Evil stalks the earth. It always strikes a gruesome blow and sows hatred and vengeance in all bystanders. It turns brothers against brother. We are witnessing such a time in Nepalýs history.

In centuries past, the Nepalis of Muslim faith worked the trade routes to the south to keep the country supplied with the few bits of technology and outside goods that the country had. These are the folks who traded in the considerable amount of precious metals and precious stones came into the city states of Kathmandu. Where do you think we got the gold and silver to mint coins for Tibet?

Most, if not all, of the bangles and bead necklaces worn by our women as symbols of marriage and as adornment have historically been created and traded by Nepalis of Muslim origin. They have played an important, if quiet, part in our culture and history.

And today, in an orgy of blind anger and frustration, our fellow countrymen have desecrated their places of worship. Many here, the supposedly educated and learned, have blindly called for their destruction and killing.

For when the heat of the moment passes and anger simmers down, even the hottest head will need to accept the the Muslim community in Nepal is absolutely nothing like the barbaric murderer who butchered the innocent 12. This is a shameful moment for us all.

How many here know of the thousands killed by the Spaniards five centuries ago? They destroyed the entire south American civilizations of that time? So, how many of you have boycotted Spanish products or culture? Anyone?

America: had the largest collection of slave labour in the past few hundred years. Many are familiar with the lines ýall men are created equalý by one of the undoubtedly brilliant men of any time: Thomas Jefferson. He was a slave owner and never set a single one of them free.

So how many of you have boycotted the Americans? Instead, by the thousands, everyone has applied for the DV lottery.

The maoists have got their victims to dig trenches, then hacked off their arms and legs and pushed them, still bleeding and alive, into the trenches they dug.

So how many of you have gone and burnt down even one table in their offices?

Are we operating on double standards here or what?

Spewing such blind and unreasoned hatred against any one community by the majority over the acts of the few is stupidity en masse. And this from our supposedly educated people? This is who we are? This is the best we can do?

Thousands of hardworking men and women of Nepal toil in various professons in the middle east. Yes, all those Muslim countries. It their dollars that have filled the coffers of the central bank and buoyed the economy despite the civil war.

The Nepalese economy has not collapsed because of the paychecks provided by the Muslim countries of Malaysia, and the entire middle east. So, perhaps those who are swearing at Muslims should also be prepared to find alternatives to all those billions of dollars paid by Muslims to Nepali workers.

And yes, all those promoting hatred should also be ready to feed, house, clothe and employ all those Nepalis who will be quitting their jobs in the entire Middle East to protest Islam. Say, why not make a truly grand gesture. Let all Nepalis return all the money they made in the middle east back to those hateful Muslims? How about it? One damn fine gesture: pile all the money that came from the middle east in a huge pyre in tundihkhel and set fire to it. Thatýll teach em. How about it? Care to put your money where your mouths are?

Yes, letýs condemn terrorism and confront evil in whatever shape or form we find it. It is the work of cowards to prosecute the innocent and helpless based on the religion of that group. That is evil too.

I have, with gratitude, seen many sane and level headed posters here speak up. Please, do letýs continue to do this. Let us do this loud and clear. Donýt let the hatred mongers smother your voices in a cacophony of hatred. You must speak out now, and you must speak repeatedly against hatred. Please join me in condemning all acts of barabarity, everywhere. Even those perpertrated by our own people.

Expressions of anger are expected and understandable at times like this. But such visceral and endless hatred as litters so many threads here is shameful.

Sajha is close to being a hate site. This has to stop. San, this is the moment to act.

been quite a long time since i visited this site. as i've written in other threads, i was shocked at the reaction from this supposedly educated Nepali diaspora. it's good to see that some things didn't change over time. czar's clear vision and his/her eloquence should serve as a guide to those who are letting rage dominate their intelligence.

Czar, here is my commendation and condemnation on your thoughts.

As the dust settles down, rationality will prevail. However the current state of the nation and its citizen is still in chaos. Although the riots that are taking place shouldn't be encouraged, it shouldn't be taken by an utter surprise, the present reaction of the country.

Questions have been raised about our double standard on responding to the maoist massacre and the latest Nepali misfortune. Agreed, Maoists should be condemned as much; we probably have that cowardness within to protest against the evil next to us while we go thrashing revered entity of those who haven't even done anything
to us. But wouldn't you have a different reaction when your younger son gets beaten up by a thug outside as opposed to when your own elder son torchers him.

Valid points are made on saying that we probably should've reacted earlier. The politicians could've handled the situation better by analysing the possibilities, but rationality is not a one way road. The angst that Nepalese are spilling have a good basis to it. Our weakness was a big factor in the massacre. The enemies knew we were helpless nation and thus would have less reprucussions. The world still doesn't consider it a grave disaster right now, as somebody pointed out that abduction 2 French Journalists have created more stirr than massacre of 12 Nepalese. We have a reason to be angry.

Having expressed my view on why what we did was not way-out-of-line; I should add, with a pinch of rationality left, that this shouldn't go-on too long. We have made enough statements and our Nation doesn't need to witness more violence in the name of religion. This is not going to solve anything, but make the condition worse now. Let's mourn the death of our citizens and mourn over the 'failed nation.'

Czar dai,
Couldn't agree with you more. Yes, anger is understandable but chanelling out blindly on the national property and innocent people just shows our ever so popular "sheepish" attitude and our TRUE COWARDICE.

I am just aghast at the hate threads that have propagated in sajha lately. I agree. Its time to put an stop to this now. Debating about religion is one thing, but inciting violence and promoting it with full fledged heart, that too from people who claim to be patriotic and potential future leaders of our COUNTRY is simply apalling.

My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family!

Nepals muslim past contributation and the atrocities or pratice of owninf slavery in America....



Who cares about the past !!!

Bravo CZAR!

Well said!

And now, we have our own poor Nepalese without passports, without work and without property. I am amazed there are those who receive an education but lose their ability to think. As someone said, if the maoists kill Americans (or any other nationality for that matter) would it justify Americans/others killing Nepalese in their respective countries?

DWI: I am disappointed sire! Many Nepalese have been killed by the RNA and the maoists; teachers, students, common poor have not been spared ... we haven't seen them being avenged by an almost orgiastically frenzied crowd. What makes it ok for the murdered in Iraq to be "avenged" by the blood, sweat, toil and property of the INNOCENT Nepali Muslims?!!!!

Bhanja: History repeats itself, if ignored!

Indeed..Sajha almost sounds like a hate site. I almost lost faith in Sajha after seeing one after another threads full of hatred. Like one of my friends said, either most of the sajha writers are 17 years old Juveniles or they are outright stupid. I was thoroughly disappointed with so many intelligent and educated folks in Sajha reacting in childish ways. How could they even think about taking thier vent out on innocent nepali muslim while culprit is all laughing behind the mask in Iraq. Just like we can not be held responsible for any stupid act of hindus in India, Nepali muslim can not be held likewise for some muslims in Middle East.

God Forbid, if nepali muslims are killed by frenzied mob in KTM, we will be seeing more gruesome videos of half a million Nepalese being slaughtered in the Middle East.

We all know that Maoist/RNA have killed and will continue to kill thousands of more fellow Nepalese in more gruesome ways, more inhumane and yes without a casue. Why we are not creating any riots for that. Actually truth to be told, people almost stopped to care how many Nepalese being killed in the civil war between RNA and Maoist. WHY? and we are going head over heel screaming for a bloody murder of Nepali Muslim to settle the score with some coward extremist in Iraq.

Czar, Oys and Sitara...without you guys...Sajha would be no different place than that website of Islamic extremist.

Czar,

Great ! This is what I was looking for in Sajha.

Time to speak up. This is a critical hour like the one we wasted before we heard the worst news. The words we speak at this hour might save lives and resources back home and wherever Nepalis are that are otherwise potentially in danger, let alone we will be showing sanity of Nepali minds.

***********************

DWI,

Your backhanded support for the vandalism back home which every witness seems to be suggesting that it was penetrated by suspicious elements (look at the list of the businesses targeted and some slogans chanted) is morbid if not murky.

Even if you are talking about genuinely Iraq related vandalism which you have said repeatedly that you understand them perfectly, my question will be- if you have that much understanding, could you also understand Czar and others worry and frustration over the violence against innocent people and itýs backhanded support by some well-educated people in this forum ?

The tone in your posting in reply to Czarýs posting does not convince me that you do.

Seems like you are not angry with the butchers of Ansar-Al-Sunna but with everybody else.

********************

Good to see San also taking the matter in his hand. His posting in the thread ýTIME TO STOPý rightfully belongs here.

So I am taking liberty to copy and paste his disperately awaited words:

From San:

Sajha is a home away from home for most of us Nepalis living outside of Nepal. We are angered and frustrated with the killings of our countrymen in Iraq and the general situation that prevails in the country.

In Nepal, some people come out in the streets to vent out their anger. They destroy public properties and act in the spur of the moment. In the long run, these actions leave a bad aftertaste, because after all we are destroying our own city - our own property.

For some of us who are living away from home, sajha is the closest we can come to being part of the whole national mourning, the sadness and the anger. Instead of being able to march in a Julush in Ratnapark and express our anger, we choose to spew postings showing our anger and hatred towards the killers. In doing so, sometimes we go overboard and chant slogans of religious hatred. This is not what sajha stands for, yet we accept such things in moderation depending on the circumstance. In this present context, yes, some of the postings have been VERY hateful and not worthy of educated people's reasonable feelings. But, in keeping up with a tradition of openness, tolerance and understanding, I feel it is relatively better to post a few venoms than be out in the street destroying public property. Us people who live away from Nepal needs a way to vent as well, and verbal venting is more acceptable than physical destruction of properties and lives.

I do believe that all of this is going to stop soon as the spur of the moment anger wanes off. We don't want sajha to turn into a hate site and we will all have to accept that because at a time like this we need to come together and that's what sajha is for.

Sajha does not encourage religious discrimination or inciting of hatred. Sajha is here to bring us together more closer at a time like this. Ideally, we would like to see a perfect world within sajha. But we can't stop it from being real; at the same time we can't step outside the boundary of common etiquette, decency and tolerance of ideas and people who are different from our own. Let us be guided by HUMANITY.

I meant 'murky if not morbid'.

I won't blame you on the disappointment Sitara but please go over what I said one more time (or just read on to get the gist). And Nepe, call it morbid and murky but you have to 'understand' as well that the state of the nation is in a complete chaos and you cannot expect rational thoughts out of everybody who are either enraged or mourning, or both.

If you indeed read and 'understood' what I wrote, Nepe, I wasn't exactly commending the violences that terrorized the country. Heck, how would I feel if the Americans had started torchering all the South Asians thinking all of us looked like Muslims? My point was, whatever happened, shouldn't be taken as a shock.

We are a failed nation, and the entire world looks down on us. Foreign media didn't even bother to name all 12 Nepalese killed in that event while other 'happenning' nations enjoy a collective protest when one of their baby is abducted. We will be forced to tolerate another massacre and nobody would even acknowledge it. Do you still expect everybody to shut up quitely and expect things to get better soon? Violence won't solve anything but it is a form of expression and even though I don't support it, I knew it was evident.

Again, I am not supporting the riots and absolutely am against any notion of ethnic cleansing. But I also understand the angst and the pain the fellow countrymen are going through. Hopefully by the time the dust settles, we all will be able to rationally think it over and live in harmony again, hopefully.

BRAVO CZAR..........................FOR YOUR VERY EDUCATED THOUGHTS AND PUTTING THEM IN BLACK AND WHITE IN SUCH A DIPLOMATIC MANNER. THE QUESTION WHICH U HAVE RAISED LIKE SPAINSH INVASION ON SOUTH AMERICA AND FORCING NATIVE INDIAN TO BE CHRISTIAN AND SLAUGHTERING THEM. I AM HISTORY LOVER DUDE. I FIND IT VERY SAD WHEN WE ARE LOOKING OF EL DORADO AND THE MYSTIC CULTURE OF MAYA. THEY BRUNT DOWN ALL THE RELEGIOUS TEXT AND SCRIPTURES.
THE RECENT DOCUMENT HAVE GATHERED SO MANY FACTS THAT ACTUALLY THEY HAVE A CONNECTION BETWEEN ARYANS AND VEDIC PPL. THE SIMILARITY HAS BEEN FOUND IN DEITY LIKE VISHU, MAHADEV AND LOT OF COMMON EVEN THE LANGUAGE THEY SPEAK SEEMS TO BE COMING FROM SANSKRIT LIKE USING N AT THE END OF PLACE LIKE WE DID, PAKISTAN, AFGANISTAN. THERE IS A LINK............................................................BUT AGAIN BEING LOVER WHAT CAN WE DO.........PAST IS PAST..............WHAT ABOUT ARYANS LIKE MY GREAT GRANDFATHERS WHO CAME DOWN FROM CENTRAL ASIA AND MAKE DRAVIDANS RUN AWAY TO SOUTH.........................WE MADE PPL WHO DONT FOLLOW HINDU DEITY TO CALLED THEM SECOND CLASS OR MADE CASTE SYSTEM. WHAT ABOUT THE WOMENS THAT WE RAPED DURING INVASION AND CALLING DARK PPL RAKSHAS WHICH ORIGANLLY MEANS DARK NATIVE ABORGINES.............THEY ARE NOT LIKE DEMONS.........WHAT ABOUT SUPRESSIG THE MINORITY PPL ACCORDING TO CASTE SYSTEM. ............................WHY DONT WE LOOK WITHIN OURSELF THAN TO USE TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT OTHERS HOUSE? .................................THE HISTORY SAYS THAT THESE MUSLIMS, JEWS AND CHRISTIAN THEY ARE THE PPL WHO IS KICKED OUT THE SCHOLARS AND PRIEST OF ARYANS FOR NOT FOLLOWING VEDIC GOS AS THEIR GOD....................................DUDE U SEEMS TO BE INTELLEGENT DUDE........

MY REQUEST IS NOT BRING DEATH PPL ALIVE.......................IF U LOOK AT OUR HISTORY..........WE HAVE BEEN WORST............................AS FAR AS CONCERNED THIS IS THE COZ FOR ENDING THE KALI YUG WHEN PPL ARE STARTING TO RELAISE THE IMPORTANCE OF PEACE AND VALUE..............SOON WE WILL BE GOING BACK TO STONE AGE LEAVING ALL THE LUXURY BEHIND........................

GARIB BHANCHAU SUKHA MA JHAI DHANI
MILDAINA SAANSAAR BHAR KATAI PANI
BILAS KO LAAS DAS CHAINA MAA TAA
MITHO CHA MERO PARISRAM

LATE POET LAXIM PRASAS DEVKOTA FROM POEM GARIB

allright INTELLECTUAL BROTHERS/SISTERS...LISTEN,

when you have nothing do to, your jobless, your college is closed, your school is closed,
your family is in debt, you dont have food to eat, goverment doesnt care, maoists keep on fighting, there isnt any solution..so, to flame up this frustration there is just a need of a REason...and it will burn like fire..ofcourse, you all intellectually capable ppl wouldnt understand this situation, becuase of course you dont have to live like that...so being said that, this destruction only showed frustration, then more of a hatred..understand that.

when i see you all " intellectual" acting like as if they are always right, then it gets me fired up...Czar, what maoists are fighting for and what these muslims milliants isnt realeated in anyhow..Moists suppoters are our blood, a poor from of our blood, trying to get their rights, they place in a scoiety....they dont murder in a name of religion...and Religion is Farmost important thing in this world, Religion is their Identity for many people, and for some its only thing that they can rely on.. ..common, there are many religions that try to convert ppl, CHiristians?? dammn i bet half of you here attended ST. Xaviers or ST. Mary's, these ppl try to change ppl, but dont hurt anyone...and they respect every human being...i am not trying to generalize but, what can one expect form a religion, whose very very imp. prophet destoryed everything because it wasnt the way he wanted..

i dont hate muslims, i dont hate Islam, but i wonder sometimes, if there are good muslims in this world, why are always the bad ones in power?? My intellectually capable fellows, look at every muslim country in the world, they are filled with PIGS at the top positions......agree with me or not, its a fact..

sure, i didnt agree with some voilent postings out here, but what can one do, when they cant control their anger? PPl die for their religion, religion is something that gives our life a direction...yes, and some postings were wrong and should never have been posted, but for GOD SAKE"S stop your GOD DAMN LECTURE ON how one should feel and how one should act...Travel back to Nepal and give out the same frecking lecutre you just wrote down, then i will look upon you...

dude, as you said anger is expected, dont determine what kind....Nepalese have burning flame inside of them, country is total mess..first try to change Nepal and everything will change with itself...then your posting will suit the scoiety we live in...

this destruction is not a hatred, its a frustration..understand that...
.........................................................................


and oh yah some of your points are just pointless..: esp. one with Thomas Jeffreson, if you ever read American History and analyzed it then one thing you would certainly understand is, Many Slave Owners didnt find slavery pleasing at all, almost more than half were certain it was wrong morally, but economic was also one of the important factor on American Society for that reason and only that reason, it wasnt just hard for them to free the slaves but it was impossible....

After reading post over here... I just wanted to ask some question .... is it just because we are economically dependent to muslim country ... we need to take patience... Is it just because our thousands of brothers are working in muslim country ...we shouldn`t root of the mosque.... What a logic you people give it over here... I feel shy..to call you people intellectual. Killings of innocent must be discouraged despite of any reason. Violence must be discouraged dispite of any reason... (It doesn`t means that I don`t beleieve in war) After soo many intellectuals knowledge about relegion and history... I am happy that I am an atheist... I have no god.. hence neither hindu.. christian.. .buddhist.. . nor muslim... I never read all those bullshits too. If you people are talking about the History like moneyminded did... I just want to ask you simple question what does your history proves when there is picture of human and dinosaurs living together in caborela stone.. F@@k with hindus, F@@k with muslims.... there were not even any division then.... It is always said Little knowledge is dangerous....

First let me make me clear that I don`t think our nepalese brothers were innocent at all. As I have posted earlier.. they were at wrong place at wrong time... Those people who executed them were protecting their motherland from foreign invasion... and our nepalese fools didn`t know that fact too. Yeah we feel sympathy because we know the real social situation of these people... yeah we feel sympathy cause we are also nepalese... and yeah we feel anger too cause we have seen them burtally murdered..
But before turning anger into violence.... as our leaders who have always misleaded nepali janta by saying shok lai sakti ma parivartan garoun... I just want you people to use your brain... yeah some may find forum as the place ... where they feel free to write anything they wants... but my friend... your every post is being read by hundreds of people ...so lets not talk in anger... lets talk level headed.

Lets talk who were responsible for our nepali brothers to enter Iraq...despite they know what type of danger lies ahead... and yeah news are now imerging that there were soo many nepalese who are going to Iraq... (now they are stranded somewhere). My friend we all are responsible for them...isn`t it.. Cause we nepalese people themself have made thier life like hell...

So my brothers its time for mourning... mourning for the death of all those nepalese fools... its time for mourning because we were born in poor country..its time for mourning that we are not only poor economically ...we are also poor in brain

It is disheartening and equally baffling to see so many of my fellow countrymen, Nepalese back home, and abroad, expressing their views with such hatred and vengeance. Even more incomprehensible are the people who being educated, having the knowledge and the ability to speculate and analyze, and to comprehend, are spewing words of extreme abhorrence (astonishingly, many amongst the Sajha visitors). Furthermore, carrying out barbaric actions (in Nepal), against the innocent Nepalese people of Muslim faith, burning mosques, airlines, and other public properties. Creating chaos and terror in a country already disordered by Maoist insurgents. Are these actions less inhumane and gruesome as the beheading of the 12 Nepalese men in Iraq? Indeed the brutal killing of the 12 Nepalese men by the Iraqi fundamentalist insurgents is dreadfully horrific and cruel. It is of an undeniable condemnation.

Now, let us rummage around the blaming game. It is an easy one. Those 12 Nepalese men would not have been beheaded had they not gone to Iraq in the first place. Despite the Nepalese Governmentýs warning and denial, they opted to go ahead. It is the Governmentýs fault for not being able to provide them the means of sufficient income at home, (and not being able to rescue the hostages later). Nonetheless, the men were lured by the contractors/agencies of human labor with the assurance of security and safe return, which they turned their backs on those poor men upon arrival in Iraq. It is those enslaversý fault. Iraq currently being an occupied country by the American Army, it is the duty of the American Army to sustain the safety and security, and maintain normalcy in Iraq. They have failed to do so. George Bush being the Commander In Chief of the armed forces of the USA, It is George Bushýs fault. Had America not gone into the war with Iraq, the Iraqis wouldnýt have considered Americans, nor itsý allies and anyone, person or an institution associated with America, their enemies. It is Americaýs fault. Let us go even further. God, the omnipresent almighty created the universe, the solar system, and the Earth amongst other planets. God created the entire non-living and living things including the humans. It is Godýs fault for also creating the Muslims that many people around the world now view Muslims as the root of all problems. My fellow countrymen let us go to Godýs country and behead GOD. God is the one ultimately to be blamed.

I have seen the arguments throughout the threads in Sajha, both pros and cons, stalwart and feeble, some antagonistic views with ostensible reasoning, some compelling and instantaneously compassionate about the ordeal. And, some moronic ego aching out to outsmart and outwit everybody to demonstrate his/her grasp in English literature, miles apart from the subject theme, feverishly funny. However, Sajha becoming an extremist militant hate site is NOT AMUSING.

It is disappointing to witness that many people were unable to grasp the picture in whole. Regardless of alarms raised, and intelligently encouraging and educating thoughts shared by few of the concerned fellow Sajhaites, more and more people are dwelling upon the bits and pieces arguing and condemning each other. Why canýt one comprehend the fact that one needs to put those bits and pieces together to solve a complete puzzle? Why cannot one differentiate it is not a religious issue? Why cannot one envisage hate begets hate? Why cannot one foresee antipathy is not the path? Why can not one imagine an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind? Why cannot one believe peace isnýt the outcome of atrocity?

It is funny.
Every new posts comes aksing other to UNDERSTAND the situation as if they understood everything.
Soleil, you should get gold medal for putting all the blames to everybody other than the muslim fundamentalists (note that I didn't just say muslim) themselves. Next time your brother gets beaten by a bully outside, blame him for taking the birth here. Blame him for stepping outside and blame him for being weak.

Confused, GREAT!
Now that destruction to some extent has been achieved, I am sure YOU and coolketa, moneyminded and the like will go to Nepal and replace the passports (those that were destroyed from the manpower office) of the poor Nepalese job seekers, RIGHT? Or perhaps, you will compensate for the time, energy and money they put in trying to find jobs outside. No no! allow me to keep guessing you will, yourself, provide the jobs for them those who lost much from the destruction right? Wonderful! We do need people like you who instigate destruction and and ARE PREPARED to compensate for the loss incurred by the innocent Nepalese!
You go you gutsy guys... I am sure those courageous as yourselves will SOMEDAY, go to Iraq and Slit the throats of the main culprits, the MILITANTS!!!! And we stand in awe of your bravery!!!!

I am sure those courageous as yourselves will SOMEDAY, go to Iraq and Slit the throats of the main culprits, the MILITANTS!!!! And we stand in awe of your bravery!!!!

The more I read about the Iraqi crisis here in Sajha, the more confused I get. First of all, let nobody forget that sajha is an OPEN forum, where people of all inclinations have equal right to put their views forward. So, I am not for 'blockingý'any kind of view. Both the sides, for and against the violence in Nepal, are able to enhance their understanding and are able to express themselves better because someone else is there to challenge their grasp. And let us also not forget that the people who bother to read and post here do so, not only to express their views and opinions but also to 'try getting the other side of the story'ýthe very essence of an open forum. Hence, the suggestion that some posts are undermining the ethos of sajha, or are directed towards any cast/creed, and that they should be censored, is somewhat akin to a fundamentalist, hard-line thinking -- which again, is welcomedýbut the one I am against.

CZAR, while respecting your views, I harbor some reservations about your rather 'lopsided' opinions.

History need not be the harbinger of the future. That we should/might hate Americans because Jefferson kept slaves while touting about equality for all; that Spaniards should be judged unfairly because of the crimes they committed ages agoýdoes not hold water in this day and age. This is a completely different world, my friend! Very few countries I know can be exempted of atrocities against minorities at one time or the other. Therefore, your argument that Nepali Muslims, or any Muslim around the world for that matter, should be excused of their wrongdoings now, only because they boast a glorious history, is very unreasonable. I DO NOT think that Nepali Muslims echo the thoughts of 'those' fundamentalists in Iraq, but the reasons you give, czar, for exempting them, the Nepalese Muslims, are week.

CONFUSED'S points can't be overlooked, either. IF I was in a similar predicament: "nothing do to, your jobless, your college is closed, your school is closed,
your family is in debt, you dont have food to eat, government doesnt care, maoists keep on fighting, there isnt any solution..so, to flame up this frustration there is just a need of a Reason" -- a perfectly justifiable reason at that, IF you fulfill most of the requisites above. If not, you may only be able to get the hang of it as an outsider, with enough theoretical knowledge but little understanding of the ground realities, and the mindset of those rioters, I might add.

One of the serious flaws I see among the intellectuals in Nepal, particularly those involved in politics, is their sense of self-righteousness. Time and again, the feelings and aspirations of the youth are trampled on in Nepalese society because of the age-old tradition of deeming them naýve and incompetent-- this penchant overriding more rational judgments. This deep rooted frustration, among others, also contributed towards adding fuel to the recent riots. Why are the much vaunted ýintellectualsý refusing to hear us? Isnýt it on the youth that the future of a country rests on? So why we are not trusted, and being excluded in the most important decisions that will shape the future of Nepal? As long as this distrust of the youth remains, expect more of the same ý riots, vandalism, you name it-- when similar incident takes place.

Ideologically, everything and anything is possible. Letýs get practical, guys!

Murder is murder, whether committed in the name of religion, politics, greed, or whilst engaging in a crime or as a criminal event in itself.

There are some categories of premeditated killing that evoke a louder response than other: the murder of children as occurred in southern Russia these past few days. Or killing in the name of religion.

Any way you look at it, it still results in someone being killed.

And who is to say one life is less precious than the other. Or that one killing is less terrible than the other?

Have those making such claims conducted a poll of those murdered to ascertain which of the victims felt more violated and dead? Does it make any one of the victims less dead?

Does it mean the ones killed by the Maoists or unjustly by the RNA are any less dead than the Iraqi 12?

Does anyone of the bereaved families feel less of a loss?

Is it plausible to make such an incredible claim even in private, let alone on a globally accessible public platform? And we happen to have hordes ready to do so. Such courage ! This is our definitive national character, ain't it?

About historic mistreatment of minorities and other atrocities.

Hindu zealots march on and destroy a many century old mosque. This based on a belief that the site originally was a such and such Hindu structure. Has anyone realized that the subsequent archaeological investigations were unable to decisively verify such a claim? Subsequently, that there was insufficient political will, but more tellingly, lack of social conscience to publicly acknowledge this?

If were go down that path, the world can be lit up in flames over every historical injustice, real or imagined. Thatýs the point I was making with reference of Jefferson and the Spanish conquests. Apparently, I failed to present it in a manner such that readers could grasp the concept.

Those Nepalis of Muslim heritage are not Johnny come lately wild-eyed zealots. They are our people. They are one of us, as they are people who lived in harmony with our forbears for centuries whilst making useful contributions to society.

But now, suddenly, their credentials as true citizens are being questioned? They are not true Nepali, is that it? Close to one millennia of living in the land is not long enough? So when is the cut off date? Two thousand years? The last ice age? Heck, lets move the qualification date back to the first hour after the Big Bang. That ought to do it.

It is this kind of narrow-minded bigotry that lead to the killing of the Iraqi 12. Except, here, it is cloaked in prose.

So some are Catholic than the Pope, eh?