Reducing Violence In South Asia
Integrated Strategy Needed

By Khilendra Basnyat

TODAY, South Asia is afflicted by various kinds of violence. However, few are serious about the rising trend of violence in this region.

Difficult

In most of the South Asian countries, violence ranges from the most intimate such as rape, bodily mutilation and dismemberment to the most abstract such as forced and legal minorisation. The most difficult one is the violence against minorities of all kinds.

The roots of violence in South Asian countries are more often related to political, economic and social factors. They are also associated with the management of the changes as well as social structures.

The factors responsible for violence in the region are directly linked to the decline in the quality of governance. The instruments of governance are becoming partisan, corrupt and ineffective in this region.

Many South Asians have become helpless spectators of the unending violence in their countries. Instead of solving people’s problems, the politicians find it easy to divert public attention by indulging in indecisive rhetoric. They are shrewd enough to realise that there are no quick solutions to the problems of poverty, health and employment.

With little or no hope of achieving their goal of democratic means, aggrieved people have taken to violence in most of the countries as the dominant mode of political action. The available political space has become narrow to give them any hope for an improvement in their way of living. This has led to frustration and anger among a large number of people of this region.

Since the past few decades, in South Asian countries, the process of assertion of identity has got entangled with the struggle for economic and political rights. The struggle has become violent in these countries.

In an environment of insecurity, most of the people have taken shelter in narrow identity, which frequently gets into conflict not only with larger identity but also with other group identities.

In reality, widening income disparity and the failure of most of the governments of this region to convey a sense of justice to the poor have created bitterness and anger among the aggrieved people.

The rise in fundamentalism has posed a serious threat to peace in South Asia. Fundamentalism has spread even to those areas which are historically known for religious tolerance. Feudalism is another important factor, causing violence in this region because feudal lords have foiled all attempts to take away their land, and privileges.

In most South Asian countries, the dynamics of rapid changes has often disturbed the social and economic equilibrium because it is disruptive in nature. The processes of development have deprived many sections of political and economic power. What is more, the conflicts between traditional and modern elements have given rise to grievances that went on multiplying in this region.

South Asia is the home to the largest number of the world’s poor. An estimate based on a per capita income of US$ one per day put the number as high as fifty per cent of over six hundred million out of the total South Asian population of 1.3 billion in 1999. Whether the exact number of the poor is six hundred million or small, the most serious threat to governance in South Asia arises from widespread poverty.

It has been found out that the per capita income in most South Asian countries is below US$ five hundred per annum. Behind this low per capita income lies enormous income disparity which means that the actual per capita of the poor is perhaps half the region’s average.

Poverty and deprivation are the two main factors, which have the potential of destabilising peace and social stabilisation in South Asia. It is the most important political and economic problems of governance in this region.

The structure of the cities in South Asia has special significance for collective violence. Since the cities of this region are growing rapidly, essential needs such as food, shelter and health services are becoming inadequate every year. Consequently, violence occurs in this region now and then.

From the experiences of the past, it has been observed that high population growth has caused growing violence in South Asia. For example, the Mohajirs in Karachi and their increasing numbers have contributed to the rise in violence in Pakistan.

The population increase of the landless in some parts of Bihar or Andhra Pradesh and some other states in India have created an environment for violence against the landholders. Likewise, the Naxalite movement, the people’s war groups in some parts of central and north India are symptomatic of the rise in violence. In addition, violence still persists in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Nepal, the increase in Maoists activities has caused violence since the past six years or so. Several people have lost their lives and wealth during this period. Violence is still continuing in different parts of this country during this period on account of the failure of talks between the government and the Maoist leaders.

In Sri Lanka, the rise in violence is due to ethnic factors, especially the relationship between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamil population. For right or wrong, the minority Tamils have developed grievances, which have resulted in violence.

Such rise in violence is directly related to the failures of state institutions. Actually, in countries where political institutions are weak for maximum people’s participation, the problem become more difficult to tackle.

In South Asia, violence is likely to increase in future because alienated and aggrieved groups find it a cost effective means to confront powerful states. Some terrorist groups operating in this region have become as powerful as indigenous groups. Sooner or later these very groups meant to commit violent acts in the neighbouring countries will terrorise their own people.

Till now, the law and order situation in South Asia is far from satisfactory. The law and order problems in this region have been created by social factors especially by social change. The assertion of the lower strata of social hierarchy in terms of their new political and constitutional rights has brought them in direct conflict with traditional establishment. The conflict relates to minimum wages or land rights or access to drinking water or social relationship between the traditional ruling classes and the rest. Time and again, violent clashes have occurred in many cases among different groups of people, making the lives of the people, especially the poor, insecure.

Arbitrary functioning of the states has created an economic and social crisis. It is not an aberration but a malady. In this region, the economic cost of violence cannot be understimated. Apart from the huge expenditure on making security arrangements, violence destroys existing physical infrastructures and retards economic growth.

Coordination

In South Asian countries, military force has been used to control various sorts of violence. However, a military response alone will not solve the problems of violence in these countries. A well coordinated and integrated strategy is needed to reduce violence in this region.

Socialist Realism In B.P.’s Writings

THE doctrine of socialist realism found a receptive audience among sub-continental writers during the colonial period of India. In India progressive movement, in which socialist realism played a major part, became next to Gandhi, the most powerful literary force on the literature of South Asia during the first half of the twentieth century. South Asian social realist writers have applied some common techniques in their writing. First, the protagonist in their works is known as the positive hero from whose height the future can be seen. Second, social realist writers have shown a happy ending.

Rejection

The positive hero of socialist realism rejects a wide variety of traditional social norms. Caste and communal differentiation, which are the most pervasive and deep-rooted social phenomenon existing in the sub-continental, are repudiated by the protagonists of socialist realism. The hero’s battle to remove all social and religions barriers to healthy and equal society has to be fought on many fronts, and he occasionally engages in minor skirmishes with other prevalent but decadent social behaviours, such as arranged marriage. Protagonists of socialist realism have been portrayed also as having liberal attitudes towards sex.

Of them, B.P. Koirala has been one of foremost writers with social vision. In his short stories and novels he has depicted the life of different classes of people of Nepal before the path breaking political event of 1950. One of the reasons why he wrote in the tradition of Socialist writers is his childhood background. He was educated in Benaras in India right from his childhood. It was there that he came in touch with the noted socialist writers Munshi Premchand, Shantipriya Dived, Jaya Shankar Prasad. Of them, Premchand inspired and encouraged him much. He writes: "I was a student in Banaras, where I came into contact with him. I wrote a story, an infantile effort, and Premchand read it. I wrote it according to his instructions and published it in the next issue of his magazine. I used to write very short stories, lyrical you might call them, which ran into one or two parts, and Premchand encouraged me."

Koirala’s association with Premchand proved to be one of the instrumental factors for shaping his mind. Premchand in those days was one of the stalwarts of progressive writers’ Association, though it was first formed in London. The manifesto of the Indian Progressive Writers Association was translated into Hindi by Premchand himself. Apart from the influence of Premchand, Koirala’s socialistic writing was shaped also by the Indian independence movement.

In this respect several of Koirala’s stories bear a striking resemblance to those of Premchand, Sajjad Zaheer and Mulk Raj Anand. Like Zaheer, Anand and Premchand, Koirala was aware of the then events on the European politics and culture. The crisis of consciousness experienced throughout the world during the wars, affected these entire socialist writers, including Koirala. Koirala draws attention to the very simple things of life, joys and sorrow, which are important for the life of common people. His stories, in Doshi Chasma (Defective Glasses), Koirala describes the rather routine life of Keshabraj, an unemployed worker who goes every day, to a military general’s house in hopes of getting a job. Every day he returns home disappointed, but he does not give up hope. The story shows how the people are stripped of the basic necessities of life under the vigor of despotic feudal system. Like his counterparts, in the Indian subcontinent, B.P. Koirala has gone to the depth of individual’s mind and reflected the inner conflicts in certain social conditions.

In another story ‘Rikshaw Tannee’, he narrates the pathetic life of a poor man whose friend is a street dog. He compares the life of the dog with his life and says, ‘"come, let’s go begging your life is superior to mine, because you can fill your stomach, I am going to be ill because I don’t have enough to eat" Here the author tries to delineate the terrible plight of the common people of Nepalese society in the first half of the twentieth century, a period when human life was not valued as highly as that of a dog, largely due to the inhuman conditions perpetuated by an autocratic and exploitative feudal regime.

In Madhestira, "Koirala very realistically describes the poor inhabitants of the Himalayan region migrating towards Terai. As the group of friends reach a hill top and sees the plain below, one of them exclaims." This is Terai, there is our future there we can have plenty of food. Bahulaha (Mad) is story of a person who has gone mad under trying circumstances. He is so poor that he has no money to pay for his sick wife’s medical treatment. Consequently he steals in a broad daylight is apprehended and put into prison. Ultimately he goes mad. Through lively satire, the story thus exposes the prevailing conditions of Nepalese society. Without suggesting any remedy to the existing problem, he has powerfully attracted the readers’ attention to the unbearable social and economic condition of our country.

In the next story Biha (marriage) a fourteen-year-old girl marries a man of about forty-five. This is the man’s second marriage after the death of his first wife. He has married this 14 years old to look after his property and household. Here Koirala seems to question the motive behind his choice. By depicting the marriage of Katak Bahadur and Harimati, an incompatible union, Koirala has attempted to expose the inner contradiction of contemporary society. Like his stories, Koirala’s novels also bear testimony to the socialistic concern of him. In this regard, in his Tin Ghumti novel, we find women’s struggle for existence. Koirala has high opinion of woman like Indra Maya, the novel’s heroine, who makes three decisions in her life. First, she elopes with a boy of her choice against the will of her parents. Second, she maintains secret relationship with Ramesh, her husband’s political colleague and gives birth to a baby girl while her husband is in prison. Third, Indra Maya leaves her husband’s house taking her daughter with her and starts living in a rented house.

Indra Maya’s fight in this novel is the struggle of a woman who believes in human dignity.

Influence

On the whole, B.P. Koirala’s representative writings seem to have been influenced by the socialistic vision, especially in the context of his upbringing and education in association with socialistic writers of Indian sub-continent. But it does not mean that he was not influenced by writer of o‘ther countries. Broadly speaking, Koirala was influenced not only by the realist Indian but also by Russian authors such as Tolstoy, Dostoevesky, French realist writer Maupassant. Other writers who influenced him include twelfth century psychologist, Freud and also the writings Camus.

Why Do They Behave Like Sheep?

By BG

STATESMEN often tell the truths how bitter and harsh they are. But this cannot be always said about the politicians. The politicians often change their voices and stances like the chameleons change their colour. Nepalese people have been familiar how quick are our politicians to change their voices. They say one thing when they are not in power and say the just opposite when they take the reins of power. There are several examples to prove this. Indeed, we have had more politicians but a very few statesmen during the last five decades. Among the very few statesmen the country had was Ganesh Man Singh, Supreme Commander of the successful Janaandolan (Popular Movement) 1990.

Ganesh Man Singh was never concerned with politics of chair. He fought for democracy and the welfare of the people throughout his life. And he succeeded in his mission of ushering in democracy in the country. He even rejected the offer of the post of the Prime Minister after the Popular Movement. This very statesman once said that Kathmandu people behave like sheep. Many Kathmandu people then were furious at his comment.

Indeed, late Singh had not made such a claim without reason. Ganesh Man Singh, his wife late Mangala Devi and son Prakash Man Singh underwent several tortures while fighting for democracy in the country. They were always at the forefront in any democratic movement in the country. But Kathmandu people, in the general elections of 1990, did not vote for Mangala Devi and Prakash Man. And when they were defeated at the hands of the same people for whose betterment they had fought, Ganesh Man had made such a comment. Some of the Kathmandu people then had criticized Ganesh Man for calling them like sheep. "He does not have the rights to call us sheep for not voting his wife and daughter," the people, especially belonging to the communist parties then had said.

Later Ganesh Man had defended his claim giving a number of evidences. "The people here supported us to abolish the Rana regime and establish democracy in 1951. And the same people welcomed the Royal step of 1961 to end the multiparty democracy with luminosity of lights," he had once remarked.

Indeed, Ganesh Man Singh was absolutely right to claim that Kathmandu people behave like sheep, this scribe has concluded this time. Not all, but many people in Kathmandu, it seems, often behave like sheep. Their such behaviours also became apparent during the so called-five day bandh that ended Saturday. Despite the tight security and guarantee of compensation from the government if any loss occurred, many of the Kathmandu people hesitated to run their business. The shutters of the major areas of the city including New Road, Putali Sadak, New Baneshwore remained closed for five consecutive days. However, in the initiative of the FNNCI the Bishal Bazzar and Suraj Arced were opened from the second day of the five-day Bandh. Coincidentally many of those who did not open their shutters during the troublesom bandh happened to be the businessmen of the important areas of Kathmandu. However, in the inner parts of the capital and outside the capital where the security was not as tight as in the capital, people protested the bandhs by operating their everyday business.

Many a businessmen in Kathmandu even did not heed the advice of FNNCCI, their own organisation to continue their business. They closed their shutters because of fear but not in support of the bandh. It seemed they mistrusted the government and FNNCCI and tolerated the bandhs and the loss caused by it. They did what they had done in the past. When they heard about bandh, they just shut down their shutters as if they had not any right to oppose such a bandh. This had been their old habits.

Had all businessmen opened their shutters in the capital, the five-day bandh would have been easily foiled. The terrorists would surely fail to harm the united force of the businessmen. However, the transport entrepreneurs in the capital succeeded to challenge the bandh. The commuters like in the earlier bandhs did not have to walk this time. They had a limited number of public vehicles to travel by. The services of some of the newly set up transportation companies were highly appreciative. The Rajdhani tempo was ahead of all to provide continue transportation facilities to the denizens during the bandh.

People cannot tolerate frequent bandhs. And this time, the people throughout the Kingdom has signaled this through operating their services and organising anti-bandh rallies. But such anti-bandh activities will not be effective unless the Kathmandu people are in the lead.