Category Archives: politics

The month that democracy forgot

The month of December is shaping up to be a hectic month for bhandas. The political situation is tense with a recent outbreak of small violence in some of the far western regions of Nepal. Accusations are flying about who is responsible for the death of a group of landless individuals who were killed over a land claim dispute.

The Maoists are accused of recruiting the landless individuals to attack a local police force and the ruling government coalition of parties is accused of using unnecessary force against a marginalised group. The result: petrol strikes, protests, sit-ins at government offices, school closures, and large national wide chakka jams which essentially close down any vehicular movement all over the country. This month alone 4 different groups have issued calls for bhandas which totals about 15 days this month – some will be less effective and will hardly be noticeable while others will be highly effective and close down everything.

I respect that a foundation of democracy is the right to free speech, which often includes protests as a method for communicating. And many rights holders, who have been denyed so much over the history of Nepal, need to utilize their voices, feet, and political power to assert their rights. However, what is being forgotten in the cacaphony of important voices is that with rights comes responsibility. Nobody here ever talks about responsibilities. It would seem that everyone has a whole slew of rights owed to everyone while nobody has any responsibility in seeing that these rights are upheld.

And as such, nobody will take responsibility for the killing of the landless individuals. Each group has clear demands about whose rights have been violated but finger pointing in silence fills the air when questions of responsibility are raised. But this isn’t really new(s) as the ongoing strife between political parties has been continuing for the whole year we have been here. It remains to be seen whether we will come out of December unscathed or a shattered mess of harsh words, good intentions, broken promises, and several paces behind where we started.

So, in the upcoming month of bandhas I send out into the ether a small reminder. That along with rights come responsibilities – what you take as a right from the State then becomes a responsibility in return. “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. Thus, in my opinion, every right has an equal and opposite responsibility. Democracy is not democracy without responsibility. And a bandha is not an exercise of rights unless it is accompanied by an equal responsibility to find solutions and move forward.

Honouring Fridays: November 13th, 2009

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Today is our 1-year anniversary of arriving in Nepal! I can easily recall the feelings of excitement, nervousness, and uncertainty that rumbled through me. I remember it being colder than I expected and that the sights, colours, smells, and sounds were overwhelming. I noticed the other day while riding a small tuk-tuk home from work that I was almost dozing during the ride – day-dreaming and not thinking about where to get off, what to watch out for, and what to do next. What a change from when I would have my nose pressed against the window to see every moment of the trip. I clearly have some comfort and ease with life in Kathmandu now – I live with more confidence.

And arriving today are 16 new volunteers – tonight we will welcome them with a party – and I can only hope that the same feelings I had one year ago will be slightly eased through conversations with those of us who have learned to live here with confidence.

For myself, I have learned that it takes courage, patience, persistence, flexibility, and a good sense of humour to enjoy life here – may I carry these abilities into the next year full of adventures!

The beginning of the fresh produce season! Like any food growing endeavour, there are certain seasons in which certain vegetables grow the best. As we move into the cool months, Fall if you will, we join many countries around the world that are engaged in harvesting. The vegetables coming into our local shops these days are incredibly delicious and almost cartoonish in their bold and vibrant colours. The cool weather has brought back the orange glow to the carrots, the deep purple sheen to the onions, the creamy whiteness of the cauliflower, and the ruffled and dewy leaves of bright green spinach and mustard. There is no question that the vegetables we are eating are the freshest we have seen in a long time. It is a wonderful time to cook in Nepal and to reap the flavours, colours, and tastes of a wonderful harvest…not to mention the beautiful bundles of golden yellow ripe rice stalks draped across in the paddies.
Functioning governments. Granted that there it is something of an oxymoron to place the words “functioning” and “governments” in the same sentence. But I sometimes think that the Canadian government is possibly the most efficient, well-oiled, and proactive bureaucracy around…in comparison that is. As Nepal struggles to overcome poverty, lack of infrastructure, impossible geographic terrain, drought, poor health care, human rights issues, and education development what holds them back nine times out of ten is a government that simply doesn’t function. And by “doesn’t function” I mean a government that actually doesn’t meet regularly and when they try to meet the whole process is derailed due to a agitating groups blocking the parliament from meeting. And not just for a day or two, but for months going on years! Not to mention the corruption, deceit, lies, targeted killings, and oppression perpetrated by many government officials. So, despite the petty and often ridiculous antics of politicians back home I am actually pretty grateful for how much our government does for us…regardless of who is in power.
Christmas carols. So, normally in my books November is WAYYYY too early to bust out the jingle bells and sing along to deck the halls. But, being away from my regular traditions and seasonal cheer I allow myself to break the rules. So, on a powerless night last week I did the unthinkable and turned on my Christmas playlist. And it was excellent! Something so simple that immediately feels familiar and happy. I think what makes Christmas carols so good is that they really do bring an atmosphere of cheer and suddenly I am remembering all that is so wonderful about this time of year. So, on your next “silent night”, bust out a carol and feel grateful for everything you love about Christmas.
Finding the right words. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to take a feeling that has stuck with you for a time and put that feeling into words. When the words can tumble from your mouth and sound like a perfect description for something previously indescribable, it is magic. I believe that these kinds of words are the sweetest to hear. They rumble and resonate with the heart and the brain, satisfying both the heart’s need for expression and the brain’s need for explanation.

Fear.

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waiting just below the surface, it simmers

burping and belching malice, deceit, and mistrust

we all know you are there and you know we are waiting

the vibrations of daily life continue but your infections fester with discontent

it is power that manipulates you, twists you, sharpens you

they choke on their hope and drown in their patience

and their fear will continue to simmer.

a short history lesson

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To help understand the political history of Nepal, which in some ways can help put the recent events into some perspective, I recommend this neat and tidy little timeline from the BBC. And while it is much more complex than this timeline shows, it does highlight just how long these struggles have been happening and just how fragile a state Nepal truly is. It looks very much like a cyclical, revolving, and regularly changing political system which could explain why it has taken so long to get a firm set of laws and policies in place….the direction keeps changing!

Follow the leader…unless he resigns!

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It has been a month full of political maneuvering and an notable air of tension as the government has slowly unraveled for the past week in Nepal.

The root issue: whether or not the Chief of the Nepal Army should be fired. He is said to have obstructed the process of integrating the Maoist rebel fighters into the regular army, stating that they are not suitable for the posts. He was fired yesterday by the Prime Minister (the highest government post in Nepal) amid protests from the opposition parties.

Following that 16 Ministers resigned due to the firing. Then, late last night, the President (second in command to the Prime Minister) reinstated the Army Chief, saying that the removal of the Chief is unconstitutional. A curfew was initiated to keep the protests to a minimum. Then, this morning, the legal experts tell everyone that the firing and rehiring moves of BOTH the PM and the President are unconstitutional…uh oh…so all day we have been waiting to hear what would happen. Lots of meetings, lots of boycotting of meetings, lots of protests, lots of rumours.

The PM was scheduled to address the nation today at 3pm and with that televised broadcast…he resigned, stating that the various factions in government are not allowing him to govern the country smoothly and saying the resignation was a move to protect democracy!

So Nepal is now PM-less and the various youth factions are rioting, either in support of the resignation (in short they are celebrating the decision) or in anger that the Maoist leader has stepped down. Basically, an uncertain few days ahead as the country sorts out what this will all mean…

For more details have a look at:

I will do my best to keep everyone posted, but this certainly will impact the ongoing quest for peace and justice in Nepal.

An opinion on the status of development work in Nepal

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I heard a statistic the other day that there were over 33,000 registered NGO’s and INGO’s in Nepal – some active and some not, but still…a very large number of folks committed, in theory, to some kind of social change.

After the past 5 months of listening, observing, understanding, and trying to make sense of it all, I must admit that I am stumped. I am utterly confused about what the purpose of all these agencies truly is. And let me speak, somewhat more in turn here for a minute, within the boundaries of my work.

I have read and digested countless statistics about access and quality of education in Nepal…bleak, bleak, and bleaker. We still have about 30% of children not enrolled in school – and of course this number does not include the number of enrolled children who are technically “on the roster” but who just don’t come to school because they are working in brick factories, have a disability that prevents them from attending school, are HIV positive, or face discrimination in the classroom because of all the above OR because of their caste, gender, or the fact that they speak their own indigenous language.

Within that 30%, the proportion of children from these excluded groups is grossly over represented compared to population numbers (and even the population numbers are skewed as the last census was done in 2001…).

So, who should be held accountable? Is it the government, who has been focused on waging a civil war for the past 10 years? The donor agencies who try to solve every problem with money? The community members, who have neither time nor energy to demand for much as they struggle to feed families and stay alive? Or the thousands of NGOs and INGOs who seem to tackle every problem in isolation…never considering for a moment that perhaps a better approach would be to pool energy and resources and collaborate.

Nepal is a country of where inaction is so common that people have been paralysed by the influx and proliferation of development agencies. The more NGOs and INGOs we can pack into this teeny country, the less responsibility we can demand from those who are truly responsible and the more chaotic, splintered and less cohesive are the voices of those who really matter.

I realize that there are limitations to centralization of services and government intervention but I feel compelled to argue that I actually think we have entered into a state of dependency here. Everyone has their own organizational or individual mission statements that inhibit the genuine work of helping people…and that is not even speaking of how this inhibits the possibility of any form of collaboration. The only way to manage the collaboration is to work through a government system where they can collect, collate, and coordinate development efforts.

Instead what we have now is what I imagine must graphically look something like the work of a leaf blower: a few scattered piles that are tossed to the air at the first hint of a breeze, not for a moment likely to stay on course and land together at the same destination.

It has become a development industry…a business in which people can secure a job as long as some blind-folded donor agency is willing to hand over the cash. We know that talk is cheap here – it doesn’t matter what is promised or by whom – it is the action that is still missing.

And yet, I can rant and rave about where I see development work faltering, but I cannot, for a moment, imagine how families and children who depend on development work for support would be impacted if it all ended.

We need leadership, vision, and action from government. It can be certain that if the government direction is strong, ethical, and humane the INGOs, NGOs, and donors will be compelled to follow…

Student Elections in Nepal

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Last week marked the annual student elections for some of the major university and college campuses in Nepal. These elections, unlike most of the student elections I have seen, are incredibly heated and tumultuous events. They are political statements of youth who through their voting align themselves with national political parties. That’s right, you heard me, ALIGNING themselves with variious national Nepali parties. The result is a highly charged, dangerous and fear festering process that looks nothing like a demoncratic voting process and more appears to resemble violent mob behaviour. Each student party is a youth wing of the major political parties and the ripe and fertile grounds of higher education institutions are used as a grooming ground for future national politicians. Through the ranks of student politicians come the national leaders. The current politicians take student elections very seriously – this is their opportunity to froth, foam, and rile the groups into a turmoil. To pit youth parties against each other and crush any chances that these youth might for a moment consider collaboration more fruitful than war.

UBC students please take note…this message is for you. You are so incredibly fortunate to be able to undertake a safe and democratic process through which you hopefully elect student leaders who sincerely care about your experience. Please imagine for a moment, as was the case in Nepal last week, that 1 student was killed while voting. He was risking life and limb to cast a vote and was killed in his student union elections. Add to that the 6 students who were seriously injured as a series of bombs exploded near various voting stations. Imagine, what it must feel like to be a university student here. Imagine the intimidation tactics that can play into election campaigns. Please, please count yourself so lucky to be part of a system that allows you to voice an opinion safely. You have peers in other countries that are not as lucky and would be ashamed to know that so many of you do not vote – that you do not take the democratic process seriously. If they can get themselves to the polls and risk death…it means you have no excuse.

Honouring Fridays: February 6th, 2009

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It has been a long week – we are gearing up for a program analysis workshop happening Monday to Wednesday next week and since we are all new here in the Education Program office, I am pitching in to help where I can – we are sort of fumbling through it all together which is pretty comedic really. And yet in all the rush, I am celebrating the feeling of being productive and useful again – I forgot how good it feels to be useful.

Silence. Kathmandu is a city full of noise. There is rarely that deep and unending silence that one can sometimes find deep in the forest or even the kind of silence that one finds at the ocean – the waves and seagulls become a sort of white noise. BUT, in the misty early morning as families wake and give “puja” to the gods there is a stillness that almost resembles silence. I sleep through the best silence most days since it appears fleetingly between 5am – 6am. But if one is lucky enough to catch it, it would be easy to understand why people in Nepal wake so early – the gods are present in the silence.
Transgender choirs. So last week I was grateful for diversity and this week I am grateful that I was able to be present at the first performance of Nepal’s first transgender choir (perhaps the first in much of the world too?). It was a great show and I discovered that one of the offices for the Blue Diamond Society is actually in a small building in my back yard…a truly small world! Needless to say, this week I was inspired by all the voices I heard in the choir.
Gas. No, not the human kind, but the cooking kind. We are now the proud “owners” of two large red gas cylinders which dutifully cook our food on the two-gas burner stove and heat our water for showers. They are cumbersome, heavy, ugly, and dirty things but we love them for the freedom they provide – we can finally cook our own dinners!
The Department of Education in Nepal. This week I attended my first meeting in the Department, along with about 20 other Nepali individuals from various INGOs, NGOs, and the government. It was just the most amazing thing to see – the politics, the subtle power dynamics, the personalities, the cultural rituals. The important government officials came and went throughout the meeting – particularly when things got sticky and they were being called to task on some of the programming choices – enrolling students who are not retained in the school system instead of working on student-teacher ratios or providing free textbooks to students – they simply stood up, walked into a side office, and shut the door. There was much banging of fists, agenda pushing, and advocating for various causes, all happening throughout the official meeting – cell phones ringing, people coming in and out, Nepali insults flying (at least I think that is what happened, as it was all in Nepali – I think I caught most of it!). Fantastic fun and a great introduction to the nature of government meetings – I have to say I throroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the next showing.

Politics in Nepal

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Up to this point, I have not spent much time commenting on the political situation in Nepal. My first hesitation is that I am hardly a reliable source of information about the political situation – I have only been here 2 months and most of that time we have spent under the kind and watchful eye of VSO or our dedicated language teachers at CLP. What could I possibly know?

And, what I do observe and hear through both Nepalis and foreigners is so mixed and fraught with opinion that it is often difficult to know what to believe, let alone make some sense of it for myself.

But, with those hesitations clearly stated at the outset (I am certainly not an expert and everything I say is filtered through not only my lens but often the lens of a dozen other people too, thus losing it’s initial meaning) I will toss out some careful observations to shed some light on what is happening politically here.

First, the newly elected government, a coalition of many different parties, is under huge pressure to re-write a new constitution quickly. To this end, it is natural that many different groups are keen to ensure that their needs and wants are reflected in this important document. With a staggeringly large number of ethnic groups, languages, religions, and terrains, this is a exceptionally difficult task – difficult for each group to ensure their voice is heard in the clamour and difficult for the government to bring all these voices into one collective vision for the country.

Second, Nepal is in a unique position as the intersection between the giants of China and India and have always been acutely aware of just how relationships with these nations will impact them. They want to reflect their unique culture (to the point of having their own time zone that is 15 minutes behind India…makes watching TV confusing as all shows begin at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour) while maintaining good political relationships. And having never been colonized as a nation, they are, with good reason, very protective of their culture.

Third, the culture around advocacy, lobbying, and petitioning the government has grown to be very centered around disruption of daily life – after hundreds of years of not being listened to, I can see how frustration and anger would build to a breaking point – but it significantly impacts many aspects of life in Nepal, from transportation, to access to power and water, to targeted attacks on the perceived oppressor. The outlet that is available to many of those citizens who are angry is one of confrontation, which sadly has not led to much noticeable change over the years…and yet with few other options it is hard to chastise people who simply want to be heard.

And like every political system out there, there are the added complexities – scandals, nepotism, inaccurate representation by marginalized groups, personal agendas, power struggles, urban centres receiving more attention, publicity stunts, lots of hot air from those in power, and a shuffling of priorities every time those in power are shuffled around.

Amazing how anything gets done anywhere really 🙂

Nepal is not unlike many other nations striving to identify itself and trying to do the best they can with what they have. I do not envy the difficult job of politicians in Nepal nor am I without great sympathy for the many people who have been oppressed here for a number of years.