Boost police morale

The news published in this daily relating to the manner in which police postings are made in Maoist affected areas cannot but have grave implications. The most important fallout of such postings is that it demoralizes the police force which has to tackle the Maoist insurgency involving guerrilla warfare, a difficult proposition even at the best of times. Unless the force is well motivated and ready to give up everything for the just cause, there is little the police can do to deal with the problem effectively. Unfortunately, top brass in the police, the government leaders and bureaucrats have done all they can to sap police morale and are unknowingly helping the Maoists through such discriminatory postings.

Reports speak of police officers being posted in one Maoist affected area after another while others with alleged connections to the powers that are, do not have to leave the comfort, and more importantly, the security of the capital for years and years. When such discrimination takes place, the morale of those who, because of their unprivileged position in the police force have to put their lives at risk, can be well imagined. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to imagine how police personnel can fulfil their topmost responsibility, that is, maintaining law and order. The government will do well to appoint an impartial committee to inquire into these allegations of discriminatory postings and it will do even better if it does not shy away from punishing those who are found guilty of indulging in favouritism, nepotism and in promoting divisive tendencies.

A fighting force needs to be highly motivated and assured of justice at all times. Internal police policy, as reported in this daily, may not be an ideal one, but when allegations become rife that the policy itself is not being properly followed, something must be definitely wrong. True, the monetary incentives for those who die have been increased and this is to be welcomed. But this alone is not enough to instill a sense of motivation and unflinching loyalty among police personnel. The alleged groupism that followed the appointment, removal and re-appointment of one Inspector General of Police and the appointment and removal of another IGP is a blot on the police force. The impact of this political meddling prevails to this day and it is said what is happening with regard to the transfers is a residue of this.

If true, this is an undesirable tendency that must end. It behooves the present police chief to rise above petty interests and differences, and work to build confidence among all police personnel. This is the least that must be done for service personnel who have the Maoist insurgents to contend with. It is imperative that the police morale be boosted at all costs.

Guided change : Implications on Bhutan

By Dhurba Rizal

Bhutan, a multi- ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious country embarked on an ambitious programme of guided political, economic and administrative reforms during the 1950s and 1960s. It was a time when the country possessed only a few institutional or cultural pre-requisites of modern society and was untainted by the insidious concepts and values of western origin. Within four decades, Bhutan saw numerous changes in all spheres of life: political, socio-cultural, economic, legal and technological, which have reshaped the framework of traditional society. It has institutionalized a system, which is totally new to Bhutan, beyond the vision of the builders. Today it has created a new power structure with the king, the elite young nascent bureaucracy and newly created capitalists. However modernization in Bhutan carried with it the seed of destruction as well.

Guided reforms in Bhutan cannot be called transitional today as there are no clearly defined lasting objectives towards which the system is moving. The king and elites cannot constitute the system. Social structure had undergone a change due to the new pattern of economic power centre. It generated a haphazard evolutionary process which prevented the present order from being totally static. As a result, the system changed in a small superficial way, which gave it the appearance of being more dynamic than it actually was. In order to inspire greater support and to propagate its ideals, it launched populist measures. This has undermined the creation of a sustainable institutional capacity. The national assembly and Royal advisory council became mere consultative bodies and are more or less static. They have not emerged as part of a modern political system or institution representing the will of the people. It has failed to articulate and aggregate the interest of majority of the people. The Lamaist church exists only in name. Its relevance as an integral part of the ethos of Bhutanese people has changed. The distinction between the haves and have-not has become very wide, creating a point of conflict. Regional disparities seem distinct today.

Today, everything is imposed from above. This clearly indicates that there is unequal power structure where the more powerful seek to establish hegemony in a normalized form, evolve a set of mechanisms, strategies and rituals so that discipline can be ensured, resistance can be tamed and legitimacy can be secured in order to generalize and establish domination. There is no meaningful and extensive competition among individuals and organized groups, lack of political participation in the selection of leaders and choice of policies through the electoral process and absence of civil and political liberties to ensure integrity of political participation and competition. In the absence of any political party or non-governmental institutions, the centre of power is emerging within the king-cabinet- bureaucracy-capitalist that wield clout detrimental to the nation's interest. It is struggling to search itself in a new concept of nationalism with the king, one language and one nation. Today, the system has revived and institutionalised absolutism and despotism. Opposition to the system has been declared illegal and political parties have been outlawed and dissenting voices have been silenced. The media is censored. There is widespread infringement of civil liberties and abuse of rights.

The system excludes groups, which do not fit within the straightjacket of Tsa-wa-sum. Today it is integrated only by the hegemonic culture of Drukpas who dominate the subject culture of Sharchops and Lhotsampas. Manipulation of the symbols of nationalism and exclusion of others who do not fit the Drukpa profile from the political process makes up the system for all its rhetorical guided change today. Ruling elites have made only gestures to improve the lives of the majority of Bhutanese who live in bitter political silence. It has failed to impress the majority and those on the political periphery because it did not succeed in solving national problems and altering the distribution of wealth and power. Crony capitalism is gripping the nation today and this has prevented democratization of the economic order and corresponding measures of social justice.

The elites are buoyed by guided reforms on their legitimacy. It will only be distilled into a single point-" reinforcement of the current system" with elites playing a dominant role. It is trying to demonstrate democratic credentials of the system to make western governments more comfortable about their provision of aid. Foreign aid is reinforcing and legitimizing the existing political structure. This operates beneath a veneer of western rationality which is often misunderstood by foreigners who are convinced of the sincerity of the Bhutanese adoption of western management procedures. Traditional unquestioning submission to the system is a product of Bhutanese culture, which is magnified by Driglam Namzha. Now the system conscripts the support of elites and traditionalists and traditional structure. It has failed to take into account ethnic sensibilities and popular needs in its drive to perpetuate the elites' exclusive claim to political legitimacy and its precarious, monolithic culture.

When in what form and at what cost will this transition, brought by guided change, be stabilized into a modern system with good governance providing fundamental rights to all is a mute question among the Bhutanese today.

The king has emphasized "gross national happiness". Now the question is, "does the present system uphold this noble principle and assume the role of ethical and welfare state?" After espousing the principle, the country got engulfed in the refugee crisis and ULFA and Bodo problems which has disintegrated the cohesive Bhutanese society. They resorted to coercive apparatus against those who did not consent to state policies. Do the coercive actions and prosecution of innocent people justify the rhetoric of gross national happiness? Today it has created a community of interest of king, cabinet and ruling elite. This is being reinforced by the resources provided by foreign aid donors and crony capitalism. The present political system may face a combined political challenge in a weak condition. Now it shows that the system is slippery and chameleon-like and critics have already recorded its failure and startling capacity to generate self inflicted wounds.

Let us hope and pray that the king who has a refreshing and original style of politics realises the problem and the challenges which pose a threat to the nation and that he works to overcome these to build a pluralistic modern Bhutan, envisioned by the late king Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, who initiated the guided change The writer agrees with Deutsch Karl who observes that "nations develop more from within than without and more from the middle than from the top and generally from below than from above".

(The writer is a Bhutanese national)

Fatal praise and criticism

By Ajit Baral

We have writers who can write at par with Marquez, wrote Narayan Dhakal in his weekly column. He was referring to Manu Bajraki, whom he equated with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He catapulted Bajraki to the stature of Marquez all right. Yet, he used him as a means for uplifting Nepalese (himself included) writers to the level from which they don’t have to cower in front of the Goliaths of
world literature intellectually and artistically.

Our own litterateurs can pit themselves against the greatest of the greats, he says literally, but he adds a dampener, "if only Nepalese Art and Literature could reach the world market." It is not my purpose here to assert that Bajraki isn’t a good writer, he writes well with a touch of magic realism ("...the earth was on my head and the sky on my feet...) or, other Nepalese writers are mean writers. I am just trying to raise the consequences of overdone praise.

I recall some one saying about one Nepalese artist who bore a physical resemblance to French artist Toulouse Lautrech in having failed to rise beyond a certain limit of artistic finesse because of the exaggerated praise he was proffered with. For, this attachment with the misperceived notion of one’s own talent, which one is prone to harbour because of undue praise, nips the bud of--to use J Krishnamurti’s words--one’s "inward flowering" and blunts one’s impetus for growth. So, we should at best shun and at worst be chary of saccharine-praise. However, the reality is the contrary.

This kind of praise was evident in the case of Jhamak Kumari, with everybody - from NGOs to writers-rallying in excessive praise. Granted that Sahityakars and Kalakars should be encouraged and helped, even more so with Jhamak for her achievement despite all those handicaps is great, so that they can develop and refine their art, but praising much more than is commensurate with the ability in the name of encouragement- instead of giving suggestions that help- is detriment to the artist’s growth. Also, the impact of the fall from the great height of success, one is led to believe one has attained, because of the unthinkingly attributed praise to oneself may, sometime, be well beyond redemption.

The so-called conscious class of writers cannot refrain from complementing each other with praises-all overdone. ‘You scratch my back and I will scratch yours’ kind of tacit understanding amongst writers is prompted very much by: a) our old tendency of chaplusi; and, b) desire to elevate oneself. Because of these reasons, people like Mohan Prasais are declared as Motiram Bhatta of the present time, and Bhupal Man Singhas are eulogized and immortalized in writings.

In complete reversal of these tendencies, some writers tend to mete out terrible criticism of other fellow writers, may be on the one who has fallen out of favour. This tendency, which has to be eschewed, leads one to write this kind of pejorative statement even for a poet like Mohan Koirala who is viewed as a precursor of the new movement in Nepali literature: "Despite heaps of words, sans rhyme and rhythm, he is considered as the country’s great by the country. So, the need is to tone down these two contrasting tendencies to thwart untoward consequences - which is more often than not, retrogression of arts - arising out of them.

Tourism : Headcount and income link

 By Pratyoush Onta

When Indian Airlines was not flying into Kathmandu, all kinds of writers in the Nepali and Indian media tried to convince us that the damage done to Nepal’s tourist economy was enormous. Some Indian journalists even tried to suggest that Nepal’s tourist economy had completely collapsed due to the non-arrival of IC planes. The poor knowledge of Indian media personnel about things related to Nepal has been so obvious since the IC hijacking tamasha that it does not deserve much comment here. However I would like to raise some questions about how Nepali reporters and commentators themselves have portrayed the loss sustained by the Nepali economy due to the suspension of IC flights for five plus months. I do so because this kind of analysis has a few lessons for us regarding the competence of our media with respect to coverage of tourism’s importance to Nepal.

The "loss" reportage has been dominated by a headcount. It has been reported that the number of total tourist arrivals at the Kathmandu airport (data from TIA immigration office) for the first three months of 2000 (as compared to the same period the previous year) decreased by over 11% with Indian tourist arrivals down by some 38% and third country tourist arrivals down by about one percent. To augment this data, reporters quoted various industry bosses to give us a picture of loss represented by low hotel occupancy rates and empty casinos. But what is the loss like in terms of total volume (in rupees) and its spread across those dependent on the tourism money?

I limit my analysis to the above mentioned arrival data because it is adequate to make my point. First a couple of thoughts on the numbers themselves. The decrease in TIA numbers was most obvious because it is most easily available data! But not one of our reporters thought it fit to look for information that might offset that calculation. As the IA flights were not flying into Kathmandu from Banaras, several of the North Indian package tour operators for Euro-American tourists, had their clients board a bus from Banaras to Bhairawa from where they flew to Kathmandu in a Nepali domestic airline. When I flew out of Kathmandu to Delhi in an RA flight earlier this year, the plane was full of such tourists who were returning to Delhi to catch their flights to go back home. How many of such tourists who would have arrived in Nepal by the air route actually arrived via the land route during the period I do not know. I can safely guess that this number will offset the one percent decline in third country tourist arrivals recorded at TIA. A similar exercise for Indian tourists arriving in Nepal by the land route would reduce the 38 percent decline by at least a few percentage points. When this is all done, we can safely conclude that the decrease in the number of tourist arrivals is not as huge as it has been suggested.

Second, the significance of the tourist arrival headcount is not in the number itself. It is rather in what the number means in terms of income and its distribution amongst various Nepali service providers. Let us do some calculations. First for volume of rupees "lost" by the Nepali tourist industry. Tourism bosses have suggested that since fewer third country and Indian tourists have come to Nepal, we have lost a significant amount of money (equal to, say, Rs 2500 - 3500 per day per tourist times the number of missed tourists). This accounting is being done way too simply for it to be acceptable.

For while I agree that I would in fact begin to calculate the loss due to missed tourists by that same step, I would then go further and ask what else has happened that has offset that loss. As anyone who traveled by RA between Kathmandu and Delhi during this period would know, every RA flight was almost full. What was the increase (over the average of the past few years) in the load factor of RA flights (both ways) serving Delhi and other Indian cities during this period? How many of the third country tourists who crossed into Nepal by the land route as described above flew into Kathmandu in Nepali domestic airlines? The extra money thus earned by RA and domestic airlines represent income to the service providers of the tourism industry in Nepal which would not have been there if there were regular IA flights. This income then has most definitely decreased the loss, partially (or perhaps even fully) due to the missed tourists.

Finally, in the last instance, it is not even the total income from the tourism industry but rather its spread amongst the various Nepali stakeholders that matters. Given that a majority of trekkers are third country tourists, the calculations given above allow us to assume that there has not been any significant decrease in the number of trekkers during the same period (or if there has been it would have to be attributed to causes other than IA hijacking). If the activity of trekking is the single most important avenue through which the income from tourism is distributed, however inefficiently, in the hinterlands of Nepal, then my calculations suggest that service providers in all the popular trekking routes have not been affected by the susppension of the IA flights into Nepal by bosses of the Indian State. If the decrease in Kathmandu’s hotel occupancy rates and the number of gamblers in casinos mean a loss of tourism income in the capital city, this has to be read against the extra income earned by RA and domestic airlines which, spatially speaking, would be mostly confined to Kathmandu.

Too much reliance on TIA arrival data and the sound-bites of tourism bosses, known to exaggerate both the contribution of tourism to the Nepali economy and the "losses" they putatively suffer on this or that account, takes away the potential critical edge of our reporters on tourism.