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| Kathmandu Monday April 01, 2002 Chaitra 19, 2058. |
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Not unexpected
The ganging up of political parties against
the commander-in-chief for his utterances last week was only to be expected. The party
bosses unable to digest what the army chief had to say would have surprised all if they
had honestly directed their attention to the cause of the miserable plight into which the
country has been thrown today. What the army chief said is an echo of what most people
have been saying. The political party bosses conveniently bring up the question of
principles only, it seems, when they suit them. For if it were otherwise, there are
hundreds of government employees who express their opinions on domestic and international
issues by writing in newspapers, periodicals and other mass media outlets. But of course
when political bosses talk about principles involved they do not apply to small fries, it
is only the big ones they are after. The army chief, therefore, committed a mortal crime
when he spoke what he considered to be the plain truth. But he seems to have forgotten
that he cannot speak the truth, and if he does, it should be whispered into the ears of
his political bosses. For he owes his allegiance to the political bosses and not to the
people who pay his salary.
The result of the army chief’s "indiscretion"
is there for all to see. The parliament continues to be disrupted over the army
chief’s remarks and political party bosses have taken it upon themselves to set the
parameters of freedom of expression by those in government service. Obviously, the remarks
made by the army chief hurt the sensitivities of the politicians who are used to being
pampered by the government employees. The political leadership in this country has been
found wanting time and again. The frequent change of governments in the country – 11
governments in 12 years of democracy – meant that there was no effective government
in place in this country – as much has been admitted by a public survey without the
army chief having to tell us. The political leadership was so engrossed in power play that
they did not see what was happening right under their nose. How else could Maoists’
elaborate training camps previously said to be located outside the country cropped up in
the very heartland of the kingdom? The neglect in governance by successive governments has
cost this nation dear and no amount of ganging up by political party bosses is going to
alter this fact. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the whole unwholesome attitude of
the political leaders is the apparent blindness to one very important thing. This is the
danger the present situation is causing to the survival of democracy in the country. Quite
apart from the fact that the manner in which the political parties responded to the army
chief’s remarks can only help the Maoist cause, time has come for our leaders to take
fresh stock of the situation and act accordingly. There is today a very genuine threat to
western style liberal democracy. Unless the political parties behave in a more responsible
manner and not hanker after power and be touched to the quick by very remark, no matter
how true, by public servants, the future of democracy in Nepal could indeed be bleak. And
this is certainly not what any one of us want. |
