Indian Army officer's daughter is Nepal's new global hero

22/11/2010
Kathmandu: The daughter of a former Indian Army colonel has become Nepal's new global hero, receiving a prestigious American award for her relentless work to prevent the trafficking of women and children from Nepal and rescuing over 12,000 victims.

Anuradha Koirala, daughter of Col Pratap Singh Gurung of the Indian Army, and former student of St Joseph's Convent in eastern India's hill town of Kalimpong, gave a politically volatile Nepal a worthy cause to rejoice when she was declared the CNN Hero of the year 2010 at a gala in Los Angeles late Saturday. The event was also attended by Hollywood stars Demi Moore, Halle Berry and Jessica Alba.

There were fireworks at Maiti Nepal in celebration, the anti-trafficking NGO founded by the frail, 61-year-old former school teacher on the premises of her own house in 1993 with eight others and that made her win the $100,000 award after eight weeks of online voting.

Koirala, known by her trademark huge dot on the forehead and spartan sari, beat nine other shortlisted nominees, including India's chef with a conscience, Narayanan Krishnan, whose Akshaya Trust has become a byword for feeding the homeless in India's Madurai city.

Maiti Nepal, which means mother's home in Nepali, is the best-known anti-trafficking organisation in Nepal, running transit homes on the India-Nepal border to prevent women and children from being sold to India's brothels, rescuing them by conducting raids with peer groups in India and since 1999, also running a hospice in Jhapa in eastern Nepal for trafficking survivors diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

The victims rescued by Maiti Nepal include girls as young as 14 who were sold into sex slavery in India at the age of nine.

In Kathmandu, Maiti Nepal also runs the Teresa Academy, a 10th-grade school to provide education to the rescued children and children of trafficked women living in its shelter. The rehabilitation work is bolstered by the legal unit of the NGO that seeks legal action against traffickers.

Last week, before the award was announced, Koirala had told a local weekly in Kathmandu that her aim was to see Maiti Nepal close down one day - when trafficking would be eradicated.

According to a report by the US State Department, about 12,000-15,000 women and children are trafficked to India across the porous border every year.

On the day Koirala won her award, Nepal police arrested a woman in the southern Saptari district, Nirmala Bhujel, for trying to sell a 14-year-old girl in India's Mumbai city, under the guise of getting her a well-paid job in Kuwait.

"I never thought I would get this international recognition when I started Maiti Nepal," a tearful Koirala told Nepali daily Republica from New York after being declared the CNN winner.

"Looking back at the struggle during those formative years, I can now say that anything can be achieved with perseverance and hard work."

The award also carries an additional $25,000, which goes out to all the shortlisted 10 nominees. Source: IANS
Indian Army officer's daughter is Nepal's new global hero

National Security: War on Terror

It is after one year in office that I have ventured to outline the new architecture for India’s security. There are two enemies of change. The first is ‘routine’. Routine is the enemy of innovation. Because we are immersed in routine tasks, we neglect the need for change and innovation. The second enemy is ‘complacency’. In a few days from today, 2009 will come to a close, and I sincerely hope that we may be able to claim that the year was free from terror attacks. However, there is the danger of a terror-free year inducing complacency, signs of which can be seen everywhere. A strange passivity seems to have descended upon the people: they are content to leave matters relating to security to a few people in the Government and not ask questions or make demands. I wish to raise my voice of caution and appeal to all of you assembled here, and to the people at large, that there is no time to be lost in making a thorough and radical departure from the present structure. If, as a nation, we must defend ourselves in the present day and prepare for the future, it is imperative that we put in place a new architecture for India’s security.

Read the full speech of Home Minister
Home minister proposes radical restructuring of security architecture