Over the cliff
- (un)common sense
Morang’s CPN-UML-affiliated Youth Force chief Parshuram Basnet is a criminal. He is wanted in an attempted murder case. The victim, Morang-based
journalist Khilanath Dahal, is recovering in a hospital bed in Biratnagar. He got his second life by chance. In the meantime, we are learning that Khilanath Dahal was not the only victim of Basnet-run goonda-raj. UML’s own people had had those misfortunes befallen them in the past. The rise of Parshuram into an UML star is a gruesome tale of our political culture.
The most absurd thing about the ongoing saga is that UML’s youth organisation has initiated discussion with journalists over the case. What is this discussion about? There is no harm in talking, but in this case there is no reason for it either. If UML wants to talk about this with anyone, then it has to be with Mahesh Basnet and his protege, Parshuram Basnet. The first thing it has to do is to talk tough with them. They have to tell Mahesh Basnet in no unequivocal terms that he is protecting a criminal and by implication he is one, too. After all, he has repeatedly said that Parshuram is under his protection. The least the UML and its youth wing should do next is to publicly apologise to the public and cooperate in bringing the culprit to book. As citizens we have the right to expect at least this much.
Sadly, some of the UML leaders sound like they are ‘pleading’ in front of their master. In a recent meeting with Mahesh Basnet, some of the UML leaders reportedly told him to give up on Parshuram because it is leading to public criticism of the party. Reality is sinking in, but then they are skirting the kernel of the truth. Mahesh should handover Parshuram not because it is leading to public criticism, but because Parshuram has committed a heinous crime. If it could not do this minimum act of public accountability, its demise as Nepal’s political force is inevitable; it will be an ekadeshko katha—a myth.
But we don’t have to wait for UML to get lessons in public punishment come next election. If Morang’s Khilanath Dahal got punished for writing the truth, it does not mean things are honky dory in other places. You don’t have to be a serious investigative journalist to decipher the police-goonda nexus across Nepal. They both get cuts on virtually every kind of major public transactions—such as in allotting the ration tender or construction contracts. Some journalists also get their cuts, incidentally, for keeping their eyes and ears shut. Goondas and police regularly get cuts from restaurants and brothels. They provide their services to political class during elections. We can easily guess what their services are. The results have been a terror-filled life for those who speak up. There are two major ways minimum levels of public decency and legitimate order prevails in society and polity. First, the state’s
law and order machinery acts with competence and integrity. Second, there has to be organised citizen initiatives against criminalisation of politics and social life.
There are some encouraging signs amidst the generally bleak reality on both fronts. In Morang, Parshuram had police officers behind him. They hobnobbed with him. Deputy Superintendent of Police Sahakul Bahadur Thapa was in friendly contact with Parshuram after Khilanath Dahal was nearly killed. Twenty plus phone calls with known criminal. Are you kidding? A good sign is he is now under investigation himself. I sincerely hope Nepal Police uses this opportunity to begin the act of cleaning itself up as an institution. When you talk to some serious officials with the Police, it does not take long to figure out how scared many of them are about their careers.
I am sure Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara takes the case seriously. He has in his hands an opportunity to impart great service to the public. The situation, obviously, is a tricky one. UML’s big boss is the nation’s prime minister and UML’s Youth wing’s big boss has been going around the towns telling that he has the criminal under his protection. KP Oli’s man
in hiding might have been big threat to Khanal’s throne. We don’t know what goes behind the dark corridors of political power. By now Mahara must have grasped the enormity of tasks ahead. I have heard that he is a serious man. Obviously, transforming Nepal’s law and order machinery into a competent and publicly accountable one is a long, ardous task. Mahara can at least make the beginning. Sometimes, even a single person can do a lot.
An ever-vigilent citizenry is equally important to transform the criminalised political culture. Nepali journalists have taken the lead and kudos to them. Time is ripe for other sections of Nepali society to join hands with them. Feminists should see that the goonda-raj is also a direct source of gender-based violence. Public places have become unsafe for women precisely because of this. We can safely say that goonda-raj in Nepali society epitomises the most violent form of masculinity. Will the feminists see the call and come out of star-hotel, high-society gender-talk?
The issue also goes to the heart of the relations between citizens and political parties. Amidst the tall and seemingly intractable talks about federalism or naya Nepal, the issue of public accountability of political parties have become almost non-existent among the constitution-making activists. Public auditing of political party accounts could go a long way in checking the currently dominant shady deals between business elites, goons, bureaucrats and political leader.
In future, UML might look back and thank the journalist community for saving it from the brink. That is, if they read the signs of time well, and heed the call for sanity. Otherwise, we will be sorry for them. As the saying goes in Nepali: bhirma haamfalne gorulai raam raam bhanna sakincha, kandh thapna sakindaina—we can pray for the ox jumping over the cliff, but we can’t shoulder it.
Anil Bhattarai anilbhattarai@gmail.com
Posted on: 2011-06-21 08:35
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