Is our silence a sign of submission?

“Press is free in Nepal but journalists work in fear” is the gist of a report published by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), the international media watch group. The report, made public on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (May 3), says cadres of UCPN (Maoist), its sister organizations, armed and unarmed groups in Tarai are mostly responsible for killings and intimidations of journalists.

My question is: Is fear and intimidation limited to journalists only? Hasn´t the whole population been affected by it? Nepal is free but Nepalis live in fear. Nepal is free because it is not colonized and there is a constitutional guarantee of political, civil and other rights but Nepalis have been living in constant fear since more than a decade. It was triggered by the armed insurgency started by the Maoists that claimed nearly 15,000 lives, wounded and disabled many more, damaged infrastructure worth billions of rupees and ruined the social fabric and economy of Nepal.

People sighed with relief when Maoists gave up arms to join mainstream politics following a peace accord. They hoped that peace would prevail. However, barring attacks on public properties and public servants, nothing much has changed. The Maoists’ mindset even after three-and-a-half years of signing the peace deal and leading a coalition government for nine months is still the same. Everything from soot-smearing to capturing other’s property, from physical attacks to verbal insults against all those who disagree with them is an accepted behavior of their cadres. Extortions go unreported and killings go unpunished, if the culprits happen to be Maoist cadres. From supporters of contending political parties to common people, everyone dreads the Maoists. While reporting about them, even journalists resort to self-censorship for fear of being killed.

Terror in this country has become the most effective tool for criminals and politicians alike. There are two reasons for this. One is the success that Maoists achieved with the use of terror. Now, various kinds of groups, big or small, want to copy the Maoist model of violence and intimidation to gain success. Various outfits operating in Tarai and the eastern hills have adopted this technique. The other reason for the rise in such activities is the culture of impunity widely practiced in the past few years, all in the name of political transition. Partly because of the compulsions of the so-called political transition and partly because of the political protection of criminals, law and order machinery has been pretty lax for a long time.

This has created an intense feeling of insecurity among people. People turn a blind eye when somebody is killed in broad daylight in a crowded place; they fear to intervene. Mostly, they don’t even report the incident to the authorities. Nepali society was very different a few years back. The political violence that Maoists started has now spread and has deeply affected people belonging to all walks of life. Thousands of travelers stranded miserably in the middle of a highway fear to challenge a few dozen hooligans who hold them hostage to press the government to meet their demands, genuine as well as those that defy all logic.

While traveling in and around the country, people meekly pay whosoever demands donations or parking fee. They don’t dare to question if the donation is government-approved or whether the parking fee has been authorized. The common people know that displaying a little boldness may result in an arson attack on their vehicle. Passengers silently pay the unauthorized and excess fare charged by drivers or helpers of public transport vehicles. In addition they also bear rude or whimsical behaviors because the transport workers have unions strong enough to call a chakkajam, or to insult and/or assault passengers.

The list of woes is endless. Common people have to endure such lawlessness every day. They do so because the state neither provides them security nor remedy. The culture of violence Maoists gave birth to, its subsequent adaptation by political and criminal groups of Tarai as well as ethnic and racial activists elsewhere, government’s policy of appeasing all of them, the ensuing demoralization of armed forces and authorities and rampant acts of anarchy have reduced this country to a land of lawlessness. Murder, physical assault, extortions, robbery, strikes, blockades, soot smearing – everything goes unpunished in the name of ´transitional period´. Will this ever end?

jeevan1952@hotmail.com