Editorial [ The Kathmandu Post (Nepal)]

Banning bandhs

The government of Girija Prasad Koirala has apparently decided to put a ban on Nepal bandhs and general strikes throughout the country, citing security for life and property. By extension of the same logic it has also prohibited street demonstrations in some of the districts considered highly sensitive from the point of view of law and order. Although the Home Ministry spokesman has said he has had no formal notification, the decision banning demonstrations is apparently aimed at districts most affected by the Maoist insurgency. This comes against the background of public security regulations being promulgated under the Public Security Act of 2046 Bikram era to purportedly bring the former up to date. The regulations go back to before 2046. It is not hard to see why the authorities are going in for these harsher measures, quite apart from the Maoist factor. But first to deal with the ban against demonstrations from the Maoist angle, it is questionable whether the government can enforce such a ban at all. The move might suffer the same fate as the ban on torch processions, largely ignored by political forces in this country. The Maoist problem should be tackled not through more repressive measures, but through an earnest attempt at serious dialogue, as has been pointed out repeatedly in this space.

Secondly, the move against strikes and bandhs seems to be a bid to pre-empt the kind of strikes that crippled this country repeatedly in the month just past. And although the public has already shown some signs of restiveness against bandhs there is the distinct possibility that the opposition parties will once again seek to bring this country to a halt to press their demand for Koirala’s head. If it is the wellbeing of the public that the government has in mind it should have been satisfied with a ban on strikes that affect the essential services, something which is already in place, rather than a blanket ban on all strikes. It would be a regressive measure and if trouble erupts because of the ban it could aggravate matters further and perhaps even affect the functioning of parliament. We
have already seen the last Winter Session being brought to nought. Instead of taking off the gloves and preparing for greater confrontation, Koirala should get himself to admit that his continued presence at Baluwatar is part of the problem facing this country rather than part of the solution, as he would no doubt like to imagine.

Dust should settle now

By Bijaya Lal Shrestha

The report of the Investigation Commission proved controversial, as anticipated. It is bound to be so given the fact that the task concerns the mysterious death of Their Majesties and many more in the palace guarded by thousands of well armed military. The ever increasing convergence of the people for the condolence meetings, the public comments that are heard loudly and clearly are indicative of the controversy to come. Above all, the incident implicates the human psyche and belief; values and norms which give vent to emotional bursts. The lull that emerged after stormy days disappeared and what will it entail only time will show.

The people’s fury and anger is the reflection of their displeasure and dissatisfaction at the mishandling of the situation and the frustration on the deteriorating condition of the country. The people, prior to declaration of the late King Birendra’s successor, were only submerged in grief though the rumour of the late King Dipendra’s hand was concurrently in the air. In their desperate bid for any credible news they thronged at various places for an opportunity to listen to what the Minister for Royal Palace Affairs or any other responsible authority had to say. Unfortunately, nothing came out. The people were left in total quandary.

There is widespread speculation of the involvement of foreign hands. It was really surprising to keep on with the persistence of the foreign news media implicating His late Majesty Dipendra, even after He was crowned. Because they quoted the Deputy Prime Minister (which he subsequently denied) at the outset, this cast the subsequent trend of the news, even when Nepal remained completely silent. The channels were blocked out only when it aired the police violence to bring the situation under control. It was unfortunate and provides ground for suspicion of foreign hands.

The people had great expectations from the leaders after the restoration of democracy. Instead, they were presented with despairs and disappointments brought about by the omnipresence of corruption. The CIAA’s verdict implicating the Prime Minister and the subsequent three day general strike of the left parties are fresh in their mind. This coupled with the news of horrendous shooting made the people aghast at the deteriorating condition of the country and they went bersek. The post 1990 euphoria thus soon died down and nostalgia set in. Hence the call for the late King to save the country.

In their turbulent state of mind, the people also recollected the death of the folk singer about which a petition was submitted to the late King Birendra who directed the Prime Minister to investigate. He failed to carry out His late Majesty’s directions just as he brushed aside the vital recommendation of the constitutional body like the CIAA.

So, it is the compound of all these that they turned furious against the Prime Minister during the funeral of Their Majesties and other members of the royalty.

Succeeding some one of the stature of the late King Birendra is definitely difficult, particularly under such a situation, the like of which has hardly happened anywhere else. Anything, new and untested does not readily get applause and acceptance. Concurrently, His Majesty may wish to consider questions of his business interest in consideration of His changed role and responsibility and in conformity with the Royal tradition. Given the Royal tradition and their love for nationalism and respect for the people, achievement cannot elude. His Majesty is a mature person, well educated, widely travelled and a seasoned administrator with the knowledge of the governance of the country from close range. We can be confident of His Majesty’s success in His new role and responsibilities. It is only the question of time and talent; patience and perseverance.

A question is now thrust upon the country. What should we do now? Should we continue to be embroiled in the turmoil with accompanying damages and destructions? Or, should we settle down? When we have suspected of the foreign hand, the continuation of the situation of chaos and confusion will only prepare the ground for further conflicts and convulsions to strengthen the suspected hand. We all know whenever there is a question of power, there arises feuds and conspiracy. The palace is a place of conspiracy. Our own palace was once the centre of conspiracy and so was it with the Rana families. Is there no conspiracy in the Nepali Congress? All parties are fraught with conspiracy. In consideration of this reality, we should now bury the dead and all differences and be obsessed with the development? I do not recall any report of such nature that has satisfied all sections of the people. When the people are still raising questions on the death of Madan Bhandari and Jib Raj Ashrit, how can the Royal carnage be settled with just one inquiry. Unthinkable! Good or bad, right or wrong, the report is out. We have no choice. If we do not agree to it, we may, of course, initiate our own inquiry. But the question remains if we can have access to all places, people, materials and all other records. Also, we should not forget that there are vested interests intending to fish in the muddy water. The longer it takes for the dust to settle down, the better will be the situation for such elements. So, we should find a way out.

To conclude, as I said above, the spontaneous anger and fury of the people is the reflection of their frustration from the undemocratic actions after the restoration of democracy. All leaders and cadres, the NC in particular because of its being the ruling party for about eight years out of ten, have to undergo a metamorphosis under the changed circumstances and travail for leadership of honesty and sincerity; cleanliness and transparency in order to chart a path of progress and prosperity. This is how the country benefits.

Mysterious ‘wool’ in action

By Tilak Pokharel

Everybody had, at least a handful or roll of ‘wool’ and was happy about it. They were, and some of them still are, trying to weave something out of it. This time, they got a different type of wool, which they never had before. To name a few, the popular brands of wool they used to get before were Hrithik, Maoist and Nepal bandh. All of these brands were of similar nature - violence, unrest and terror.

But this time, they got a different type of wool - something mysterious. Though it was manufactured at a small factory in Nepal, they attached great importance to it and everybody across the globe tried their best to get information about how it came out. The demand of the wool was high. The workers of the factory were reluctant to say how it came out. They were not ready to speak about how it was manufactured. Some claimed that it was manufactured accidentally and the radical ones said it was planned. But the people - especially mediapersons - were trying their best to learn how the wool was manufactured.

The people were intrigued about how to weave the mysterious wool. Some of them were trying to learn how to weave it, while others who lacked the skill, were also weaving. But some others, excellent in weaving but sly, were weaving nets to trap the innocent and people around saw that they could take the factory in their grip. Interestingly, some rookie ones - unskilled and unemployed - had a very funny thing to play with. They were very happy that moment and used to weave one thing and sometimes another, forgetting the situation of the people around and the workers of the factory.

The weavers, especially from down, were playing more with the wool. They wanted to weave something which, they thought, everyone living in the lap of Himalayas should have worn. But they were puzzled themselves about what they were weaving.

They tried to weave something out of the roll just because they did not like to waste it. They just liked to make use of it and did not care about its impact. Though they actually did not know how to weave it, they equally did not try to learn. They sought suggestion neither from the wool producers nor from other workers. They started forecasting indiscriminately - sometimes one thing and sometime another.

Foreigners were even having fun about the ‘once in a blue moon’ tradition of the workers and the producers.

Finding the mind of the nation

By Basanta Lohani

The high level committee, constituted by newly crowned King Gyanendra on June 4 to find out the facts about the June 1 Royal massacre, presented its report to the king amidst a gathering in the Royal palace on June 14, and subsequently made its findings public through a live press conference the same evening. The work of the committee was delayed by three
days because main opposition party General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal unexpectedly resigned the next day to stay away from the three member committee where he was included as one of the members after getting his consent. His party’s politburo meeting objected the procedure adapted in the formation of the committee because the comrades believed that the King could constitute such committee only after the cabinet decision and on the basis of such recommendation communicated through the Prime Minister.

The voluminous report, having two hundred plus pages, has so many things that the committee has found but nothing of its own. It has woven the conjectures through the factual details but has failed to impute the motive to the carnage. Out of twenty-five persons present in the regular third Friday family gathering, ten were killed in the shootings, including the king and the queen, who were declared dead upon arrival at the hospital due to ‘multiple penetrating injuries’. Four injured are now getting well and the rest went home safe. Alternatively, the committee has delivered no judgement, instead it has guided us through the well-knit details to arrive at the decision all leading to the then crown prince Dipendra. Given the time of seven days plus three days of informal discussion because of Madhav Nepal’s resignation. It is
a meticulously written report which deliberately leaves decision-making portion as a gap for we the Nepalese to fill in, for they do not want to take this responsibility Some experts reportedly have considered the report as ‘creating confusion rather than providing conclusion’.

Conclusive reports seldom see the light of the day in such a carnage even after years and years of investigation any where in the world. But as it appears it has not lost its focus. The committee has done a commendable work when viewed from the constraint of time, country’s volatile situation, carnage involving highest persons, our socio-political setting, and the absence of well-laid out procedural manual for investigation involving such persons. The committee has been able to build two lines of conjectures about the massacre supported by facts though inconclusive in nature. First was the spiralling effect of the ongoing massive tension that then Crown Prince Dipendra had to undergo because of his determination to get married with his sweetheart, that generated equal and opposite or even more resistance from his parents. Secondly, his excessive use of drug and alcohol could have landed him up in a state, bordering on temporary insanity or a super planning though the drug he used in that fateful night is not known.

All evidence corroborate the fact that he was deeply in love with his sweetheart Devyani Rana. But his choice of bride was not acceptable to his parents because they believed that she was older than him, had inferior lineage, came from an unsuitable Rana clan, and, above all, her dominating personality could affect the functioning of the future king. Nevertheless, he was not willing to budge. All those concerned allowed the stalemate to continue and played their divergent roles of pull and push but the ensuing period further reinforced the emotional bond of the two. However, he could not reconcile with his love like the way Edward VIII of Great Britain, who resigned the throne on December 10, 1936 for his love with an American divorcee Wallis Simpson, perhaps because his sweetheart was not willing for that kind of contingency. All this goes to suggest that their love was deeply immersed into a whirlpool of hatred, revenge and ambition going beyond the two in the scene. It continued that way because he found in Devyani what he was devoid of. It is believed that the then crown prince Dipendra lacked affection despite being brought up in a well-knit family. As it is believed he even confided this to his friend how he grew up dry not getting enough emotional nourishment.

The other conjecture is of drug. He has been in it for long though occasionally, but lately he even smoked in public, his ADC told the committee during questioning. The report has quoted a neuro-psychiatrist saying that drugs like Cocaine, Amphetamine, Methaphetamine, Methiphenidate induce the user to violence, hallucinations, and paranoia and likewise, LSD (Mescaline and peyote, Aphetimine Variants, pheneyelidine and Analogs) causes mental imbalance and could drive the user to suicide. Those using cannabis, cocaine and charas loss their senses when high in it. After drinking a few of pegs of whisky neat, at 8.l9 p.m., he ordered his ADC ‘for special kind of cigarette prepared with a mixture of hashish and another unnamed black substance.’ Experts say that the effects of alcohol combined with drug can be devastating.

However, the question that remains unanswered is how come a person who was not even able to take off his own shirt managed to carry a loadful of firearms within a time gap, in less than 30 minutes? This was precisely the case with the crown prince. He was unable to control himself in the party where the King was yet to come and, thus, was transported to his bedroom by four persons. Upon Devyani’s request, when she detected slurring in his voice while talking over the mobile at 8.25 PM, two of the attendants went inside his bedroom where ‘they found the Crown Prince prone on the floor and trying to undo the clothing on the upper part of his body.’

He was again talking to her at 8.39 p.m. Then he put on his military fatigues and climbed down the stairs to the billiard hall and started his shooting spree that lasting over a minute plus. By 9.15 pm, the king was already driven to the hospital and declared dead. As the report goes, he ended his last talk with her over the mobile with a positive note thus: "I am now about to sleep, good night, we’ll talk tomorrow". It shows that he was well in his senses, looking forward to the next day. People can fill in the gap, but this particular one has remained a lacuna still to be filled in as an unanswered question. Did he run amock all of a sudden?

What could one never think even in bad dream has happened in our country. Yesterday, though so painful, is past. Instable conditions are ripe for those who want to fish in the troubled waters. It is a time demanding total solidarity irrespective of where and how we are and what our perceptions are. We are first Nepalese. This land of ours is to be held tight and secure. When we visualize how those who always look forward to taking advantage of our weak positions, we, the Nepalese, have to integrate our collectivity to continue the nation. At this point, I think Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala should not be pressed to resign until we stand united. At this time, we cannot afford further adventures and experiments that will make the prevalent instable conditions more precarious. We will talk about Lauda and his misdeeds and other things as well to demand for his resignation, later on. But not now. We hope, he will realize this himself.