THT 10 years ago: No let-up in fainting spells

Lekhnath, September 7, 2006

There is no let-up in fainting spells that have gripped school students, especially girls in Laxmi Secondary School, Lekhnath.

Twenty-one girl students started crying and jumping hysterically today. They were brought to the school though the school was closed after these students began raving and ranting that they be taken to school, headmaster Shree Bhadra Baral said.

Overwhelmed with confusion, the school has stretched indefinitely its two-day closure and sought the help of the government to unravel the mystery after it could not control the spells even after resorting to Ayurvedic medicines, allopathic drugs and taking recourse to shamans.

The three-monthly examination scheduled for Monday has also been postponed. “Neither doctors nor tantriks have been able to solve the problem,” said a member of the school management committee and guardian, Rajendra Mani Lamichhane, adding, “Now we want the government to intervene.”

An idol of the serpent king has been erected on the school premises as demanded by the schoolgirls, said headmaster Baral. The problem began with a schoolgirl, Pabitra Gurung, fainting all of a sudden after students killed a snake on the premises sometime ago.

Soon after, Pabitra’s malaise spread to over a score schoolgirls. It has affected schoolboys, and a guardian, too.

A Hindu priest, Shiva Baba from Ram Bazaar, today tried to break the spell but in vain, a teacher, Ashok Mani Lamichhane, told this daily.

Citizenship issue: Articles 8 and 9 to be scrapped

The House of Representatives is preparing to scrap some Articles of the 1990 Constitution to pave the way for solving the citizenship problem Minister for Industry Commerce and Supply, Hridayesh Tripathi, today said the HoR is preparing to scrap Articles 8 and 9 of the 1990 Constitution to resolve the citizenship problems once and for ever.

“Articles 8 and 9 of the existing Constitution are the real problem to provide citizenship certificates. So the government will table a proposal in the House to scrap these provisions,” Tirpathi said.

The two articles define methods through which one acquires Nepali citizenship or one’s citizenship is terminated. Though the cabinet has passed the bill to amend Citizenship Act 1964, it would be insufficient to resolve the problem without scrapping the two Articles, he said.

“The draft of Interim Constitution has also failed to resolve citizenship certificates and therefore deleting the two Articles can pave the way,” he said while speaking at the Reporters Club.

Tripathi said the Supreme Court had intervened several times when the earlier governments had tried to resolve the problems created by the two Articles.