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| Kathmandu Thursday April 04, 2002 Chaitra 22, 2058. |
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Utterly cynical
The ongoing Maoist people’s war has brought
to the fore all manner of unfamiliar problems and issues ranging from how outspoken an
army chief should be to how to hold the SLC examinations in the face of Maoist calls for a
longish Nepal bandh (now fortunately postponed). There are also problems which we are not
unfamiliar with but which have now emerged in a new guise or setting. One of these is the
complaints that have been making the rounds about those with political clout profiteering
or trying to profiteer from Maoist depredations. The issue has been raised in parliament.
A ruling party MP took some government ministers and some others to task for seeking
greater compensation for damage inflicted by Maoist terrorists than the actual extent of
damage incurred. By contrast requests for compensation against damage done to village
development committee buildings and health posts had gone unheeded. This is thoroughly
disgusting and is of a piece with the cynicism that has given those in our public life
such a bad name. So it is not just politics as usual when the very existence of the Nepali
state as we have known it is at stake. It is corruption as usual and corruption that knows
no bounds. Some at least of those who claim to lead us have very few scruples indeed. For
them it is simply a matter of making hay while the sun shines as the very old saying goes,
and nothing else really matters much.
If turning the Maoist inflicted damage into
another begging bowl is how low some of us can stoop, than perhaps we richly deserve the
treatment meted out by the comrades who have taken up arms against the established order.
It does not take much effort to appreciate just how monstrous it is to milk the government
for all it’s worth on the excuse of purported Maoist damage. Thousands of lives have
been lost and the toll is going up every day. Here we are a nation being asked to
contribute to the war against the Maoists in more ways than one. We have had our
development budget curtailed drastically. Those of us in government service have been
asked to shell out a part of our income to compensate those who have borne the brunt of
the fighting in terms of loss of life or limb. There is a growing sense of terror in the
air even in the capital and its environs. The situation in the countryside can only be
surmised by those of us living in the still relative safety of Kathmandu Valley. The
academic calendar has been thrown into considerable chaos. This is a time for a collective
reckoning of the country’s past and for national effort to ensure the future of our
children if not that of ourselves. In any other country in times such as these, it would
be tantamount to treason to do or attempt anything that will abet the enemy in any way.
Those who would seek to make a cash strapped government pay more in compensation than the
damage inflicted by the terrorists are not far behind. |
