Democracy Day : Once again

By Bijaya Lal Shrestha

When Prithvi Narayan Shah ascended the throne of Gorkha, the British were fighting to establish their supremacy in India. In the expansion of the British empire in India, he saw a threat to Nepal’s sovereignty. He did not, at the same time, fail to find an opportunity for his kingdom to extend to the south in the wake of the weakening Moghul power. To this end, he, with his farsightedness, determination and political acumen, succeeded in his mission to unify Nepal in 1769. By the time he was dead, he was credited with the expansion of the Gorkha kingdom to one third of the present size of Nepal, and when Nepal met the British in the battlefield in 1814 it had already grown bigger by about one third its present size.

Unfortunately, the institution of polygamy and the conspiracy that usually surrounds the seat of power led to the infamous Kot Massacre on Sept 14, 1846. The Ranas now became the de facto rulers and the monarch was pushed into a golden cage. This dark period of Nepal’s history was distinguished by a system of administration primarily designed to serve the interests of the Ranas, who, considered the country as their fiefdom and the national treasury, their private property. The Ranas thrived on the ignorance, illiteracy and poverty of the people. The Ranas knew full well that the monarchy is an integral component of Nepalese life, a living incarnate of Lord Bishnu as he was considered. The monarchy has always stood with the people through thick and thin. "Nepal is, perhaps, the only country in the world where the institution of Monarchy has been one saga of continuous growth and development from the time of its inception several centuries before the birth of Christ. Kings of Nepal have uniformly been evoking the spontaneous affection and admiration of their people through being effortful in the performance of deeds of supreme excellence, leading the land and its people to their higher destiny. (Page 179, Contemporary Nepal, 1980, by Daman Raj Tuladhar). So for them, a country without a king was unthinkable.

This was also the story of the beginning of cordial and friendly relationship with the British. The price paid for this was the relegation of Nepal to the status of a colony for all intents and purposes. So in order to camouflage their intentions and hoodwink the people, the Ranas adopted the policy of assimilation through marriage and title. To match up with the royal practice of hereditary succession, the Ranas adopted the system of promoting to the prime ministership the eldest male in their family. They were also required to be addressed as Shree Three Maharaja so that the general public saw the minimal difference between the king who is addressed as Shree 5 Maharaj Dhiraj and his prime minister.

Alas! The Ranas’ luck ran out. They were singled out as the common enemy. All their endeavours could not help prolong their rule. The freedom struggle of India inspired people to respond to the call for democracy, overcoming all their differences. There was also King Tribhuvan himself. The Ranas’ efforts to have him indulged in wines and wives were wasted as he was tormented by the people’s plight. He shunned his luxuries and comforts, staked the fate of his whole family and gambled with his throne - all for the sake of the people. But Nepal has a different story in this regard in that the revolution in Nepal was a joint collaborative effort of the crown and the commons - an instance rarely found elsewhere. The Delhi compromise thus officially terminated 104 years of Rana rule in Nepal.

The achievements of the 2007 revolution were:

1. To declare the Panja-Patra of April 1948 vesting Maharaja Mohan Shumsher with plenary powers null and void.

2. All plenary powers reverted back to King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev.

3. To constitute a Cabinet of ten ministers - five to be nominated by Maharaja Mohan Shumsher and the other five by the Nepali Congress High Command.

4. The coalition Cabinet to be headed by Maharaja Mohan Shumsher and to be collectively responsible to His Majesty King Tribhuvan.

5. The country to be governed under the provisions of an Interim Constitution to be granted by His Majesty and the Interim Constitution to be in force till the promulgation of a Constitution of Nepal framed by a Constituent Assembly elected by the people of Nepal under adult franchise.

The first four gains were implemented soon after the return of King Tribhuvan to Kathmandu on Feb 15, 1951. The last one remains unattained to date. People’s expectation that Nepal would become a land of milk and honey did not materialise. The high hopes of the people received a bolt from the blue. Elections for the Constituent Assembly became the casualty of discord and dissensions. Bhola Chatterjee in his book "Nepal’s Experiment with Democracy" explains the then situation thus: "...the functioning of the party system made it gradually clear that the monarchy provided the only basis of stability in the country. The democratic system was being operated as if with the sole intention of enabling the monarchy to emerge as the country’s only source of effective power." They paid a heavy price for their short-sightedness - a life under the deadening weight of the partyless system. The leaders still could not learn the lesson of history. The debate on the Constituent Assembly continued. The Maoists claims to be waging a people’s war. The government claims to be quelling them with the mandate of the people’s war. The situation, as it appears now, is confusing and apparently without a clear direction.

The questions now confronting the people of Nepal are: (1) How did the people exercise their power vis-a-vis, the monarchs and the Ranas? (2) Has the people’s power been perceived as congenial to the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country? and (3) Has the people’s power been able to satisfy the people themselves?

The answers to the above questions will be a big NO, if we agree with what the late Jawaharlal Nehru had to say. To quote: "Many of our politicians, learned in the law, think and talk of constitutions and the like, forgetting the human beings for whom constitutions and laws are made. Politics for the dwellers of our millions of mud huts and town slums means food for the hungry and clothing and shelter." (Glimpse of World History).

It is to be hoped that all concerned will be guided by history in their actions for the welfare of the people. This is the only way we can get out of the vicious circle of political chaos and conspiracy. For if the people are taken care of, the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are assured.

For a fairer game

By HITESH KARKI

The cubs were having a ball. When so many fellow cubs as well as senior scouts converged at the Tribhuvan University ground, the feeling was simply overwhelming. Even the fellow scouts were beginning to get in sync with the song "….Yeti dherai maya chha mutu bhari..Yo ho Nepal ko pahilo jamboree…"

Every morning our troop leader, we were to address him as dai as per the school rule, would do the head counting. And as soon as it was over, we would head all the way from one corner of the valley, Budhanilkantha, to the TU ground. Through out the journey he would explain the action plan for that day, how to mingle around with rest of the fellow scouts, exchange greetings, and above all, he would inspire us to win the competitions slated to take place that particular day. May be it was the nervousness showing on our innocent faces, the fear of competing against foreigners that compelled him to motivate us to give it our best until we reached the destination.

The sheer fact of having developed such a close rapport with dai was more than enough for us to boost our morale. During the course of the extravagant event, the first of its kind in Nepal, one incident is permanently etched in my mind. I really cherish that moment.

Dai was at the finishing line. The dash was about to begin and he held a stop watch in his hand. With the shot of an air pistol seven of us started running towards the finishing line, desperately trying to be the winner. Within 15 seconds or so, everyone had completed the race. I lay flat on the track gasping for breath. Dai came rushing towards me holding a glass of glucose- water drink. By that time everyone was congratulating me. I thought that someone else had cleared the rope just before me but then to my surprise the judge went towards dai and congratulated him. At first I thought may be the judge had made a mistake but almost immediately the thought of wearing the gold medal overcame me. May be I was mistaken, I thought and not the judge!

The judge started recording the timing on a score sheet. I saw mine topping the list. As the judge was about to proceed towards the announcement area to declare the winner, dai called the judge and said something to him, inaudible to us. The judge then, with some kind of surprise, bewilderment on his face scribbled something on the score sheet, all the while still staring at dai’s face.

Soon the announcements were made. And lo and behold ! when I was readying myself to sprint up to the dais after the third and second place winners’ names were announced, there came a bolt out of the blue. It wasn’t mine but someone else’s name was announced.

As we prepared to return to school, dai came up to me and told me, "Hitesh, had it not been for your faulty start you would have got the gold. May be it was because of my presence spectators could not voice their protest and disqualify you for your faulty start…well never mind better luck next time… next time make sure you win again BUT the right way!". These words were from none other than the late Crown Prince Deependra.

Why independent national commission for women?

By PRATIVA SUBEDI

The government is now prepared to form the Women’s Commission. The objective of the Independent Statutory National Commission for Women is to protect human rights. The aim of such a commission is to protect and promote human rights and to provide equal opportunity for women in social, economic and political life. Leaders have been discussing the establishment of the Women’s Commission for the last five years.

The goal of the Women’s Commission in this country should be to play an advocacy role in favour of programmes and planning regarding women and development. For 25 years we have been hearing about women’s development programmes. We must appreciate the efforts of the government, the NGOs, and the women’s wing of different political parties. But if we look at the data, a majority of women are still illiterate and are working in the agricultural and informal sector. It means they lack economic, social and political power.

Women are supporting our subsistence economy, but their work is invisible. We are in need of a mechanism to bring women to an equal level and make their work visible. Unless they get paid for their work, their work will remain invisible. To bring women to an equal level, we have to take into consideration a few aspects. We need to think of the welfare approach as well as the rights-based approach. Nowadays, many of our colleagues are talking about which approach to follow. I don’t think this is a subject for discussion, because we are in need of literacy, child care, health care, as well as legal rights. The main problem for Nepali women is lower socio-economic status in the family and society. We cannot ignore welfare programmes and a welfare approach. We need to move toward a rights based approach.

In this situation, the establishment of the Women’s Commission is of concern for some people. This commission should be able to close the gap between policy and implementation. If we look at government policy, it seems women friendly. But in reality, it is not.

Regarding the draft bill, the goal is clear. Regarding other aspects such as major decision makers on the commission, there are the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, and one person from the main opposition party. All these are men. Women from the Nepal Women’s Association are requesting that one woman personality should be involved in the decision making panel. This is a very pertinent issue. There is a provision in the draft bill for a five woman committee. May be it is because of the cost effective point of view. I think there should be a minimum seven members to represent different geographical and ethnic areas of our country. After that we have to think how we can establish a link in different districts? In every district we could form a committee to work in close coordination with the central body. Actually, there are different committees in the district. We need to review and make one committee from them.

In this draft bill, chapter 3 is about the function and duty of the Women’s Commission. A majority of the points talk about an international convention and how to follow it for the betterment of women in the country. It is good to use these conventions as a tool to bring equality as the government has signed many conventions that it is bound to follow. But first, we need to talk about national commitment and national prospects. When we talk of legal equality, the great tool could be the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal (1990). When the main objective is to protect and promote basic human rights, we should refer to the main law of the land.

This draft bill talks a lot about coordination, suggestions and research at different ministries. We have done a lot of studies and research. Our need now is to take programme and action research together, to benefit the people at the grass roots. Otherwise, feasibility studies and fees for consultations will be the same way as in the past. All these points are important, but the missing part is that the Women’s Commission should be part of the planning process for the socio-economic development of women. The National Planning Commission used to invite some women during the planning process for their input from a women’s prospectives. This is not enough. There are no women members in the planning commission. There are only some side committees where women are working.

In this draft, they must talk about the representation of women in different power structures. The main function of the Women’s Commission should be to provide inputs while making plans for the country and pressuring different ministries for the implementation for these plans. The importance of an institution like the Women’s Commission would remain only if it remains above party politics. We need to see women’s problems in a broader way. Women from different parties and professions can work together in this committee. We need to see politics from different prospectives, not only from a party politics angle. We cannot ignore the contribution of the women’s wings of different parties in the women’s movement. So it should be a team of committed persons from different sectors. This bill should be very strong and intervene against the acts of different ministries if these are against women’s rights. On one hand, it should be able to make different organisations, ministries and donor agencies work according to the needs of Nepali women at different levels. The Women’s Commission should be able to communicate to Parliament as well as the public about women’s issues. This is missing in the draft.

The next issue concerning the Women’s Commission is the difference between the women’s ministry and the commission. The commission’s work is to monitor, inform and pressure different ministries and organisations for the implementation of programmes and plans. There is a distinction in roles between the commission and ministries. This should be clear in the draft.

A majority of the programmes rely on outside funding. The NGO phenomenon is still new. These have not been able to put their agenda forward. Many programmes are donor driven, and there is no coordination between the government and NGOs. Planned development efforts have not been able to eradicate poverty. A majority of the women are the poorest of the poor. If this commission could direct funding and programmes towards a gender sensitive poverty alleviation programme, it will be a great success in the effort for equality.

The commission can advocate raising the percentage of women’s representation in Parliament and at different levels. Until women take part in politics, others will be making the decisions for their development. The Women’s Commission should be concerned about the effective overall development function to meet the basic needs and move towards empowerment of the majority of women.