0.03 In Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, these workers earn just two dollars a day. But that's a good wage in a country where the average is just one dollar.
In April, they earned nothing, as Maoist guerrillas has besieged the city, demanding a general strike. Work is now slowly picking up again.
Raju Lama, worker
-Nowadays the situation in Nepal is good, we have work and I earn money for food and my family.
0.36 Nepal has a population of around 25 million, but a national budget about the same size as an average european town. Together with rampant corruption and beaureaucratic waste, this means It Is nigh on Impossible to provide the rapidly growing population of Kathmandu with work, housing, elctricity and water.
Old leaky pipes mean most people in the suburbs suffer frequent water shortages.
Babita Adhakari, lady
-We need to stand in line and we get water in the morning around 8.30, in the evening around 5 because there are too many people in town.
1.13 What costs money is security. Army, paramilitary troops and police are on constant alert against possible attacks from the maoist rebels. These guerrillas are able to hit targets even inside Kathmandu. Last fall the police-station in Sankhu came under a coordinated attack.
Rabin Raj Karnajeet, commander, Sankhu policestation
-Suddenly they shot down the sentry here at the gate and came straight into the post. With gunfire and blasting they took over the post and captured all the weapons. Within few minutes they fled.
1.54 The inability to root out the maoists was claimed as a major reason for the dismissal of parliament by King Gyanendra on February 1st. He imposed a state of emergency and seized power himself. Hundreds of politicians, journalists and student leaders were jailed or put under house arrest and the king launched an offensive against the guerrillas.
2.15 It is here up in the mountains of Western Nepal that the Maoists have their stronghold. The area is well suited to guerrilla warfare its mountainous and covered with thick forests - and the unarmed population can hardly resist any demands put on them by the rebels.
Keshav Ras Bhattarai, farmer, village Damar Gaun, Dang district
-They come in the villages for donations or if they need to proclaim a strike. They will come two, three days before if for donations or to proclaim a strike or strenghten their organisation.
2.55 Keshav owns a few cows, a few goats and a little land. The village of Damar Gaun is not far from where the Maoists started their uprising, but is poor and is largely unable to support the rebels except by providing rice to eat.
Nonethless, they continue to come here, almost once a week. The army comes just as often.
Keshav Ras Bhattarai, farmer, village Damar Gaun
-My situation is ... God knows... I am only a man. We help each other in my village and support neither maoists nor army.
3.27 There are checkpoints all over Nepal where vehicles and their passengers are controlled by the army. Every vehicle-number is written down. Since the Maoist uprising against the government and king began in 1996, more than 11,000 Nepalis have been killed, mostly civilians caught in the crossfire between rebels and army.
Last year saw 2500 killed, making the conflict in Nepal Asias second most deadly conflict after Iraq.
3.59 The Army and blue uniformed paramilitary control the cities and major roads - the maoists the countryside. The rebels commonly recruit men by force and civilians are exposed to terror and intimidation if they don't protect and support the Maoists.
Man Raj Gurung, man in house
-They came in our village and asked for some food and money and threathened us with explosions.
Amar Singh K.C. man in white shirt
-Until now, if the King had not taken over the government, maybe the maoists had forced us to go with them.
Man Raj Gurung, man in house
-Yes, if the King hadnt taken power they would have done that
Keshav Ras Bhattarai, farmer, village Damar Gaun
-When the maoists are in my village, during that time the army doesn't come here, and when the army comes into the village, the maoists run away. They are both trying to avoid each other.
-What if they meet?
-Then theres war. If there is war between the maoists and the army and we are in between, definitely we will die.
5.08 The population is the hardest hit in a war between two parties which neither is strong enough to win. But now after the royal takeover the army claims to have the upper hand and that peace negotiations will be meaningless.
Deepak Gurung, Brigadier-General, Army spokesperson
-Actually they used the peace-talks to re-group. They thought they were very powerful and that they were growing stronger, But once we started chasing them, attacking them, their power in fact started dwindling, so they are not as strong as they were in 2003.
5.46 The result of the war is that almost half a million Nepalis have been turned into refugees. Close to five hundred are in this camp in Nepals South-Western lowlands. In the oppresive heat, in makeshift houses with scarcely any food or water, it is mostly women and children eeking out their days here. Most of them were driven from their villages after the women had staged a protest against the rebels.
Gyan Kumari Shai, woman, from Dailekh district.
-We are all from the same district, here because of the same reason. Some people came because the maoists blasted their homes and some were forced out of the village.
6.28 The refugees have started a primitive school for the children.
Most men have continued south to neighbouring India, in search of work. It is estimated close to 700.000 Nepalese have now fled across the border. The army couldn't protect them in their villages and here they don't receive any support from the government either.
Dhanna Raj Buddha, old man
-We are war refugees. Sometimes the maoists come to maltreat us and sometimes the army. We are not here only because of the maoists, because of the government also. We have no idea of the future.
Gopal Siwakoti, HimRights, General Secretary, Kathmandu
-Hundreds of thousands have left the country for neighboring India, so there is a complete chaos and confusion and an absolute absence of rule of law.
7.19 Himrights works to promote human rights and documents crimes coommitted in the countryside.
Among other things, they have a 24hour telephone line.
According to the UN and other international organizations, Nepals military has one of the world's worst human-rights records, even before the royal takeover.
Gopal Siwakoti, HimRights, General Secretary, Kathmandu
-It's not only one or two, or a dozen cases, there are hundreds in which innocent civilians have been killed, disappeared, tortured... but the questions of compensation, not to mention impunity, have meant there has been little movement in bringing the perpetrators to book.
Deepak Gurung, Brigadier-General, Army spokesperson
-They are totally wrong. We are not acting with impunity, we have punished our people. More than 40 cases have been tried - people have been sentenced to jail and dismissed from the army. Even ranks up to colonel have been detained, we are taking action against them. So what happens is mainly human rights people. They don't... they should stay here for a longer period to find out what is actually happening.
(music)
9.00 In Nepal there has always been friction between different ethnic groups and between city and countryside.
Chitra Bahadur K C old man sitting
-This village is poor and we are farmers. We grow food and our lifestyle is like this. Some people are rich and they give their land to poor people for farming.
9.16 The Maoists receive the majority of their support because of the promises to redistribute land and abolish the deep rooted caste system.
Man Raj Gurung, man in house
-Gurung caste is in the first position in this village
Amar Singh K.C. man in white shirt
-First are the Gurungs and then Brahuan and Magar and the Kami and Girits.
-And then the Chatris.
-But the villagers first priority are for the Gurungs and the Brahuans.
9.57 People here don't trust politicians, beieving them all corrupt. The King on the other hand, traditionally receives strong support.
Ganesh Bahadur K C young man
-Politicians government is not good. Last time they didnt do any good work for the people. They only think about how to enrich themselves.
Chitra Bahadur K C old man sitting
-Long ago the King ruled over the country and there was peace. He will make peace again in our country.
10.26 In 1990 power was ceded from the then king Birendra to an elected government and a brief experiment with democracy started. But democracy faltered due to party infighting and corruption among the political parties. The king, too, maintained a dominant role.
Prateek Pradhan, editor, Kathmandu Post
-Society would slowly have elected more clean and more competent people, but that would definitely take some time. But democracy was blamed for all the corruption and everything, and certain powerbrokers are trying to root out democracy from the country.
11.10 At newspaper, Kathmandu Post, journalists eagerly wait the lifting of reporting restrictions. There is still a ban against critizising the monarchy and political debate is stifled.
Out in the streets of Kathmandu police and paramilitaries wait. Even though the martial law was lifted on May 1st, demonstrations against the king's regime are growing.
Prateek Pradhan, editor, Kathmandu Post
-It is very difficult for the political parties to come out, there are still certain movements on the streets. People are coming out demanding full democracy.
11.50 Many politicians are still in jail and independent observers are prevented from working.
Gopal Siwakoti, HimRights, General Secretary, Kathmandu
-There is a direct threat to some of the more prominent human rights workers, as well as perceived threat. There is intimidation, there is a kind of... terror which is sweeping the entire nation because of the rapid militarisation of all organs of the state.
12.24 In late April, the Communist party headquarters in Kathmandu was attacked.
Pardip Nepal, senior leader, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-18 to 20 security men attacked our office at 4 local time. First of all they tried to crack down our main entrance.
12.48 The attackers wore masks and kicked in doors and a few party members were arrested. But politicians are also threathened by the maoist rebels.
Ram Chandra Nepal, party member, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-Yes, they made a death threat against me, last year. When they came to kidnap me and my son at my house, people gathered and killed the maoist kidnappers.
13.21 The royal takeover was motivated by the war against the rebels. The communist party - more like a social democratic party, and the biggest party in Nepal - wants peace negotiations. But that has been dismissed out of hand by the heavily military dominated monarchy.
Pardip Nepal, senior leader, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-It is more or less a military state. The ruling chief is the Army general and the civil administration is only a showpiece.
13.55 The "Children Mock Parliament" is also a struggle for democracy - for the children. During three days in late April, 85 young delegates discussed children rights in the war-torn country. The event was organized by human-rights organisations.
Anjana Shakya, HimRights
-The mock childrens parliament is a platform for children to really bring out their issues, exercise their right to speak about the issues they have, so hopefuly we can bring this to the policymakers.
14.29 As erlsewhere, children are the worst affected by the war. This and other questions were discussed for the second year in a row.
Garima Paudel, girl
-Children are the future and present too, so I think politicians must listen to our voice.
Ritesh Khakda, boy
-The politicians should listen to our views because if the children take a chance to create their future then that is good for the development for the country.
15.12 As long as the countryside is underdeveloped and poor, the Maoists will receive support, and the royal regime has so far shown no interest in peace negotiations. Peace seems far away in Nepal, a country much dependent on foreign aid.
Pardip Nepal, senior leader, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-They dont like to call the maoists into a dialogue. They simply think "we have to supress, we have to kill everyone", so we are asking the whole world: do not support the Nepalese military.
Prateek Pradhan, editor, Kathmandu Post
-It is about democracy. If both parties are serious about the welfare of the general public and the population, it should always be the people ruling the country, which means the political parties. So I believe the donor community could put pressure, especially on the government, to involve the political parties in resolving the maoist problem.
In April, they earned nothing, as Maoist guerrillas has besieged the city, demanding a general strike. Work is now slowly picking up again.
Raju Lama, worker
-Nowadays the situation in Nepal is good, we have work and I earn money for food and my family.
0.36 Nepal has a population of around 25 million, but a national budget about the same size as an average european town. Together with rampant corruption and beaureaucratic waste, this means It Is nigh on Impossible to provide the rapidly growing population of Kathmandu with work, housing, elctricity and water.
Old leaky pipes mean most people in the suburbs suffer frequent water shortages.
Babita Adhakari, lady
-We need to stand in line and we get water in the morning around 8.30, in the evening around 5 because there are too many people in town.
1.13 What costs money is security. Army, paramilitary troops and police are on constant alert against possible attacks from the maoist rebels. These guerrillas are able to hit targets even inside Kathmandu. Last fall the police-station in Sankhu came under a coordinated attack.
Rabin Raj Karnajeet, commander, Sankhu policestation
-Suddenly they shot down the sentry here at the gate and came straight into the post. With gunfire and blasting they took over the post and captured all the weapons. Within few minutes they fled.
1.54 The inability to root out the maoists was claimed as a major reason for the dismissal of parliament by King Gyanendra on February 1st. He imposed a state of emergency and seized power himself. Hundreds of politicians, journalists and student leaders were jailed or put under house arrest and the king launched an offensive against the guerrillas.
2.15 It is here up in the mountains of Western Nepal that the Maoists have their stronghold. The area is well suited to guerrilla warfare its mountainous and covered with thick forests - and the unarmed population can hardly resist any demands put on them by the rebels.
Keshav Ras Bhattarai, farmer, village Damar Gaun, Dang district
-They come in the villages for donations or if they need to proclaim a strike. They will come two, three days before if for donations or to proclaim a strike or strenghten their organisation.
2.55 Keshav owns a few cows, a few goats and a little land. The village of Damar Gaun is not far from where the Maoists started their uprising, but is poor and is largely unable to support the rebels except by providing rice to eat.
Nonethless, they continue to come here, almost once a week. The army comes just as often.
Keshav Ras Bhattarai, farmer, village Damar Gaun
-My situation is ... God knows... I am only a man. We help each other in my village and support neither maoists nor army.
3.27 There are checkpoints all over Nepal where vehicles and their passengers are controlled by the army. Every vehicle-number is written down. Since the Maoist uprising against the government and king began in 1996, more than 11,000 Nepalis have been killed, mostly civilians caught in the crossfire between rebels and army.
Last year saw 2500 killed, making the conflict in Nepal Asias second most deadly conflict after Iraq.
3.59 The Army and blue uniformed paramilitary control the cities and major roads - the maoists the countryside. The rebels commonly recruit men by force and civilians are exposed to terror and intimidation if they don't protect and support the Maoists.
Man Raj Gurung, man in house
-They came in our village and asked for some food and money and threathened us with explosions.
Amar Singh K.C. man in white shirt
-Until now, if the King had not taken over the government, maybe the maoists had forced us to go with them.
Man Raj Gurung, man in house
-Yes, if the King hadnt taken power they would have done that
Keshav Ras Bhattarai, farmer, village Damar Gaun
-When the maoists are in my village, during that time the army doesn't come here, and when the army comes into the village, the maoists run away. They are both trying to avoid each other.
-What if they meet?
-Then theres war. If there is war between the maoists and the army and we are in between, definitely we will die.
5.08 The population is the hardest hit in a war between two parties which neither is strong enough to win. But now after the royal takeover the army claims to have the upper hand and that peace negotiations will be meaningless.
Deepak Gurung, Brigadier-General, Army spokesperson
-Actually they used the peace-talks to re-group. They thought they were very powerful and that they were growing stronger, But once we started chasing them, attacking them, their power in fact started dwindling, so they are not as strong as they were in 2003.
5.46 The result of the war is that almost half a million Nepalis have been turned into refugees. Close to five hundred are in this camp in Nepals South-Western lowlands. In the oppresive heat, in makeshift houses with scarcely any food or water, it is mostly women and children eeking out their days here. Most of them were driven from their villages after the women had staged a protest against the rebels.
Gyan Kumari Shai, woman, from Dailekh district.
-We are all from the same district, here because of the same reason. Some people came because the maoists blasted their homes and some were forced out of the village.
6.28 The refugees have started a primitive school for the children.
Most men have continued south to neighbouring India, in search of work. It is estimated close to 700.000 Nepalese have now fled across the border. The army couldn't protect them in their villages and here they don't receive any support from the government either.
Dhanna Raj Buddha, old man
-We are war refugees. Sometimes the maoists come to maltreat us and sometimes the army. We are not here only because of the maoists, because of the government also. We have no idea of the future.
Gopal Siwakoti, HimRights, General Secretary, Kathmandu
-Hundreds of thousands have left the country for neighboring India, so there is a complete chaos and confusion and an absolute absence of rule of law.
7.19 Himrights works to promote human rights and documents crimes coommitted in the countryside.
Among other things, they have a 24hour telephone line.
According to the UN and other international organizations, Nepals military has one of the world's worst human-rights records, even before the royal takeover.
Gopal Siwakoti, HimRights, General Secretary, Kathmandu
-It's not only one or two, or a dozen cases, there are hundreds in which innocent civilians have been killed, disappeared, tortured... but the questions of compensation, not to mention impunity, have meant there has been little movement in bringing the perpetrators to book.
Deepak Gurung, Brigadier-General, Army spokesperson
-They are totally wrong. We are not acting with impunity, we have punished our people. More than 40 cases have been tried - people have been sentenced to jail and dismissed from the army. Even ranks up to colonel have been detained, we are taking action against them. So what happens is mainly human rights people. They don't... they should stay here for a longer period to find out what is actually happening.
(music)
9.00 In Nepal there has always been friction between different ethnic groups and between city and countryside.
Chitra Bahadur K C old man sitting
-This village is poor and we are farmers. We grow food and our lifestyle is like this. Some people are rich and they give their land to poor people for farming.
9.16 The Maoists receive the majority of their support because of the promises to redistribute land and abolish the deep rooted caste system.
Man Raj Gurung, man in house
-Gurung caste is in the first position in this village
Amar Singh K.C. man in white shirt
-First are the Gurungs and then Brahuan and Magar and the Kami and Girits.
-And then the Chatris.
-But the villagers first priority are for the Gurungs and the Brahuans.
9.57 People here don't trust politicians, beieving them all corrupt. The King on the other hand, traditionally receives strong support.
Ganesh Bahadur K C young man
-Politicians government is not good. Last time they didnt do any good work for the people. They only think about how to enrich themselves.
Chitra Bahadur K C old man sitting
-Long ago the King ruled over the country and there was peace. He will make peace again in our country.
10.26 In 1990 power was ceded from the then king Birendra to an elected government and a brief experiment with democracy started. But democracy faltered due to party infighting and corruption among the political parties. The king, too, maintained a dominant role.
Prateek Pradhan, editor, Kathmandu Post
-Society would slowly have elected more clean and more competent people, but that would definitely take some time. But democracy was blamed for all the corruption and everything, and certain powerbrokers are trying to root out democracy from the country.
11.10 At newspaper, Kathmandu Post, journalists eagerly wait the lifting of reporting restrictions. There is still a ban against critizising the monarchy and political debate is stifled.
Out in the streets of Kathmandu police and paramilitaries wait. Even though the martial law was lifted on May 1st, demonstrations against the king's regime are growing.
Prateek Pradhan, editor, Kathmandu Post
-It is very difficult for the political parties to come out, there are still certain movements on the streets. People are coming out demanding full democracy.
11.50 Many politicians are still in jail and independent observers are prevented from working.
Gopal Siwakoti, HimRights, General Secretary, Kathmandu
-There is a direct threat to some of the more prominent human rights workers, as well as perceived threat. There is intimidation, there is a kind of... terror which is sweeping the entire nation because of the rapid militarisation of all organs of the state.
12.24 In late April, the Communist party headquarters in Kathmandu was attacked.
Pardip Nepal, senior leader, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-18 to 20 security men attacked our office at 4 local time. First of all they tried to crack down our main entrance.
12.48 The attackers wore masks and kicked in doors and a few party members were arrested. But politicians are also threathened by the maoist rebels.
Ram Chandra Nepal, party member, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-Yes, they made a death threat against me, last year. When they came to kidnap me and my son at my house, people gathered and killed the maoist kidnappers.
13.21 The royal takeover was motivated by the war against the rebels. The communist party - more like a social democratic party, and the biggest party in Nepal - wants peace negotiations. But that has been dismissed out of hand by the heavily military dominated monarchy.
Pardip Nepal, senior leader, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-It is more or less a military state. The ruling chief is the Army general and the civil administration is only a showpiece.
13.55 The "Children Mock Parliament" is also a struggle for democracy - for the children. During three days in late April, 85 young delegates discussed children rights in the war-torn country. The event was organized by human-rights organisations.
Anjana Shakya, HimRights
-The mock childrens parliament is a platform for children to really bring out their issues, exercise their right to speak about the issues they have, so hopefuly we can bring this to the policymakers.
14.29 As erlsewhere, children are the worst affected by the war. This and other questions were discussed for the second year in a row.
Garima Paudel, girl
-Children are the future and present too, so I think politicians must listen to our voice.
Ritesh Khakda, boy
-The politicians should listen to our views because if the children take a chance to create their future then that is good for the development for the country.
15.12 As long as the countryside is underdeveloped and poor, the Maoists will receive support, and the royal regime has so far shown no interest in peace negotiations. Peace seems far away in Nepal, a country much dependent on foreign aid.
Pardip Nepal, senior leader, Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninists
-They dont like to call the maoists into a dialogue. They simply think "we have to supress, we have to kill everyone", so we are asking the whole world: do not support the Nepalese military.
Prateek Pradhan, editor, Kathmandu Post
-It is about democracy. If both parties are serious about the welfare of the general public and the population, it should always be the people ruling the country, which means the political parties. So I believe the donor community could put pressure, especially on the government, to involve the political parties in resolving the maoist problem.