As soon as the April uprising in 2006 ousted the direct monarchial rule, the Nepalis began to face oil shortage. Most people did not notice it then as it was not very acute. Now the oil shortage has become far acuter than it was 22 months ago.
The Seven Party Alliance, now in the government, was engaged in political debates, derailed very often. People’s mandate of the April uprising was to transform the existing feudal structures that have always been the chief barriers to a full-fledged and multi-ethnic and inclusive democracy. But as most of the participants in the coalition government predicted their own interests in preserving the existing structures and their institutional patterns, a few of their change-seeking partners appeared defeated. However, some pro-public declarations have been made. But mere declarations would never suffice for a big change in a country ruled by feudal monarchy for centuries.
For beginning the process of big changes in the country, the first urgent thing they had to do was to democratize the mass media in a real sense. As the mass media themselves have been working as per their traditional patterns, they need to be restructured. The mass media with a feudal mindset cannot originally contribute to the mission of transforming other sectors. An unchanged media mindset seriously affects information selection, processing and presentation.
Similarly, it does not contribute to the mission of creating a multi-ideological, multi-ethnic and inclusive society. In other words, press freedom cannot mean much when the mass media advocate it but do not follow it within themselves. While the Nepali mass media have been advocating for pres freedom, they have also knowingly or unknowingly been preserving ideological prejudices, intolerance and partisan interests. Consequently, the public interests have been little served, compared to the interests of traditional power gamblers.
Amidst such traditional power gamblers, the mass media have frequently demonstrated some sort of influence of the existing feudal structures. Consequently, they have not been able to go deeper even while the nation has almost stopped due to the devastating fuel scarcity. The second urgent thing that the coalition government had to do after the April uprising in 2006 was to bring the drastic changes in the security, judiciary and civil apparatuses. Hardliner activists of the feudal regime are still fully active in such structures. The alliance government did this blunder. The basic fact is that the feudal monarchy is at the roots while the ruling seven parties are at the treetop. This is the contradiction. The acutest-ever fuel scarcity in the Nepali markets can be linked to this contradiction. Generally, business dealers have openly blackmarketed things to benefit from the scarcity.
People are being forced to pay higher bus fares monopolistically imposed by vehicle owners. But there is no sign of the existence of government. Government officials have this information but nobody knows what has prevented them from acting for the wellbeing of people. What cannot be forgotten in this context is that those who control government mechanisms belong to feudal background. They cannot think and act against their own class background. They can predict their own class interests in the preservation of feudal systems. Therefore, they think and act against the implementation of change-seeking policies and declarations.
As the 10-April-scheduled constituent assembly poll is likely to guarantee the restructuring provisions, including the abolition of feudal monarchy, the feudal forces enjoying their power in the existing structures definitely make planned efforts to disrupt the poll. This is a commonsense matter. But the Seven Party Alliance believed by the international community does not appear to have made adequate preparation to cope with any subsequent challenges. The greatest problem in this context is the apparent existence of change-resisting feudal forces within the ruling Alliance. This is the crux of the matter.
Understanding this crux of the matter also carries communication significance. Especially, media communicators have to present their honest and public-spirited analyses and interpretations. But this is not possible if editors and media owners politically polarize into unity.
Who is ruling Nepal at present is not clear. In appearance, the Seven Party Alliance headed by the Nepali Congress has the full-fledged authority given by the Interim Constitution. The Nepali Congress, composed of landlords, especially those belonging to the Indo-border Terai region, now has the presidential and prime ministerial authority, including the authority of Home Affairs, Defence portfolio and finance. The other six parties having different ministerial portfolios often complain that the Nepali Congress has not been working in conformity with the coalition morality and patterns. They have frequently blamed the Nepali Congress for being too monopolistic in decision-making. They complain that the Nepali Congress cabinet members rarely consult them while taking important decisions that have long-term impact on people’s lives.
While the ordinary masses have been completely disrupted because of the cut-off of the regular supply of electricity, petroleum products, cooking gas and drinking water, the smugglers and black marketers have been celebrating their paradise.
There is no limitation to market prices. No logical criteria have been used for price hikes. Food prices have sharply gone up; as a result, the working class people with unreasonably low wages have been victimized the most. But the political parties look too perplexed to take any timely decision. People’s question is ‘Are they under mafia rule?’
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