Explosions near two schools in Kathmandu

Two explosive devices went off near two schools in Kathmandu early yesterday and a third - a pressure cooker bomb - was recovered near another school in the
Nepali capital, police said.
“Two explosions occurred near the entrance to two schools in Bouddha neighbourhood (in north-eastern Kathmandu) at 3:45am. It damaged a part of the entrance. There are no casualties,” Sharad Chand, a senior superintendent of police in the Nepal capital, said.
He said two men had been arrested and investigations were ongoing.
A Maoist splinter group, that calls itself Young Communist Force Nepal, left pamphlets at the sites of the two bombings, the Kantipur newspaper reported.
The unexploded pressure cooker bomb was found in the southern part of the city, in the area of Sanepa, about 10km, from where the blasts took place, Chand said.
“Such devices were found in seven other places,” he said, adding that they were still investigating what type of devices had exploded near the schools.
The two blasts took place at the Akash Deep English Secondary School and Manakamana School, both in Boudhha and a few blocks away from each other.
Kusum KC, a teacher at Akash Deep English Secondary School, said she heard the explosion from a few blocks away.
There were about 20 students in the school’s hostel at the time.
The school, which has a total of 700 students, opened
yesterday but only for half a day.
Junita Subedi, an accountant at Manakamana School, said there were 40 students in the hostel when the explosion occurred.
There are a total of 100 students in the school.
Maoist rebels, who now govern Nepal after entering mainstream politics, waged a 10-year insurgency between 1996 and 2006 which claimed
17,000 lives.
Nepal marks first Constitution Day: Nepal on Monday celebrated the first anniversary of the promulgation of its new constitution amid opposition from Madhesi parties who marked it as a “Black Day” and held a
protest rally in Kathmandu.
The Madhesi parties are miffed with the newly-installed government of Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ that was initially seen as comparatively sympathetic to their demands.
But a month has gone since the formation of the new government and it is perceived as having done little to address the demands and grievances of the Madhesis, leaving them furious and agitated.
Prachanda, who came to power last month, however, said in an address on the occasion that his government was serious towards addressing through suitable amendments the grievances of the Madhesis and the Tharu and ethnic communities
regarding the constitution.
“My government is seriously working to make the constitution acceptable to all and expediting its enforcement by addressing the grievances of the people, unhappy with some of its provisions, through fresh amendment(s).
“No country in the world has so far achieved a complete Constitution in the maiden attempt as the constitution is a dynamic and living document and gets completion through timely revisions as per the needs of the people,” said Prachanda, who has cancelled his scheduled visit to the United Nations in order to address the concerns of the Madhesis and Janjatis over the constitution.
The constitution has established Nepal as a Federal Democratic Republic, guaranteed people’s fundamental rights, periodic elections, press freedom, independent judiciary and the basis for a rule of law while paving the way for the achievement of social justice, durable peace, good governance, development and progress.
After it was adopted through popular vote by the Constituent Assembly last September, the political groupings from the country’s southern plains opposed the move and launched nationwide protests, which left at least 59 persons, including several security
personnel, dead.
Prachanda said the government had already formed a high-level commission to probe the incidents of violence that took place during the Terai-Madhes movement, had already announced the names of those killed in the movement and a process was on to provide compensation to the victims’ families and medical treatment cost to the injured. Likewise, the process of withdrawal of political cases relating to the agitation was afoot.