However, we have exactly the opposite in Nepal. We have a civil society that does not care about the problems we civilians have to face in our daily lives. Our civil society, as I see it, is a club of some likeminded (read, left leaning) intellectuals, who seldom represent the ordinary citizens and their concerns. I can’t claim to speak for the whole of Nepal, but these are the immediate concerns of us, the ordinary citizens of Kathmandu, about which the civil society that harps the human rights tune all the time has devoted little or no time to address.
We are facing 12 hours of load shedding everyday and that’s hurting everyone, but the civil society leaders seem oblivious to this. If they really represent the ordinary citizens and their concerns, then shouldn’t they be making the government get its act together and do something about this problem? Why don’t they put pressure on the government to come up with policies that are friendly to private investors wishing to and willing to invest in hydropower so that if not in the short run, hopefully, in the long run ordinary citizens don’t have to live in the dark?
Water is another problem. Kathmandu lacks drinking water, and we are not talking about safe drinking water here. Our expectations are not that high. We realize that ours is a poor third-world developing country and we will be happy to get water running from our taps even if it’s dirty and unsafe for human consumption. We’ll treat it ourselves to make it drinkable. Is it asking much? But the civil society that claims to represent ordinary citizens like me has not raised this issue forcefully with the government so far. Those who can afford to buy water buy it, but what about those unfortunate ones who do not have the means to buy water? If not for tap water at regular intervals (we are not even talking about daily supply), the civil society can still make the government distribute water through tankers in the hard hit places where the residents have to devote a significant amount of time and energy daily to meet their basic water requirements.
Since the civil society is already acting like an elite club that is totally detached with its surrounding environment, why don’t they do us a huge favor and officially rename it to what it really is: An exclusive club of people with vested interests and political agenda. That would save us a lot of confusion.
Security is another major concern. When one hears of robbers breaking into a police officer’s house and walking away with money and properties worth 700,000 rupees, it makes ordinary citizens like me concerned about the security situation of the valley. When we hear of extortions, kidnappings and random shootings, it makes us worried for our safety. But the civil society that claims to represent us sees nothing, says nothing, and does absolutely nothing to make the government tighten the security of the Valley.
Brain drain and muscle drain are other major concerns. Nepal is probably the only country in the world where the national broadsheets have more than half of their advertisement space devoted to go abroad adverts. The adverts read “Workers work abroad”. “Students study abroad.” And people are leaving en masse. However, the civil society is doing nothing to make the government stop this brain and muscle drain. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why people are keen on leaving Nepal. It all boils down to bad governance. For example, the government neither invests in industries nor it guaranties the safety (both physical and financial) of private investors. As a result, no one wants to invest and it is the poor workers who are forced sell their properties, take loans and go abroad to make meager livings. And it makes us ordinary citizens really sad when we hear about mistreatments and exploitations they go through in the foreign lands. The civil society at least can pressure the government to coordinate with the diplomatic missions abroad to lobby dignified treatment of our workers. But, I guess, for the civil society, the lower strata of Nepal ‘s population and its plight is of no concern whatsoever.
Students, often the good ones, are opting to go abroad because the academic institutions have become places for political parties to recruit their members. Colleges have turned into political institutions where students are indoctrinated. It is difficult to tell how much the college students learn about their majors, but they do seem to learn how to pelt stones, beat their professors and burn the libraries really well. Why aren’t the self-proclaimed pioneers, champions and leaders or what have you of civil society asking the government and the political parties to stop politicizing the academia, and create a safe learning environment for all? Or maybe, this too is asking much.
Recently, the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital was shut down for 19 days, and the civil society did nothing concrete to reopen it. It could have played an important role in bringing the fighting parties together and reopen the hospital. But the civil society was too busy to do this. What’s more saddening is one of the self-proclaimed pioneers of civil society happens to be a medical doctor—he, of all people probably knows more about the importance of hospitals in peoples’ lives.
There are many other problems we ordinary citizens have to face on a daily basis Rampant corruption in government offices, bad state of our roads and highways, adulterated medicines and foodstuffs, uncollected garbage, noise and air pollution—problems that are detrimental to both mental and physical health of the population. But our civil society seems totally unaware of these problems. All it is aware of is its own narrow political agenda. Since it is already acting like an elite club that is totally detached with its surrounding environment, why don’t they do us a huge favor and officially rename it to what it really is: An exclusive club of people with vested interests and political agenda. That would save us a lot of confusion.
trailokyaa@yahoo.com
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