.

So what I’m saying is: Here’s a department that’s already working admirably but really needs help. Have you included in your budget significant monies to pay for an increase in the number of policewomen to specifically deal with women in crisis? And wouldn’t this increase in policewomen be a very cost-effective measure to take for the new government?

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: Yes, definitely, yes. I fully agree with that. If there are more women in the police, it will give a more human face to the police force. In general, it will send a good message to the public.

As far as crime against women goes, it’s very rampant in this society – sex-trafficking and all these things – domestic violence. To look into that also, if there are women officers in the police force, it will ease the whole situation. That’s why I fully agree with your assessment.

DUNHAM: You support the idea of increasing the women personel --?

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: Yes, definitely, definitely. In fact, our policy has been to increase the number of women in all sectors of the state, including the security forces. So, if not 50%, at least 33% should be the target. This has been the position of our party.

DUNHAM: And are you running up against any resistance from other parties to achieve that goal of increasing women in all sectors of the state?

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: Of course there will be resistance. Ours is a feudal society and this patrimonial culture is still here. Keeping that in mind, there will be resistance. Even then, we have to fight against that. And we are ready to fight against that. 

On Inflation

 
DUNHAM: I see we’re running out of time. One more question, Mr. Minister. Businessmen in Kathmandu, at least the one’s I’ve talked to, say their biggest concern about the new budget is whether or not you will be able to control inflation. What measures are you prepared to take in order to curb inflation?

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: No, in spite of the people’s apprehensions, the budget is not inflationary. People think it is a very ambitious budget, but that is not so. Even if you go by the international norms and standards of macro-economic stability, it is within the bounds. We have not crossed that limit. We have very meticulously calculated it and I don’t think our budget will lead to inflation.

But the inflationary pressure is an international phenomenon. You see, we have a very open economy, an open border with India, so some of the inflation would be imported from outside Nepal. That would be very difficult for us to contain.

DUNHAM: That’s right.

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: But internally, we will revise policy. The best way to control inflation is to improve the supply side, you see? -- if you make good supply arrangements that can check inflation, and other measures also were working.

DUNHAM: When you talk about other outside forces… right now, America’s financial debacle seems to be spreading in every direction. It’s a mess. As Finance Minister, to what degree do you think the American problem will ripple into Nepal’s economic stability?

FINANCE MINISTER DR. BABURAM BHATTARAI: Actually, it has some impact. But it doesn’t have a very big impact because our economy is a very peripheral economy. We are at the far periphery of the global economy. In that sense, I don’t think there will be a very big impact, but it will have some impact. So we will work out measures, keeping this in mind.

 

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The economics of political instability in Nepal--Dunham's Interview with Himalaya SJB Rana

 October 16, 2007

Peace and rule of law are the prerequisites for economic development—basic ingredients currently absent in Nepal. The cancellation of the November elections was the latest bad political news. A meeting between the Maoists and Seven-Party Alliance was convened in an effort to break the deadlock; the talks broke down two days ago.

According to the leading party in Nepal, the Nepali Congress (NP), the Maoists’ demands for electoral reform and the immediate abolition of the monarchy are in direct contradiction of the original peace terms agreed to one year ago.