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EDITOR'S NOTE Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's calculated statement to activate the National Defence Council is generating more heat than the summer sun. The astute Koirala should not be taken as a greenhorn not to understand the sensitivity about deploying the Royal Nepalese Army to quell down the Maoist insurgency. He could not be that naive to believe that the RNA would pack their bags and go to Rukum or Dolpa to fight the Maoists, if he ever blundered to order them. Nepal's elected Prime Ministers have to really prove their worth before they can even dream to earn RNA's unflinching loyalty and obedience. They indeed must be aware of the simple English proverb "First deserve and then desire". As such the poignant question is "why did he make that statement?" Very simple. Just to feel the pulse of the Nepalese people or may be to gauge his personal popularity and credibility. The vociferous protests by all and sundry against the use of army to deal with the Maoists must have proven to Koirala what is the depth of his popularity. We have all the time stressed the utter necessity of resolving the problem through dialogues. National issues must find consensual national solutions. Maoist problem is not a partisan problem. A national consensus has to be built if the rulers are sincerely keen to solve it. If they cannot do it, they have to make room for some body who can. But Nepalese politicians can never be expected to ignore their personal or partisan interests and work for the nation's. It is, indeed, very interesting to note that the Royal Nepal Army Chief Gen Prajwalla Rana has also said about activating the National Defence Council. But the purpose behind Rana's call must be totally different. Rana is a dedicated and patriotic army officer, greatly concerned about the fragile political situation in the country. Since he must be reading some ominous signals on the horizon he must be wanting to be fully prepared to face all kinds of unexpected situations. His only motive to activate the NDC would be totally in the interest of the nation. Above all, it is the king who as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, would have the final say. And we all know how worried he must be at the volatile situation the country is passing through. While the country admires his inexhaustible patience and commitment to democracy, it would also like to assert that everything has a limit and excesses are never productive. Nepalese democracy has proved its uniqueness in the last ten years. The conspicuous absence of the essential virtues of democracy like transparency, accountability, tolerance, accommodation, honesty, responsibility etc has made a mockery of democracy itself. On top of that, the shameless loot perpetrated by the politicians in power while bedeviling the lives of the poor people must be eating the hearts out of all patriotic people. If the politicians do not mend their ways, the country may have to face a very grave situation, Prime Minister Koirala's three priorities are being put to severe tests. How long can he survive? * * * Girija Prasad Koirala is to visit India shortly as the Prime Minister of Nepal. In his earlier stint he had promised not to visit Delhi unless the Kalapani problem was resolved to Nepal's satisfaction. It seems, either Koirala has forgotten his promise or no more cares about Kalapani. He cannot let go of this golden opportunity of visiting India as a VVIP. Who knows he may never get another chance. That India has taken such a long time to resume Indian Airlines flight to Nepal speaks volumes about their present attitude towards the smaller neighbor. That the Bhutanese refugees problem also hangs in the balance and cannot be resolved without India's intervention is as clear as crystal. Will Koirala be able to convince his Indian friends? Well, there must be exchange of high level visits between friendly countries. But the unnatural haste shown by Koirala to visit India may generate vague suspicious. That Koirala may not achieve any tangible success on both the irking issues of Kalapani and Bhutanese refugees is not very very hard to guess. Apart from that what he has in mind, perhaps, no body knows. Anyway, when he has made up his mind, we will like to wish him a happy and successful visit.
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