China’s Shadow Looms Over the Mekong

By Steve Hirsch

2010-04-02

Fishermen and farmers in downstream countries are protesting the impact of China’s dams. But experts say that the dams also give China a huge potential for geopolitical influence.

RFA

China’s Manwan Dam in Yunnan province, Sept. 18, 2009.

WASHINGTON—Experts are raising concerns over the strategic implications of China’s construction of Mekong River dams.

China plans eight dams, four of which have been built. Moreover, according to Richard Cronin, head of the Southeast Asia program at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, Cambodia and Laos are planning 11 dams on the lower half of the Mekong, four involving Chinese developers.

At issue is the dams’ interference with food fish spawning and migration, which, Cronin said, has already been observed in China’s southern Yunnan province and northern Laos since the Manwan Dam came online in 1993.

Now that the massive Xiaowan Dam has been completed, China’s ability to store or release huge quantities of water to meet changing power demands and support dry-season navigation is expected to have impacts on fisheries far down the river. The impact could reach as far as the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, if not the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

These water levels are important because of such direct effects as their impact on downstream agriculture and potential for flooding. Downstream dams’ year-around operation and generation of electricity also depend on sufficient water coming down from China.

Marvin C. Ott, professor of national security policy at the National War College, said the project would appear to be a boon for Chinese strategists interested in increasing China’s geopolitical influence in Southeast Asia, which he believes “is a central Chinese preoccupation for its strategic community.”

Cambodian officials, for example, he said, might be relatively successfully trying to maintain a sovereign foreign and security policy, balancing the influence of surrounding countries and the United States, “but now, suddenly, China has a lever … that changes the whole calculus.”

‘Cusp of a major change’

Boats stranded at low tide in the Mekong Delta, Nov. 29, 2009.

“Now, China’s will, China’s preferences, China’s needs, China’s interest become overriding. And, in a nutshell, that’s where this is going in my opinion. The Mekong River states, and part of the watershed, the river system and so on, are now—almost overnight—in a position where they find themselves with a Chinese sword at their throat.”

“The sense of China’s capacity to do dramatic things to your economy, to your population, to the life of your country, is almost without precedent. I mean, short of a military occupation, this is as strong as influence can get,” he said.

Ott described regional geopolitics as being “on the cusp of a major change in China’s favor.”

However, although he believes that the geopolitical implications of the dam projects are crucial, he said they have been little discussed in Washington or in Southeast Asia, in part because the regional implications are so spectacular and so potentially damaging that officials are reluctant to think about it.

The situation is so dramatic, so sudden, so without precedent, he said, “if I’m Lao, I’m Cambodian, I’m Vietnamese, maybe even Thai, I … sort of avert my eyes. I don’t want to think about it because the implications are so stunning and put me in a world that is so different from everything I’ve known historically, that it’s going to be very hard to come to terms with.”

James Clad, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, said China’s presence and impact, potential and real, on the Mekong is “so predominant, so overwhelming, that it does affect, literally, the ability of these countries to continue earning a living, irrigating their fields in the way that they’ve been accustomed to for millennia.”

He called the dams’ construction “probably the most dramatic use of water resources to reorder a geopolitical area that I’ve ever seen.”

China’s expansion of influence

China, according to Cronin, is essentially expanding its economy and political influence in a way “that will make the Mekong a system that works to China’s advantage and to the disadvantage to the Lower Mekong countries.”

Larry M. Wortzel, a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington, said that because China is upstream, “it gets the maximum benefits of the Mekong and it’s not taking into account the interests of the downstream countries with its dam construction.”

Wortzel said that consequently China’s dam construction effort “is already lowering water levels in Cambodia and Vietnam.” Moreover, he cited concerns in Vietnam that some of the diversion of Mekong waters is affecting the fish catches downstream and the water levels in Cambodia and Vietnam, and has already had an economic effect.

One particular area of concern is the “flood pulse” in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap River, which joins the Mekong at Phnom Penh.

Annual monsoon floods now force waters up the Tonle Sap River into the Tonle Sap Lake, bringing fish and fish eggs with them and expanding the lake. The lake’s subsequent shrinkage releases a new generation of fish into the Mekong, along with enough water for a third rice crop in Vietnam’s Delta.

Ott cited this, saying “the Tonle Sap, the great lake of central Cambodia, the very lifeblood of Cambodian culture, society, history and economy, will become controllable from China.”

The Tonle Sap, he said, “will, in effect, become a basin that China can fill or empty at will.”

Vietnam is another area of concern, because of a potential decrease in the flow of silt and water into the Mekong Delta.

The densely populated delta provides a substantial portion of Vietnam’s rice crop. It is therefore dependent on water and silt flowing down from upstream countries.

This may also have broader strategic implications.

Professor Carlyle A. Thayer of the Australia Defense Force Academy in Canberra noted that Vietnam exports rice, which means the dams’ construction could not only affect Vietnam’s population, but countries relying on Vietnamese rice. It could also affect Vietnam’s economic power—and therefore, indirectly, its ability to support its military.

Inability to deal with China

A Vietnamese boy washes up after working on a fishing boat, Nov. 29, 2009.

Cronin said downstream countries’ governments “are not sufficiently aware of what they’re buying into,” and he cited a “science policy gap,” meaning that the Mekong countries do not realize all the costs of the damage they are doing.

“So that acquires a strategic or geostrategic component … which is very dangerous, ultimately, to peace and security and stability in the region,” he said.

A major risk, he said, is that the Chinese and Lower Mekong dams will destroy more livelihoods and jobs than can be replaced by the value of the dams’ electricity—which could produce instability.

Laos, Cronin said, is looking at the income from its dams, mainly from electricity, but is “looking through the wrong end of the telescope.”

He said Lao officials “see revenues for the government, which allegedly would be used to reduce poverty in the country. But in fact, those revenues will come at a price of a huge cost to be borne by the poorer people of Laos—the people that depend on the river for their farms and their fishing livelihoods.”

Vietnam, Cronin said, has been publicly “very cautious” about objecting to China, focusing more on asking China for more information and for more transparency on what it is doing.

“But privately,” he said, “they are alarmed, and they’re extremely worried because they see a kind of a pincers movement from China—from the north on the Mekong and its ability to damage the delta, and on the South China Sea, encroaching into what normally would be Vietnam’s so-called ‘EEZ’ exclusive economic zone, where there have been many strikes of oil and gas.”

Cronin said that Laos and Cambodia are now “going with the flow, going with the rising Chinese influence.”

At the same time, though, he said, “they are becoming uncomfortable—not so much as the Vietnamese yet—but they’ve become uncomfortable with the idea of being left alone in Southeast Asia with China.”

Officially, he said, the governments and officials seem pleased with what China is doing, but at the same time, “they’re getting a little nervous that China is too big—too powerful—and they would like to see more of a geopolitical balance.”

“They won’t tell you that, but the reality is Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam all do welcome a more balanced geopolitical environment,” he said.

The problem, Clad said, is that the countries affected have to be careful about what they say in public, though privately they are “very deeply worried.”

China blames drought

The Mekong is now facing its worst drought in decades, causing severe water shortages in the lower half of the river.

The Mekong River Commission said in February that the current water level on the mainstream Mekong is “significantly below average” in northern Laos and Thailand, and that all levels measured north of Stung Treng in Cambodia were “significantly below the average” for this time of year and were expected to continue to drop during the next month. Water levels in southwestern China, the commission said, had “been at their lowest in 50 years.”

The low Mekong levels, the commission said, were the result of drought conditions in northern Thailand and Laos and were part of a wider regional drought upstream in Yunnan.

Although unusual weather is the main problem, NGOs and civil society activists also accuse China of withholding water in its Yunnan dams, according to Cronin.

Chen Dehai, counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok said March 11 that the drop in Mekong water levels is not due to China’s dams.

Chen noted that the whole Mekong Basin—including Yunnan—is experiencing a serious drought, according to China’s official Xinhua news service.

Xinhua’s report also said that Chen told reporters that China has been taking concerns of Lower Mekong countries into consideration while developing hydropower and will not take actions that harm the interests of those countries.

RFA NEWS

Terreblanche party retracts revenge threat

AWB supporters accuse the ANC’s Julius Malema of inflammatory actions

The party of the murdered South African white supremacist, Eugene Terreblanche, has retracted a threat to take revenge for his death.

AWB spokesman Pieter Steyn said no member of his organisation would engage in any form of violence.
The remarks come after officials from the ruling ANC paid their respects to the Terreblanche family and President Jacob Zuma issued a call for calm.

Police say his murder on Saturday was caused by a dispute over workers’ pay.
Supporters of Mr Terreblanche blamed provocative actions by the ANC youth leader, Julius Malema, for the killing.
Last week, Mr Malema was banned from singing a song with the words “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer.”

BBC NEWS

Attack on US consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan

At least seven people have died after militants attacked the US consulate in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar.

There were several explosions in the area near the consulate and buildings collapsed. A gun battle between police and the attackers followed.

Pakistan’s main Taliban faction said it had carried out the raid.
The raid came hours after 43 people died in a suicide attack about 80 km (50 miles) north-east of Peshawar.
The bomber targeted a crowded rally held by a Pashtun nationalist party in Timergara, Lower Dir.
‘Great concern’
Investigators suspect it was co-ordinated with the Peshawar attack, in which police told the BBC four militants and three security personnel died.

Americans are our enemies – we carried out the attack on their consulate, we plan more such attacks Azam Tariq Taliban spokesman In pictures: Peshawar attacks ‘Suicide bomb’ at Pakistan rally Who are the Taliban?

There were no reported US casualties and it is not clear if the US consulate building suffered any damage.
The White House condemned the attack and expressed “great concern”.
Officials said the attack was well organised, but order had been restored.
The militants struck near Shama Square, a major crossroads at the northern end of Peshawar’s cantonment area, near the US consulate.
‘Miscreants’
There are also some army barracks and offices of the army’s Military Intelligence in the vicinity.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said two of the explosions were just 20m from the consulate, which is in a heavily fortified area.

ANALYSIS M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad Monday’s attack in Peshawar appears to be similar to recent gun-and-bomb raids in Lahore and Rawalpindi. These have been co-ordinated assaults, with several gunmen moving in alongside suicide bombers to force their way into a facility – this time the “prized” US consulate. The Pakistani Taliban were apparently aiming for a feat to match the one last December in Khost, Afghanistan, in which several American CIA officials were killed. Another reason could be to try to ease military pressure on militants in Orakzai tribal district, where the Pakistani security forces launched a major operation last week. America’s presence in Afghanistan and US drone strikes on militant targets in Pakistan’s tribal areas make the US a top target for the Taliban.

Pakistani police officer Ghulam Hussain told AFP news agency: “The target was certainly the American consulate but they didn’t succeed in getting there.
“One of the suicide bombers blew himself up close to the gate. Police guarding the US consulate started retaliatory fire.
“More blasts took place. We have recovered unexploded material from four different points,” he said.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said his group had carried out the raid.
“Americans are our enemies. We carried out the attack on their consulate in Peshawar. We plan more such attacks,” he told Reuters news agency.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the bombers as “miscreants trying to spread panic”, reports AFP.
TV footage showed army soldiers taking battle positions on the main Khyber Road where the blasts took place.
Witnesses told BBC Urdu a couple of armoured vehicles parked outside the consulate caught fire.

ATTACKS ON US TARGETS Feb 2010: Three US military trainers die in bomb near Lower Dir school Aug 2008: Top US diplomat evades Peshawar gun attack Mar 2006: Suicide bomb kills US diplomat near same consulate Feb 2003: Gunmen kill two policemen outside same consulate June 2002: 12 Pakistanis die in bomb at Karachi US consulate

“I saw attackers in two vehicles. Some of them carried rocket-propelled grenades,” Peshawar resident Siraj Afridi told Reuters.
The BBC’s Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says that this is the first successful attack against a US facility in Pakistan target in four years.
In 2006, a US diplomat was killed by a suicide car bomber near the US consulate in Karachi, days before a visit to Pakistan by then US President George W Bush.
Peshawar, which is on the edge of Pakistan’s tribal areas, has been frequently targeted by Islamist militants.
Analysts say the attacks appear to be in response to a major security operation launched in the Orakzai tribal region near Peshawar last week.

 

 

 BBC NEWS

The Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan (2)

The Cities of Dhanyawadi and Vesali
Location

The capital cities of the former kingdom of Arakan, may be devided into two groups: one group comprising those cities situated in the Kaladan Valley and the other, those of the Lemro Valley. Mrauk- Oo (Mrohaung), the last of the Royal Capitals of Arakan is unique, because it occupies a narrow valley in the hills between the Lemro and the Kaladan rivers. Commanding the only big gap between the two valleys, the city exerted control over both those valleys which were easily accessible by means of streams and roads.

However, since our present concern is with the Arakan of the period before 1000 A.D., we shall be dealing only with the cities of the Kaladan Valley. Of these, the most important by far are the cities of Dhanyawadi and Vesali, both located just west of the ridge which lies between the Kaladan and the Lemro rivers. The sites of these cities are about 16 miles apart, but both were built on the welldrained foothill area of the ridge, with their backs against the ridge. As a matter of fact, the eastern wall of Vesali is built on the ridge itself. The ridge is 1200 feet high behind Dhanyawadi, but decreases in height towards the south. Behind Vesali it is 400 feet high.

Dhanyawadi

Dhanyawadi (Lat, 20˚ 52′ N., Long 93˚ 3′ E.) is located 6 miles east of the Kaladan river, and about 60 miles up-river from its mouth at Akyab. The city site is about 16 miles north of Vesali, and some 21 miles north of Mrauk-Oo (Mrohaung). See Map III. The city is backed up against the ridge which separates the Kaladan valley from the Lemro valley. The remains show that there was an outer and an inner city. Parts of the walls and the moats can still be seen in many places. The modern village of Thayettabin lies in the southwestern part of the outer city, and the Mahamuni Shrine lies in the southwestern of the inner city. See picture. Go The old city was of fairly of the ridge. On the western side only a small portion of the outer tributary of the Kaladan. The chaung may have once formed the moat on the west. The remaining parts of the former moat have been silted over and have become paddy fields.

The inner city was the site of the Palace. Royalty and officialdom resided within the inner city. The common people occupied the outer city whose walls also enclosed the fields which they cultivated. The area of the inner city was only 64 acres. In those days of insecurity, when the country was often subject to raids by various hill tribes, the people felt safer within the walls. By enclosing the paddy fields, the people would have an assured food supply even under siege, thus permitting them to withstand the siege.

Dhanyawadi was built at a time when only the upper Kaladan was above high water level. To the south, below the latitude of Mrauk-Oo (Mrohaung), the country was still one vast area of mangrove swamps. Only the edges of the islands were then reclaimed for cultivation. Small sailing ships could come right up the Thare Chaung to the city. Indian influences penetrated into the city by sea and by land.

According to local chronicles, this Dhanyawadi is the third Dhanyawadi I have mentioned in Chapter II, and it is supposed to have been the Capital of Arakan from the 6th century B.C. to 788 A.D. Dr. E.H. Jonston. however, after deciphering Anandacandra inscription of Shitthaung Pagoda which is situated in Mrauk-Oo, dated the founding of Vesali as 350 A.D. Dr. Sircar of the Indian Archaeoligical Survey also aggress with Dr. Johnston, in differing from the local chronicles, and he has suggested the date of the founding of Vesali to be about 370 A.D. If we are to accept these dates, then Dhanyawadi was the Capital of Arakan up to 350 or 370 A.D.

Dhanyawadi controlled the Kaladan Valley and also the Mayu Valley on the west. At that time the Lemro had probably not as yet was then in all probability occupited by hill tribes. Even in the lower Lemro valley, the flood plain was mainly to be found on the western side, the hills reaching the river along most of the eastern bank.

Vesali

Vesali (Lat: 20˚ 40′ N. Long. 93˚ 9’E.) lies 16 miles south of Dhanyawadi. See Map III. It has on its western flank the Rann Chaung a tributary of the Kaladan, and on its eastern side, the ridge which separates the Kaladan Valley from the Lemro Valley. The shape of the city is rather unusual since the walls were built in such a way as to obtain the fullest advantage of the well-drained land to be found in the foothill zone. The shape is somewhat oval, the north and east running in more or less straight lines, while the walls on the south and the west are curved. See Map V and Plate 8. A tributary of the Rann chaung now traverses the city site. According to the local chronicles, the city’s full name is “Vesali, the city with the stone stairs”. These stone stairs led to the pier where sailing ships must have docked in those days. Remains of those stone stairs leading to the pier can still be seen at ebb-tide, on the northwest of the city.

The north-south diameter of the outer walls at the widest part is nearly 10,000 feet, while the east-west diameter is only about 6,500 feet at the widest. The area of the city is about 2.7 square miles, very definitely larger then Dhanyawadi. Like Dhanyawadi, Vesali also has a smaller inner city: the palace site. It is rectangular in shape with a length of 1500 feet and a width of 1000 feet. A moat surrounds the walls of this inner city.

Vesali, a bigger city, was even more secure then Dhanyawadi with the population tilling their fields inside the city walls. It is noteworthy that Vesali, lying further south, was even more open to western influence. According to local chronicles, Vesali was the capital of Arakan from 788 to 957 A.D. when conditions became unsettled. Actually it continued as the capital till 1018 A.D. under those unsettled conditions. According to Johnston and Sircar, Vesali was founded even earlier then the date given in the local chronicles; they give the date as 350 or 370 A.D. In any case, Vesali was a larger and more thriving port than Dhanyawadi.

Both the cities of Dhanyawadi and Vesadi being built on the well-drained foothill area of the ridge which lies between the Kaladan and the Lemro rivers, are well preserved from the ravages of the rivers. Many and varied antique pieces have been found from these two places from time to time. Systematic excavation of these images shown in this book were obtained from the relic chambers of ruined pagodas situated in these places.

Sample Essay for TOFEL

4) Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
5) It has been said, “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

(a) People always are learning and practicing through their whole lives. From reading words in textbook such as toy, car, train etc., people have the concept and ideas. They further understand the actual meaning of these words by playing toys and riding or driving cars, trains etc.

Education (books) and experience are the main two channels for People to gain their knowledge. Each plays different roles for people. In my opinion, knowledge from experience is more important than that from books.

Experience first can prove if the knowledge formbooks are true or false. Textbooks are very wonderful in teaching people essential principles, how is the world looks like? What is the basic law of change of people and things? We can learn a lot through primary school, secondary school until university. However, people can only understand the really meaning of those form books and justify them if they are right through practices. A few hundred years ago, people learnt from textbook that the earth was flat. However scientists found that was wrong through observations and measurement.
The knowledge from experience can improve and advance The world and our society. As books have limitation, they only teach us what people found in the past. The knowledge from the books are constrained to the certain conditions and environment. For example, mould and tools design for plastics industry, the university course only taught me very simple cases, most knowledge is obtained from various different and complicated cases in my career.
There are a lot new inventions and new products, which could not be found from textbooks. Our society and world are developed through continuous practices, those knowledge, never found in books, such as internet, e-business etc. are all developed through new practices.
“The truth comes from practices and experience”, people are continually discovering new things and assessing the creditability of the knowledge written in books. The knowledge from experience helps us much more than those from books.

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THE CORONATION OF KING DATHA-RAJA (1153-1165 A.D)

THE CORONATION OF KING DATHA-RAJA (1153-1165 A.D)
By U San Shwe Bu

J.B.R.S Vol. Part 2. 1917

In India Buddhism flourished in its purest form till the close of the first century A.D. during which time it had no rival faith worthy the name. That the Jains of those days formed an insignificant minority will be clearly evidenced by the fact that more than three fourths of the people named, specified objects of donation, inscriptions throughout India from Asoka to Kanishka’s time are Buddhist, while the majority of the remainder are Jain. From that time onwards the Brahmans, with their numerous gods and manifold sacrifices, became increasingly powerful till, in the first half of the eighth century a furious persecution instigated by the great Brahman apostle, Kumarila Bhata, succeeded in eliminating Buddhism from the land of its birth. It cannot, therefore, be supposed that such a mighty upheaval did not in some way influence the religious thoughts and ideas of Arakan, which is India’s next door neighbour.

In fact all available records clearly indicate that just about this time or a little while after it, Brahman gods and their sacrificial forms came into Arakan and along with Buddhism ___ the original religion ___ they found equal favour with the people. It so profoundly affected the Arakanese of those days that a whole dynasty of their kings adopted Hindu names. The coins they struck bore on one side the effigy of the sacred bull, Nandi, the riding animal of the god Siva.

Temples were erected in quick succession in the approved Indian style and were specially dedicated to the worship of Siva and Vishnu. The decorations, which were used in these religious structures, consisted of figures illustrating the lesser gods of the Hindu Pantheon.

When Datha-Raja ascended the throne of Arakan in the 12th century, Buddhism and Brahmanism shared equal honours and the cults of Siva and Vishnu were in high favour. Indeed, so deeply rooted were the latter faiths in his country that they affected all the ceremonials, even of a purely domestic nature. They permeated every household and influenced the individual and domestic concerns of everyday life. They interfered with marriage, which before that time, was purely a civil contract; they required a person to perform certain sacrifices before undertaking a journey; they imposed obligation on cultivators and fishermen and, in a thousand different other ways, which constituted the daily life of the people.

Nowhere in the history of Arakan is this fact so prominently brought out than in the coronation of King Datha-Raja on the full moon day of Kason 1158 A.D., which the old chroniclers have handed down to us with all the accuracy and vividness of the Dutch School. The following is a summary of what I have been able to gather from various sources, which, I trust, will enable the general reader to from a just estimate of the powerful influence of Brahmanism in Arakan from the end of the 8th to the middle of the 14th century A.D.

By the advice of the astrologers and the other Brahmans, whose specially duty was to conduct religious ceremonies, active preparations were made for the coronation of the King. From the seven different hills in the various parts of the kingdom earth was collected. A particular kind of wood was cut at a certain hour of certain day of a certain week for the erection of the pandals. On the most auspicious day of that year, i.e. the full moon day of Kason, three kinds of pandals were erected, having for their roofing a particular kind of leaves brought by the Shans of the north-east. The place selected was the right bank of the Lemro river, a parallel stream to the east of the Kaladan. The first pandal had the general appearance of a lion and was called Thi-Har-Tha-Na (oD[moe). The second resembled an elephant and was called Ga-Zar-Tha-Na (*Zmoe). The third resembled a peacock and was called Mor-Rar-Tha-Na (arm&moe). The first was decorated all in white, the second in red, and the third in blue. In the first Brahmans, in the second sailors, and the third cultivators, waited in attendance. Then the ground covered by each of the pandals was laid over with a layer of the earth brought from the seven different hills. In the first pandal, a millionaire’s son clothed in yellow robes had to till the ground by means of a gold ploughshare drawn by white bulls. In the second, the son of one who belonged to the middle class and clad in red robes had to do the same by means of a silver ploughshare. The son of an agriculturist in green robes had to do likewise in the third by means of an iron ploughshare. After this, the earth was well mixed with cow’s milk and dung and then grains of paddy, millet, sessamum and so forth were strewn over. The whole place was then fenced off so as to prevent the intrusion of those who were not directly concerned with the ceremonies.

When these preliminaries had been gone through, the Brahmans conveyed the images of Sarasvati, Parvati and Visnu on chariots decked out for the occasion, and placed them in the pandals amidst the chants of mantras and other incantations. Twelve other Brahmans and four Bhikkhus intoned special hymns usually employed at the ordination of Buddhist monks. At the same time, another class of Brahmans repeated appropriate slokas from the vedic texts. This ended, there was a simultaneous blowing of conches during which the structures were sprinkled with holy water.

The sacred water of the Ganges was then brought in jars of gold, and, at the most favourable conjunction of the planets, the water of the Kaladan and the Lemro rivers was conveyed by forty virgins belonging to the five highest classes of the people. Eight were princesses with gold jars; eight were daughters of Brahmans with earthen-ware jars; eight were daughters of ministers with copper jars; eight were daughters of millionaires with silver jars; and eight were daughters of middle class people with iron jars. Each class went in separate boats and were accompanied by Brahmans, ministers and representative agriculturists. Then in the midst of strains of joyous music, the boats pulled towards midstream, where the jars were filled and then the parties returned to the shore. The water conveyed by the princesses and the daughters of Brahmans was placed in the lion pandal, that brought by the daughters of ministers in the elephant pandal and the remainder in the peacock pandal. The whole route from the Royal Palace to the pandals was sprinkled with holy water and flowers by Brahmans, who chanted hymns at the same time. It was also completely roofed over all the way so as to shut out sunlight, and, on both sides, sugar cane and plantain trees were alternately planted.

At the conclusion of all these elaborate preparations, the King and Queen clad in splendid robes, glittering with the nine kinds of gems that ornamented them, proceeded on a white elephant towards the pandals, escorted by armed soldiers, Brahmans and ministers, who went both before and behind them. On arrival, they entered the lion pandal. Here, the King separating himself from the queen uttered certain formulas while humbly seated on the floor. He then bathed himself in the elephant pandal, and, in the other, he washed his head. Having performed this acts, the eight princesses clad in beautiful raiment stood before the King, and administered the first coronation oath: “Oh King, in all your conduct, be you guided by the wisdom and experience of all the wise monarchs who ruled the earth before you. Oh King, it is our fervent hope that you will not be the first to give offence to other neighbouring kings; that you will always encourage and support all the industrial and commercial enterprises of your subjects; that you will always treat your people as if they were your own children; that you will guard and protect their properties and possessions and that you will always regard their lives as dear as your own. Oh King, we wish you to discard every form of anger, malice and hatred, and to do and say only that which is right and appropriate.” Saying this, with one accord and with uplifted hands, they poured from silvery white conches studded with gems the sacred Ganges water over his head.

Eight high-class Brahmans then stepped forward and administered the second oath: “Oh King, be the defender of your faith. Strive always to make it popular and universal. Love and defend all living beings as you would own self. Protect the properties of your subjects as you would your own. In all political relations with other countries, do not be the aggressor. We implore you to discharge your kingly duties always, to listen to the advice of wise counselors and to preserve the honour of your race”. They then went through the same ceremony of pouring Ganges water over his head.

Eight men belonging to the middle class then stepped forward and administered the third oath: “Oh King, we trust you will introduce just and benign laws for the prosperity and progress of your subjects. We implore you to avoid all forms of evil and to shun the companionship of those who have no honour nor self-respect.”

At the conclusion of this ceremony, the representatives of all the different classes of people took their stand before the King, and administered the fourth and final oath: “Oh King, by virtue of the ( water pouring) ceremony, which we have just performed, we hope you will be able to carry out all our wishes in every particular. Rule us wisely and well, and never levy taxes more than the legitimate one-tenth of our incomes. Oh King, if you fulfill all our wishes and act and say all that we implore you to do, your majesty, might and power, both in the present and the future, will steadily increase, like the rising sun and the waxing moon. All the other kings will bow down before you, and own your allegiance, and all the territories over which you bear rule will be from robbers and evil-doers. There will be profound peace, prosperity and plenty, and, above all, you will enjoy a long and happy life. But if, on the other hand, you set our wishes at naught, and give rein only to your own wicked and selfish desire, without any regard for the happiness and welfare of your subjects, may there be not only a speedy disintegration of your Kingdom by the prevalence of frequent storms, earth-quakes, fires and other destructive forces of nature, by the depredation of thieves, robbers and all other agents of lawlessness, but may you yourself also have a short and miserable life, and, in the end, may you suffer unto eternity all the indescribable horrors of the nethermost hell.”

The King then, having made a solemn vow that he would conduct himself in such a way as to give satisfaction to every one of his subjects, returned with his Queen to the Royal Palace in the same imposing order as when he started from it. This concluded the whole ceremony, and the three pandals were dismantled and cast into the Lemro river in order to prevent the commission of sacrilege on them.

Three Massive Bombs Rock Baghdad, at Least 41 Killed

Photo: AP

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack near the Iranian Embassy, seen in the background, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, April 4, 2010 

Iraqi authorities say at least 41 people have been killed in three massive explosions in Baghdad.  More than 200 people have been wounded in the blasts, which came as politicians struggle to form a new government.

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The bombs exploded within minutes of each other, two in the Mansur district, a diplomatic area in western Baghdad, the third near the Iranian embassy in the center of the capital.  Iranian and Egyptian officials say no one on their staffs was hurt in explosions near their missions.

Most of the victims appeared to be civilians, with one wounded man saying defiantly “by God, we are not scared.”

The attacks resembled other bombings since the middle of last year, when U.S. troops withdrew from Iraqi cities.   Massive, coordinated blasts, in August, October, December and January, targeted other high profile sites, killing some 400 people, most of them also civilians.

Those explosions were thought to be an attempt by local al-Qaida forces to destabilize the country before parliamentary elections last month.  A series of attacks marred election day four weeks ago, but the capital had been relatively quiet since, even though a new government has yet to emerge.

No political bloc took enough seats to assume power and Western diplomats, among others, say it could be weeks, perhaps months before a ruling coalition could come together.  Current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose State of Law alliance came a very close second to former Prime Minister Iyad Alawi’s Iraqiya, is leading the caretaker government.

Both men tried to project a non-sectarian, nationalist image, with Mr. Alawi in particular reaching out to Sunni voters.  But most of the major players in the current political wrangling are Shi’ite.

Sa’id Nassar, a Cairo-based writer and commentator on Arab political affairs, argued that these leaders came to prominence “on top of American tanks.”  With the U.S. pulling out, Nassar said, their ability to lead has faltered.   More than half of the 96,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are set to leave by September, the rest by the end of next year.

The politicians internal divisions have led to fears that a political vacuum could give Sunni militants a chance to revive the sectarian violence that roiled the nation in 2006 and 2007.

In Bou Saifi, a village south of Baghdad, gunmen killed at least 24 people Friday in what authorities say was an attack by al-Qaida members against families of men linked to Awakening Councils, a pro-U.S. Sunni force that helped Iraq fight extremists and regain a measure of relative calm in recent years.

BBC NEWS

3 Killed in US Consulate Attack in Pakistan

Photo: AFP

Frame grab taken from Dunya News channel shows rescue workers evacuating a victim following a bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan, 05 Apr 2010

 A deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Peshawar has killed at least three people, hours after a suicide bomber killed at least 36 people elsewhere in Pakistan’s northwest.  

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Islamabad confirmed the attack on the consulate.

It was not immediately clear if those killed were the attackers, consulate staff, or others nearby at the time of the blasts.

At least three powerful blasts rocked the heavily guarded and fortified building and the surrounding area, followed by gunfire.  Police quickly closed off the area.

Earlier Monday, authorities say a suspected suicide bomber killed at least 36 people and wounded scores of others at a political rally in the Lower Dir district. 

The Awami National Party, which heads the ruling coalition in North West Frontier Province, was meeting to discuss a name change for the province.

The ANP has supported military operations against the Taliban and Islamist militants in the country.

VOA NEWS

114 Rescued from China Mine, 39 Still Missing

Photo: AP

A survivor is carried onto a waiting ambulance at the Wangjialing Coal Mine in Xiangning county in north China’s Shanxi province, 05 Apr 2010

Rescuers pulled 114 workers out of a Chinese coal mine Monday and are searching for 39 more, after they had been trapped underground for more than a week.

Rescue workers found nine miners alive overnight at the Wangjialing mine in northern China’s Shanxi province Monday after the miners had spent 179 hours in a flooded underground shaft. 

Hours later, a steady stream of survivors, strapped to stretchers and covered with blankets emerged from the shaft.

Survivors had to contend with severe thirst during their ordeal.  One of the miners reported that the murky water in the shaft was too dirty to drink.

Local officials called the rescue operation “a miracle.”  China’s mining industry is among the deadliest in the world.
About 3,000 people have been working since the March 28 disaster to pump water out of the shaft so rescuers could reach 153 trapped miners.  Authorities say the coal mine likely flooded after workers penetrated old or abandoned shafts that had accumulated water.

VOA NEWS

‘Suicide bomb’ at north-west Pakistan political rally

Hundreds of people were attending the outdoor gathering

At least 38 people have been killed in a suspected suicide attack at a political party rally in north-west Pakistan, police say.

Witnesses said the detonation occurred near the stage at the outdoor rally, attended by hundreds of people.

The party targeted, the ethnic Pashtun Awami National Party, heads a coalition in North West Frontier Province.
Separately, a series of large explosions has hit Peshawar, one of the major cities in the region.
Witnesses reported seeing plumes of thick grey smoke over the garrison part of the city. US officials said the US consulate was the target of the attacks.
A protracted gunbattle followed the blasts.
Militant target
The political rally was taking place in Lower Dir district, scene of a major offensive against the Taliban last year.

Peshawar hit by explosions

Pakistan state TV said hundreds of people were taking part in the rally, in the town of Timergara.
They were celebrating plans to change the name of North West Frontier Province to Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa – meaning “Khyber side of the land of the Pakhtuns”.
“Our party had arranged a thanksgiving day to celebrate the changing of the name after 200 years of colonial legacy,” an ANP spokesman told Geo television.
The renaming is likely to be endorsed by the national parliament this week.
More than 50 people were said to have been injured in the attack.
ANP, a secular-nationalist party, has been the target of Taliban militants in Swat, Dir and Buner districts.
Dozens of its local leaders were killed by militants during the two years that the Taliban controlled these districts, but last year’s operation cleared most areas of the threat.
This is the first major attack in Dir since 4 February, when a suicide car bomb killed at least eight people, including three US citizens and a number of schoolgirls.

BBC NEWS