Animal troubles

Incidents of wildlife killing people and creating a commotion have become commonplace these days especially in the Terai. Recently a "man-eater" tiger in Nawalparasi district went on the rampage, and has killed six people so far. Though belatedly, a team of sharpshooters and some elephants have been dispatched to the locality to hunt down the rogue tiger and end the nightmare of the villagers of Bardaghat. The tiger is said to have escaped from the Royal Chitwan National Park, and this indicates lapses on the part of the park officials. Tiger conservation has on the whole been a moderate success, and this once endangered species is coming back into its own in the wild. But part of the cost that has had to be borne is in terms of the impact on human settlements, neighbouring tiger habitat areas. It is a well known fact that a tiger turns predatory towards humans when it grows old and loses its capacity to compete for kill. One is reminded that man is not always on top of the food chain, and simply shudders at the horrendous deaths brought about by the man-eater.

The tussle for living space between wild animals and humans is part of the problem. The twin culprits are population explosion and deforestation. Due to growing population and the scarcity of the cultivable land that is left, humans in sheer desperation for survival and livelihood encroach upon forest land for cultivation and housing. And sometimes the wildlife sanctuaries abut on such settlements. In either case the humans get in the way of the wild animals, or visa versa depending on how one looks at it. But the problem goes deeper than that. While some people take to destroying the forests out of pressing need and ignorance, others do it to get rich quick. Corruption in the forestry administration has long been rampant, and not long ago a government minister from the ruling Nepali Congress was alleged to be involved in a timber racket. There was hue and cry in the media and in parliament, but he was never brought to book and the whole case died down mysteriously. With corruption spreading its tentacles far and wide, the forest cover of the terai and hills has shrunk day by day. As a result hapless villagers have had to confront a spate of floods and landslides every year. And rampant deforestation is not only problematic for humans but also for wild animals.

Even in places where afforestation has taken place, it has happened haphazardly and ineffectively. Though some measures have been undertaken to preserve and conserve wildlife, they are inadequate given the scale of the deforestation and environmental degradation. The  challenge is more than the wildlife parks can handle. Many unique and valuable species are still on the brink of extinction. However, some measures undertaken have been successful as in the case of the  one-horned rhino. But even the rhino has at times been a menace to humans. It will obviously be some while before a better balance is struck  between the needs of humans and animals in these hills and plains. In the meantime it is to be hoped that the sharp-  shooters at Bardaghat get their man-eater.

Nobel Peace laureate and UN

By Dr Shreedhar Gautam

After the failure of the League of Nations to prevent the Second World War, tremendous efforts were made from several quarters to find a better alternative with a view to averting another avoidable tragedy. Acting on a proposal from the League of Nations, Albert Einsteen wrote a letter to Sigmund Freud seeking his view on the causes of war. Einsteen put a question to Freud, "What is to be done to rid mankind of the war menace?" Freud wrote back showing his utter sense of surprise at the question as he thought the matter was one of practical politics, not within the control of scholars like themselves. Freud further wrote that conflicts of interest between man and man are resolved, in principle, by recourse to violence. According to Freud, as long as the killing instinct is alive, brute force will be used as a means to annihilate the enemies.

Today, what is happening in Afghanistan is the use of brute force to avenge the terrorist act of September 11. The UN was established in 1945 with the objective of eliminating such cycles of violence. But due to fundamental defects in its structure and some of the ambivalent provisions, including the veto power, doubts were raised about its effectiveness since its very inception. The Kashmir tangle between India and Pakistan, the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel, the Vietnam war, the Gulf war, and American led attacks in Yugoslavia are some of the examples of the UN’s ineffective handling of situations. Now again, the UN’s role is in question as it has been completely bypassed by the US in its hot pursuit of Osama bin Laden. We all agree that what happened in America on September 11 was a terrorist act, and no sane person can support such dastardly acts, whatsoever the reason behind them. But it will be unwise not to promptly state that America has again made a mockery of the UN, with its overt policy of scoring points with other countries by using disproportionate force and showing utter disregard for the lofty principles of the UN. Very recently, just 10 days before the bombing began in Afghanistan, Candoleeza Rice, National Security Advisor to George W Bush, declared that the US did not need UN permission for its attack.

Afghanistan is in great need of UN intervention for shaping its future and stabilization of the situation. But this cannot be achieved without the cooperation of the US, a veto power holder, unless there is a pro US government replacing the present Taliban regime. During the Gulf war too, James Baker, then foreign secretary of the USA, said many times that the devastated Iraqi society would be rebuilt soon after the war. But this did not happen because America could not overthrow Saddam Hussein from power. For the last 12 years Iraq has been reeling under the punitive sanctions of the UN simply because Saddam Hussein is not liked by America. Very recent reports suggest that every month 6,000 children are dying in Iraq in the absence of adequate food and medicine. But the UN is helpless to resolve the crisis due to the belligerence of the USA.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan basically seems a man of good intention. His positive statement regarding the need of an active role for the UN has been quoted extensively. But he is severely crippled by the hegemony of the US. In Iraq, he tried his best to bring the situation back to normal by visiting Baghdad and talking to Saddam Hussein. He found the man rational enough, someone with whom the international community could do business. But his statement created a flutter in the US, and he was reprimanded and chided for speaking positively about Saddam.

Now, the UN and the Secretary General have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their effort to bring peace in various parts of the world. But it is paradoxical and ironical that on the one hand, the UN and its chief functionary have been awarded the Nobel Prize in honour of their work promoting global harmony and to stress the bedrock role the world body must play in world peace, while on the other they are incapacitated to do anything substantial in favour of restoring peace in places like Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. It is for this reason that bestowing the award on the UN and its Secretary General at a time when the world body’s most powerful member is attacking an unequal adversary is something very unusual.

The world will remain a vulnerable place as long as this global body fails to ensure freedom for all and terrorism for none. But now America, in the absence of any checkmating authority, defines freedom in a narrow sense. For America the dastardly strikes on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon are attacks on the "Free World" It does not realise that in the name of protecting freedom, it is denying freedom and civil rights to its own people as well as others. If the world body had been entrusted with the responsibility of tracking down the terrorist, neither the American nor the Afghan people would feel threatened.

Ironically, the Norwegian Nobel committee has stated that the end of the Cold War has at last made it possible for the UN to perform more fully the part it was originally intended to play. However, the facts show it is only after the end of Cold War that the UN has become more or less a pocket organization of a certain country. In the time of the Soviet Union, there was check and balance between two superpowers, and such a phenomenon largely deterred both countries from using excessive power. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the UN turned into a private affair of American foreign policy. We should not forget that the Gulf war was fought in the name of the UN, and instead of averting war, the UN Security Council authorized the use of force against Iraq. The Gulf war was a unique event because it happened soon after the end of the Cold War and with agreement between the USA and Russia over the use of force on Iraq. In a sense, the Gulf War can be taken as a signal of the UN’s death because an Ango-American alliance is still controlling the air space of Iraq in the name of a UN Security Council resolution, though there is no specific provision that allows Britain and America to enforce a no fly zone over parts of Iraq.

Though the Nobel Prize committee has praised Kofi Annan whole heartedly for devoting most of his working life to the UN and bringing new life to the organization, Annan does not deserve unqualified admiration unlike his predecessors Dag Harmmarskjold and U Thant. If Hammarskjold died in the pursuit of peace in the civil war ridden Congo in September 1961, U Thant did a lot for defusing the confrontation between the two superpowers in the context of the Cuban missile crisis in October-November, 1962. In 1965 the Norwegian Noble Peace Committee had decided to award the Noble Peace Prize to U Thant. But the award finally went to UNICEF because of forces at work which did not want the Prize to go to U Thant in view of his continued and open criticism of the involvement of the US in Vietnam. On the other hand, Annan has been reappointed for a second term with the active support of the USA., responsible for paralysing the world body. Now we want the Nobel Prize winner Annan to do something immediately and call on the US to stop its war and return to the UN for finding a solution to the problem of terrorism through discussions.

Myopic vision

By Ayushma Pandey

Iwas having a serious conversation with one of my colleagues the other day about the pattern of development taking place in Nepal since the last ten years of democracy, and its causes. My friend was measuring and comparing our nation’s development in terms of economic progress. He said, "Yaar, what are you talking about? Look at the drastic rise in the standard of living of the people of Nepal, and how our lifestyle has changed!"

This was how he responded when I told him that I took the pattern of development as superficial and centralised. Although the conversation ended without much achievement, it gave me food for thought - Is it really the entire Nepal which has felt the impact of development that my friend was talking about - changes in the lifestyle of the people of Nepal?... Nepal? I pondered again. My mind drifted to an article published recently in one of the English weeklies. It was about the chronic food shortage that hit 55 districts in Nepal - 16 mountain, 33 hill and six Terai districts.The article mainly focused on the scarcity of Humla where local food production is sufficient for only four months and where little or no opportunities are available.

After reading the article, I thought how myopic my colleague was. So my dear friend was talking just about Kathmandu, as if it represented the whole country. Now I realise that almost everyone in the capital upholds a similar concept. But why?

The increasing trend of centralisation is one of the major causes of unbalanced development. Most of the government programmes are based in Kathmandu; all I/NGOs are comfortable in Kathmandu Valley, and they centre their development programmes in and around Kathmandu. The‘‘Nepal : Development Cooperation Report 2000’’, published by UNDP, enlists 151 ongoing projects that are based in the capital only. Whereas the developmental projects based in Mugu district, the least developed one, are only 25.

Talking about the contributions made by various donor agencies to centralisation, I want to refer to the subject of Melamchi Water Supply Project funded by the leading multilateral lending agency to Nepal, ADB. The project aims at solving the so-called water "crisis" of just Kathmandu within a few years as if there aren’t other parts of the nation afflicted by the problem. Recently, a relative of mine visited Palpa and he found that the water crisis was more severe in Palpa. Well this talk of "crisis" in Kathmandu appears be an exaggeration. If affluent people in the capital can afford to have ‘‘extra’’ water and swimming pools at their homes, and numerous hotels and restaurants enjoying access water, how can one repeat the word "crisis" again and again.

Now my next point is: What is causing this centralisation? We all know that Kathmandu is home to bureaucrats and elites, and these are the very people who make a hue and cry over petty things. For them the development of Kathmandu is everything as it is where they are living in and will always be living here. Who in the world will not like to improve one’s abode?

Cooperative education system

By Surya Ratna Shakya

Education symbolizes brightness whereas absence of education symbolizes darkness or ignorance. Brightness eliminates darkness. It helps men and women see things around in their environment and find what is good and what is bad. Education like brightness helps them differentiate between good and evil through understanding, knowledge, attitudinal change and various experience. Men or women receive education to get rid of ignorance. It may be relevant to quote a portion of the speech delivered by Bishop Charles Gore in the workshop held in 1910: "All this passion for justice will accomplish nothing unless you get knowledge. You may become strong and clamorous, you may win a victory, you may effect a revolution, but you will be trodden down again under the feet of knowledge unless you get it for yourselves, because knowledge will always win over ignorance."

It is true that education makes men and women socially, culturally and economically advanced and dignified. It plays a significant role in the overall development of not only men and women but also of a nation as a whole. It has been experienced that educated and conscious people can drive the nation towards the path of progress and prosperity. In view of its immense importance, every nation should adopt an effective education system for the creation of educated citizens.

Now, it is a fact that people are struggling to survive due to growing population and the ensuing difficulties.Due to limited work opportunities and tight competition, survival has become a desperate struggle. Given such  dismal situation, the importance of quality education has become even more greater.

His Majesty’s Government of Nepal (HMG/N) has also paid keen attention to quality education for every citizen of the country. But it confronts serious limitations such as inadequate financial resources for substantial investment in education. In such circumstances, it has no alternative except to encourage the private sector for its involvement in the education sector.

According to the information available, there are 38,476 schools at the primary, lower secondary and secondary levels throughout the country. They include 25,087 public schools (65.20 percent) and 13,389 private schools (34.80 percent ). Students enrolled are 4,6576,000 (83.74 percent) at public schools and 904,000 (16.26 percent) at private schools. Teachers involved in education are 106,744 (72.09 percent) at public schools and 41,318 (27.91 percent) at private schools.

The figures show that the contribution of the private sector to education is vital. It appears that more and more students are attracted to the private schools due to their better performance. The performance of the public schools is just the opposite. However, it is felt that education at private schools has become very expensive. The main reason is that private schools are being run in a commercial way, and therefore, parents cannot afford to send their children to private schools. Most of them send their children to private schools due to their better environment which is lacking in public schools.

Now the question arises as to how the problem can be resolved. It is evident that educationist, intellectuals, social leaders and other common people are very much concerned and are looking
for an alternative. Education through cooperative system may be a solution to the problem of costly education in the private sector.

The cooperative system has proved in many countries that it is the best way to solve many problems related to the social, economic and cultural aspects of humans.

Cooperative schools not only benefit students, teachers and institutions (schools) but they can also achieve the following objectives:

1. To create solidarity among the students of various family backgrounds under the cooperative umbrella.

2. To channel cooperative education through practice and activities carried out by their respective school cooperatives.

3. To encourage students to understand the basis of thrift, investment, trade etc.

4. To deal with students' requirements such as stationary, clothing, sports equipment, food and hotel, science aid and other teachers, teaching materials.

5. To help reduce the burden of the family of the students

In the countries where school cooperatives are being operated such as in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, France and Canada, they have a common practice of introducing principles and practice of cooperation among the school children on the basis of learning by doing.

Before organising school cooperatives, their objectives should be identified. Once the objectives are determined, the school cooperatives can be organised. They can be broadly divided into two models. The first model of school cooperatives will aim at reducing educational cost through capital investment by parents, teachers, educationists, and intellectuals. The second model of school cooperatives will have an objective of making students understand investment, trade etc through cooperative principles.

In the first model of school cooperatives, investors mentioned earlier can come together to organise
school cooperatives through capital investment and undertake responsibilities of constructing building, supplying stationery, clothing, sports equipment, food and hostel service, teaching materials at reasonable price under the institutional management with the participation of investors.

The first model of school cooperatives will be able to reduce the educational cost and burden of families and provide quality education through the services of qualified and talented professional teachers. Once this model makes progress, the second model of school cooperatives can be integrated into the former. It is certain that the school cooperatives will be able to create a very conducive educational environment and develop solidarity among the teachers and students.

This model can be applied not only in schools but also at the higher levels of education, such as in colleges and universities in order to minimise the educational cost and maintain the quality of education.