Youth, Media and Democracy

The irony is that though the mercury is going down and down, Nepali politics continues to be just the otherwise. It gives me an impression that there exist some sort of confrontation in between the constitutional monarch and the political parties since October 4 and in the process Nepal’s youths, Nepali media including this newspaper and above all those who have deliberately been neglected and denied participation in the system of governance—that is the vast chunk of the population who remain outside the periphery of the political parties, all remain confused and bewildered. The confusion thus created is in the process of increasing which ultimately will take its toll time permitting.

Nepal needs a generation of youth that will handle the nation’s historic task of maintaining democratic identity judiciously with greater respect for the rule of law, the principle of fairness and the idea of freedom. But instead, we observe the Nepali youths in the crowds of congress , the UML and the RPP demonstration rallies. They could be seen meaninglessly loitering around all in frustration. Nepali youths are being used by political parties as their political tools which should not have happened. The numerical number of the unemployed youths is on an increase with the establishment having no regard for their plight as a consequence they could be seen in the long queue at the gate of the American embassy trying their luck to their entry into the US. The utter disregard exhibited by the establishment to their genuine causes apparently have forced some illiterate and poverty stricken youths to join the insurgency. This could have been avoided had there been any substantial effort from the establishment beginning 1990.

The media too remains excessively biased for obvious reasons. The fact is also that running a newspaper needs some resources which is becoming more and more expensive. In order to compete or for that matter continue to exist, we compromise some where and begin serving a particular political line thus begin cheating the people with manufactured disinformation that suits to our political masters.

Likewise, Nepali democracy as I see it is different to different political parties. Congress definition of democracy is entirely different from the UML’s. The RPP too has advanced a new definition of democracy mainly after the party got a new president. In the process, the people yet again get confused. What has been my own experience collected over these democratic years is that political parties have defined the system in their own ways that suited them post politically and a section of the media have been kind enough to interpret it as dictated by their political masters. It is a shame on the entire profession.

Is the democratic process justified if it leads to unjust or immoral outcomes? It is justified but the factors that affect its smooth functioning have got to be eliminated in order to regain the trust for the world’s best system ever known. Will Koirala, Madhav Nepal and Pashupati Rana look into the matter? They should but will not.

To me, democracy as it was classically understood meant above all direct citizen’s participation. But the political parties must answer whether they cared for this? Albeit they thought that their committed cadres were the "people" and did not see outside their camps that there remained a vast chunk of population whose needs too needed to be addressed.

The fault lay not in the system. Those who were told to man the system committed blunders after blunders. This they have to admit but appear not to be in a mood to admit. This is yet again a Himalayan blunder, to say the least.

--Welcome speech delivered by the author at the inaugural session of the Media seminar jointly organised by this newspaper with the support of FES/Kathmandu on December 27, 2002 at Hotel Radission. 

SAARC initiative on regional cooperation-V

V. Environment: Successive Summits have underscored the need for intensification of regional cooperation for the preservation of environment and for disaster management to ensure that the development process in the Member States were nt undermined. Five SAARC Ministerial Meetings on Environment have been held so far. The first two meetings were held in New Delhi in 1992 and 1997 while the Third and the Fourth in Male’ and Colombo in 1997 and 1998 respectively. The most recent and Fifth meeting was held in Thimphu in August 2002. The Third meeting of Environment Ministers (Male’, 1997) adopted the SAARC Plan of Action on Environment. The Plan seeks to evaluate the status of SAARC cooperation in the field of environment, identifies the concern of Member States at regional and global levels, and sets out parameters and modalities for enhanced cooperation. The main responsibility for the implementation of the Action Plan rests with the Member states. Each Member State is called upon to prepare a National Action Plan. A SAARC State of the Environment Report will then be prepared based on national reports. The Fourth Environment Ministers Meeting adopted the Common Environment Program (Colombo, 1998). The Program recalled various major international instruments and declarations on environment and noted the importance of enhanced cooperation in sharing information in the region to promote effective management of the environment for the benefit of all the Member Countries. The Common Environment Program provides for Compilation of a regional directory of scientific and technological institutions in the field of environment and state-of –the-art report on eco-friendly technologies;

Promotion of Coastal Zone Management;

Promotion of Disaster Management and Disaster Prevention;

Adoption of a regional framework for protecting all genetic resources and for the exchange of information on enabling legal measures;

Focusing on a single theme in each of their future meetings to highlight specific environmental projects within the region. The theme for the year 2002/2003 was decided as "Contribution of Youth to Environment";

VI. Energy: You must agree that energy has immense potential for regional initiatives. There is a critical demand-supply gap in South Asia because of a shortfall in the power generation capacity. In many aspects, the low growth we see in the region can be attributed to low per capita consumption of energy in the region resulting from the persistent energy shortage, the paucity of energy-related infrastructure and uneven distribution of the available energy, both within countries and across the region. Clearly there is a need for more coordinated and rational development of energy resource, and distribution of energy and power through more intense cooperation among Member States. A new Technical Committee, among others, are to develop a common understanding on energy cooperation in South Asia; to provide a forum to discuss ways and leans of developing and harnessing the existing energy resources within the region; to facilitate the exchange of information and to promote regional agreements between Member Countries; to facilitate interaction between Governments, the private sector and the experts, and appropriate community based organizations active in the field; to consider ,modalities/technical details regarding establishment of a South Asia Energy grid, when necessary; and to consider the desirability and feasibility of obtaining supplementary technical and other resources from other regional and international partners.

The First Meeting of the Technical Committee on Energy took place in Dhaka last week. The Committee stressed on the importance of sharing information, as it is vital for the success of any regional or coutry level program on energy. The Committee also recommended for necessary steps to disseminate information among the Member Countries for developing a data bank on energy. The committee emphasized the importance of use of environment-friendly energy sources, and stressed the need to exploit all sources of environment friendly energy such as hydro, solar, bio-gas, wind etc. Member countries also offered to share their positive experience in the field of CNG, LPG and other clean motor fuel. The Meeting also recommended establishment framework for sharing experiences and information in this field.

VII. People to People Contacts and the promotion of a South Asian Identity: SAARC Leaders have attached high priority to the promotion of people-to-people contacts in the region to strengthen mutual understanding and goodwill among the peoples of South Asia. While SAARC in an inter-governmental Association, successive Summits have emphasized the importance of promoting people-to-people contacts at all levels. In order to give effect to this concept, a number of initiatives have been taken under the aegis of SAARC. These include (a) adoption of a SAARC exemption Scheme; (b) recognition of Professional Bodies; and (c) recognition of SAARC Regional Apex bodies e.g. SAARC Chamber fo Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

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