Nepalis serving time on fake charges in Thailand?

At a time when monarchy is losing relevance in Nepal, Nepali inmates in Bangkok jails are awaiting Thai king’s birthday in hope of getting royal pardon.
Every year on December 5 king grants amnesty to a certain number of prisoners. Ramesh Tamang, a native of Dhading district, was lucky to have his sentence cut by more than nine years.
Ramesh was just 18 when he was imprisoned in Klong Prem seven years ago. Thai police had picked him from the airport on the charge of drug peddling. He was sentenced for 16 years and 8 months. King pardoned eight years and four months of his sentence on his birthday. The sentence was cut by another year and four months on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of king’s coronation on May 5.
Ramesh was a free man on May 10 after serving seven years for a crime, he claimed, he never committed. “I didn’t understand the cops’ language. I never realised that I was signing a confession statement about drug trafficking,” recalls Ramesh.
Gaman Ghale, another resident of Dhading district, was also arrested in a similar manner from the airport, along with Maan Ghale and Raj Kumar Gurung. When the king cut his sentence by more than six years, he had already served 12 years and 8 months. He arrived in Nepal in July last year but Maan and Raj Kumar are still cooling their heels in Thai jail.
“We had to share a cell with 60 others,” recalls Gaman. He claims that they were forced to work with iron chains on. “We even had to go to the toilet in shackles,” he adds.
“Overwork, disease and poor diet is the plight of Nepali inmates there,” he claims. He may be right, as Ramesh stammers while Gaman has developed gastric problem and is physically weak.
Nepal has not made any effort to rescue prisoners serving time in Thailand. “We do not have any plan regarding the prisoners abroad,” said Arjun Bahadur Thapa, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry has not even updated the record of prisoners abroad. Prison Management Department records foreigners imprisoned in Nepal.
Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit has record of those picked on charge of drug peddling. “A number of Nepalis are arrested abroad due to visa expiry and illegal stay,” an official at the ministry said. “I guess Nepalese embassy in the respected countries might have some record on it,” he added.
As many as 123 petitions were filed at the ministry by the relatives of those imprisoned abroad between July and October, seeking help to rescue their kin.
Most of them are detained in the gulf countries and Malaysia. Ramesh and Gaman claim more than 80 prisoners were serving time in Bangkok alone.
Nepal has not signed Prisoners Transfer and Exchange Treaty with any country, the reason why so many Nepalis are languishing in foreign jails.

Dashain begins today

The "Navaratri Parba" or Badadasain, the great festival of the Nepalese, commences Friday. The first day of Dashain, "Ghatasthapana" is Friday. On the day of Ghatasthapana, all Nepalese worship Diyo (an oil-fed lamp), Kalas (auspicious jar) and lord Ganesh in accordance with Vedic rituals and sow maize and barley seeds in a jar filled with soil and cow dung for germination of the auspicious Jamara (barley shoots). Prayers are also offered to Durga Bhavani, the goddess of power. There is also a tradition of sacrificing animals while initiating the germination of the "Jamara". Also, prayers are offered to goddess Mahakali, Mahalaxmi and Mahasaraswati at the Dasain Ghar, marking the beginning of the Navaratri (nine nights).