Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Role of media in anti-corruption drive
Can media cure "corruption"?'

R.K.Regmee

Curing "corruption" through media could be a great proposition. But it is simply not practical because media could be effective more as an instrumental force than a curative apparatus in the fight against the cancerous crime. The time honored high principle of the Rule of Law emphasizes that media had better confine its role to that of a communicator. It guides media not to prescribe medicines of any sorts against corruption or the corrupted. The information passed on by media could create a climate in which corruption cannot thrive because it compels people with authority to be accountable and transparent. The role for media in the move against corruption should, therefore, be sought in the realm of accountability and transparency.

Some appear determined to advocate media activism in the struggle against the vice of corruption. They try to use media to wipe out the crime from the society and make media itself a party in the process. Their emphasis on making media a tool for throwing away corruption cannot be appreciated because media cannot be expected to act like police, prosecutors or courts. The moment media begins taking a given side; the chance for making its coverage balanced gets reduced. Communicators, therefore, stress media should define its territory well in its offence against corruption.

They strongly believe that media should not be involved in the so-called activism. It should instead adopt the triple role of informer, analyst and pressure force. The first is directly related to complete coverage of corruption for public benefit while the second refers to the interpretation of the whole corruption event. The third seeks to act like a force for a change in society. Some prefer to call it a "revolution" in public affairs. Any anti-corruption drive could apply this triple role formula and result in "cleanliness" of society.

The role could be effective in making the media dive into the deep roots of corruption and ultimately make the society free itself from corruption. What would the media do in the role? The answer is direct and clear: make the citizens' life healthy, ensure applicability of human rights in the society, enable people to have access to resources and opportunities properly, make the best utilization of resources, and do away with the inequality that is caused by abuse of authority.

Corruption writing

Sincere attempt to translate that role in practice through corruption writing would create a special atmosphere in the society. Its contribution would be both broad and effective. The scope covers all aspects of society particularly the public sphere. The government, private sector, bribe, irregularities, corrupted behavior of all kinds in the society are its constituencies. Some say it is the realistic tool that makes the press the real watchdog, not the guard dog of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. It is, therefore considered as:

• Not just reporting: it digs deeper than sources of information

• More than informing: it creates impression on individual personalities

• Beyond a news story: it uncovers the State-Bodies into reality

• more than a legal case: it points out the limitations of all sides

• more than a media coverage: it serves the public far beyond the range of readers, viewers, listeners and netizens.

Precaution

The anti-corruption drive receives a boost through media as and when it concentrates on irregularities, bribery, and abuse of authority, bad governance, and misuse of public property in an unprejudiced manner. But the same would be reversed if the very concept of information flow were challenged as is being done at present day Nepal. Absence of media strategy would also not allow it produce-desired result. Stress on sensationalism and not sensitization could also be unproductive.

Experts point out absence of a holistic approach particularly absence of substantial move towards investigation, prevention and community education could also paralyze the media in its role. If there were no attempt on the part of media to create a supportive public, the effects would not be comfortable. If there is no political will to implement the rule of law in the country the media role would not be able to make any substantive contribution.

The government's commitment to anti-corruption drive plays key role in the whole process. In absence of the same the media alone cannot bring about the change in attitude and practice that seek to drive away corruption.

In a sense the media way of doing away with corruption is not perfect in itself. It gets perfect only when other functionaries of a society become active, responsible and responsive in proper ways. Moreover, media alone cannot play an independent role in eradicating or reducing corruption because media does not function in an isolated manner. Its role should be viewed as a supplementary means for addressing problems created by corruption.

Paper presented by the author at a Research and Media Center Against Corruption-ReMAC Seminar held this September 2005. Thanks ReMAC and the author-ed.

Saving Our Cultural Heritage

-Prof. Dwarika Das Rajbhandari, Nepal

We have accepted tourism as a major foreign exchange earning industry. As needed Ministry of Culture and Tourism has long been created to promote and patronize the industry. But it is very frustrating to see that the Ministry has done nothing very special for promotion of cultural tourism in Nepal.

We talk a lot about the preservation of our cultural heritage and the development of tourism. Not to talk about the preservation and renovation we, on the contrary, are allowing ourselves even to bury the treasures we have on the smooth surface. For instance, the city of Banepa and Kirtipur both known for their rich architectural heritage are falling prey to the so-called modernization. The beautifully stone paved streets and sideways leading to many important places of these towns are now being replaced by blacktopped wheel roads. It is a big shame to see this most disgraceful change challenging our silent smooth stone heritage. Is black topping a prerequisite for a little town to be recognized as a modernized city? Some seem to have the opinion that until the streets and sideways going through these towns are improved enough for the automobiles to ply around tourists might call the locals primitive and uncivilized. This is not true. Tourists love to visit these old towns especially because these towns, which are free from pollution, still have many magnificent medieval buildings fairly well maintained and people very friendly to the foreigners. This is where the beauty of our city lies. As such we by no means should allow ourselves to go in for the so-called modernization at the cost of our rich architectural heritage. But who cares for this cry in the wilderness! Iron wheels are moving nonstop and beautiful stone slabs are being constantly crushed co concretize the modern metal roads to nowhere.

All these things are being done under our own nose. Neither the Department of Archaeology nor the Ministry seems to speak a world about this let alone the matter of taking action against them. Is the Banepa Municipality aware of all this or if prefers the way things are being done now? For a small old town like Banepa the using of locally available sontes for the renovation or reconstruction of its stone paved streets are not only economically beneficial but also very much keeping with its architectural heritage. Banepa is known for good quality stone quarry. According to a very old legend Banepa is said to have been built from a single giant stone. This speaks a lot about its ancient stone heritage.

Banepa can prove itself to be a very ideal town having its entire streets and sideways all paved with the best stones it has in its vicinity.

We cannot afford to sit silent simply declaring only three queen cities of Kathmandu Valley as

historically important ones. ! Each township has its own beauty and character. Some of ' the old townships are much older and even prosperous than ' the cities mentioned above. For ' example, Thankot, Thecho, Thimi, Pharping, Sankhu and ' so on are by no means less important in their own cultural and historical context. Hence every possible effort should be made to preserve their cultural identity as well before they catch up the fast sweeping contagious disease of concretization, which can be very cruel to our architectural heritage and history.

However, it is very heartening to know that our government eventually has made some very commendable efforts to restore and renovate the monuments in all the three cities of Kathmandu Valley included in the cultural heritage list of UNESCO. It is also very assuring to know that a Cultural Policy is underway to preserve our ancient city treasures. It however does not mean that now we can sit relaxed and see what the aid project would do for us. If they do one thing for us we should enable ourselves to do two at the same time. This alone can prove that we really value our treasures yet. Cannot we really realize the importance of our heritage until some foreign experts come and tell us the tales of our own treasures?

The author is a senior tour guide and also a renowned professor of tourism. Text courtesy: NTTR September 05 - 11, 2005. Thanks NTTR and Prof. Rajbhandari-ed.

Tantra in Hinduism And Buddhism

By Haribol Acharya, Kathmandu

Buddhist Tantrism is the latest development in Buddhist history; schools of Buddhism made different interpretations at different stages in its evolution Philosophizing the practice of it under different names.

The goal every Buddhist sets his mind ultimately on is the attainment of Nirvana. Aspirants on a course to reach the state of Nirvana will be on a vehicle that takes him through different routes. The three famous vehicles students of Buddhism all over the world are acquainted with are:

1. The Hina Yana (The Little Vehicle)

2. The Mahayana (The great Vehicle)

3. The Bajra yana (The Thunderbolt Vehicle)

Each vehicle is a little more developed and sophisticated than the other. In the evolutionary cycle, Buddhist cults have been refined since contacts between Buddhism and the rest of other religions made Buddhism absorb so many external influences. Tantrism in Buddhism bears for that matter the direct impact of the Tantrism of Hinduism. This happened at a time when Buddhism took a ride on the Bajra Yana.

Tantra at times sounds a little technical term and in essence it is a technical aspect. The argument every one is likely to make is how on earth a spiritual route can be defined in technical terms. Tantra is a means or a method that paves the way for seekers towards liberation. This is a ritual or a particular performance or a host of systems that bind on a spiritual practitioner. In a cruder terminology, it is a strategy that directs an aspirant towards salvation. Since it is a spiritual course its subtle meaning cannot be easily explained in terms. Tantra is an overly used diction, both Hinduism and Buddhism choose to use. In Hinduism, Tantra is, in cruder terms, a technical device that bridges a gap between the power, which is hidden in Hiranya Garva, and the force of nature that manifests it. Tantra is in substance a roadmap to Mukti, a state of liberation. Shiva Tatwa (the state of Shiva) is in his original state remains unmanifested and through Shakti he is manifested into forms. The world is the manifestation of Shiva through Shakti. Tantra for that matter is a spiritual staircase towards divine powers. A communion between the mortal and the immortal in which the end result is to immortalize the mortal. That is why Tantra in Hinduism presented with a communion between a female and male, an allegorical presentation of the union between the Lord of the universe and the natural entity that is accountable for the creation.

Buddhism in its infancy did not relate anything about Tantra. But Buddhism in due course has taken up a course towards Tantric methods to attain Nirvana. At this stage Buddhism has heavily drawn upon Hindu ways, which can amply be seen in Mandala to the extent of inlaying gods and goddesses in varied facets. In order to arrive at the root of Tantra, we have to switch over to the Vedas. The Vedas are in fact very intricate scriptures and are not intelligible at ease at all. The Vedas state that the creator of the universe is formless, Niskala or Nirgun Brahma and the creation of the universe is the manifestation of the formless state.

The power that bridges the creator and the universe is Shakti. That is why in Tantra Shastra we come across the pronouncements of Shiva Shakti. Tantra in Hinduism takes the aspirant in a state of trance and he will be in effect in direct conversation with the creator of the universe. In Hinduism. Shakti creates a link with which the aspirant can experience the ordinarily unfathomable state. We come across religious sites at which Hindu Sadhus practicing Tantra smeared with ashes, in matted hair and with sacred threads and beads round their necks. These naked holy men choose charnel sites and perform macabre dances and go wild at times with fire in their eyes. Such Sadhus normally appear antisocial and a little bit anarchists totally unconcerned about what is going around. If we move about ancient temples and shrines we happen to see a good deal of eroticism displayed all around and we often mistake it for sexual perversion but at depth it is a spiritual union. Maybe a communion that cannot be discerned or interpreted. The body for a spiritual practitioner in Hinduism is not a subject to be despised rather it is conceived of the embodiment of something spiritual. A bodily union for that matter is one of the summits an aspirant is expected to scale on a spiritual journey.

Tantra has some times magical effects, which conjure up images of boundless power latent within human beings. The psychic energy it generates is expected to resource aspirants with great creative abilities and even miracles are supposed to happen. One of the things that merit our attention where Buddhism and Hinduism conglomerate in this light is that Buddhist Sadhus like Hindu Sadhus can not ignore the role of certain female deities inevitable to attain Nirvana. Tantra in Hinduism is a device that helps spiritual practitioners to transcend all mundane layers to reach a state of blissfulness. In other words it is Shakti through which Brahma of the state of Nirguna manifests or takes form which is primarily formless. A union with a female is to achieve the same power with which the cosmos was created. Creativity crops up in a pure union. That is the magic of Tantra. Sex is in this sense not a perverted human activity but a purely divine recreation that procreates and regenerates. Tantra is in substance a spiritual Sadhana that helps a Sadhak, a spiritual seeker to swiftly attain liberation.

Both in Hinduism and in Buddhism, the term Tantra basically refers to a spiritual practice performed undergoing a series of rituals that unveils the hidden powers of the seeker in order to enable him to know his real state. That is in essence liberation. In this course some magical powers accrue and miracles happen but the one committed to his goal remains unmindful of or unconcerned about what he is magically capable of, and does not exhibit supernatural powers.

To observe Tantra from a chronological ground it predates the Vedic time. From this standpoint Buddhism must have borrowed Tantra heavily from Hinduism.

In Buddhism we come upon Tantra with a spiritual ride we make through the Bazra Yana, a Buddhist cult in which male and female deities surface, maybe in a little different way. Eroticism is less manifest and excitement is in check but the way the theme surges amounts to what a Buddhist way is rooted in the communion of souls.

The Bajrayana often referred to, as the thunderbolt vehicle was the last vehicle, evolved through generations of changes and refinements over centuries and in such courses it might have absorbed things from Hindu scriptures. Buddhism has undergone an evolutionary cycle and was developed drawing a great deal upon Hinduism in Nepal and India and upon Taoism in China. Buddhism as understood through the Hinayana at its earliest stage is not the same as it is observed through the Mahayana and finally through the Bajrayana. The type under the HinaYana has nothing to do with rituals and other types of performances and the Mahayana has absorbed certain elements when Buddhism got infused with other religions and finally coming to the Bajrayana it has become ritualistic. If we have a glance at the cosmogram (Mandala) we see deities with varied gestures (Mudras) which is believed to be full of spells.

The single most important thing about Tantra is that it is a spiritual course and the only motive behind it is to uncover the hidden treasures within us. Whether it is practiced through Buddhist tenets or Hindu methods it is the same state every aspirant aspires to reach. Both use the same contents within the same frame. The only difference that remains is their style.

Text courtesy: The NTTR May 02 - 08, 2005. Thanks the NTTR and the author Mr. Acharya-editor

In quest of a toilet in Kathmandu

By Rajeeb Satyal

 Last weekend, my wife, two sons and I were driving around Kathmandu valley. Suddenly my younger son wanted to pee. We knew there were no public toilets on any street/roads of Kathmandu, so the only viable and sensible option for us was to drive back home all way from Lalitpur - which is more than 20 kilometers away from home - just for that purpose. We had to cancel all other plans for that day. We know that many of our acquaintances will laugh at us about our uptightness. They would say we could have stopped the car anywhere near a bush, a tree or a wall and pee there (which I jokingly suggested to my son, but he did not agree). I even lectured him about the need to be more adventurous in using open toilets on field trips or treks outside Kathmandu. However, he was resolute, and did not budge from the original plan to go home. We do this when any one of us feel like going to the toilet when we are driving. We return home just for that purpose.

 When I was young, it was considered macho to be able to pee right on the street, ignoring the passers by. My friends bullied me when I hesitated to pee on the walls or behind the tree. In tarai, it is yet considered natural to do “maidan marne”(which means to use public ground as toilet). Women cover their face with cloth not to be recognized. There is almost social approval, even a subtle appreciation as a symbol of manliness to pee without hesitation on the wall or tree. Don’t-see-don’t-ask is the way to go.

 Its not only when we are driving. We had to rush back home every time we feel like going to toilet even when we are in some sophisticated supermarkets such as Blue Bird, Bhatbhateni, Gemini supermarkets that are crowded with hundreds of customers all the time. Most of these supermarkets have either no toilet or just a single toilet located out of customers’ sight, somewhere in building for their staffs only. The owners of these supermarkets clearly do not see the importance of providing adequate toilet facilities to their customers. They definitely do not see providing toilet facilities as their civic responsibility that also adds value to their marketing. It is surprising why it is so hard for them to comprehend that they may loose their sales if the customers had to leave the supermarket whenever they want to go toilet. It is also researchable whether the architects or engineers who designed these building missed to propose at least one toilet on each floor or the owner simply ignored their recommendations.

 It is not only with supermarkets, which do not provide toilet facility. Even the retails stores, petrol pumps, bookstore, beauty parlors, tailoring shops, jewelry shops, doctors’ clinics and even the designers’ show room or any other commercial outlets do not have toilet properly allocated and maintained for their customers. For example, try to go toilet at one of the famous publishing house/book shop in Nepal, called Ekta Educational Palace at Lalitpur. They have one toilet, hidden over a stair, which is guarded by a bolted door labeled “No Entry without permission”. When I want to go toilet after hours of stay there to find the book I like, I had to literally sneak into the hidden toilet, as they discourage customers to use it (I think very few customers like me know that there is a toilet in that book store).

 Even where there are toilets for name’s sake, in some pathological clinics, medical clinics, hospitals, they are so poorly maintained that people find hard to use. My son once had to come back home from a famous children hospital, Ishan, to get his urine in a small bottle for test, because the toilet in that hospital had neither water nor even toilet paper. It was also stinking very badly.

 Toilets facilities in the pubic offices are something not even worth discussing here. We should not expect any public offices to avail toilet facilities to for its visitors. Even if there are, they will hardly be in any usable condition, and will make us sick if we ventured to enter inside. In addition, it should be noted that even Tribhuwan International Airport has very limited toilet facility, far from the international standards. With millions of dollars pouring in, it is unthinkable how all those involved in tourism have not even thought of raising the issue.

  What about toilets in sacred place such as Pashupatinath and Boundhanath Temples? They aren’t any. You have the whole Bagmati river to use as toilet, from which, we all take holy water at least once after our death when our bodies are being cremated.

 So considering the above facts, it is worth knowing what to do in Kathmandu, if you feel like peeing in the middle of the road. You will have the following options.

 To wet your pant while seeking a toilet that is not there.

1. To show your macho character and pee around the trunk of tree or on any wall on the street while other passerby pretend not to see (except those driver of cars driving during night when the light falls right where you avoid)
2. To return home or wherever you live to pee in your own bathroom.

Let me warn you that the second option would be the most common and sane in Nepal. If you have not done it before, you would never know the excitement of peeing behind the tree, making bets on who can make a longest stream. If a girlfriend accompanies a boy, she will pretend not seeing him pee on the wall. As a result, you will see many artistic images on the walls that also give most strong smell. Only few people with obsessive-compulsive syndrome return all way long to their house just to pee a few CCs of urine. An example of the obsessive-compulsive behavior is no other than my sister-in-law who avoided traveling out of Kathmandu until the age of 45, due to fear that she has to use open toilet during her road travel. Once I jokingly had to advise her to use baby’s dipper to avoid soiling her clothes if she decided to do road travel.

 Sometimes, it hard to believe how urban Kathmandu, with all its fashionable inhabitants, beauty contestants, fashion designers, fashionable pediatrician, affluent and civilized people, intellectuals, Harvard- and Oxford-educated elites and people like us have been ignoring the very basic of civilization of having toilet facilities in our city. Sometimes it sounds useless to talk about democracy and human rights when citizens do not have even a toilet to pee.

 Last time when one of my entrepreneur friends asked me what new idea I can give, I told him of marketing toilet services in major towns and city areas. Kathmandu can have at least more than 100 pay toilets in strategic places, which can fetch good profit and many employments for the unemployed. Marketing toilet would be a profitable business both for public or private entrepreneurs. Instead of going home all way long, people would pay some good amount for getting a clean toilet with water. The government should make it mandatory for any public and private commercial outlets to provide toilet facilities.