Editorial (Spotlight Weekly)

H.M. King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev is embarking upon the historic state visit to the neighboring country of India in a few days. The circumstances in which King Gyanendra ascended the throne were not only bizarre but unparalleled in the history of the world. More than five decades back he was a toddler when he was crowned King for the first time. His repeat crowning after a lapse of half a century must be taken as a stroke of destiny, shouldering upon him the onerous responsibility of delivering the country from the venomous clutches of anti-national politicians and steering her to security, peace and prosperity. The democracy so delicately nurtured by his illustrious brother has been very badly misused for personal gains and profits by the corrupt politicians and is on the verge of virtual death. The country is embroiled in devastating civil war. The economy is at the point of collapse. Relations with India were never at a lower ebb than they are now. The blatant support the so called Maoist insurgents have been receiving from the Indians is the result of the unbelievably servile and submissive attitude of the democratic leaders who have been running the country for the last more than twelve years. King Gyanendra, thus, has not only inherited the throne. He has also inherited all these stupendous problems. Except a few handful of politicians and intellectual thugs fattening on alien munificence, the overwhelming majority of the twenty three million Nepalese are looking up to him. Not that King Gyanendra is unaware of the expectations of his people. Since, he is a man of patience and likes to weigh down all the pros and cons before taking any action, he is not in a big hurry to initiate measures to bring the derailed country back to the rails. He, indeed, has to act according to his priorities. And the top priority, at the moment, is his imminent visit to New Delhi. And, if the recent accusations of the Indian Home Minister L.K. Advani that Nepal is harboring Lashkar-e-Toeba and Jaish-e-Mohammad — the Islamist terrorist outfits — are any indications, the Indians while proffering their renowned red carpet welcome to King Gyanendra are also planning to exact their pound of flesh. When the Nepalese Head of State is visiting his own country at his government's invitation, that kind of provocation from the Home Minister is neither inadvertent nor ill-advised but well thoughtout and calculated. Since, Nepalese are well acquainted with the Indian mindset, they won't get perturbed at such baseless accusations and would not let any one poison the atmosphere with any kind of misgivings. Their beloved King is setting out on his maiden state visit and they, on their part, want it to be highly successful. It is not only the people of Nepal who will be directly affected by the outcome of this state visit. Since Nepal is not isolated in South Asia and has intimate relations with other nations of the region, her relations with India are bound to have far reaching repercussions with other countries as well. King Gyanendra's most illustrious father, King Mahendra had most diligently built good friendly relations not only with his neighboring countries but with many countries, big and small, all around the world. His late brother, King Birendra had tirelessly safeguarded the dignity and prestige of Nepal. But the self-oriented unscrupulous politicians, in the name of democracy, have soiled Nepal's image beyond repair. Now it has fallen to the lot of King Gyanendra to retrieve the situation. There are problems galore with India like the 1950 treaty, Kalapani, Mahakali project, unilateral construction of bunds on the international border, trade and transit, border disputes, unwarranted interference by RAW etc. But at the moment, the mother of all problems is abetting and aiding the Nepalese insurgents. Except the last one, the rest of the problems are chronic and will take longer time to be resolved. King Gyanendra must reassure the Indians, once again, that tiny Nepal could be nothing but the most friendly neighbor. If they are harboring any king of apprehensions from Nepalese soil, they are very ill founded and imaginary. This, King Gyanendra has made amply clear in his interview to the Times of India representative a few days back. Even at this stage, the Indian media has not thought it proper to shield its anti-Nepal stance. Nepal has always ignored all the baseless propaganda carried out against her by the very powerful Indian media with state patronage. King Gyanendra has been quite frank and explicit in his views with the Indian media-man, if one knows how to read between the lines. Since, he was pre-ordained to protect the sovereignty of the nation and serve his people, all patriotic Nepalese have fullest faith in his determination to uplift his poor country. At this hour of national crisis, we would like to assure our beloved King that all twenty three million Nepalese are with him and pray for his fruitful visit. We do hope that India, too, would match her words with action and pledge to follow a more objective and friendly attitude towards her smaller neighbor and seal this historic visit with a new and clean beginning.

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The split in the Nepali Congress party may bode ill for men like Girija Prasad Koirala, but it could be a blessing in disguise for the poor people of Nepal. In the last twelve years, Nepali Congress has misruled Nepal and taken her to her deathbed. The people have been choked by their corrupt behavior and are gasping for a breath of fresh air. If there are any substantial number of Nepalese who would still like to see Nepali Congress rejuvenate, they must kick out the old leadership and bring totally new faces to take charge of the party. Even though Prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been able to strike the last nail on the Nepali Congress coffin, his colleagues, too, are not men of character and integrity. Or has he paved the way for some one other than Nepali Congress to come to power? We will wait and see.