NHs 40. Dm " " 9 irs 25

Tribe status has conferred on nearly all

; inhabitants of Ladakh {that is, I

^: both %£$ and KargU districts), except on groups stieh as iftghito Sunni Muslins (bora of^;

.;.-, marriages between L^dafcrus arid Sunni Muslims from outside Lacfekh, basic ally Kashmiris^ Syeds and Ktoans. Syeds haw

^: beers denied ST status prestirriably ^: t|ey are'ethnically'outside ^: L^daktu and in the case'of JChans/the consideration was their high economio stattis (though ST status I13S japt been denied to wealthy, Buddhist families); The denial of tribal status to Arghun Sunnis is, however, a thorny issue locally andis aresult of conti'adictions iri Government policy.

Ladakh M»slim Association jPfesideat Akbar Ladakhi does not agree "With the recoinraendations made by_: ,e^)erte on Ladakhi history to the

Th? bird, the soaks

arid tbs boar signify

three capital sins:

ctes/re, anger and

ignorance.

H HIHtAL- . Jan/Feb 1994

Registi-ar General in charge of.... ■,

Scheduled Tribes. Their definition of Arghans as half^{1 :} breeds (saying tliey had an...... ... ,. .

identity oftheir own different

■ frdrri theroth^r ^ tribes' of .-.■..■. .■■■■

Ladakibj is contradictory to the ^: idea of a■■■' ffibe* in me first place,

he says: Jfthe" fix^etts.had ■:■■

adopted thecriterion of naming^:/l:: : the^inhabitants of afegion^:as k 'Whole as eligible fo| tribal status, it would not have cheated bitterr^ejsSi He adds: "Byivirtut of its geographical isolatio^i Snd backwardness, the entirev region of Ladakh is eligible for:

st status.^ :;i - "

m does- appear to tnariy that the denial of ^;ST statii^ to Arghmi Musiiihsisnotjust, as other ■;■;■ 'h&lf^breeds' such as Dpgra Arghuris (of in^ed Lad,akrii_:..and<, Dogra parentage) andNepati ■: ^:: Arghuns^oJ.' mixed Ladakhi'arid

given¹ tribal status;; This is par%..: djie to the conflating of various

criteria for deciding Oh STstanis/

this status accordmg to

;'' for"" 7 .

irijitance, E^tipa-(people of Baltistan) and Purigja people of

declared tribal on: thebasis of " some racial criteria; for instance, 'Bbtos* (^ teriri Indicating people of Mongoloid or'Tibelan ^: stock; locally liavfeg assbciaii^n with Buddhists and, therefore,'., riot acceptable to Arghuri Sursius);

Thelandsettleinentof 1908' .. shas .been taken ss a cut-off point ^i:for Such designation, in which Mnjlips have been defined as being "ATghun'\ ""Bahl", ■'Buddhist^ and so on,The hybrid social situation has^::been simplified by the appiicatiort of 1. the ■criterion of naming ^i©. _:-_: .■■■;.■ groups eiigible for ST_:staUis anti by deciding, when in doubt, patrileneally. Thus, if a person,^ hksaJCashmirl laliier or-

^andTa Buddhist mother or-grandmother, everf if :hehas converted tp ]BiidcIh|soi,,: ;iie is denied ST status by virtae vf his baterrafd^sceiati ^v_; I '". ."

tt is not yet clear what benefits the STstatus will to |1^! Lsdakhi people ap the normal benefitsof reservation in edijfcatidrial ^: ittsStatioiis, government jobs, schqLarships, *md soon.-Andit remains to be ;S©eri ttow far reaching the effects of the new ₉ status; will be. It is true that more> Ladakhis will be able to enter the mainstream of natiotial life in tae fields ofeducation; and' employment and, therefore, have₄ a greater presence-and voice. The question, 6f course, is whether these benefits will be eqaally accessible to all sections of the population.

If ST stattts is given to alj inhabitants of Ladakh, it would go a k>ng way in creating an atmtisphere of goodwill, .This opinion was eudoi-sed by a responsible section of the older generation, in Leh. It was.felt ihat first; given Ladakh's batkwardriess vis-a-vis_:therest of India, some reservation policy for the whole area was necessary; second, given its vulnerable geo-pplitical ppsitipn, alienating sections of the population, howsoever ■advantageous in .the Machiavellian internal politics of the nation-state, would be c dunte'tprodu c ti ve.

The success of the new mi"tia,tivesiiiLehwilldepend ^^s

Corffergijee in




|f on a combination of . ....
economic and culEiral factors:
the influence of regions, sudfi as
Tibet, Central Asia and Kashmir
in its political and social history-
(in rhftlters of trade, pilgrimage !
and transhjimahce), which¹
rnjkes Ladakh amulticentred
^one; the existence of various
cultural groups — Shias,
: Sunnis, Buddhists (of various ■
order)jChristjians^:aridso en —■■,■■
speaking different dialects with
shifting allegiances and
cleavages; political interest at.
the local level and above, ₍

which often crisscross; and finally, the customary modes.oj Sife based on a political economy of which the Indian nation state is yet to .have full control. All these factors make Ladakh a_; centre of various centripetal and centrifugal forces, throwing up questions about ihe success of She proposed decentralisMpri experiment, *•

_W

ill the Himalayan • Research Builittn rise from the ashes? Refleeting perhaps the iegs^rpng of interest ^s in Himalayan-studies in North Arnericah uhwersfties, over recent^ years thtf journal 'has1 ost some ofiLs lustre^ Shuiited from, dn^ American university to another iri search of patronage, the » joyrrlal became less and less tegular. ' After

tenure at Cornell Universitywider editors Kathryn March and David Holmberg, the journal moved to Columbia University (editors: l^ieodore Riccardi, Bruce." "Owerts, Bill Fisber): hi 1991, -editorship was Jtakep over by Ter BDb'ngson and Linda Htis of the

Shiihng,Mt&jhpitedm the Roasts of peaee" I ' tnthestrife-hm

js to'host an ■■■ ■■■ ■,, .' .":" intepnationalxonfirpvce,

■i-UAM1994:,= = -
to'promote on ethnic
harmony, reports ■■■ - -.-. .~. ,_:
the &&

Tou are invited to consider ^mankind's defpest concerns^ r^ptelions and challenges, |nd ". to share exp#Hences of charge and hope in difficult situations," states the invitation letter that has been sent to feuding Serbs, .;Croat| ahdMtislirrisinBosnia,. .=■ ^;teBlacksandVWrrite>uiSoutii- -Ttfnca, Israelis,^Pftlestin?an^ " , Lebanese Ss WelT as peopk^:: _:: .. ¹ frornManipur. Invitatiohs have ■ also been sent to Asva-Paciftt? ^:

tlrii v ersi iy 6 f^: Washing ton kt

University¹ did not eome «p:-promised si^p^ri, and anly one ^ issue has bcen^: brought ovit so ihst issue is not

■ as ihe bulk of its. ..:


,are devoted toprinting toe entire I^MNepah' \ ; .

wrest the publication fro the University ojf Washington^aad:' it avei to the

University of jl^xas in Austin. ■■■■■ Barbara Brower, a geographer _; whO;has worked amorig'ths ^: Sherpas, was appointed_; the new editor; ■■ - ^:- - - -: -.. ■ . .

populations a

Jnpeace'V ^;- ■■■■ ■■■ .-- ■. ... .„ I "' ■:■■ ■■..■ Sfeiljtopg i$ said to have. been._v. ■ selected ses the. venue "sincb^;:it---^; "■■■ ... offers e'asy acces^btlity. to the... .. flashing -Nagas.-anid^KuJasin' BeigPjpyripg Manipur, as weil as the different tribes arid- ^:

wiio are up inarmsagaJntst thetf

., called Moral Rearmament,, and supported byJliS Ramalftishna Mission and various Cllfistian .orgaqrii$a(ions, the tliems of the conference is: "Learnjing to Jiye tog|tr^r—^vfrontieF ■.■, _v; ... 6f hope". Since foreign ^: ■ ■djil^gates will'need restricted

■:.■ sea pepnits to enter the Northeast, theu;#pplicatbiis"

c onference c 9 ofd that or

\.Ttid survival or demise.-ol . die HI^B In"We ^drnijig year will {ilso indicate &e siaiie..p£ Z 2. . Himalayiii'studies in North Aniericai bk the past, fevu-opeari schdlm were among,ihe main svippottCTs of HRft.^:Now,-they. ,■. have their piynpMicatioti,"the ^:

:. Research, and aiithtMT and reader
loyalties arefTaetur^. .Pgrtiaps a
partnftrshjp between the _::

Europeans 4np Nojtb AjBdricaiis |bpublish one, regular* professional ]oiuTiaI^: will be to everyone's good.^; New^.subsciriptipn details: Mima tayan«Re$earcfi Bulletin, 'Geography Department, !u^iiyersity^;of Austin,^ ; ■■■■■

^ 2, USA ; ;

Gver^as aJMnail.ackilf$j[5,"



PROJECT

Zapping

with Solar Power

_T

he Everest Environment].,-. _s Project, ruu by Hinialayanf' mbbish expert BobMcConnell', is trying to trarisfera solar toilgt system developed in Tads, New Mexico, to therHirftaiayari Mountaineering Instituje^s train"- ^: ing camppcjrth 6f Darjeeling; .... 1

TTne project jpame 6i)i'of a' meeting between Ajit D^itt, Principal of Ht^tl and McCormell at a^raoantafneerrng conference in Las Vegas (!) last '_ year, according te the?Project's * newsletter. TalkHig to Dutt, McConnell found out that "JiMI' is host to i ,400 students a year. .

-Eacji ^tudent spends-len daySi|t^

^: Afei|,6O0 ft fiighHM Base • Camp during ^training. At a" pound of poop pCTdayperste- •. aerit; the- HMIhas, tq deal *i^ * appjoxirriately Sevea-tons of» waste a year atJts Base Camp."⁸ fit September* an architect ^ frorn Ta6s; named Michael Reynold^, ariiVed at the Base Camp»and set up the ?o|ar tqilet * (prototype. It'is designed to diy> om ^ind steriiize waste usfcg "passive solar'power".'What is left isiasterilei dry powder which can be disposed of safely " and easily.

If the :tcilet woi-ks, says

^! MeConnel. itjcouid "revolutionise how waste is handled, not only-in base carnps^ but ontrekkirig routesand4nv .. villages diroughoii^the Bltnalaya.¹¹

The Project a:waift feedback from HMI to confirm hpw, the *

^toilets work, as do we all.

Jan/Ffeb 1994 1HMAU

LAZIMPAT ROYAL PALACE - MAIN GATE
_l i i I

SOUTH GATE
I I

NAXAL

KANTIPATH I I

DURBAR MARG I I

BATHS

CINEMA

hall -

2nd gate J_ai Nepal

Scholarly Books on Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan etc. Latest Trekking Books & Trekking Maps

Mountaineering Books Guide Books of all Countries


_{MANDALA BOOK POINT}

Kantipath, G.P.O. Box:528, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tel: 227711, Res: 216100

Tlx: 2783 NP, MANDALA Attn: BK PI, Fax: 977-1-227372 NP NATARAJ, Attn: BK PT.


* MUSIC & MEDIA IN LOCAL LIFE :

Music practice in a Newar neighbourhood in Nepal (Forth Comming)

• 
  ANTHROPOLOGY OF TIBET AND HIMALAYAS
  
• 
  ORDER IN PARADOX: Myth, Ritual and Exchange among Nepal's Tamang
  
• 
  HUMLA TO MT. KAILASH : A trek from Nepal Into Tibet
  
• 
  TALES OF THE TURQUISE : A Pilgrimage in Dolpo
  

_EXPRESS

pamelate upon a May 19^3 Lo$ Angeles times Magazins article ■by Hco Iyer, on the filiruBg of the Little Buddha in Ksthmandu In a fine essay on' how' JKathrnaridu rfcSponded\lo the Bertoluipi troupe," !*ioo l$s» delves coflstradictionfc that surround the shooting of an;expen si ve Hollywood blockbuster in an

irnpoverisijec( land,, ■{" the line

between compassion and condesc­ension, between exposing a countrji^f lo the world and alleged!y.expleating jt; is as murky as in any love affair.'') WhetherBertoi.ucciⁱsfilrriwiUbe"thc lushest tourist brochure in the kingdom's history", as Iyer thinfo, remains to be seen. At a specialise vie w arranged for him in Paris, the Dalai, lama is said to have jsaid that "everyone of us has a little Buddha in him", which might be seen as_: an endorsement. The film did not figure among the 1993 Christmas releases, Which, according to one Hollywood financier indicates that the film is in ''deep trouble". Meanwhile, there" has been no name conversion, And aecordifis; to sources the producers never had aay intention of changing the ttttst to'The Little L««ia".T>rir i assurances ro Kalhniaiidu activists and ofi&ate last year were obviqus sops to tap, them firom ruining the "shooting, schedule, (Sezflimal, N&v/Dec 1992). A Kafhrnandu paper repoYts that the Ministry of Information and Caninriunicaiioris plans to^! sue the producers, yh-huht.

In an article tilled "Himalayan Caravans'⁷ in (he National Gfogra-pti*c'& December 1992 issiie, photographer Eric Valli mi writer •Diane Summer (Honey Hwlten of fifepa/) provide a sympafctitaccount of the declining salt caravansof West Nepal — "trie bloodstream" of the ,. Himalaya;'; They follow. D61po-pa TFinley, Lhuiidrup',£ yak caravan down to' the village of Hurikpt, ^here Ibwlander(R6ng-pa)NandaLalThapa tabes over and Continues carriage of^; Tibetan saltfurther south with his 1$Q "head of sheep; "Valli and Summers share their empathy for the changing world in wMc h the Budd hi st andHindu earavanivers have to survive; tourists arrive in Dolpo, Chinese authorities ration Tibetan salt, Indian iodised ssili penetrates from the South, Villagers along the caravan trails become increasingly hostile, and bonds

between Buddhist and Hindu isiat (traditional trading'partners) slowly shift, Wtites Summers, "I woiiid like to.think lhatftpth the Dolgo-pa andthe Borig-pa 'will: fiflct a fi^fiBing ^y to _:.the future. I would fifc& to believe that caravanners such as Tileh and Nanda Laf, being_:. shrewd traders; may £ven profit from the_; c hang? s that lie ahead: ButI have riiy doubb".

Jrt August 1993-issue of Geographic, _; 2»61ogist pedrge Schaller" (Sionej: of" Silencej evokes the worW ■■■■of. the Cha ng Tang, Tibet' s ■■! northern plain " which "harboot^ awe treasure; arid undamaged ectwystera, a truly %ild land not yetcontrclledlbj' human^nd":".. However, he perceives da Rge^s ahead as arj increasingly cash- based 'Fi be tan" cbononiy, replace ssubsi stence hunting with' cpmmpjeial hantingv Wild yaks-have already been kilted in great numbers ,'"t>y thetruckload", and some pastoriaiisfcs arfc now less tolerant o£ \yold^; animalsi especially of kiartg [Ti&etan iftatelopc). "Schaller,^: well: fcnswn for.his ifne prosey writes: "The high Chang Tarig repteaeti xi life at the¹ edge, so jsrwaripas thatwilfflile'taaRet absorb (he additional pressure Sf.teay yj. hun^hg:.. ^When thelastwe(ld yak-has di^iand rodds havb been pushed to Sie rim 6f fliat Rsmdte wqrid, "fibet %ill have been denaturedilt-wfll bavejost something; vital".' ,

The FatiitistefnEftinomic Review,in ttii 1 NovembWi5sue_vhigh)ighipdthe Muslim-Buddhist divide in Ladaih.

Rather late;it wouldsecm: The 19 'Npvferribcr Fw«//ine reported on ttie rappioachmetit between tjje two communities. Ttis life- tile "pollution' ii^Kathrnandu' story, theinteriuitidfiat rnagasijiecpjiiesminiate, whieregipnal jouniais are already in tethe next storyl Buddlfist-Muslim telalions flared in July 1989,vrith the Ladafch Buddhist Association banning all social, and commercial: iritetfactioris"■..-.■with Muslirns. According lp Frontline, a new wind is-now Mdvv'ing in Latiakh. RappKiachnwh): between the 13 A and Ihe Lada^h:Muslim Association has resulted in^s joint efforts for the implementation of a hill Council sirhjlar to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Gou ncil. This was what Jed to the 9 October, agreement between representatives of the Centre, State _:and Ladakh cfti the setting Up of a Laykkh¹ Autonbmotts

.As the,indc^:Tibethighpssesbegmto opeiiwifhthe biessirigsof NewKeM and Beijiiflg, West Bengal Chief Minister lyqti Basil has been going to bat on the side of kaiimpang and Gelep Lai Again, according to Frontline-, Basii wipte to Pfime Minister Narashimha lUio'in March ~ expressirig surprise that the Sino-Indian Bcgotiatprs were only considering Slathn Iva, which passes

yiaGs ngtok in Siiiaiii-fBoth 4^e G^?P and Nathu La routes join op along the Ghumbi Valley to Gyiaitse»:th!ihcei to Lhasa); Citing the pre-l$62 iipport-ancse of the Gelep Lai B^su said'its reopening would "imrfiensely benefit" the jr^ople of Kalimpong aitd tbefepttrffi fiiiipopiuiation of Daneeliisg District. IMeanwMie* an cntagprisirig Kalim-pong busiDessi(ian named ...DiC Kha'ti said tliat he had tried trading through jjie already-open Dar^hula-Taklikot route., butthat hottiingbeatthftChumhi Valley foreasy passage to Lhasa.

Himalayan inves_vtigativejd uftiat&mis¹ slowly coming into its owiti, doing it* hotney^ork and sfawing contiecdons^ across frontiers. Aa exaii^ie is, how some i» %e^: Nepali mediae have

. followed 'ikr trail of.,.the^:'.Aru.« III hydropower project.The latest was the KaArr^usdu weeifty Deshantar, which broke the story «n 12 December that even as tjie Nepali Government, and 'She;World Bank proceeded with strident defenjpe of the project, uhkno\yn -to them, the Chinese, were

'planning to divert sigrufeant waters upinTibct This sjxanceriB the works is m: ths form of the Cfi^ngsuo Bas^s Irrigation Project in the Qornolaiigrna Nature Preserve,, In September 199 f, b

irrigation" scheme using the watersof ,.:■ the JPengu (Aiun). The jproject is to be located between Ipingri and Dingrjie counties of the $higatsePrefectus£;, will include a_;25m high dam, and will ' cost niore than U$ 10inillien_vBeyond what tjiis diversion of good aqua might meats for Arun Ill's' gener§ting potential, the n^ws brings Nepaiis to therealisation that fttey are not always ugperripanaiu In the case of the Arun III;' that pri yilege is reserved for Tibet.

Speatang of water projects in 'Fib^t, the Ihrfependetit newspaper of London reports on^ enviTonmentalfsts' coneern tjie £90.5 ''million- pump storage ,,hydropo\^er n^oject ,pn the lake of

.Tso ^ill an ecological disaster. One fear is that the 200 ^sq rrale lake will drain away completely in 50 years: Theniega-prbject mindset. of the Chi heseis reflected in what Sua Yi,aChinese'offieial,hadtosaya||out Tihetan^oppQsiifion to the Yamdrok, Tso pfogramme: "I see Tibet like Galifornia.ImegdsNewW6rldseJ;tleii to develop the, Old World people*\ llt» Dalai Lama's goyernmenf-in-exlle has asked dpnoi' governments n6t to assist, ttie .project Equipment¹ aod tethnoiogy^: contracts'have'been ■aWrdted totWo Austeian companies.

''Frotirthepdstine w hi te^ttipa, located on the edge of the property at a ate designated by the Qerman-b^m Tibetan Buddhist writer and artist Lama Govmda, you can p^r down over the valleys of KwazulUj *- to the pounding of African s;... "Ifyou expect Taraan to conk Modelling out of the hush, you'd notbc

articje.«( frecycle, which reports on the dbarnu *s sprtad in S.o«th Africa,' W,hafrole' "play as? that to shed the legacies of apartheid? According to StepheB^ Bi^tcheior, tbe writer, 'Insight into the transparertt, dependenfly emergent nature of things airtight d.ispe! pereeptiori of peo^&as endowed wigi • inherent traits of character ... The¹ . Biiddhist erttiqne of unchanging essences would help¹ in, fieedng die-minds of whites and Macks alike from the; lingering web of suspicion and reiftcalion.thal underpinned'the psychology of'apartheid**.

"Phg Himalayan Environment Trust goes too ,far in believing that the Himalayanpeoples arepurltaasvyho must be'shielded frOmvisipns-dfp^e flesbf and overt display of affection-While one caiihot quibble over the "Himalayan¹ Code of Conduct" and its call for keep ng ca mps clean and taking soloes offoutside'tetpples, what is one 'tomakeofdirectiojnsth^tteekjiersand climbers '"not wear shirts and Mss or Jtold ha«dsitipubEc"*^:Give usabreakf Nepali villagers have beeji observing palefaces trekking in,_: shorts and hofpaats for decades withou* prorniscui^ levels going up oirdown. Save the Hftrjalaya_!fkntjraiddleclass-! morality; I,say'I

r Chhstrui Palrokai

HIMA1 . 3%

Bhaktapur is a CLIMAX COMMUNITY of Hinduism, a witness to South Asian history, says Robert I. Levy, in Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal (University of California Press 1990), written with Kedar Raj Rajopadhyaya. But Bhaktapurians, too, are today headedforfamiliar shores, he says.

Whatever the shifting historical relation between caste and territorial units might have been, the conditions that allowed for the formation and development of little kingdoms allowed for the fulfillment of Hmduism'spotentialsfororderingacommunity.Suchlittlekingdoms seem to have represented, to borrow a term from ecology, "climax communities" of Hinduism, where it reached the full development of its potentials for systematic complexity, and with it a temporary stability, an illusion of being a middle world, zmesocosm, mediating between its citizens and the cosmos, a mesocosm out of time...

This large aggregate of people, this rich archaic city, uses marked symbolism to create an.order that requires resources —■ material, social, and cultural —beyond the possibilities and beyond the needs of asmall traditional community. Theelaborate construction of an urban mesocosm is a resource not only for ordering the city but also for the personal use of the kinds of people Bhaktapur produces. Or at any rate has produced. Someof our acceptable cultural ancestors tried to make doubt a method, and finally succeeded in freeing us, as they believed, from marked symbolism, succeeded in making the symbolic "only" symbolic. Thepeople of Bhaktapur are beginning to desert their continent in the great divide for familiar shores.

WhyisBhaktapurthewayitis?MuchthatexistsinBhaklapur is a result of its long history and its location in South Asia whose areal forms are the products of several millennia of creation and reaction. Thus one explanation of much that exists and goes on in Bhaktapur is historical and diffusionist. Yet, throughout its history Bhaktapur selected among and shaped to its own purposes the offerings of history and the inventions of its neighbours. Its growth and its day-to­day life were determined by its internal structures, tensions, and requirements, internal forces that influenced the city's response to history and environment. From thecity'sownpointof view, "history" was only a disturbance for better or worse of its natural order, only a contingency to be dealt with until its effects became rejected or else transformed and worked out within the order of the city. When we consider the city'sinner order it becomes possible to discern not only the effects of Bhaktapur's historical and areal character as a "South Asian" or "Hindu" city, but also its characterists — in a different sort of classification — as one of a limited number of possible forms of human community, in this case an "archaic city"...

Thus, a kind of answer to "why is Bhaktapur the way it is", the problem of its particular form in comparison with other communities, is that when its economy and agricultural surplus and situation permitted, it grew into a city by making use of and transforming what ithad at hand in the local settlements of the time. It was natural for its builders to assume that a community is a collection of people who share and are rooted in a coherent local world, and it was natural for them to make extended use of the powerful and relatively easy to craft marked symbols that small communities use for more restricted

purposes. Bhaktapur — like the other Newar cities — following Indian models,elaborated along-establishedlocal culture, converting it into its civilized dimension in the simplest and most self-evident way. In this conversion to a city and a civilization marked religious symbols became elaborated for the special tasks of the burgeoning community. It worked for a long time.

Most of its precursors in type were long gone when Bhaktapur was founded. The kind of wealth that made them possible attracted barbarians and empire builders, and thus they contained the seductions to their own often violent transformations. South Asian communities held out longer than most. As they, finally, under long and intense pressures began their transformations, accidents of location and history, and eventually, of national Nepalese policy allowed Bhaktapur to drift on for a while, a witness.

PEOPLE MAKE A NATION, not states, writes Jason W. Clay in an article in Mother Jones ofNovlDec 1990. He says it is necessary to redefine the relationship of the state to the nationswithin them.

There are about five thousand nations in the world today. What makes each a nation is that its people share a language, culture, territorial base, and political organization and history. The Kayapo Indians are but one nation within the state called Brazil, The Penan people of Sarawak are but one nation within the state called Malaysia. To the people of the nations, group identity matters more than state affiliation. The five thousand nations have existed for hundreds, even thousands ofyears. The majority of the world's 190 states have been around only since World War II. Very few nations have ever been given a choice when they were made part of a state.

Most of the shooting wars in the world today are fought between nations and the states that claim to represent them. With very few exceptions, these wars are not about the independence of nations, but rather their level of autonomy: who controls the rights to resources (land, water, minerals, trees), who provides local security, who determines the policies that affect language, laws, and cultural and religious rights.

Nearly all the international debt accumulated by African states, and nearly half of all other Third World debt, comes from the purchase of weapons by slates to fight their own citizens. Most of the 12 million refugees are the offspring of such conflicts, as are most of the 100 million internally displaced people who have been uprooted from their homelands. Most of the world's famine victims are nation peoples who are being starved by states that attempt to assimilate them while appropriating their food supplies. Most of the destructive colonization, resettlement, and villagization programs are sponsored by states, in the name of progress, in order to bring nation peoples to their knees.

With Third World countries no longer looked on as proxies in an ideological war, the U.S. and other Western powers are pulling back on aid. That means cutting the umbilical cords of Third World elites. The consequent weakening of their power may unleash more

38 H1MAL . Jan/Feb 1994

struggle between states and nations within them wiio sense an opportunity to win more control over their futures.

If nations and states are to find a peaceful coexistence, a system of decentralized federalism will have to evolve. By this I mean a political system that is built from the bottom up, one that gives autonomy and power to nation peoples, who in turn empower the state to act on their behalf.

Beyond this guiding principle there is no one model. Weak states with strong nations may break themselves into new states. Newly independent nations, after trying to make ago of it for a while, may decide it is to their advantage to be part of a larger political unit. Many nations may use independence as anegotiating stance and settle for more local control within a state. To date, because the political processes in most states are not open, the only way nations have been able to push for their rights is to take them by force. The next 20 years are likely to be bloody if the world cannot find a new and better way to answer the demands of its now emboldened nations.

might well have sought influence there. But not only has the technology changed — Washington can lay waste any ar£a of the world without holding or influencing adjacent territories — the politics have become transformed. Neither the US nor Russia have any interest in Tibet. Only Delhi might try to continue the mischief of the great game, but even that is pretty unlikely — it has its hand full elsewhere. Holding Tibet is expensive, both in direct subsidies and the cost of civil administration. (Tibetans believe government officers in Tibet are paid three times what they earn in China proper) and of the military forces. Could it possibly be justified by the marginal gains of offsetting a remote Indian threat? The political costs abroad are also not insignificant. And holding it can only get more expensive, especially if those young men with Khampa braids decide the Dalai Lama'smessageof peace and talk is fartooslow for their life time, and bombs must be thrown, guerilla raids organised and so on.

There is a senselessness ABOUT OCCUPATIONS, which is in startling contrast to the supposed rationality of the participants, says Nigel Harris in "Tibet and Empire", Economic and Political Weekly of 25 September, 1993.

Tibet may be going to be as disastrous for China as Kashmir has been and continues to be for India. The threads still only a small cloud in the distant sky, but too often in our times, these small clouds become typhoons.

History is so unfair. The Government has become much more liberal politically in Tibet and Economic Liberalism suits the instincts of the Tibetans perfectly. Yet the more tolerant the regime becomes, the greater the degree of overt discontent. After 34 years of occupation, there is more openly expressed hostility than ever before. Everywhere the portrait of Dalai Lama mocks Bejing — the officials know full well that this supposedly innocent religious identification is political rebellion; in some of the holiest places, 'Free Tibet¹ stickers appear mysteriously. Many young men now ape the Khampa red braid, woven into their uncut hair, and carry the sword; the Khampas were —not without CIA help — the most ferocious opponents of Chinese Rule. Now they stand, like Cary Grant on Main Street, laconic in supposedly deadly strength, or ride across the wide treeless landscapes, stetson pulled down over their eyes.

Each year, since the major confrontation in 1987, there is renewed agitation, usually led by monks, alarming the tourist trade (or inspiring some, who long for national independence, wherever it occurs) and fluttering the sleeping dovecots of Washington. ...

. ..Why does Chin a want Tibet? Leaving aside all the historical claims (and the rubbish of all the 'sacred motherland, etc) which governments invent as they wish (in any case, it is an absurd principle that past practice should, regardless of circumstance, govern past arrangement¹!,) it was reasonable before 1947 to be suspicious of British influence in Lhasa, and then and in the 1950s, Washington

NEPAL PROVIDES U$764MAID

a press release dated21 December 1993, which was not picked up by the Kathmandu media. The reference seems to be to the Arun HI Hydropower Project.

In view of growing recession in Europe, Nepal has used its influence in the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other leading agencies to borrow US$ 764 million in order to revive sick and dying hydropowcr industries and consulting firms in Europe.

The news has come just before the Christmas holidays begin in Europe and will definitely bringlight and joy to many homes where there would otherwise have been a very dark and gloomy Chris tmas.Itis also reported that in order to create jobs for Europeans, the Nepali Government, in a gesture of benevolence that befits the season of giving, will lay off a thousand of its own staff at the Nepal Electricity Authority.

The US$ 764 million aid package will be used over.the next ten years to build a 117km road in eastern Nepal and a 201MW hydropower project at the end of it. Over 500 Nepali engineers currently employed by NEA will supervise and oversee the entire project; but will be paid about fifty times less than the European engineers Nepal is paying to do the job.

The US$ 764 million aid package will be used to procure turbines, trucks, helicopters and equipment from a whole range of European companies who would otherwise face large lay offs or even closure. Senior Nepali government officials have also disclosed that if needed, the price of electricity inNepal will be hiked up by as much as 65% if necessary in order to help the Europeans. Members of the cabinet and a section of the Nepali press have already begun a campaign to inform the Nepali public about the benefits to the nation of the potential price hikes.

As an indication of the seriousness of the Nepali government, it is rumoured that the Nepal Electricity Authority may sign contracts with European companies on January 27, 1994 even though the lending agencies do not approve the loan until March 1994.

Jan/Feb 1994 HIMAL . 39

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Enjoy the bar; bask in the rooftop restaurant; or dine at the Potala

Restaurant.

Situated at the heart of the city Potala Tourist Home is close




enough to feel the pulse and distant enough to be left in peace.

We have plentyful of parking space.

PO Box 7008, Kathmandu, Nepal. Phone: 410303 Fax: 977 1 220143

Are 'indigenous people' those who were previously known as 'tribute¹, 'natives', 'aborigines' or 'ethnic minorities⁷ ? What is the use of yet another term, and is it applicable to most of Nepal's communities?

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