COMMENT

Credibility at stake

The ruling Nepali Congress finally seems to have reached a consensus on holding talks with the Maoists. This is a far cry from the earlier stance of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, when he seemed adamant about mobilising the army against the insurgents. Backing him, Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi had also not uttered one word about any negotiations, instead opting to build a para-military type of armed police force. In fact a budget has already been set aside to establish such a force to combat the Maoists. But now it is not clear at what stage this government project has reached.

There is no doubt the Maoist problem has gone on to become a huge threat for the present power holders. Apart from the killings, the problem has become more complex with looting and extortion taking place. It has been said that some unscrupulous people have taken advantage of the situation and committed their own crime in the name of Maoists. That such people are at work, could be seen even in the murder of a senior NC leader in Siraha last week. After killing him, the murderers had shouted some pro-Maoist slogans and also scattered pamphlets that indicated the killing had been carried out by the insurgents. But when the alleged killers were arrested, it was found out that they were not Maoists. In this one incident, the guile of such miscreants was exposed, but how many other similar incidents have been propagated by that type of people, it is hard to tell.

The police don’t seem to follow up any incident, as soon as it looks like Maoists have committed them. Killings have taken place, banks and government offices have been looted and valuable documents destroyed. But not even a case has been registered against any one. This indicates that the law of the land is not being upheld by those in charge of the law and order situation in the country. So what sort of a message does this send to the people in general? It is anyone’s guess. Yes, everyone is eager to see the Maoist issue being settled through dialogue, like agreed upon by most politicians now, but at the same time, there should not be a total breakdown of the law and order situation in the country. The credibility of PM Koirala and also the Nepali Congress rests a lot on how this serious challenge can be met by them and the people can find relief from this and other problems.

Food nightmare

We eat food for survival, for good health and for pleasure. Ironically, with the accelerating development in the food industry, another horrendous trade is also spreading its tentacles, that of adulterating food. The grim scenario of adulterated mustard oil and its after effects hopefully is not a distant memory for the public. We must not wait for another large scale catastrophe to strike, for us to be aware of the tampering with the food products that we buy.

When such a basic thing as food is adulterated with foreign and or toxic materials, how can we expect to keep in good health? How can children fight against the onslaught on their tiny bodies, how can the sick and the elderly survive on such unwholesome food?

Adulteration of food is practiced in all forms. Milk is diluted with water and soda starch, ghee with vegetables and fat, honey with sugar, tea dust with wood dust, edible oil with mineral oil and chemicals, sugar with chalk powder, chilly powder with brick dust, turmeric with wheat and maize flour, peas and lentils with other seeds and other objects that are easily camouflaged, black pepper with papaya seeds, meat with yellow colouring and so on. RONAST conducted a survey that revealed that adulteration amounts to 47.7 % in sweets, 22 % in snacks, 74 % in Titaura and 32 % in noodles.

Cheating the customers by short change in weight for full price is common and this too must not be tolerated. The government must implement the Consumer Interest Protection Act effectively. There must be adequate number of incorruptible food inspector per area. The present statistics reveal that there is only one food inspector for 1.2 million people in Nepal and half the inspectors reside in Kathmandu!

Customers must be made aware of these ills of food adulteration. We all must ensure what we buy does not contain anything that is hazardous for our health. Let us not buy ill health.

Threat to Democracy

By K S Brar

Many politicians feel and have voiced that there is a serious threat to our infant 10 year old democracy mainly from two quarters. One is directly from the palace or King on the active support of the old palace guard, i.e. the proponent of the partyless panchayat system and their henchmen, the majority of whom are not in the ruling clique now. The other from the Army either on the orders of the King or directly, from it. Many parties also openly conducted discussions and meetings whether there is likely, the possibility of Army coup immediately after the military take over in Pakistan.

Anything goes wrong in this country, particularly after the restoration of multiparty system, the finger is automatically pointed out at the palace. Palace naturally means the monarchy or that is the understanding of the public. We have felt, experienced and seen this tendency over the last ten years. Many have done this either to camouflage their own mistakes, shortcomings and weaknesses or to draw and divert the public attention from the real national issues. In fact for many politicians and print media bashing the monarchy and the Army has become a familiar pass time over the years. Any piece of normal news is sensitized, exaggerated, twisted and magnified with the clear aim of discrediting or maligning the particular institution rather than informing and educating the public.

The real threat to our 10 year old infant democracy has not, does not and will not come from the monarchy/palace or the army. This we can safely say from the dignified behaviour and extraordinary respect to the system shown by the monarch in these last ten years. The supreme display of unique tolerance to all sorts of bitter and scathing critique from many individuals and organisations whenever their particular interest were not served and has brought confidence in the all encompassing role of our monarchy in this country. Many did exercise their brain and sweated a lot to drag the monarchy into extreme political controversy on many occasions.

Although under extreme pressure from many quarters, internal as well as external, to support one group or the other, the monarch stood firm, come what may, as the tradition of Shah Dynasty to remain as a balancing, cohesive, centripetal and central figure in the larger interest of the nation. This has forced even the anti-monarchist and undemocratic forces to accept and respect monarchy as a national institution above politics without which this nation can not remain together. This is how the monarchy occupies a unique position in the overall national structure of this country. Therefore the monarchy in this country is a strongest asset and complements the democracy, and is not a threat to it. The monarchy has endured, sustained and strengthened the democratic institution and enhanced its values, norms and principles of democracy. The monarch has been at ease even when his personal prestige was at stake and even anti-monarchist found him magnanimous through all ups and downs in the process of exercising and protecting constitutional procedures.

The last decade has also seen the growing tendency to bring the Army into many controversies some times purely through personal conjecture like the monarchy to project it as a threat to our democracy. A more careful analysis if expanded to embrace the wider aspect of national integrity, Nepal Army has been playing an unique role since the country’s unification. Not to be biased, Nepal Army has bled to blend and harmonize the diverse social, ethnic, communal, cultural and linguistic groups into one homogeneous organisation always ready and rolling whenever its service and sacrifice is demanded by the state. Even after the restoration of multiparty system Nepal Army has answered the call of the government whether for internal or external duties. As an integral arm of the government, the Army can not neglect or ignore to abide by the constitutional rules of the government to implement its policy. As students of history know, Army in this country has neither the will nor the desires to involve itself into politics. It has proved to be an asset to democracy and not a threat.

The present systematic campaign of criticizing the Army on trivial issues by some of the local print media trying to present and project it as against the democracy procedures of the country could be aimed at tearing the very fabric of our social structure. In a country there is no other organisation that has successfully amalgamated our multi-ethnic cultural and multi-racial linguistic groups into one single cohesive institution with a very high degree of esprit de core as the army. Because of this unique characteristic Nepalese would still like to believe that this army can give a robust response to any call whenever required of them. The little exercise, internal or external, to destabilize the traditional set up of command, control and leadership in the Army just to serve some petty personal interest could threaten not only the convergent structure of this institution but also the democratic institution and finally, the integrity of the nation. In a young democracy like ours, there is a dire need of a strong backup force to foster a liberal and democratic culture particularly in this transitional phase to fall back on if a threat develops. Nepal Army, at this juncture, should start winning greater confidence from multiple quarters to prove itself a high quality professional army ready to provide a robust response as a combat effective fighting machine.

The self interested element bent on discrediting the army should instead stop hurting it and start caring, sharing and sacrificing to improve and upgrade the public standing by solid support which the army should also seek. The army under the leadership of the monarchy and accountable to the people belongs to the nation. Therefore hurling constant criticism, fabricated and twisted for cheap popularity will not bolster democratic set up, rather it would weaken the bedrock on which the young democracy should find a firm base. Criticizing and demoralizing and publishing unfounded information of any security and law enforcing agency is a risk and threat to the national interest.

No Army must be kept as an unknown quantity to produce an instant and constant result whenever and for whatever reason the government decides to mobilize. It must be kept ready to respond at short notice to provide full security to the people and protect the public property with undoubted effectiveness besides it’s primary responsibility of safeguarding the national borders. In the last ten years we have seen the army disinterested in the political infighting, groupism and internal bickering and firm not to take sides. Remaining apolitical does not mean posing a threat to democracy.

Yes, our young democracy suffers from other multiple threats but not from the monarchy/palace or the army. Let us see where the threat really comes from. The first major threat to the smooth functioning of democracy in this country is the total lack of ethic i.e. a system of moral principle or rules of behaviour. This is something, which can not be forced by the rules/laws made in the parliament. This is a strong moral courage not to kill one’s conscience. This should come from the top and should filter down with honesty, which is totally lacking today.

Lack of ethic has led to political corruption and bankruptcy reinforced by intellectual and moral bankruptcy. Rampant corruption at all layers of state machinery has frustrated the public so much that they have developed disenchantment towards the system itself. It has badly weakened the growth of state economy and instead encouraged criminal activities, breakdown of law and order providing good incentive for centrifugal political tendencies in the country. The flagrant lawlessness criminal threats to the legitimacy or integrity of state agencies has provoked a citizen’s backlash of sorts - facilitating the rapid growth of extremist and authoritarian movements that has promised to reestablish their own order and fairness.

Organized crime has presented a particular threat to the growth of young democracy. Our government’s regulatory agencies and state business codes have become weak and powerless due to political meddling to prevent the kinds of predatory commercial activity organized crimes, thrives on. Furthermore, the law enforcement agencies have tended to be demoralized, underpaid, under-funded and ill-equipped. As a result, what laws are in this country have become ineffective. Such a situation has encouraged the offer and acceptance of bribes, as well as the use of violence by organized gang against honest laws enforcement officials. The resultant atmosphere of flagrant lawlessness has hollowed out support for democratization and free markets, discouraged proper investment, retarded economic growth and some parts of the country has became mature for undemocratic and destructive forces.

Innocent and ignorant people have been attracted to their sweet slogans. The criminals, saboteurs, and radicals are the greatest threat to our democratic system today. The financial mismanagement, uncontrolled population explosion, huge external debt, increasingly wide gap between the have’s and have-not’s, intractable refugee problems are serious threat to our democracy. The additional threats to our democracy are the weak, immature, irregular and uncompromising (might is right attitude) self interest, fully politicized civil service, growing and uncontrolled proliferation of religious activities, rising rivalries among ethnic and racial groups, unchecked external influence in our internal affairs, and last but not least, the total crisis of leadership and lack of national consensus on national issues.

If monarchy is providing stability, encouragement and incentive to our democracy, army is the best, strongest and most sustainable bridge amongst different ethnic, communal and linguistic groups in the country. Although democracy has no alternative for the full realization of people’s expectations in today’s world; people are threatened from multiple crisis. They are waiting, watching and expecting the leadership first to establish an atmosphere of peace and security and then provide two meals a day. To provide these basic necessity a national consensus with political commitment, discipline in the political cadres, accountability at the decision making level, coordination at the Govt. agencies and the will to sacrifice should prove a robust response and assets to democracy.

High sounding words and thundering public rhetoric without political will and national commitment will invite serious threat to democracy and national stability. Media, the strongest pillar of a young democracy, should take more interest in national security issues and establish an unanimous views on the masses, as the masses, is what really matters in a truly democratic country. Finally our leadership should find some common ground to work together to meet the threat to our democracy.