Who is Responsible for Nepal’s Corruption, Poverty and Failed Development?

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re: sac # 16

You are right in pointing out that not everyone is equipped to question deeply held beliefs, whether these beliefs are moral or not. In fact, no one really is...it is more a matter of degree than a simple yes or no.

At the level of systems, ``survival`` or compeitive advantage has little to do with morality; that is entirely a matter of context-specific fitness, and the most immoral systems may be the best fitted to take over given environs.

Reminds me of the ``monster fish`` that was in the news recently - American fishery officials were reportedly worried that the fish was so violent and ``evil`` it would take over a number of American rivers and ponds. The fish thrives because it simply eats up all other competing species of fish.

Therefore, those who make associations between morality on one hand and efficiency and proliferation on the other do not know what they are talking about. On that, we are both agreed.

In the context of economic, scientific, and intellectual competition, secularism can be shown to be a far more efficient and competitive form of governance than non-secular forms. However, that greater efficiency has absolutely no bearing on its higher morality. The higher morality of secularism lies in its declared attempt to create a system in which no human being is officially discriminated against; and such discrimination, wherever it exists, is seen as violence against principles of the state, not a confirmation of them.

re Sameer and Prem:

Opening up core values for debate can sometimes bring more harm than good. Look at someone like farangi_kush(or whatever his nick is these days) and his belief in the power of religion to solve everything from bad breath to unemployment has served him well for over half a century. Imagine the pain the guy will go through if it dawned on him that there are actually no 72 houris nor the multitude of ghulmans he was promised for saying his prayers five times daily and fasting 29 days a year. He may actually go out and try all the `forbidden` fruits before the enlarged prostate gets him.

Nations (and individuals) are created with a mix of myths and divine ordained values buttressed over the years with state and media inspired propaganda. Most nations (and individuals) are not equipped intellectually or emotionally to deal with the fallout associated with examining the other side. The 9/11 hijackers lived in the west for years, yet their `core` beliefs remained unaltered. Thats how evolution in core beliefs work. The opposing ones habitually collide and the stronger ones come out on top. The stronger ones are not essentially, morally better though. Despite all the sanctimonious talk about secularism being able to handle the pogroms in Gujrat, the jury is still out.

later
-sac

SameerJB

Sameer ji
You are `Anmol`! May God always be with you and keep you on this analytical path forever! Ameen!

Regards

Author
Welcome to chowk and hope to see more of your writing. Is what you describe as the psychological/human factor the main reason for poverty and lack of development or there are macro economic factors too ?

Sameer
Just chanced upon your post #9. Someone (an Indian) once said, that his own `turning point` in understanding came when he found that the literacy figures of Pakistan were as bad as or worse than the pathetic literacy figures of Muslims in India.

I myself donot believe in comparisons. India is harder to turn in any direction, being much bigger. Pakistan may be subject to more instability, but it can change for the better, faster.

This week the most heartening(and heartrending) thing seen in terms of human spirit alone(without going into the larger ramifications of the issue)was the shots of voters in the border districts. Queued up at the polling booth, one round of shelling with shells landing around them, they all run and take cover. When shelling ends, they come out of cover and stand in line again. This happens many times until they get to vote. Thats the level of people`s desire to bring betterment in their own lives. Nothing can convince me that the people living only a few miles away on the other side of the border, these voters` neighbours and blood relations for generations, are any different in their desire for change and in their understanding of what they need.

Dear all,
I am very thankful for reading my article and providing very insightful comments. It appears from the comments that many of the readers took it as my own story. It is not my story. While, it is the real portrayal of Nepalese society, applicable in one way others to everyone in the society, it is not a story of single person.

I am a managment consultant and social marketing expert by profession. I am one of those lucky guys who had opportunity to become independent from the age of 19 when I start earning at a travel agency and then Marketing expert and finally as consultant. Writting is my hobby. I like to write my minds and unedited thoughts.

re: sameerJB # 9

I join you in a salute to Fuzair - his arguments have led me to modify my thinking on some matters. Therefore, I have actually learnt from him. No one can do another a better turn.

On the matter of change, you provide such a fascinating account. Fascinating... but very much in accord with the basic - or, a more universal - dynamics of change.

Real change is synonymous with pain. Pain of acknowledgement that the old path was basically limited, plain wrong, or a dead end. And the pain of letting go of old paths.

Very few really have the courage to make that leap; most are too intellectually and morally weak to weather the pain, particularly when the old ways have advantaged and protected them in many ways. Old certainties, even when clearly immoral, are too comforting for the most.

The pain is enormous. I know it. I have put myself through it. So, even though I am not qualified to comment on the actual content of your change, I empathize with your experience of it.

re: AmericanExpress # 10

Mere bhai, this Brahmin (Hindu) intelligent, Muslim dumb thesis is a bit, should I say, silly :)

sac, Prem. sadna (from Beena Sarwar thread): Actually one can not ascertain from a post that the purpose of posting was presenting deeper convictions - inner self, debating points, dialogue or exchanging views or ready to negotiate on the points. The academic posts and jokes and chat posts are easily distinguishable. For example Fuzair and gymosophists are good in bringing solid academic posts with history or data in the form of numbers to back the post. Jokes and chats are usually short and easily understood as chats and jokes.
The problem in interacting with a name only (without the advantage of reading the intent of poster from body movements as in the case of face-to-face dealing) is often confusing at time. The deeper convictions or beliefs developed for each individual over time due to experience, circumstances, education, interests and analytical methodologies are not up for debating and do not change the mind of poster due to couple of opposing viewpoints expressed by others. The building and changing deep inner feelings is a slow process and varies in the amount of empirical data to back it up.
My routine criticism of military and Islam is my deeper convictions - the ultimate insight from my standpoint. Reading an opposing posts because the opponent does not know what methodologies, length of time it took for me to come to this viewpoint can not sway deeper convictions.
One thing most Pakistanis agree that things did not go well in Pakistan. Most will blame feudalism, corruption, lack of education, incompetence etc. They are right to a point that all of these do matter but hidden in this is the basic logic that the core is solid, uncorrupted and innocent whereas periphery is rotten. My stand is that core principals as well as principles are rotten too.
I used to think like the rest of Pakistanis, often debating with Indian friends and always pointing out better per capita income of Pakistanis as a proof that Pakistan is doing better than India although we have several peripheral problems. Being a scientist, nothing impresses me more than relative data in numbers or plots. And it was not easy for Indian colleagues to challenge the better data for Pakistan. They would often take the line that Nehru policies were wrong, or India is investing in long term benefits or India has more problems due to diversity of cultures and ethnicity.
Then came the event that changed everything for me. I have been asked this before if there was some personal turn-around event responsible for my grudge against military or Islam. Yes! It was the day when Pakistan`s per capita income dropped below Indian and since then other data also reveal further eroding the edge Pakistani once had. The trend is continuing.
Sticking to old standard line did not make logic any more. No more sacred cows, thorough introspection is necessary even if it hurts at personal level. The core could not be excluded from re-evaluation. Once one ideal or idol drops, a chain reaction follows. The links between Islam, military, Kashmir, military rules, feudalism, fundamentalism become visible. The interpretation of history turns upside down. All because the core is opened to criticism and no longer kept in high esteem.
The flag bearers of the standard line can not take it. They even fail to understand the meaning of using terms such as military and Islam as the problem. For them using the term military means criticizing each and every individual ever associated with this employment-based profession. They fail to understand that it means strictly military spending and military establishment, not a subedar, major or F-16 pilot. They can not be blamed any more than any other individual. Similarly criticizing Islam means the end product of it and not what it once was or what it actually says. It is the end product in the form of condition, practices, policies and actions of the followers of Islam - the Muslims.
Now how can I be blamed every Thursday and Sunday for always criticizing military and Islam when I see them as core issues and have a deeper convictions about their role in the slide of Pakistan`s relative position. For me a comparison with India is normal, a neighborly or even friendly competition, nonetheless, that is what counts for measuring success above all since we are same people coming from same stock and lived together 55 years ago. To me, it is a competition for both to succeed in providing better living for people.
Couple of months ago, I wrote a piece along the same lines with Punjab as model case but it appear to be unacceptable to chowk. I chose Punjab because I had more appropriate information about Punjab but same could be written for Pakistan. I have buried it as post # 153 under my previous piece: “In Defense of the Left” at University Ave. Please do not respond to that piece; just read it if you wish.

Nepalese are responsible for corruption in Nepal. Period.

Rajeeb has provided us with a mirror -- in which we all subcontinentals can look -- and see ourselves as -- pure Nepalese.

great piece.

Rajeeb - Profoundly honest and on the money. Bravo. If only the rest of S. Asia would follow... Projection is indeed the problem. It`s physics.

Welcome to Chowk!
This is really interesting; I don`t know where to begin...how and what circumstances/events/realizations brought about this article?

SameerJB #3: ``In Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif is rumored to have asked Lee Kwan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, to suggest certain important steps necessary to make a positive difference. Lee answer was to settle Kashmir as soon as possible at any terms. NS responded that military will chop his head off for doing something like that. ``

From the version I have heard, Lee Kuan Yu actually said fix law and order and provide energy (electricity) to the industries. I remember seeing his interview on TV where he mentioned that his electronic clock in his hotel in Pakistan was always blinking when he came back to his room, indicating that the electricity had gone out.

You have a tendency to blame the military (and religion) for everything. This is unfortunate, as it takes away from objectivity. It colors your otherwise impressive knowledge with conspiracy theories about areas which you have very little knowledge. Perhaps because you have had personal bad exeperiences of supporting Zia and JI.

I think you need to understand that Islam is not equal to JI and Army is not equal to Zia. And that the military is far more than Army generals. It includes Air Force, Navy. 99.9% of it is middle to lower middle-class Pakistanis, from average to poor areas in Punjab, NWFP and urban Sindh. I fail to see how you can come to the conclusion that the military would chop off NS`s head, if Kashmir was solved. And how could the military (or NS) solve the Kashmir issue to begin with, since it is India which holds all the cards to a solution. All of Pakistan`s stance is that the Kashmiris should be given self-determination. This includes every single politician of every single party, including Nawaz Sharif (he is quoted in many speeches). In fact, this is perhaps the only thing that all sectors of the Pakistani society agrees on.

I think Pakistan`s upper and upper-middle class (the group that nearly all us English speaking expatriates belong to) is so cut-off from the military (and society for that matter) now, that it has no idea of its composition. I have noticed that the views of the middle and lower middle class (groups who speak Urdu and have not Internet connection), i.e. normal Pakistanis like farmers, cab drivers etc. are very different from upper class Pakistanis, since their lower middle class relatives now form the core of the military. Interestingly, this group also forms the core of the religious parties also. While the upper class formed the core of the military of the Ayub, Yayha and somewhat in the Zia eras. As well as the core of the current ruling politicians of PPP and PML. The religious parties, due to their leadership (much of which is actually upper-middle class) need to be kept at a distance, due to their narrow-mindedness. But I have a feeling that the upper-middle class (all expatriates with degrees are in this class, regardless of where their parents were) goes overboard in blaming the religious parties and military for all of Pakistan`s faults. Perhaps it is an attempt to avoid having the blame put where it should be, i.e. on the upper and upper-middle class, regardless of whether it was in the military or in the civilian sector.

``Lee offerd second best thing to invest in lasting useful projects and he suggested motorway, airport terminals and better transportation - the yellow cabs. Well, without denying the corruption in all three projects, they are still benefiting public and likely to continue benefiting for many more years to come.``

The solution is never to set up large projects, willy-nilly. The solution is to set up large profitable projects. The motorway and yellow cab and white elephants that are eating up Pakistan`s economy. Even if there is no corruption, they are money-losers. From the look of things, the motorway is going to lose money forever. It does not have nearly the traffic to justify it. Another few motorways like this one (even though it is very well built) and Pakistan will be completely bankrupt. The motorway is another landmark to serve the upper-middle and upper class of Pakistanis, i.e. Pakistanis who have cars that can go fast enough to justify a motorway. It was an unjustifiable attempt by NS to become Sher Shah Suri. A much better proposition would have been building farm to market roads in the rural areas, with the same money.
The airports etc. are probably going to be much better.

The only really large scale projects in Pakistan where money should be spent, even if it is initially a loss, in my opinion, are universities and vocational training centers. Other than that, Pakistan needs to distribute its money to small scale projects, primarily in poor rural and feudal areas of Sind, Baluchistan and Southern Punjab and Potohar, and portions of NWFP. Areas where nothing grows, like Potohar, or where feudals dominate like Baluchistan and rural Sind and Central Pakistan. This is where 2/3rd of Pakistanis live. Once they are taken care of, then we will be in a position to justify large highways and fancy taxicabs (another money-losing project).

I doubt Lee Yu could have given NS such uneconomical advice.

Dear Rajeeb: First of all I commend you to be very honest and upfront and then welcome you to chowk. Actually the unbiased or objective introspection as you have done for yourself is lacking at large. First step is to identify problems, then order them in terms of consequences. Those deemd most detrimental must be dealt first and on war footing.
Certain areas must be singled out. Move three or four of the best available managers to head those departments, making them all-powerful decision makers, with good salaries and benefits. Import managers if not available at home. The point is that you must have a showpiece of success, even a small one. Hopefully the success and ethics will diffuse to certain other sectors of society or organizations. There is no magic bullet is this world. Without going through due process and change of ethics, national and rational thinking, nothing will work.
In Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif is rumored to have asked Lee Kwan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, to suggest certain important steps necessary to make a positive difference. Lee answer was to settle Kashmir as soon as possible at any terms. NS responded that military will chop his head off for doing something like that. Lee offerd second best thing to invest in lasting useful projects and he suggested motorway, airport terminals and better transportation - the yellow cabs. Well, without denying the corruption in all three projects, they are still benefiting public and likely to continue benefiting for many more years to come.
Nepal also need to pick communication and transportation top priority. Try bringing in both Chinese and Indian expertise. The results of bringing in Chinese will be better due to less chance of corruption. China built Karakoram Highway for Pakistan. The portion built by Chinese military is clearly superior quality than built by Pakistani military. China and Japan will come if you cordially invite them. Nepal is not Tibet to worry about Chinese occupation.
Regards

Is it sheer coincidence that Nepal happens to border two of India`s most mismanaged and unruly states, Bihar and eastern UP ? Despite political boundaries, cultural continuities seem to have their way.

Reading between the lines, it appears that Nepalese dont have any internal role models to look up to (or that they are few and far between and maybe outside the country).