Sign of bigger malaise

It is unfortunate that the vehicle carrying US Ambassador James F Moriarty was pelted with stones when he was on his way back form the refugee camp at Beldangi-2, Damak on Friday. We, the Bhutanese Refugees, strongly condemn this incident and at the same time would like to draw the attention of the government and international agencies towards the worsening security situation at the refugee camps. This can largely be attributed to a handful of people with “pro-communist” sympathies who are strongly opposed to the US proposal of third-country settlement of the refugees. They try to intimidate those in the favour of the US proposal.

Though the majority of the refugees welcome the third-country option, most fear to openly express their approval of it. Hence, before the verification process for resettlement begins, it is important to guarantee the security of all the refugees who are ready to resettle in

a third country.

T Poudel, Damak, Jhapa

Inaccurate

The news report “Leaders asked to ‘correct’ themselves,” (THT, May 25) quotes an inaccurate description of the US position on Nepal’s monarchy cited in a paper from the Conflict Study Centre (CSC). There is no “unified backing for the institution of monarchy” from Ambassador Moriarty “and his allies.” The US has taken no position on the future of monarchy. That is for the people of Nepal to decide.

Ambassador Moriarty and the US Embassy have repeatedly made their position clear over the past year and THT itself has accurately reported it. Thus we are puzzled by the journalistic sloppiness of citing a secondary source that inaccurately describes US policy.

Sharon Hudson-Dean, Acting Public Affairs Officer, US Embassy

Neglected

Though most Nepalis depend on agriculture to sustain their livelihoods, this sector has not been given due attention in the media. Nor has the government any clue about how to raise the living standard of those dependent on agriculture. Until and unless the farmers get proper attention, their economic condition will not improve. And in that case, Nepal can hardly expect to develop. For a start the government can fix the price of farming produce. If the prices were fixed, unscrupulous businessmen would not be able to exploit farmers.

Bal Krishna Ghimire, Ghansakhola, Arghakhanchi

No good

As of late, Nepali musical scene has been dominated by ‘remixed songs’. Almost all the golden oldies have been remixed. Remixing destroys the originality of the songs. Some people hold that the classics, when remixed, get new lease of life. Moreover, the youth get a taste of rich musical tradition of Nepal. But some songs have been remixed in such an awful manner that virtually none of the original material remains. All they have done is quickened the beats and added a few lines of rap.

This is destroying the creativity of original singers and musicians.

The original singers should think twice before permitting their songs to be remixed. Even when they are remixed, they should be done in such a way that the originality of the songs is not lost.

Abijit Sharma, Dhapasi