Being responsible…..Are we prepared?

Rally organized after the success of April uprising of 2006.

Kathmandu: There is no environment in the country. The government should do this and that. The government has done nothing. These are some comments that frequently appear in Facebook. If you look at Facebook or the mainstream media, you need a big telescope to find positive news. The question is ‘Is there really nothing positive in the country or are we biased and filled with negativity’?

The country is passing through a very challenging phase as it recently drafted the new constitution which is the foundation for economic prosperity and national development. Chairperson of INSEC Subodh Raj Pyakurel says, “It’s not unusual that immediately after significant political change, several expectation, anguish and revenge psychology emerges to boiling points. We have witnessed such radical outbreak from several groups and communities in Nepal and elsewhere in the past. Just remember how several violent protests took place opposing the last minute deal in finalizing the constitution in South Africa under Nelson Mandela’s towering personality. In India, they had to arrest more than 130 senior leaders. Very much respected personalities like Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya and Jayprakash Narayan along with Communist Party of India boycotted the constituent assembly.”

We have passed through a decade long insurgency and almost a decade long political transition in the process of drafting new constitution, but these are the foundations for a prosperous Nepal. Although this was a very painful period as we failed to get economic prosperity and development during the period, the time is now for thinking positively and moving forward towards making a new Nepal. Politics is central for leading everything in a positive direction but we did not get good politicians to lead the country. However rather than commenting on what the politicians did wrong, it is time to force them to lead the country in a positive direction. 21st century is the era of information and technology and social media has been emerging as a powerful mean, so we need to exert pressure through social media and in intellectual ways for positive development in the society.

We all want our country to make progress and we all want law and order in the society but the question is are we really ready to respect rule of law or is this just our thoughts to show ourselves as positive and creative. For example we complain about rampant corruption in the country and we blame the government for not curbing corruption, but when we ourselves witness corruption, we do not complain as the corrupt people are our relatives or friends. If we start raising voice against corruption and file complaint against corrupt people from our own homes and question our relative or friends about unsourced income, it will not take long to curbing corruption. But we are not ready to do it; rather we want the government to do everything. We need to realize that the government is an institution composed of people like us, so, it can do nothing without our support.

We always complain there is a lack of rule of law in the country but when we are in problem we do not hesitate to breach the law and fulfill our work. I have meet many people who always express concern about the sorry state of the country and give long opinions about how the country should be developed but when I ask them to support any positive initiative or request them to take lead for positive development in the society, they have readily available excuses to escape from such initiative. To be very frank, majority of us are very opportunist and we want rules just to fulfill our needs and we do not hesitate to break it if it creates a hurdle to fulfill our interests. If we are really serious about the development of the country, we need to learn to respect the law and abide by it in any circumstance. If we start to abide by it we may be alone for some time but the number will multiply every day, which will lead towards positivity, so there is a need of breaking the ice. Being positive and being responsible is not very easy in a country like ours but if we start the initiative it will not take long to take the country in a positive direction.

Let us consider the current Tarai agitation, we are all complaining about the scarcity of fuel and goods and that the government is not doing anything to resolve the problem, but we have not done anything to make clear to the agitators what the reality is. The leaders of agitating political parties are misleading the people saying the constitution discriminates against them, so the role of civil society, journalists and intellects is to sensitize people on what the reality is and also pressure the government to fulfill genuine demands of agitators but we do nothing except complain about the sorry state of the country and post pictures in Facebook riding bicycles and anti-Indian slogans.

It is very unfortunate that we did not exploit our hydro potential and became over dependent in petroleum products but this is the time to initiate discussion and pressurize the government to create conducive environment for hydropower development in the country and promote electric vehicles. Rather than being divided at the most critical period of the country, this is time to be united and support the government to take initiatives for reducing dependency on petroleum products and seek alternative to the monopoly of India. It may create problem for sometime but it will help us to be independent and stand on our feet in the long run. As the development expenditure of the country is not spent due to earthquake and ongoing strike, the government should spend it for bringing petroleum products from other countries and give immediate relief to the country.

Similarly, we can expose the corrupt people through social media and exert pressure to the anti-graft bodies take action against them. We can expose the issues related with any irregularities through social media and compel the concerned authorities to correct these issues. If some people are asking for bribe for discharging their duties, why don’t we expose such issues and seek punishment and have our work done through the ethical way rather than bribing them. It might take a few days and one will most likely face hassles the first time, but it will discourage such trend in the long run and it will be our contribution to the society for checking corruption. All citizens have a great role in taking politics and other issues on the right track. We must do it rather than working to fulfill our personal interests; we need to act as a whistle blower and expose the wrongdoings regardless of the person involved in it. If we do not fulfill our responsibility and just blame others for the sorry state of the country, it would be our mistake and we will continue to pay a high price for it.

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