Conflict Management
For Lasting Peace

By Mukti Rijal

THE cease-fire announced by the government and the Maoists has dawned an environment of peace and security. People have started to move freely and sense of fear and insecurity looming large for the last few years has been minimised. Development activities that halted due to conflict and disturbance have slowly got to be revived. Even tourists looking Nepal as a dangerous and risky place have changed their mind.

Free

The Mahashivaratri observed very recently established the fact that the people are longing for peace and once they find that the situation is free from fear and threats they make best use of the possibilities. Last year the auspicious occasion was marked by gloom and despair as people from near and far could not pay homage to Lord Pashupatinath due to insecure and tense situation whereas this year people from neighbouring villages and countries visited Pashupatinath in a big number.

Economic activities are seen taking upward curve. The city streets of Kathmandu that looked deserted after evening till last month have witnessed a new surge of mobility and liveliness. This indicates that peace is inextricably linked with life of people.

Peace is essential for people of all strata of the society as the recent conflict in Nepal proved the fact that the poor and weaker section of the society are the worst sufferers of the conflict. Poor farmers in the Far West and Mid West Development Regions, women and children had to face the brunt of war. They were displaced and fled their homes for safety and security. In the situation of conflict human rights of the people are violated. Not only the state security forces but the Maoists have been alleged to have violated the human rights in the report of Amnesty International issue not very long back.
This shows that war is what it does to the human rights violations of the people. War and belligerency should be ended at any cost. And there should be dialogues between the parties to the conflict in order to sort out the problems so that the situation of conflict never recurs.

It is heartening to note that the government and the Maoists have pledged to resolve the crisis through dialogue and negotiation. The process to achieve amicable settlement of the dispute is not easy and cannot be done shortly. This requires patience, efforts and skills to face the adverse situation in a deft manner. Conflict management and resolution has been a rich discipline of study and practice. The experts on conflict management and conflict transformation have developed manuals and handbooks containing analysis and tips on handling and resolving conflicts.

Harvard Negotiation Project of the United States has developed an effective system of conflict resolution. According to the project an efficient system of conflict regulation must fulfil three main functions that treat people and problem separately, concentrate on interests and not on positions and develop options that benefit both sides. In every treatment of social conflict there is factual and relational level. Constructive conflict resolution is possible if the relational level is taken seriously and scope is allowed for the expression of feelings, fears, desires , experiences etc.

The first phase of the conflict resolution consists of the detailed description of the conflict. The second phase of the conflict resolution is the analysis of the conflict. This should focus on clarifying the identified areas of contention from a variety of points of view: the history of their emergence and context in which they arose, the links between the issues and their detailed nature; the positions, interests, desires, expectations and fears of the parties.

The third phase of the conflict regulation is devoted to the formulation of possible options for a joint regulation of the conflict. The important thing in this phase is to stimulate the creativity and imagination of those involved in such way that innovative solution come into view. Suitable methods and techniques for achieving this include; discussing types of solution that have already been used in comparable conflicts, visual moderation techniques and the idea of future workshops. Finally the aim of the fourth phase is to compare and assess the options to come to a concrete agreement.

New Dimension

The win-win problem solving approach of conflict resolution has helped in spreading the culture of constructive conflict regulation. One should recognise the fact that the conflicts produce constructive and entire new dimension of understanding the problems and addressing them. It is expected that the current problems facing Nepal arising out of conflict can be handled better if the government and the Maoists appreciate each other, sit for dialogue and find solution to the impending crisis. There is no alternative to peace. The peace should be constructive and equity based. Then it becomes durable and lasting.

India: Despair And Hope

By Kalpana Viswanath

THE history of March 8 - International Women's Day - is rooted in women's struggles for their rights as workers. It is linked especially to the strike by over 20,000 women workers in New York against unjust working conditions - in 1909. And the protests that took place in or around March in several European countries and the US in the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Symbol

In 1910, March 8 was declared International Women's Day at the Second Congress of the Socialist International in Denmark. It has, since, been celebrated in more and more countries throughout the world - as a symbol demonstrating women's struggles and celebrating women's achievements.
But it is also a time to reflect on the women's movement and on the different struggles women are involved in. It is a time to take stock and ask - Where are we today? What are we moving towards?
If we review the past year, the carnage in Gujarat last year certainly looms large in terms of sheer brutality. The level of savagery shocked most of us despite knowing that women's bodies are the battleground upon which many wars have been fought.

What was it that shocked us more? The fact that right wing politics and hatred has seeped into the minds and hearts of so many people? Or that several decades of the women's movement had not been able to make a dent on the notion of women as property, women as bearers of the honour of the community.

Aside from the violent moments, days and weeks, we can also look at the mundane, everyday aspects of our lives as the television serials in which women are portrayed as petty, small minded and back stabbing - a bizarre playing out of middle and upper class family politics. The bright red sindoor and gold ornaments vie for attention with the L'Oreal coloured hair, and the "colour coordinated" families with their melodramatic daily existence. Surely, women do much more than dress up, cry and fight with other female members of their family!

And if we move out of mundane existence to the sphere of law - our government seems to think that domestic violence can only be called so when it is perpetrated "habitually". The Domestic Violence Bill introduced in Parliament last year had the additional clause that men can be excused for violence if it is done in protection of their self or of their property! It is really difficult to understand the logic behind this; and such a clause, in fact, defeats the very purpose of such a law.

Although the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has reviewed the government's Bill, its recommendations are still to be accepted.

Having put all this on the table, we need now, to reflect on why this is happening. Where has the women's movement failed, succeeded, and how do we move ahead?

It wouldn't be fair or factual to say the scenario is all bad. Certainly, the fact that gender inequality exists, is part of public consciousness. Today, many people would agree that women are discriminated against - the census and studies on violence have provided us with hard data.
Some of the issues brought up by women's movements such as domestic violence, sexual harassment have been accepted as "issues" or "problems". Gender discrimination is part of the jargon of the government, the NGOs; it is also accepted by the corporate world.

Yet, inequalities and discrimination stare us in the face and there are many more forces that we are dealing with today. The increasing power of the rightwing in politics, economics and culture presents us with tremendous challenges. The rise of fundamentalist movements has forced us to review our strategies in the face of the extreme violence and intolerance these are causing.

With neo-liberal economic policies that have heightened inequalities and led to loss of livelihoods and impoverishment, women's movements have to deal with issues of identity and survival. The include the right to own land, the right to information, privatisation of water, fundamentalist politics, caste politics, trafficking, the rights of workers, migrants women's rights, sexual and reproductive rights, declining sex ratios, increasing violence and others.

A large number of issues has necessitated specialisation, which in turn has led to a certain fragmentation of the movement. At times, a deeper focus on a particular issue has been taken up at the expense of highlighting linkages and creating common platforms.

There is also a sense of despair: None of the issues we raised 25 years ago have gone away and there are so many more issues to tackle. We have fought for laws, fought for the setting up of institutional structures, created organisations, networks, but we are often left questioning our own strategies.

The mainstreaming of "gender" and the number of different actors involved leads us to more questions. Have our radical agendas have been diluted and diffused? How much of our processes are self-determined and how much of our time is spent in responding to agendas set by others?
Although our time is dark and difficult, there is a ray of hope - the linkages between these varied trends and oppressions is leading to a certain confluence of issues and movements.

It is possible today to have the World Social Forum or the Asian Social Forum to bring together a range of different movements and activists - socialist movements, Dalit movements, movements for sustainable livelihoods, women's movements, environment activists, lesbian and gay activists, and peace activists among others.

The Asian Social Forum - held in Hyderabad in January 2003 - brought together more than 15,000 people from the continent. And the World Social Forum had more than 60,000 people raising their voice against all forms of violence, discrimination and oppression.

Movement

Everywhere, women's movements are increasingly allying with every sort of liberal and progressive movement because of the recognition of linkages and the realisation that joining hands is the only way to address the challenges before us.As African-American poet and activist, Audre Lorde, has said:
We have chosen each other
And the edge of each other's battles
The war is the same...

Women's Feature Service

(Dr Kalpana Viswanath is a sociologist and a researcher on issues concerning women. )

Strange 'That Man'

By Anantayatri Shreedhar Khanal

NO ONE in Kathmandu knew his name. Everyone called him "That Man" from Dhading. Once my father had gone to Dhading for delivering lectures on the Ramayana. I had also accompanied him. The audience were very much impressed by his recitation of the tale of Ram Chandra's heroic deeds. We were provided accommodations in private homes in turn. The recital lasted a week and we took leave of the audience.

Hardly we had taken a few steps ahead, one of the audience stepped forward and stopped us. He requested my father to stay, at least a night at his house. He said he felt guilty about not being able to host a religious man. Although my father kept avoiding his eyes and said he had to reach Kathmandu the same day, the man pressed us to accept his invitation. Standing before us with folded hands, he was virtually halting our movement. My father did not like to make him unhappy and we followed him.

He had two wives but no children. We received a warm welcome from them. One of them, probably the younger one, said, "It is a blessing that a religious man has visited our residence. I am sure that I will conceive a baby next year."

That night they served us a delicious dinner. I had not tasted that kind of fine rice, scented ghee, thick curd, pure milk and vegetable fresh from the garden. My father cordially thanked the man for the tasty food that he could have only in a village. One could buy only adulterated food or drink in the city. The man and his wives supported my father's view and suggested him for occasional visits to their residence. My father politely refused their invitation and said he was unable to leave his family more than once a year. The man said he would feel betrayed if my father did not visit him once every year. He caught hold of my father's feet and said. "Let us promise to stay friends forever."

Father smiled and released his feet but did not speak. He asked their permission to go to bed as he had to get up early next morning. They provided a bed and a blanket for both of us. It was for the first time that I slept with my father in the same bed. We left early next morning for Kathmandu.
A few years passed. I had already forgotten the man and the incident. My father also had passed away last year. One evening I saw that a crowd of villagers led by "That Man" from Dhading had come to my courtyard. He was asking a favour of my mother to grant him shelter for a night. He had come with thirty two bearers to buy clothes and ornaments for his wives. He told my mother that he had given shelter to her husband and son a few years back. So he expected cooking materials for himself and his bearers from my mother. He saw me standing behind my mother and bade me to verify it. My mother provided him cooking provisions and kitchen utensils as well as bricks for making wood burning stove. If they had asked for blankets we would not have been able to provide them with it. They had brought cotton shawls which they spread on the courtyard and slept after taking meal. Next morning "That Man" spoke a few words of condolence to my mother for father's sad demise and left. It took hours to my mother for cleaning all the kitchen utensils. She stood aghast at the sight of the grain store. Not a single grain of rice, pulse, salt and other spice was left. She was bound to send me on an errand into town. She gave me a list of cereals and spice that was to be bought immediately. I took it and ran. I still remember why everyone did not mention his name and called him "That Man" from Dhading.