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Remembering Asko's presumption and Gert's wise counsel
N.P.UPADHYAYA
We the Nepalese are otherwise a very simple lot. But at times we exhibit some peculiar habits that must be uncommon to others.
 Though we possess in abundance some atypical habits but here I would confine myself to talks about those two habits only which have impeded not only our growth and development but have also made us subservient to others.
The first irregular habit is that we fight with each others on even trifling matters. The issue is so simple and easy to tackle with that we can sort it out sitting even for a cup of tea. But we make it big for unknown reasons and keep on fighting for an indefinite period.
The fight at the lowest level is for landed properties. At a much higher level the fight is for acquiring money by any means, whether it be legal or otherwise. In the process we fight with any one whosoever comes in our way. So the fight is for amassing wealth and this we do through our widely known channels, the political power corridors, wherein it is supposed that each and every middle-class Nepali has an approach to the power corridors.
At the higher level, we fight for posts and that too for lucrative ones. I will give you one fresh example. Look how some of the party men who claim that they remained instrumental in bringing the King to his size through the movement which was not the truth, been fighting for the post of the DPM in the Koirala's cabinet! Every one needs a DPM post for reasons unknown to us and might be true for Koirala himself who is under tremendous stress on how to satisfy the Himalayan and the ever-increasing demands of his colleagues housed in various meager and bigger parties.
The fact is that they have been fighting and the fighting thus continues and will perhaps continue for ad infinitum.
The second bad habit, I must admit, is that we the Nepalese at the highest political echelons do not heed to the wise counsels of others on matters that are of prime interest to us all. We generally abide by what the Indians dictate us. We ignore the suggestions coming as it does from the Americans or for that matter the Europeans. We have one point agenda and that being to toe the Indian doctrine charted for us in New Delhi .
I will give you two examples. You can ask the two diplomats over phone or by electronic mails on whether they said this to me or not.
The first advice had come from the Danish diplomat, Gert Meinecke who is perhaps serving at his own foreign ministry upon completion of his tenure in Kathmandu last year.
He had politely suggested the then Nepali authorities to bring in the Good Offices of the UN System for the resolution of the Maoists conflict with the State. This he said through an interview printed in this paper some two years ago. However, the authorities did not pay any attention to his wise counsel. Though he knew the reasons behind the Nepali reluctance, as I did too, as to why the UN would be not suitable for the issue in question? But it was a nice suggestion backed by logic and the geo-politics of this nation itself. However, the Danish views were dumped then. And now finally his logic appears to have prevailed for the ever invisible-but-ever present Indian factor appears to have provided its nod. The UN is all prepared to come to Nepal but on "conditions" set by our self-proclaimed "big brother" which she is not.
Had Gert been here at this moment of time he would have been delighted to see his suggestions come true. Are you listening Gert?
The second diplomat who stressed on the possibility of the talks with the Maoists without laying the arms was a Finnish one. He was Asko Luikkonen who too has left Kathmandu some years back.
He used to tell me that let first the talks begin. When the talks attain maturity and some positive results appear in the offing convince the Maoists to lay down their arms, which, he hoped, they would surely do.
So this was Asko's presumption. And now look, the government has not only greeted the Maoists right here in Kathmandu but the other side too has become more flexible that could have been expected of them. They are still with the arms but the talks are going.
Thus Asko was right that time when he considered that the Arms be not made an issue. Are you listening Asko? You have plenty of reasons to rejoice now! The talks have begun and the Maoists are still with arms.
Thus all put together, this leads us to conclude that we do not pay attention to the advices of the Europeans but instead listen to those who have territorial and a variety of political ambitions to be extracted from Nepal as and when we are in trouble of this sort.
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