Nepal

Kathmandu, August 19

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali today said the Nepal government was closely watching developments in Jammu and Kashmir of India.

This is the first time Nepal has officially spoken about Jammu and Kashmir since the Indian government on August 5 abrogated Article 370 of the Indian constitution that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status, and bifurcated the state into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

He said Nepal mainly had two concerns — well-being of Nepalis living and working in Jammu and Kashmir, and regional peace and security.

&Thousands of Nepali citizens are working there. Nepal is concerned about their well-being,& said Gyawali at a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. &Our embassy in New Delhi is constantly in touch with the Indian government on the matter. As of now, we have not received any reports of Nepalis facing difficulties, and we are hopeful they will not face difficultiesin the future.&

Gyawali also said Nepal had always been in favour of peace and stability in the neighbourhood, and the region. Stating that Nepal believed in peaceful resolution to any problem, he said that Nepal believed the Indian leadership was capable of resolving any issue peacefully.

&We believe dialogue is the only way to resolve misunderstanding between neighbouring countries or South Asian countries. As chair of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, we would like to convey the same message.&

When asked whether the Jammu and Kashmir issue would be part of talks in the upcoming Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting slated for August 21-22 in Kathmandu, Gyawali said these issues would not and should not be part of Nepal-India bilateral talks. &We do not discuss or comment on others& issues.&

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Kathmandu, August 18

Chief Whip of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Dev Prasad Gurung today expressed his dissatisfaction over the Military Courtverdict to jail a former military person who had deserted Nepali Army to join Maoist militia during the 10-year insurgency.

Speaking at the House of Representatives during special hour, Gurung said Shakti Gurung of Gokha Arughat-9, was convicted and sent to jail by the Military Court. The court had sentenced him to 10-year jail term on July 28.

The Military Courtdecision comes after 13 years of the incident. &The verdict of the Military Court is against the constitution,& he said.

He also said that a person named Bhagat Lal, a former Maoist combatant was arrested and detained by security agency some eight months ago.

Clauses of the Military Act from 38 to 65 include provisions on punitive measures.

The court had relied on those clauses in issuing its verdict. But, those provisions are in contravention with the constitution.

&Provisions on punishment in the Military Act contradict with Article 304 (2) of the constitution. Therefore, the verdict passed by the court should be declared void,& Gurung said.

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KATHMANDU: Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Monday refuted the remarks of Nepali Congress Lawmaker Pradip Giri who had said India would turn Nepal into Sikkim the day it could.

Speaking at the Parliamentary International Relations Committee on August 14, Giri had said the government should be careful about that fact. Gyawali said he could not believe a mature leader like Giri had made such remarks.

&If this is true, this is unacceptable. These types of remarks will only create unnecessary hiccups in bilateral relations. Nepal is an independent and sovereign country which was never a colony. We cannot even imagine that India would do something like that,& said Gyawali at a press briefing.

&Nepal government refutes such statements. It is beyond our imagination that Nepalindependence will be compromised. This is also a question mark on the capability of the sovereign Nepali people.&

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Next of kin of a person killed in animal attack gets one million rupees

Kathmandu, August 18

Number of people dying in wild animal attacks has increased by more than 75 per cent in fiscal 2018-19, compared to the total number of deaths recorded in fiscal 2017-18 across the country.

As many as 30 persons died in wildlife attacks in fiscal 2018-19, which is much higher compared to 17 human deaths in fiscal 2017-18. In 2016 -17, a total of 12 people had lost their lives in animal attacks and nine people died in animal attacks in 2015-16.

Data of the last four fiscals from 2015-16 to 2018 -19 showed that number of human deaths resulting from wildlife attacks had increased by more than 230 per cent.

Number of people injured in animal attacks has also significantly gone up in the last four years. A total of 137 persons were injured in wild animal attacks in fiscal 2018-19, which is an increase of around 105 per cent compared to fiscal 2017-18 when 67 persons were injured. As many as 43 people had sustained injuries in fiscal 2016-17 and a total of 34 people were injured in fiscal 2015-16.

Data showed that in the last four years, number of people sustaining injuries in wildlife attacks increased by more than 300 per cent.

In 2018-19, 15 persons had died in elephant attacks, six in leopard attacks, four in tiger attacks and two in rhino attacks.

Deputy Director-General of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Ram Chandra Kan-del said improved data collection and recording system had helped to keep a record of deaths caused by wildlife attacks. He claimed that people also lost lives in attacks by wild boars, dogs and oxen, but the data did not show such deaths.

Spokesperson of DoNPWC Bishnu Kumar Shrestha said they were adopting various measures to make national parks and wildlife conservation areas safe for humans. He said they were also thinking about ways to stop wildlife from straying into human settlements.

&We are also planning to organise awareness pro-grammes to help people avoid possible encounters with wildlife,& he added.

The government has pro-vision to provide one million rupees next of kin of any persons killed by wild animals. It also has provision to provide Rs 200,000 to people injured in wild animal attacks or bear full medical expenses for their treatment at government hospitals.

The government provides compensation for the loss of food, agricultural products and other property caused by wild animals conserved at national parks or in other protected areas. The DoNPWC is authorised to provide compensation to the victims of wild-life attacks throughout the country from the last year. Previously, Regional Forest Directorate provided compensation to the victims of wildlife attacks. The DoNPWC has provided Rs 86.084 million as compensation to wildlife attack victims and their families in the past six months.

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