THT 10 YEARS AGO: Hope is one-year-old today, bravo!

Kathmandu, April 23, 2007

Last year, on this day, the people of Nepal got back what king Gyanendra had taken away from them —democracy and sovereignty. The nation is set to celebrate that great event today. The Democracy Day Celebrations Organising Committee has urged people across the nation to light celebratory lamps in their residences and to participate in a celebratory programme to be organised at the Tundikhel. Much water has flown down the Bagmati since April 24, 2006 .The Maoists who had waged a bloody guerilla war for over a decade, are in the government. The king has ceased to be the head of state and the supreme commander of the army; the prime minister performs the functions of the head of state; attempts — subtle as well as brazen — to discredit the eight-party government have been made; Nepal has become a secular state and the army that was the main prop of the fallen regime has been well and truly put under civilian control. Still, Humpty Dumpty would be the patron saint of those thinking that regressive forces would give up. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, in a message to the people on the eve of Loktantra Diwas, has appealed to all people to be sensitive towards the responsibility that the martyrs have left to us. “I remember and respect those brave martyrs who have left to us the responsibility, their dreams and objectives,” Koirala said.

Tibetan monk crawling his way to Dharamsala

Kathmandu, April 23, 2007

The conventional ways of desperate monks and householders alike fleeing down south from Tibet and over to Dharmasala seem to be passe now. Zodpa Namgyal, a 33 years old monk from Amchok Tsenyi Monastery in Ngaba, Amdo, Tibet arrived here at Boudhanath Stupa crawling all the way from his monastery all alone. According to phayul.com, it took him over two years and two months and he would continue his prostration to Dharamsala that might take another year. All this to be nearer to the Dalai Lama. Eyewitnesses, who include a Swedish travel agent Naum Purits and local agent Tseten Norkyel, spotted the monk prostrating near Kalanki last Thursday. The same monk was subsequently spotted at Naubise on Sunday. Apparently he took four days to reach Naubise from Kalanki (less than 30 km). The pilgrim has been reported to be not only a hardy person on such a tortuous journey but also too modest to be under obligation. “Moved by his mission, we offered him some money. But he was too modest to accept,” Norkyel said. He also drags a heavy carriage for 50 meters before prostrating. In the cart, he carries his food supplies like tsampa and bedding and a small tent in which he sleeps at night. Meanwhile, an official at the Tibetan Refugee Office Jay Wangbo denied any knowledge about Namgyal although he conceded “such cases have happen.”