 |
| |
VOL. 27, NO. 5, September 14, 2007 (Bhadra 28 2064 B.S.)
|
|
On Inclusive Democracy
By MADHAV KUMAR RIMAL
“The Inclusive State – Reflections on Re-inventing Nepal” is a collection of essays by fifty-three authors and published by SAP-Nepal. The book is edited by Anand Aditya and Anand is a good and kind friend. When he asked me to review the book a few days back, I could not deny him even though reviewing books is not my cup of tea. Most of the essays have focused on inclusive democracy and inclusive state! The adjectives used before Democracy and State seem to be redundant to me as inclusiveness is the intrinsic characteristic of both democracy and state. Both democracy and state have to treat all its citizens with total equality.
“The Inclusive State – Reflections on Re-inventing Nepal”
Edited by : Anand Aditya
published by: SAP-Nepal.
|
If any part of the society or any group of citizens is denied equality or equal opportunities, it must be the fault of the administrations and people in authority, not of democracy or state. In such cases of lapses, the administrations and rulers must be punished appropriately. Failure to take action against the wrong doers would clearly manifest the impotency of the governed. And in a society like ours where governments are callously indifferent to their obligations, the small intelligentsia must have shouldered greater responsibility in educating and leading the overwhelming illiterate and exploited masses. Our intellectuals have not only miserably failed in their pious responsibility but have behaved and are still behaving like absolutely self-centered, only running after the power brokers for personal gains.
Democracy must always be an open society. And in an open society, there can be no inclusiveness or exclusiveness. Since there has been no democracy ever, not even after the spring revolution of 2006, a very peculiar situation has emerged in Nepal. Blatant exploitations and discriminations by the administrations and rulers for more than two hundred and forty years have, indeed, viciously denied a considerably larger part of the populace, equality and equal opportunities. They badly need redressing with top priority. But inclusiveness is not the remedy. Because inclusiveness, if regularized by law, is apt to divide the nation into smaller compartments each jealous of the rest. The need of the hour is not division but cohesion – to rivet the whole country into one unit that is Nepali, irrespective of caste or ethnicity. This is the only way to preserve our nationalism, national integrity and national pride intact. Moreover, the inclusive principles do have the tendency to generate the concept of inferiority complex, which would directly infringe upon the dignity and pride of man.
It is quite surprising to see that most of the authors have not thought it pertinent to mention even the behavior of the incumbent eight party government and the present political situation in the country. Some even have forsaken objectivity and smack of spite and vengeance. If the one hundred four years of Rana regime was guilty of personalized administration, extreme exploitation and corruption, the end of Rana regime nearly six decades back has given birth to even dangerous element of ‘quislingism.’ And in the name of democracy they are practicing unbridled authoritarianism. Extolling the inclusive democracy, most of the authors have overlooked even to mention that the SPAM government is neither constitutional, democratic nor inclusive, as they would like to call it. Rather, it is most pliant, authoritarian and directed by remote control, which has contributed to lower our country in the estimation of the world. While most of the writers are quite eminent, even though, at times, self-centered, there are couple of chaffs, too. However, reading the book gives us an idea about the state of mind and character of Nepali intelligentsia.
Catalogue Of Film Artistes
Yam Chaulagain’s book is the first of its kind that records the profile of persons related with the entertainment world
By A CORRESPONDENT
Although history of Nepalese entertainment industry is about a century old, there is only a few books that have been written about persons involved in it. There are no records of involvement of personalities in the early days.
Chalchitraka Sarathi
(A Biographical Collection)
By: Yam Chaulagain
Published by: Yam Chaulagain
Price: Rs 1000.00 for individual and Rs2000.00 (institutional)
Pages: 372 |
Thanks to the efforts of Chaulagain, there is now at least a record of persons involved in the entertainment industry in last few decades. From first Nepalese film Satya Harish Chandra to first Nepali singer, all have made immense contribution to carry Nepal’s entertainment industry to the present shape.
“In an attempt to provide a glimpse of current Nepalese cinema, and which is part of Asian cinema’s new flora, Yam Chaulagain is projecting this facet. This definitely inspires our vision and contribution towards our contemporary cinema and scenario,” writes Prakash Sayami, film maker and film historian.
From popular singers Narayan Gopal to Taradevi and from Aruna Lama and director late Prakash Thapa to musician Gopal Yonjon, Chaulagain also has noted down the brief profile of new singers like Yam Baral, Devika Pradhan, Sapana Shree and Ram Krishna Dhakal.
All old and new film actors have been included in the book. Udit Naryan Jha, Deepa Jha, lyricist Deepak Kharel and Dinesh Adhikary are also included in the biography.
The book is of interest for those who want to do research and write the history about Nepalese entertainment industry. Chaulagain’s efforts are highly commendable and noteworthy.
