INTERVIEW WITH BIDHYA BHANDARI
Bidhya Bhandari: Gender bias based upon patriarchal and feudal ideas is a major social problem in our society. One thing that must be done in order to move ahead is to change the general attitude towards women. We need reforms in all sectors before we can even think about empowering women. So this proclamation had to be passed in order to ensure that women, who constitute more than 51 percent of the population, could enjoy a fair and equitable representation in state affairs.
Q. What is there in the proclamation that can ensure Nepalese women a better status and liberate them from what you called 'gender bias'?
Bhandari: First of all, we do not have a provision for obtaining citizenship from the mother. This is a clear injustice to women done by the state. An individual woman will be a sovereign citizen only when this provision (of obtaining citizenship from mother) becomes law. This provision is not mentioned in any previous law or constitution. We believe this will be the first major breakthrough in empowering women. It will also pave the way for other aspects of women’s rights. So we have proposed for a one third reservation of seats for women in all state structures.
Q. As you said this proclamation has not been mentioned in the present constitution. Do you expect any legal complications in its implementation?
Bhandari: This is also a major political decision. But we will not face legal complications. Just like for all the other major political decisions, the HoR will gradually formulate laws to ensure its proper implementation. The old and unfair provisions will be replaced by new and just rules passed by the House.
Q. What other challenges do you expect during the implementation of the proposal?
Bhandari: It will obviously take some time for these provisions to be fully implemented. The challenges will come also from the leadership and bureaucracy, as they will take time to adjust during the transition period. Other minor problems will be dealt with by laws passed by the House.
Q. You want seats reserved for women but do you think there are enough educated women to fulfil the quota?
Bhandari: There might not be enough women to meet the required one third immediately but we have to come up with plans to educate them and make them competent. We have a programme called 'Education for All' and we hope to meet our goals through this.
Q. Education for All is a project ending in 2015 but it’s already 2007 and Nepal has not made real significant moves in the area of development. Do you think we will be able to meet this targeted goal?
Bhandari: We can’t be pessimistic right now. If we work for it we can, and we have to. We are working closely with the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare to implement our plans.
Q. How satisfied are you with your political career so far?
Bhandari: Since my early years in politics there has been a deep faith in me that I could contribute in making a difference to the future of the nation. Looking at the current political situation, it’s quite difficult to be satisfied with what we have achieved so far. And although success does not come all at once, the struggle to create a new Nepal definitely has reached a new and different phase in history. I had a difficult childhood and to have reached where I am today, with hardships every now and then, I am happy and very hopeful that more can be achieved.
Q. More often than not people have remembered Madan Bhandari in times of political crisis. What do you think were the traits that distinguished him which the nation missed after the Dasdhunga incident?
Bhandari: Ideological clarity and honesty. He could realistically assess the threats that loomed around Nepalese politics. He had this unmatched vision needed to lead the nation in difficult times as we are facing now. I don't think any leader is anywhere near him in terms of these traits. And I believe these traits are what cost him his life. But ultimately, as it appears to me, these are the very traits that we have always failed to see in our statesmen. And we are always paying the price too.
Q. More than 13 years have passed since the Dasdhunga incident. Do you expect the reinstated HoR to resume investigations into the Dasdhunga incident?
Bhandari: Certainly. This case is still a massive political agenda. We sincerely hope that we can investigate it and clarify to the public the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. For this again the political parties have to be united strongly as it is yet another fight against the repressive forces. We can initiate an honest investigation, finding the guilty and punishing them. I strongly feel that the Dasdhunga incident and the Narayanhiti massacre have to be seriously investigated by the reinstated HoR. We cannot afford conspiracies of such magnitude to go unpunished in history.
Q. But CPN-UML were in office after the mid-term polls in 2051 BS. Why couldn't the government take this matter seriously then?
Bhandari: The blame here is groundless. To say that our party didn't take the matter seriously while we were in government is a ploy adopted by antagonistic elements. What should be borne in mind is that we were a minority government and every decision we took had to be passed by the House and the government could have collapsed at anytime with a vote of no confidence. It was the first time a communist party formed a government and more importantly the government was taking time to adjust to the bureaucratic apparatus and to win the trust of every individual and group. The case was always alive then too. CPN-UML has always strongly seen the Dasdhunga incident as a major agenda for investigation.
Q. But when we look at it from the outside, we do get a sense of negligence from erstwhile governments including your party…
Bhandari: When a national leader is killed, it is not an issue of political contention and it should not be. But unfortunately with the relationship between the government and the opposition growing bitter then, both sides may have blamed each other. But considering the fact that the nation lost a true leader in Madan Bhandari, we have always taken the matter very seriously and there should be no doubt about that.
Q. So you do agree that both CPN-UML and Nepali Congress blamed each other in their failure to investigate the Dasdhunga incident as a neutral agenda…
Bhandari: Yes it did happen. Unfortunately this issue found space amid many other political hostilities existing between the government and the opposition which should not have happened. It was the same hostility which resulted in the Congress blaming the UML for everything and vice versa. NC winged students were behind Amar Lama's (Madan Bhandari's driver who survived the accident) supposed entry into their party. Because of all this, sometimes the incident lost its priority. When I look back, I do feel that it should have been taken a lot more seriously. Because of that hostility, those behind the Dasdhunga incident got time to kill Amar Lama on July 27, 2003– the only living witness then.
But now with the Maoist's denying any involvement in the incident and Amar Lama killed, it’s become clearer that there is a regressive group that might have designed the Dasdhunga incident with a series of other regressive acts, both major and minor. This could, despite all the flaws, help unlock the mystery so that we can permanently put an end to such regressive forces.
Posted on: 2006-06-06
SOURCE: kantipuronline.com
