A Vision For Nepal
Paramendra Bhagat
June 3, 2002

I have bounced around these ideas during my years politicking in Nepal, 1993-1996, and later on at online forums like TND and the SEBS website before. This is a summary that I would like to present and modify after future discussions.

There is a school of thought that says, stop preaching, instead go "back" and do "something." That is a primitive way to look at the situation. The world of ideas is a necessary precondition to a world of action. I believe it helps to hold discussions, bounce around ideas. And the online world makes that possible. Let's make use of it.

In order of importance:

1. Lead the Nepalese economy towards rapid economic growth.
   • Participate in global trade talks so as to shape just free trade. One where there is "free trade" for sectors of the economy where the rich nations have an edge, but those sectors where the poor nations might have an edge is protected is unfair.
   • Shape globalization where human capital is the center piece of action. And not an after-thought to capital and technology.
   • Move towards a South Asian economic union as the best way out of Nepal's land-lockedness but in a way that preserves and enlivens the country's diverse cultural heritage.
   • Emphasize the country's hydro-electric potential, and environmentally and culturally sustainable tourism. For a possible shift from an economy dominated by agriculture to one where the service sector is the largest.
   • To work towards a macro economic climate that unleashes enterprise.
2. Reach out to those living below the poverty line with the fruits of the economic growth thus attained, engineer lavish investments in human capital.
   • Secondary education and primary health care for all. To be paid for by revenues generated by the enhanced economic activities of the private sector.
   • Implementing the concept of life-long learning.
   • Widespread adult-literacy programs.
   • Lunch-at-school programs.
3. Rid the governmental structure of corruption.
   • Put in place clear anti-corruption laws that ensure a transparent government.
   • An independent, strong body that enforces the anti-corruption laws.
   • Laws to make campaign contributions to political parties transparent and limited.
   • An independent, strong body to conduct fair elections and to enforce the campaign finance laws.
   • For all legal purposes, define the royal family only to mean the monarch's immediate family.
4. Wage political and legal struggles for women's rights. Abolish the following blatantly sexist laws and put in place those that are not:
   • Immediately after descending from the womb, a son shares equal rights with the father to the property owned by the family. To be able to do the same the daughter has to meditate upto the age of 35, unmarried! Even after that, should she decide to get married, her property thus acquired automatically goes to her brothers. If the brothers choose to partition the family property before their sister reaches that dangerous age of 35, she gets no share.
   • A married woman cannot claim for partition until she is 35 and has been part of the marriage for a minimum of 15 years. But first prove you are not being provided with food and lodging!
   • Even if you somehow manage to acquire property after the hurdles race fundamentally hostile to you, you have no right to manage it. A male head of the family may, at any time he wishes to and without consulting the wife, unwed daughter above the dangerous age of 35 if there is, or daughter-in-law, dispose the entire movable and upto half of the immovable property. A woman or unmarried daughter, on the other hand, needs the permission - the holy permission - of her son or father, before she may dispose more than half of her immovable property acquired through partition.
   • When the male head of the family dies, the grandson is favored over the daughter for the inheritance of family property.
   • Let your dear father alone, you may not inherit your dear mother's earnings either, if she happens to have any, that is. The father or your brothers are most probably still alive!
   • The daughter or daughter-in-law may not inherit the tenancy rights of her father's or father-in-law's land. What happens when there is no male in the family to inherit the tenancy rights? The legal system of this country has no answer.
   • Men may adopt children on whim. Women also may adopt children, but not if the husband is alive or there or there is a son from a co-wife.
   • The woman is covered from head to foot under the law on adultery. If it is proven the woman had slept with another man or if she even confesses to that effect in court, as many women are forced to do, the marriage legally terminates. Men? They are made up of some very different protein. Under certain conditions - if the first wife is barren, has an incurable communicable disease, or otherwise has physical "defects" - he can even have a second wife : permanent adultery under the same roof! If the first husband is sterile, impotent, disabled or suffering from an incurable disease, the woman cannot get a second husband for herself. If she is foolish enough to dare to do that, she gets imprisoned. The husband can choose to prosecute both the wife and the lover. Both can be punished. If the husband dies before or after conviction, the charges are dropped off the lover. He is released. He is a man. The wife does not get this favor done to her. She happens to be a woman.
   • Should a male Nepalese get himself a wife from another country, she is readily awarded with Nepal's citizenship. If a female Nepalese marries a male foreigner, he dare not ask for a citizenship card.
   • A married woman may not go for foreign travel without the written consent of her guardian. A married man, on the other hand, does not need such permission from his "guardian" or wife.
   • A Nepalese man's child is a citizen of Nepal, but a Nepalese woman's child fathered by a male from another country, has to live in Nepal for 15 years before he or she can claim to be a citizen of Nepal.
5. Participate in and lead the struggle waged by the madhesi and the janajati communities to attain equality and dignity.
   • A federal form of government: Eastern Hills, Western Hills, Eastern Plains, Western Plains, Kathmandu Valley.
   • A tri-lingual education policy, so that the first language of a child is one of their subjects at school all the way through 12 years of high school, Nepali as the second language, for those who have it as their first language, any other language spoken in Nepal as their second language, and English as the third language. Other than that, the private schools may teach other subjects in English if they might so with, and the public schools may do the same in Nepali. For higher education, each instition makes its own decision for the language of instruction. This will result in some local governments operating on a bi-lingual basis. For example, Kathmandu, Newari and Nepali. Janakpur, Maithili and Nepali. Birgunj, Bhojpuri and Nepali.
   • Recognize Hindi to be the link language in the Terai.
   • Grant citizenship certificates to all the 3.3 million legible - as recognized by the government itself - citizens.
   • An en masse enlisting of the Teraiwasis in the Royal Nepalese Army and the State Police.
   • All parliamentary constituencies demarcated based on equal population.
   • Stop calling Nepal a "Hindu" nation in the constitution.
6. Engineer the Dalit community's entrance into the nation's mainstream with active Dalit political leadership.
   • Scholarships in all educational institutions for those of the Dalit background.
   • Job quotas in all government job sectors for those of the Dalit background.
   • Strong laws against casteist harassments in all public and private places.
   • Anti caste-discrimination laws.
7. The Maoist Insurgency: I think it is at best a protest movement that is getting killed poor people on both sides. And hence largely futile. Not constructive. Their grievances are just, but their methods heinous, and they offer no viable alternative. Communism belongs in the dustbins of history. The key thing here is that the violence has to stop. It would be great if they could come on to national stage through elections. The solution has to be two-pronged. (1) There has to be a decisive attack on state corruption. And an honest attack on poverty. (2) The Maoist violence has to be brought to an end.
8. Nepali Congress: Deuba's ouster reminds me of when Gajendra Narayan Singh ousted Hridayesh Tripathy from the Sadbhavana. I was there. Actually working with Tripathy. I supported Tripathy's moves. I believe people like Girija Koirala should be awarded some kind of a democracy medal and subsequently sidelined. Koirala is a warrior for democracy whose time is up. He has not much to offer to the country's economic growth. On the other hand, the Sadbhavana will reap direct benefits should the Congress split. So such a development, though not inevitable, might not be altogether bad!