| Username |
Post |
| ashu |
Posted
on 09-Jun-01 01:52 AM
I strongly disagree with the Maoists and ALL their tactics.
But I also strongly defend the rights of the Maoists to publish their voices either in their own newspapers or in some private newspaper such as Kantipur, provided that the editor knows that s/he is/was also free to reject such articles.
Once an editor decides what s/he wants to publish, the risks s/he takes lie in the court of public opinion and public opinion alone and NEVER -- en oh tee -- in the whims of the government.
In other words, the government is free to criticize Yuba Raj Ghimire and others for publishing the article, but its going out and arresting them on charges of treason is downright
autocratic and undemocratic.
Yes, the government has every right to slap Kantipur with a lawsuit and firght it out in a court in the manner of Kantipur versus the Kingdom of Nepal.
But the government has no right to phyically arrest Kantipur's
staff on account of the government's OWN interpretation of an article. This 'government's own interpretation of the article'
is what that's really scary and chilling and frightening.
After all, on a conceptual level: If we allow the government to interpret one article and and further allow it to take harsh actions according to what it sees fit (i.e. arrests and so on), how then are we stop it from INTERPRETING another article, say, by Biswo Poudel or by Namita Kiran on another topic published
in any publication in Nepal? What would form our basis?
Where do we draw the line against the government's
arbitariness?
It's much better to PROTEST now and stop the government from marching further.
That is why, I, for one, would NOT want to give the government power to interpret the CONTENTs of any article according to what how it wants to interpret. Why? Because, once given such sweeping power, the chances of the government's abusing that power -- as evidenced by our Panchayati history -- is way too high and costly for all. It may be Yuba Raj Ghimire who gets arrested today; but tomorrow, it may be Biswo Poudel or Namita Kiran or Ashutosh Tiwari . . . and so on.
And so, as a Nepali citizen, I'd rather have more incendiary articles by Babu Ram and his ilk than the government with absolute power to clamp down on freedom of speech on
pretexts only it can manufacture.
Meantime, look at what has happened in Nepal.
1) Kantipur published BRB's article.
2) On account of that, the government has arrested three people associated with that daily.
And so, a clear message to us all: Whether we like it or not, the most powerful person in Nepal at this time is actually Babu Ram Bhattarai.
Why?
After all, think about this: In a little more than 1000
wildly imaginative words, and without being publicly, physically visible at all, this Babu Ram guy has struck terror in the heart of the Girija government. So much so that the government had to
go out and arrest three people -- accusing them of treason
one day, and of some other thing, the next. Talk about power!!
I'm sure those who follow Babu Ram now have one more reason to believe him all the more. How ironic.
Now, is that the message government wanted to give to the Nepali janata?
I suppose not.
But it has.
Think of it this way too: Just because BRB wrote a few incendiary
words, did the government truly believe that Nepali janata will
buy BRB's guff lock, stock and barrel? I would think not . . . and
there are no reports of more people becoming Maobadis BECAUSE of
BRB's that article.
I also did not think the Nepali Sena would start revolting against the King just because some Maoist leader asked them to . . .Nepali janata -- those who rule over us -- always seem
to forget are much smarter than they are given credit for.
On another note, Babu Ram has boasted, time and again, that his enemies resort to extreme measures because they can't defeat
the validity of Maoism with words and logic.
Sadly, arresting those who publish his writings is one way of implicitly agreeing that, yes, the tenets of Maoism can indeed not be defeated by words and logic alone and that extreme measures are necessary. This only exults megalomaniacs like
Babu Ram.
After all, I would argue that, were Babu Ram to publicly assure
no physical retaliation against his logical adversaries and sincerely stick to that promise -- there would be no dearth of Nepalis who have the brains and the smarts to slam his outdated, stupid Maoism against the walls of logic, reason and historical
evidence. The guy lives on because of widespread fear caused by maoist violence and he has turned out to be more Maoist than
Mao himself.
And, yes, Namita, democracy's currency is NOT regular elections which allow us to elect and relect the same old crooks all the time. Democracy's litmus test IS how well our socities give
space to UNPOPULAR and even STUPID views so that such views can
be weighed for their worth in the marketplace of ideas.
Anything less, to quote Charles Barkely, the former NBA player "is uncivilized".
oohi
ashu
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| sun |
Posted
on 09-Jun-01 02:32 AM
I had no clue what you were talking about( I mean i knew it was against Namita's article) until this line "Democracy's litmus test IS how well our socities give
space to UNPOPULAR and even STUPID views so that such views can
be weighed for their worth in the marketplace of ideas."
Good going. Bravo. I wanna be able to write like you. Please tell me what's your secret besides Xavier's and Harvard.
|
| Prakash |
Posted
on 09-Jun-01 03:58 AM
Ashu dai:
Although we think that BRB's article will not influence nepali janata. We could be proven wrong. In a space of few days after the article has been published, I have met many who are clearly influenced by the article in question, especially the last paragraph, in which BRB urges the nepalese army to join forces with them (implied). Nepali janata is too gullible and too stubborn I think. Nowadays the wind is blowing against the monarchy and the nepali janata is swept by the wind. I hardly find a man or a woman who is thinking rationally. One of my relatives retorted she did not want to look at our new King's face on the telly. Another vehemently believes the King masterminded the whole thing. Noone on the street is ready to believe that the King and his son have as much chance of being innocent as they are of being guilty. And moreover, noone seems to ready to admit that the real truth may never come out and its now time to move ahead. There have been reports that among the recent demonstrators, there was a huge number of infiltrators. Among the demonstrators arrested in Patan more than half the demonstrators were not locals. So where did they come from? And why? Sabailai chetana bhaya.
Prakash
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 09-Jun-01 09:01 AM
I agree with ashu's view.
I was first surprised that girija did such a horrendous mistake
in such unopportune time. Nowadays, all the media journalists
are gathered in KTM. Any wrong activity by government is quickly
broadcast all over the world, and Girija goofed up his chance
of showing those journalists good sides of Nepal.
Now as for Baburam's view, the question is only one: whether his
writing was against basic tenet of humanity or not. If he had
written a racially prejudiced article, publishing that would
have been crime. If he had incited people to kill/hate the other
segment of people, that would be crime. But all Baburam said was
only the reflection of what those shaven headed protesters were
seriously thinking about. Let's not be confused, a lot of posters
here also thought the same thing about the new king.What he
said was his party's view about the regicide, and his suggestion
for people to defy new order.
Now, I don't know why the govt arrested the four people. Why not
more Kantipures, or why not only Yuvaraj? Another reason is why
didn't they go to court rather than roughening up the boys
psychologically?
As far as 'Hinsha Bhadkaune' article, I saw Bimarsha of this
Friday. It (and several other papers ) says Dipendra killed
royals. King in his regent-era speech told us the murder was
just an accidental. We all know the protests in the country
were instigated more by these statements. Why not arrest people
like Ram Chandra Paudel (who first told all the world media that
Dipendra shot everybody) and ,well, the king himself first?
Will somebody please tell me how they evaluate this term 'Hinsha
Bhadkaune'?
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 11-Jun-01 07:49 AM
Sun wrote:
>Good going. Bravo. I wanna be able to write
>like you. Please tell me what's your secret
>besides Xavier's and Harvard.
Thank you.
Here are the 'secrets' to my writing.
1) Hang out or work with people who are smarter than
yourself. True, some of these people can be uncomfortable/unpleasant at times. But if you persist on anyway,
then, hanging out/working with such people can be the best way to have your ideas/views and concepts challenged for free in a friendly manner. This way, as I have learnt, even if you do not agree with their conclusions, you still learn the art of defending or modifying your own ideas, views and concepts.
2) Take risks with ideas. That is to say, do not be afraid to make mistakes. In fact, make lots of mistakes -- often and
early. Making mistake is the best way to teach yourself a
lot of new things and reinforce your own learning.
3) Read as widely as you can -- Web sites, newspapers, books,
magazines, pamphlets . . .and, if you are blessed with smart, articulate friends, then you'll be discussing much of what
you read anyway.
4) Fully accept that writing IS hard, and that you can only
get better at it through practice, practice and practice . . . just as you would get better at, say, basketball after much practice. Even great writers have said that they dread writing . . . and I, NOT a professional writer, still get terrified at the prospects of writing multi-page papers for publication, though -- now, being a big boy -- I've learnt
to cope with such terror in a much better way than I used
to :-)
5) Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well accept it
as such. That's why, believe in yourself, and write with self-confidence. This will make you a sincere and an honest writer, even if your conclusions are wrong.
6) Write as clearly and simply as you can. I myself learnt to write better than I used to after taking a lot of courses that emphasized writing/analyses and after reading authors (mostly
contemporary philosophers) who wrote about complex stuff in clear, simple and vigorous English.
7) Finally, have fun -- intellectually and socially. Having fun with writing is really important. Learn to enjoy the writing process. If you write out of a sense of duty, you will be miserable and your writing will suffer.
So, the greatest secret is: Write, because you want to, and
NOT because you have to.
Hope this helps.
oohi
"still struggling with writing when no one's looking"
ashu
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| Sun |
Posted
on 11-Jun-01 11:30 AM
Thank you very mucfor your suggestion Ashu dai.
|
| GP |
Posted
on 13-Jun-01 03:53 AM
This is in reply to Ashu's comment on arrest of Kantipur Publication's editor including some other management executives.
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.
The editorial board should have requested BRB to change some of the words that would humiliate someone. TKP has no right to
assissante someone's character just because they got the article,
the TKP should take responsibility for the contents, and they
can not be just a messenger to pass the article to public, and
there should be some basic ethics in editing that KPub lacks.
In this context, either the journalists should have some
guidline for basic ethics or they should allow govt. to control
those who are liable for publications of articles that are
proofless and factless. Nepal has gone too ahead and it should
be brought in control to make it publish articles based on
facts and proofs. No character assissnations just because someone
find it right time.
Thanks. "Let all ideas come" is good, but, the publisher and
writer should be liable for all consequences. They can not escape from liablity. Liablity is the most important instrument to bring peoples in right track.
Thanks.
GP
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| GP |
Posted
on 13-Jun-01 08:27 PM
Good experience comes from where?
Ashu Wrote:
2) Take risks with ideas. That is to say, do not be afraid to make mistakes. In fact, make lots of mistakes -- often and
early. Making mistake is the best way to teach yourself a
lot of new things and reinforce your own learning.
In fact, in engineering design of infrastructures peoples
use the following quote:
Mark Twain said: " Good Judgement comes from experience.
And where does experience comes from?
Experience comes from BAD JUDGMENT".
So, its a cycle that consists of Judgment and experience.
This is probably the main secret behind Ashu's success
in writing convincing postings.
GP
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