Dear Friends, Ever since in the wake of the events of 11 September the Nepalese Maoists have been declared as terrorists, the country is in a kind of civil war. The Kathmandu valley, protected by army and police, has been spared so far by major violence, but large parts of the country are in the hands of the rebels, who at present are being persecuted relentlessly. There is hardly any day that the newspapers, which are censored due to the state of emergency, do not report about the killings of Maoists.There is silence however about losses of soldiers and policemen. Various rumours come from villages: eye-witnesses report that soldiers fire from war-helicopters given to them by the Americans on anything in the jungle or the mountains which looks like people in groups. Many innocent peasants, working in their fields, are being killed in this way, being taken for terroristsDas Leben der meisten Nepalesen bleibt sehr schwer. Wenn der Familie jeden Abend ein Teller Reis mit einer waessrigen Linsensosse zur Verfuegung steht, sind die Eltern schon zufrieden. Ein bisschen Gemuese dazu ist schon Luxus. Immer mehr Kinder werden zum Betteln geschickt und, obwohl auch in Nepal Kinderarbeit verboten ist, werden die Nepalteppiche nach wie vor heimlich von vielen Kindern geknuepft und sozusagen jeder Haushalt wohlhabenderer Familien wird - natuerlich ohne Lohn - von Kindern unter zehn Jahren gefuehrt.
Liebe mySpace Freunde,auch wenn die meisten Nepalesen, die im Himalaya ohne Strom leben, nicht wissen koennen, was in der Welt geschieht, ist der 11. September auch fuer Nepal ein schwerwiegender Tag gewesen, der sich auf die Innenpolitik des Landes ausgewirkt hat. Fürr die Maoisten, die im Volk einen so grossen Einfluss gewonnen hatten, dass die Regierung sie an einen Verhandlungstisch gebeten hatte, bleibt dieses Datum ein harter Tag. Ploetzlich wurden die Rebeilen von dieser Regierung als "Freunde Bin Ladens" bezeichnet.Die Amerikaner bekamen von der nepalesischen Regierung ohne Muehe die Erlaubnis, den Flughafen von Kathmandu bei Bedarf als Militaerflughafen fuer ihre Angriffe zu benutzen, und vor einigen Tagen kam die Nachricht, die USA haetten Nepal zwoelf Kampfhubschrauber sowie komplizierte Kriegsmittel geschenkt, die unter anderem den Kampf bei Nacht ermoegglichen. Mit dieser Ausrusstung soll die nepalesische Armee an dem "Angriff gegen den Terror" teilnehmen und die maoistischen Rebellen eliminieren.Jeder, der Nepal kennt, wird fuer die Amerikaner hoffen, dass sie mit der Maschinerie auch das noetige Personal mitgeliefert haben Dear Friends, On some bright winter days, when the wind carries the dirty veil of exhaust fumes away from the Kathmandu Valley, the surrounding Himalayas appear in all their splendour and remind us what a peaceful and happy life the Nepalese could have, if the political situation was not so terribly bad. In the aftermath of Mr Bush's re-election Nepal is being increasingly militarised to fight the Maoist terrorists, who are by now ruling more than 40% of the country. The Prime Minister appointed by the King set the terrorists a term until 13th January 2005 to start with peace negotiations. For them however, negotiating with rulers they call terrorists is completely out of question, and therefore they demand the mediation by the United Nations for any such talks. So far the King and his government are refusing to concede to these conditions and, in November, they set a brutal example of what will happen, if the rebels refuse to negotiate: With the support of American military equipment one of the rebels' training camps has been completely destroyed and nearly 300 of them were killed. The Maoists have got nothing to set against the American weapons and therefore answer with bombs made from pressure cookers which they target to kill senior military and police officers. An increasing number of mountain-people flee from the cruelness of the civil war and move to the already overcrowded city of Kathmandu, where many Maoists are now in hiding and pursue their aims from underground. Student organisations and political parties are constantly demonstrating to demand a return to democracy, whereas army and police rather serve as a "decoration" of the capital instead of protecting it. The inhabitants of Kathmandu bow to this messy chaos, where corruption continues thriving, with an incredible passivity and indifference. If there are not enough vegetables, they just eat their rice without them. That's all.
There are killings and torturing at both sides, which are denounced by toothless human rights organisations, but Nepal falls more and more into the oblivion of the world.Whereas the despot increased in the new annual budget his living cost by 36%, the country gets poorer and poorer. Tourists being warned at home stay away from Nepal. Hotels and restaurants are empty, unemployment increases dramatically. If anybody is lucky enough to be able to found a company, he only employs his relatives and people from his own caste, even if they are not qualified for the job. Even banks and big companies work along these lines.Waehrend der Despot beim neuen Jahresbudget seine Lebenskosten um 36% erhoeht hat, verarmt das Land weiter.
Ein sehr trauriges Schauspiel in dem einst so friedlichen Ort. Georges W. Bush, der sich ruehmt, in allen Laendern der Welt die "Demokratie" zu verteidigen, scheint es in Nepal nicht so genau zu nehmen und hat erst letzte Woche verk&&uendet, dem gegen das Gesetz handelnden Koenig weitere Millione Dollar an Waffen und Todesinstrumenten zu schenken, um die "Terroristen" zu eliminieren.
Sumitra as a six-year old, an undernourished girl at night from the street. According to what she told us her family, presumably nomads from India, abandoned her. Her brothers were fed regularly , and she only got what remainders they did not like to eat. One fine morning when she awoke, she found herself alone in the midst of Kathmandu's traffic.
The American government through its ambassador assured Nepal in March that Nepal will get arms worth of 200 million US dollars, a blow for all those who try to alleviate the incredible misery of the people. Such news is disconcerting for us and they make us reflect about the sense of our work, for even in Kathmandu a dish of rice has become a luxury by these days.Obviously the motto is now: weapons instead of rice, and because tourists, previously the main source of income of the country, do not come anymore, unemployment rises dramatically. A friend of ours for many years and director of a thangka-painting-enterprise (Buddhist painting) had to dismiss 30 painters. Out of these, he feels, certainly half will change over to the Maoists, for they have nothing to lose anyhow. In this case we have to state: weapons, which are being used to destroy the "terrorists" cause still more misery and poverty and ironically make new rebels.Die amerikanische Regierung hat Nepal durch ihren Botschafter Waffen im Wert von 200 Millionen US-Dollars zugesichert, ein Schock fuer alle, die in diesem Land das unglaubliche Elend des Volkes zu lindern versuchen. Solche Nachrichten bringen uns aus der Fassung und lassen uns uns ueber den Sinn unserer Arbeit nachdenken, denn auch in Kathmandu ist ein Teller Reis Luxus worden.Offensichtlich heisst es jetzt: Waffen statt Reis und da die Touristen, die wichtigsten Einnahmequelle des Landes, nicht mehr kommen, steigt die Arbeitslosigkeit drastisch. Ein langjaehriger Bekannter Leiter einer Thangkamalerei-Werkstatt [Buddhistische Malerei] musste 30 Maler entlassen. Davon meinte er, wuerde die Haelfte mit Sicherheit zu den Maoisten uebergehen, denn die Maenner hatten nichts mehr zu verlieren. In diesem Fall kann man sagen: Waffen, die dazu benutzt werde "Terroristen" zu vernichten, bringen noch mehr Elend und Armut mit sich und schaffe ironischerweise automatisch neue Rebellen. ..