Envisioning Nepal

Envisioning Nepal 2030
24 June 2010. I attended a seminar today. The topic of the seminar was 'Envisioning Nepal 2030'--a kind on day dreaming. Several presentations were made on education, transportation, agriculture, security, science and technology, women empowerment, industry, and environment. Hard questionscame up during the sessions: How we are going to manage the education of children living in rural areas? There are 70 lakh children in the school level, only 3 lakh of them can be accommodated in higher education. What is going to happen to other 67 lakh children? Is our education system capable of helping individuals stand up independently? Which classes of people are contributing more in the national economy (government says that the main source of national economy is said to be remittance) the highly educated or the labor force working abroad? Why are we not competitive in the global market? Why there is no business community and university collaboration? Are road infrastructures helping development or destroying tourism? How much expenditure on security apparatus is enough? What arethe alternatives? How we are going to cope with the global warming? etc.As for the security aspects I shared my thoughts that we need to socialize the security system not just reform security sector. For this, we need to start giving education on peace and security right from the primary level.
Posted by Dr. GP Thapa at 9:21 AM 0 comments

Magar Associations having more than necessary office buildings

Dear Thapa,
Thanks for writing us. We are located at Satdobato, Lalitpur--just nearby Magar Samaj Sewa Kendra office of Lalitpur Municipality. Please specify as to the kind of studies you are in and the nature of help that you would seek from us. We shall be happy to help you in this noble cause.
msc

Magarson Thapa IBSKC wrote:
Hello there

This is Raja Magar Thapa from Chakrapath. I am an accountant by trade. Plus,
I am an avaid reader of Magar history and all that. Was just wondering if
you would be able to help me out in certain research activities.

I have met a stonewall of paucity of documents regarding my quest in
learning more about Magar history. However, I am quite hopeful that you guy
would be a tremendous help to me.

Tell me! where you guys are located. I will contact you. Alternatively, I
would be very happy to hear from you.

Best wishes.
Raja Magar Thapa
E mail: magarsonthapa@hotmail.com
Tel: 4720222
Chakrapath
Kathmandu


Fri, 9 Jul 2004 19:41:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: "MSC" View Contact Details

Subject: Construction of office buildings for Magar institutions
To: "Magar sangh Kathmandu"


Dear PJji,
Many thanks for sharing the information. To have a separate building of your own is good idea. I know Magar Sangh Central Committee is also trying to build one for them. Magar Samaj Sewa Kendra of Lalitpur is also trying for that. MSC would try for that in future. Lalitpur district committee may also do the same thing. That means there will be many buildings of Magars. Wow great!!! But how many such buildings do we actually need for Magar institutions inside Kathmandu valley? Is not one enough? Can not we be accomodated in the same building with common facilities of seminar halls, parking lot, security, offices etc? I am in favour of this type of management. I think this would be the best way of managing our resources which are constantly reducing. Building a house may be easy for some but maintenance of such facilities become problems. Then they become a sort of liability rather than facilities. Lets all think seriously about it. I am sending this message to many other Magar bandhus for your valuable suggestions. Thanks.
With best wishes.
Dr. GPThapa

Magar sangh Kathmandu wrote:
Dear All

I'm out of KTM since 30th of June to 19th July in some
sensitive western districts of Nepal. While leaving
KTM our friend were massively involved on home visit
program with mission of building Community home of
Magar Sangh Kathmandu district. For this year our plan
is to purchassase land within Mangshir.
My visit districts are Mugu (Rara lake), Bardiya,
Jumla, Surkhet and Banke (Nepalgunj). I have completed
visit to Mugu and Bardiya but Jumla has not been able
to visit due to weather / flight. Rara Lake I found
one of very nice place to visit. May be I will share
videos some time. See you
Padam J Thapa Magar

History of Brigade of Gurkhas

History of the Brigade of Gurkhas

THE BEGINNING - GURKHAS, NEPAL AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
Robert Clive's decisive victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 firmly established British supremacy in India thereby opening the door for expansion of the Honourable East India Company. Some 10 years after Plassey the British started to come into contact with a unique and vigorous power on the northern borders of its newly won territories in Bengal and Bihar.
This power was the city-state of Gorkha led by its dynamic King Prithwi Narayan Shah. Gorkha was a feudal hill village in what is now western Nepal, the village from which the Gurkha takes his name. Prithwi Narayan Shah and his successors grew so powerful that they overan the whole of the hill country from the Kashmir border in the west to Bhutan in the east. Eventually, as a result of boundary disputes and repeated raids by Gurkha columns into British territory, the Governor General declared war on Nepal in 1814.
After two long and bloody campaigns a Peace Treaty was signed at Sugauli in 1816.
During the war a deep feeling of mutual respect and admiration had developed between the British and their adversaries, the British being much impressed by the fighting and other qualities of the Gurkha soldier. Under the terms of the Peace Treaty large numbers of Gurkhas were permitted to volunteer for service in the East India Company's Army. From these volunteers were formed the first regiments of the Gurkha Brigade, and from this time stems Britain's friendship with Nepal, a country which has proved a staunch ally ever since and has become our 'oldest ally' in Asia.
Never has the trust that was then placed in the Gurkha soldier ever been in doubt. Alongside his British comrade in arms he has fought in many parts of the world and has proved himself to be of the closest of friends and bravest of allies that Britain has known.
'Keeping the Peace' in India under the British flag began for Gurkha soldiers with the Pindaree War in 1817, and the first battle honour gained by Gurkha troops was at Bhurtpore in 1826. The two senior regiments distinguished themselves in the hard fought battles of the 1st Sikh War in 1846, and six regiments of the Nepalese Army were offered to the East India Company for service in the 2nd Sikh War of 1848.
In the Indian Mutiny of 1857-1858 the 2nd Goorkhas showed striking proof of their loyalty at Delhi where, together with the 60th Rifles (now part of The Rifles), they held Hindu Rao's house, the key to the British position which was under continuous fire from the mutineers, for over three months. During this period the 2nd Goorkhas suffered 327 casualties (including 8 of their 9 British Officers) out of a total strength of 490. Also during the mutiny, 12 Nepalese Army Regiments, a force of 8,000 men under the personal leadership of the Prime Minister of Nepal, took part in the final relief of Lucknow.
AFTER THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
Throughout the next 50 years there was much active service in Burma, Afghanistan, the North-East and the North-West Frontiers of India, Malta, Cyprus, Malaya, China (the Boxer Rebellion of 1900) and Tibet (Young husband's Expedition of 1904).
source:http://www.army.mod.uk/gurkhas/7557.aspx

CA election 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008
The Constituent Assembly Election 2008
14 Apr 2008
The long awaited Constituent Assembly election was held on 10 April 2008. The relatively peaceful manner and high turnout (more than 65%) in which this election was held was quite a surprise for me and many others amidst clouds of expectations for violence. Then, the first figures of poll results were even more surprising and unexpected. The major political parties—Nepali Congress and United Marxist Leninist (UML)—received heavy blows. Their heavyweights were flattened one-after-another. So far, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has bagged more than fifty percent of announced seats—102 out of 185. There are still results of 138 seats yet to be announced. Now there is a big speculation over the reasons/factors for such a landslide victory. Some of them are:
Vote rigging—but the national/international observers gave a clean report
Fear psychology—the voters did not find any other alternatives to protect themselves in the event of attack and violence by Maoists after the election—it is assumed that they were threatened earlier for dire consequences
Election manifesto/program—more appealing to the voters
Longing for peace—the voters were afraid that if the Maoists were defeated in the election they would go back to the jungle
Longing for change—voters were just looking for overall changes and they felt that only Maoists could bring the change, therefore, they discarded the "veterans"
It is still too early to say definitely about the reasons/factors. Whatever they may be, one truth is very clear—WE WERE VERY FAR AWAY FROM THE GROUND REALITY. Therefore, the results are unexpected and surprising.
Posted by Dr. GP Thapa at 4:06 PM 0 comments

New national anthem

Wednesday, May 17, 2006
National Anthem
After the historic victory of people over king’s rule, many things are in the offing. One such is National Anthem, Rashtriya Gaan. There is a proposed national anthem written by Riddhipani Gautam in Kantipur, 17 May 2006, page 7. If this song becomes our national anthem, I am sure many of us would not own it and would not sing it. The reasons for this is firstly, the words are very difficult to read and sing, and secondly, there are names, which lead one to think and accept that the country of this national anthem is a predominantly Hindu state. It totally neglects and forgets that there are other holy places than that of Hindu only and that Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Some of the examples of such elaborations are:

Pashupati rakchhit Nepal…Muktinath le mukti dine…sajiva Kumari, Naradevi, Dakchhinkali alaukik shaktipeeth….Swargadwari le swarga sulavpath pradarshak…

If you go through the whole text of the proposed anthem, you will agree with me that this cannot be our rashtriya gaan at all. Therefore, why not we write national anthem, which would arouse the national patriotism equally amongst all Nepali, and which would be acceptable and owned by all Nepali. I am sure there are many who can do this. Moreover, why not write our opinions on this issue in the letter to the editor of Kantipur. Those who are interested may kindly write to kanti@kantipur.com.np
Posted by Dr. GP Thapa at 9:51 AM 0 comments

Seminar on CA in 2006

Thursday, July 27, 2006
Seminar on Constituent Assembly
Magar Studies Center organized one day seminar on “Constitution Assembly and Restructuring of State” on 22nd July 2006 in Kathmandu. Two theme papers were presented on this occasion. Mr. Kashiraj Dahal’s paper dealt with the experiences of more than hundred countries in constitution making. Mr Malla K. Sundar elaborated on the views of indigenous and ethnic people of Nepal. Chairman of Magar Sangh also stressed upon some of the demands of Magars. Eminent personalities- professors, scholars, politicians, social activists and people from other walks of life attended it. Dr. Govind Prasad Thapa, Chairperson of the Center, chaired and moderated the session.
Posted by Dr. GP Thapa at 8:29 AM 0 comments

My felicitations on Jan Andolan II

Tuesday, April 25, 2006
My felicitations
Dear all Nepali bandhus,
My warm and hearty felicitations and congratulations to all Nepali people. The people have again proved that they are powerful and they can usher-in changes peacefully, no matter of what magnitude, without resorting to any arms and violent means. Though, it is time to be delirious with joy, yet there are many important tasks ahead to be carried out with utmost diligence and precision. Amongst imminent of them, we have to solve insurgency problem and re-establish peace and harmony, and we have to transform national diversities into opportunities and strengths by arousing and establishing feelings of ownership and patriotism, and commitment, among every single citizen, towards the nation and the national integrity. Let not the joys and excitement of people die and turn into bitter regret and anguish again with the passage of time. Let us hope that the peoples’dreams turn into a reality and that now Nepal moves forward--and forward only--to its ultimate destination of peaceful, prosperous, and greater Nepal.
Dr. Govind Prasad Thapa12 Baisakh 2063/25 April 2006
Posted by Dr. GP Thapa at 2:11 PM 1 comments