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NEPAL's NATIONAL INTERESTS - II Secularism, Free and Responsible Media and Foreign Employment

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NEPAL's NATIONAL INTERESTS - II Secularism, Free and Responsible Media and Foreign Employment N EPAL’STIOR TS-I N EPAL’STIOR TS-I N EPAL’STIOR TS-I N EPAL’STIOR TS-I N EPAL’STIOR TS-I Our Other Publicationslications lica tions N E P A L ’ S N A T I O N A L MEDIA ANDFOREIGNEMPLOYMENT SECULARISM, FREEANDRESPONSIBLE I N T E R E S T S - I I SECULARISM, FREE AND RESPONSIBLE MEDIA AND FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT CO-EDITORS Nishchal N. Pandey Tomislav Delinic CO-EDITORS ISBN 978-9937-2-7058-8 Delinic Tomislav Pandey Nishchal N. + NEPAL'S NATIONAL INTERESTS - II Secularism, Free and Responsible Media and Foreign Employment Co-Editors Nishchal N. Pandey Tomislav Delinic + + Published by Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS) www.csas.org.np Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) www.kas.org/saarc First Published, April 2013 All rights reserved ISBN : 978-9937-2-7058-8 The views and opinions expressed in this book are of the author(s) of the chapters and not necessarily of the CSAS-KAS. Printed at: Modern Printing Press Kathmandu, Nepal. Tel: 4253195, 4246452 Email: [email protected] + + Contents Preface i 1 Secularism in Nepal: An Assessment of Future Challenges 1 Dr. Rabindra Khanal 2 Secularism and the Challenges Faced by Nepal 11 Prakash Rimal 3 The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindutva in Nepal 22 Amish Raj Mulmi 4 The Nepali State, Secularism and Minority Religious Groups 33 Monika Timsina 5 Maintaining Religious Harmony: Issues and Recommendations 43 Dr. Nishchal N. Pandey 6 Between the Media Agenda and the Public Agenda 54 Dharma Adhikari, Ph.D. 7 From Conflict to Peace: Changing Face of Danger for 66 Nepalese Journalists Sanjaya Dhakal 8 Media Situation in Post-Conflict Nepal 76 Kosh Raj Koirala 9 Security Challenges for Journalists in Nepal 88 Chandra Shekhar Adhikari 10 High Time for Media to Become Responsive 99 Anil Giri 11 Issues and Challenges Concerning Nepali Migrant 109 Workers in the Gulf Dr. Shambhu Ram Simkhada + + 12 Managing Foreign Employment 125 Dhan Bahadur Oli 13 Consumed but Not Invested: An Inquiry into 135 ‘Remittance-Growth’ Nexus in Nepal Resham Bahadur Thapa Parajuli 14 Remittance from Arab Countries: A Question of Sustainability 151 Jayaraj Acharya, Ph. D. Introduction to Co-editors 164 + + Preface It is with profound pleasure that we present to you another book as an epitome of the successful partnership between the CSAS and the KAS. Indeed, it is a matter of great satisfaction that the Nepal's National Interests project that was launched with the support of the KAS comes to a fruitful conclusion with this volume which is second in series of the earlier book focusing on foreign policy, internal security, federalism and energy-economy published in 2011 Nepal's transformational journey as a federal, secular, multi- party democracy has had its hiccups but continues with great expectations not only of the hitherto excluded groups within the country but also of the international community. Shaping multiple aspects of democracy-building has never been and will not be easy as it will be largely shaped by the prevailing socio-political conditions in the country and the role of political leaders. But identifying various contours of national interest and hurdles in fulfilling those interests in the changed context will be useful to everyone in this important path of a long journey of a modern day democratic state. It was with this in mind that the sub-themes of secularism, free and responsible media and foreign employment were chosen as the crucial spinal column of the New Nepal that is emerging. This book with papers from experts of each theme seeks to explore the challenges and possibilities from an uniquely analytical frame with a prognosis of the future. All the writers have had first hand experiences and knowledge of the selected area which we hope will be useful to decision-makers for implementing the measures that they have suggested. The papers fill a significant gap in the current literature on secularism, free media and foreign employment in the Nepali context + + and provide insightful analyses on their altering complexities and dynamics. Only with careful handling of these issues, we feel, Nepal's newest tryst with democracy will be successful. As we thank all paper presenters and those that assisted in successfully implementing the Nepal's National Interests project, we hope this book will be an important resource for politicians, policy makers, academics and students for a long time to come. Tomislav Delinic Nishchal N. Pandey + + 1 Secularism in Nepal: An Assessment of Future Challenges Dr. Rabindra Khanal1 INTRODUCTION Secularism is the concept that the states should exist separately from religion or religious beliefs. When a state is declared secular, it should neither be influenced by any particular religion in its governing activities nor should it impose any religious faith upon its people. In other words, no human activity related to governance and politics in a state should have any influence from a particular religious belief. It is the argument of the modern nation states that have adopted democracy in a true sense. But it is not easy for any states to remain completely away from some kind of belief system because it is deeply rooted in the state’s tradition, culture and historical upbringing. No states in the world have been able to adopt secularism completely including some of the well-known secular states like India, France, the United States, Turkey and South Korea. In this situation, the states that aspire to adopt secularism need to maintain a balance between the traditional values and the principles of modern democracy where each individual gets equal treatment from the state and is assured that the state does not discriminate. On the other hand, secularism means not only the absence of the state in religious matters but equal protection of all existing religions by the state so that each group of people belonging to different religions can promote their religious identity. Thus secularism is the separation of religion and state on the 1 Author is Associate Professor, Central Department of Political Science, Tribhuvan University. + 2 l Nepal's National Interests - II one hand and equally the involvement of state in every religion on the other. It, however, does not mean ir-religion or atheism as perceived by young people in Western Europe. Nepal was declared a secular state by the Interim constitution of 2007. It came as a surprise to many people because the concept was new for many even though the discussion was going for some time among ethnic communities and the liberal activists in Kathmandu. Ethnic groups and minority religious groups who had legitimately felt alienated by the Hindu character of the state rejoiced it. Some political parties including the CPN-Maoist made it a powerful political slogan. It was a political decision made by the parliament and was necessary for further democratization but the decision was made in haste without adequate public debate and discussion. Such a decision affected the majority of the people as it did not seek people’s consent which may pose difficulty in its implementation in the upcoming new constitution. Majority of the people may hesitate to take the ownership of this concept when it is implemented because the concept really does not represent their interest. This short paper does not negate the idea of secularism in Nepal. It will give a short history of this concept at first and then endeavor to confine itself to the challenges it may have in future once the constitution making process is completed. HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE OF SECULARISM Nepal, a traditional multicultural and multi-religious state dominated by Hindu philosophy throughout its history, is a complicated case for the introduction of secularism. Religion has been an important part of people’s life including that of the state ever since the country came into being. Almost all the ruling dynasties from Lichhavi to the recent past had relied on Hindu religion in relations to governance. Laws were codified from Hindu Dharmasastras like Manusmriti and Mahabharat. The Muluki Ain implemented by Jung Bahadur was codified mostly from Manusmriti. Some of those laws are still in existence. People’s everyday life was also regulated by the Hindu + R. Khanal : Secularism in Nepal: An Assessment of... l 3 rites and rituals. Buddhism that came later was respected by the rulers but was never the ruling philosophy of the state. In fact, Buddhism was assimilated with Hinduism to a great extent. The same gods and goddess were worshipped by both the religions in different names. Even Buddha was considered as one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu in an attempt to harmonize the two religions. The other religions like Islam and Christianity came very late. The entrance of Islam is believed to have taken place from the time of King Ratna Malla in the late 15th century2 but its presence was insignificant in the Nepali society. The Islamic population increased in Terai significantly only during the second half of the 20th century mainly due to the open border with India. Similarly, Christianity entered in the middle of the eighteenth century along with the Capuchin Catholic priests at the invitation of King Pratap Malla first and then by the last Malla kings of Kathmandu and Bhadgaon3 but they were ousted by king Prithvi Narayan Shah when he conquered the Kathmandu valley. They came back to the valley again after 1950 to run the educational institutions and hospitals at the invitation of the Nepali government. The number of Christian population was insignificant until 1990. In this situation it was but natural for Hinduism to remain a dominant religious faith in Nepal. Hindu dominance over other religious faiths in the modern period was strengthened by the Panchayat Constitution promulgated in 1962, which declared Nepal a Hindu kingdom in order to strengthen the divinity of the kings of Nepal.
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