Getting away with murder

It is extremely irresponsible of PM Girija Prasad Koirala, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal not to attend the meeting of the

parliamentary committee on Human Rights and Social Justice in order to clarify on the Shivpuri issue, “Shivpuri scandal: PM, Sitaula, CoAS give committee the miss (THT, Dec. 25). It seems as if the trio does not realise the gravity of the matter.

Extra-judicial killings by security forces, who are supposed to protect common people, on such a big scale should be a huge cause for concern for the government. Yet, going by the statement of the defence secretary, the government seems to want to push such a serious affair under the rug. Such is the nexus between unscrupulous elements at high levels of government that it is very unlikely that any ‘big fish’ responsible for slaughtering innocent human beings will be brought to justice.

Shashank Bhattarai,

via e-mail

Baffling

This concerns the news report “Govt tables constitution amendment bill in House” (THT, Dec. 25). I, for once, agree with Maoist Member of Parliament Dev Gurung that 601-seat Constituent Assembly in a small country like Nepal will encumber common taxpayers with huge financial burdens. Has anyone thought about how such a big house might come to an agreement on any issue?

Equally baffling was such a long delay in acceptance of resignations tendered by Maoist

ministers. This is yet another example of the irresponsibility of Koirala-led government. Politicians never seem to learn their lessons in Nepal. The same mistakes are being repeated time and again.

Janak Karki, Lalitpur

Irresponsible

This is in reference to the news report “Ballot boxes being used as dustbins” (THT, Dec. 25). It is astonishing that Kathmandu Metropolitan City handed over some ballot boxes to Bundo Kaido Club of Basantapur to use them as dustbins. Though uncertainty still looms over the success of the Constituent Assembly polls announced for mid-April, using ballot boxes as

dustbins can send a wrong message. Ballot boxes are meant to store the votes cast and not for garbage dumps. Such irresponsible acts, especially when the Seven Party Alliance

has agreed to hold the polls by mid-April, can raise doubts about the government’s intent to

conduct the polls.

Swekchya Dahal,

Sukhedhara, Kathmandu

Getting on

Nepalis are getting on with the times. I personally find it laudable that Nepalis now celebrate all kinds of festivals, even those imported from abroad, while not forgetting their own culture. Some people are against the very concept of celebrating “foreign festivals”. But it is difficult to discern what exactly is foreign in this age of globalisation. We have indeed taken up many bad aspects of Western culture, but just celebrating foreign religious festivals is not

bad in itself. All religions stand for brotherhood and harmony. It is the noble thoughts associated with those festivals that count, not who celebrates them.

Sanjita Luitel, Paknajol