Why have people of Nepal been so passionate about the declaration of secular republic and why have they been so happy about abolishing two-hundred-forty years old institution of monarchy at this point in the history of Nepal? As a matter of fact, Nepal has had never been a nation in its history that has been fully governed by the secular democratic rule of law. As a result, it has been remained primitively backward in all socio-political and economic developments due to its traditional rule of law entirely based on the feudal-Hindu propaganda in the form of beliefs and superstitions.
Is this the fundamental raison d\'être that people have advanced to abolish monarchy for establishing secular federal democratic republic? If so then how serious are the political leaderships and elected people´s representatives of the constituent assembly to create a new Nepal under which constitution none can be above the law. Thus the tradition of impunity is entirely abolished with the degree that even the gods, demons and ghost-spirits of multi-feudal-Hindu-&-ethnic traditional society of Nepal can be brought to justice. Because the worshipers of these traditions in reality are worshipped therefore if we protect them from their act of violence then we amnesty worshippers.
Nepali society as a whole and its mindset or collective-consciousness by large is convoluted with the multi-feudal-Hindu-&-ethnic beliefs and superstitions. Our multi-ethnic culture is more infected with false-beliefs, superstitions and fear than with the education for developing linguistic and artistic elements, and scientific tools. For example, there are several ethnic languages or dialects which have lost their script or never developed it. Thus far from human evolution it is known that if human brain or mindset or collective-consciousness of a society does not engage in creativity or fact-finding process to discover advance means of survival simply it hangs on to beliefs and superstitions. Nepali society needs transformations from this hang-over at this socio-political and economic transition period and establishment of the rule of law can play a fundamental role if the political leaderships and elected constituent assembly representatives can put aside their traditio nal baggage to draft a new constitution based on secular democratic norms and principle.
The constitution is the fundamental guideline of the rule of law based on secular democratic norms and principle in which justice entirely depends on and under which provisions the formation of legislations must be constrained. Therefore the legislators of constituent assembly must understand the significance of the rule of law in which practice of impunity must be restrained from the mindset of people who do not hesitate to lobby impunity thoughtlessly for their traditional and ethnic beliefs and values, caste status, socio-feudal and economic power and party-politics contradictory to norms and principle of human rational and scientific thinking or secular democracy.
Abolition of the feudal-Hindu institution of the monarchy is one of the elements of radical change of the Nepali society because it was the spinal-column of the feudal establishment that sustained on the beliefs and superstitions, and propaganda against secular democracy. But how far it has contaminated the collective-consciousness of Nepali society is yet to be addressed through the rule of law and educations that are based on norms and principle of the secular democracy. The formations of the rule of law, their implementing logistics and materials or inventories under the new secular democratic constitution will play the fundamental role to transform the contemporary Nepali society for better socio-political and economic developments.
Overall in the history of Nepal there had been no government system that had fully enforced the rule of law for justice - socio-political or economic. This is what people had expected in last twelve years democracy after the successful first people´s movement. But it failed because of the elements of the feudal-Hindu-&-ethnic traditional rule of law. Basically, laws existed with their modified new amendments without their implementing logistics and materials as arbitrary procedures in the hands of law enforcement authorities. For example, the authority such as police officer catches the offender on the spot but he or she would not know what to do the next because he or she is neither instructed how to implement the procedure nor has implementing materials handy to document the case. Instead the case often gets settled with the bribe depending on the intensity of the case. Such practice persists from the crime-spot to the Supreme Court of Nepal. Therefore there has al ways been plenty of room in the government for injustice and corruption.
Due to such discrepancy in the law enforcement tradition Maoist courts still exist even after the abolition of the institution of monarchy and YCL cadres still intimidate people. Maoist intra-party complicacies might continue with its militia organizations from local level to the central if the political leaderships fail to understand the current practice of law enforcement that has no implementing logistics and field materials. That is to say a law enforcement officer such as police officer cannot enforce law without these provisions – meaning if an authority stops an alleged individual with crime must possess with him or with her law enforcement field materials. If not the law cannot be enforced. It simply means law enforcement officer can neither take hard cash as fine without receipt from the offender nor let go because he or she is affiliated with the political party or he or she is son or daughter of the feudal lord, officer, rich businessmen or priest of temple once he or she is caught up with the law enforcement field materials.
Simply, the rule of law cannot be implemented just by documenting legislation in a piece of paper but its implementation logistics must be defined step by step with the field materials which documents the evidence. Such procedures must be mandatory conditions for the law enforcement authorities. Officially, the law enforcement officers cannot walk out to the crime locations without the complete manual of logistics and the field materials to enforce law arbitrarily. Only if the conditions are met then the attorneys of both government and civilian can follow the court procedures. If the case does not meet the prerequisites of the mandatory conditions then the government attorney cannot persecute the alleged individual for the court procedures. Without these law enforcement procedures the rule of law and justice cannot be established.
The new constitution must therefore liberate itself with the secular democratic norms and principle from the multi-feudal-Hindu-&-ethnic mindset of Nepali society which has so far existed without the rule of law. It must end the tradition of arbitration, impunity, nepotism, favoritism and corruption with the rule of law that is just and impartial to all Nepalis from different walks of life, ethnicity, and religion. It must with its foundation guarantee the civil liberty and protect the civil rights of all Nepalis. Therefore it must be independent of religion, traditional beliefs, superstitions and values of contemporary Nepali society to establish a new secular democratic Nepal that relies on human rational and scientific thinking for the rule of law and justice. Then only it can deserve respects of all Nepalis; then only it can unified Nepal for generations to come; then only it can re-educate all Nepali to live a life with the rule of law; then only it can re-train law e nforcement officers and law experts how to implement the rule of law.
Prakash Bom
Astoria, New York
May 30, 2008
