KATHMANDU, FEB 28: Kaho na pyaar hai.That's the song on every Nepali's lips and Hindi films are running to packed houses in various Kathmandu theatres. But there is hardly any love for India in Nepali minds now as the two-month-old suspension of Indian Airlines flights following the hijacking incident has hit their livelihoods hard. And Indian Ambassador K V Rajan, who has been trying to pacify the increasingly impatient Nepalis, says he has run out of explanations for why the flights are not being resumed.``The people here know me, so I have been able to convince them that India has no bad intentions and the delay was to ensure adequate security at the airport. But I don't see what I will do if this goes on for a few more weeks,'' he says. ``We shouldn't lose the goodwill. We must ask Nepal to provide us with what we need to ensure airport security and resume the flights quickly.''Rajan is under pressure from travel and tourism operators as well as the hotel industry. There have been meetings all through last week. India is already under attack in newspapers like The Kathmandu Post which said last week that India was indirectly imposing sanctions against Nepal in the guise of suspension of flights. Kunda Dikshit, journalist, and Director of Panos South Asia, says there is a growing feeling that India is bullying Nepal as the suspended flights are reviving memories of the two-year blockade imposed by India in 1990.IA used to fly daily from Delhi and Varanasi and thrice a week from Calcutta till the flights were suspended. The Royal Nepal Airlines has been able to fill the gap to some extent by flying from Delhi and Calcutta. But Varanasi is vital for getting the foreign traffic. ``All the foreign tourists come from Varanasi which is their last destination in India. From there they fly to Nepal to wind up their vacation. Now that crowd is going back to Europe without coming here,'' says hotelier Raju Sreshta.The Indian tourists are, of course, not there. And the worst hit are the casinos which catered mainly to them. Soaltee Hotel here has the oldest and biggest of the four casinos in Kathmandu and it used to overflow with Indian tourists. They would come on Fridays to play and return on Sundays. But last Saturday at 10 pm, the roulette tables at the casino were deserted. Casino in-charge Om Rana said: ``There is a 95 per cent fall in visitors. Are these tables for decoration? I see more staffers here than players. And I don't know how I am to pay their salaries.''All hotels have recorded a 15 per cent drop in occupancy, hotel associations in Kathmandu said in a statement last week. The associations were resentful about India keeping quiet on resuming the flights. ``The delay is sending wrong signals to the whole world, tarnishing the image of Nepal,'' says Rajan.``It has already been harmed by the dishonest reporting done by a private TV channel in India,'' he says. ``First the channel falsely reported that one of the hijackers was a Nepali. When it was found to be wrong, the channel did nothing to correct itself.'' says Rajan.``And then it did some dishonest reporting,'' he adds. ``The crew first shot inside the airport with official permission and later kept showing the shots to say that the place was totally unprotected and open to anyone.''He said a team from Indian Airlines had visited Kathmandu last week and was satisfied with the security arrangements at the airport. IA could ask for its own frisking arrangements to boost confidence, he said. But that is when the flights resume. And no one is ready to say when that will happen.
