Editorial (Spotlight Weekly)

Nepal is passing through a very difficult time. The hopes and aspirations of more than twenty million poor Nepalese people have dashed to pieces. Those very people who exhausted all kinds of filthy words abusing the King and Queen more than twelve years back have taken a volte face and are now looking up to the King to save the nation. The political leaders who were then hailed as heroes are now being cursed as the vilest of wretches. How grave is the situation can be gauged by the facts that diplomats accredited to Nepal have not hesitated to openly criticize the governments for bad governance and non-performance. The frustrations of even the donor agencies have become so intense that they have started exhorsting the people to wake up stating "lazy peoples will only get lazy governments". But, like the proverbial tough Gurkhas, the Nepalese people too are very tough and thickskinned, specially the cream of the society -- the intellectuals. The overwhelming majority of these handful of intellectuals are so much self-oriented that they would stoop to any depth before the unscrupulous politicians in power to win their favor. Otherwise, any people with only a semblance of pride, principle and patriotism would not resort to internecine bickering when faced with national catastrophe that could endanger their very existence. At a time when all the Nepalese people need to fight the scourge of insurgency unitedly, the so called political leaders are only contributing to aggravate the situation by their antinational behavior. As long the country is not cleansed of these political viruses, there can be no deliverance for the poor people of Nepal. And this is only possible if the people and the King join hands and take appropriate steps to save the country.

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Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has presented the budget for 2059-60 to a select gathering the other day. Even in normal times, a budget always generates unfavorable comments and criticisms. Since presenting annual budgets has become a ritual, it makes no big difference who presents the budget, how and when. In countries where political leaders dedicate themselves to the service of the people and the nation, the country's budget assumes great importance. But, in our poor country where the focal point of the political leaders is to stay in power to get rich quick, by hook or by crook, budgets do not carry any significance whatsoever because no one bothers whether they are inplemented in the wider interests of the people at large. As such, we do not deem it, at all, necessary neither worthwhile, to go into the merits and demerits of the budget in detail. Moreover, we are fully aware of Prime Minister Deuba's caliber as Finance Minister and his intentions and integrity also. We will leave the job of dissecting the budget to the Finance Minister's opponents. We will only wait and see how Deuba implements his budget and pass our judgment at that time, it we think if fit.

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It was, indeed, very gratifying to see that Kathmandu based western diplomats took the trouble to go to Jhapa and study the miserable plight of the refugees from Bhutan who have been languishing in the camps for more than decade. If they have really taken any pains to delve into the real causes how these refugees were displaced from their hearths and homes and how they landed at Jhapa, may be, they can appreciate the gravity of the situation and suggest relevant measures for their quick and just solution. Because, there are much more sinister issues involved in the Bhutanese refugee problem then meet the eye. If these diplomats are really moved by humanitarian considerations to help the genuine refugees that they would be able to go back to their birth place, they must take up the issue at whatever appropriate forum it might be. Bilaterally Nepal and Bhutan will never solve the problem as both are, despite their sincere desire, incapable of doing so. If they are motivated by only political and diplomatic considerations, the troubles tjeu they have taken might be wasted. This visit of the diplomats to the camps at Jhapa could prove to be a real test of their sympathy and concern for the hapless refugees.