Nepal Law Enforcement

The Police force in Nepal is very small and highly specialized. The Traffic Police direct traffic during rush hour. Traffic laws are loosely followed and are difficult to enforce, because there are not a lot of Traffic Police. People drive on the left side of the road and there are no speed limits except in Kathmandu. It’s tough to speed, though, because there are bicycles, pedestrians, and buffalo in the way. Passing into oncoming traffic is common – just blow your horn and go. The Traffic Police issue a few tickets and write accident reports. There is no car insurance. If someone is injured, all the locals swarm the area and stop traffic until someone pays for the victim’s medical expenses. If someone is killed, no matter whose fault it is, a high payment is demanded. All traffic stops until the victims are satisfied. A recent accident blocked a major highway. The police came and cleared the road. The locals were so angry, they stormed the police station and burned the furniture.

If a robbery, burglary, or other crime occurs, the victims must go to the Police Station and complete a report. Except in high-profile cases, investigations are rare and crimes are seldom solved.

The Tourist Police only exist in tourist areas like Kathmandu and Pokhara. If a tourist encounters a problem, such as a theft, they go to the Tourist Police. Tourist property is never recovered, mostly because the police are so understaffed.

For major security, the Nepal Army is used, and bases are scattered in strategic locations. There are several small army bases in Bharatpur, including one at the airport. The base consist of a main house used for sleeping, and a couple of out-shacks used for laundry and cooking. The army guards the entrance to the airport and provides airport security, including passenger security checks and clearing the runway of livestock. About 20 soldiers are stationed there, all young men. The 3 women soldiers live in a small house on the other end of the airport.

At dawn (around 7:00) the soldiers exercise (I can hear their cadence from my bedroom about a mile away), then march down the main road to the market area. About half of them are armed with old WWII rifles. A few others carry a 5 foot bamboo pole as their weapon. Still others might carry a large knife (similar to a Bowie knife), or no weapon at all. Their uniforms are blue and grey camouflage, which looks out of place in this green semi-tropical area, but is very distinctive.
Their main job is to counter-act political activists, usually members of the Maoist party. The Maoists are the most vocal and violent and aggressive of the many political parties in Nepal. The complex political situation in Nepal stems from such a small poor country composed of many diverse and needy groups of people. Recently, the government defined 56 different peoples in Nepal, yet there were protests from those not included in the list. It would take years of study to understand the politics here.

Consumer laws do not exist. They have been drafted, but never put into law. So fraud is common. When enough people are defrauded, riots break out, as that is the only way to solve the situation.

A recent job fair in Kathmandu promised job interviews and positions to attendees. The job seekers were surprised to find they had to pay a fee to enter, and got upset on finding no job offers, only schools offering training. They started tearing up the furniture and booths. The police were called, but could do nothing. The army arrived, armed with bullet-proof shields and tear gas. The last 16 protesters remaining were then arrested by the police and held overnight in jail. They were not fined or further punished. The job organizers were also not held accountable. They must have gotten pressure from somewhere, however, as a few days later they refunded the entry fee from behind a protective barricade.

The banks in Nepal are also notorious for fraud. If you put Rs 10,000 in your account, the next day there might only be Rs 5,000. Upon confronting the bank you would be told that someone must have used your ATM card to withdraw funds. No further investigation or no recovery of money. People have started taking their money out of these banks, so these banks are failing. The banks doing international business do not seem to have this problem. Some clean-up of the corruption is taking place, but slowly. This problem has been going on for decades and is a way of life.

The Importance of the Sun

Heaters and furnaces are rare in Nepal. Central Heating does not exist. Fireplaces do not exist. If entertaining outdoors, a fire will be started in a firepit. In areas of high elevation, the people simply dress warm and sleep in frigid rooms. When the sun comes up, everyone goes out to their balconies and rooftops to get warm. From my bedroom, I can hear people in the neighborhood talking: mothers and their babies, young men brushing their teeth as they get ready for work, and merchants walking the streets shouting their wares. The sun is the only source of heat.

To get warm after a chilly day, I take a hot shower. The room fills with moist air, that soon becomes frigid. At night I have heavy blankets and quilts, and can keep quite warm. During the day I am active and can dress warmly. After work, however, when I am sitting around watching TV or reading is when I am most cold. Life here is very simple.

Nepal is suffering from an energy shortage, so they cut off the electricity for about 6 hours a day - usually 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. The only thing we use electricity for is TV, lights, and the internet. Since the main time I have to get on the internet is in the evening, this makes things difficult. We have a generator at the house, so we always have lights, but the cable TV does not work then.

It has been very foggy lately. We haven't been able to fly very much. Somedays we manage to squeeze in one flight, but mostly we just watch the weather. The students tell me the weather should break next week, and the flying will be very good. They are anxious to continue their training and get their licenses.