Lawmakers have the moral obligation to show concern for people’s sufferings that they have never faced before on this scale

Lawmakers and leaders of all the political parties are supposed to show how to conduct oneself in times of national crises. They are supposed to empathise with the people who are suffering from the coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than 725 so far, while as many as 130,000 have tested positive for the deadly virus whose cure is unavailable till date. It is our culture and long-held tradition that we extend whatever support we can to the people living a hand-to-mouth existence whenever we confront a national crisis like an earthquake, a flood or a landslide.

However, our federal lawmakers, who are supposed to lead the society by example, have received Dashain allowances equal to one month’s salary, which is Rs 64,070. This is a big sum of money for a person when the entire country has come to a standstill because of unemployment, mass lay-offs and furloughs. Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Rojnath Pandey confirmed that the lawmakers collected the allowance as per the government’s decision taken on September 17, 2019. Such allowances have also been given to the lawmakers’ private office bearers and aides.

All 275 lawmakers of the federal parliament have drawn a total of Rs 17,619,250 in Dashain allowances.

Not only have they received the cash as Dashain bonus, but the lawmakers of some parliamentary committees have also laid claims to allowances for holding zoom meetings or webinars of their panels.

Others are learnt to have sought the Speaker’s permission for field visits in the virus-affected districts so that they could submit reports to their panels on socio-economic impacts of the virus. Rather than showing sympathy for the working people, who are dying of hunger, the lawmakers have received the money for the work they did not do for the last seven months. The federal parliament was in recess following the COV- ID-19 pandemic.

In this particular case, all the political parties in parliament could have decided not to take any allowance till the crisis comes to an end or at least for the seven months’ period when there was no parliamentary session. What if the other 550 lawmakers of the provincial assemblies also demand a Dashain bonus? This will incur a huge burden on the state coffer.

It would have been better if the entire Dashain bonus was donated to the coronavirus relief fund or channelled to public hospitals for the purchase of ventilators or other equipment needed for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. How can the lawmakers collect the Dashain bonus when the government has barred its frontline employees from taking additional allowances even though they are working round the clock? This is improper and also unethical on the part of the lawmakers to seek a Dashain bonus when they did literally no work at all following the prorogation of the parliamentary session.

It is their moral obligation to show concern for people’s sufferings that they have never faced before on this scale.

Smash ‘rape culture’

The police must be commended for tracing and arresting a teenager for running an offensive Facebook page. The 19-year-old, Nabin Basnet, had started a Facebook page called ‘Balatkari Sangathan’, or rapist association, which already had several members.

While the government, public and other stakeholders were debating what stringent measures to take to prevent the heinous crime, the Facebook page was perpetuating a ‘rape culture’ through despicable comments against women and girls.

The arrest comes at a time when girls and women are feeling unsafe in the country, holed up as they are in their homes due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

While the state has through the constitution given the people the right to free speech and expression, let that not be interpreted as a license to do or say anything one likes. Violence against women, especially rape, is a sensitive issue, and anything that encourages such crime must be nipped in the bud. With nearly everyone having access to the Internet these days, it has become easy for anyone to post messages online.

But the state must see to it that they do not disrupt social harmony, arouse communal hatred and promote social offences.