Monday, November 16, 2009

The Pen is Still Mightier than the Sword



Whenever a nation has fallen victim to its faults, its desperation and greed; when society is reduced to a savagely fight for more power and the dark abyss of hopelessness envelopes the most optimistic of men, it fall on the duty of a brave few to do what their morality deems necessary.
Today Nepal finds itself in a state of political, social and moral chaos. There is neither a believable ideologies to guide the cause of a nation nor patriots to carry the responsibility of building a nation for the nation. What we have today is a strange concoction of aristocracy; nonsensical democracy and socialism that would make that Marx shave off his glorious beard in shame. Who then shall the motherland turn to in these grave times?
I see these heroes in the ones holding the pen. If ever this nation needed to remind itself that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, it is now.
The media is educated and sensible enough to see through this pathetic tragedy the power players have reduced this country to. Regardless of where you find yourself in the political spectrum it is impossible to deny the sheer incompetence of the rascals that have benefited from this national robbery. The role of this profession is not only to parrot the daily happening of the day, but to act as watchdogs of civility and democracy. Everyday people watch the news, listen to the radio or read a newspaper believing that the media knows more that the common man. Media, the common man hopes, will hold the power players accountable for the authority we have given them to make rules for us.
The government is nothing but an idea. People like you and me give it authority and legitimacy. They cannot seek legitimacy from us and then use the same to make our lives more inconvenient. Not only is that wrong, it is shameful. The media has to expose this shamelessness more. If the people of the country are apathetic towards the violation of their rights it because the nations media has failed in its purpose. I urge the media to unmask each of the power brokers. I urge the media to give air time to public oriented debates. More interviews, harsher questions. Questions that the public wants to ask, and verify the response and hold them accountable for their response. Run profile checks on the qualifications of each minister. Search the skeletons in the closets of the main hustlers in Nepali politics, and knowing them they will have plenty. I urge the media to shift form a political friendly attitude to a citizen oriented attitude. To break the political “mumbo-jumbo” and translate it into something the layman can understand. For if he understands the depth of hypocrisy that this country is innocently subjected to, he will neither tolerate it any longer nor let it happen again. The layman needs guidance and the media needs to provide it. Real journalism, the reason most of you look up this profession, is calling.
In Nepal’s recent history we have had numerous revolutions against ideologies and institutions. One revolution after another we fell prey to the same parasitic tendencies we where revolting against. It is now time to sprinkle salt on the hordes of leeches sucking on the blood of national progress and prosperity. The media must take up “arms” and leak its blood for the sake of the nation that absolutely needs it to do so.

2 comments:

Krishna said...

Ae Slok,
Preety much sums up my attitude towards Nepali "independent" media...I'm not talking about those shamelessly "independent" Gorkhapatras, but to those quasi-intellectuals who're claiming to be so...holding Nepalese sentiment and hunger for freedom and channeling it behind those bastards' arse...

My optimism is bleak...and I'm not expecting these party cadres(journalists) to reform and lead us to a better informed society...to give us independent and educated information...I just hope swine flu(or whatever) reaches their nostrils and take them to where they truly belong

Unknown said...

slok dude you have always seemed to amaze me with the perception you have on things. and the best is the perception you have on politics. i didnt know you had a blog. i saw a few of your posts and they are brilliant. keep writing and tell the world what is the story your(our) side of the world.
Ravi Agrawal