Let’s Develop A Culture Of Thinking Based On Relevance And Circumstance

Subodh Raj Pyakurel

At present, civil society organizations must prioritize the right to health. It means aspects of health, including the right to food, the right to sanitation, the right to clean environment as well. These rights are subject to the right to health. People should also be able to procure food. It also comes down to working together and getting paid. Although the right to health is prevalent, it includes all aspects of the right to life and economic, social and cultural rights.

Every person, whether in crisis or not, must remember that I am the Nation. Citizens should have this consciousness and responsibility and the leader should be able to make them realize that. Representatives elected by sovereign citizens make laws and form governments. According to the law, the regular and other administrative work of the nation is conducted. Due to that, I have felt that the civil society of Nepal is lagging behind at the time when the first thing to do is to awaken the consciousness of ‘I am the state’ in the citizens.

It is necessary to follow the good practices of the countries that have successfully fought the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnam is one of the countries that successfully defeated Corona. In order to maintain social distance (not being physically close from one person to another) in Vietnam, hand washing with soap and water and other hygiene issues have been promoted by making attractive videos. This propaganda has done a very good and important job in Vietnam. It is now being followed by countries including the United States. Despite the absence of an independent civil society in Vietnam, citizens are taking the lead in this work. It seems that the civil society of our country has not been able to do as much as it should in the same framework.

There are many organizations working in the field of health and sanitation. There are also international level organizations. There was no similar partnership between these two types of organizations. It may not have come to my notice. If such a partnership is not possible due to a lack of facilitation on the part of the government, then civil society should push for such a thing in terms of civic responsibility. If there is any shortcoming on the part of the government, it should be exposed and corrected. In the beginning, we were all in a state of terror, which may be why the activism of the civil society was only sporadic.

Information terror is rampant in Nepal now. Instead of encouragement and awareness, unconfirmed information and exaggerated news have been transmitted. Giving more priority to the frightening subject which can lead to mental problems and preaching it, again and again, creates a state of panic. Communication means that in a country like ours where there is freedom, everyone acts as a media person. Apart from newspapers, the propaganda of insensitive or insensitive content on social media including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube has also increased negativity. Civil society needs to be careful about such issues and the initiative of civil society is necessary.

Human rights cannot be one-sided. Whether it is an international document or Nepali law, the written content should not be interpreted one-sidedly. According to the principle of law, along with rights comes duty. Everyone needs to understand that when I respect the rights of others, others respect my rights and the rights of all of us are respected. In fact, rights and duties are two sides of the same coin.

Not only is it important to find the right solution in difficult times, but it is also a more sensitive challenge. In such a situation, society needs similar support. Not all the poor nations are prepared to face the Corona catastrophe. On the one hand, the infrastructure is weak; on the other hand, the nature of the pandemic is unpredictable. Social partnership is essential to increase empathy and understanding.

(Based on Ramesh Prasad Timalsina’s conversation with Pyakurel, the immediate former Chairperson of INSEC and the Deputy Chairperson of the Province 1 Planning Commission)