Tribhuvan University and Noam Chomsky

By DR SHREEDHAR GAUTAM

Readers may find this topic rather strange at first, but I hope they will see the rationale behind linking Tribhuvan University and Noam Chomsky, who is a renowned American professor known not only for his perceptive research in linguistics but also for his views on current socio-political issues. He has come into fame for his dissident views regarding American policy towards the rest of the world. He has been in the news for almost four decades starting from the Vietnam War to the recent American led attack on Afghanistan. He has never minced words while expressing his free and sharp opinion against the US imperialistic vision, and also its record violation of human rights in many parts of the world.

Chomsky has become relevant for Third World countries not only for his political remarks but also for the reason that despite his uncompromising views about the US government, he has been discharging his duties perfectly well, without any visible interference from the government side. The American government recognises Chomsky as one of the distinguished dissident scholars. Similarly, various national newspapers in America have hailed him as the most vocal and articulate living intellectual, who has the guts to expose the irrational policies of the government mercilessly. The main focus of this article is not the great scholarship of Chomsky, but what we can learn from the recognition given to him by the US government of which he is a staunch critic.

The obvious question one can ask is, ‘Why does the US government not restrict his activities when it is engaged in fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere’? It is to be noted that very recently Chomsky spent almost two weeks in India and Pakistan giving lectures on American policies, while American troops were combating the Taliban and Al-Qaida fighters. He termed the American terrorism in Afghanistan greater than the attack of September 11 on the WTC in New York. If he had born in a Third World country like ours, he would have been either killed or imprisoned for life on his return to his country. But Chomsky faces no such danger from the American government, and so is continuing his crusade against the hegemonic policies of the US

It is against this background that Chomsky needs to be linked to Tribhuwan University (TU). Though we have other universities apart from TU, thanks to the multi university concept forwarded by the government, it is TU which has a dominant intellectual role in shaping the ideas of common readers and students in Nepal. Already TU has been criticised from different quarters at home and abroad for its dismal academic performance and outdated vision. There are complaints that TU teachers feel constrained while attending international seminars and workshops, not being able to compete with scholars from neighbouring as well as western countries. It was hoped that after the restoration of parliamentary democracy the government would give it full autonomy and invest more to make it a self-sustaining academic institute that can produce scholars and experts in different areas of study. This is more pertinent in the present context when new realities are emerging day by day in the field of knowledge. But to the great shock and surprise of teachers, TU very recently took back the meagre academic allowance given for some years, citing reasons of economic crisis.

Depriving teachers of their grant on any pretext is unacceptable. This is more so when Tribhuvan University is perceived outside the country as a full-fledged government university, though government financial contribution is not as much as at the universities of Delhi, JNU, and Hyderabad which are funded by the Central Indian Government. Despite so many follies in America policies towards other countries, we have to accept that America is the first country in the world, one which has achieved tremendous success in a short span of time due to its enormous investment in the education sector. In the first fifty years of migration from Britain, the ancestors of present day Americans established colleges and university of high repute, including Harvard University, which later became the pillar of their technological development. They realized that without infrastructure in education, they would not be able to fulfil their dream of building a new and prosperous country.

The New York Times once described Chomsky as "arguably the most important intellectual alive" and on another occasion as "perhaps the clearest voice of dissent in American history". The New York Times comment reveals that despite the dissident voice of Chomsky, he is an American celebrity. American leaders are aware that Chomsky is one of the bitter critics, but they also recognise him as a famed scholar, founder of the modern science of linguistics, philosopher, author of many books, and a winner of may prizes. An American intellectual biographer has opined that in the history of ideas Chomsky is on a par with Darwin or Descartes. America could have banished him long ago citing any reason, but it does not commit this blunder, knowing full well that essence of American success is its sense of superiority in knowledge. On the one hand the government pursues its aggressive policy towards weaker countries like Afghanistan and Vietnam. On the other it allows anti-war demonstrations and voices of dissent like Chomsky or Rorty. The latter came to Nepal some months ago to attend an international seminar on American studies. To the great surprise of many participants, he criticised his own government policies in the aftermath of September 11, in the presence of the American ambassador to Nepal. So, in a sense protest and dissent against the US is quintessentially American.

Our government as well as officials of Tribhuvan University should learn from the example of Noam Chomsky. America has produced many Chomsky and Rortys who will ultimately contribute to the overall enrichment of American society. America will continue to invest more in education to produce many such scholars whether they support American government policy or not. But our government and Tribhuvan University authorities are bent upon discouraging university teachers by forfeiting their stipend. Our government should realise that if university teachers are allowed intellectual freedom in their academic work, Nepal would be a country rich in manpower in a few years time. Different study centres for various purposes can be opened to systemise the knowledge and information that the government needs. Retired or working university teachers can be entrusted with such assignments to keep the government alert and informed.

To name a few, Basanta Lohani, a former university teacher, could be one such scholar to keep the government on guard as he has been doing through his sharp writings in different national newspapers. The fact that the institute of foreign affairs was first headed by university professor Dr Mohan P Lohani and now again by another professor Dr Shreedhar Khatri also shows that university teachers can be a vital intellectual force. Similarly, university teachers can handle many other research and study centres efficiently. In India retired as well as serving university teachers head various research and specialised study centres. Whenever the nation faces any crisis, developing countries immediately take the expert advice of university teachers. Drawing a lesson from all these instances, our government should take vital measures to improve the quality of university education. Likewise, Tribhuvan University should reverse its policy of denigrating teachers by taking back an existing measure, if it wants to produce teachers of Noam Chomsky’s calibre.

Will Tyson and Lewis clash on April 6 ?

By JOSEPH VERGHESE

From street bug to role model...and thereafter: It has been said of the late Lou Duvall, the American heavy weight boxing promoter, that Lou had only to look into the mirror to start a fight! Now, the British holder of the WBC and IBF title, Lennox Lewis is anything but like the mirror! But that apparently does not prevent some of his challengers from treating him like he was the mirror and they, Lou Duvall’s! There’s still some doubt about the projected April 6 fight between Lewis and former champion Mike Tyson taking place, following the fracas that Tyson started when he and the defending champion were meeting the media just the other day. Indications are, the fight will go on as planned.

Some say it’s an inauspicious time for Tyson. The reason: His second wife has sued for divorce, and the court proceedings are already underway. However, spokesmen for the Tyson camp deny, the tempestuous fighter is in any way upset over the matter. He, they hold, is properly focused and raring to go. There’s little doubt he hates Lewis. He has said so in the most lurid language more that once already!

A former mentor remembers: At the week end (Saturday, Jan 26) Mike Costello, himself an one time, none too mean pugilist, spoke to the former mentor of the controversial Tyson, Steve Laws. The BBC listeners were thereby afforded an opportunity to learn a few of the lesser known facts about Tyson’s glory days, some one and half decades ago, when, for some three or four years he was the supreme heavy weight champion of the world.

Laws recalled the manner in which white boys in the company of their fathers used to gather in strength, to see Tyson practise. He was twenty at that time, and the youngest heavy weight champion ever. The boys, Law says, used to point out the fighter and say excitedly: "That’s Tyson. He’s a great fighter and a great man! I want to be like him!" Tyson continued to be seen and also treated in that fashion for four or five years after that.

Laws remembers those days, when "Iron" Mike was spokesperson for the local police department, and also for the narcotics department. He was an icon and a role model. The one time mentor of the former champ sounded honestly nostalgic, when he said, that was quite a transformation for the good, for someone who was a "street bug" where he came from!

The switch for the worse: Quite naturally, Mike Costello wanted to know, why and how the fall from grace could have happened. Laws was ready with his loaded guess. He said, Tyson was happy. He was making tons of money. He bought all he wanted to buy. He bought all the cars he fancied. And then, as Costello himself had hinted earlier, Mike Tyson married the black actress Robin Given. That, Laws thought, started the rot. The wife and the mother-in-law nagged him, and pestered him all the time. "Mike, look where your money is!" That was just one of their lines. Gradually Tyson began to change...for the worse. Evidently it was a one way lane. There has been no turning back to the nicer ways and better days, since. Tyson was living in Laws’ apartment in those days. Once at night the host heard a crash. He hurried to look. Tyson was standing there, with the telephone in his hand. Robin Given stood a few feet apart. She looked distraught. Mike looked at the intruder, and said, "Go back to sleep, Steve! Robin is a great actress! She’s acting!" That was all.

The rest is history: And right now, second wife and Tyson are on the brink of separation. Surely, there’ll be a squabble over how much of Tyson’s money and other assets should rightly belong to the spouse! Alimony, they call it in judicial parlance.

A few hours before the fateful night, when he allegedly "raped" the black "beauty queen" Desiree Washington in his hotel, a female friend of hers questioned her about her feelings for the fighter. Washington reportedly replied, saying, "Mike’s dumb; see how much Robin got out of him!" The court gave Given alimony worth $ 8 million! Big money, for any small time divorcee, to be sure! One should not, at this point, forget that it is not fashionable anywhere in the world to stick up for Tyson, the baddie! That is, unless you’re paid handsomely for doing so...perhaps as a fancy prized attorney?

Arsenic problem in Nepal

By DR MADHAV NARAYAN SHRESTHA

Arsenic, a chemical present in drinking water, is an emerging issue. In the early 1990s, a high concentration of arsenic was traced in the groundwater in western Bangladesh. There has been wide and varied doubt about the source and cause of the arsenic. It is now accepted that the source and cause is an underlying geologic formation and its decomposition. Arsenic in drinking water is also an emerging issue for Nepal. The population of Nepal is about 23 million. Of this, about 47 percent live in twenty districts of the terai and about 90 percent of these people use groundwater for drinking purposes. Around 9.7 million people use groundwater through 0.2 millions tubewells. Based on the investigation and search carried out so far, 1.9 million people in Nepal are using water with arsenic of 10 mg/litre and about 390,000 with 50 mg/litre.

Formation and effect of arsenic: Arsenic is a natural part of the earth’s crust and it may be found in water which has flowed through arsenic-rich rocks. Arsenic is widely distributed throughout the earth’s crust and is used commercially, primarily in alloying agents. Due to water level variations, air or water with dissolved oxygen penetrates into the ground, leading to decomposition of the sulphide minerals and release of arsenic. It is naturally transported and absorbed into fine-grained iron and manganese oxyhydroxides, which slowly break down. The whole process of formation of arsenic is still not well understood. Much research work on this issue is still going on.

Drinking arsenic-rich water over a long period is unsafe, and in some countries, the health effects from arsenic are well known. From arsenic contaminated water, diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis and respiratory infection may occur. Extensive programmes to provide safe drinking water since the 1970s have helped control the bacteriological diseases, but in some areas they have had the unexpected side-effect of exposing the population to a new health problem-arsenic (Modified from WHO Fact Sheet 210). The most commonly reported symptoms of chronic
arsenic exposure are hyperpigmentation, depigmentation, keratosis, and peripheral vascular disorders. Skin cancer and a number of internal cancers can also result. Cardiovascular and neurological diseases have been found to be linked to arsenic in gestion and exposure. Human intake of arsenic is more associated with food, e.g seafood, than drinking water. However, arsenic in fish is overwhelmingly low toxicity organic arsenic. Drinking water represents by far the greatest hazard, since arsenic in groundwater is predominantly inorganic and of higher toxicity.

It is estimated that diseases related to consumption of high arsenic groundwater have affected around 7,596 persons of 4,952 families in the terai. A study report shows that among 20 districts in the terai, Bara, Bardia, Rupendehi, Kapilvastu, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Saptari, Sarlahi and Jhapa are using groundwater sources containing arsenic. It was also found that 15,000 persons in Rautahat district have suffered maximum ill effect from arsenic, but no one has been affected in Sarlahi, Saptari and Jhapa districts. The findings of studies on arsenic in groundwater by different agencies in Nepal show that about 20 percent samples have arsenic contamination of between 10-50 mg/1 and 5 percent have more than 50 mg/1. The testing is limited to the terai region only. It is tentatively estimated that 390,000 people may be using water with high arsenic i.e more than 50 mg/1. Research found that the arsenic occurrence in Kathmandu Valley is not significant. However, a precautionary measures should be taken immediately because large populations in the valley are using groundwater.

Precautionary measures: There is a need for immediate mitigation in those locations where arsenic has been identified at high levels under the current testing procedure. The problem will be most severe in the terai. However, ultimately testing should be extended to the whole country. Regular monitoring is needed to better understand the seasonal variations. There is a lack of awareness of and weak commitment to the arsenic issue on the part of government agencies. Trained health personnel should be mobilised. Private wells account for more than half the tubewells in the country. The owners should be aware of this problem. Standard testing mythologies should include the testing parametres, namely, arsenic, heavy metals, fluoride etc.

There is a need to study the stratigraphic depth and nature of deposit of arsenic and its movement along aquifers. Geographical Information Systems should be utilised to map the occurrence of arsenic and its levels. There has been relatively little work carried out to date on the health impact and medical investigation aspects by the department concerned and other agencies. A systematic training action plan needs to be developed with the available human resources within the country and with possible exposure in Bangladesh and India. It is advisable to train local people in handling, sample collection and basic arsenic test kit procedures and train other volunteers for mass communications. The options for arsenic removal are, Alum coagulation, Ion-coagulation, Ion Exchange Resins, Activated Alumina Adsorption, Membrane methods and Substitutable sources.