A letter to fellow journalists

Dear fellow journalists,

The attempt on the life of Republica’s Biratnagar reporter, Khilanath Dhakal— who is one of us— is a grim reminder of how things have gone terribly wrong with our democracy, which we fought so hard to retrieve from the clutches of an ambitious and abusive monarch not long ago. And it also reminds us of the enormity of the challenge that lies before us in institutionalizing rule of law in this country. This struggle is going to be a long one— much longer than the 19 days we needed to force Gyanendra to concede power to the people.

But we cannot lose heart or waver.

Let’s not forget that we were in the frontline in the fight against autocracy when Gyanendra seized power on February 1, 2005 and when most political leaders were in detention and the Maoists were still in the jungle. That was no misadventure on our part, nor were we being foolhardy. It was instead a conscious decision to take on the monarch when there was no one else in the beginning to resist his absolute rule. We fought against him not because we disliked Gyanendra the person, or loved the leaders he put behind bars.

We confronted him because we wanted to defend our freedom and safeguard our civil and political rights— we wanted to protect citizens’ right to expression, right to association and their right to choose or dump their leaders.

Rule of law is the fundamental institution— or “supra institution” — in a functioning democracy. Without it, citizens cannot enjoy their civil and political rights. In the absence of rule of law, our freedom and our rights become meaningless because anyone can easily hijack them.

Rule of law is the fundamental institution— or “supra institution” — in a functioning democracy. Without it, citizens cannot enjoy their civil and political rights.

Khila is the latest victim of the absence of rule of law. Local Biratnagar thug Parshuram Basnet, a goon with political protection from Kathmandu, has hijacked— at least for the time being—Khila’s right as a journalist to speak, write and inform the people.

And we journalists are in aandolan not because local goons made an attempt on Khila’s life and injured him grievously. If that’s the reason behind our protest, may be it’s time we called it off. Khila is completely out of danger and is recuperating very well. After undergoing surgery and the removal of a broken bone from his nose, he is getting back his sense of smell. This morning I talked to him on the phone and found him in great spirits. He wants to start reporting again; wants to join the protest. He told me that his parents wanted him to seek a transfer to his native Ilam district, but he persuaded them that he wasn’t going anywhere. He wants to stay in Biratnagar and continue to respond to his calling. So, let’s be clear that we don’t need to continue this protest just for Khila’s sake.

But we are in aandolan mode for a different reason. If the local administration had brought Khila’s assailants—all of them including the mastermind behind the attack — within the purview of the law and if the law had taken its course, there would be no reason for our aandolan.

This aandolan is, therefore, not for Khila or against Parshuram Basnet. Nor is it against the state or the UML.

But at the same time, make no mistake that this aandolan is against the state’s failure to nab the accused and against the UML party’s stubborn refusal to take action against Basnet. This aandolan is about giving the rule of law a fighting chance.

This is where many of us have misunderstandings and misgivings.

In an interaction program organized by the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in the capital on Thursday, many journalists associated with the UML-leaning Press Chautari complained that the aandolan had an expressly anti-UML tone and cautioned against dragging the whole party into controversy.

Friends, it’s only fair to say we all have our sympathies for certain social and political values and fortunately or unfortunately one or another political party champions those values. But that doesn’t mean we have to blindly defend a particular political party all the time simply because our sympathies lie with it. That will only make us propagandists for that party.

Let’s be absolutely clear, the UML has clearly erred in this case. It took two weeks after the life-threatening attack on Khila, and a combination of nationwide protests by journalists and condemnations from a cross section of society, for UML to ask Basnet to present himself before the authorities and prove his innocence. Shouldn’t the party have done that within a day of the grievous attack? And now that Basnet is openly defying the party’s instructions shouldn’t it suspend or sack him from party responsibilities? Isn’t it the responsibility of leaders in a democracy to inspire and discipline their cadres?

Agreed, if Basent were a Maoist cadre it’s possible the Maoist leadership also could have covered up for him, nor would the NC leadership have acted differently under similar circumstances. Because the political parties are becoming increasingly beholden to their cadres (read goons), who have recourse to the money and muscle. This is why even many well-meaning UML leaders don’t want to speak against Basnet and those who did so in the beginning now wish to remain silent. A wretched broker-class is gradually taking over the political parties, especially in the districts, and is functioning with utter impunity. This class runs smuggling rackets, captures contracts through intimidation, intervenes in local disputes and extorts money. And, unfortunately, this is true not just in Biratnagar. It’s universal across Nepal.

That is the larger problem. It is the cancer that we need to fight. Political parties are not going to purge themselves on their own. And a fractured and discredited civil society with its allegiance to various political parties cannot exert the necessary pressure on the political parties.

Neither can we, as long as the press remains divided on issues as fundamental as the rule of law. If Press Chautari or the Press Union or the newspapers remain divided over the basic issue of rule of law, we will only be contributing to the spread of this cancer.

But if the rule of law becomes our rallying point we can contribute, despite our imperfections (let’s not downplay the imperfections of the Nepali media fraternity), to a qualitative improvement of our democracy. Let’s not aim for anything less than that.

ameetdhakal@gmail.com