Educate the lay men first!

Undoubtedly the Nepali population is experiencing for the first time a state of emergency in the country. Albeit we had heard from others about the nitty-gritty's of the nation's situation at time of the imposition of a state of emergency. However, experiencing it being inside the country and listening from others are quite two different things. We also understand that situation like the one wherein we are at the moment now has come upon us by the unilateral decision of the Maoists who point blank rejected the impending fourth round of talks and all of a sudden attacked some military posts in the western region of the country. Under such circumstances the government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba had no options left other than to appeal His Majesty King Gyanendra for the imposition of the state of emergency in the country and the King acted as per the advice of the government which allowed the military force to come heavily down against the insurgents. However, the government under Sher Bahadur Deuba committed a Himalayan blunder. It was a blunder in the sense that the establishment under Sher Bahadur Deuba prior to or immediately after the promulgation of the emergency should have geared up its propaganda machinery to educate the practically seventy percent of the population who are illiterate and do not understand the dynamics of a state which is called emergency. It is this set of illiterate chunk of the population who should have been told through the use of government owned electronic media about the do's and the dont's at time of emergency. Going a bit more further, we suspect that even the majority of the literate population including the men in the media too remain confused over certain aspects of the emergency now in force in the country. In absence of proper notification to the people chances remain fair that the innocent-illiterate population could mistakenly face penal actions from the security machinery that has taken up the charge to disarm the insurgents.

In our opinion, the prevalence of the state of emergency in the nation from the first three months to yet another period is evident for the battle that the Nepali army has already waged against the insurgents would presumably be a long-drawn one and hence the government in Kathmandu is politely suggested to begin training and educating the common illiterate population regarding what should and should not be done in the state of a emergency. This would not only educate the people but would also help the military men to distinguish between the real troublemakers and the innocent civilians. The Home Ministry might instruct its district officers to issue a sort of identification cards to the men living in the districts so that any untoward eventualities could be easily averted. The officers posted in the districts could also take up the matter themselves and tour the accessible areas falling under their jurisdiction in order to educate the lay men who presumably neither understand democracy nor the internal dynamics of the state of emergency. It is this set of the "'ignorant and the innocent" people who at the very grassroots were being lured by the insurgents and causing panic in and among the rest of the common men in the remote areas.

The government owned electronic media and the likes from other private sector could do well if they take up the matter seriously and help those illiterates who could become the victim of the state of emergency and that too by default. It is high time that the establishment gives serious attention to this suggestion and acts accordingly.

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