Political baggage
The hallmarks of democracy in Nepal have, for the entirety of its existence, in every form that it has taken since its emergence in 1950, been defined primarily by a few characteristics: corruption, nepotism, and cronyism. Lying further under the foundations of all three is criminal activity, which more often than not, facilitates the corruption, nepotism and practice of the crony political and business alliances. So when former minister and CA member Shyam Sundar Gupta makes an appearance in the headlines for assistance in the abduction of Kathmandu-based businessman Pawan Sanghai, it must be condemned. His arrest is appreciable. But the abduction should be contextualised as evidence of the continuation of the use of criminal activity for the accruement of personal or party wealth and leverage institutionalised in 1990s democracy.
The tendencies of political parties to provide refuge and protection to criminals working in their political or economic favour are a common thread found across our political party spectrum. The trend itself is a remnant of feudal and Panchayat modes of governance. This trait infiltrated the leaders of the Nepali Congress at first, the UML sometime later, and in more recent times, has also been characteristic of Maoist and Madhesi politics. And it can be assumed that it will take a complete overhaul of the political culture to bring an end to this almost-hereditary trait. But like most other characteristics, with time, they evolve. When a political party provides protection to various local level criminals for long enough, sooner or later, they will find their way into the political class itself, or vice-versa. The story of Shyam Sundar Gupta is a case in point. It is important to note that this was not the first time the lawmaker has made it to headlines in an abduction case. In 2007, Gupta was also allegedly involved in the abduction of Ananda Devi, the Chaiperson of the Sadhbhawana party. She was kidnapped and taken to Bihar before a sizeable ransom managed her release. Further, the straightforward politician-criminal or politician-businessman nexus has also evidently evolved with variations of the two.
These facts are no secret either. Home Minister Bijay Gachhadar himself has admitted his proximity to Kavre’s local don Ganesh Lama. The politicisation of crime, the criminalisation of politics and its affiliations with the business community is common in serving the purposes of wealth creation and/or power leverage. In the long run, as is evident in the frustration and apathy felt by the ordinary masses, this kind of culture is corrosive whereby the masses may begin to lose faith in democratic practices. This is very dangerous. Politics should not be a source of income generation and the possession of wealth cannot be grounds enough to be a politician. A means to begin to poison this culture at its roots could well be in a provision to demand transparency in party and personal finances. Former Home Secretary Umesh Mainali spoke yesterday of an incident when a local goon was arrested and a member from every political party phoned him up to demand his release. It’s telling that he wasn’t even comfortable enough to share details of the incident and this is precisely the kind of common occurrence that needs to be halted if democracy is to work in Nepal.
Posted on: 2012-01-18 09:18
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