Factors Behind the Maoist People's War-III

BY: D.B. Gurung

Conflicts in society arise from unmet needs and aspirations of people, deprivation and marginalization. The People's War started in the most deprived areas of the country, from districts like Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Salyan, Gorkha and Sindhuli, where government and mainstream political parties had neglected the existing inequalities, feudal exploitation, growing deaths by hunger and discontent that roiled the area with explosive tensions (Dahal: 30). However, despite collective failures in development endeavors, it is worth mentioning the advancement made in various spheres during the twelve democratic years in comparison to the thirty-year Panchayat rule. Victory over the bigoted ancien regime by the Popular Movement (1990) brought about not only freedom of press and speech, but has also given impetus to the pent-up voices gagged for centuries of the indigenous nationalities, madhesi, dalit, non-Hindus, non-Khas-Nepali speakers and women, which has led to the establishment of discrete socio-cultural forums as well as political parties of these groups to represent their distinct identities and agendas. This is one of the landmark achievements of our times and has boosted the morale and dignity of the common Nepali people.

The explosion of identity-based politics quickly became a societal trend after the restoration of democracy in 1990. This resulted in the visible outburst of a strong ethnic assertion related to secularization of the state, protection and promotion of mother tongues, cultural and ethnic and regional autonomy and self-rule, and right to self-determination. The call for secularism is obviously to delegitimize the constitutional superiority of the tagadhari over the indigenous groups. One of the political parties to be established was Rastriya Janamukti Party (for the liberation of Indigenous Peoples), constituted basically of the ethnic janajati matuwali (alcohol-user as designated by the tagadhari) groups. The Party advocated among other things proportional representation and federalism. It was followed by the Janajati Party that raised its voice for ethnic and regional autonomy of twelve different groups. Since then there have been dozens of other such organizations to come to the fore.

Although the People's War is assumed to be a purely class based struggle for a radical shake-up in the overall state machinery for the representation of ethnically diverse groups and for more responsiveness to the needs of rural communities, nevertheless at its core it also seems to be accommodative of ethnic, caste, and gender dimensions. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has committed itself to ethnic, regional and linguistic issues by including ethnic and regional autonomy and right to self-determination in its party agenda. The indigenous nationalities find the Maoist policy best suited to their interests, according to some indigenous activists, and indigenous peoples who believe in the policy have become involved in the Maoist movement. Well, even in the Maoist leadership the highest echelon is dominated by Brahmans, prominently by Prachanda and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, and the people still have to wait and see the legitimacy of their words.

No matter whether the Maoists are militarily crushed en masse or the Maoists attained power over the state, the ethnic janajati are not going home quietly and empty-handed this time, without their demands fulfilled. The worst Armageddon is in the offing if their demands are disregarded. It is too early to forget that how a nearly unheard of bunch of communists (CPN-Maoist) could wreck havoc nationwide. The size of the janajati groups in the country and their martial history should not be miscalculated. John Dryden had warned some three hundred years ago: "Beware the fury of the patient man."

Several ethnic liberation fronts belonging to the ethnic janajati groups, for example, the Limbhuwan National Liberation Front, Tamuwan National Liberation Front, Tharuwan National Liberation Front, Magarat (Magar) National Liberation Front, Khambuwan National Front, and similar liberation fronts of other indigenous nationalities as well as the madhesi and the dalit are either politically active in pursuing their goals or are increasingly taking interest in the Maoist movement. A Maoist leaflet, The Worker, with the launching of the People's War in 1996, declared: "To maintain the hegemony of one religion (i.e., Hinduism), language (i.e., Nepali), and nationality (i.e., Khas), this state has for centuries exercised discrimination, exploitation, and oppression against other religions, languages, and nationalities, and has conspired to fragment the forces of national unity that is vital for proper development and security of the country." Dr. Baburam Bhattarai (a high ranking Maoist leader) corroborated further: "The oppressed regions within the country are primarily the regions inhabited by the indigenous people since time immemorial. These indigenous people dominated regions that were independent tribal states prior to the formation of the centralized state in the later half of the eighteenth century, have been reduced to the present most backward and oppressed condition due to the internal feudal exploitation and the external semi-colonial oppression ... Thus, according to the concrete situation it is necessary to solve the problem of oppressed regions and nationalities by granting regional and national autonomy."

Courtesy: Conflicts, Human Rights & Peace: Challenges Before Nepal Editor: Bipin Adhikari Published by: NHRC

Journalists Work in Civil Peace

Dev Raj Dahal, FES, Nepal

Growing violence in the nation continues to dehumanize the Nepalese people. It has even propelled the eviction of journalists from conflict areas, inflicting the violation of their rights and undermining their pursuit. In the context of a brutal contest for power and control, reporting objectively is not easy. Any attempt by journalists to project the visibility of victims is, therefore, pregnant with the potential risk to their profession, life and liberty.

Eviction of journalists means the condition of people of those areas is made meek, voiceless and invisible. A lack of voice and visibility deprives the Nepalese citizens of their constitutional right to know and participate in critical decisions. Journalists’ withdrawal from conflict-prone areas, accommodation to the expectation of oppressor, self-induced paralysis of the moral will, error of reporting, conspiracy of silence or false contentment mark a very ugly trend for the development of fair journalism.

Undemocratic forces do not want to hear news that is at odds with their basic beliefs, memories and interests. They attempt to bottle up information so that they are answerable to no one. Who does the surveillance of the socio-political environment then when there is an absence of media personnel? Who informs the civilized community about the spiraling human rights crises? What does the neutralization of media power convey? Addressing these problems is by no means easy given the complex nature of conflict in Nepal.

Free and independent media exposes the corruption of power and lends a voice to the citizens’ resistance. But, there are many political actors who do not value openness and transparency in public life. They tend to stifle those media that attempt to peddle knowledge to the public, stimulate open discourse and highlight the causes of structural injustices for policy attention. The sense of injustice is largely human-induced, not born. Without proper communicative condition between the people and political forces, Nepalese society cannot be rationally shaped and social condition cannot become a subject of critical reflection and reform. Victimhood of journalists saps their duties in supplying information necessary for informed participation of citizens in public affairs and reflecting feedback to the institutional mechanism of power. What are the innovative ways to reach to those people who are made voiceless by fear of violence? Under condition of monopoly of news by powerful actors in conflict-prone areas how diverse peoples’ concerns and needs are articulated? How are they made conflict sensitive? Are there alternative resources available for media pluralism?

The initiative of International Press Institute-Nepal National Committee (IPI-N) to address the problem of eviction of journalists from conflict affected areas demonstrates a good example of how journalists, media houses and institutions are willing to work in civil peace, restore justice to the victims and renew their watchdog functions. This also mirrors their ability to effect professional solidarity and solve the problem of collective action. This is, however, not a sustainable solution of the problem of the problem of eviction. It is merely a short-term relief whereby victimized journalists are provided some opportunities to have some of their immediate needs met.

The press is neither context-free nor free from the constitutional framework and the code of media ethics. It can not shy away from the fundamental issues facing the nation either. Given the everyday deepening political crisis and corresponding media socialization of Nepali people about political uncertainty, protection of individual journalists requires a collective will to solve the particular problem of their fellows and general problem of the ordinary people. The public realm of journalists is embedded in the general life of people, where all members are attached to the same subject, but from dissimilar positions and diverse perspectives. Journalism reflects diversity of political life, often in comprehensive political detail. If, the conditions under which freedom is constrained by fear and oppression, problem of eviction of journalists remains. What is the way out of it?

First, victim journalists’ needs and rights should become central to the rehabilitation program so that they will be able to continue with their duty of independent and informed reporting, liberating people from ignorance and contributing to public good. Information itself is public good. Once information is made public, it cannot be reverted to secrecy to the benefit of special interest groups of society. A little care by media associations and journalists and their collective rational voice can enable individual journalists to continue their work on, in and around conflicts, defend the freedom of conscience and enable the people to live in civil coexistence. Justice to the victim is a precondition to peace. Second, building a coalition of journalists across political spectrum for collective action and making the violators of human rights accountable to law and people. But, socially responsible and ethical journalism should attempt to avoid a culture of revenge. Revenge causes a deadly spiral, incompatible with the civilized society and democratic principles that respect opposing beliefs. They should, however, continue to challenge the complacent belief in an unjust world, discuss about the suitability of a particular kind of peace and mobilize public opinion in its defense.

Conflict resolution by eliminating opponents (muscular peace) did not prove feasible in the country. Conflict resolution by satisfying the powerful actors (hegemonic peace) tried in 1950 and 1990 too did not yield durability. It did not help the nation achieve structural stability of the polity, economy and society. The only rational option before the nation appears now is democratic peace which is expected to address the root causes of the conflict, become socially inclusive and transformatory in nature.

Democracy requires the removal of the barriers to the channels of communication between media and its audience, debunk hidden truth about the irrational operation of power, discipline and socialization and help to restore the order of human freedom and justice. Only in such a just world, journalists can set themselves from the politics of fear, shape public opinion and contribute to democratic will formation and peace.

Growing concern on corporate governance in the development debate

Dr. Tilak Rawal

The economic situation in Nepal has been adversely affected in recent years due mostly to non-economic factors. Despite promises made and efforts put forth the level of absolute poverty in the country is expected to have increased to 42.5 percent. The negative growth rate in 2002 (-0.50 percent) has been inadequate to meet the economic needs of a population, which is growing by 2.2 percent annually. Several factors, both external and internal, are believed to have contributed to this slowdown in the economy. The incidents of global terrorism in September 2001 and thereafter exerted shocking impact on the international market. Global terrorism and its after effects may have caused a decline of 0.2 percent in the volume of the world trade in 2001. In the domestic front, the country witnessed problems of insecurity emanating form Maoist struggle, political instability and weakness in corporate governance poor institutional capacity, poor transparency and accountability inadequate legal frame works, and weak human resources that limited country’s growth potential.

In recent years, there has been increasing concern about corporate governance issues in the development debate of the country. It is being increasingly believed that there is a vital connection between sound and responsive system of government administration and effective operation of the economy. In this context, issues such as democratic frame-works, transparency, accountability, predictability and participatory development have become important in many developing countries. These issues have been critical in Nepal as well. The World Bank in the year 2000 argued that the central constraint on Nepal’s development over the last few decades has not been the paucity of resources, but the lack of effective governance and well functioning institutions, which can adequately perform the vital state functions, which are essential for a coherent economic and social development process. Adequate manifestation of these problems is found in weak institutions and procedures, lack of ownership of development projects and programs, lack of accountability and mismanagement of resources, failure to provide effective delivery of public services, including law and order, absence of a well-functioning judicial system and increased corruption. Creating well functioning efficient state machinery has therefore become a prerequisite to sustainable development in any country.

The financial sector is by no means an exception to this notion. OECD sees poor corporate governance as one of the root cause of the recent Asian Financial Crisis. The absence of effective disciplines on corporate managers, coupled with complicated and opaque relationships between corporations, their owners and their finance provides severely affected investors’ confidence in the region’s corporate sectors.

Indeed, the Asian Crisis of 1997 showed that good corporate governance is important not only for individual corporations to raise capital but also for an economy to achieve sustainable growth. Further, the Asian Crisis also suggested that improvements in public and corporate governance and an increased focus on transparency and accountability were important for strengthening the financial system of a country. In realization of this, the international agencies come up with various standards and norms such as Code of Good Practices on Transparency in Monetary and Financial Policies (IMF), Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency (IMF), International Accounting Standards (IAS), Principles of Corporate Governance (OECD) and Principles and Guidelines for Effective Insolvency and Creditor Rights Systems (World Bank) to help maintain the financial stability in the country.

Headline | Opinion | Dateline | National |  5 Question  | Editorial | Letter | 2nd Impression | International | Past