Reinstating the state - Nepali Times

KUNDA DIXIT

Politics in Nepal is in crisis, not because we have a stalled peace process or an incomplete constitution, but because it has mutated into an ugly beast, which is ideologically eroded and without ethical and moral conscience.

The greatest legacy of the present leadership is the politics of money and muscle, and it is already manifesting itself in impunity, erosion of the rule of law and lack of accountability. In 2008, Avenues TV correspondent Birendra Sah was brutally murdered by Maoist cadres. In December of the same year, the body of a missing editor of Janadisha daily J P Joshi was found in a forest in far-western Nepal. In 2009, radio journalist Uma Singh was hacked to death by 15-20 men in her room. This is not an exhaustive list, but they all have one thing in common: although some small fish were caught the masterminds of the murders have got away with it.

The benchmark set by the parties is religiously adhered to by their lumpen youth brigades who target individuals and journalists. The killing, abduction and manhandling of journalists in various parts of the country for critical reporting, vandalism of media property and arson on newspapers meant for delivery have become everyday affairs.

Every party has a militant brigade, and now factions within them also keep rapid deployment gangs. Last year's clash between the Maoist YCL and the UML Youth Force resulted in street riots in various parts of the country with at least one casualty and dozen injured. It is getting difficult to distinguish between criminal gangs and political gangs. Most clashes between rival youth wings are not over ideology but over government tenders, contracts and extra-judicial settlements of local disputes that often involves large sums of money, and collusion with real estate and land mafias.

Whenever a journalist has dared to expose this nexus, they have been threatened, beaten to pulp, as in the case of Khila Raj Dhakal in the Biratnagar incident last week, or even killed. The messengers are trapped in between the criminalisation of politics and the politicisation of crime, so that self-censorship has become the norm. The guilty go unpunished because they enjoy the patronage of the parent party, and impunity breeds further impunity.

The proliferation of small firearms from the porous border and absence of the state in law enforcement, signal a dangerous future. This is not a transitional law and order problem anymore, politics in Nepal has been replaced by the politics of violence and intimidation that seeks to stifle and eliminate dissent. Politics has become only a means to amass ill-gotten wealth and power.

The political parties call their youth brigades pratikar dastas (counter-force) as a deterrence against rival party youths, as a fundraising unit to replenish its war chest and deploy at election time. And all of this happens right under the nose of the state, which is run by the same people that shelter them.

Only by bringing an end to the instability, and reinstating the state will this change, and politics will be what it is supposed to be: a non-violent competitive process of finding the most efficient and honest managers to run the country for a limited period.

Read also:
Budge on the budget, EDITORIAL
Eight reasons why, SANJIB SUBBA
From Awesome to Awful, NGUTUP SHERPA

1. who cares
let's talk about medias and criminals/terrorists.

* are not there medias who were established to serve terror?

* are not there medias who misused their resources to protect illegal gun firing in chitwan?

* are not there medias who are forcefully trying to portrait some terrorist as a great leader.

today medias have found friends in the form of maosit, bam dev (who handed over killer of ram hari to puspa after police captured him).

how would those family of victims may go through when they see the culprit in the media, media showing them as a national icon?

in conclusion, media are the main in promoting terror, crime.

those who beat the media person should be punished. but also, this incident has exposed the ungratefulness of the same media- media has forcefully trying to drag democrats in UML as the culprit.

idiot medias are saying, jhallu ram is pressed by his party not to arrest the local goon. is that a joke. the agent who signed secret 7 pt agreement, the agent who gave home ministry to maoist going against his own party decision is feeling pressure.

do i sound like a fool to you people!

there are a lot of medias who deserve bashing but criminals in YF targeted wrong media.

Posted on: 17 JUNE 2011 | 1:57 PM NST

2. who cares
one in UML once said, maosit will be using jhallu ram's shoulder to fire bullet at UML. how true he turned out to be?

cant believe, the govt. that protect killers, which has killer ministers, using excess force in beating case.

i say, YF, democrats in UML should drag this incident further for a few months.

this is a perfect time for maoist to give it back to UML for killing mosit during kailile parba, thrashing during maoist's simha darwar capturing movement.

and YF should drag mahara into court under treason- regarding mahara tape case/one crore per MP. if i remember, did not some maoist sardar claim of protecting ram hari's murderer- force govt. to arrest that goon.

YF should politicize killer minister- agni snakekota's case in the court too. and also another killer MP's case.

dont let this incident cool down.

and dont drag media into court. let it go. ignore them.

Posted on: 17 JUNE 2011 | 2:09 PM NST

3. Naresh
"Politics in Nepal is in crisis, not because we have a stalled peace process or an incomplete constitution, but because it has mutated into an ugly beast, which is ideologically eroded and without ethical and moral conscience." -Anurag

Is ideology a preceding factor or a simultaneous one? Is it that first you do politics and then only execute your ideology or you first have ideology to strike the raw call of politics? Or is it you do them parallelly?

You are exactly right in that you genuinely concern journos who have braved their lives for, say, truths. But, politics does never exist in vacuum. So politics is never in crisis. It may have turned from it's purpose, which is ideally to divulge the means and resources to all of the state's citizens. If you mean politics is just what Maoits, Kangresis, Madhesbadis and others think and do, you must take a caution note. For, polity is everything from citizenry and citizens'activity to bureaucracy, to ministry portfolio. How is this politics contextualized in terms of polity? Is polity a norm and politics just a shiny froth left?

These days, I would also like circus-keeper and a comedian KP Oli explicating and mesmerizing the audiences with encores of spites accentuated over a long absence by his bon mot. of Maoists so vehement that genuine Media-men concerned his lines in front pages.

They just scuppered the ethics of journalism to label Maoists outcast--such was a laudable boomerang of Media honchos. I still wait how painful and circumlocutory reports will dribble which ought to be basically acidic, but with full of biases. I'm of the feeling that journalists are people, probably good people, who bring us news. It may be bad or good, and they certainly aren't gods. It isn't that the recent UML youth wings' assault should be left unsued. It means that Media people should move beyond some ads, gossips and class interests they are used to.

Posted on: 17 JUNE 2011 | 5:04 PM NST

4. jange
... politics in Nepal has been replaced by the politics of violence and intimidation that seeks to stifle and eliminate dissent.

This is the inevitable outcome of the 12 point agreement when the political parties decided that violence was an acceptable means of achieving political power.

And this article is an example. The author, while mewing about the violence still cannot bring himself to say clearly and unequivocally that violence is wrong. Having supported Maoist violence, however tacitly or by default, his ethics are so compromised as to make it impossible for him speak against violence in any real sense.

Posted on: 18 JUNE 2011 | 8:01 AM NST

5. who cares
when every nepalese was scared of ycl/maoist, YF took them head on.

they kicked many ycl ass, some YF members met Martyrdom while fighting terror, while fighting for the society including media,

they kept fighting agent of terrors even when they were out gunned, out numbered.

today, when some goons in YF attacked media, even though some are jailed and YF have been saying they will cooperate with the authority ... and still medias kept targeting hard core democrats in UML, YF.

is this how bahuns running media pay back to their gratefulness?

today, mahesh basnet is saying he would resign if another basnet found out to be guilty. ... so what then, if he is really guilty then what? this way, only bahuns will remain in the politics- only those bahuns who make commitment to resign, signs the document, and as soon as come out of the room deviate from his promise.

may be because of the society like this (nepali media) many of those who once had made a big sacrifice for the country later loot the same country.

ungrateful bahuns!

i demand bahuns running medias to beg mahesh basnet, kp oli for forgiveness.

Posted on: 18 JUNE 2011 | 6:17 PM NST

6. K. K. Sharma
What about the role of the media run by the political parties, as their mouthpiece . Are they also not responsible for the present state of affairs.?Such media and media presons also are part of the parties and their goons.

One thing does lead to another; what was the role of the media during the Maoist insurgency.... had they not hailed killings, lootings, as great revolutionary endeavour ? So the present state of affairs is just the snowballing of the past deeds of the media. Media and media people cannot be excempt from such crime.

If past performances of the media are considered, it would be "totalitarian measures" and " Human Rights violations" if any effective measures is taken to squash criminal activities, . No?

Posted on: 18 JUNE 2011 | 2:21 AM NST

7. Rituraj Sapkota
A responsible reader is as necessary as a responsible writer. Ppl need to stop catching the wrong end of the stick and waving it in the air for eternity. The crux of the matter is petty partymen should not be able to get away with targetting journos, and that is as true as true can be. so called "party men" (actually a bunch of vagabonds, high school drop outs whose incentive for participating in the party activities= alcohol and meat) should not be allowed to think that they can get away with stuff such as assault and death threats. Maybe installing a judiciary mechanism, consisting of magistrates who can deal with such cases sternly at the local level, may help?
(and seriously, people above, get a life. As many unscathed remarks as you may pass against the journo, he's got this space, for a reason. And I can see the reason you don't.)

Posted on: 19 JUNE 2011 | 1:35 PM NST

8. jange

You should have known this when you decided to appease the Maoists.

Appeasement does not work. Never has, never will.

And wasn't the NT until only recently proclaiming the Maoists as the only party representing change?

When the Maoists killed others you proclaimed them as revolutionaries. Now that they are killing you, you start to complain?

Make up your mind. Are the Maoists revolutionaries or murderers, looters and extortionists?

Posted on: 21 JUNE 2011 | 5:13 PM NST

9. jange
Why should not the Maoists (and others, now) use violence to further their political goals?

If Maoist violence was good enough to remove the monarchy, have a CA and achieve other agraman stuff why is it not good enough to go further by using more violence?

Posted on: 21 JUNE 2011 | 5:15 PM NST

10. Gole
#5 who cares
Racist must meet the fate of Galliano in coming days in NewNepal .There should be constitutional provisionsand media should delete such expressin in future.
Enough is enough.Stop bahun bashing .

Posted on: 23 JUNE 2011 | 4:24 PM NST