COMMENT

Service to the nation

It will be a historic convention of some sort. More than 130 senior editors from all over the country are meeting at Sauraha, Chitwan, this Friday to participate in the first ever National Conference of editors. The conference is being organised by the Editors’ Society of Nepal (Eson). The senior journalists will discuss the various problems being faced by the country at present and  after the two day long deliberations, they will provide suggestions on what role the media can play in shaping the foreign policy of the country, strengthening law and order situation and consolidating democracy among others. This is perhaps for the first time that editors from all over the country are meeting at a conference organised by a media institution. But apart from the historic importance of the meet, this is a positive step being taken by members of the Fourth Estate, to give guidance to the government so that there is good governance. What we had been seeing till now, was either the partisan participation of the media people in national politics or just plain criticism of the government. On the part of the political leaders and those in power, their fault was in not being aware of what was being said. There definitely exists a section of the media, which has been raising pertinent points and where serious opinion pieces were being written by professional people. But it is a sad aspect of our leaders and decision makers, that they have yet to develop reading habits. Most of the time they are aware of what is being written in newspapers, only if it is something against them, or if there is an item which has been brought to their notice by others. Such pieces in the newspapers don’t include comments and opinions, which mostly are tucked in the inside pages. However now, the collective presence of editors of all hues and colours, and their unified voice should come out as an awakening call for all political leaders and also bureaucrats. The editors however, must make it sure that they discuss such sensitive matters in a sincere and professional manner, without political support hindering their outlook. Such important matters of state, deserve total sincerity from the media people. If the Sauraha meet really fulfils the lofty objectives it has set for itself, then this will be an important service for the nation.

Get to the root of the problem soon

The gruesome, merciless murder of two Nepali Congress members by Maoist insurgents sent a wave of outrage among the public. The NC members were cruelly hacked to death when they were on their way to attend a mass meeting called by former PM Girija Prasad Koirala, the present party president. As Koirala rightly said, the insurgents must stop terrorising the people and act within the constitutional framework. If the Maoists really want good for their country and their countrymen, they must work within the democratic norms and air their differences in a healthy manner. Indulging in violence is a sure sign of weakness and ignorance. The aware and the good intentioned among them must act and stop their members from stooping so low as to commit such horrendous crimes that cause endless pain and suffering to other people. They must realise that senseless violence would further alienate them from the mainstream society and it would bode no good for the rebels themselves.

Koirala has made a note worthy effort at reaching out to the people in the terrorised places far and near. He has pledged to bring an end to this menace soon. Instead of relying on hearsay and spouting rhetorics he went to those places and interacted with the people. It is an example worth emulating by other well meaning leaders.

Meanwhile former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba is also heading a six-member committee formed Nov 30 that has held talks with five major political parties. The committee interacted with twenty-one human rights groups Feb 7 that urged the government to open dialogues with Maoists and end the violence and killings immediately. The fact remains that unless the political parties develop the political culture of honouring people’s views, the problem of insurgency will not subside.

A ‘Cosmetic’ civilisation

By K.C. Bhatt

Now that, since you have innovative people around in the advertising industry; those work over time to make sure that you consume to matter what, more recently, the possibilities have cropped up; that you may also give yourself the credit of indulging in the social service, while you consume one of those exorbitantly priced tooth paste, a dandruff shampoo or a sanitary napkin.

In fact, conceiving one of such gimmick is so much rewarding that more and more bright youngsters appear keen to study marketing and build a career in it, instead of a lot more dull and not so well paying, but, traditionally popular discipline of science or humanities.

So, quite a few of the commercial houses are hell bent to make you a philanthropist on the condition that you consume their scandalously high-priced products.

In fact, these companies promise to pay a (tiny) share of their profit, that they make while you consume their products, as a donation to pay for the education of an orphaned girl or such other enterprise. Indeed, they even have claimed that their such enterprise has approval of a renowned agency like UNICEF.

So, consumption is the ultimate mantra of the modern age and one may be even enticed to also believe, by the type in the media, that, if there is any short cut to salvation it can be only through consumption.

Not surprisingly, consumption is steadily turning out to become the global religion of the people in the next century.

The media has been rendered the most effective tool to promote the values of a consumerist, information age. In fact the mutually gainful relationship of the media and the industry appears to remain ever lasting, denying the former an opportunity to actualize of the potential it has to ameliorate the quality of the life of the faceless multitudes of the global denizens.

So, the ordinary mortals remain under continuous pressure to juggle with the different careers to earn more money and change their CTV or automobile for a new one, no matter how meretricious is the merit of the whole exercise.

The youngsters, at times, appear over doing the things, while they-naively believing upon the media-end up becoming emaciated while trying to achieve the ultimate shape of their bodies-as promoted in the media.

Or the others, who loose the health of their hairs of the skin due to the mal-nourishment they themselves, voluntarily imposed on their body and try to bring back the ‘lost’ health of their skin or hair by applying externally the different vitamins or minerals through the creams or the lotions.

The funnier is the story of the people, those pop up the capsules with ‘natural’ nutrients, to compensate for the nutrition they have missed out, while surviving on the junk food for a long time.

So consumption is the yardstick of the modern ‘cosmetic’ civilisation and the people those have missed the bandwagon are said to have become old and thus irrelevant.

The right to question

The spirited defense of the forces by an articulate reader (Talk back, January 26, 2000) deserves to be discussed more widely, for it represents the characteristic attitude of Nepali power elite. For the establishment, everything is ‘oh-just-perfect’ with our reality and its continuation till the kingdom come is in the best interest of everyone concerned. If only things were that simple.

Take the first reality for example. The knowledgeable reader agrees that there are no leaders in the army from a substantial section of Nepali society. He points out that ‘lots of them’ have joined the army but conveniently forgets to forward any figure. Just to put it in perspective, when the UK government discovered that the share of minorities in the British army was lower than their percentage in the national population, it immediately ordered a special recruitment drive.

One hopes that more than half of Nepali madhesis, dalits and other discriminated population groups will someday find an equitable share in what is supposed to be their national army. Here, it bears pointing out that no less a person than the Prime Minister himself had compared the national army of his country with the segregated racial brigades of a foreign country only about ten years ago. Equality of opportunity without equity and social justice merely puts a person with both his legs tied in a race with someone already far ahead of him.

Second reality, perhaps inevitable under the circumstances that we were in, but sad nevertheless, is that of innocent fellow Nepalis being at the receiving end of every single shot fired by our army for over one and half century. The fact that the composition of the army has always been racial, further complicates thing. A sizable section of the population does not identify itself with the uniform.

Third reality is about that little matter of a statement made by the Army Chief and denied not by him, but by the Defense Ministry. One only hopes that the Honorable Member of the National Security Council is more circumspect next time round he decides to voice his opinions on national security issues through the press, if only to save the ministry from the embarrassment of denying something that it had never said in the first place.

Life-style is always judged in the context of a country. Sometime ago, a manufacturer of traditional bricks had disclosed in the press that most of his buyers are either five-star hotels or army officers. While it says a lot about the concern for heritage among the brasses, it also says a little about their afford ability. Traditional bricks are costlier to buy, more expensive to install and need better class of furnishing to enhance their aesthetic value. Similar consciousness of taste, though even more accentuated, can be seen among the Pakistani brasses who mix and match designer tiles and authentic antiques to create an ambiance of opulence that is uniquely male and military.

The fourth, judging by the craft of the letter, I revise my earlier argument that the army isn’t media-savvy. Apparently it has acquired one in someone who can tread the fine line between misinformation and disinformation with felicity. The letter does not lie, it simply refuses to recognize the reality and tell the truth. Now, that’s some ability.

The fifth, and final, a force the size of an army does need giant fig-leaves to hide it hide its uselessness. Peace-keeping abroad and disaster relief operations at home do have their uses. They pay for all the white-plated green gas-guzzlers that have almost a free run of the city streets on any public holiday.

Lastly, I thank the diligent reader for minutely examining my arguments. For a writer, that’s the highest honor. On that little matter of insinuation about my patriotism, I think there is some merit in Samuel Johnson’s observation that it is the last refuge of a scoundrel. One does not need to obtain a certificate of loyalty to the nation-state and display it on one’s sleeves. It’s a very personal and private sentiment, a feeling that prompts a citizen not to die for his country, but to live for its people and fight with them against entrenched interests.

C.K. Lal
Kathmandu