Perpetual Andolan
by Dr Brian Cobb
For all the well-deserved anger focused on th politicians and Maoist leaders, the real culprits are getting off scot-free yet again. The people didn't risk, and in some cases lose, their lives to put certain politicians or parties back in power. They didn't even do it so much to get rid of an arrogant, onerous and brutal king. They did it because they want better lives.
Nepal is the 12th poorest country on earth. Mortality, health, educational and other indices are horrifying. But we've all been blaming people who are, at best, only partially responsible for the nation's sorry state.
It really doesn't matter who's in Singh Durbar. Things aren't going to get better. Government is not run by ministers and MPs; it's run by bureaucrats. Despite all the outrage over Maoist extortion, the vast majority of extortion isn't by those with red-starred army caps, but by those with black topis. Just try to register a vehicle or a plot of land, get a visa, or avail yourself of any of the other services your taxes are supposed to be buying you. No baksheesh, no results. Period.
This might seem like small-time skimming to supplement low salaries, but it's much worse than that. It subverts the rule of law, deprives the poor of their rights, and prevents the services upon which civilization depends from reaching the neediest. It maintains an inherently unjust, brutal social order that costs far more lives and causes far more suffering than Prachanda and Baburam ever could.
I've come to the conclusion that the corrupt, urban elite not only neglect the poor, they actively prevent others from helping. I've been sitting in a hotel for over two months awaiting a visa to afford me the privilege of volunteering to help the people in Jumla. In the process I ran across the same Deputy Health Secretary, Dr Bishnu Pandit, who tried to shake me down for a bribe two years ago when I tried to renew my visa so I could do volunteer work. It's not like I'm even knocking his nephew out of a job or asking the MOH to waste its money on anything as frivolous as care for the rural poor. I just want a visa to do something for free that Nepalis won't do for money.
This treatment isn't limited to me. Dr Mark Zimmerman, after 20 years of volunteer service at Patan Hospital, was treated the same way. So have many people from UMN.
So I have a moral dilemma: should I perpetuate corruption and violate the US's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying off the bureaucrats so I can care for a lot of very needy folks who are dropping off like flies from lack of even basic care, or should I pack up and leave and let the people of Karnali fend for themselves?
It's not solely a personal dilemma. It's a question of whether the country wants to institutionalize the spirit of the second Andolan or keep experiencing an Andolan--and probably a civil war--every decade or so? If the Maobadi sell out and join the government as it is, the people will find someone who won't, or at least promises not to.
One can detect a very strong, inverse correlation between the Human Development Index or life expectancy or income and the degree of Maoist activity in any given district. But aside from a few cosmetic resolutions, I'm not seeing any sign that anyone realizes it, or cares.
Cruel cops, sadistic soldiers and predatory prison guards aren't going to guarantee a stable polity. Dedicated doctors and talented teachers will, if the corrupt elite will ever learn the lesson and let them do it.
The racist, zero-sum, exploitative ethos that has dominated Nepal since Prithvi Narayan Shah murdered and mutilated his way to power has to go, de facto and not merely de jure. In the days before widespread literacy, international travel, TV and the internet the people could be deluded enough to think justice and equality don't exist except in the imagination, but now they know better.
So the question is whether the elites will endorse the Andolan or endure more of them.
Prof. Brian Cobb, M.D. Emergency and Critical Care Medicine Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right. --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Dr. Brian Cobb: Speech At Gongabu
Brian Cobb: Savagery On The Roof Of The World
Brian Cobb, Brave Man
Email From Vijay Karna
Dear Sir/ Madam
You are kindly requested to participate in the Gherao programme for the proportional participation of Madhesi in the state. We are being discriminated since 238 yrs of authoritarian Shah dynasty. The social, political, and economic exclusion and disempowerment of the Madhesis have kept them out of the national process of cultural homogenization just as enforcement of the mono-linguistic policy has resulted in the loss of invaluable cultural assets and identities, debarring them from their legitimate right in the nation-building process.
Even after the restoration of the democracy, we are not treated equal in all sphere of the state. The seven party alliance govt and CPN- Maoist are preparing for the election of Constituent Assembly without giving citizenship of 5 Million Madhesis. The SPA is also not ready to address various issues of Madhes. We realized that without movement, Madhesi will not get their legitimate share in the state and continue to suffer. Keeping above facts in mind, we have established an alliance of different Madhesi individuals and organizations and named Loktrantrik Madhesi Alliance Democratic Madhesi Alliance (DMA)
DMA is a common forum of likeminded individuals and organizations that advocate the rights of Madhesi peoples.
Our Main demands:
- Give Citizenship to all stateless Madhesis before the election of Constituent assembly.
- Establishment of Federal, Democratic Republican political system.
- Proportional Representation of Madhesis in all state structures.
- Proportional Representation of Madhesis in the Constituent Assembly (CA) election.
- Fresh Census on the scientific basis before the election of CA.
Gherao Programme
1. July 02, 2006 Sunday --- 4. P M. Singh Durbar (Central Secretariat) Main gate
2. July 03, 2006 Monday --- 12. Noon. CPN- UML head office, Balkhu.
3. July 04, 2006 Tuesday --- 10 A. M. Prime Minister's Residence, Baluwatar.
4. July 05, 2006 Wednesday --12.Noon Nepali Congress Head office, Sanepa.
5. July 06, 2006 Thursday --- 12. Noon N C (Democratic) Head office, Maharajganj
6. July 07, 2006 Friday -- 12. Noon CPN- Maoist Dialogue Office, Old Baneswar.In The News
Yechury meets Indian PM Singh ahead of his Nepal tour NepalNews
Deuba leaves for New Delhi
USA and Korea keen to get observer status in SAARC: DPM Oli
Prachanda continues political consultations; meets Minister Tripathi Tripathi made his party’s stance clear on the eight point agreement and its implementation. .... Prachanda is also scheduled to meet prominent leaders of civil society on Thursday. .... Maoist spokesperson Mahara and central committee leader Suresh Ale Magar also met with the Swedish Foreign Ministry's Ambassador for Conflict Management, Lena Sundh, who arrived here from Stockholm on Monday for a six-day ‘assessment’ visit. the Maoist supreme has held discussions with senior leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Nepali Congress (Democratic) and Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandidevi), among others
Prachanda power vs people's power By Ashok K Mehta Peace processes have their own dynamics and longevity. The one playing out in Nepal is surely unique: The political settlement was cobbled together even before the armed conflict had ended without any outside facilitation. And the speed with which agreements are being churned out in Kathmandu is both surprising and spectacular. ..... The dramatic turnaround and euphoria is being cautiously ascribed to the "Nepali way" of conflict resolution and numerology...... Count the points. A 12-point letter of understanding, 25-point code of conduct, 10-point parliamentary proclamation, 8-point summit accord and so on. Aggregated, these exceed the 43 demands put up by the Maoists a decade ago...... Many Ambassadors are cooling their heels, unclear about whom they should present their credentials to. Two of them simply went to the King..... Prachanda's political performance at his first Press conference in Kathmandu recently was breathtaking. .. 'The Furious One' was in total command as the SPA leaders minus Mr Koirala were spellbound...... The role of the 31-member Civil Society Monitoring Mission is equally vague. Some of its members, including the chairman, have declined to join it...... The Maoists need to declare the strength, location and weapons of the PLA.... The process of Demilitarisation, Decommissioning and Reintegration (DDR) is very complex and sensitive..... The Maoists are estimated to have an army of 7,000 with approximately 3,500 hand-held weapons. While the strength of the Nepal Army is 90,000, the Armed Police Force is 40,000 and the Police, 60,000....... It is no secret that the destination the Maoists are seeking is a Communist Republic of Nepal...... The Indian Army, with its Gorkha battalions outnumbering the entire infantry of the Nepal Army..... the question of Maoists arms (and intentions).
