First chance for Rabindra Mishra to show that he is different.

The Context:

I saw this post in the official page of Rabindra Mishra.

एउटा आधारहीन आरोपको खण्डन
(श्यर गरिदिनु भए आभारी हुने थिएँ)
सबभन्दा पहिले यसो भनुँ: विद्यावारिधि गर्नु, विश्वविद्यालयको प्राध्यापक हुनु भनेको, तथ्यको सुक्ष्म र प्राज्ञिक विश्लेषण गर्ने क्षमतामा विशिष्टता हासिल गर्नु हो।

तर दुखपूर्वक भन्नु पर्छ एकजना ‘प्राध्यापक-डाक्टर’ले एउटा टेलिभिजन अन्तर्वार्तामा ममाथि अत्यन्तै आधारहीन र अ-प्राज्ञिक टिप्पणी गरेछन्। आफ्ना विद्यार्थीलाई असल र विशिष्ट प्राज्ञिक संस्कारबाट दीक्षित गर्नु पर्ने व्यक्तिले त्यसप्रकारको सस्तो र चरित्रहत्या हुने टिप्पणी गर्नु दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण कुरा हो।
र, पत्रकारहरूले पनि कुनै अन्तर्वार्ता दिने व्यक्तिले कसैको गम्भिर चरित्रहत्या हुने आरोप लगाएको छ भने “अन्तर्वार्ता दिने व्यक्तिले भनेको त हो नि, मैले भनेको होइन” भनेर त्यसलाई प्रसारण/प्रकाशन गर्नु हुँदैन। लाइभ अन्तर्वार्ता हो भने अन्तर्वार्ता दिने व्यक्तिलाई तुरुन्तै रोक्नु र चुनौति दिनु पर्छ। रिकर्डेड हो भने त्यस्तो अंश सम्पादन गर्नु पर्छ या त्यसको पुष्टी गर्नै पर्छ।
नत्र अन्तर्वार्ता दिने मात्र होइन, अन्तर्वार्ता लिने व्यक्ति पनि दोषको त्यत्तिकै भागेदार हुन जान्छ।

Out of curiosity, I decided to dig deeper to understand what was going on. Then read this, "A veteran political commentator in Nepal has questioned former BBC employee Rabindra Mishra’s moral ground for leading a political party in his native Nepal. Because, Professor Surendra KC argued, Mr. Mishra once ran a media “campaign”, “within the last fifteen years”, during which interviewees were asked if Nepal should be merged into India." http://www.southasia.com.au/2017/03/19/grave-accusation-made-former-bbc-nepali-editor-turned-politician-rabindra-mishra/

My understanding of entire story: A highly regarded political commentator (Professor Surendra KC) made some serious allegations against Mr. Rabindra Mishra in a television interview. Mr. Rabindra Mishra clearly thinks the statement aims at "character defamation" and is a baseless allegation.

Some of my personal observations on the matter:

i) People making baseless statements against leaders and public figures is not a new thing. However, the way leader/public figure reacts to this allegation means a lot. The reaction shows the character of the person and tests his belief. To be honest, I am very disappointed with the facebook post of Mr. Mishra. I expected (and still expect more from him) he would clearly indicate the details of the event and the person responsible. The facebook post is a half-hearted reaction which is not a desirable trait in a leader. I do not want Mr. Mishra to get personal but he can always be clear and specific in issue this serious.

ii) If the allegation is baseless and false Mr. Rabindra Mishra should file a lawsuit against the one who made such allegation and the media house who broadcasted the interview. I am not suggesting this as personal vendetta but this in large would reflect that Mr. Mishra believes in the legal remedies (where necessary). There are other implication if the case is registered;

a) The court would find if the one making comment is guilty of defamation of a public figure, who now leads a political party. 

b) The tendency of making baseless comments without concern for legal consequences will eventually decrease. This case could set a precedent and warn those who make baseless and derogatory comments. Maybe it's time we seek accountability for the remarks one makes. 

c) The case will raise the issue of professionalism in journalism. We have seen media fail time and again but have escaped consequence for their involvement in the matter. Maybe this is time to set record straight and tell media that they too are not immune for their involvement in wrongdoing. 

d) This will set an example regarding the respect of individual while exercising one's freedom of expression. As this involves a public figure who have shown political ambition, this case will take its pace and have a social impact too. 

e) By taking legal action, Mr. Mishra can show "he indeed is different". 

Dear Rabindra Mishra Sir, You have sacrificed your glittering professional career to pursue a political career. Don't take things like this in a small way and fight back in a half-hearted manner (without even disclosing the specifics of what/who you are talking about). Start with something small but meaningful. Show that you are different from your action. The big buzzwords like transparency, accountability and impunity are reflected in small acts of seeing redress to issue like this. Else, how can people trust someone who won't fight for one's own personal dignity in a lawful way. 

People want a leader they can rely on and this is the first chance you have been handed to show you are different and profess what you preach.

I hope you think it through and take appropriate actions.

Why we are in bigger trouble than we actually realize?

Our society has shown some worrying signs lately. It does have made progress and come a long way in different aspects. However, our society in large is heading towards more troubles. We all are not aware or have not probably thought it thought but the early warning can already be seen in significant proportion. I personally believe we are heading towards major disaster with enough preparation and homework.

Our society has normalized/institutionalized within itself the recipe for crackdown and failure. Some of my observations that lead me to this conclusion  are:

i) We have normalized violence. The use of violence does not bother us as much as it should. Whether it states actor or non-state actors the general response to violence has been less than what we'd aspect from responsive society. We read about the death of fellow countryman and pass on a shallow comment on it. Our society is being less and less concerned with the use of violence as a tool for various gains. It is now widely accepted as "something normal."

ii) Corruption isn't something that bothers us. Most of us know corruption has been institutionalized in various fonts in Nepal. We have accepted it as part of the system. Some even call it "speeding money" to make it sound legit. We have been so used to it that we are no longer offended by the fact corruption around us. We have normalized/institutionalized corruption.

iii) Being unaccountable isn't a big deal. We have seen it in recent time, we are going through a phase where expecting accountability from those exercising authority is not normal. Those in position say and do what pleases them without feeling the need of being accountable for it. Those who are in the position of exercising authority are blinded by the power that they no longer feel the underlying accountability. Being unaccountable isn't something new...its normal.

iv) We have politicized everything aspect of social life that could be politicized. From students to professionals even the religious groups now come in political colors. We have politicized everything that could possibly be politicized and its normal to do so. There is nothing wrong in political lens overriding everything else. Politicizing everything is normal too.

v) We compromise with the quality of everything. From the food we eat to service we receive. We compromise with the quality of everything including our basic necessity education, health, drinking water, clean environment. Our compromise with the quality of everything isn't a bad thing at all. This is how it works and there is nothing we can do about it. Compromising with the quality of everything we need and consume and receive is new normal too.

vi) Not valuing professional competence is normal too. We value our near and dear one, who need the competent when we can replace them with our own. Why bother with all the competence crap when we can do it easy. We prefer easy over right and beneficial over right. So, appointing incompetent over competent is totally normal, provided they pay well for it. Look at the recent instances and you'll understand what I am talking about.

vii) We are draining both labor and brain and are happy with the remittance we receive. It is normal for us that our productive population is working to make other nations great or in some cases GREAT AGAIN. We are not being able to hold onto our youth and that's fine. It's normal for youth to migrant and we are totally fine with it.

As Chris Hedges rightly observed, We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy. The more alarming concern is that "WE CONSIDER IT NORMAL".

Everything that we have considered normal will have huge impact in our society and we are not even bothered about that.

It is high time to wake up from the "illusion of normalcy".

I sincerely hope that I am wrong about it. I hope our society move on from this without significant bump.