Cardinal wrote: "[Shivani] should have been thankful that she was not tortured, raped or killed." Allow me to point out that regardless of what one thinks of Shivani (people may like her; they may not, and either response to her is fine), it is her and ALL Nepali women's BASIC RIGHT -- and NOT some Maoist-awarded or some state-endowed privilege -- to be able to live in Nepal without worrying about being "tortured, raped or killed." That is why, it's really short-sighted to argue that Shivani or anyone else should be "thankful" to the Maoists or even to the state forces for not being tortured, raped and killed. [Even the laws of war do NOT sanction such acts.] I read the article, and I found that the issues Shivani has raised are well worth pondering over, and are NOT to be dismissed on account of her supposed foolhardiness to visit those places for her college paper. oohi ashu