What is a Rishi mind?

Those involved in writing the constitution should have a heart that is of a Rishi or sage and they should think far ahead, were the words of wisdom parliamentarians and the constitution makers of Nepal from Narendra Damodar Modi, the Indian Prime Minister. Such words are not generally expected from politicians and so called modern leaders. In fact, these words are in direct contradiction to the mass psychology that spirituality motivates people to abandon their homes and social responsibilities. For ages, spirituality has been blamed for inspiring inactivity and lethargy in people.

However great a science or a philosophy may be, it loses it lustre when it falls into the hands of wrong people. This is what had happened to spirituality when it attracted two types of people – the ignorant superstitious masses who replicated everything without understanding the essence and the pundits and priests who used the principles for their own personal gains. Any great disciple – whether arts, music, spirituality or science – reaches its climax with only intelligent, smart and truthful people who understand the core principles and have become living examples of the underlying philosophy.

Let us now examine why only a “rishi” mind can perform an act of greatness with far-reaching consequence. A sage is is one who has freed himself from all negativity of life, such as greed, fear, anger, hatred, and partiality. This he does by practising rigorous self-discipline combined with right thinking, right action and right living. He is concerned more with the welfare of society than about achieving his own trivial personal gains and about meeting personal selfish desires prompted by ego.

A sage is one who has reached a stage where service to society is the only goal of life. such a stage of purity and silence help to develop an inner self that is free from negative thoughts and worries and that is fully motivated to perform actions without greed and attachment. This in turn gives rise to a very strong, focused and dedicated mind. They live through inspiration not perspiration. Their mind is utterly free to understand the world’s problems and come out with creative solutions. These solutions are free from any personal bias, greed and ulterior motive.

In this way they are able to bridge past, present and future. In fact, such leaders are the ones who can envisage the right future, think through the right means to be there, and wholeheartedly perform actions to achieve desired objectives. They understand the difference between needs and wants and their action always matches their intention. Since they live a simple and truthful life, their words and promises can be relied upon.

In effect, we are now looking for the flavour Buddha in the leaders of Gautam Buddha’s own country. Although beyond the reach of many, this is not altogether unattainable. At a time when we are writing our own constitution, we expect our leaders to be sage-like, and use this opportunity to give the best to our country.

By LP Bhanu Sharma

News from the Capital

Police open fire in the air in Gothatar

KATHMANDU: Tension ran high in Gothatar today after an 11-year-old boy drowned in a pool of water on the banks of the Manahara River.
The deceased has been identified as Rojin Shahi of Gothatar.
A disaster management team of Nepal Police had rescued the boy at around 1pm and taken him to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.
But he died during the course of treatment, said police.
According to Metropolitan Police Sector, Kandaghari, police had to open fire in the air and resort to lathicharge to bring the situation under control as locals vandalised a contractor’s office and set it on fire.
The body had died after drowning in water collected in a ditch that was made by the contractor for extracting sand.
Hundreds of locals had gathered after the minor died.
Police personnel in large numbers were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
It took around four hours for the law enforcement officials to bring the situation under control.
Locals claim that they had requested the administration and contractor several times to stop sand extraction in the middle of human settlement.

Couple injured in fire:

LALITPUR: Hari Thapa, 35, a police constable, and his wife Shova, 30, suffered burn injuries when a fire broke out in their rented room at Saatdobato, on Saturday. The incident occurred at around 1am. According to police, their rented room caught fire due to cooking gas leakage. The couple sustained injuries in course of fighting fire with hands. They are undergoing treatment at TU Teaching Hospital.

 

Man collapses to:

KATHMANDU: A private security guard at Balkhu Vegetable Market in Kuleshwor collapsed to death on Friday, police said. Krishna Bahadur Khadka, 54, of Jyamire, Sindhupalchowk, residing in Balkhu was found unconscious at around 7:50 pm and was rushed to TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj. “He died while undergoing treatment,” said police.

Parties begin discussing statute issues

KATHMANDU: With the deadline for preparing the first draft of the new constitution approaching, the major political parties have begun formal and informal, intra-party and inter-party discussions on the contents of the new statute.
As per the Constituent Assembly schedule, it should prepare the first draft of the constitution within two months (October 17). The CA’s Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee should table its report at the CA’s full House by September 6 after forging consensus on disputed issues.
The Unified CPN-Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai-led consensus committee is working on the disputed issues by forming different sub-committees to find common ground.
While leaders of the three major parties have also begun discussions at the informal level. Nepali Congress Vice president Ram Chandra Paudel, Madhav Nepal from UML and Narayan Kaji Shrestha of Unified CPN-Maoist are leading their respective parties in the inter-party talks.
NC’s Paudel and Mahesh Acharya and UCPN-M’s Shrestha and Krishna Bahadur Mahara today met in Singha Durbar and decided to intensify discussions on six contentious issues of the statute. NC and UML teams held discussion yesterday while UML and UCPN-M had met on Thursday.
Paudel said the discussions were aimed at forging consensus on contentious issues. Paudel also discussed contemporary political issues with UCPN-M Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the latter’s residence in Lazimpat.
“As we are at the preliminary level of discussions, we have set six agendas — state restructuring and federalism, forms of governance, election system, judiciary, preamble of the new statute and ensuring social security for underprivileged groups — for discussions,” UCPN-M leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha told THT.
The three parties have agreed to intensify discussions and attempt to bring groups outside the CA, mainly the Mohan Baidhya-led CPN-Maoist into the process of statute drafting and for taking a common stance on the fundamentals of democracy.
As the CA’s consensus committee works in a formal, the teams of major parties are working from outside the committee with the aim of facilitating the committee, Shrestha said.
NC, according to its Central Committee member Gagan Thapa, has intensified intra-party discussions.
“Some NC leaders, including Narahari Acharya, Ramesh Lekhak, me and the party’s office bearers have recently held two rounds of discussions on how to settle disputed issues and discussions will continue,” Thapa said.
The first CA was dissolved on 27 May 2012 due to differences among UCPN-M, NC and UML on some issues, mainly on how to address the issue of identity of different communities in the federal structure and whether to adopt directly elected presidential system or Parliament-elected Prime Minister as chief executive. Although they were closer on forms of governance, they were sharply divided on whether there should be single ethnicity-based federal structure or multiple-ethnicity based federal units.

Photos from Ground Zero: Jure Landslide Disaster

Insurance amount adjusted for mountaineering expedition workers

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) has made adjustments to the insurance amount for people accompanying mountaineering expeditions.

Life insurance for Sardar (leader), trail guide, and high-altitude porters has been increased from Rs 1 million to Rs 1.4 million, and medicine and health-care insurance has been increased from Rs 300,000 to Rs 400,000, MoTCA said in a statement on Friday.

However, the provision for liaison officers, base-camp workers and local workers remains unchanged.

The decision follows demand from various tourism related organizations and representatives of expedition workers and family to increase the insurance amount for liaison officers, porters, and base camp and local workers after an avalanche at Everest Base Camp 1 (5,900 metres) left a large number of casualties in April.

The ministry said a committee headed by the Tourism Industry Division Chief/Secretary had endorsed the demands. The committee consisted of representatives of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, Himalayan Rescue Association and Nepal National Mountain Guides Association.

The ministry also made provisions for liaison officers, high altitude porters, base-camp workers and local helpers under the Tourism Act, 2035 (25) and Mountaineering Expedition Regulation, 2059 (19) (20) to be insured for healthcare, accident relief and emergency rescue.

The MoTCA in the statement has said that the revised insurance amount will come into effect from 1 September 2014.

‘Invest in Nepali Property Market’: Rajbhandary

A leading Nepali businessman, Om Rajbhandary, has called upon members of Nepalese diaspora in the UK to invest in the property market in Nepal.

Making a presentation at Monty’s Restaurant, Ealing Broadway, London on the theme  "Investment Opportunity in the Property market of Nepal", Mr Rajbhandary said that Nepalese property market offered good return for the investors.

Rajbhandary, who is an executive member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said that return on investment in property market in Nepal was about 28% at present while in the UK it stood at around 10 to 15 percent only.

Saying that Nepal was witnessing rapid urbanisation, Mr Rajbhandary said  well managed housing has become an essential part of people’s lives.  Rajbhandary, who is also the chair of the FNCCI’s Urban Development Committee said that banks and financial institutions in Nepal are now providing housing loans up to 66 per cent of the equity. “If you deposit Rs four million in  a bank, you will get around 7 percent interest per annum, but the return on property is around 29 percent,” he added.

He, however, advised that issues such as location, physical infrastructure, land, finance and ownership should be considered before making any investment. Brihat Investments (www.brihatinvestments.com) and Brihat Group led by Rajbhandary are running dozens of apartments and housing projects in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

The programme was organised by the Hyde Park Property Ltd.

The general who never retires

Former Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal’s biography will be released next week.  Katawal became the focal point of Nepali politics in 2008 due to his tussle that year with the UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government.  Dahal, the first prime minister of a newly republican Nepal, had to resign after President Ram Baran Yadav reinstated Katawal following Dahal’s sacking of Katawal for violating the government’s directives. Kamal Dev Bhattarai talked to Katawal about his book, and he has translated an excerpt for the Post from the general’s work. 

What are the key contents of your biography?

It includes many of the events I have seen and lived through.

One of the key events in your life was the tussle you had with the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2008. How have you portrayed that in the book? 

I have presented the daily accounts of the 16 days from Baisakh 6 to 21. Everything I witnessed during that period has been included.

Are all the issues you’ve written about in the book true?

That’s a very difficult question. But I’ll give you an honest reply. There have been questions raised in the past about the accuracy of books penned by dignitaries, including Nelson Mandela and Churchill.  I am not seeking to appease specific people or irk others. People who were happy with me will always remain so. I have tried to incorporate what I have seen and lived through. As it is, we cannot judge anyone on the basis of one book. But I’d like to say that the decision taken by Nepal Army in 2008 was the correct one. 

What are the major highlights of the book?

That would depend on the interests of the reader. Some may be interested in my childhood.  Others may be interested in the politics and so on. I wrote the book because some people told me that if I did not write a book, Nepal’s modern political history would remain incomplete.

There are many who argue that a new constitution would have been drafted if there had been no tussle between the army chief and the prime minister. What do you make of that assertion?

The constitution could have been drafted, but we should consider what type of constitution would have been drafted. Do we need a constitution that would impose a one-party dictatorship, or a constitution that ensures a competitive democracy?  We are not seeking a Stalin-type constitution, but a democratic one.  My institution was very clear on this issue in 2008. 

So, your understanding is that if Prachanda had been successful in sacking you, there would have been a one-party dictatorship in the country?

This is not just my understanding. This was the understanding of the Nepali people, the political parties, the international community, our neighbouring countries, and professionals like you.  Nepal Army took a firm stand in favour of the constitution and the people. Among the 24 parties in parliament, 22 parties and the judiciary supported the army’s move.

When the government decided to sack you, your second- in-command was going to replace you; do you mean that your second-in-command was going to establish a one-party dictatorship?

He had submitted some documents to the political leaders, including the Maoist parties, about the things he wanted to do. Some people do not care about the country and democracy; they just seek personal benefits. History has proven that all people do not think about the welfare of the state and democracy.  In our context, the Maoist party tried to benefit from such people.

You will become the first general in Nepal to have written a book. You could thus be viewed as a political general. What would you say about that?

Many people have said that I am going to register a political party. But to run their organisation, the security chiefs of all the countries, even developing countries, need to understand regional and international politics. I am not a politician and I do not do politics; but I do try to understand politics. 

The political process is smoother this time around, compared to 2008-2009. What is your observation?

It is more open. But the UCPN (Maoist) is still in a state of confusion. The UCPN (Maoist) has forged an alliance with seven Madhes-based parties who are already in the Constituent Assembly (CA).  At the same time, the UCPN (Maoist) chairman has forged alliances with five splinter groups that are against the idea of drafting a new constitution. The two groups are opposed to each other and such alliances give the message that the Maoists are still confused.

You have been blamed for breaching civilian supremacy and refusing to work under the elected government.

First, we should be a clear on the definition of civilian supremacy. Are there any examples in democratic countries where the army and police chiefs have been changed after a change in government? Security agencies run as per the rules and regulations of the country.

Furthermore, there are no examples of the NA’s violating the country’s law and constitution. Instead of security-sector reform, there should be civilian-sector reform here.