Kathmandu,February 28, 2006

The Free Students’ Union election today saw a substantial turn out with around 85 per cent votes cast at the major Valley campuses. Though the eight student unions had been advocating a friendly competition, the Nepal Students’ Union (NSU) and the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNNFSU) factions engaged in confrontation at Min Bhawan Campus and Nepal Commerce Campus during the FSU election. Pawan Neupane, a student of Nepal Commerce Campus, suffered broken limb when a group of students affiliated to the NSU took issue with him regarding fake voters. The NSU blamed the ANNFSU for trying to get 300 bogus voters cast ballots. The poll was disrupted for half-an-hour after a clash ensued between the two student bodies. Similarly, the ANNFSU blamed the NSU activists of damaging the ballot boxes at Baneshwor Campus. Baneshwor Campus is an ANNFSU stronghold and Nabina Lama is the body’s presidential candidate there. The campus has postponed the election. The ANNFSU put pressure on the vote counters to declare the results while other student unions opposed their call. The ANNFSU subsequently declared itself the winner. Badri Pandey, general secretary of NSU, denying ANNFSU allegations, said the Praja Parishad Students were responsible for the fracas. TU has the maximum number of voters at 8,722, with the contestants fighting for the 15-panel seat.

Maoist threat puts SLC examines in dilemma

Taplejung, February 28, 2006

With less than a month for the SLC examinations to begin, students here are in a dilemma whether to take the exams or not after Maoists warned of action if they went to the district headquarters to appear for the examinations. The Maoists have even started patrolling entry points to the headquarters to prevent these students from going to the headquarters, Fungling bazaar. Maoists had last week warned teachers, parents and officials of School Management

Committees not to send students to the headquarters or else they would face action, according to Laxmi Khatiwada, the principal of the Moti Secondary School. The Maoists have been demanding exam centres in villages but the authorities have fixed exam centres only in Fungling due to security reasons. A student of Moti Higher Secondary School, who did not want to be named, said Maoists had tried to bar her from entering the district. But she managed to enter the Fungling bazaar telling the Maoists t hat she was going there to buy fertilisers. The students quoted Maoists as saying “you don’t need to go to the head quarters to take the exams, we will conduct them in the village itself.” Some students have managed to come to the headquarters, however, others have stayed back due to the threat.