Shame on Paswan

Lawmaker Bishwendra Paswan has done it again. If in April, he had infamously come to light for throwing a chair from the fourth floor of parliament building, this time he is in the news again for pouncing upon Constitutional Committee Chairman Nilamber Acharya during a meeting, snatching a folder of papers and tearing them  into pieces. But he did not stop there. He tore his shirt and dared Chairman Acharya to shoot him when he requested him to behave as per parliamentary norms and etiquettes. In recent times, Paswan has been leading protests of five lawmakers in the Constituent Assembly accusing leaders of neglecting the concerns of Dalits, Muslims and marginalized communities. Sunday’s antics too were a part of that protest.



There is nothing wrong in a lawmaker trying to raise valid and legitimate concerns of people that they represent. In fact, that is what they are expected to do. But, it is also equally true that there is a proper method of doing that. We are ashamed to say that Paswan has flouted all norms of decency and deserves to be condemned by all and sundry. It is sad that a person of the stature of a lawmaker conducts himself so cheaply, not once but time and again. What can we expect him to do for the people that he represents when he himself cannot behave in a civilized manner?



While the blame for such cheap antics has to be shouldered by the individual, a part of the blame also has to go to the parties that such lawmakers represent. It is the culture of impunity within our parties that emboldens lawmakers like Paswan to repeatedly resort to such populist tactics. Just recall another incident that happened in December 2009. There was quite a hue and cry among the public when Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperatives Karima Begum slapped Chief District Officer of Parsa district repeatedly when he could not manage to send her a shiny vehicle to receive her upon her arrival at the Simara airport but neither the minister apologized nor did her party, Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (Democratic), take action against her. We wish our political parties could set higher standards for their lawmakers.



If lawmaker Paswan’s intent is to be popular among his electorate, we just wish to tell him one thing: In the short-run, this might work to your advantage but eventually it is going to backfire. Do not underestimate your voters. The populist route is a pretty short one. We urge Paswan to unconditionally issue an apology. If he does not, we hope his party will lead the way by reprimanding him accordingly. How about punishing him symbolically, if nothing more?

Related story

Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame on Nepal