| Suman Dhakal |
Posted
on 23-Feb-02 05:42 PM
The biggest problem at hand is the maoists' "movement AGAINST the people". First, the govt. needs to resolve this problem. either by talks or by force. now it seems that moaists are not in for talks but violence, so the govt. has to use force to contain them. here i use the word "contain" for i do not belive that maoists can be eliminated alltogether. we have to realize that as long as there is poverty, opprssion and corruption, certain groups of people will always rise and take arms against the govt. therefore, while the govt is using the army to contain the maoists for the time being, the deuba govt. also, at the same time, needs to realize why such groups as the maoists come into existence and needs to eliminate things such as corruption, poverty and opression that are the root cause of everything bad that is happening in the country.
i think we desprately need checks and balances in all the branches of the govt. to help reduce or even stop corruption in all the levels of the govt. i am not sure if such system already exists in our govt.if it does then it is obviously not working and needs to be reenforced better. and if it does not already exist then it needs to be implimented. why is that there is very less corruption in the american system of govt. compare to the govts. of other countries? not beacuse people here have higher moral and ethical standards than the rest of the world. it is beacuse there exists a system that does not allow corruption to run rampant. consequences are severe and everyone is aware of it. that is what we need to do. make people in govt. know that someone is always behind ur back and that consequences can be severe. those guilty of corruption need to be punished regardless of who they are. i belive that one of the main reason there is so much corruption in our govt. is beacuse these people have no fear in their hearts. system is so loose that they can easily get away. we need to ammend things such that we have a stronger and functional govt.
i have always been an advocate of a strong media presence in nepal. few months back i heard of a talk of internationl media competeing in nepal with the nepali media. but nepali media was quick to protest that idea. that is beacuse they don't want competetion and afriad of loosing the market. such is the attitude. i belive that media plays a vital role in many aspects of government. a strong media is necessary for any country to make things transparent between the govt and the people. i don't see any such thing happening with the media we already have. the only thing they do is report the happenings. we don't have an investigative media in the true sense of the word. that is what we need. and if the international media can provide that, i am more than happy to welcome them in the country for i am tiered of these soft spoken, candy-ass "journalists".
the thing that saddens me the most is the fact that its been 12 some years since the onset of democarcy in Nepal and our govt. is still failing to provide the basic necessaity of life to its pepole. the most important thing for survival is food. and if they are poors out there who have to struggle everyday to just put food in their stomach, how are they going to think of doing other things. such as putting their children through school. their whole life is a struggle for survival and their minds are occupied by thoughts of making it one day at a time. thus, when such minds are still struggling to obtain the basic necassity of life, how are they to be used for other things. where is the advancement in their thinking? where is the TIME for such thinking? in my belief, this is where most of our problem resides. and the govt. needs to do something about it quickly for a "mind is a terriable thing to waste".
govt needs to provide work for its people. uniform development is what we need. not just in cities, but in all the little villages and towns for there is where most of the people live. once the govt. is able to do so and the people are not preoccupied with worris of making an everyday living, then we will start seeing changes. then the minds will turn to other things. then will the poors send their kids off to school. only then we will start seeing the change in attitude and emergence of new ideas. only then can advancments and developments be possible. when people have options and opportunities, only then the killing will stop. only then we will have eliminated the maoists once and for all.
i don't know if this another idea of mine is quite possibel at the present, but is certainly worth mentioning. many african naitons have this program where they give scholorships to their students and send them to study abroad. places such as US and UK. and by contract, they have to return to their country once they are done with their studies and work for the government. once an individual gets an opportunity to go aborad for study, not ony will he/she advance academically, but also develops new prespectives on things. this exposer helps one think "outside of the box" as they say it. one develops a greater appriciaiton for things back home. and when one returns home with such developments in thiking, the country as a whole can benifit.
these are only few ideas out of many that i have mentioned here. would love to hear what you guys have to say about it and would like to hear ur ideas. feel free to comment.
Suman Dhakal
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| Cool Hand Luke |
Posted
on 23-Feb-02 06:18 PM
Well said Dhakalji. You are right on the money about there being a need for an "investegative media". I also agree with you on military being a short term resolution to the Maiost problem. For a longterm solution, "checks and balances", "uniform development" and much more are needed in Nepal. However, about the study abroad program, i do not think it is possible at the moment. Once we have established a better working government, only then will it be possible. The current govt. can not financially support it.
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