Talk of the town: Social Inclusion

Radiance’s view:

At present everyone is using the term “Social inclusion” and in the name of this, people of different ethnicities, regions, caste and class are raising their voices and are demanding their seats in the parliament.

In my opinion, this is not a practical concept in the sense that this concept doesn’t have a concrete definition. So I think people are misusing and trying to use it in their own terms and conditions. In various NGOs and INGOs, projects are flowing in for “social inclusion”. But is this actually practical? Recently, Madhesis revolution turned bit calm. But unsurprisingly, ethnic people (janajatis) are demanding for their voices to be heard in the name of social inclusion. It is necessary that your voices are to be heard but calling Nepal bandh and Upatyakas (KTM valley) Bandh so that your voices would be heard is a short cut method and reveal short sightedness. When these things are done, only sufferers are more suffered but those who need to be cautious and shaken up are actually not much affected.

If this way, in the name of social inclusion one starts to calling Bandhs and keeps on demanding, considering the multilingual, multi ethnic, multi religious nature of our country, we will need to have thousands of demands flowing in and will need to arrange for thousands of seat in the parliament instead of just 330 in new Nepal. It is because no one will be satisfied with whatever is happening then he/she wants to be in the parliament. And that person will be in the parliament then another group of people will demand for their seats in the parliament and this process will continue. So the need of the hour is that whoever is in power and whoever has authority to make decisions need to call for rigorous discussion and come to a conclusion. At present our prime minister, who is about to die any moment, will time and again give speeches in the name of people to fulfill the demands of “people” and if he doesn’t, then he will be tagged as being “undemocratic”. So he has to fulfill them and then certain group of people won’t be happy with his statements and new demands will be put forward and again he will have to fulfill them. That is what has been happening here right now in our context. If the trend is set like this then after janjatis, women, youth, Dalits, Bote-Majhis, Newars, poor, pahades and others will again put forward their issues and demand for their “inclusion”. Will that be possible?? We need to think about this. If this continues, “peace” which we are trying to achieve will be unachievable and instead of going in the progressive path we will be regressing and this regression will be even worse and will have even deadlier consequences than the armed conflict of the Maoists.

Therefore people who are so called representatives of people and those who are in the different forums and federations need to understand the situation and need to raise their issues in a very practical manner and need to think for a long period of time. They cannot be short sighted and demand whatever they feel like. It is understandable that state has been unfair and has been very ruthless to certain groups of people who are in majority but this doesn’t mean that because of them, other people (other members of the nation who are non state actors) are to be affected as well. So rational demands are to be put and in the name of social inclusion (which is a vague term), people misuse the power that are vested with. So instead of emphasizing on social inclusion why don’t we start campaign where we emphasize on changing attitudes and character of people vested with power, why don’t we campaign for anti corruption agenda, why don’t we campaigns for strict enforcement of laws, rules and regulations?

Hayah’s view:

In my opinion what Rad says to an extent is absolutely true. But I am a fan of “Social Inclusion” which in the purest sense is the inclusion of all the identities present in a nation, through direct or indirect representation. While democracy mostly seeks to bring out the majority view and opinion, Social inclusion strives to bring out all those willing to express their opinion (be them in majority or minority) with special focus on groups that are marginalized and to place their legitimate demands on the government through direct or indirect representatives.

Yes it is true that the groups within Nepal that are currently demanding representation are acting violently and in view of destructive display of their need, however, one must remember that the peace accord signed between previously conflicting parties in the armed conflict have not done a very good job in addressing the root cause of conflict in their discussions and accords and thus the value of conflict resolution through agreement has not been met. We also know that the only way a nation can move forwards is when the evils of conflict have been disclosed and an apology has been put forwards by the perpetrators of a violation of human rights during war time, and the perpetrators and victims have been given their due justice. But many know that this has not been done. The very people who have committed atrocities against others are the very people in Nepal today, making laws. Therefore, because the very basic issues have not been addressed when it should have been, these groups are now placing their demands.

And what else can these groups do? They counted on their leaders to make sure they are included and the root causes of social unrest in the country are diminished. However, when their aspirations are not fulfilled then they will do what they feel is the best way of putting their demands. While we know many groups that are doing the same intellectually, these groups like the Madeshis and the Jana jatis, who feel like their demands can best be heard by violence, will resort to violence. There has been no concrete, collaborated and coordinated effort by all the actors in the state affairs from NGO’s, INGO’s, government agencies, people from all walks of life who are willing to participate to work together in creating an environment for social inclusion and democracy. Therefore this situation is not to be blamed on “Social inclusion” but because of the disunity and vested interests of knowledgeable state actors like NGO’s and INGO’s working to make a profit out of the situation.

Snowfall in Kathmandu: Here’s the Generation that Saw it All!

I’m Alive

When you call for me
When I hear you breath
I got wings to fly
I feel that I’m alive

When you look at me
I can touch the sky
I know that I’m alive

When you blessed the day
I just drift away
All my world is right
I’m glad that I’m alive

I’m Alive by Celion Dion

I snuggled under my blanket at 2: OOpm, Feb 14, 2007 to be exact. The alarm was set to ring at 2: 15. I was making a desperate attempt to take a nap. Mom called to inform at 2 : “IT’S SNOWING!!” I literally jumped out of bed. Looked outside my bedroom to see that IT WAS ACTUALLY HAPPENING!! Flew up the flight of stairs and reached the terrace. Climbed higher and stepped out in the Rain Cum Snow combination clad only in a thin sweatshirt to FEEL the magic. Looking up at the skies it felt as though million of stars were falling down on me. As if the Lord had literally picked the stars and was saying “Here I bring the stars on your feet, Just For You!” My lips quivered, teeth clattered in equal timings and the entire body shivered with cold. And as strange as it might sound I felt that I was Santa Claus I Was Sooooo Romantically Cold.

With the neighborhood guys going “Haaaaaaa, huuuuuuuuuu” and the girls yelling “ Aaaaaaa, ooooooooooo” I felt as if I were the luckiest person ALIVE. “Ma ta baulaunchu hola yaar” (I think I will go mad) I told my sister. Dad was standing nearby, he laughed “ha ha ha” confronting my “wild” side. I was undoubtedly going insane with joy. Snow on my Terrace, how good could a Valentine’s Day Get??? The first time I ever saw snow outside the idiot box, the first time I heard the soft landing of the snow on my head other than RHCP’s “Snow hey yo”…the first time I Realized Romance Existed in the White beyond The Usual ReD Rules…And the very first time A Valentine’s Day Ever Mattered To Me!

Patan Durbar Square on Wednesday during a rare snowfall. The valley saw its first snowfall in 62 years.

Photo by: Rajesh K.C ( Courtesy E-kantipur)

The understanding of love is personal. So it the experience. Different hearts, different heads, and different lives are definitely bound to end in inscrutable love stories. Some connect on a mental level turn “Baudik Premis” (Intellectual lovers), some on a physical one. Whatever its kind, whatever the type the feeling is the same.
“We try to complicate it”, tells my Baudik saathi. “Infact it is a child’s play”.

He lights a cigarette, looks up and releases the smoke. “A thoughtful act” I tell him sipping my hot lemon. I make an attempt to understand him. I thank my name for the umpteenth time. The first email had read “Your parents have given you a nice name”. Hail the existence of the internet for that! We turned friends.

My mentor in a lot of things. Talk sense, talk nuisance he understands my language.

He never forgets to thank me either, for making them meet. A coincidence. Didn’t have any matchmaker intentions honestly. But as is said “what is to be, will be”. It was love at first sight, or rather Instinct at first sight. The two of them, include me in their dreams. I am the “Doctor Rana” (a character in the drama “Putaliko ghar”) in their talks. “Too fast.” I tell them. “But then again the bigger the risk, the bigger the gain” isn’t it?” I can’t keep anything to myself. “Time will tell” we all agree.

Not every guy meets a girl on a Valentine’s Day to proclaim love. Not every guy and a girl having a cup of coffee on a Feb 14 necessarily feel anything for the person sitting across them. And Not everyone’s romantic instincts get numbed the moment another human entity materializes in front of them. People are strange. Delve deeper into their strangeness and you turn a Stranger too. The “You” before is no more the “You” are now.

It is no more “You” first “I” second. Its always the “I”. Selfish as it may sound it’s a fact. “We” is too farfetched a dream. And what more can I say than sing this song and remember giving him a hard time ( ha ha ha):

“Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain”

HOPE YOUR VALENTINE DAY ROCKED!!

MIZ BOLD

AWESOME READ!! Read on!!Laugh on!!

Home Ministry faked number plate
BY KOSH RAJ KOIRALA

 KATHMANDU, Feb 9 – The Home Ministry is the highest civilian authority for enforcing law and order. But what if the ministry itself fakes the number plates of its vehicles?Photojournalist of the Post, Bikash Karki, caught two vehicles with exactly same private number plates queuing up bumper to bumper at the Nepali Army’s Bhadrakali gas station on Thursday afternoon. Karki promptly took a picture of the two vehicles — a silver-grey Nissan SUV and a blue Maruti.

But that was just the beginning of the story. After all, the picture was too interesting to be published without an accompanying story. Thus began the inquiry.

Records at Bagmati Zonal Transport Management Office (BZTMO) showed that the number plate — Ba 3 Cha 5810 — belonged to a blue Maruti car owned by Sharada Shah of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-35. Evidently, the number plate of the SUV was forged.

The driver of the SUV had told photojournalist Karki that the vehicle belongs to the Home Ministry. When this scribe reached the ministry the vehicle was nowhere to be found. Drivers of other vehicles at the ministry expressed ignorance about the vehicle in question. But one of them suggested that officials at the Police Personnel Records Office would know about the vehicle if it did indeed belong to a government office. He even suggested that one Puspa Shrestha could possibly know about the vehicle.

As luck would have it, the scribe caught up with Shrestha at the office compound waiting for a vehicle to take him home. Even without looking at the records Shrestha said the vehicle belonged to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA).

The scribe rushed to MoCTCA. Bingo! The vehicle was parked in front of the main gate. A driver at the ministry informed that the SUV was being used by the secretary at the ministry, Madhav Prasad Ghimire.

Ghimire himself was surprised to discover that the number plate of his vehicle was forged. “I know nothing about this and I have been using the vehicle only since the last three days.”

Officials at MoCTCA said the vehicle initially belonged to the Second Tourism Infrastructure Development Project. Upon completion of the project, the Home Ministry had taken the vehicle for its own use during the conflict and changed its official number –Ba 1 Jha 5810 — to a fake private number–Ba 3 Cha 5810.

“I was unaware about these things. I will change to the original number by tomorrow [Friday],” said a visibly embarrassed Ghimire.

Officials at Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD), Ramshahpath, said a large number of government vehicles are still using private number plates, many of them fakes.

Jagat Man Shrestha, Deputy Superintendent of Police at MTPD, said they have asked the government to stop using private numbers on government vehicles. Stating that the concerned authorities have not heeded their request so far, Shrestha said, “Among other things, such use of fake numbers causes difficulties while carrying out investigations of traffic accidents.”

The government started using private number plates on government vehicles after the Maoists increasingly targeted such vehicles during the insurgency.

Baman Prasad Neupane, spokesperson at the Home Ministry, denied having forged any vehicle number. “If the number has indeed been forged, it’s illegal,” said Neupane. “We had changed the numbers with due process during the conflict period. Such numbers will be gradually changed now.”

Posted on: 2007-02-08 20:53:34 (Server Time)

COURTESY: EKantipur