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We the people of Nepal have lived in peace and harmony for centuries.
After the people’s movement of April 2006 sidelined the monarchy and
the political parties along with the former insurgents (Maoists) seized
the power, there have been numerous incidents of racial and ethnic group
uprising thereby creating tension and conflicts among the various
groups. Some groups are demanding outright cessation from Nepal to
establish a separate independent country. Almost all political parties
have agreed to at least divide the country into Federal Republic.
However, not a single party has any clue as to how to go about dividing
the country into different units. Various groups within Nepal have
demanded for Self Governing Units based on ethnic, linguistic or
geographical grounds. This is not going to work due to the heterogeneous
nature of the country’s population. Moreover, Nepal has always been a
unitary government. No single part of the country has ever been a part
of self governing unit for the last 240 years. Therefore, when the
political parties promised Federal Structure to ethnic groups and
Madhesi people, they did not realized that they are treading into
uncharted territories.
At the time when many nations are working
together and uniting their efforts for a common goal (such as the
European Union), it is impractical and stupid to divide an existing
nation to appease a handful of selfish politicians, thugs, and armed
terrorists. The division of Nepal will bring about untold amount of
misery and suffering to the people. It will benefit no one. We should
learn from what happened when the British left India and the former
colony of Britain was divided into India and Pakistan. We need to have a
logical approach to solving problems so that the demands of Madhesi
people as well as the demands of the other ethnic groups are met without
destroying the basic structure of the society. The foolish and selfish
politicians and administrators living in luxury of Kathmandu do not
understand the problems faced by the people in the villages of the
Terai, hills and the mountains. Are these fools aware of the fact that a
pregnant mother has to carry drinking water for the family two miles up
the mountain? Men do not fetch drinking water in Nepal. When I was out
in Salyan to survey for water supply, I was both saddened and surprised
to note how difficult a life a Magar village had because of lack of
drinking water in the vicinity. They had to travel two miles down the
steep mountain to just fetch a bucket of water.
We need Unity not Division
It
seems that the political leaders do not have the interest of the people
or the nation in their minds. They are just busy taking care of
themselves, their relatives and their cadres. There is not a single
political party that has come up with a plan on how they are going to
solve the problems facing the people including that of poverty and
illiteracy. They have not come up with programs for economic
development, train workforce to develop the country, improve health
care, educational institutions, transportation, and above all protect
our sovereignty and territorial integrity. If these leaders are serious
about the country and the people they would not be talking about
division of the country and the people. A true leader would try to unite
the country and the people and lead the nation towards peace and
prosperity.
A true leader should have the interest of the whole
nation and her people above any thing else. However, the current leaders
are all for their personal glory and well being. They are not
interested in helping people. They have placed personal interest above
party interest; and interest and well being of their party above the
national interest.
What do Nepalese People Want?
Having
faced the turbulent times in the last sixteen years due to the
insurgency and even more turmoil under the current Ganatantra, Nepalese
people want to live in peace and to be left alone so that they can carve
out a living for themselves. Like people of any other nation, the
Nepalis people want to have good governance which embraces transparency,
accountability, fairness, and which is devoid of corruption,
communalism, racism, regionalism, and nepotism. The Nepalis people also
aspire to have their country developed economically in all sectors
including agriculture, transportation, communication, energy generation,
horticulture, manufacturing and tourism. For our economy to progress,
the people of Nepal are aware that they need to have peace and security
in the country. Political thugs and criminals cannot roam around
bullying, cheating, and threatening the common people. Nepalese people
cannot wait to see political stability no matter how it is brought
about. It is also satisfying to note that the Nepalis people want
environmental conservation and protection of our resources. Among their
other aspirations, the Nepalis people desire to preserve their vibrant
culture, establish high standard of education and provide adequate
health care services for all the people.
The people of this
country are sick and tired of the political bickering. It is a shame for
the whole nation how childish these political leaders are. They have
created the jumbo Constituent Assembly comprising of 601 members while
the United States has only 435 members in the House of Representatives
and India has 552 members in Loksabha. Why does a small country like
Nepal need such a large assembly of lawmakers? This body has done or
achieved absolutely nothing in the last two and half years and yet spent
billions of rupees in salaries and benefits. If they are not doing
anything, why should they be paid?
Incompetent Leaders
The
fact that the political leaders of Nepal have been out of step with the
people and the country is well illustrated by the following quotes
published in Nepal’s newspapers particularly in the Kathmandu Post. The
actions (or rather the inactions) of these incompetent leaders have
caused a lot of misery and suffering among the people.
Khagendra
N. Sharma in an Oped article published in the Kathmandu Post on Jul 15,
2010 stated “.. big parties have been exposed to their barest animal
elements. They can disregard any and every element of moral
responsibility to safeguard the national interest when faced with the
question of power. I pity myself and the gamut of well meaning people
for having to live under such lustful and incompetent leaders. I had
never imagined that the country had such a naked poverty of responsible
leaders. All the so-called leaders have turned out to be shamelessly
irresponsible towards the nation. Nepal is really a cursed country.”
Khagendra
N. Sharma in another Oped article published in Kathmandu Post on April
22, 2010 wrote “.. immediate aspiration of all the parties was to be
part of government by grabbing as many ministries as possible to keep
their so-called senior leaders happily established as prime minister,
deputy prime ministers, ministers, ministers of state and assistant
ministers. Those who were not accommodated started to destabilize their
own parties leading them to the brink of a breakdown. This was the
result of the political culture developed after the dawn of multiparty
democracy in 1990. In particular, the leaders of the major parties have
developed no vision beyond getting the ministerial chair.”
Aditya
Baral in an Oped article wrote (Published in the Kathmandu Post October
20, 2010) “.. our leaders fail in even the most basic service delivery,
democracy no longer seems to be ‘of the people, by the people, and for
the people’. Instead, Nepalis have started to come up with their own
formulations to describe the unique state of affairs: some are calling
it demo-crazy while some believe it would be more apt to describe the
Nepali version of democracy is as ‘far (from) the people, fool the
people and bye the people.’ Which, mind you, is not far fetched in light
of the continuing farce in the CA.”
Siddarth Thapa in an Oped
article wrote (Published in Kathmandu Post October 20, 2010)
“..according to government officers posted in hilly districts 60 percent
of the budget slated for development is used by the Maoist party while
the remaining 40 percent is divided amongst other political parties—no
one really knows what the parties do with this money. Furthermore, even
offices such as the District Health Office and the District Agriculture
Development Office have to donate for political causes despite the fact
that the parties earmark a certain portion of the development budget for
their own use. To make matters worse, when ministers or influential
politicians visit the district, local offices have to pay for the
former’s luxuries such as their lodging, food, and entertainment during
the visit.”
The writer can be reached at
Khagendra_Thapa@ferris.edu . Nepalnews.com Nov 1, 2010.
