| ashu |
Posted
on 13-Jun-01 05:14 AM
GP wrote:
>Being TKP and Kantipur from so called number
>1 publisher, and
>being Nepal a country whose majority of
>population less educated
>to decided what is right and wrong from
>themselves, the editorial board should
>publish articles that are based on facts and
>proofs.
Welcome GP to the GBNC kura-kani site!
First, let's get one thing very clear:
BRB's article was an opinion piece and
NOT a news-item (i.e. NOT a report by
a staff of Kantipur.)
A news-item is what we expect to be factual
and true with proofs, evidence and appropriate quotes.
But a signed opinion piece on page four, by definition, is just that: a signed opinion piece on page four -- representing the views of the writer, and NOT the views of publishers/editors.
This means, BRB, and BRB alone is responsible for his ideas.
Now, BRB can be praised for his ideas. Or, he can be
ridiculed for them. Or, he can also be ignored totally.
Also, his ideas can be attacked for their weaknesses and
so on and on.
The stuff in the para above can always happen at the level of 'ideas' and 'ideas' alone WITHOUT getting physical and
without using the police.
But where it all gets scary and undemocratic is this part:
The part where one's ideas and opinions -- if they are
not agreeable to those in power -- LEAD to one's or one's 'messengers', as it were, being ARRESTED and THROWN
INTO JAIL. This is part that's both scary and undemocratic.
And this is the part that must be protested against.
After all, in a democracy, who's to decide for ALL what
ideas are so so radical or so outrageous or so stupid or so
unpatriotic that the proponents of those ideas should,
by Golly, be arrested and thrown into jail?
Certainly NOT the government that is supposed to be a representative one.
Besides, as our Panchayati history has shown us, the chances
of the government's abusing its arbitrary power are way too
high. Do we want to go back to the Panchayati days?
In other words, if we allow -- in a representative democracy -- the government to interpret what's 'radical' and what's 'unacceptable' and then we go on to tolerate its arresting editors and publishers today, then, sooner or later, there'd be no stopping the government when it starts arresting, say, civil engineers/artists/writers/thinkers/economists and others that it does not like, accusing them of being 'radical' and
'unacceptable' or 'desh drohi' ACCORDING TO ITS OWN CONVOLUTED INTERPRETATION.
What are we to do then?
When that happens, we wouldn't have democracy with all its, admittedly, attendant chaos -- but Panchayat-style totalitarianism in which a few people call ALL the shots.
And we all know how much we Nepalis struggled to get
rid of the Panchayat more than a decade ago. . .
That is why, for now, we have to cast aside our collectively
nice middle/upper-classy Nepali concerns about 'oh, what will
the uneducated do', and focus on the large picture.
As one of my former professors Amartya Sen has argued with evidence in many places (and most recently, in his book 'Democracty as Freedom'), it's only because of the
freedom of speech (and the larger bundle of political rights) that even the uneducated/the downtrodden/the poor can rise against their oppressors and start thinking seriously about their
'bikas'.
For our purposes, freedom of speech is NOT some luxury item, imported from the US of A, for middle-to-upper-class Nepalis.
It's the very currency of our democracy so that -- despite
the chaos and uncertainties -- we, the rich and the poor,
keep dialogues/debates/discussions . . going with brilliant, stupid, outrageous and radical ideas so that all these diverse
paths lead to our collective 'bikas'.
oohi
ashu
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| Hari |
Posted
on 13-Jun-01 09:52 AM
I've noticed that there's a second Hari lurking around here. But, not that I care.
To get to the point, detention and imprisionment WITHOUT proper charges are not the answer in this case.
--BRB can indeed be ridiculed for his bantering.
--Kantipur can be chastised for publishing such drivel.
--People can stop buying Kantipur for their (lack of) editorial judgment.
BUT, IN NO WAY, can these people be detained for publishing that article, if, in fact, that's all that the government has to show for their detention.
And, surely, the government is COMPLETELY liable for all damages to those detained.
I'd like the detainees lawsuit result in monetary compensation as well as a statute against such detention, without first having the charges ready. It seems like in this case, the government is trying to prepare the charges AFTER people have been in custody for a week! UN-Acceptable!!'
Dui Paise Musings,
Hari
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