Open Appeal to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala

By MADHAV KUMAR RIMAL

Mr. Prime Minister Koirala, after a nearly six-decades-long political career you have arrived at the fag end. The Jana Andolan I of 1990 did welcome you as a savior and in the course of twelve years you became prime minister for four times. A person who had not been able to impress his own illustrious brother, you did impress Dame Luck and she kept smiling on you despite your miserable failures. Your misrule pushed the poor country into a state of civil war and the people got utterly disillusioned with you and your class. Had King Gyanendra been wiser and listened to saner counsels when he succeeded his brother King Birendra after the gruesome carnage in the Palace during your Prime Ministership in 2001, political situation in the country would have been different and you would not be where you are at the moment. King Gyanendra’s unbridled ambitions, highly anachronistic in this twenty first century, ignited the April demonstrations which contributed to catapult you for the fifth time to this prestigious position. We know and perhaps, you also know there were other invisible forces also who helped you. Now, you have arrived at a stage where you need to be proud that you are a part of the glorious tradition of our ever independent nation. You know fully well that some extraneous forces are trying to play with our country’s integrity. As the Prime Minister, it is your bounden duty to crush such activities. People across the world are accusing you of not being accountable to your own country but to alien forces. They even have started blaming you that you have turned Nepali democracy to U.S. – India cracy. We are sorry to see that neither you nor your advisors have reacted to such charges.

Mr. Prime Minister, during your earlier stints as the head of the government, situations were not that uncontrollable like now. You could ignore your responsibilities, make mistakes or even betray the people. But not any more. Perhaps, this is your last opportunity to repent, to mend matters and to earn the respect and regard of your countrymen. This small poor country has given you name, fame and opportunities to make millions, much more than you deserved. As such, you do owe her some gratitude. And as an honorable man you cannot deny her what is her due. It is a very critical time in her life. She is at the crossroads of survival or annihilation. And your hypocritical friends are looking for opportunities to turn her into Bhutan . You must be aware of all the pitfalls the poor country is facing. Like all other patriotic Nepalis it is also your most sacred duty to preserve her integrity and safeguard her sovereignty. More so as the Prime Minister. You cannot do anything or become party to any plan that would endanger our country existence. You should not rush with the Citizenship Bill or the Extradition Treaty. They need more thorough national debate. Enemies of the state or pliant politicians or quislings would pressurize you to give them a quick pass in the House. You must resist such pressures.

Mr. Prime Minister, your long experience as a politician and a decade and half long experience as statesman and administrator must have endowed you to see through Designs, Grand or Mini. You too used to talk about a certain Grand Design. Past experiences have proved that Grand Designs are generally limited to dreams and imaginations. But they should not make us complacent. We must make appropriate preparations even to face imaginary dangers. Mr. Prime Minister, you must have been informed what India’s Foreign Secretary Shyan Saran (now retired) had said addressing the Indian Council of World Affairs on September 9, 2006. I will quote it for your benefit “What we have been able to do with Bhutan , we would certainly like to do with Nepal as well.” How do you interpret it as the Prime Minister of Nepal? We don’t think it is a manifestation of pious and friendly feelings. Why your government did not do anything to counter such remarks? We know, we don’t have a strong and robust foreign policy and when India is concerned we become totally submissive. Why do our politicians crouch before the Indian statesmen? Why do they become spineless? Why can’t they behave as proud citizens of a sovereign independent nation? It is time you put our derailed relations, with India on track. At least you can try. Don’t you think we are not paying enough attention towards building up and strengthening relations with our northern neighbor – China ? Especially when economic developments in Tibet are opening floodgates of opportunities for Nepal to mitigate her India -- lockedness. May be, you are not in a position to do anything right now.

Mr. Prime Minister, you, indeed, did well to come to an understanding with the Maoists. It has opened the doors for negotiating a lasting peace and end of violent insurgency. But the crux of the matter is whether forces who are interested in keeping Nepal destabilized would permit peace to prevail. This can be possible only when political parties stop looking beyond the national frontiers for attaining power. Even the Maoists seem to have come under the alien influence. They enjoyed their warm hospitality for a long time despite being branded as terrorists and now seem to have entered into normal relationship without the tag being withdrawn. It seems politics in Nepal is sharply taking twists sidelining all traditional leaderships. And you will not be able to do anything except being a silent spectator. Your long time colleagues too don’t possess the charisma that is indispensable to win the hearts of the people. On top of that a communal force – the Terai Janatantrik Mukti Morcha is rising in the horizon with ominous propensities. And again it is not very difficult to guess who is behind it. So, Mr. Prime Minister, challenges you are facing today are not only Himalayan but also almost insoluble. And the need of the hour demands that you rise above yourself, your party and all other personal considerations. We know, this is a very tall order. Power and pelf greedy politicians that surround you are your biggest obstacles. We can expect you to turn a new leaf and do hope you will do it. But can you bring all other dissenting voices under your umbrella? This is a time when you urgently need sincere cooperation from every Nepali. So sink all differences and all prejudices. Forget about the past and start afresh with the best of intentions to serve the country and the people. People will forgive you and you may still succeed to pull the country out of the fire. But you cannot afford to resort to discrimination. And you must not forget that the patriotic Nepalis’ force is too strong and cannot be ignored. And the most important thing you must always remember is never humiliate Nepal ’s security forces and give them the honor they deserve. They will defend their motherland at all costs. And you do need them. We can only wish you good luck.