Maoist Insurgency Solution In The Offing?

-By Jawahar Manandhar

Whether a Maoist or a police personnel or an innocent civilian whoever is killed or has died in the violent activities perpetrated by the Maoists in the name of so-called ‘people’s war’ and in fighting between the police and them, it should not be forgotten, is a Nepali. The killing of more than 1200 people during the period and the large scale attack unleashed by the Maoists in the four years of their insurgency is something which needs serious consideration not only from the government side, but also by the opposition parties too. The Maoists, too, should realise that their violent activities do not benefit anyone as the history of the world clearly tells us that violence has never paid in a positive way anywhere in the world.  What it can do is render the country shattered politically, economically and socially.

The terror created by the insurgency has forced the innocent people in the affected villages to flee their homes. If the Maoists give a second thought to their violent activities they, too, would realise that all the development activities in those areas have come to a standstill.

It can be said that until normalcy returns to those affected areas there can be no development. Keeping this fact in mind the NC majority government of Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has given utmost importance in solving the Maoist problem through dialogue. This has been manifested in the address to the joint session of parliament the other day. The government’s commitment for a peaceful solution to the Maoist problem can be gauged from the fact that, as he has said, a group which has pursued the path of violence in the name of Maoists has come closer to holding talks as a result of its efforts to solicit all party consensus and intensify multi-dimensional efforts including political and administrative for ensuring for peace and security in the country and it seems there will be some  concrete results soon.

The seriousness and the commitment of the government can also be realised by the formation of a high level Maoist Problem Resolution and Recommendation Committee headed by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba which has already started showing some positive signs towards solving the problem after it held consultations with other political parties to bring about a consensus to solve it.

Equally important is the Ganesh Man Singh Peace campaign which has been formulated to inspire the Maoists to shun violence and lead a peaceful life and enter the main stream of national politics within the framework of constitution and thereby be a part of the national development.

Not only the government, but the Nepali Congress party too, is equally sensitive to the issue. This has been proved by the daring tour initiated by the NC president Girija Prasad Koirala to address the mass meeting in the Maoist-affected areas of the remote districts. The killing of the people who were heading for the mass meeting of Koirala indicates that the Maoists are bent on checking the people to attend any such meeting  and stop them to listen the truth prevailing in the country.

Despite all these it is heartening to note that the Maoists seem to have become soft and realistic and have shown interest for talks. This itself may not be end of the violence because in the past too they have shown dual nature of agreeing to sit for talks but later rejecting it without any valid reason. However, this time it seems to look serious.      

Moreover, there is no problem which cannot be sorted out through dialogue and peaceful talks. It is an opportunity for all, including the Maoists, to stop the violent activities. But the main responsibility lies on the part of the Maoists as it is them who have to be supple and do away with the violent activities they have been perpetrating  because in a democratic polity there is enough opportunity for everybody to be a participant in the process of nation building for the overall prosperity of the people.

On The Occasion Of Women's Day
Women Themselves Should Rise

-By Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

The whole world is celebrating the women’s day this Wednesday (March 8). The last few decades of the past century saw the empowerment of women mainly in the western world.  However, women in other parts of the world, particularly in South Asia, have to face many challenges.

Women in this region have to face challenges in at least five fronts for their empowerment. They are social, cultural, economical, legal and political.   And for their social upliftment and empowerment, women need to start struggle from their own homes.

The social standard set by our society has been a stumbling bloc for women's overall development. Taking a very simple example: A working woman is also expected to fulfill her duties inside the house like cooking and cleaning. For these jobs she hardly get cooperation from her spouse. It is time now to change such social norm. It is appropriate to start convincing your spouse that he also needs to lend hands to household chores.

Culturally too, women are at the receiving end. Women cannot perform the last rites for their parents, even if she is the oldest or the only child of her parents. Is it not an old thinking?  There is need to break apart such gender bias thinking and activities.  It is true that some women themselves do not like such drastic changes, but it is time for women to begin reforming those things.

Economically, women are the service providers without getting any remuneration.  Even if a woman is not working and her only job is to take care of her house, there is a need for them to claim that she is also contributing equally for the welfare of the household. It is also time for the women's job at home to be recognized. Children will not grow up without a mother taking care of them; the house will not be in order if you do not put everything in order. House-keeping is a full time job for any person.

Women do not have the rights to the parental property.  A woman is also born to her parents as her brothers did, but woman do not have the right to stake claim on any thing of the parents. A woman is at the mercy of her parents and brother. It is now time for the women to vigorously demand for equal rights to parental property.

Women have been sidelined in the political front too. Although, the constitution of the country gives equal political rights to women such as equal rights to stand in the election and to vote for someone, but when a woman wishes step ahead politically, the male counterparts stand on the way. That is why we have only a very few elected women in the parliament.  So, it is time for women to fight for equal political rights and opportunities in the real sense.

Occasions like the March 8 will come and go but women will remain as second class citizens until they themselves begin changing the mindset of men - be they are your father, brother,

husband or sons, gender bias will continue.

Women must keep in their minds that the exploiters are no one else but their own near and dear ones.  They love you because they need your services. They show their sympathy to you only to cover up their exploitative minds. They say that they will help you only to divert your attention from demanding for an equal status in society.  If you go on tolerating all these injustices you will never be able to live with honor and justice even in the new millennium.

Let us begin our movement for women’s empowerment at home, and then to take it to the streets and to the parliament.

Book Review
Art For Society's Sake

Bhagna Astha Ko Khandhar: An Anthology of Short Stories by Vijaya Chalise, Published by Sangrila Prakashan, Kathmandu, Price: Not mentioned, Pages 10+106.

-By Gopi Sapkota

It is good to know that we still have writers who along with getting satisfaction from writing, try to correct the wrongdoers by their pen. However, it is an irony that these write-ups are hardly read.

It is a known fact that we can not have an utopian society except wishing for that. But again, we can no longer be satisfied with the system of life we are condemned to live. When pains of dissatisfaction grow mature writers can no longer remain silent. So has Bijaya Chalise done in his newly released anthology of short stories entitled 'Bhagna Astha Ko Khandhar'.

The book has a lot to say. It has a lot to share. And they are nothing new but the problems we have been facing.

It seems Chalise, an already established writer and journalist,   has a purpose in his writing like that of Mathew Arnold who propounded the idea of art for the sake of society. Chalise coincides his feelings and experiences of this mundane society with that of general people and thus orients the readers towards their feelings and experiences.

The book, with a total of 18 short stories in it, portrays a true picture of the contemporary Nepalese society. It’s a pure reflection of existing social and political anomalies and aberrations. The stories in the anthology not only inform but also leave an impression of a mundane society in which we are condemned to survive with a sigh of dissatisfaction.

The first story of the collection ‘Yug Yugki Janaki’ talks about a mythical character to portray the state of women. The story is about Sita, a mythical character of the epic Ramayana. It X-rays the mental agony of Sita when she was being imprisoned by Ravana, the demon king. Sita remembers the incident when the demon king's sister, Surpanakha, had proposed Ram,  Sita's husband  to marry her when they were on 14-year exile. Ram and his brother Laxman had cut off the nose and ears of Suparnakha because she had taken Sita as her rival. By then, Ram’s dedication towards her had made her feel an immense sense of happiness. But now, she realises that Surpanakha was also a woman and the case of Surpanakha at that time was similar to hers.

In this story, the author has projected the feministic approach to look at the society. The story articulates the existence of women in the society from the very beginning. The society has treated women as a ‘thing’ and not as a human being. Each woman in the society, whether she is Sita or Surpanakha, is like an object. Women are compelled to accept the physical and mental torture created by men. Both Sita and Surpanakha are women, and are the victims of men.

Paru, another story of this anthology, has to talk about how traditional our society is. The story is about caste discrimination. Paru, the main figure of the story, belongs to so called untouchables. Hari, a man from upper caste society, falls in love with her. Since Hari pertains to superior level of society, his so called relatives become barrier to their love.

The story is written on flash back technique and the plot is very strong. This is the reality of women in the Nepalese society. Most of the people in the village are bound to face this situation. It is because they can neither speak against so called cultural values nor can go against them.

Another story "Harke Kehi Bujdaina" (Harke doesn’t understand anything) again is a big  satire against the functionings of the government and bureaucracy and their biasness for the rich only. The story speaks for the poors and suggests the policy makers to think of poors before making plans and decisions.

The title story, meanwhile, talks about how truth, intelligence, responsibilities, peace and faith have disappeared and falsehood has ruled the society.  

Many of Chalise’s stories like 'Nirdosh Prasna' (An Innocent Question), 'Sampurna Kranti'  (A Complete Movement), 'Charkeko Ghar' (Wrecked House) etc. can be studied from Marxist point of view. For Marxism, society is everything and art should be for the society and it should be able to direct it. Chalise’s choice is society. The subject matter on which he writes is about society and the purpose he writes is to bring change in it.

His stories also talk about movements and police tortures. They also speak about corruption and other social injustices.

 Portraying the present day human miseries, the author aims to generate awareness regarding social absurdities. By creating awareness on those social absurdities, he tries to make people to get up from a sleep of  Rip Van Winkle and fight against existing social maladies.

Furthermore, Chalise's stories exhibit the injustices subsisted in the society and the partiality. However, there is no diversity of thought in his stories. Many stories serve the same taste to the readers--the conflict between two classes. Having depicted the minor aspects of events in a lucid but effective manner Chalise has revealed his expert hand.

The language used in his short stories is very simple and lucid. This may be because of his journalistic background.

Chalise a journalist by profession and a novelist, essayist and a storywriter by career also writes for the Children as well. He has already written six books on different genres like novel, essay, short story and six more books on children’s literature. Altogether 13 books of Chalise, including the present one, have been published so far.