Despise Not Thy Mother

-By Sunil K.C.

Today is World Mother’s Day. Only ten days ago Nepalese, too, celebrated the Day feasting our mothers and praying for their well-being, but remaining quite oblivious of the state of our mothers. How does Nepalese mothers fare with their counterparts around the world?

A recent report of the Save the Children, a leading children development organisation of the US, has revealed some shocking truth about the state of Nepalese mothers.

According to the study done in 106 countries around the world, Nepalese mothers rank among the lowest in the world. What may be more disgraceful to us, who put mothers at par with the Almighty himself, is that in only two other countries- Gambia and Angola- mothers rank lower.

The 10 countries where mothers fare the best are, in order, Norway, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, United States, the Netherlands, Britain, Finland, France and Cyprus. And the ten countries at the bottom are, in descending order, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Burundi, Ethiopia, Chad, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Gambia and Angola. All those countries, except Nepal, are in the sub-Saharan Africa.

What enhances the mothers status? In the top countries, the report says, female literacy ranges over 90 per cent, the lifetime risk of a woman dying in childbirth is less than one in 3,000, infant mortality ranges from four to eight for every 1000 live birth and access is virtually universal to safe drinking water and education.

The situation is revered in the bottom 10, says the report.

In Nepal, according to the Human Development in South Asia 1999, only 14 per cent of Nepalese women are literate as against the country’s average of 28. That means 5.4 million, which is 86 per cent of the total adult female population, are illiterate; the infant mortality is 75 per every 1000 live birth; the under-five mortality rate per 1000 live birth is 104. Nepal has a maternal mortality rate of 1,500 out of every 100,000 live birth and only 29 per cent of women use contraception. These and all other social indicators say Nepalese women are suffering from the most distressing deprivations - economically, socially and politically.

The health, literacy and the economic well-being of mothers and women are closely interlined with the fate of the world’s coming generation of children. Everything detrimental step the country takes has a direct bearing on the state of women and children in a country.

For example, every rupee that is taken out of drinking water project means the women have to walk one extra step to fetch water or every rupee taken out of the health budget means one more woman or her child may suffer from maternal-related cause or one women may be devoid of family planning methods or every rupees lost to corruption or other corrupt practice may mean one girl child is barred from going to school or every rupee spent by men on alcohol means one woman may have to go to bed hungry. The non-representation of women in the decision making level has often meant that many decisions about women are prejudiced against women, and women’s necessity and requirements do not often take a back seat in the programmes and policies of the government. This disparity is taking its toll in the whole economic and social progress.

This clearly means, the whole attitude of the society towards women and mothers is so lop-sided that on one hand we worship our mothers, but on the other we deprive them of the basic requirements needed for an honourable life. It is time to take the mothers down from the pedestal and treat them as human beings.

Jottings: Idle And Otherwise

-By MRJ

Not surprisingly, a great deal of speech-making took place recently on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, which is all very well — and all very predictable.

However, what really grabbed this jotter’s attention was by a small, single-page item pushed into the back page of a local broadsheet the other day.

DANGEROUS: The news story in question had to do with some sobering statistics issued by a Nepali human rights organisation, Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies.

It reminded one and all that, despite all the hullabaloo about press freedom in the aftermath of the Jana Andolan in 1990, one journalist had been killed, while three disappeared in the past year in democratic Nepal.

In addition, it claimed that nine journos had been arrested in the same time span, while around two dozen had been threatened or otherwise ill-treated. On top of that, we’re told, five hacks were sent off to jail on charges of contempt of court.

Not a very encouraging or heart-warming record, wouldn’t you say? In the meantime, what has also raised eyebrows all around is the disclosure that a law is on the anvil that will monitor terrorism in the world of Nepali journalism.

One therefore waits with bated breath to see how things develop on that front.

Still on the local scene, I must say I was quite taken up by a report that the son of a big-shot business type fired two rounds at a Tahachal night club which simply refused to shutdown a noisy party going on well past mid-night.

Although, normally one doesn’t encourage young guys shooting from the hip at one and sundry at the drop of a bhadgaulay topi, this jotter discovered that there was quite a lot of sympathy for the trigger-happy bloke in question particularly because nothing was apparently done to get the night club to tone down its late night din, despite repeated complaints to the police in the past.

If people certainly have the right to party, others should surely have the corresponding right not to be disturbed, too. Which, as you will recall, is just another way of expressing the old, old dictum: your freedom stops where my nose begins.

FOREIGN STUDIES: When Robin Cook, the British Foreign Secretary, came a-visiting recently he disclosed, among other things, that Britain would be increasing the number of scholarships to Nepal.

Cook had also referred to the fact that Britain, under Prime Minister Tony Blair, is now seriously marketing British education as a brand. With that in mind, this scribbler was inspired to read a piece in the Times of India the other day that focused on that very theme.

Britain, it seems, is now trying to reverse an idea that seems to have stuck on the minds of young people today - the US, and not the UK, is now the promised land for education.

Thus, while Oxford, Cambridge and LSE are still important, the emerging destinations are, very definitely, Wharton, Harvard and Stanford.

In order to sell Britain as a brand, for higher education, London it seems is all geared up to review its visa, scholarship and work regulations: key areas in student recruitment.

Research by the British Council showed that students perceived the US as friendly, creative, innovative, and above all as throwing open its door to those who wanted to stay on and work. The US was the land of opportunity and high tech. The UK in contrast emerged as over fussy — stingy about offering scholarships and reluctant to issue work permits.

That is why, one in told, that in its new combative avatar, Britain is set to beat the US as it own game — to substantially cut into the latter’s market share of overseas talent by offering the same incentives. Indeed, it has an inspiring, seductive slogan for the aspiring international student: (we’ll make you) The best you can be.

Will the Blair gambit work? According to the TOI journalist, there is not much difference between second-rung universities in the US and the UK. Both are expensive and the quality of education is comparable. Well that, at least, is the theory.

What’s the practice likely to be? Britain’s worst enemy is Britain, official Britain. PR executives employed by Blair can draw up the most ambitious of plans for overseas recruitment... For all its proclaimed interest in attracting more foreign students, official Britain is unashamedly arrogant why it wants them.

Apparently that is for foreign students trained in the UK to become tomorrow’s ministers and political leaders, thereby expanding British influence and clout in the future.

That apart, it would seem that there are still formidable barriers to meaningful relaxation of work permit regulations.

In that case, most international students of the English-language stream will still choose to make their way to the US rather than to the UK. While the piece in question focuses on Indian students, I believe much of what has been said is applicable to Nepalese students who also want to work while studying — and then to stay on as long as possible. Anyway, it’s good the Brits are now trying to be more helpful to attract foreign students.