Nepal
is a multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual nation with diverse terrains.
According to the major international reports, Nepal is regarded as one of the
poorest countries of the world. This country has entered the phase of political
transition since 2006. Transition is never easy, it has added some more
challenges to the national security of the country. The fragile politics and
elongation of the transition period has worsened the condition. In this context, this paper aims to explore the aspects of
socio-economic and cultural dimensions of Nepal which can be regarded as the
internal threats to the national security.
Poverty:
As
mentioned earlier, Nepal is one of the poorest countries of the world. 25% of
the population lives under the line of poverty with an income of less than 1
dollar a day. Most of the people just above the poverty line too do not live a
quality life. Unemployment is rampant and traditional agriculture and other
works are not able to fulfill the basic needs of the individuals. Even the
employed ones do not get enough salary to earn their living. This had lead to
corruption culture and encouragement of illegal economic actions.
So,
to overcome poverty, most of the people of working age go to foreign countries
to earn their living. Those who can’t
afford to go abroad are compelled to do illegal economic activities like drug
smuggling, human trafficking, prostitution, smuggling of endangered animal
organs etc.
Furthermore,
critical poverty and lack of government presence in many parts of the country
has encouraged to institutionalize the problems like nepotism, black market and
mafia system in every sector. These aspects have contributed in adding
challenges in maintaining national security.
Ethnic
Tensions:
After
2006, the country has witnessed many ethnic tensions between different groups
living in the country. The movements of Madhesh, Limbuwan and Khumban etc. can
be taken as the examples. The relation between people of hilly region and
people of terai has highly degraded. This has lead to mistrust between the
ethnic groups creating social encounters sometimes highly violent. The
politicization of ethnic differences have worsened the condition. The relation
between so called touchables and untouchables is always volatile.
Social
Superstitions:
Another
social aspect which is hampering the national security is social superstitions
prevailing in Nepalese society. The Chhaupadi system of far western Nepal and
people’s belief towards witches has also
directly affected the security system. Generally, women are tortured for being
witches in inhumane way. The cultural superstition of witchcraft has a major
part to play in this sector. Chhaupadi is also no more violent against women.
Due to these kinds of superstitions women are regularly tortured by the whole
society. Since torturing someone in the name of witch is declared illegal by
the civil code, police administration has to encounter many obstacles while
investigating these types of cases, which sometimes leads to violent encounter
with the society and they are compelled to use force.
Illiteracy
is said to be the major cause behind these superstitions. The government should
start effective literacy and awareness programs in order to overcome these
problems.
Social
Inequalities:
Nepalese
society has a long history of social inequalities. These inequalities are in
various forms. Caste based inequality, participation in political affairs,
economic inequalities, cultural inequalities etc are some examples. These
inequalities are so crisscross and horizontal that they are embedded deeply in
the Nepalese society very deeply. The discrimination against any individual or
a group by state or other group has encouraged the hostile relations between
the general public.
Although,
discrimination on the basis of caste, culture, sex, religion etc. has been
declared punishable by the civil code, these discriminations still dominantly
exist in the private domain. The law has been changed but it has not been able
to change the culture and the minds of the people completely.
Contradictory
Belief Systems:
Nepal
is a home to 123 different ethnic groups with different culture, language and
belief systems. The tensions increases between different groups due to
contradictory belief systems. For example: According to Kirat culture they are
allowed to eat beef but the Hindu community worships cow as a goddess. Killing
cow by Kiratis easily provokes the religious sentiments of the Hindus which
creates antagonistic behavior between them.
Lack
of Local Participation:
For
sustainable development, the state should encourage participation of every
groups which are going to be affected or benefitted by its policies. But the
state has been unable to do so from a long time. The civil war itself was a
result of neglecting minority groups during the process of state building. The
government should have guaranteed the participation of all stakeholders by
which they feel a sense of equality and ownership. Failing to do so makes the
bad impression in the affected group ultimately creating the hostile relations
with the state.
Bad
Governance:
Last
but not the least, bad governance is the major factor which increases
challenges in the national security. Bad governance always encourages people to
rebel against the state when their demands and basic needs are not meet. The
government of any state should be able to provide people with the basic needs
and services which has been guaranteed by the constitution like human rights,
justice, security, freedom and other day to day services.
The
country has been suffering the absence of elected local level government form
long ago. This had led to inefficiency in the delivery of public goods as per
the commitment of the government. In the local level, there remains no body to
implement the projects and programs which were undertaken by the government for
the development and welfare of the general public. When no services are
provided to the people, people get suffocated and they easily become
rebellious.
Conclusion:
The
social structure of Nepalese society and bad governance are major internal
threats to the national security of the country. In order to overcome these
challenges the government and the political leadership should focus on social
reforms and governance reforms. Reforms are not possible only through the top
leadership but it takes the mobilization of the whole population. Mobilizing
the whole population means total public participation by which the general
public will feel the sense of ownership in state building. The sense of
ownership encourages them to protect and conserve what they feel is theirs.
Ultimately it increases trust between the government and people and also among
the civilians itself.
While
doing so, the government should always try to deliver public goods to the
people in an indiscriminate manner. In this way, the challenges of national
security inside the country will be somehow minimized.
