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If Falgun 7 or February 18, more than five decades ago sounded the death knell of the century old despotic oligarchy, Magh 1 or January 15, a few days back, struck the final nail in the coffin of monarchical authority in Nepal, or even heralded the end of 238 years old Shah dynasty. Both dates have assumed historic importance. There would be no dearth of charlatans who would take credit for the epoch making revolutions. But the irrefutable truth is, as all knowledgeable people will agree, Nepal ’s friendly neighbor in the south – India- is the prime factor who engineered the revolutions on both the occasions. Of course, she was most ably supported by the heads of the government of Nepal in the respective periods- prime minister Mohan Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana and King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev.
Whether Falgun 7 has proved to be a red letter day or whether Magh 1 would prove to be a black letter day, let the historians decide. We would not like to venture our opinion. But if we are to go by the lessons learnt in this period, we will venture to say that the poor millions of Nepal have been left very far behind any development, if any. And if there is any truth in the dictum ‘morning shows the day’ we will not hesitate to opine that Nepal faces very dreadful and uncertain future. The public agitations of last year that restored not only the dead House of Representatives but also the discredited politicians have initiated some new trends in Nepali politics – no rule of law is needed to govern the country. All one needs is the support of the powers that be that pull the strings, whether in the region or in the big world. And these powers know fully well which side of their bread is buttered. And if the government of the country continues in the hands of politicians who are always guided by alien forces and who are obsessed with the feelings of vengeance and witch hunting, which direction the country will go is hard to tell. At this juncture, when totally new elements – the CPN (Maoists) – have entered the mainstream of Nepali politics, political atmosphere in the country has become even more fluid. The violent leftist forces are still calling the shots all over the kingdom and peace and security is still an unknown commodity. There is virtually no law and order prevailing. And the prime minister is not only sick but unable to exercise his authority. The growing impatience in the leadership of the CPN (Maoists) to have firmer grip on the administration of the country is generating serious misgivings in the minds of their opponents. Consequently, the Maoists too are facing a difficult and up hill task. Bursting out decades of long pent up resentments of discriminations amongst the terai people- the Madhesiays- need to be addressed urgently and justifiably. That many of their grievances are just and must be met. Since it is no secret which powerful forces are at their back, it will not be an easy matter to resolve. Even the regressive forces have started to flex their muscles. And in the coming days they are sure to gather strength and cannot be counted out totally. In such a delicate situation a government which have no popular mandate, whose constituents are not only at loggerheads but playing tug of war of power and pelf keeping the ensuing elections in mind and whose integrity and nationalism are always suspect, are planning to embark upon distributing citizenships and holding of elections to the constituent assembly, both very fiery issues that can pose grave dangers and engulf the country in a civil war. As such, at this critical time, it becomes the bounden duty of all the patriotic forces of the country, without any distinction of where they come from or to which community they belong to, to join hands to save the country from going to destruction or disintegration by defeating the evil designs of all anti-national forces. If the Nepali people want to survive, they have to know, once for all, who are the anti-national forces and root them out.
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