Ethnic aid, Nepal- Nepali Times

From The Nepali Press
Ethnic aid, Nepal
Ram Bahadur Rawal, 1 January

FROM ISSUE #585 (30 DEC 2011 - 05 JAN 2012) | TABLE OF CONTENTS

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The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has doled out Rs 120 million to 19 ethnic groups and networks over the last three and half years. UNDP has spent Rs 25 million on 15 ethnic and regional networks to advocate for ethnic issues under a project on inclusive constitution. Swiss Development Cooperation has been providing Rs 2.25 billion annual budget to the CA, political parties as well as other NGOs since 2009. The Danish HUGOU recently launched a Rs 624 million project called the Madhes Initiative. Similarly, the German aid agency (GTI) has already spent Rs 82.5 million during the first phase and an additional Rs 110 million has been dispersed for discussion on federal issues. There are 34 EU projects supporting the ethnic agenda. The EU has been openly advocating ethnic issues in Nepal since 1998.

Ethnic issues have overshadowed political and economic issues during the country's political transition mainly because they have been well-funded from external donors to redress discrimination against marginalised communities. The issue came to prominence after an indigenous caucus of CA members recently prevented the four major parties from tabling a proposal in parliament, proving that the ethnic agenda is dominating debate in the CA.

1. DG

We should have taken some lessons from India while writing our own constitution. In India, the desire for a constitution sprung from the land itself, unlike ours where foreigners want a share of the pie and are racing to "sponsor" our constitution. Why are they being allowed to play such big roles in our domestic matters?

Granville Austin, one of the world's leading experts on Indian constitutional law noted in one of his books, "the mood of the Indian people became increasingly one of self-assertion, of reading to take its destiny into its own hands ... Indians had a general awareness of nationality and national dignity. The Indian public felt itself a corporate unit and felt itself adult ... Indians would accept only a constitution drafted by themselves."

As a result, the Indian Constitution has been a major success. Indians have been less likely to fault the Constitution and more likely to view it with pride, because they created it.

Nepal on the other hand, has been taking unnecessary monetary assistance and other forms of support from outsiders. It seems us Nepali juntaa are not mature enough and our parliamentarians and their followers have betrayed our cause.

Posted on: 31 DEC 2011 | 9:53 AM NST

2. Goverdhan Thapa

Miss Norcrown.
Master. Danish Crow.
Mr. Swiss Role.
Cum-red Eu ( pr. ewe).
Miss.British Cashwalla.
Mr. German Wurst.
Prof. Un -der Deepy.
Dr.Luther the Kali.
Mr. Sunder Kamali.
Prof . Jerri Maandhari.
Mr. Hot Potato.

Posted on: 01 JAN 2012 | 6:49 AM NST

3. NT

I feel like Bahun and other"high caste" people are jealous. Because of aid, indigenous people know more about their rights. They know how to ask for rights, is that bad thing?

They are always looking for opportunities to criticize funding, hoping,Â� that the funding would stop and indigenous people would be pushed to the sidelines and the status-quo be continued.

Posted on: 01 JAN 2012 | 1:22 PM NST

4. TN
#3:
To answer your question: no it is not a bad thing to ask for rights, but it is a bad thing to confiscate others'- for eg: what about the identity and rights of a large number of indigenous people who are called Khas? Why were they called "Others?"

Posted on: 02 JAN 2012 | 9:28 PM NST

5. TN
Dear Nepali Times and its editors (probably including #3, TN), what has happened to you lately? You are back to censoring comments? A couple of my recent comments have not been published. Half of my above comment has been removed. What is NT upto? Do NT and #3 also receive foreign funding to censor anti-racist comments?

Posted on: 02 JAN 2012 | 12:57 AM NST

6. somebody
i find it incredibly funny when people complain about having their comments censored. having worked in a media house in the past, i know publications are becoming increasingly wary and vigilant about what gets posted on their sites. there are some real idiots on the internet who hide behind anonymous identities (just like you and me) and spew hatred and sometimes downright rubbish on forums and feedback sections. I suggest you read the "terms of use" below, perhaps you said things that went against what Nepali Times considers "appropriate" (i put appropriate in quotations, coz what is acceptable/appropriate varies from paper to paper and person to person). also if you want to see your comments or views published with 0% moderation/censorship, use your own personal media i.e. facebook, twitter, blog. social media is much more democratic than mainstream media will ever be.

Posted on: 02 JAN 2012 | 4:54 AM NST

7. TN
It is not difficult to see #3 and #6 are the same person. This person is the NT staff who censored my comment. Thank you for your lesson. Since you asked for it, please prepare to face a social media out-lash of your behavior. If you do not respect your readers, there is no reason they should respect you.

Posted on: 03 JAN 2012 | 5:32 AM NST

8. who cares
NT and somebody,

we need to find some open, free commenting sites- but not like facebook. where we can post news, views and others could comment freely. somebody find such sites from austrilia or some eu site.

nepalitimes, not just blocked some of my comments, now they have begun to translate - looks like the translator has a side job translating for maoists. their one translation was just opposite of what i tried to say.

if Nepalitimes do not respect free posting, then if they publish any column that is anti-nepal, some one should sue them.

media should be either entirely free or censorship should apply equally.

Posted on: 03 JAN 2012 | 1:08 PM NST

9. TN
#8: yes it is totally outrageous. the comment nazis at Nepali Times have started to push their personal beliefs and agendas through the comments. First, they post a racist comment and then I post an anti-racist comment which gets rejected.

The words in comment #3 have changed after I posted #7. It still has the derogatory word Bahun and categorizes Nepalese people into "indigenous" and "alien" groups. Brahmans of Nepal have maintained, and with enough proof that they are also indigenous as the anti-Brahmans claim to be.

I protested it, but they rejected my comment. They published half and removed the other half. The words in my comment. I used these exact words: "having slant eyes and flat nose alone does not make anyone more indigenous." I also said that nobody in the world has got their rights this way and the aid is meant not for rights, but for the spread of Christianity. If this was censor-able, how was #3 not? Then in the next comment, the Comment Nazi teaches and threatens me out of the comments of NT.

Enough is Enough !

Posted on: 03 JAN 2012 | 5:22 PM NST

10. Nirmal
#6 somebody
So, for you, except media wallah's message others' way to talk can kick up a fuss that's why it should be subject to moderation or censorship. And, If one wish to have it without, then, he/she should opt for facebook or twitter etc. According to you, they are the right place to post your likes. Then tell me what is the difference between a facebook message and the works of journalism? If both can just publish their likes and erase what they "think" are not appropriate in "their" space. When you claimed that you worked for a long period in the media, and after reading your opinion, I understand why I've no doubt why the media -although not all of them- missed their target of corporate social responsibility. In the pretext of ill defined obscenity and personal attacks, Nepali media has inherently accepted self-censorship and partisan whip. By hesitating to accept hard criticisms of their fault approach, this media has already assumed their defeat. And when one tries to explain it through pain and empathy they would rather consider it a vacillation full of melancholy and cynicism. Dear media professionals of Nepal, learning from your own mistakes will not make you be disloyal to yourself however it is the sign of emotional intelligence. This is what we expect from you, this is what people expect from you and this is what modern Democracy demands you. Everyone should have a place to express unless they don't preach physical violence. Well, in case of Nepal the ones who preach violence are the ones who rule the country!

TN (I'm not sure If you are the same person doing all the comments as each of your position varies one from another)
You should have explained us why this kind of discriminatory aid is essential. I'd have loved to see how you promote healthy competitiveness between ruling class and opressed class. Your comment sounds the fruit of jealousy for me. In my opinion this way of distributing aids on the basis of race and etnocultural stands could be counter-productive for these democratic western countries. I want to talk about DOWNTRODDENS and not about casts and creeds although I know that It is Nepali democracy which has explicitly mentioned the existence of casts and creeds. So, before attacking these countries for providing aid to these ethnic entities we must assume our mistakes first. It's a pity that our netas our going to constitutionalise the very racial concepts of citizenship. Ladies and gentlemen, I've just got a surname as anyone in this world and not a racial tag. We all are humans and I think that's our unique race and it is the solid identity one can have forever.

Posted on: 03 JAN 2012 | 9:50 PM NST

11. Gole
To NT & TN.
Nepal is the last few years afflicted with Firinghee's ( pr. Viringhee) disease; unlike suddenly the L:egionaires disease in Hong Kong very recently.
A new strain of any such disease can annihilate the population of a territory to almost extinction;like it happened in the colonies in Americas or is happening in the Amazon till today.
Beware of the Feringhee. we are making our own constitution. there is a saying in th Arab World: Let us keep our hearts together but our tents apart.

Posted on: 04 JAN 2012 | 4:39 AM NST

12. Kushal
By the way, aid is provided at the time of poverty, disasters and crisis. The blog incorporated the aids provided to the empowerment of ethnic people of Nepal, may be excluding Bahuns and chhetris. The readers must point out of the aids provided to every activity going on in Nepal. Is that good to people at present and in future?

Nepal is going through political crisis, isn't it? We are facing it. Why is nepali politics aggravating its weight? The answer is - its bad practice in th e past in which none other than elite groups in bahun and chhetries exercised it, by pumping out other ethnic and indigenous peoples. When those dominated groups came up with their rights, people have so many questions..why? why so? if we youths also deny the appearance of other groups of people in government and politics, it is to bolster up the same political exercise, the crisis remains same, we can't make space for peace which later will form an ethnic based violence. Thanks

Posted on: 11 JAN 2012 | 6:02 AM NST

13. K.K. Sharma
We know where the funds came from, for Jana Andolan I and II, only after 30 years, and not before, and for years 2002 - 2006. The previous funds was beneficial for Bahuns led parties, the current funds should benefit the ethnics similarly.

There cannot be successful movents or insurgencies without instigators, organisers, planners. productions of slogans, banners, propagandists etc. All of these need financing. Financiars do not invest without reason and interest of their own.

Posted on: 13 JAN 2012 | 11:57 PM NST