Tikapur Revisited

Yesterday's blog was from the heart. This one is from the head, after the shock and despair has more or less dissipated.

While paying sincere condolences to the families of the police and the two year old boy who lost their lives during that afternoon of carnage, one has to question the judgement and preparedness of the police who walked into a crowd armed with spears and axes with an almost suicidal over-confidence. One also wonders why the authority in charge had apparently ordered the Armed Police Force not to fire their weapons. True, that authority has been removed and recalled; is any action being taken against him? Or, in the 'true spirit of Nepali tolerance', has a mere slap in the hand been administered? Security forces have not been attacked and killed in this manner since the Maoists specialized in it over a decade ago. The national trauma reverberates.

On the other hand, there have been reports that the mob was infiltrated by others espousing the politics of violence and the Tharus, generally known as a peaceable people, were used by these culprits for their own nefarious purposes. Regardless, the Tharu mob did come out armed with the implements mentioned above; it is unclear whether they meant to use them or they were just for show; even if it was the latter, it was not prudent at all.

The Army has been mobilized in Kailali and two other districts to maintain law and order. Curfews are the order of the day. The people cower or are even more emboldened, resulting in shootings by the security forces. The area is aflame. The conflagration will spread as the seeds of federalism bloom.

In Kathmandu, it seems the Big Three political parties, at least for now, intend to proceed with the constitution drafting process. Even read in yesterday's paper that 'secularism' remains in the constitution as insisted upon by the Maoists, while a huge majority of the people want a Hindu State. Should the triumvirate not pause to think and promulgate the constitution as drafted now, I can only shudder at what will happen to this country. It's not just the secularism issue. More importantly is the federalism issue where 6 states have been increased to 7 to mollify the folks in western Nepal, but leaving the Tharus out in the cold. Meanwhile, the Madhesh parties, not popular usually with the Tharus, are instigating the latter for their own purposes.

What in heaven's name are the politicians doing trying to federalize a unitary state, ahenomenon that has never occurred anywhere in the world? Yes, social injustice remains as regards the marginalized groups. The solution though is not federalization but strong elected local governance. Mind you, there have been no local elections on this country for over two decades!

The politico pundits have declared this country the "Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal". Forgive them, Lord, they know not what they do. We are not federal and will/should never be. Our democracy is a combination of oligarchy and kleptocracy. Republicanism was never an agenda of the Jana Andolan of 2006; it was sneaked in by self-serving politicians whose ambitions

Something Happened

Something happened last Monday, at a place I had never heard of, to people I did not know. There must have been many such incidents during the decade-long insurgency, but I never experienced the news first-hand as I was out of the country. I did not expect the force with which this incident touched my psyche. Sure, I love my country as much as the next person. Sure, what happened was an absolute mockery of governance, law and order and mob control. Every Nepali, without personal agendas, will likely agree.

Almost in a daze of anger and sorrow, I turned to FaceBook as an outlet for my feelings. Calling  for a military coup, posting u-tube videos supporting my feelings, exhorting young people to save the country, did I over-react? After all most of my posts are to FB friends, a measly 200 or so, quite a few expatriates and NRNs. Over-reaction or not, it was a catharsis of sorts. It helped me a lot, the situation not at all. Just a selfish act, only to help myself.

I am posting this rather personal statement as I try and revive my blog which has remained dormant for almost two years. I posted mainly my articles which had been published. It has been a ego trip of sorts. Not planning to publish anything now. Maybe just put my thoughts into the blog, not only personal ones like this one, but also addressed at the political and social environment.

Welcome back to the Chiya Pasal.

International Women's Day. 8 March

(Published in "Enterprising Women" by the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs' Association Nepal (FWEAN), 8 March 2013)

8 March is International Women’s Day. This day is observed around the world each year to celebrate the achievements and gains made by women and to focus on further steps to be taken to work towards equality for women. International Women’s Day also provides an opportunity for communities to recognise and celebrate local women’s achievements and the contribution they continue to make to their area. 

Worthy of note are two Nepali women who have recently been awarded CNN Hero awards. One of the 2012 CNN Hero of the Year was Pushpa Basnet, just 29 years old, whose NGO – Early Childhood Development Center – supports children so that they do not have to live behind bars with their incarcerated parents. Since 2005, she has helped more than 140 children. Anuradha Koirala, social activist and the Founder and Director of Maiti Nepal “Mother’s Home” in Nepali, a NGO dedicated to help victims of sex trafficking won the CNN Hero of the Year Award in 2010. In addition, a two-year grant of $500,000 was provided to Maiti Nepal by the United States government. She has also received the Courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey in Sheraton, Massachusetts in 2006. The good works of exceptional Nepali women have been recognized internationally indeed.

But the war for women’s equality and an end to Violence against Women continues. There is an on-going Movement for Justice and Rule of Law also known as the “Occupy Baluwatar” movement which is in its 65th day as of the time of this writing. The cases of Sita Rai (names changed) who was robbed at Kathmandu’s international airport and raped subsequently; Chori Maiya Maharjan who has been missing for a year; and the mysterious death of Saraswati Subedi, among other cases, have been highlighted by this movement as it protests daily near the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar. Men make up a substantial number in these rallies, and they have even protested wearing women’s apparel in solidarity with the latter. As recently as 14th February, there is news about a 12 year old girl raped in Siraha district.

Outdated tradition plays a large part in the repression of women. There still remain communities in western Nepal who observe strict customs related to maternity as well as menses. The new-born child and mother have to remain secluded, usually in the cow shed, for 11 days before the priest “purifies” the child in the ceremony commonly known as Nwaran. Similarly, women have to remain completely secluded for 5 days during their monthly menses. The former has resulted in the death of children who do not have access to proper post-natal care. The latter is yet another phenomenon of “untouchability” in our society. Some of these customs are “talibanesque” in their narrow-minded out-of-date severity.

Another glaring illustration is the treatment of widows in Nepal. When the husband dies, the wife’s bangles are broken, the vermilion on her head wiped away and she is swathed in white, never to wear red again. She has to go into hard mourning for 13 days. Some widows even wear only white for a year or for the rest of their lives. A widower can receive offers of marriage the very next day after the death of his wife.

Daughters, once married, have no legal rights on their parents’ property. I assume parents are supposed to wash their hands off their daughters once they marry. She becomes the responsibility of her husband. In a way, she becomes a member of her husband’s family completely with minimal ties to her own family. There are murmurings that this law will soon be changed, giving equal rights to sons and daughters. It is yet to be seen whether the fabled “New Nepal” will redress this inequality.

For sure, there have been improvements for women in Nepal, as elsewhere in the world, in certain areas. Women’s literacy, ages 15-24, is 60%, though men’s is 81%. Maternal mortality rate, the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 deliveries, has decreased from 281 a few years ago to 170. Comparative figures: Sri Lanka – 35, China – 37, USA – 21 and Singapore – 3! Still room for lots of improvement. The median age at first marriage of Nepali women is still only around 17, exceptionally low.  23% of Nepali women aged 20-24 still give birth by age 18. Women still have more than 3 children; the poorest fifth have over 5 children while the richest fifth have closer to 2 children. Only 11% of Nepali women are attended to during birth by skilled personnel.

Statistics alone do not tell the whole story. They are merely indicators of deep-rooted social, cultural and development issues. Until we can accept the fact that all babies, whether male or female, are born equal and have equal rights, the status of Nepali women will continue to be defiled. Parents will keep on having children until they have a son who can light their funeral pyre, thus inflating the birth rate. Women are usually not even allowed at funerals. Why should not a daughter light the funeral pyre? If women in history had the courage to burn themselves alive in the funeral pyres of their husbands, courage is in no short supply among women.

Changes in women’s status can come about only with basic attitudinal changes among men, as well as women who cling to out-dated customs. These changes need to be brought about by education, how children are brought up, and legal safeguards for women’s rights. There is still a long way to go for women to achieve equality and equity with men in Nepal. But it is a challenge that cannot be avoided. It has been proven, for example, that educated mothers have fewer and healthier children. So it is not an exaggeration to say that women shape the future.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, let each one of us reflect on the true status of the average Nepali woman. Not the socialite or ex-CA member, not the educated and aware, but the simple girls and women in a village. Perhaps they spend most of their time fetching water, cooking, washing clothes, and looking after their fields and cattle, if any. They are illiterate, doomed to a life unchanged for generations. Development, a nebulous term at best, requires many ingredients. A crucial one is that women have to be educated and their status must be equal to men. ###

Source of figures above: Population Reference Bureau

"Nepali Youth" by Birat Simha (Published in the Institute of Foreign Affairs, Nepal, Bulletin, July 2011)

The proverbial brain drain has reached its heights in Nepal. The best, the brightest, the ones with the most drive are climbing over each other to seek a livelihood in countries ranging from Dubai to Malaysia. For $150 per month, a young Nepali is happy to do the most menial tasks in a plastic factory near Kuala Lumpur. Students prepare desperately for TOEFL and SAT with the hope of being able to study in the US. Nothing in their homeland seems to keep these young people from flocking abroad. But this really is no surprise. We live in a country which cannot provide enough employment to its youth, where education is subverted by politics, where it seems that the main purpose of youths is to parade in the streets shouting slogans or burning tires or worse.

The UN defines youth as those between the age group of 15 to 24. 12th August is observed every year as International Youth Day, based on a UN General Assembly Resolution. Half of the world's people are under the age of 25. This includes the largest-ever generation of adolescents who are approaching adulthood in a rapidly changing world. A common thread, however, runs through all of their lives: the aspiration for a better future. This is the critical ingredient lacking in Nepal – a better future for young people. This is why they leave the country in droves.

Almost 40% of the Nepali population is between the ages of 10 to 29. If we include the age group of 30 – 34 as well, the population assumes a large cohort of almost 50%. (Data from Demographic & Health Survey – Nepal, 2006). The volatility and aggressiveness of unemployed disillusioned and alienated youth cannot be underestimated. When youth perceive socio-economic grievances and lack of good governance, they are prone to radical and even subversive political indoctrination. Case in point – the rise of the Maoist movement in Nepal.

A few days ago, I was at a youth rally. The numbers gathered was modest but the fervor of the speakers and singers was not modest at all. The national flag flew abundantly. Banners were signed by all attendees, yours truly included though merely a youth at heart. The vast majority of those present there were young people. They raised the slogan, “Enough is enough; this is my Nepal, my responsibility” and spoke out their views. The rally was organized by a non-political coalition of youth groups calling itself “Nepal Unites”. This rally was followed up by similar ones in other locations in Kathmandu – the latter being “silent protests”. This is a novelty: protests where traffic is not hampered, where the police do not need to use their batons, where youth show their mettle. Mobilised by word of mouth and using the social networking site Face Book, it is obvious these young Nepalis are fed up with the current situation of the nation. Their frustration and disillusionment has boiled over and they are using peaceful means of protest to indicate this. They have gained international recognition. Voice of America’s internet site reports on their combined efforts and future plans in http://fb.me/Z74pO4fN.

The other phenomenon we have started accepting almost blindly are the ubiquitous “Bandhs” (general strikes). For a myriad of reasons, a myriad of groups call bandhs and the capital, often the country, goes silent sans traffic with businesses and shops all locked down. The youth have had enough of this too. Recent bandhs are met by youth rallies - on motorbikes, bicycles and on foot – plying the streets and defying the bandh. Another indication of enough is enough.

The rise of social awareness among the youth of Nepal is promising and long overdue. ‘Another World is Possible – Youth can make it.'  This is the slogan of the Campaign of Social Forum started in Brazil which went through Mumbai, Karachi, Colombo, Caracas in Venezuela, Nairobi in Kenya, and various other countries. Nepal has also been a part of this movement and had planned to organize a South Asian social forum in 2008. As far as this writer knows, nothing came from that. We know what a disruptive year 2008 was in Nepal.

After the vignette of Nepali youth above, it behooves us to consider how youth can be further supported. The future of this nation lies in their hands and the future, currently, is simmering, rather dangerously. I speak to young youths in and outside Nepal, on and off the internet. A common thread runs through our conversations. They want to do something for the country. They want to stand by their, more often than not, very correct and strong beliefs. They are idealists and nationalists who feel they must contribute to the future of their nation. BUT they need to make a living too. So they speak dejectedly from across the seven seas, always saying they will come back soon, knowing not when that will be. The pathos of the conversations with these young people is gut wrenching. I identify with them well, having returned only recently to Nepal after a career abroad. The guilt of not being able to contribute directly to the well-being of one’s motherland and the resulting feeling of helplessness haunts our youth. Until and unless they can be provided gainful employment and a life here which meets their aspirations for a better future, their frustration and the nation’s loss will continue.

While identifying the plight of youth, there are steps that can and must be taken to help them in their quest for a better future. Urban Nepali youth, the shakers and movers (though only a small proportion of the youth population), have fair access to mass media. At least 72% watch television, 35% listen to radio, and 25% read a newspaper or magazine at least once a day. In total, four of every five urban youth are exposed each day to at least one of these media sources. The opportunities provided by this fact to promote youth awareness on social issues through mass media programmes are immense. (Thapa, S. and Mishra, V., Asia-Pacific Population Journal, March 2003. These figures are dated and must have increased noticeably.)

Another generally ignored aspect is the education of our youth. That their education is disrupted often due to bandhs is one side of the equation. On the other hand, has anything been done to disseminate among youth Nepali cultural and religious values and civic sense? Often, in the name of so-called modernity, the youth ape the worst habits of the West – gross materialism, alcohol, drugs. What they need to be taught are the “9 Principles to live by”: 1. Ethics; 2. Integrity; 3. Responsibility; 4. Respect for laws and rules; 5. Respect for others’ rights; 6. Love of work; 7. Thriftiness; 8. Belief in the will to act; and (absolutely relevant for Nepal) 9. Punctuality.

To sum up, let us support our Youth – our future and the nation’s destiny.

(The writer served internationally with UNFPA and UNDP, 1978-2007)

"Emerging Realpolitik Contours" by Dipak Gyawali

This article deals with military matters and what the author refers to as the "facebook crowd". My comments below, which precede the article, focus on the latter.

I have highlighted the references to the "facebook crowd" towards the end of the piece. Having attended a number of rallies organised by this "crowd", which is really a coalition of youth groups unattached to any political party with the motto "My Nepal; My Responsibility", I cannot overemphasise its potential to really bring about change. 50% of the Nepali population is already between the ages of 10 and 35 and the future of this country lies in their hands, not in the ossified callous hands of the current political leadership.

I would urge all of you to befriend "Nepal Unites" in FaceBook, keep track of and participate whenever possible in its initiatives, and help it in any way possible. This piece ends with an exhortation to the "facebook crowd". This group, so far, may be limited to urban educated youth; but it has every intention to bring together all Youth of Nepal. The future must indeed be theirs if this country is to have any future. A "Facebook Spring" has begun in Nepal - may it continue to fruition.

p.s. Nepal Unites and the singer Abhaya Subba and her band have released a new song "Hami Sabai Nepali" (We are all Nepalis). Please buy the CD and listen to what Nepali Youth is saying. No matter your age, the song will inspire you.

p.p.s. My apologies for some of the uneven line breaks below. I received the article in an email, and though I have tried to format it as best I can, there remain some discrepancies. The full text, however, is there.

AS ALWAYS, YOUR COMMENTS ARE SOLICITED AND MOST WELCOME.


"Emerging Realpolitik Contours" (published in Spotlight)
by Dipak Gyawali

Nepali ship of state is adrift, rudderless on the political high seas, even as the rocky shorelines it is set to crash into loom ahead in ominous silhouette. Meanwhile those on the cabinet and Constituent Assembly decks are fighting over chairs and spoils as is their wont, but those antics will hardly have any impact on the drift to impending doom. What matters are the deep undercurrents that are roiling the ship on the surface. What are these dark upwelling forces from the deep? Some recent incidents give enough indications, even as the political adventurism of 2006 plays out its tragedy to its logical farcical end.

Sometime back the Chinese PLA chief came to Nepal, completely ignored the Nepali Maoists PLA and signed billions worth of support to its nemesis, the Nepal Army and not a squeak of protest was heard from the parties, their civil society mouthpieces, Maoist or otherwise, and even from the nosybody UNMIN failed EuroAmerican lefties that equated a national army with the insurgents. A few weeks ago, when the political leadership failed to end the deadlock over the future of Maoist combatants, the Nepal Army proposed its own modality – and all the leading lights of the 2006 movement against the King and his army, including the Maoists, lined up in the race to praise the army.

The Nepal Army has just these past weeks completed the one-year staff training course it runs in Shivapuri for its new crop of senior officers and among the graduating officers were foreigners from China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The graduating Indian Sardarji officer even received the best thesis award for his research on Indian Naxalites and their threat to India's security! It is said that the upcoming new batch will include Americans, Canadians and Malaysians. What makes Shivapuri so attractive to super and regional powers who have their own
West Points, Dehra Duns, Abbotabads and Sandhursts? Nepal's peace-keeping expertise abroad and counterinsurgency experience at home, said the army chief in his commencement speech.

There were news reports indicating that the Americans proposed a SOFA agreement with Nepal, essentially a treaty that allows extraterritorial right to members of the American armed forces in Nepal similar to the ones the US has with the allies it provides its security blanket to such as Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Instead of the Nepal government and the parties leading it deciding on such a momentous foreign policy issue, the draft was sent to the Nepal Army who said, Nepal is too politically unstable currently and now is not the right time to sign such
agreements. And that was that!

It is clear that a ceremonial army under the King has emerged in these five years to become a political army under Loktantra, and not just national political forces but also foreign ones are de facto recognizing it as such. What will this oldest, most disciplined Nepali institution do in August 28 as the self-perpetuating CA fails again, as widely believed it will, to deliver anything meaningful?

Another bit of forensic news was the Maoist leadership finally dispensing with the dual security they enjoyed, and sending their combatant-bodyguards and their weapons to the cantonments. What accounts for this unasked for alacrity when other even more critical issues of demobilization and constitution-making are deadlocked? The answer probably lies in the four rival factions that have emerged among the Maoists (five if you count the previous breakaways such as Matrika Yadav and others). Their hatred towards each other is more than what they feel about other parties including the monarchists. That they promise physical threats to rivals and deliver them effectively is something everyone in the politburo and central committee is only too aware of. Even a senior leader such as Baburam Bhattarai was threatened with liquidation at his very party headquarters recently, not that he is without previous experience in surviving such dangers. This intolerance of opposing views and the urge to destroy rivals before they destroy you is something that Leninist-Stalinist parties have genetically encoded in them as part of their historical upbringing. Could it be that the Maoist leadership that lived by the sword feels more threatened by its own sword-wielders than by its erstwhile foe, the disciplined and rule-abiding Nepal Army?

Against the backdrop of these undercurrents, the CA extended its own life, mercifully by only three months instead of the proposed twelve thanks to the Supreme Court's intervention. It pledged itself to a 5-point agreement re-agreeing to do what the parties agreed to do three, even six years ago with the 12-point Delhi deal. The prime minister, who put his signature to the deal promising to resign to clear the way for a consensus government, is now a lame duck. But consensus is an impossible mirage: even the interim constitution did away with the consensus
provision to allow for the political reality of a majority government. What unseemly circus will we see in the days ahead as this lame duck government proposes the budget for the coming year? Most of the 601 CA members slept away May 28 before their electorate, proving that they are no political leaders but initiative-bereft,
well-paid rubber stamps, to be used as desired by the roughly dozen party warlords who matter. Why does the civil society and facebook crowd demonstrate before this inept body to deliver a new constitution, when it should do so before the homes and party headquarters of these dirty dozen! One never expected much from the old, discredited civil society that is a prisoner of its highly partisan past, but one does hold hopes that the freshly political aware facebook crowd will put their stamp on coming events to stop the drift to doom. In doing so, they should first of all stop taking their lead from the morally sterile civil society and desist from flogging a dead horse that CA has become.

What is the CA deadlocked over in delivering new a constitution? The answers lies in the politically divergent philosophies that cannot be reconciled by the partisans themselves, and in Nepal's historical socio-political ground realities into which the imported Nineteenth Century utopian thinking of hirsute European males, or the narrow fancies of international interests, have run aground. Where should the facebook crowd start from? They may begin by looking at what worked, what were the strengths of the 1990 multiparty as well the 1962
Panchayat constitutions. Then they may look at the weaknesses and political failings therein to understand how the Panchayat failed to meet the broader mass aspirations after the 1980 referendum and how the votaries of the 1990 dispensation destroyed their system by self-inflicted infighting and corruption. Their cardinal sins were corruption that came from not sufficiently separating the executive from the legislature, as well as the failure to devolve development powers to the local village and district bodies. Can we just get at least those two structural mistakes corrected and move on? These political alternatives need approval by a higher body, the sovereign people of Nepal, through a fresh mandate, and not by an incompetent CA whose mandate has run out. The billion rupee question is: does the young facebook crowd have that staying power? If they do, the future is theirs.

Three Years After

The following was published in a weekly three years ago on the occasion of the King vacating the Narayanhiti Palace. It seems as relevant today as it was then. Whither "New Nepal"? As an ardent believer in multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy, I weep for my country...

"A Crown Forsaken"

The king departs the palace today
Unsung and unlamented some say
But the Crown remains where it belongs
In the hearts of true Nepalis

Misjudgments three years ago
Drove foes to coalesce
Foes of every colour
Seeking power, not the nation’s good

Jammed between two big powers
Hostage to one especially
We became a pawn
In the game of geopolitics

A bloated assembly supposed to be over six hundred
With twenty-six members glaringly absent
Declared the nation a republic
Sans debate, sans referendum, sans justice

The army stood by silently
Perhaps not called to save the crown
Perhaps bought off by all and sundry
But it did stand by silently

Peace, peace – everyone wants this
And peacefully has the king left
And at what cost peace?
Maybe by selling our nationhood

A New Nepal is the call of the day
So let us see the novelty of a new government
If they can only stop haggling for power
To give the people what they seek

Democracy, unity, independence, development
Will construct a New Nepal
Not the mindless demolition of a useful institution
But the crown remains where it belongs.


29 Jaystha 2065/11 June 2008

Thoughts on the 29 May Extension of the Constituent Assembly

(As published in People's Review Weekly, 2 June 2011)

My last published article was in People’s Review Weekly 10 months ago; and it was titled “Enough Politics - let’s talk development”. I have tried to keep my word and restrained myself from writing on politics these past months. But the events of the past few days have driven me to pen the following thoughts. As a citizen of this country I feel I have as much right as anyone to vent my disappointment, disillusionment and frustration.

The CA has been extended for 3 months with the following 5 provisos:
1. Completion of fundamentals of the peace process within 3 months.
2. Preparation of the first draft of the new constitution within 3 months.
3. Implementation of past agreements with the Madhesi Morcha by developing Nepal Army as an inclusive institution.
4. Extension of the CA term by 3 months.
5. PM’s resignation to pave way for formation of a national consensus government.

Already the Prime Minister and the NC leadership are wangling about whether a national consensus government is formed before or after the PM resigns. If the man had any honour and feelings towards his country, Mr. Khanal would resign his prime ministership immediately; but he is a mere politician not a leader or statesman. Surely the 3 Big Parties have already reached an agreement on which party the new PM will come from. Point 5 seems to be in trouble already.

Looking at Point 1, certain conclusions can be drawn even by a naive non-political neophyte like yours truly. The parties will most certainly start quibbling over what “fundamentals of the peace process” means. Nothing can be more vague. Does it mean the “logical” end (that over-used phrase which makes me laugh) -- no more Maoist ex-combatants in cantonments, all 19,000 (or whatever) integrated and rehabilitated, all arms from the cantonments with the government, and (dare we dream) all Maoist arms (the real functioning ones hidden all over the country, not the 3,000+ antiques in the cantonments) handed over to the government? If not, point 1 is null and void, placed there to fool the People and appease UCPN-M.

Point 2: interesting if this can be achieved without the Left and the so-called “democratic parties” quagmired again in the fundamental nature of the new polity.

Point 3: even with absolutely no military background, I daresay that no army worth its salt will get dictated to by unprincipled, unscrupulous cunning politicians (mind you, I did not refer to them as leaders). Were 10,000 Madhises and 5-8,000 (the number varies depending on who is talking) Maoist ex-combatants are to be inducted en masse into the Nepal Army without consideration for stringent army standards, not only would the size of the Army go over the one hundred thousand mark, but its efficacy would be doubtful, to say the least.

Point 4: the less said the better!

Therefore, in effect, this extension of the CA based on yet another (9th) amendment of the Interim Constitution - for whose benefit is it meant? The People’s or the CA members’? The masters’ or the servants’? You figure out who the masters and servants ought to be and who they actually are. Is the concept of “public service” even known to the CA?