Welcome Guest Login  Contact Us
LOGO
mountain.jpg
Home arrow News arrow A Nepali American delegation briefs and thanks US lawmakers
A Nepali American delegation briefs and thanks US lawmakers

PRESS RELEASE

A Nepali American delegation briefs and thanks US lawmakers

WASHINGTON D.C., April 27, 2005

A seven-member delegation led by Mr. Suman Timsina visited the Capitol Hill to follow-up and brief the Senators and Congressmen on the current situation in Nepal and to discuss strategies and ways to lead Nepal out of the crisis. The team included members of Nepali Diaspora in the North America and was representing various Nepali-American organizations based in the United States. Other team members were Dr. Shyam Karki, Dr. Maheswor Baidya, Mr. Puru Subedi, Mr. Anand Bista, Ms. Bina Baidya and Ms. Indira Karki.

The team also met with the Congressman James Walsh. On the behalf of Nepali Diaspora, the team presented a Plaque thanking Representative James Walsh for his support for peace, restoration of democracy and human rights in Nepal. A thank you letter signed by over 100 Nepalis was also given to him on the behalf of Nepalese Americas Council. Mr. Walsh recently handed sent a letter to the King of Nepal signed by 11 fellow congressmen. He strongly condemned any effort to suppress democracy and showed full support to our initiatives towards Peace, human rights and restoration ofdemocratic process. He assured to explore opportunity to set up congressional hearings on human rights? violation in Nepal and also the possibilities of sending a congressional team to Nepal. The team met officials from the offices of three Senators: Senator Paul (MD), Senator Rick Santorum (PA), and Senator Arlen Specter (PA).  The team highlighted following in its briefing:
1.      To send a congressional delegation on a fact finding mission and to deliver a strong message of the strong support of the US Congress for restoration of democracy and human rights.

2.      To publicly condemn the actions of the King and also a total suspension of military aid until independent human rights monitoring is allowed and a political process is initiated to reinstate
democracy. A recent amendment proposed by Senator Leahy was also discussed.

3.      To reinstate all fundamental human rights of the citizen and immediately lift all forms of media censorship.

4.      To persuade the Bush Administration in granting TPS  (Temporary Protection Status) to Nepalis living in the United States. This not only protects Nepalis from the arbitrary detention of   King but also sends a strong message to the King to restore democracy in Nepal.
Text Box: Left to right: Ms. Indira Karki, Ms. Bina Baidya, Mr. Puru Subedi, Dr. Shyam Karki, Congressman James Walsh, Dr. Maheswor Baidya, Mr. Suman Timsina and Mr. Anand Bista

Senator Santorum has recently written a strong letter to Secretary Rice asking to look into military aid, and human rights record of Nepal. He strongly asked Secretary Rice to look into Nepal's impact on regional stability in South Asia. In today's follow-up meeting, team was assured that a response from the Secretary Rice will be shared with us and they support our requests and will work with us. They will also look into having an organized effort on the US Senate to issue a joint statement. Meeting about granting temporary protection status to Nepalis was very encouraging.

Meeting at Senator Sarbanes and Senator Specter's office was also very encouraging. They assured to work with their fellow Senators to support us and help restore peace and democracy in Nepal.

We also informed them about a Peace rally planned by Nepali Diaspora on May 15th, 2005 in Washington, DC and they agreed to send a strong message supporting the rally to restore Peace and democracy in Nepal.

The delegation will continue to work closely with the US Senators and Congressmen's offices to further the cause of Nepal, including suspension of the US military aid to Nepal, an initiation of a political process to solve the Maoists problem, and protection of human rights, civil liberties and democracy.

Contact: stimsina@yahoo.com

Suman R. Timsina
311 Ross Lane
Collegeville PA 19426
(610) 831 9286 
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]
Copyright © 2008 Liberal Democracy Nepal.