Paush - National Upliftment Monthly

12
National Upliftment Monthly Cover News
Year : 1, Issue : 4
deteriorating Lumbini, they are firstly
POLITICS, secondly POLITICS and
thirdly POLITICS. Lumbini indeed had
suffered a lot from the myopic politics
and its dirty manipulations.
Apart from redressing pollution
of politics, we also have to change
our mindset if we really want to talk
about Lumbini in a global context.
Aspiration alone does not bring result.
We have to be liberal, broad-minded,
and most importantly sophisticated
enough to understand the universal
values of democratic norms and
consideration. Although Buddhism is
secular and liberal, some of us have
not been able to forsake the emotional
attachment and possessiveness of
Lumbini as a religious site. Lumbini
may be an intellectual playground for
few, a religious place for some and
birthplace of many, but a Paradise
of Peace like Lumbini cannot be a
prerogative of any class, creed and
intellectuals. There is no place for
ethno-centrism in a World Heritage
Site. Feelings are appreciable, so
are faith, sentiments and wisdom
but they alone are not enough to
develop Lumbini. Only the combined
effort of religion, wisdom, and action;
‘Dharma, Marma, & Karma’ can bring
a logical balanced, and sustainable
development in order to create
Lumbini a true World Peace City.
Conflict management –
Nepal was a peaceful country. Ten
years of unstable politics has made all
Nepalese restless and tensed. In view
of current conflict situation in Nepal,
peace is of paramount importance to
the people. The desire for peace has
become almost like an obsessions
for them. In this regard, they would
welcome any effort- small or big – from
any country or institution that would
contribute to establishing peace in
Nepal. The initiative to establish a
world peace city in Lumbini will be
highly appreciated in this context.
However, Nepal like the rest of
the world, we will have to learn to
adjust to the fast changing order. In
the contemporary world, one has to
live in the modern world with modern
problems, which are the direct and
indirect results of all kinds of conflicts
– political, social, racial, religious and
economic.
It is an irony that the conflict
management now has become a
profitable profession all over the
world. The institutions that manage
conflicts are mushrooming very
fast. The developed countries are
responsible for apple of discords in
the developing societies, and they are
the ones who benefit from producing
and selling arms and ammunition to
conflict affected nations. But what a
paradox! The conflict management
institutions are flourishing in the
same developed countries.
The so–called the champions of
the conflict management countries
regard conflict a normal, unavoidable
and necessary. They work to create
a world and communities where
conflict’s position function is
maintained and negative tendency
are managed in effective way. They
prescribe to transform the existing
conflicts into positive direction
rather than to suppress them. They
believe that conflict is best managed
in democratic way. Actually, this
approach is not very far from truth.
However, conflict is the beginning of
a procession of resolution that finally
lands in amicable solution. But if we
are obsessed by self-interest and
power politics, and if we become
oblivious of other’s wish and choice
we can never make progress in
conflict resolution. This is the key
to the conflict in every sphere of
our lives. Therefore conflict is never
ending; rather it is ever changing and
always growing phenomena.
Cultural Harmony and Religious
Tolerance-
In the context of Lumbini, we are
very fortunate that we do not have
any serious conflict inside the sacred
garden of Lumbini, thanks to the
Buddha’s teachings, cultural harmony
and religious tolerance. However,
some conflicts are noticed to some
extent at management level among
the trust members, concessionaries
and some stakeholders, because
conflict is directly proportionate to
delivery of services.
I also see some indirect
intellectual conflicts between
the hard-line conservationist and
development faddists in Lumbini.
It is not yet prominent, but it can
create undesirable impacts in future.
As usual, when the developers see
the cost of everything and values of
nothing and similarly when scholars
see only value not cost, such attitude
and syndrome of not realizing value
but cost or vice versa eventually land
up in a quagmire where we will be
fighting a loosing battle and ultimately
leads us to nowhere.
Taking into consideration of past
political exploitation that took place
in Lumbini projects, we still foresee
anticipation of such malpractices.
I have no intention to blame
democracy. I comprehend democracy
as a Pandora’s Box that may releases
stings and surprises but also spring
eternal hope and anticipation. I have
faith in democracy, which is a dynamic
process of filtering positive results
in action. However the problem is
anti-establishment syndrome that
has confused and frustrated us.
Skepticism and anxiety when spread
beyond the boundary bring conflict
and cause profound impact on
society and eventually it affects the
country’s future. The disillusioned
society needs to be resuscitated with
trust, faith, morale and confidence.
As truth has many faces, we need to
understand its all aspects. When we
look at thing from both side of fence,
it gives us a sense of judgment and a
power of positive thinking. Once we
cherish our self-esteem, optimism,
confidence and hope, peace prevails.
With this hope, I am confident that
establishing World Peace City in
Lumbini is not an impossible dream.
If we are committed and dedicated,
we can translate this dream into an
action.
Think globally, act locally –
The objective of the Lumbini
World Peace City is not to create
mega-city of the world or does it have
any intention to deface the existing
villages into shantytowns. A world
peace city does not carry any feature
of cosmopolitan metropolis of the
consumer’s world. Precisely speaking,
the aim of the Lumbini World Peace
City is to recreate a quintessential
city system of the Buddha’s era in
21st century format. World Peace
City is not at all the vulgar exhibition
of modernism.