A new leaf

With Sher Bahadur Deuba’s comfortable 72-40 election as leader of the Nepali Congress  parliamentary party on Sunday, the ruling party can be said to have turned a new leaf. This is the first time that the party has allowed someone from the younger generation to succeed to the post of leader of the parliamentary party. The party’s two year experiment in the period  1995-97 including 18 months of Deuba as prime minister was a mere fluke and party leader Girija Prasad Koirala saw to it that the fluke did not last. This time around, the passing of the torch has a more authentic feel to it if only because it has taken place in unenviable circumstances. This apart, the nation is facing a deep crisis not only of leadership but also of its very survival. Whoever wields power at this stage must have the knack of resolving difficult   problems and bringing together disparate groups and ideologies in order to safeguard the nation and forge ahead with national development. The series of crises that has hit this nation stemmed from past malpractices such as corruption, nepotism, favouritism and plain bad governance. While the Nepali Congress need not be told what democracy means, it nonetheless merits repetition that democracy does not anywhere mean a dictatorship of the majority. The voices of the opposition, and above all the voices and feelings  of the people, must be taken into serious consideration. The previous NC government boasting of a majority in parliament and a majority of one in the parliamentary party apparently felt otherwise, and brought undue and unjust pain to the nation.

His appointment as prime minister is for Sher Bahadur Deuba the first step on the difficult path that lies ahead. If he is to be successful, he must bring with him a healing touch that will truly unify a Nepali Congress parliamentary party which now seems to be bogged down in groupism. This might prove to be much more difficult for him than solving national problems. In addition, the NC government today enjoys very low public esteem and the new prime minister needs to redeem the NC image and build confidence among the people that he can deliver. For this, Deuba will be well advised to induct into his government persons who are not tarnished in any way. This may be a difficult task for him but he should understand that this will be his first test  of credibility. Then there is the law and order situation to restore and felt the need to bring the Maoist insurgents into the political mainstream. Neither of these tasks will be easy to accomplish. But the true test of leadership lies in overcoming obstacles and winning public support. From the Maoist insurgency to the eradication of poverty, Deuba faces tough challenges ahead and we hope the new prime minister will be able to overcome them and take the country forward in all round national development. He should also avoid his past mistakes as prime minister, some of which were aimed solely at saving his own job.

Indo-Pak amity : An enduring fallacy

By Madhab P Khanal

The curiously awaited two-day summit meeting between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his erstwhile repudiated Pakistan counterpart President Pervez Musharraf ended without any breakthrough. The high expectations generated by intense diplomatic activities and an orchestrated media hype that the meeting between the two arch rivals would produce some palpable results with regard to lessening tension in the sub-continent were all deflated when they both finally agreed to disagree. It transpires that they steadfastly continued with their unremitting hard line approaches towards their contentious issue that have pestered them for over fifty years. At the end of the diplomatic spectacle staged in Agra last week both the conductors of the Kargil conflict miserably failed even to identify a common ground of possible amity that would consequently help them reduce their mammoth defence expenditure and minimize the chances of further hostility in the world’s most volatile region of Kashmir.

Before the historic meeting got going, both the chief executives pretended that they would meld their minds and be sincere to their purpose. But when they sat for the talks it did not so happen. Both sides were possessed by Kargil phobia and a perceptible absence of mutual trust and sincerity marred the entire parleys. Their cold grins and involuntary niceties were simply reflected the deep-seated animosity against one another. True to the pattern of a divorced couple vainly trying once again to persuade each other to bury their bitter past and re-engage themselves for a new beginning, the summit meeting between India and Pakistan ended without mending their fractured relationship.

It was, surely, a commendable attempt by the two hostile neighbours of the sub-continent and also a step forward in exploring possible avenues of peaceful solutions to their bilateral problems that have kept them at daggers drawn ever since their painful partition in 1947. However, owing to their overbearing attitude which is now further strengthened by the newly acquired nuclear capability and their on-going production of sophisticated lethal missiles, the summit meeting, fourth of this kind between the two belligerent nations, concluded without leaving any landmark behind it. It simply gave a continuity to an interminable process of insipid dialogues to be carried out between them.

In spite of the fact that the Pakistani leader was undertaking a some what unwieldy and ambitious mission to the Indian capital, the historic visit was undoubtedly infused with elaborate theatrics in keeping with the time when they have no other options than to thrash out their differences through dialogue. One should not also dismiss the visit by simply saying that it was of a routine protocol significance. Given the ticklish nature of the dispute the two countries are entangled with, Pakistan’s initiative undoubtedly deserves appreciation. It is immaterial whether Musharraf’s maden but historic visit scored the desired results or not. Against all odds at home he, at least, made bold efforts to start the dialogue.

Though President Musharraf's mandate to conduct official dialogues with the Indian leadership is seriously questioned at home, he acquired the much needed endorsement from his host that he is the legitimate ruler of Pakistan, a controversy which has put the eleventh SAARC summit meeting in a state of limbo for almost two years. And if they continue to marginalize the regional forum as they have been doing now, the organisation itself might be needing a life support system for its survival.

In the face of an obvious diplomatic embarrassment, India made a complete turn and hastily sent Musharraf a congratulatory message on his assumption of Pakistan’s presidency by inducing Rafiq Tarar to vacate the post prematurely. But its dividends for India were simply some abstract conclusions that she is still interested to conduct dialogues with the rigid military dictator irrespective of the outcome. However, the abrupt departure of the Pakistani president from the site of the venue is an obvious indication that they failed to dispel their mutual suspicion and ward off the dangers of further confrontation over the strategic mountains of Kashmir. Therefore, for the rest of the countries of South Asia, there is no room for complacency that the looming dangers of armed confrontation between the two nuclear rivals of the region, have far receded. No it is there.

As international media reports indicated, the only agenda that dominated most during the two-day Agra spectacle core of the issue was Kashmir and the rest of the items were given peripheral importance. Obviously, resolution of the complicated issue of the former pricely state where a Hindu Maharaja used to rule over his Muslim majority is not so easy to settle. The instrument of accession signed by the Maharaja of Kashmir is always considered an arbitrary political decision lacking in legitimacy as it was done against the will of the majority people of Kashmir. Visualizing the gravity of the issue the former prime minister of India had assured the people of Kashmir that the accession was subject to their affirmation through a plebiscite if they wanted. However, when the UN Security Council called for a free and fair plebiscite, India backed tracked from its earlier position by putting up an unconvincing argument that the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir was unconditional and its prime minister’s statement had only moral value and no semblance of any legal character whatsoever. Vis-a-vis her accession of Kashmir and the annexation of Hyderabad, Goa and Sikkim, India has been pursuing a double standard policy. Might is right has always been her guiding principle in her dealing with the immediate neighbours. Ever since the partition of former British Raj, India and Pakistan have been funnelling their resources into their war machines. They fought several wars, but gained no tangible victory except enhancement of their jingoism.

In fact, the dismal failure of the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit did not astonish any one, not even the foes who were pretending to be friendly. Nor was it unpredicted by summit watchers. Given the past records of Indo-Pak rendezvous one could easily premeditate the possible outcome. These two countries have staged such washy drama several times in the past. Sometimes the outcome provided transient relief in stopping the hostilities while others were just exercise in fertility. Their atypical security paranoia and a false confidence of military superiority always stand in the way of normalization of their bilateral relations.

Resolution of the Kashmir issue is as formidable as it is tricky. It requires honest effort and sacrifice from both India and Pakistan for which they do not look to be prepared. Strategic importance of the region, its ethnic characteristics, and natural resources, together with the unrelenting religious fanaticism perpetually fanned by the respective bigots from either side are some of the impediments in the way of moving towards a lasting solution of the issue: ultimate unification and independence of the Himalayan state. Only for fear of Pakistan taking advantage of Kashmir’s unification for its strategic surface link with China by its 800km long KK highway through Gilgit region of Kashmir, India has always been taking the unification issue as an intolerable affront to her. Besides, in view of the on going freedom struggle by various ethnic nationalities in her North East frontier province India also harbours the apprehension that granting an independent entity to Kashmir might open a Pandora’s box heading thereby towards a gradual disintegration of the loosely held union.

Similarly, maintaining the existing LoC as the de facto international border is not acceptable to the divided ethnicity of Kashmir. Nor will Pakistan refrain from sending hordes of Islamic guerrillas to the ravaged Himalayan state. For Pakistan it is a freedom struggle of the Kashmiris where as for India it is a cross border terrorism. Therefore, until the existing stand off continues hope for a lasting peace and amity between the two nuclear rivals of South Asia is nothing but a misperception.

PM innings from cricketer’s eye

By Purushottam Kattel

At last the opponents drew the blood, bowling the middle stumps of the PM's chair, that terminated the long political innings of the PM. With the fall of PM wicket, the whole team will face carloads of trouble ahead since the scoring rate has reached unrecoverable point. In fact, the skipper (PM) of the side could not decide anything to gear up the innings but misguided his team to the obscurity. In parallel, the opponents cheered with full length on the fall of so-called pillar of the squad.

PM, the senior-most member of the squad and the long time captain of the Nepali Congress, threw his team in a vulnerable situation. Being gifted by the immense experience, he never divorced with the power and money. His strategies to remain a rival at heart against his opponents continue
to grow up.

All the bowlers of the opponents bowled with the good line and length and their Lauda swing was decisive enough to clean bowl the chair. Poor PM tried to play defence in the slogs, though some shots he tried later part of the innings made him no contact with the bat.

Another failure of the PM was his deliberate poor running between the wickets. First of all, to retain the strike frequently, he stole just one run in the last ball of the over, which caused ups and downs to the side, as most of the batsmen could not face the ball at all. He was the man behind the run out of Nepali Congress veteran batsman cum all-rounder Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. Bhattarai came with great aspiration with all-support crowd and was just consolidating at the wicket to find some touch with the bat. Ill luck had it, PM while running cheated him and stand at the non-striker ends to retain the strike once-again and bound Bhattarai to leave the ground with furious face.

Now it is a tough task for the junior team who are expected to arrive at the crease without the veteran duo PM and Bhattarai following their retirement from this level of cricket. On the other hand, the Maoists’ team, who were ranked as an underdogs in the past are emerging with solid performance with both bat and ball in recent days and many expected them to be the finalists.

At the same time, the previous runner up UML team is also facing tough time with both performance
and strategies yet they are also capable to upset any sort of cricket of this level.

In this context, the challenge is on the shoulder of the newly appointed captain to reform his fallen team in all aspects of cricket. S/he should play the natural game and should offer supporters a sigh of relief and the essence of good cricket otherwise Nepali Congress team will lose their 11 years of champion league triumph immediately.

Dalits in democratic decade

By Mitra Pariyar

It has been more than a decade since the new democratic system of government was restored in our country after overthrowing Panchayat rule in 1990. People had great hopes, because it was commonly understood that multiparty democracy was one of the best systems of governance in the world. It is well understood that democracy is the other name of human rights. There is no human right guarantee under authoritarian governance in its fullest sense. One can easily understand this if one studies the situation of people and their freedom in socialist countries and democratic ones. People’s hopes were further ignited by the introduction of the new Constitution, that guarantees several rights and freedoms to the people of Nepal as bonafide citizens of the country. But, within the last democratic decade most of the people’s hopes have been converted into despair, which has been one of the saddest facts at present. If such despair and hopelessness is allowed to reside in the people’s minds for a bit longer, the nation may face several undesired problems in future. The symptoms have appeared already. Apparently, the Maoist insurgency is one of the expressions of the acute frustration of the common people.

Unlike other systems of government, democracy in its true essence, is a people-oriented one. That’s why it is logical to evaluate its success or failure in terms of its impact upon the people at large. Economic progress may be attained even under a communist rule. Democracy is not just for economic upliftment of the people but also for socio-cultural advancement. Its progress is measured in terms of the basic human rights the people have been able to enjoy. No doubt, we have nothing to boast about the economic advances that the nation has been able to make in the past democratic decade, but the situation of human rights is horrible. Dalits have always been dominated, humiliated and dehumanized in our history. It is sad to note that the democratic decade has seen no effective implementation of the norms of the Constitution in order to fight social discrimination and injustices imposed upon the so-called untouchables in the country. The worst of it all, the ruling elite is apparently doing its best not to help out the segregated communities but to perpetuate social injustices upon the Dalits and satisfy the chauvinist high caste. There is almost no participation of the dominated castes and classes in the national or local decision making bodies and most of them are fully occupied by the hegemonistic high caste people. This fact applies not just to governmental bodies but also to national or international human right agencies. Hence, nothing substantial has been done even by the international volunteer agencies to fight against one of the most chronic problems of the country-untouchability.

In order to understand the severity of the injustices Dalits are facing today, it is important to understand the present situation of the Chamar community in Siraha. It is one of such districts where there is a higher density of the Dalit population. In the past this community was segregated from other communities allegedly due to their filthy habits of scavenging. Slowly the empowered Dalits understood the fact and the Chamar community last year stopped the scavenging work. Seeing them abandoning their traditional jobs, the local so-called high caste people became furious with them and socially ostracized them. The victims have done all they can to fight against this sort of inhumane treatment in a democratic society. However, they have always failed to attain success, mostly because of strong resistance from local people, who are not only conservative high caste but also party workers of prominent political parties in the country. It is a grim reality that the Major Opposition party actually ordered its cadres not to support the Dalit movements in Siraha. The victims had filed a case at the CDO office, but one of the strongmen in the ruling party went there and tear away the paper written by the Dalits asking for justice. Now, isn’t it evident that the ruling elite and the major political forces, who boast of being democratic, are actually working hard to sustain age-long caste prejudices?

Prof Kapil Shrestha once said that out of every 5 people killed in the name of the Maoists, 1 is from the Dalit community. It means that 20 percent of the support of the Maoists is derived from the community which is on the lowest rung of society.

It is also commonly understood that the number of Dalits being converted into Christianity is mounting geometrically. The hegemonistic high caste accuse them of religious conversions in order to attain financial benefits. However, in their deep heart they know that even they would not keep a dog that bites its own master. Many people have changed their religion because they realize that it is more egalitarian than their ancestral religion that prevents them from entering into a public temple! Saptari is the district where there is maximum concentration of the Dalit population. However, they have not yet been successful in living a dignified life. They are still not allowed to enter into the famous Chhinnamasta temple located near the Indian border. Evidently, if the problems of Dalits are not addressed promptly, there will be a serious loss to the national religion, culture, integrity, and the newly introduced system of government itself. Because, one day even the most dominated ones become empowered and animated and start finding ways to secure one’s rights and privileges.

In a nutshell, the socio-economic condition of the Dalits in the past democratic decade has in no way advanced. Of course, they have some freedom to speak out against prejudices but the ruling elite is not taking any concerns to their grievances. Dalits have been ill-treated and humiliated in the homes of the democratic leaders themselves. Their access to the decision making posts has been largely blocked. The offenders are not punished but appreciated. What is democracy? It has not been realized in the everyday lives of the socially oppressed groups. The government and the non-government sectors are also not in a mood to start working for these deprived groups. If such negligence is continued, it is certain that democracy and the country will be apt to face grave consequences in the near future.