Towards Substative Democracy

By Jeevan Baniya
Nepal adopted the liberal democracy after the political change in 1990 that was based on sets of civil and political rights, participation based on justice, free and fair election, good governance, free media, and civic participation. We gave emphasis on importance of democratic institutions, modernization, and economic development for reaching the ends of establishing democracy in the country. In the similar line, some limited efforts were made towards diffusing of power and weakening the relative power of the executive machineries by strengthening legislative and judiciary institutions of government. And decentralization was viewed and encouraged as the effective political programme.

There is no doubt that the country had more democratic political space for opposition parties and independent civil society as well as regular elections and democratic constitutions after the political change in 1990; but is also an undeniable fact that these all were characterized by exclusion of citizens, poor representation of citizens’ interests, abuse of power and law by political party leaders, government officers and people with power. Consequently, people of Nepal were disempowered and they lost confidence in the state institutions. Even elections held so far failed to produce far less than what people had expected. In other words, the so called ‘democratic system’ that was in practice did not deliver on its ideals. And various measures (many structural adjustment programs) undertaken to deal with the maladies under the system, also remained ineffective.

Even after the political change of 2006, our focus has mostly been on institutions building as if institutions are the only way for developing a democratic and more prosperous nation. Of course, building institutions and civic and political rights, rule of law, free media, free and fair election etc. are essential for democracy. But, the experiences of Nepal and elsewhere in the third world countries have well indicted that peoples’ incapacity to make use of these rights and institution has all failed them to rip the benefits of the system. These institutions and rights have been mostly misused by the people in power to rule over powerless citizenry; hence, linking citizenry to these institutions and making them enabled to exercise their civic and political rights is a precondition and urgent task with Nepal’s political parties and other actors for democratic system to serve broader population in the country. Sad enough though, Nepal’s local institutions have been long delinked with people.

Our focus has been primarily on form not in substance despite the fact that Nepal has already failed to establish substantive democracy after 1990. In the pretext when various political parties of Nepal hold huge disagreements on the future form of governance and it is going to remain as one of the most significant issues to be finalized in order for writing the new constitution, suggestion can be made that all political parties can and should at least agree on developing a ‘Substantive Democracy’ in the country – the kind of democracy in which people are supposed to be given respect as human beings. In other words, ordinary citizens should be provided with basic needs (food, clothing, water, sanitation, education), which can make sure for them lead their lives with dignity. To this end, provision of basic needs should be held as the fundamental rights of ordinary citizens.

No one would disagree on vital issues of basic needs as the minimal conditions of life and all people want their basic needs met. Hence basic needs are necessary to be guaranteed first in order for anyone to pursue any other goals. When people lack access to these needs, we have experienced that it can drive to the problems like poverty, poor health, illiteracy, criminal activities and even the war. Therefore, our democratic government should have the moral obligation to provide people with these needs. But unfortunately, although political parties have often been able to mobilize their constituencies during election time in the past, it should be fair enough to articulate that the elected representatives except few have professedly failed to fulfill their promises of bargaining social policies in favor of poorer section of society in policy making processes; instead bargaining has mostly been confined within chair sharing. As a result, larger section of people in the country has long been made obliged to beg for these things that belong to them in term of their rights.

We might argue that it is because of economic underdevelopment or slow economic growth that the state has been ineffective in guaranteeing these basic needs for its citizens; yet this is not sufficient explanation. Indeed, economic growth is enormously helpful in advancing living standards and in fighting poverty. But moreover, it is also necessary to understand that economic growth alone is not an end in itself but should be seen as an important mean for achieving things we value, because, economic growth does necessarily enhance our ability to improve our living standards. Hence we should understand that the impact of such growth on citizens depends greatly on what we do with the increased income, on how we use it to closing economic and social inequality and, what the government with the revenue it collects. In the past our governments have failed in investing in the social objectives and we have also already experienced the results in our social, economic and political spectrums.

Although, peace process and constitution writing are the two major tasks at present, whether Nepal’s democratic political system can refocus neglected public services is one of the most pressing questions facing the country. There is no doubt that the future politics of any political party or party leaders will also very much depend on to what extent they can orient their politics towards what they can do to improve peoples’ lives through public policies.

No doubt people have regularly lost faith in the capacity and political will of political parties to represent their interests. Despite their disenchantment with political parties, it is yet in the part of state and political parties that people in Nepal expect to represent their needs. Because, most people still think that it is the state that is responsible to provide them with the basic needs when they are asked, which in a way is good for political parties of Nepal. People expect the state and the political party in power to, deliver basic needs, remove poverty, generate jobs and incomes, remove inequalities within/across different groups, protect vulnerable, and the poor. Although we often talk about necessity of ensuring participation of ordinary citizens in decision making processes for democracy to be representative, we can be utopian and expect their direct participation of because of various reasons, so, it is again peoples’ representatives who should stand in for their citizens. But it will also depend on quality of political actors and the conditions under which such people-oriented policies and programs can be developed.
When the government and political parties fail to link mediate citizens’ needs to institutions, their popularity goes down and even the legitimacy of democracy declines. Consequently, people even feel like seeking prospects in authoritative enclaves as in the case of ex-King Gyanendra’s taking over of power that generated huge euphoria among people for solution of the problems facing them.

The avatar of the kind of democracy we have experienced so far has largely been ineffective in delivering to peoples’ needs but has created so many other socio-economic and political problems. Hence, the future of democracy in Nepal can be ensured by establishing substantive democracy – may the concerned actors work towards this end.

Social Democracy for Nepal

Jeevan Baniya
The debate on social democracy heard especially while Nepali Congress was having its general convention few months earlier although it had to come into prominence from the very beginning of constitution-writing process that started with the formation of various committees in the Constituent Assembly.

The discourse on this particular concept is important, for, this might be the kind of democracy most political parties have been looking for or want to practice in Nepal. We know that most political parties have always shown their commitment, theoretically but not in practice, to the concept of social democracy. This becomes more evident from their manifestoes and their ideological orientation on the form of democracy, although the ultimate goal of the Maoists differs in their papers even from three different papers discussed in Palungtar plenum of the party.

Actually, this columnist was encouraged to write this piece after listening to a senior Nepali Congress leader on the BBC Nepali radio service in which he was not able to convincingly answer the question as to what he meant by 'social democracy'. It was surprising to know a high-ranking leader of the party that envisaged the concept itself did not have clear vision about democratic socialism or social democracy. There is no confusion that the NC has had a departure from its idealism of democratic socialism adopted in 1956, must have taught them lessons in the recent past. Hence, it becomes clear that not many of our leaders know what characterises social democracy and whether it is possible to establish it in Nepal given the conditions and situation we have.

As the world acknowledges, Norway has had the democratic system that is well-functioning, more responsive and representative. The government of this country has long been able to entertain strong trust from its citizens. Its standing on top position if HDI ranking better explains the effectiveness and legitimacy of its system.

It's amazing to see Norway's resourceful population with high level of education who make their voices heard in government, academic institutes, local organizations and workplaces. It is always tempting for anyone who dreams for better system of governance, better life conditions and better development.

When we envision and discuss the ways and possibilities to adopt social democracy in practical sense it is always important to have experiences from the societies that have exercised and benefited from such system.

Therefore, it will be important for Nepal to learn from Norway, one of the champions of social democracy, about how it has been possible for the country to develop and practice such a model of democracy. The experiences from Norway will also help our leaders along with others, who are interested in discourse of social democracy – even for those asking questions to our leaders in their programs as it is necessary to understand the questions of not only ‘what’ but also ‘how’ and ‘when’.

Historically, the Norwegian state has developed on popular movements and mass parties after the 1930s and after World War-II. The state is persistently engaged in systems for social security and redistribution socially and geographically, which has been supported by popular broad and center-left. The fact that the state has exercised extensive public control or ownership of land, resources and capital, has assisted to provide welfare services to the citizens. In return, the state and its public institutions have succeeded in receiving wide support and legitimacy for welfare arrangements in the country. One may argue that Norwegian oil resource has helped them get to the point where they are now. True, but this is not the whole story.

It is not only the state as such, which became only agent of such achievements in Norway; more significantly have been mass parties and voluntary associations with broad societal agenda to have a strong impact on the evolution of public authority. Civil society organsations have been very significant forces that play the role as bridges to connect communities and social groups to national-level entities, which is rare in Nepal. These organisations also have succeeded in changing the passive people into citizens by reaching out no matter where and what kind of lives they lived. This interplay has created good marriage of top-down and bottom-up governance. It is remarkable that local community associations in Norway have been very active and effective agents of social, political and economic reforms.

But in Nepal, the problems of co-option and party politicisation of such organisation is very high, which indicates that even organisations operating in societies are still questionable to whether they can be effective agents in developing social democracy in Nepal. Hence, it calls for the transformation of such social groups and organisations. Only then, one can be hopeful that they might contribute to stop the decline in democratic infractures in Nepal.

On the other hand, Nepal has already been trapped in the vortex of liberalisation and hollowing out of the state, which was supported by the major political parties like Nepali Congress and CPN-UML going against their original political and economic ideology. The possibility of establishing social democracy hence highly depends on whether these parties can retain their original stance in New Constitution that is yet to be promulgated.

Quite contrary to the idea of decentralisation and federalism that is perceived as the norms and ideals of democracy, Norwegian state is characterised by high level centralisation of its institution – it might have been feasible because of low population rate in the country. But interesting enough, centralization has been equally balanced by high levels of citizen’s control over them – which may somehow suggest that only decentralisation is not the solution of the problems people facing, rather it is also important to what extent people can control over their public affairs in their respective societies.

It is necessary for any local government to be effective and democratic to work with various organizations and social groups in their communities – this is the area where representative and inclusive democracy, and rule by popular consent has to be practiced.

Comparing the conditions and situations between Nepal and Norway, one can easily notice that there are serious obstacles in establishing social democracy in Nepal. It demands high level of educated citizens, highly mobilised society and willingness on the part of political parties, and responsive and effective administration and state institutions. However, if the actors involved realize that it is deemed necessary for the country, they are the ones who should at least pave the way through the opportunity they do have now.

Meanwhile, we can just live with the hope that country will soon take the path to exercising social democracy.

This artical was originally published in www.nepalnews.com
http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/component/content/article/13-top-column/11395-social-democracy-for-nepal.html

Comfort Women: Book Review

As a piece of historical literature, this book is interesting as an in-depth look at the politics and the chronological suppression and exploitation of the women. I think this book has been the real instrument for the historians, human right activists and general readers. The writer seems to have been very convincing and willing to campaign for the rights of the women. Tanaka Yoshiaki’s outstanding study states that the women were not only wartime prostitutes but also they were victims of the monstrous system which repetitively raped and trapped the women in the big hell of sex slavery.

This book explains the practices of sexual slavery of the Japanese military during World War II. The writer has also tried to make the readers convinced that the Japanese government is responsible for all these atrocities to the women. The large scale imprisonment and rape of thousand of women, who were called “Comfort Women” by the army, drew the public attention only after three Koreans filed the suit in a Tokyo District Court against the atrocities. The book also describes how women were rounded up, how they were forced to live and so on. Still some Korean women are fighting for their justice.

According to the writer of this book, the establishment of a system of military prostitutes began with use of Japanese professional prostitutes who would be sent to overseas locations. These women were provided to Japanese military forces beginning in the 1920s, but often had high levels of venereal diseases. It was later decided to use foreign women, who, not being prostitutes to start out with, were relatively free of disease. An estimated 200,000 women from Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Taiwan, and to a lesser degree Myanmar, Malaysia, and Vietnam, as well as some British and Dutch women were used as comfort women.

As the war drew to a close, many of these women were abandoned or killed, or claims were made by the Japanese that they had been nurses. Discussion of forced military prostitution was avoided during the American military occupation of Japan because of cultural sensitivities. Women who had been forced into sexual slavery were unlikely to admit to the experience in the decades following the war, due in part to the psychological pressures which had resulted from the experience. The book also states that the women were kidnapped or tricked by the false promises of the legitimate employment. They were also treated as colonial subjects, members of the rural and urban poor, and women. The writer through this book also has analyzed the background of Japan’s prewar system of licensed prostitution and contemporary sex tourism, where Japanese men exploited the neighboring Asian countries.

It has personalized some of the 'comfort' women. It gives the details the inhumane process of recruitment. This forced the into sexual slavery and the degrading day-to-day treatment by recruiters, managers and soldiers if the women refused to 'comfort' soldiers, became pregnant or were ill. As the same it attempts to establish the figures that helped to implement the 'comfort' women system, including senior Japanese military officers, Ministry of War bureaucrats, brothel owners and their recruiter sand medical staff. In early part of the book the writer carefully documents the historical process that resulted in the establishment of comfort stations as military general policy during World War II, including extensive collaboration between the arms of the Japanese military, government ministries and the prostitution industry in Japan and Japanese-controlled Korea.

As Tanaka shows, while at first the women recruited for comfort station were professional Japanese prostitutes and impoverished Japanese and Korean women, soon local women in China and elsewhere were often forcibly recruited. The methods employed by civilian recruiters included deception, intimidation, violence, and, in extreme cases, even kidnapping. In Shanghai, even as early as 1932, the existence of comfort station was given various rationales, including the need to maintain military discipline by reducing the likelihood of the rape of civilians.

The writer argues convincingly that the existence of comfort station and the methods used to 'recruit' women for them were sanctioned and promoted by the Japanese Ministry of War. While the stations may have been successful at providing soldiers with psychologically-beneficial leisure, the writer says that as a means of preventing rape and the spread of venereal disease, the 'comfort' women system was ineffective. Furthermore, while the 'comfort' women were regularly examined for venereal disease, it was quite difficult for both military authorities and the women alike to persuade soldiers to use the prophylactics and disinfectants that they were provided with to avoid infection. Indeed, soldiers were effectively discouraged from reporting venereal infections to medical officers by the existence of a punitive sanction for the condition, namely demotion by two ranks.

An important part of the ‘comfort’ women discourse, the writer argues, is the effort that has been made over decades by successive Japanese governments to suppress the stories of the ‘comfort’ women, an effort which has been supported in the post-war period by the silence of the Allied nations. Few would dispute that this has been the case. Relevant documentation is difficult to obtain.

The second half of the volume is devoted to explaining why the Allied Occupation failed to prosecute individuals for crimes against the 'comfort' women at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal), despite ample evidence of such crimes being available. Yet in a volume ostensibly based in law, there is a curious omission of nearly all legal discussion. There is no notice taken of how far the international regime of human rights has developed since World War II, rendering the use of terminology such as crimes against humanity. He also does not explore some of the other legal options offered by other authors in this field as to the means by which the Allied nations could have prosecuted individuals for crimes against the comfort women.

The writer merely notes that the Dutch authorities questioned Indonesian, Indo-Dutch and Chinese 'comfort' women about their experiences in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies but that only two cases involving non-Dutch women were ever raised at the Batavia War Crimes Tribunal.

The writer’s primary argument regarding sexual slavery is that the Allied nations' own 'sexual ideology'—their treatment of non-Western women prior to the war, their practice and attempt to cover-up military-controlled prostitution during the war and their complicity in the establishment of a similar 'comfort' system for Allied personnel during the Occupation in Japan. During the war itself, the writer clarifies that the Allied 'sexual ideology' made it 'quite natural that the Allies were completely unable to discern the criminal nature of the comfort women system.

While the women were professional prostitutes, he contends that it was still a breach of international law, although which aspect of customary international law he does not make clear, that in at least one case a sixteen-year-old girl was approved and used as a prostitute by the Australian Army. The writer’s overall argument in the middle of the book is that that the engagement of the Allied forces in prostitution was similar to the 'comfort' women system perpetrated by the Japanese and this weakened the Allied nation’s ability to perceive any criminality in the 'comfort' women system.

To further make the connection between the Allied nations' sexual ideology and the failure to consider the 'comfort' women system as a war crime, Tanaka raises the issue of sexual violence committed by soldiers of the Allied Occupation against Japanese women. Such atrocities were widely feared in Japan, not only by the populace which had been indoctrinated by wartime propaganda to believe that mass rape was a usual characteristic of the immoral 'barbarians', but also by political and bureaucratic leaders. Even before the Occupation began, a vastly similar 'comfort' women system was established in Japan for use by Allied soldiers, staffed by professional Japanese prostitutes and recruited 'volunteers'. In juxtaposing the 'sexual ideologies' of Japan and the Allied nations in this manner, the writer underscores that he is not attempting to rationalize the crimes that Japanese men committed during the war by referring to similar or related crimes committed by the Allied soldiers immediately after the war.

The writer’s remark regarding the allied nations’ sexual ideologies leaves the readers contemplate the ruthlessness of so called powerful nations. This is an interesting volume on this most delicate of subject matters. Yet, it should be read with some caution. It could be more convincing and reliable if the writer had posted many photographs that exposes the lives women were forced to live and how they were mistreated – but one can assume that the writer might not have succeeded to obtain such evidences.

Yet even if these minor failings are discounted, this volume remains a distinctly unmeasured analysis of the why the Allied nations failed to prosecute the 'comfort' women system. It does, however, pose some interesting questions to further researchers in this field.

As a famous researcher and the professor of one of the Universities in Japan, Yoshimi has really attracted the intellectuals as well as general public’s attentions raising the very controversial and critical issues through this book, to which any one, who is interested in human rights issues, must be very much drawn into.

Despite his failure to let the readers know more the actual historical background regarding the case, the writer has really been successful in explaining the discriminatory attitudes and manners towards the women, characteristics of the Japanese society, prostitution system and its atrocities, various forms of human rights violations and the indifference showed to the voice of the victims by respective governments.

I highly recommend people to read this book, which will give you the insights into why East Asia shared antagonistic past, and what it means at present relationship among acountries in that reason; and even it will help you understand the inhuman treatment women received by their counterparts. It will also make us rethink our views on war, geopolitical interests, security issues and how countries neglect human rights issues in the name of war

A Single Spark -The Biography of Chun Tae-il (book review)

Review of the book: A Single Spark (The Biography of Chun Tae-il)

The book published in 1983 for the first time, revised in 1991 and again in 2001 also got published in English Edition in 2003. Readers of the book really get interested and get addicted to complete reading the book once they begin to read. Many more stories related to hardships in publishing the book have further contributed in making the readers more curious to know more about the enlightened man, Chun Tae-il. Furthermore, the story of the writer who got ready to put his life in front of death for writing about Chun Tae-il leaves them in the deep ocean of eagerness.

The introductory part of the book devotes to briefly let the readers know about Chun’s life introduction, the hardships he underwent, and how he became the beat of every laborers working in peace market, how he devoted his life to fight for the rights of labors during the dictatorial regime of Park Chung Hee. As the same, the part also explains how the death of Tae-il sensitized, awakened and inspired the students, intellectuals, churches and labors and their well wishers. The introductory part also has highlighted the Tae-il’s fight for humanity; all in all the outlining of the contribution of Tae-il in Korean labor movement, change in labor laws and ultimately to the democratic movement in Korea really moves the people.

The first chapter of the book starts giving the vivid pictures of his childhood. Telling the story about him and his family, he has got the poignant story that really deeply touches almost every human’s heart. His full-fledged dream of achieving knowledge through formal education overridden by his socio, economical and family circumstances is rather moving. The description of his struggle in a very a mall age for his leaving for taking care of his brother and his goal of not torturing his mother tells how Korean lower and middle class people of the period in Korea were to live their lives.

His entering into the peace market after his long struggle for putting his hands and mouth together is explained in the next chapter. His time and the days of workers in Peace Market gave him the real insight to fight for the better working conditions of labors. After experiencing the vicious practices of exploitation of the factory workers and their life and work predicaments, he, he turned very willing to study the existing labor laws of the period which was just in paper. In the companies labors were poorly paid, their working conditions and mistreatments from the owners to them.

Consequently, he realized the need of struggle for improving the workers conditions and their rights. He later got to know that they also had some of their rights stated in law. Then, he discussed with the few cutter friends in peace market about his discovery and how they could go ahead with their mission. Despite many people’s indifference because of the potential dangers that they might have to face, he managed to form a small group called ‘Society of Fools’ to fight for their rights. They also assumed themselves and other workers as fools wasting their life in meager salary just to make their living. But the struggle was too tough and many of the members could not be fully involved with the lack of time and fund. Only Chun and few friends were left to run the ‘Society of the fools’ and it had to be dissolved in the end. In his short life of Chun there is hardly any moment described as the peaceful time that he went through. It seems that he never got chance to have a peaceful moment in his life. The steps that he took were also full of despair. Due to involvement in the labor movement he was expelled from the factory in the peace market and he had to work in the construction sites for some time of his life. Being an eyewitness to a brutal reality, rage and sadness, it seems to the readers of the book that he is the second name of agony, poverty, shattered and Mozambique.

We can imagine how must have felt when he could speak to nobody about his struggle, for, nobody wanted to listen and understand him. There was nobody to accompany him to a journey in the lonely road of his life. There was nobody for him to share the pains of the oppressed workers. He actually knew the grievances and the tears of the workers though the other people didn’t have or want to listen to that story.

But obviously, he enlightened vision of equality, humanity and fight for the rights proves his geniuses even in his small age. His courage and readiness to even sacrifice his lives for the betterment of oppressed, exploited and marginalized people tells us that he was very altruistic like any great people in the world who gave the lives for their people and country. He resented the idea of a human being a slave to some other human.

While working in the construction sites in mountain he again decided to go back to the peace market to struggle for the labors for their rights and get what they really deserved. ‘I must go back’ was what he wrote he wrote in his diary.

Back in the peace market with the help of few friends he was able to form ‘The Samdong Friendship Association’ aimed at working like ‘The Society of fools’. Very rarely did newspapers help them to expose their appeals. But, there was a newspaper that wrote an article about them. However, this attracted very less attentions towards their problems – this problem still exists in various forms.

He was very much frustrated after the voices of the workers were not heard and not responded well. But, his passion for struggling against the atrocities and exploitations towards the workers didn’t die; rather it was fueled so that he got more motivated to make his voices full of agonies heard by the related authorities. He soon decided to use his final weapons get mobilized to penetrate the silence of the government and other people. Of course, we may imagine that he didn’t have any other strong weapons with him but his life. One day, while there was the inhuman suppression on their demonstration, he set himself blaze of fire awakening the sleeping minds, challenging the inhuman treatment of then government and ultimately giving his live for the justice, equality, humanity and democracy. His frequently told words “Don’t let my death be in vain” and another sentence “We are not Machines” encouraged people in Korea to make his dreams realized thereafter to some extent. As the title of the book, he was a single spark exploded as the dynamite that ultimately contributed to transfigure the whole society.

There is no doubt that this book has given the crystal clear picture of doctorial industrialization era in South Korea. For me, it as unbelievable story as I never imagined that some people had undergone such hardships in their lives during the period, although I myself have observed how much labor rights the laborers exercise at present time.

His experiences mentioned in his diary have been able to make the readers fully believe in what the editors of this book have explained. Of course, the coherence of explaining his through and mentioning of Tae-il’s words brought from his diary makes the readers feel like a young people studying some love story novel, as it is very difficult to stop reading while you are going with the biography. It lets the readers realize that present Korea was created out of many people’s sacrifices. Though we hear similar stories from developing countries where there may be many such Chun Tae-il living at this 21st century, it is very moving and heartbreaking story for me to have the knowledge about his struggle from his very small his till his death.

Moreover, his willpower commitments and determinations to ensuring the rights despite his pathetic family conditions make us deeply moved. This book can be one of the greatest motivating components even today in many countries where many people are doomed to undergo inhuman atrocities, exploitations leading their life to complete darkness. Many civil society activists and pro-democratic leaders must have been greatly inspired and motivated after reading the book. After the book publish and the labor union movement, many things changed in Korea, laborers were provided with better working conditions and many people got to realize what their rights are and what rights they have to entertain as humans no matter where you work.

For the people who easily get swayed by the faster economical development of Korea in dictatorial regime and appreciate the state-led economic development, this book will give them a great shock as they pass through the records of human rights violations in the period. Although, development theorists like theorists of dependencies and liberalism don’t agree with a single paradigm of development, no one can stand condemning the inhuman treatment towards labors of the period portrayed in this book, which makes any readers rething about the strong state paradigm.

I am not sure about it but I strongly urge that it will be very useful if Korean government includes the story of Chun Tae-il in school history curriculum so that each and every new generation has the taste of their seniors struggle in beautifying the country. To my eyes, the story of Tae-il will inspire Korean young generations to be more caring to human rights and justice.

This book can be a good source for people who are interested in understanding Korean developmental era under the authoritarian regime. It is better if we read the book and critically analyze the dark as well as bright part of the period; and thereby shape our prospectives from the lens of our own eyes. The first writer of the book Cho Young-rae should always be the subject for historians and sociologist for further studies on Tae-il.

I have found the book very powerful and full of lessons that can be learnt and used for bettering many lives like of Chun Tae-ils who are still living like him in some parts of this world.

Possibility of Democracy in Nepal

Jeevan Baniya
In my informal talks with my friends, some of them often argue (especially at the times when political parties get trapped in the net of power sharing) that Nepal needs a strong dictator-like leader so as to maintain rule of law and lead the country to development and prosperity; this always frequently leads me to wonder whether democracy is possible and feasible in Nepal. Despite such increasing pessimism among people, I always remain optimistic and positive towards the feasibility and prospects of democracy in Nepal.

A few days ago, following ‘The Decisive Debate on National Consensus for Peace and Constitution’ organised by FNCCI, people of Nepal clearly might have traced a gloomy picture of Nepal’s political environment and future prospect of successful constitution writing and peace process.

For me, it was however interesting to listen to how they define various concepts i.e. ‘citizens’, ‘democracy’, and ‘peace,’ – their definitional differences gives a clear indication about where root causes of current mistrust and political deadlock lie. The major problem of the present crisis has become more evident that every political party have major concerns on the form of governance to be established in the new constitution, which is fairly natural as they have different ideological orientation and practical obligation to some extents – this is what is closely related to how the definitions defer from one party to another.

To trace historically, there has been no universal consensus yet on what constitutes democracy: hence it has become the subject of wide contestation. Thus, the question of what form of democracy needs to be established in Nepal appears to be fundamental issue related to present political crisis in the country.

It is however necessary to acknowledge that even the constitutional guarantees of the system and people’s rights may not be sufficient to define what relationship there should be between citizens and democracy. It will be relevant here to note what an Indian scholar, Partha Chattarjee in his book ‘Politics of the Governed’ notes, - ‘even though everyone is a citizen with equal rights in terms of the constitution and laws and therefore to be regarded as a member of civil society, most inhabitants are only tenuously and even then ambiguously and contextually ‘rights bearing citizens’ in the sense imagined by constitutions – they are not, therefore, ‘proper’ members of civil society.’ Enough remains to be done even after the finest constitution is written as the societies are always in the process of change.

This statement of the aforementioned scholar is very relevant to the problems of governing system of Nepal as well, where larger section of the people is left out from the services of the governance - our past experiences also vividly tell us that the constitutional guarantee is not sufficient – and this characteristic parallels with those of many third-world countries as well. It does not mean however that it should be as it is; we need to persistently work towards creating a better governing system.

We people in Nepal struggled many times in the past for democracy against feudal and authoritarian regimes but we unfortunately never got the opportunity to claim that we were fighting for democracy for the very last time. And with the reestablishment of democratic multiparty system in 1990, we have experienced both the sweet and bitter taste of the system – it is better if we can learn from our past experiences and thereby develop the political system that serves the people of Nepal better.

There are obviously some positive norms and values of democracy (mostly liberal one) practiced all around the world; yes, we should include them in our constitution. However at the same time, we also need to contextualise democracy in Nepal and direct it as the mean to address various problems facing the people of Nepal. Therefore, parties and scholars arguing for or against the need of adopting a particular form of democracy practiced in a particular country is not an appropriate idea as our context, culture, history and experiences are different, thus, does not necessarily ensure the success if applied.

We have noticed that, in many historical junctures of Nepal’s political history, one question however has been consistently present, which is actually not an exception either – that is: whether democracy is possible in Nepal considering the fact that the country is diverse in many of its social, economic, cultural, and political and its geo-political aspects. This has also become a growing concern among people, as my friends often articulate, in Nepal even today.

The pessimism among people of Nepal resonates to what, one of the most critiqued and widely read anti-democratic works of a scholar, Bryan D. Kaplan in his book with the title ‘The Myth of the Rational Voter,’ argued ‘citizens are uneducated, ill-informed and irrational , thus, they should be discouraged to make decision.’ To some extend this argument is true as the people of Nepal had elected our leaders by themselves, thus, one might claim that people are also responsible for the worsening situation in the country.

Is it then really the people who are to be blamed for disfunctioning of democracy in Nepal? Of course, not. We will then have to dig into the question of why people are left uneducated rather than blaming them for voting for a particular party or leaders in the election and making a wrong choice.

It is actually the leaders who have contributed to defaming democracy in Nepal. The growing pessimism among people have significantly high this time when the political parties have been rather party-cantered and have not been able to develop consensus culture.
The statements in various media from premier leaders of major political parties indicates that they have differences on fundamental issues and there is a growing deficit of trust among themselves, thus more debate and discussions are necessary on the issue (which has not been as much as it requires).

Before deciding on any form of democratic system in Nepal, we will have to revisit our past experiences under democratic practices especially after 1990 and critically and honestly evaluate them.

The history tells us that we made some major achievements in some areas during last two decades. We focused on institution building and democratic governance promotion as most liberals advocated world widely after the fall of Soviet Union and some authoritarian regimes in many parts of the world. Obviously, some achievements made on human rights, rule of law, freedom and institution building are appreciable.

But, what we more experienced in our country was that people in power misused or mobilised state resources for building their personal dominance, maintaining their power in their respective areas and serving their family and clients’ interests. And the respective governments formed under democratic system largely failed to deliver services to the bulk of citizenry which created high cynicism among the people – as a result, the country had to experience war, killings, human atrocities, hunger and fears.

As well, the democracy got more resilient when corruption, lack of democratic accountability, exclusion, self-serving erratic leadership and elite domination marked the political culture of Nepal. These all left the people of Nepal highly disaffected from the political system and they had to experience a feckless democracy that led to defamation of democracy (it is still underway).

So, is it the same democratic system we have in our mind for our future? Or what better form of democratic system can we develop/introduce? If we want alternative forms of democracy, what possibilities do we have? The focus should be towards finding the answers to these questions before we decide on the form of the system in upcoming constitution – not much discourse have been done so far.

Despite the differences that have appeared among various political parties, the leaders however seem to be willing to work collectively to ending the present deadlock and thereby writing the new constitution and bringing the peace process to a logical conclusion; we wish them all the best to that end.

Is democracy possible in Nepal? People of Nepal have chosen many times in the past to be democratic; thus we can be very much optimistic that there will be continuous possibility of democracy despite the fact that there are enduring challenges ahead. So let’s realize that democracy is a continuously developing process. To answer this question, I borrow Bruce Gilley’s words, ‘Democracy is possible for the simple reason that it is the only form of government which evolves constantly to ensure that it is possible. It is self-correcting in a way that alternatives are not.’

(Baniya is a PhD candidate at the University of Oslo, Norway. He can be reached at: baniyajeevan@hotmail.com
This artical was originally published in www.nepalnews.com

NGO Studies in Korea and Understanding Korean Civil Society Organizations

Jeevan Baniya

Why do you want to be an NGO activist? Why do you like to demonstrate, campaign and protest against something? These are the questions that an NGO student may encounter in his studies It is natural for people to presume that an NGO Studies course deals with the areas that the NGOs are supposed to cast their eyes on. Even so-called educated and intellectuals ask those kinds of questions to me. Students generally have some misunderstandings about the scope and the meaning of this course and its usefulness in their future career; hence they are pre-occupied with the conception that their career development opportunities will be limited within NGO sectors. Consequently, students are not so eager to pursue their higher education in that area.

The crystal clear example can be seen if you compare the number of students in IB or IT to that of NGO Studies. But, considering the courses the NGO Studies students take in GSIS, I can conclude and affirm that NGO Studies is the study of an
open, dynamic, global, socio-political, cultural and economical world. In a sentence, it is the study of everything that is related to human affairs. The NGO studies courses empower their students with the profound knowledge of social development strategies and theories, diplomacy and international relations, international cooperation, governance and government, and so on.

Besides, students can have the great opportunities to experience different activities that Korean Civil Society Organizations may undertake. There is no doubt that civil society is not a mechanism that can be turned off and on at will. Neither is it a convenient delivery mechanism for donor agencies or governments. It is generally viewed as a body which evolves out of genuine local needs and actions. Civil society in one sense is the complex networks of autonomous institutions sustained by a civil code of conduct that is distinct from, yet maintains effective ties with, the State. What constitutes effective ties with the State is a dilemma.

Because of the diversity of NGO constituencies, sizes, strategies, structure, ideologies, specialization, sources of funding, agenda and power, it is not possible to describe an average civil society organization in Korea as in any other countries. Some of them are religious, some are secular or affiliated with political and social groups, and some are funded by businesses, foundations, private citizens and governments, and so on. In Korea it is generally understood that civil society is a kind of ideal state where every individual strives to achieve a free, just and developed society through democratic actions.

Transparency, accountability, and independence of NGOs and their influences in relations with government and donors are generally the bases that help people to judge any organization. Nevertheless, there are some people who have negative attitudes towards NGOs and their activities. There are also many people in Korea who are unhappy with the rapid growth of NGOs around the country; that has really undermined the role and attitudes of NGOs in the societies. However, there is a lot that we can learn from Korean Civil Society Organizations and NGOs if you make a deep and critical study.

Most of the Korean CSOs and NGOs have written their glorious history as they struggled against the dictatorship regimes and paved the way to democratize their country. They were actually born out of continuous suffering, torture, fears, regret and political persecution. Since their establishment, they have been passing through constant tensions and contradictions. To my knowledge, they have been always on the side of the people’s solidarity. Even though the issues of human rights, poverty, sociopolitical gap, and cultural and economic inequalities remain as the great challenges ahead of them, most intellectuals and experts are found to have accepted the outstanding role of CSOs and NGOs in democratization, human rights, peace, justice and rule of law in the country, which has overwhelmed the Korean people.

As foreigners, people will be fascinated by the key roles played by some organizations to the consolidation of the democracy by checking the abuses of state power, preventing the role of undemocratic forces from resuming the state power and encouraging wider citizen participation. By challenging the autonomy of the state at
both national and local levels, the organizations are found to have been able to pressure the government for change and development of alternative sets of policies.

It is remarkable that the organizations have succeeded to great extent in influencing political parties of Korea to make reform on party structure, democratization, decentralization, elimination of gender discrimination within party, formulation of democratic ideology and policies, and so on. There are some NGOs that have received great public support for playing a critical role to reform the corporate governance, peace and environment. There are many success stories of the organizations, which we can help to transform our social, economical, cultural and political structure so as to create a relatively democratic and equal society. Furthermore, as GSIS has been encompassing the students from different parts of the world in the NGO Studies program, students can extend their understanding of the global social problems and different strategies and policies to tackle them.

International students also can have first hand experiences of different NGO activities in Korea through participation, though the proficiency in Korean language
may pose some limit. However, there are many international students doing some internship in some NGOs, through which they have succeeded to develop their networks. I have realized that GSIS should create that kind of internship opportunity by officially approaching the organizations so that it can attract students taking NGO studies. I hope that GSIS will consider this suggestion of seeking internship opportunities for NGO students.

* This piece of article was originally published in Gazette of GSIS Ajou University in 2006 Fall. It was to express my experience while doing internship in PSPD Korea.

Are We Hypocrite?: A Prospective from an Asian

Jeevan Baniya

Before making a very strong decision to come to South Korea as an international student from Nepal to pursue my Masters Degree in NGO Studies, there was a crucial dialogue going inside mind. Certainly, making the decision was not so easy for me at that time as very few students long to come to Korea for their higher studies. However, my big eagerness to understand the charisma of Korea’s rapid economic growth within short spans of time, the social, cultural and political development in the country guided me to Korea.

While heading with my education, I decided to critically understand and evaluate the Korean Civil Society closely. Working with some civil society organizations provided me lots of eye-opening experiences in my life. I am really fascinated and overwhelmed by their contributions to Korean democracy, economic equality, human rights, peace, justice and the rule of law. I wish civil society in Nepal were like that of here!!

On my way of studying them, one day I encountered to seriously think over the dream of some Korean civil society activists to formulate “Asian Civil Society”; Woo, very good news for Asians!!

But my happiness was very soon overshadowed by the glimpse of skepticism when I started to explore the possibilities to materialize that dream. I saw many big clouds ahead to be penetrated. Of course, I also saw some lights in the darkness and some rays of hope in despair.

My realizations sprung up from my personal realization of the hypocrisy that exists not only in the activists but also in Korean people’s way of understanding and interpreting Asian Solidarity.

May be for Koreans, my viewpoints will be irrational, but I think it will add an advantage at least for Korean civil society activists. To my eyes, the culture of analyzing and looking at other Asian countries from the eyes of their past entities is the great enemy to kiss this goal. I know that it is sensitive to state at this point {though it is a fact} that – many Koreans are massively Americanized, Japanized and Chinatized politically as well as culturally. The point that I want to make here is that if some we advocate for the Asian Solidarity, we should have some independent, original and humanistic ideology to extend our solidarity among Asian people.

Likewise, it is a must for us to broaden our map of Asia and include the other countries out of East Asian counties as well. Because, many people in East Asian region, in practice think that only the countries in the region exist in Asia.

Many people have been advocating for providing higher Official Development Assistance, Unofficial Development Assistance and employments to the people from poor Asian countries to extend their solidarity. Leaving behind the national interests and strategies of Korea in the region for another issue to discuss over, I opine that it will be better to struggle in changing the attitudes and prospective of our people inside our country to look at other people who are simply different. Just raising the voice for Asian Solidarity in some conferences or meetings is not enough.

I myself have undergone several such situations in Korea in which I have realized the smell of discriminations and racism. Whenever I travel by public transportations like subways and buses, Koreans people don’t want to travel sitting next to me; rather they long to stand in the bus no matter how far they have to travel. It is a kind of humiliating kind of treatment, we generally assume.

Adding on it, I with some hesitations want to share my bitter experience with some of my professors while studying in my university. I have taken several classes with some of the fellows from western countries in my university. What really pinched me is that some of the professors {who are also considered to be the most intellectuals in this country} instruct the class focusing only to the students from western countries as if there are no Asian students; many of the students from the Asia have the same realization and complain. It is ridiculous that the very professors are found to have often talked about Asian solidarity and cooperation.

Since the intellectual circle itself is the victimized by the vicious tendency of hypocrisy, building the Asian civil society and sharing the solidarity in the region is like living in a “Never Never Land”. As many Asian people working as migrant workers have been badly exploited, ill-treated, and denied to entertain their labor rights in many Korean industries, it is better to fight to make them realize that Koreans have really been great to them.

It is request to the Koreans advocators who want to initiate for establishing the “Asian Civil Society”: before reaching out to other countries with the mission of, elimination of the discriminating manners of the people, discouragement to ill-intentioned minds behind the our plan, ending of the growing hostility among countries and finding of the common enemy and thereby formulating effective strategies to tackle with the enemy will be a benchmark to march ahead. On top of these, it is an urgent tasks for us to make our citizens realize that they belong to Asia not the West. As Korean civil society activists advocated, creating Asian Civil Society is not impossible though many challenges to combat with.

Therefore, let’s try to embrace the people from different countries regardless of nationality, region, culture, race and language!! Let’s try not to be discriminating!! Let’s share our unconditional love for humankind in this region!! Let’s mobilize the region against Racism, Casteism, Exclusions, state of impunity and corruption!! Let’s not only export Koreans cars, electric goods, mobile phones and TVs to other Asian countries but also export our helpful hands and creative minds for the harmonious, peaceful and democratic Asia; only then it will be formal inauguration of Asian Civil Society!! At last but not the least let’s uproot our deeply rooted hypocritical instincts from our life for Asian Solidarity!!

*This article was originally published in www.peoplepower21.org in 2007. I had written on the issue of migrant workers and foreigners who were discriminated in South Korea on the basis of race, region, color and so on. Later one of my friends, Bonojit Hussain's case geared up the issue, which is good both for Korean societies and migrants in Korea.