Don’t Delay In Observing How Critical The Security Situation Has Become In Nepal
Act before it is too late
By GHANASHYAM OJHA
Joseph Nye, a Harvard professor of international relations and one of the eminent liberal thinkers, wrote in 1995, “Security is like oxygen — you tend not to notice it until you begin to lose it, but once that occurs, there is nothing else that you will think about.”
Regrettably, Nepal has begun losing such oxygen. The government has either failed to notice it or its short supply has incapacitated the country.
Security is a state in which every individual should freely enjoy their individuality and property without an iota of fear. But in Nepal, security has become nonexistent as the country has been inexorably plunged into lawlessness and anarchy. The situation has badly dented the confidence of not only the general public but also the state. The government’s hurried decision to hike petro-prices and then rolling them back after less than 48 hours following sudden and violent protests shows how weak the state is in analysing the situation and maintaining law and order.
While people haven’t yet been able to overcome the deeply entrenched fear psychosis created by the Maoists, the upsurge in violence, especially in the tarai, has badly paralysed their confidence. The security personnel deployed there have been simply reluctant to act. Police inaction was instrumental in the loss of lives and infrastructure in the past. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal — in its reports on the Gaur carnage and Kapilvastu mayhem — have pointed to the lack of police action for causing such horrendous deaths. The erosion of public confidence in the security forces portends grave challenges ahead. The presence of police personnel doesn’t ensure security for people in this country. Rather, the people’s unwillingness to cooperate with the political transformation — notwithstanding the security guarantee provided by police personnel during bandhs — is increasing because of the vanishing public trust in law enforcing agencies.
The deteriorating security situation is intertwined with the increasing incidences of criminal activities. People are like living in a state of general lawlessness in which criminals and gangs have taken the law into their own hands. The growing culture of impunity has largely contributed to the rise of crime and unaccountability. The violation of established law and order is making a mockery of the country’s security apparatus. A taxi driver speeding off even when a traffic policeman blows his whistle to tell him to stop at a red light is a common example of how accountability has degenerated into impunity.
The capital city is alarmingly turning into a hub of criminal activities. When people are being robbed, abducted and killed in broad daylight in the Kathmandu Valley, you can imagine the situation in other parts of the country. The tarai is evolving as the next Rolpa. Abduction, extortion, intimidation and killing are being carried out systematically in the tarai, which shares an 1800-kilometer-long open border with India. Criminals easily shuttle between the two countries through the unregulated frontier and commit offences with abandon.
At least one person is being killed in the tarai everyday. The armed groups scream for autonomy, but they are driven less by political motives than criminal intent. Sadly, the so-called unarmed “political” forces are condoning the violence being perpetrated by these gun-wielding outlaws. They have reason to stay mute. The theory that the violence will cripple the government and benefit the unarmed political forces will, in fact, ultimately reduce the entire tarai into a state of despair. The Maoists are now paying the price for harboring such ideas, and the Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party and the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum will do so later, if the bloodshed is not checked now. Violence, no matter how political it may look, begets violence and undermines ideology.
The political parties in the tarai must, without delay, condemn the violence being unleashed by the armed bands. They must simultaneously respond to the government’s call for a peaceful dialogue. Ultimately, they can obtain more space through their representation in Parliament than through agitation and violence. The CA poll is the only legitimate body to take them to Parliament.
Following the government’s announcement of the CA poll scheduled for April 10, security has become the paramount concern of every individual. Election, in a democracy, is participation. Better security means greater participation. The sense of the CA election should spread as a national euphoria. Every individual should display daring confidence in the election. Such confidence comes from a strong sense of security.
The CA poll is a must, but various elements pose a threat to it. The parties must prepare a calculated strategy to complete such a challenge-ridden task. Systematic rejuvenation of morale in the police force is the first task of such a strategy. The government must encourage police officers to take action against anyone found breaking the law. However, policemen are complaining that the government has been dissuading them from arresting Maoists on criminal charges. A senior police official told me during a meeting some two weeks ago that the police were compelled to let the Young Communist League (YCL), a youth wing of the Maoists, continue its parallel administration. He said that Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula had warned him that such actions might obstruct the peace process.
The government also should not delay in distinguishing between political and non-political forces in the tarai. Sincere negotiations must be initiated with the political forces and strong action should be taken against the non-political outfits.
The recent news of serial attacks against police posts in Khotang, a hilly district in the east, should be taken with much caution. It indicates the resumption of a bloody war in yet another form. It may be noted that in 1996 when the Maoists had warned that they would launch an armed struggle if their 40-point demand was not fulfilled, Kathmandu had dismissed their threat with a shrug. Had Kathmandu made the right assessment and taken appropriate action in time, we would not have suffered the enormous human and economic losses that we did. A Madhesi-Pahadi conflict may break out in a situation of inadequate security, and every individual should take the absence of security seriously before it is too late.
It’s good to write, I like the look of your text and conversation!