Views>>Restructuring Nepal
Restructuring Nepal
By Megha Ratna Shakya, Vancouver
August 4, 2009
Through its entire history, Nepal has been going through a very painful process, as no one can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
People are feeling totally exasperated and crest fallen because they believe Pandora's Box is now open and there is no solution in sight
to the myriads of problems facing the country. Making the new constitution of the new Nepal is not making any progress as people are deeply
divided over anything and everything. No one is sure of what they want and how they want their country to move ahead. There are endless discussions
and debates going on in the country on restructuring the country on the federal lines. There are no signs that people, leaders and political parties
are agreeing on anything. How long will this country have to endure like this?
The writer believes that Nepal need not go too far to find solutions to the jigsaw puzzle and there is an easy way to end the imbroglio. The path is first to believe and agree to oneness - one people, Nepali, and one nation, Nepal - unified and undivided Nepal. When this principle is upheld by one and all, the next step is to accept the present day reality. We have hundreds of ethnic groups, languages and dialects and cultures. There are numerous beliefs and religions like the Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, etc. Domination by one over another is not going to make a unified and one Nepal. Therefore, anyone carried away with the past legacy and prejudice that one is superior to another based on their caste, creed, knowledge, experience, wealth and power will not contribute in building a new Nepal, but rather tantamount in dividing the country.
How do we end the domination structure that is endemic to this country so that we can create a new Nepal where there is no domination by one group over the other and generate trust and respect to and by one another? Again, the answer is simple. The common property of the nation must belong to all the people from every ethnic group. One person, one caste or one ethnic group whether healthy or wealthy, educated or not educated, cannot be more favored than another. An example may be our national flag. The Nepali flag of two triangles with Sun and Moon belonged to all people of Nepal irrespective of their ethnicities, beliefs, religions, languages, cultures, etc. Even the words "Nepal' and 'Nepali' belonged to one and all citizens of Nepal. None in the country can use these words to exclude others from this soil. Any citizen, language and culture in this country are Nepali first, then come their ethnic identities afterwards. Can there be any dispute on this?
Geography, ethnicity, language, culture and other identities are considered during the creation of states. However, the present day reality is that there is often a mixture of different ethnicity, culture, and languages in most of the places. Creating states for convenience of the rulers is also not the choice of the people. This is clearly a divisive principle that we have rejected. We do not want to create artificial structure like the one during the Panchayat period when the country was divided into 75 districts and 14 zones to create a domination structure to fulfill the vested interests of the rulers.
So, how and where do we start? Again, there is a timeless wisdom that we can bank upon. Go back to history and learn from them. Historically, we had Baise and Chaubise states and Nepal Desa. The study of these states and their territories could give us some basis to form new states, not necessarily in the same number, rather than the current mood of certain people in Nepal claiming to create states based on the ethnicity. The historic truth cannot be contested and will be a preferred choice of the majority of the population of Nepal. Again, let us not forget, Nepal is first and foremost one nation and the creation of states within the country is only to bind people together, not divide.
When sufficient discussions and debates on the above line of thinking have taken place, then demarcating a physical boundary of states will be only a mechanical job that expert geographers could easily carry out. Following the general agreement on number of states and their physical boundary, debates on the fundamental principles like human rights, freedom, etc., then characteristics and the frameworks of the constitution of the New Nepal can take place. At the moment, too much polarization by the political parties in pushing their own agenda has derailed the process of the whole restructuring and writing of the constitution. This is like placing carts before the horses. This has to stop now. Their ideological wars have taken tolls damaging the very fabric of a new Nepal. The ideological wars can be fought in the elections through ballots after a new Nepal and a new constitution are created.
Political parties are free to promote their beliefs and ideologies through democratic means using ballot boxes. Leaders and political parties have dominated and imposed their beliefs on the people. This is high time now that people use their power – the people’s power through the civic societies. Too much reliance on political leaders and political parties have brought chaos in the country and now an alternative method by way of people’s power only can save the country from further peril. If Nepal falls down this time around, it will be fatal as the hegemonic foreign powers are only waiting for an opportune time to intervene. This would be the worst tragedy for Nepal because then, there will be no Nepal. For the sake of mother Nepal, set aside ideological differences at the moment and create a new Nepal with a new constitution that is acceptable to one and all.
The parliamentarians elected for the constituent assembly might start to find first and foremost a common answer to such "W" questions: What makes a Nepali? When one can be called a Nepali? Why is he/she a Nepali? Where does he live? How does he identify himself as a Nepali? And above all, who is a Nepali?
This is the time to do our soul searching.
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(Megha Ratna Shakya, educated in economics at Princeton University, USA, and an MBA from Nepal, is a trainer of non judgmental communication,
commonly known as on nonviolent communication (NVC). Megha combines NVC with meditation technique to calm our mind and eliminate thoughts so that
we can speak our feelings rather than thoughts. Megha is also a Vipassana meditation practioner, Tibetan singing bowl and Reiki healer.
He is residing in Vancouver. He can be contacted at 778-279-1004, email-
megha.shakya@gmail.com)