Seminar Report on Promoting Active Citizenship for Building Modern State

Organised by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)

22-23 July 2011, Garuda, Rautahat

In line with series of activities on promoting active citizenship building for building modern state , Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Nepal Office organized a two day seminar in Garuda, of Rautahat District. There were around 150 participants though representation of women was meager. This normally happens in the central Terai region of Nepal. The programme was attended, among others, by the government officials, leaders of the political parties, academicians, teachers, media personnel, lawyers, civil society members, students and other stake-holders of the society. The inaugural session of the seminar was chaired by Hem Kanta Yadav, Head Teacher from Mohammadpur High School. Dev Raj Dahal, Head of FES Nepal Office, expressed that there is an urgent need to bring all political parties into the framework of democratic socialism so that people's basic needs could be fulfilled in a realistic way. Dahal also discussed objectives of the FES and that of the prgraomme as well. Dahal further said that people believe in religion but our intellectual talk about arguments which may not be just. So there is a huge gap in understanding our society. The whole idea of this seminar was to educate people at the grassroots level on the importance of politics and issues attached with this. There is an urgent need that people really become active participant in the political process which can contribute in building modern state. Speaking from the chair Mr. Hem Kant Yadav said that conscious citizens can bring positive change in society, can fight against corruption, and establish the notion of good governance. He reminded that civic education is not a new thing in our society. We already know about it but the problem is that we have seldom practiced it. We need to have conscious citizens so that they can remind political leaders what democracy is all about - which has been frequently ignored by them when they climb the ladder of power.

Proceedings

There were altogether three papers presented by Dev Raj Ghimire Dahal, Lal Babu Yadav - Associate Professor of Political Science at the Tribhuvan University and C D Bhatta. Dahal presented his paper on state, Yadav on federalism, election and other contemporary issues and Bhatta on democracy, civic education, and citizenship building. Dahal argued that political leaders have failed to work as per the spirit of the movement and the result of such inaction is the situation where we are now. He further said that state organises society but in Nepal state itself is not well ordained let alone the question of organising the society. Almost all the chiefs, high-ranking police officials, and top bureaucrats are facing corruption charges. There is an urgent need to introduce mechanism that can fight against corruption. There was very active participation from the participants and asked number of questions on different themes such as constitution, sustainable development, civic education, civic responsibilities, fundamental rights and many more.

Upendra Prasad Chaudhary asked if we do not know about the fundamental human rights how could we build modern state or how can we engage ourselves in the discussion like this? Rajesh Yadav was of the view that we need to include the component of moral education in school curriculum as this will help to understand the notion of being a citizen of a state and citizenship values attached with this. Laxman Sah enquired about the outside interference in our internal affairs and ways to mend it. Similarly another participant said that we need to discuss about civic education as well as civic responsibilities and people at large should know about it. Currently many people in the villages are not aware of about it.

Human rights is all about respecting justice and fighting against injustices and students studying in the high-school should know about it. They should also know about separation of power, what type of power and for whom has to be discussed among people./ Another participant said that we cannot separate religion from politics, if we do so how can we move ahead. Religion can help to establish peace in a society. Both civic education and legal education should go together. Rajdev Sah said that Madesh is also a nation which was established in the time of Emperor Asoka.

Birendra Thakur was of the view that the parties that we have in Nepal are not political parties in a real sense of the term. They are indeed groups formed by influential persons of society who work for themselves. Thakur further said that leaders and the state are not for common people in Nepal. It only works for those who are close to the power centres. But our civil society is not doing anything to this end. Civil society indeed has become extension of political parties.

Hardev Thakur, Teacher, argued that intellectuals of this country are corrupt and opportunist. Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal wanted to know about the principle of Panchasheel. Santosh Yadav wanted to know the relevance of civic education in today's context. Yadav further said that political leaders do not possess moral values, they are more interested in power and money. Today's challenge is how we can instil moral values on them.

Kapil Dev Prasad Yadav strongly argued that we really need to have honest leadership which has not been the case until now. Politics in Nepal has become private, profit-oriented. Politics is based on double-standard that is, we say one thing but do the opposite of what we said. Its like the Americans - who talk about disarmament but never practice themselves said Kapil Yadav. Perhaps trainings like this can help to educate the society.

Geeta Bharati from Nepali Congress was of the view that many CA members are not aware of about constitutional process and they might do whatever they were asked to do - whether it is required or not.

Uma Kanta Sahani from Nepali Congress enquired about federalism and inclusiveness, can they go together? How can we practice inclusiveness in federalism? He further enquired what would happen if the constitution is not promulgated even within the extended time-frame.

Gajendra Yadav from Nepali Congress was particularly concerned about the CA members who were elected through proportional representation process. His point was that since these lots were not elected directly why should they be given the same facilities that is being enjoyed by those who were elected directly.

Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal asked how can we address the contentious political issues such as integration, state restructuring, model of governance.

Kishan Dayal Yadav from Mohammadpur asked how effective are your programmes in building modern states? This will not have any significant contribution primarily because those who are in the state mechanism are corrupt. We need to change them.

Could you elaborate on class struggle that exists in our society? How can we address the problem of class struggle when it come to the point of state-building said Bindeshwori Sahani. Puranjit Mishra said that family politics is getting rooted in Nepali society. The space for genuine politics is shrinking. Trade unions are affiliated with political parties so is outer organisations involved in social movements. Political leaders of this country talk about ethnicity not about citizenship rights. By raising the issue of ethnicity and alike they even have become ministers but the condition of ethnic groups have not improved. We really need to address this dichotomy.

Umakant Bharati said that politics in Nepal has been developed as profession and political leaders are found to have been involved in dubious activities - this has given birth to the careerist political class - who rather than serving the society , serve their own interests.

Conclusion

The programme on civic education and state -building was well received in Rautahat district. There was genuine concern that corruption has to be wiped out from out society. Equally important is that politics should provide space to all - it should not be privatised by few influential individuals use it for their petty interests.