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Kathmandu Saturday December 01, 2001 Marga 16, 2058.
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Opportunities
under emergency
By Shyam KC
The state of emergency that
was imposed by the government Monday night to meet the extraordinary situation created by
abrupt resumption of violence by the Maoists is also a golden opportunity for the
government to clean up its own house and set things in order. The constitutional provision
of emergency unlike other laws including anti-terrorist ordinances is applicable to all
citizens equally and as such everyone is expected to abide by the norms and spirit with
which and for which a democratically elected government becomes forced to enforce such
extreme measures. Apart from creating an environment under which security forces can
operate effectively to attain their target in the shortest possible time, the government
also has a lot of leeway to set right things that went awry in a number of sectors in the
past.
During the Indira Gandhi
emergency in India such things as punctuality and attendance at government offices, the
running of trains on time all over India, and a marked decrease in the incidence of
corruption were some of the highlights of a period otherwise best forgotten as a bad and
cruel joke. Mrs Gandhi imposed the emergency in India in 1975 when the Allahabad High
Court ruled her election to the lower house of the Indian parliament invalid. She refused
to resign as would have been the normal practice in a parliamentary system. Instead she
imposed the dreaded emergency. Giving her reason for the imposition of emergency she said
the country was facing a grave "internal threat" as people gathered everywhere
in protest calling for her resignation. The Deuba government does not have to take
recourse to such falsehood. The emergency in Nepal was very much necessitated by the
extreme circumstances to which the Maoists pushed the nation and has not come about to
serve any personal goal or greed for power. The support for the government’s action
by the ruling and opposition parties as well as by our neighbours, India and China, and
other important countries like the United States and the European Union testifies to its
correctness.
No matter how unwelcome and
inevitable an emergency is, the situation could prove a blessing for the country if Prime
Minister Deuba is really serious about tackling other national problems as well as the
Maoist one. It provides the Deuba government with the opportunity to ensure that all its
employees arrive in their offices punctually in the morning. Three days after the
imposition of emergency, government officials are yet to show that they can adapt to this
timeframe that should be adhered to every working day whether there is an emergency or
not. But surely government officials from top downwards have as much responsibility as any
other citizen during, and specially during a period of emergency. Normal office hours in
government offices must be devoted to carrying out government work and the emergency
period could help in inculcating among our officialdom a sense of duty towards the people
out of whose taxes they get paid. In addition, the government can easily, without having
to face cumbersome legalities, ensure that all government offices become corruption free.
It is immaterial whether such corruption takes places on a small scale or involves big
money and big people. Because any form of corruption decays the body politic and hits the
poorest the hardest. It must be weeded out. But this should not be confined to the ranks
of government and police officials. It must encompass the political leadership where
corruption in its myriad forms is said to be rampant.
The people will laud and
fully back any measures that the Deuba government might take now to rid the country of
Maoist insurgency as well as procrastination and waste in government offices. This is the
time for it to make the bureaucracy effective, efficient and free of corruption . The
government should have the political and moral authority to be able to do this without
having to seek a mandate from the ruling party. For the government belongs to the nation
and not to a party which more often than not takes a narrow partisan view inspired by
individual interests rather than the larger national interest. No prime minister might
again be presented with such an opportunity anytime soon, to put the country on the right
track. This surely is an opportunity for Prime Minister Deuba to prove his mettle.
Whatever else needs to be
done and can easily be done with some firmness should now be done. Apart from punctuality
in government offices and polite treatment to all who visit those offices in connection
with their work, a beginning can also be made to ensure that the traffic chaos in the
capital is regulated and the streets cleared of obstructive hawkers. The government must
devote its mind, heart and full strength in fighting corruption that has estranged the
people from the mainstream. Liberal democracy is by far the best political dispensation so
far available to any country. It is not enough that this theme is repeated by academics,
journalists and lawyers. The humblest of Nepalese must be able to feel that it is indeed
the best suited system for us because even if he or she is poor and illiterate, he or she
does not perceive others, specially those with power – money power or political power
– making the most of the system at the cost of the poor. This is something that is
not happening today. The present perception is that those in power fleece an already
deprived people. Can Deuba do something to change the present scenario? The path is
difficult and full of obstacles which will come in the form of opposition and pressure
from those in the ruling and opposition parties as well as from others who benefited from
the laxity. Yet it is a goal worth aiming for by any prime minister.
The main aim of the emergency
is, no doubt, to deal with the situation created by the Maoist betrayal. And this is as it
should be, but nonetheless the government must also not lose the opportunities that the
emergency presents to bring about positive changes in the work culture, in ushering in
social reforms and in all making all of us better citizens who, while aware of one’s
own rights, do not forget the rights of others. Prime Minister Deuba will be remembered if
he is able to initiate steps in this direction.
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