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'Incredible India': Nepali Journalists & Bureaucrats Poop On Indian Federalism
This is a Nepali lesson in national pride and confidence that New Delhi’s new ‘Empire Builders’ will remember for a long time. Some Pakistani ‘defeatists’, especially in our media, can also learn a lesson or two from the Nepalese.
By NIRAJ ARYAL
Sunday, 29 June 2008.
Ahmed Quraishi-Pakistan/Middle East politics, Iraq war, lebanon war, India Pakistan relations
thmandu, Nepal—Think what, you pay for their visit at your place; make their stay comfortable when they are there; let them learn as much as they can from the experiences you have achieved so far, but in turn they criticize you for what you have accomplished. What an unjust world this is?
At an interaction program sponsored by the High Offices of the Indian embassy in Kathmandu---moderated by none less than a journalist of the stature of Ameet Dhakal-a modest person, working at the Kathmandu Post, this is exactly what happened.
The Indian embassy in Kathmandu had organized a post-visit interaction program at the Malla Hotel, to let the fourteen member delegation of the Nepali Civil Servants- who have recently arrived home after two weeks “study visit to India on Indian Federalism”, interact with the Nepali Intellectuals and the media men as well.
The Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Mr. Rakesh Sood delivering his speech prior to the interaction program hoped that “the venue would give the Nepali intellectuals a good platform to discuss and learn from the success of India’s federal democracy”.
But to the dismay of the host and many others including this pen pusher, the interaction program turned out to be a platform to criticize Indian federalism and not to forget, pass their judgment on what they termed “the messy Indian bureaucracy, corrupt judiciary and faltering economy”. Was this the real state of world’s largest federal democracy! C’est pas possible!
The Katmandu Post Editor, Ameet Dhakal who had earlier mentioned that he had just forty minutes to discuss the issue yet it was enough for the Civil servants to criticize the inner flaws in which India’s federal democracy is said to be “thriving”.
State of Inclusion in the bureaucracy
“No need to worry for the Nepalese”, said the secretary at the PM’s office, Ms. Binda Hada Bhattarai a member of the Nepali delegation adding: “there is less than nine percent women representation in the Indian bureaucracy and that women in the parliament are physically assaulted by the police when they ask for equal treatment from the State---this is the state of inclusion in the world’s largest federal democracy”.
“We, the Nepalese, are not that far behind … at this speed we will lead from the front very soon.” Ms. Binda was certainly cutting a joke at the state of affairs in India while responding to a question posed by Dr. Sayed Mohammad Habibullah, former head of the Political Science Department, TU.
“India cannot be taken as a federal State, not a quasi federal State and at worse not even they have a functioning cooperative federal structure…we are utterly confused”, said another member of the delegation.
Indian Judiciary
“The judiciary is not that different in India either…Supreme Court only has 25 Judges however, to our Himalayan surprise they had more than fifty judges at the Delhi High Court...the Delhi high court gave us the impression that it was no different than a Fish Market---all gave a messy look that it was,” he continued.
Federal System
“They have three tiers of division in their State Structure: the federal government, the state government and the government at the lowest level---which was made practically powerless when Late Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India---making a constitutional amendment he made them toothless,…if we prefer to take on the three layer system for the division in the State Structure, better we choose the Swiss model-empowering the grass root, but not India”, they added. More so, the highest participation of women is at the lowest level in India making it more than 48 per cent but unfortunately they have been rendered powerless”. What a shame?
Mr. Aryal giving reference to a meeting with Dev Mukherjee-India’s former ambassador to India said, “Mr. Mukherjee was of the opinion that dividing the country into various states was indeed a difficult task, we need to be careful on several matters; most important is the equal division of natural resources. Mukherjee suggested that the country should be divided vertically- from North to South which could prove to be a fruitful one for Nepal”.
To make it simpler, Ambassador Mukherjee was perhaps of the opinion that the notion of One Madhesh One Province could bode ill for Nepal. However, there were some Madhesi intellectuals at the program, who immediately ridiculed Mukherjee’s thoughts and threatened that “if the notion of one Madhesh one province was not accepted, Nepal could see a vertical split”. Ooh la la! Professor Birendra Pandey-TU was the one to criticize Mukherjee.
Now it was the turn to criticize the India economy
Referring to an Indian economist the delegation Head Mr. Aryal said that there was a big economic disparity in India, there are some states that are very rich such as Maharastra and Goa-mainly because of remittance but not through tourism--which is normally projected; there are very poor states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India…India’s two third population is living under the poverty line though the country claims nine percent of grown rate per annum”. Intriguing phenomenon indeed!
Food For thought
“We know a lot about India and its so-called Federal Democracy…we do not need to know more from them”, said an intellectual who was sitting by the side of this scribe.
Conclusion
Perhaps Nepal’s high flying bureaucrats consider India just in their backyard and thus underrate its achievements? Friends today, foes tomorrow-this is typical Nepali characteristic.
Note: The study visit was sponsored by the Govt. of India as requested by Govt. of Nepal under the Nepal-India Economic Program.
This article was originally published on June 10, 2008, under the title Dissecting India’s Federal Democracy, carried by The Telegraph weekly in Nepal. This article has been slightly edited for clarity.
