Biratnagar, November 9, 2007

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said today that the criminal activities seen in the Tarai should be solved through joint efforts of Nepal and India.

Speaking to journalists before returning to the capital after wrapping up his three days of rest in hometown Biratnagar, PM Koirala expressed concern about the increasing incidents of murder, violence, abduction and looting in some Tarai districts. “I know well how to solve the problems seen in Tarai,” he said. Criminals have increased their activities by taking the advantage of 1,600-kilometer-long open border with India, he said.

Saying that he knows Tarai since his childhood, he said: “I am not detached from the Tarai problem and it could be solved automatically through joint efforts of Nepal and India.” Saying that criminals are active in Tarai, he said: “The government is taking initiatives to solve the problem with the help of the Indian government and I realise that the Indian government is positive on this matter.” There will be end to the insecurity in Tarai after the constituency assembly (CA) polls, he said. Expressing hope that there will be an atmosphere of peace after the date of the polls was announced, he said: “Insecurity prevails in the transitional phase.” Saying that the date of CA polls will be announced from the parliament, he said that the polls will be held with the agreement of the seven parties within 2064 BS. “I am also in the post of Prime Minister to hold the polls,” he said.

Pupils, teachers being attacked here: UN

Associated Press

United Nations, November 9, 2007

Nepal is among those countries where the number of reported attacks against students, teachers and educational facilities for political or military reasons has increased dramatically in the past three years, according to a recent UN study.

The countries that are most affected are Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Nepal, the Palestinian territories, Thailand and Zimbabwe, the study showed. Brendan O’Malley, who prepared the report for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, told a news conference yesterday that the violent incidents range from multiple deaths in bombings and by gunfire to targeted assassinations, destruction of buildings, the recruitment of school-age children as soldiers, and the occupation of schools by armed groups. “Attacks on education often escape international attention amid the general fighting in conflict-affected countries,” the report said. “But the number of reported assassinations, bombings and burnings of school and academic staff and buildings has risen dramatically in the past three years, reflecting the increasingly bloody nature of local conflicts around the world.” “In Nepal, there are instances of head teachers being beheaded because they’ve been accused of cooperating with the government by the Maoists,” O’ Malley said.