All's not well in Congress

The ruling party, which has been deeply divided into two factions for over a year now, does not appear to have learnt any lesson so far. The reasons may be many, but the most important one is that a faction governs - well or not it is for the people to decide - while another faction is critical of the rulers' performance. This had started from the day the Nepali Congress came to power in the last elections. This explains why no stone was left unturned to ensure that the Bhattarai government was made to fall making way for the Koirala government.

That the NC problem encompasses more than just differences at the top has become clear with the virtual clash between different groups of workers over active membership of the party. The seeming "solution" arrived at the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting the other day now seems to have been no more than mere paper work done with the purpose of silencing the  opposition. There are now complaints that the CWC decisions are either not implemented or, depending on the place, the decisions have been implemented in twisted forms. All these allegations are being issued ahead of the party's national convention where the future course of the party will be charted out and election for its  new president will be held. For NC workers, this is a very significant occasion and those who have worked all their lives for the cause of the party will no doubt feel cheated if any hanky-panky should take place in an organisation that prides itself as a "democratic" party.

While the party's internal problems may not be everyone's business, the fact is that the governing party's problems are reflected in governance. This makes it every tax payer's problem. The internal squabbling within the party, for instance, has resulted in poor performance by both the Bhattarai and Koirala governments. The Maoist problem might have moved much further ahead towards resolution but for the NC's internal problems. Surely, it is public knowledge that the Maoist insurgents have expressed their willingness to talk for over a year now.  Just to prevent   head of the high powered government committee Sher Bahadur Deuba from stealing the show, efforts and tax payers' money were allowed to go to waste.

NC workers and leaders may or may not remember all these things and will probably justify them even if they do remember, but the general public cannot forget or forgive such blunders. It is therefore in the party's own interest that the top leaders set the party house right for surely all's not well with the NC.

Struggle that never ends

By Nitya Nanda Timsina

For Ben Helscott, the twentieth century has been dominated by his memories of the holocaust. For Nirmala, who bends over a heap of gravel with a hammer and ring at the Ratwa river bed, life in the camps symbolize much more than tragedy, it is a beacon of despair.

The year 2000 is the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. To mark this occasion, BBC service reporters visited war zones across the world, to investigate what is happening to children.

Barely 15 years of age, and ten years into brutal child labour and extreme poverty as a refugee in Nepal, Nirmala couldn't voice her grievances nor could she see any BBC camera crew hovering overhead.

For Nirmala, everyday is confined to Ratwa, the river, since her father succumbed to torture meted out by the private Bhutanese royal guards. But for Nirmala, it looks as though she was made for Ratwa.

Caught between Bhutan and Nepal, Bhutanese refugees suffer from a split personality, irrespective of the fact that on each foundation rock of the Druk civilization are inscribed the names of those Lhotsampa--southern Bhutanese of Nepalese and Indian origin--who perished as "builders of modern Bhutan". Their grandchildren were caught up in the ethnic cleansing. One lakh people cannot be punished politically for the wrongs committed by the government itself.

One  lakh Bhutanese were thrown   out of their homes in the year 1990. They now live in UNHCR makeshift camps as refugees in the struggle for human dignity and democracy that has yet no end in sight.

Genetically linked to Nepal, culturally influenced by India, legally part of Bhutan, the world doesn't seem know who they are anymore. For more than a  decade, they have been a  forgotten generation. They were squeezed out like a tube of toothpaste from their ancestral cradle after the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) and the nobles took over their lands and houses and turned some of them into military fortresses and the rest were burned to the ground. It was indeed humiliating, but who can raise their voice against this oppression? As the brutal leadership of Bhutan silences the voices of these undesirable elements, the state and institutions have ensured  the smooth functioning of the hereditary line of Wangchuck rulers.

The petty despots have ripped off the commoners for long. It is time to build peace and rebuild their shattered homes and dreams but who will understand or even listen, for that matter?

How long will the ruin of tens of thousands of Bhutanese, their lost homes, ruptured lives and pent-up nostalgia continue? Could this sorry saga soon be finally over?

As Nepal's position is in a hors de combat state, India is looked upon as broker in the refugee stalemate for it has its commitment towards neighbouring countries to meet the challenges to democracy and rule of law. New Delhi also has a lion's share in promoting human dignity and democracy all over South Asia. It'll be the murder of the largest democracy in the region should New Delhi still muddle along the mechanism of poker game Bhutan has embarked upon. The official alienation and indifference that has been shown till date tells us that India is compromising its own democratic values for the obvious reason that India couldn't become a go to zone for the refugees as its borders are sealed.

It is indeed annoying that Bhutan says not all are Bhutanese despite the fact that they have no registered ancestral place in Nepal. If they are not Bhutanese,  the government of Bhutan must answer who they are.

The struggle for democracy roused a lot of expectations -- social, political, and economic, but they remain a far cry in Bhutan the country that has succumbed to the most pervasive authoritarianism  ever known. A change from this dismal system is imperative and this is possible only through New Delhi's intervention. The initiative for such a recognition rests with India.

Who am I ?

By Suyog Mainali

Do you know who I am? No, you are wrong, I am not Suyog Mainali. I know I go by that name, but I am not him. That Suyog Mainali died the day I started on the path of self-realisation. After a long time I have come to discover that I am but a PIG. Surprised? Don't be surprised. Let me prove to you that I am a pig.

A pig lives in sty. The sty is clean compared to the surrounding. But the neighbourhood is always as filthy as it can be. Piles of filth, rotten vegetation and muck surround the vicinity of the sty. And the pig doesn't mind. I, after close observation, found my habitat to be similar to a sty. My house is cleaner compared to the surrounding. But as I look around the house, I see piles of filth everywhere as if they are irremovable parts of our existence. And nobody minds living around such filth. Pigs don't mind it either, so I suspected that I was a pig.

Now, let us go for the physical appearance, I wanted to find if I was really a pig or not. So, I went to the market and bought an average sized pig so that I could compare myself with it. You see, I am a student of science and  like to verify everything by observation. So, I bought a pig and was dragging it home when a friend of mine saw us and said "what a handsome pig!" I was dumbfounded! My girlfriend had once said to me that I too was quite handsome. The pig was handsome, I was handsome; that meant that I and the pig were similar! I found my suspicion growing stronger and stronger. I rushed home, locked my door and started a detailed comparison between the pig and me. I found that the pig was 5 ft 8 inch tall when it stood on its hind legs. That was my height. The weights were similar too. What's more, even the colour of our skins were similar! Then, I went in for more minute details.   The pig had two eyes, I had two eyes. The pig had two ears, I had two ears.

The pig had one nose with two holes in it and I had the same! The pig had two hands and two legs (I couldn't remove the black gloves and boots of the pig) and I had the same. The only difference I found was the tail. The pig had a short cute curly little tail whereas I had none. But then, I spend all my time sitting on my chair, so the tail must have worn out. Anyway, such small details don't matter, mutations happen all the time in nature.

Then I turned towards comparing my habits to those of the pigs. And to my dismay, I found my habits, surprisingly identical to that of the pig's. The pig excreted everywhere, be it the road, a public place, or a park. I too excrete everywhere, be it against a tree in Ratnapark or under a bridge over   Dhobikhola. Moreover, I dispose my wastages wherever it is convenient for me. Others? Let them go to hell. Ain't I a pig? And another thing, a pig never bathes. Similarly, I almost never bathe. How can I bathe? I live in Kathmandu, man, and I am waiting for the Melamchi to come so that I can bathe.

What happened to the pig I bought  for my observations? I cut it up and ate it. What a pig!

Education : Matching the basic needs

By Hari Pokharel

Education in the truest sense means getting the best out of oneself. 'What book could be better than the book of mankind'. These words by Mahatma Gandhi have been the guiding principle for the development of education in   South Asian countries. Education in the Ninth Plan (1997-2002), has remained a main policy for utilising education as an effective means for poverty alleviation and all round development.

My father was always in charge of my early life. But today, who is responsible for our children's training and education? Some educationists believe that only people trained in progressive psychology can determine what is best for a child. They view a child's development as the responsibility of school   authorities. Parents cannot decide what is best. The educators want to assume full responsibility for the child's total development leaving no obligation for mothers and fathers. The parent's job is to surrender their children to the system.

Parents must be careful not to be misled by these experts. Parents must not give up the obligation of bringing up their children. A school should not assume the responsibility of the home. A child cannot be well educated without the full cooperation of parents. But educators have bitten off more than they can chew.

 The three R's are pushed to make room for social adjustment. Conscientious parents who try to study and absorb educational psychology some time misinterpret the modern doctrine of "zero repression". They feel that by giving children liberty and freedom, a child will be better adjusted. But actually, liberty comes from restraint, learning to govern oneself. And only through a disciplined educationist, can a child really grow up to learn this, and have a purposeful life. To teach children this means constant parental supervision.

The education sector faces various problems. Basic education is still not available to all people.

More than half of the population is still illiterate. Quality of education from basic to higher level has not improved as expected.

Illiteracy has remained a barrier to the country's overall development. Therefore, with the objective of removing illiteracy as soon as possible, a long-term national target has been set to make literacy rate 100 percent at the end of the Twelfth Plan. The Ninth Plan, inter-alia, states that literacy campaigns will be conducted in the form of

strategy to eradicate illiteracy of target population of selected area during a specified period. Such campaigns will be conducted in small areas on the basis of geographical situation and they will be gradually extended.

Education plays an important role in the process of development of well-qualified citizens as desired by the nation. The policy of utilizing education as well as a strong means of poverty alleviation for overall development of the country

has been set forth in the Ninth Plan. In this context, compulsory primary education has been implemented in Chitwan, Ilam, Surkhet, Syangja and Kanchanpur districts in accordance with the policy of extending free compulsory primary education all over the country gradually.

The slogan "Education for All" is being drummed up for the last so many years. But the government has never felt the need to ensure equal opportunities for an equal right to education for all.

For many years in Japan, the children, whether rich or poor, have been going to the same school. There is no such school in Japan that is designed for the rich or the poor. Had the government implemented such a system in our country, it would have bee good. The discrimination between the rich and poor students would not have remained there.

Over the past 40 years, the government has been stressing higher enrolment in primary schools. Universal Primary Education (UPE) has been one of the key policy priorities since the 1980s. The present government has set the goal of providing basic and primary education opportunities to all children of school-going age, and raising the literacy rate to 67 percent by the year 2000. To achieve these targets, activities geared towards general education, non-formal education, special education, teacher training and women's participation in education are being launched on a national basis.

In addition, the government has pursued a policy of providing free education up to the secondary level. Private sector participation is also being encouraged in these efforts. These activities have led to substantial progress in the field of education. A significant number of children of school going

age are now attending primary schools. The   enrolment ratio has also increased at the secondary and tertiary education levels.