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People's Review, Nepal
My 22-28,
2003
Summary: A peace studies
professor suggests full representation (proportional representation)
as part of a peace plan for Nepal, which has been engaged in a civil
war since 1996.
People's Review, Nepal
Dr. Johan Galtung suggests for revision of constitution
May 22-28, 2003 For Dr.
Johan Galtung, Professor at the University of Peace Studies, Hawaii,
the prerequisites to peace are building a just and equitable
society. Speaking at a talk programme on 'Transformation of
Conflict: Human Rights Approach' on May 19, he said Nepal needs and
cultural and social revolution, and recommended building an
equitable society through proportional representation and fixed
quota system to uplift the downtrodden. In his keynote speech, Dr.
Galtung said of the three suggestions made by many - constitution
amendment, constitution revision and new constitution - he favoured
the second option, saying the problem that Nepal is facing is not a
problem of a certain group. But, the frustration of any excluded
group could have violent repercussion. He said it is important to
switch attention and move from negative to positive, and added that
it was equally important to go beyond what the political parties
have been saying and not to mistake ceasefire with peace. "Solutions
are expected through ceasefire. When that does not happen and
parties see no light at the end of the tunnel they become
frustrated. That tends to result I regrouping, consolidating allies,
brining in more arms, and could lead to unmitigated disaster," the
professor said. At the programme, organised by the Nepal Council of
World Affairs, UNDP Resident Representative Dr. Henning Karcher said
he found Dr. Galtung theories about direct, structural and cultural
violence very convincing, and would agree that Nepal's society is
characterized by structural violence in many forms. He said, "While
the conflict in Nepal has political, ideological and even
geo-political dimensions, its main root causes are social and
economic, related to frustrated expectations that came with the
advent of democracy, related to abject poverty that persists for a
large percentage of the population, related to poor and inefficient
delivery of social services in areas such as education and health,
and related to inequality, exclusion and discrimination." The UN
Resident Representative said that one of the greatest challenges
lies, therefore, in addressing the structural element of violence in
the current peace, the nine-tenth of the iceberg, which are not as
clearly visible as that over 8,000 people who have lost their lives
through direct violence. Dr. Karcher said that unless and until all
stakeholders make an honest effort to jointly analyze and jointly
address the very root causes of conflict, which lie in inequality,
exclusion, discrimination, poverty, unemployment and inadequate
governance, the deep and festering wound of the conflict would
continue to be there and make itself felt again and again. He said
although it is generally accepted that peace and development are two
sides of the same coin, he said he believed that without respect for
human rights there can be no peace and without peace there can be no
observation of human rights. He said that his main message was that
as the peace process advances, human rights should not be seen as an
optional extra. "In the case of Nepal today, we, in the UN System,
are convinced that the promotion and protection of human rights are
the key to strengthening the broader peace process. "Without this,
the prospects would be bleak. He, quoting Nelson Mandela, said that
the neglect of human rights is a sure recipe for disaster. He
called His Majesty's Government and the Maoists agreeing to work
towards the signing of a Human Rights Accord as a part of the peace
process as a positive step. He said the Human Rights Accord will not
solve all the problems, but it is a key and feasible first step. In
his welcome remarks, Secretary-General of the NCWA Himalaya Kumar
Singh said there could not be a better occasion to discuss on'
Transformation of Conflict: Human Rights Approach', when the
government and the Maoists were engaged in negotiation, and two
rounds of talks already been concluded, to find a durable peace in
Nepal after seven years of violent insurgency. He said conflict
transformation might be defined as a process encompassing
'structure-oriented long-term peace building efforts, which aim to
truly overcome revealed forms of direct, cultural and structural
violence, with outcomes acceptable to the parties in conflict.
Other speakers at the talk programme were Nayan Bahadur Khatri,
Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, and president
of Nepal Council of World Affairs Keshav Raj Jha. There was a
question and answer session, and the vote of thank was presented by
Sushil Pyakurel, member of NHRC and Prof. Gopal Prasad Pokharel,
vice president of NCWA gave the concluding remark. |
