Road Trip - Part I

Writing is a serious exercise? Or is it?

It is not surprising to see blogs go dry once the blogger gets involved in a ‘taxing’ job, the caveat obviously being the serene joblessness college students find themselves in.

These holidays, I finally got the chance to go on a motorcycle road trip, something that was always on my wishlist. With information that the Banepa- Bardibas Highway was now finally open, I could not wait to get on the road. It was not only for fun but a purpose filled ride

 I was going to my village to meet my grandparents, whom I had not seen in quite a while. Further, the road also went through my father’s birthplace and the scene of his early schooling (Khurkot in Sindhuli district); a place where I had always wanted to go to. Now, I finally had the opportunity, and riding to Khurkot  definitely sounded better than walking for an entire day, which was the case before the opening of the 'highway'. But most importantly I wanted to feel the power and independence of a bike again.

However, I had been warned by everyone, including my father [ who usually encourages my madness] not to take this trip, as it just didn't make sense, to ride alone on an untested route. I was unwilling to listen to anyone and was raring and ready to go.

Early morning plans were ground to a halt in a perfect Nepali way, by a couple of chores, a promise, a successful petrol hunt and a punctured rear tyre.  After sewing all ends together, I finally managed to leave Kathmandu around 12: 30 in the afternoon.

A smooth 30 minutes later [ thanks to the smooth road built by the Japs], I landed at Dhulikhel for lunch with a friend. A quick grab of fried rice and lots of talking later, I left Dhulikhel exactly at 2. While being cajoled to stay for a few minutes more, I was more confident than nervous of the ride ahead.

A short change in direction [ Where I was wrongly headed towards the China border instead] put me to a slowly winding road. Traffic was mild and I was at a constant speed. Every long stretch of the road was met with a spurt of acceleration on my part, and there were quite a few ‘races’ with fellow riders. It was scenic, yet uneventful and yet nothing compared to what lay ahead. A distance of 53 kms was covered in an hour and half.

I got a call, from my frantic parents, who were worried that I had not called yet. Well, I had left home at 8 30 and by this time they must have expected me to be someway far ahead. I patiently explained the situation to them and started ahead. Khurkot was another 32 kms away.

I was unprepared for what lay ahead. The strong concrete road gave way to a ‘track’ filled with sand and dust and lots of excavators and men with yellow helmets. I knew that this section of the Highway was not yet fully constructed, but I did expect something better. Knowing very well that turning back was not an option, I forged on.

The road became a fork, with both options a terrifying slope of red mud. I looked to the one on the right, the angle was just too improbable, a touch too crazy to be the correct road ahead. Thankfully, there was a small sign that pointed towards the ‘easier’ version.

I was on a cliff and the view was great. Or was it? I am not sure, for the cliff was high and the road slippery and my concentration only on the road. I looked, once, at the view below and was astounded only to see the sheer drop and my distance from the edge. The view would have to wait. My focus was on the dirt road ahead.

I saw an excavator on the road ahead and though it prudent to follow it for the 300 metres to the rise of the hill. Finally after going through what I thought was the toughest stretch of biking, I finally stopped for tea. Sipping tea, I looked at the bike, the grime of dust on its metallic blue frame and the thin layer of dust all over me. My body ached and I knew that an entire journey lay ahead. Clearly, I had messed up my calculations, but I was still not done yet.

I asked the shopkeeper how far Khurkot was and the reply made me shudder. Another 90 minutes was what they offered. I looked at my watch which read 4 30 in the afternoon. “Impossible” , I muttered under my breath and left with a new found resolve.

Perhaps, this resolve helped me or perhaps the road just got easier but the road ahead resembled the roads of my village in the Terai. It was an easy ride with a careful eye every now and then, but still Khurkot seemed remote. Finally around 5: 30 in the evening, I sensed an increasing chill in the weather. There was a violent gust of air and I had to work hard to maintain my hold over the machine. Oh, and it had become darker too.

Finally, I reached Khurkot around 5 50 In the evening. Cold, tired and frightfully dirty; not the way I imagined, but that was how I reached my grandfather’s native place and the place where my father had his early education.

I stopped by a shop and ordered tea. The wind was howling, and I told myself not to think of anything else, especially not of the journey ahead. I started asking a few people about my grandfather and suddenly found two ‘cousins’ there. They advised me to stay and complete the rest of the journey the next day. However, I was in a hurry, to run across and to come back, and I knew I had no choice but to move on.

So exactly ten minutes later, I left Khurkot and started on my onward journey. The hills were not far off but darkness had set it and I was having a difficult time riding the bike, especially over the sudden riverbanks,  that seemed to be a partial substitute for the road. Somehow, I managed to get on the hills, a better road and the climb followed.

It was chilly, and cold and I could feel it; even upto my bones. My fingers were freezing and I could feel a slight tingling in them. I looked up at the stars and looked around, not a single light pierced the darkness. I felt alone, I knew I was alone. Various thoughts crossed my mind; was it a dream? Or was I really riding all alone, cold in the darkness with no idea of when the destination would arrive.

Sindhulimadi 10 kms. That was what the slab on the roadside read, and I was delirious with joy. Spirits rose, and I willed myself to be optimistic. I had already decided to stop at Sindhulimadi and then head for my village in the morning, and ten kilometers was really close.

I continued rising up the hill and the stated distance continued decreasing. However, I was puzzled. As far, as I know Sindhulimadi was on the valleys and not on the top of a hill and it was a district headquarter. Hence, despite the loadshedding in place, there was bound to be a few lights here and there, but there was none. I was all alone.

Finally, it hit me. I had been reading Sindhuligadi (the fort) as Sindhulimadi. I felt terribly foolish and wanted to stop for a bit but the chill at the top of the hill was unbearable. So I continued on, till I reached Sinshulimadi at around 7 20 in the night. It was dark and cold and the water was freezing, but I got access to food and a fire and after a bit of warmth, I fell asleep.

Early next morning, I left for my village, which was now a mere 40 kms away. After the early 5 kms or so through Sindhulimadi, I was shocked to see the state of the road and thanked my stars for staying on at Sindhulimadi the previous night. There was no way, I could have attempted this crossing in the dead of night. However, the road after that was thankfully much better and I reached my village around 10 in the morning.

I knew the journey was just half complete, but I vowed to return via a different route; an easier one.

Kolaveri di?

No, not the song, something else. Its been a long time...six months since my last post on this blog. To be truthful, the last year was not a good one in terms of writing; both on the blog and off it. It was sheer laziness that was responsible for the rather long hiatus, and on the other spectrum, pure rage that has pushed me to write a new post.

Forget how the year went by or what the new year resolutions were. Currently, I am in the midst of a murderous rage, despite the soulful Piya Basanti Re..blasting away on my computer. No, it is not the antagonist that has put my mind to prose, but rather than the presence of complete calm and absolute focus in the midst of the rage. To be frank, I was surprised at the peace I felt just immediately after a vitriolic outburst, akin almost to the euphoria of winning a football match. In fact, it has been a long time, too long, since I remember such complete focus and utter concentration and such rage!

Maybe, its good to have a little bit of Kolaveri, every now and then and perhaps 2012 is going to be a raging year after all!

There is an urgent need for some creative outflow. Don't know how exactly but something needs to happen. Soon!

Constitution Making in Nepal

This is a post I wrote on 25th May, 2011, two days before the expiry of the May 28 deadline of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal. Since then, the term of the Constituent Assembly has already been extended on the wee hours of 29th May, 2011 by three months, with an agreement among the major political parties. Concurrently, on 25th May,2011 the Supreme Court of Nepal issued an order stating that any future extension of the Constituent Assembly would be subject to judicial review.

Learning from their Mistakes? What next for the Constituent Assembly in Nepal?

The initial mistake of assigning a dual role to the Constituent Assembly has led to a continual sidestepping of the main issues, in favour of government formation. This musical chair of government formation indicates the lack of accountability in Nepali politics. Constitution making in a post conflict society requires commitment, understanding, compromise and most importantly a desire for peace and nation building from all the concerned parties. Thus, given the critical importance of the situation, it is imperative that a compromise on power and other issues be reached to allow the Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution that matches the expectations of the people.

The timeline of Nepal’s conflict show a constant recurrence of pivotal moments. It has been 21 years since the re-establishment of a multi-party democracy; 15 since the starting of the ‘People’s War’ by the Maoists; 10 since the massacre of the erstwhile royal family; 5 since the popular protests paving the way for the ‘safe landing’ of the Maoists and the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord and 3 years of a Constituent Assembly and a republican Nepal. Come May 28, and it will be exactly a year since the extension of the 601 member ‘jumbo’ Constituent Assembly.

However, not all is well in Nepal. At this critical juncture, it stands, 2 days away from the deadline, without an expected constitution and no proper agreements on any of the critical issues. As the primary work of drafting a constitution has not yet been completed, there are talks of a further extension of the extended Constituent Assembly. Besides raising questions of legitimacy and constitutional ethos, there is a serious lack of introspection in the entire exercise. The focus is surprisingly still on control of power, as seen by the posturing going on between the Maoists and the Nepali Congress, for the formation of a new government.

This undue focus and debate on government formation, shows the mistakes that occurred with the establishment of the Constituent Assembly as a dual body; a dual structure of constitution drafters and the legislators.  It displayed the lack of statesmanship among the leaders, and the fear they had of the emergence of a parallel power structure. Even economic prudence can no longer be held to be the reason behind the formation of a single body, given the astronomical costs incurred by the Constituent Assembly. This duality of the Constituent Assembly has thus been one of the most significant contributing factors to the continuing uncertainty in Nepali politics.

It is necessary to understand the importance of this constitution to the current Nepali society. It is not being drafted, because of an absence of any previous constitution, but because of the changes that have occurred in the last 20 years. Expectations are high and unlike previous movements, the demand is not only democracy, but the creation of identity. This exercise of constitution drafting has the idea of nation building attached to it. Issues of language and ethnicity coupled with demands for federalism clearly show that the main issues are still issues of social justice, equality and the re-definition of what it means to be a Nepali. It is the first instance, where the constitution of Nepal is being drafted by the people’s representatives. The variety of representation shows the diversity of views in Nepal, and thus highlights the necessity of compromise, so as to accommodate differing views on the writing of the constitution. Violence might have ended, but there is continual conflict and this has been on an upward trend. Constitution making in a post conflict society requires commitment, understanding, compromise and most importantly a desire for peace and nation building from all the concerned parties. All of these factors go into creating a constitutional design capable of laying the foundation of an enduring constitution.

Instead of a proper management of these conflicts, the constitution writing process has however been clearly hijacked by the leaders of the main political parties, where issues have become pawns in the game of government formation. It is a shame, that there has been neither a clear stance on principles nor coherent viewpoints even by leaders of the same parties on critical issues like federalism, language and reorganization of administration. This confirms the callous attitude towards the entire process, which means that the entire exercise is being seen in a short sighted view of writing a ‘makeshift’ constitution, instead of utilizing it as the opportunity to create a solid foundation for an enduring constitution and the building of a better State.

It is therefore absolutely vital to understand that the expected constitution not only needs to address these emotive issues but also convince the citizens with the decisions it takes. This requires appreciation of the issues, and a proper study of the possible implications. It is here that the Constituent Assembly and the political parties have failed the country. It is not to say that no work has been done. Thematic committees on different issues have created draft reports and have initiated debates on it. However contentious issues have become huge roadblocks. Compromises reached in these committees have been rejected by the leaders of the parties. It is quite apparent that the Constituent Assembly has become relegated to a secondary body. It is clear that these committees do not wield real power. Thus, all the work done has reached a level of stagnation. Further, there is hardly any communication to the masses about the progress report of the different committees. Thus, there is a seeming exclusion of the elected themselves from the process of constitution drafting.

Public debate, on the other hand is vibrant. Although the euphoria of May, 2008 is absent, there is a growing realization of the need to seize the opportunity lest it becomes too late. Hence, there is growing pressure on the politicians. However, there is a clear lack of parameters to debate upon, as the Constituent Assembly has failed to take the debate to the grassroots. Most issues have already been trivialized with consensus supposed to be the only norm. The media is doing a relatively good job of keeping the people informed but their focus is more on day to day reporting, and less on issue engagement and pressure building. The recent usage of social media for demonstrations is a welcome advancement. However, this is not enough to take the debate to the masses. This vibrancy in the public domain is yet to gain a proper direction, with propaganda and quantitative rhetoric rather than qualitative merit based debate ruling the roost. Thus, even the public has been excluded from this process.

However, instead of focusing and addressing these issues, the issues of power and army integration have been made the main issues. The average age of immediate post conflict constitutions worldwide is abysmally short and these are often the result of mismanaged post conflict situations.  Thus, the issue of management of the Maoist combatants is no doubt important, and a lack of appropriate solution despite the passage of time and UN involvement is problematic. However, this issue is part of the political process and should not be used to justify the lack of progress on other unrelated issues of constitution drafting. It is not inextricably tied to constitution drafting and cannot be used to justify the delays in the entire process. It only serves to take away the focus from the main issues of the Constituent Assembly.

What is further worrying, in the framework of the debate is the lack of a clear model or structure from any of the parties post any possible extension of the Constituent Assembly. It is clearly a case of ‘wait and see.’ Further, the idea of a President’s rule is being seen as a distinct possibility. Besides being of questionable constitutional merit under the interim constitution, it neither aids constitution drafting nor conflict management.  Thus, constitution drafting has to be separated from the politics of government formation.

The legitimacy of the current Constituent Assembly derives from the people and their movement. It is this aspect, which has to be inducted into the political parties, especially given the complete lack of accountability and responsibility. It is too late to satisfy the Nepali people with a symbolic constitution or a constitution without incorporating the contentious issues. This time, issues of ethnicity and language, gender and discrimination, resources and reservation are at the fore. While, it might have been easy to raise this rhetoric earlier, it is too late now for these measures. The only way out is to reach a political compromise on the issue of power and make constitution drafting the sole focus. This should be accompanied with a proper address on the expectations of the people with provisions for the systematic implementation of these various demands after appropriate study, debate and consideration.

Further given the numerous conflict of interest of the Constituent Assembly members, especially with the power of re-nomination, it is perhaps time for the judiciary to step in and set a final fixed time limit, failing which another way forward should be sought. The country cannot continue carrying the burden of a non- functioning Constituent Assembly.

Choice

It took me a long time, and especially considering law school standards, a very long time;  around 2 and a half years, to figure this out. Its all about choices, and there is always a choice.Even when you think there isn't one, even when you know there isn't one, there is. Sounds problematic?

Well, its again just a matter of choice. Choose wisely, and live by your actions.

The Break

Well, it has been a long break; necessitated partly out of work but forced mostly due to the lack of access to the internet during my internship at Delhi. However, there are lot of things to write about, namely;

i) Corresponding to my last post, on the chart coursed by the winds of change in the Arab world.

ii) The wonderful time spent at Delhi; an internship that was fun as well as serious work.

iii) The state of constitution writing in Nepal.

iv) And a lot of random things that i have wanted to write about, rave about and most importantly rant about.

Hopefully, the days ahead will see a lot more writing.

Winds of Change

                                                           Winds of Change

What is it about winds of change? Well, for one, it signifies a force, that uproots and transforms the structure opposing it. Used famously by Harold Mcmillan in the 1960s, and made popular by the Scorpions, this phrase perhaps signifies the current transition happening in North Africa, notably the Arab regimes of North Africa and its repercussions on the entire Middle East and for democracy in the region.

“The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind”

Alert: Slightly long post!
A movement led by youths, with a networking through social networking sites, and in the absence of a visible leader, this movement seemed to have taken the world media off guards. With the exception of Al- Jazeera, none of the Western media were quick to cover it, and even when they did so, it was not covered extensively. Tunisia’s so called ‘jasmine revolution’ was set into motion by the self immolation of a frustrated graduate, and has set into motion events that have completely changed the political landscape of the country. Although remnants of the old guard still hang on, it is clear that things cannot remain the same, at least not for now.

Tunisia’s protests and its subsequent results set off protests in neighbouring Algeria as well, where Abdelaziz Bouteflika got the constitution amended in 2008 to continue in office for a third term. However, the protests there have been quietened by the authorities. Similar has been the fate of protests in Yemen. Similarly, Morocco, which has a monarchy, and also considerably more oil wealth than Tunisia, thus allowing it to take some pre-emptive measures to contain the possible domino effect, has been spared protests as of now, while Libya is still under the iron grip of Colonel Gaddafi.

However, unlike all these countries, Egypt was always likely to receive the direct effect of Zine Ben Ali’s departure. Egypt has long been a Western ally, and the first Arab nation to recognise Israel. Hence, despite his abysmal track record on democracy, freedom of speech and economic reforms, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has long been described as a key Western ally, and the US has rewarded Egypt with billions of dollars in military aid.  However, Egypt has been in a state of emergency since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981, and opposition parties were allowed in the polls only in 2005, in a ‘far from free’ elections, and the main credible opposition ‘Muslim brotherhood’ is still banned. The State’s economy seems to be in the hands of an elite few, and discontent is rife. Hence, it was just a matter of time before people had enough.

However, no one believed it would happen so soon and Mubarak has ridden out previous protests to his regime. However, this time there has been the added element of confidence and belief among the people, provided by the ousting of the Tunisian President, coupled with the coverage in world and local Arab media. the world's eyes are centred in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez and thus the extra-ordinary has become ordinary. 

Mubarak is publicly defiled and defied, the headquarters of his party are in flames and Mubarak’s son; his supposed heir has fled to London. Mubarak himself appeared on TV, sacked his cabinet, and has appointed a deputy for the first time in 30 years. On the grounds, he seems to be fast running out of options.The army has refused to fire on the people, describing it as their legitimate right to protest, while anything short of his ouster does not cut ice with the protesters. It seems, all that was necessary was a catalyst, and the confidence among people, that the unthinkable can be accomplished.

However, the West is still bolstering support for Mubarak by giving their public the fear of an Islamic government in Cairo and Mubarak seems unlikely to voluntarily relinquish his hold on office, trying to use various mechanisms to buy time. However, the mood of the Egyptian streets seems to be against any compromise of any sorts and they want an end to his dictatorship. If Mubarak is forced out, which is emerging as a distinct possibility, this could very well be the catalyst for protests to resurface in other countries, most notably Algeria and Yemen and the repercussions will no doubt be felt in the entire Middle East. Maybe, for nations like Saudi Arabia, with its monarchy, oil wealth, and the almost blanket control of the media, it might take some time. But there is no refuting the present: disaffected youth have found a way to get their voice across using a clever mix of social media and the traditional media, to find confidence in numbers and the flow of information, thus allowing them to challenge the existing political dictatorship in a spontaneous challenge, rather than a pre-planned one.

What has emerged is the winds of change, presently sweeping the Maghreb, perhaps creating a void in terms of power structure, but definitely heralding the coming of a new era, where fooling the people could be a lot more tougher for the leaders. It is time, the West stopped its supports for despots and dictators, and acted for direct democracy, rather than paying lip service to it in the name of ‘gradual democracy.’

Its time for change:

“Take me to the magic of the moment 

On a glory night 

Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams 

With you and me”

Lyrics from 'Winds of Change' by Scorpions, taken from here.