Are not we in the media sector corrupt?

I possess very high regards for the men in the uniforms. This automatically should mean that I value their job what they perform while being in the attractive uniforms. The Police and the military men look indeed very charming in the uniforms.

I consider their duties to be very important for the society and the nation. It is this set of men in uniforms who in essence allow us to enjoy free and secured lives. Had they been not present in the society, panic would have prevailed automatically for the troublemakers would have created havoc in the society and thereby in the nation. Thanks that the nation-state possesses this mechanism which enables the society to live a life free from chaos and panic.

To recall, in our own case, it is the police and the military men who sacrificed their precious lives during the course of their fighting the Maoists in the remote districts and villages of this nation. It was this set which fought a battle with the Maoists insurgency prior to the declaration of the emergency in order that the national population would live a life free from the threats of the insurgency. It is this set again together with the Nepali army is struggling hard to contain the threats of the insurgency. In the process many a precious lives have been sacrificed both from the police and the military camp. We highly appreciate their unforgettable contributions made all in the name of the population and the state.

However, at times, certain events or for that matter some happenings do deflect us all from their hard-won credibility. At times it has also been seen that the men in uniforms, mostly police, do misuse their uniforms and become a source of trouble to the society itself. In effect at times the police men instead of acting like a protector exhibit a character that we practically do not even imagine.

My friends have told me that the policemen deal with the common men in a very unfriendly manner. I have been given to understand that the policemen while issuing driving license ask bribe. Likewise I have been told that the policemen who check the motor vehicles and motor cycles ask money from the defaulters and do not provide the bill.

Allegations are galore. Accusing the policemen of such corrupt practices is one thing but proving those is perhaps entirely different. Nevertheless, what could be bluntly told that not all policemen were corrupt. This means that some could be corrupt.

My own experience has been that the policemen do not ask money from you unless you yourself wish to pay. For example, I applied for a driving license in Rajbiraj. I was a journalist and could have pressed very the police authorities in Rajbiraj. However, the fact was that the policemen though knew that I was a journalist but yet forced me to undergo all the required trials and the procedures which is a must prior to getting a driving license.

I got the license but had not to pay any extra amount as alleged by my friends.

At another level, I was recently told a story about a corruption of a different nature. It so happened that an American pleased by the Rickshaw puller in Biratnagar some years back awarded the puller hundred dollars in cash. The American was simply happy because the Rickshaw man brought him to the airport on time. Had the Rickshaw man not been active the American would have missed his connecting flights.

One policeman saw the American awarding the Rickshaw puller cash in dollars. Immediately after the foreigner proceeded towards the airliner counter, the policeman nabbed the Rickshaw puller and told him that "you are not supposed to carry foreign currency. Hand it over to me or face the consequences". A completely surprised and dumbfound-illiterate poor Rickshaw man deposited the foreign currency to the policeman. A kindhearted policeman in lieu gave twenty rupees Nepali to the poor man in lieu of the hundred-dollar currency note. This is an eye witness account. The year and the dates could not be printed because the man who told me himself could not recall.

Very freshly, one such incident happened in my own area. It was last Wednesday around eleven in the morning. One Nepali gentleman was in his motorbike. He was in his mourning white dress. In this dress one is allowed to drive the bike without the helmet. But yet the person in mourning must wear a white cap. The man in debate here unfortunately neither wore helmet nor had a white cam. A policeman comes into the scene. He then asks several questions to the defaulter. Open-air dealing begins. The policeman asks five hundred rupees for the default. The defaulter later settles for three hundred. The policeman does not provide him the receipt of the money thus received.

It happens. Nepali society is slightly changing and the change is towards the worst. Some people possess strong characters. Some do not.

The root cause of the corruption cases in police paraphernalia is perhaps low salary. After all the policemen too possess family. They too have ailing parents. They also have in their family some sisters and brothers who expect funding from their brothers for their studies. The sister has got to be married. Marriages in Nepal are becoming costlier by every passing year.

Under such circumstances, if a junior level policeman asks for a bribe should not be taken as a crime. Yes! The criminals are those who have openly looted the nation while being in the ministries.

If I were in government, I would have penalized the corrupt leaders instead of taking actions against the poor junior level policemen.

Double the salary and look the results. Do not go for the crime. Investigate what causes the crime to take shape.

Let me ask one question to you all: "Are not we in the media sector corrupt? Have not we misused our pen?

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