No ghost need come from
hell to tell us that our poor country is facing the gravest of crises. This unfortunate
situation has been generated by the various governments of self-oriented parties after the
restoration of democracy twelve years ago. The utter dearth of honest and patriotic
politicians manning the party ruling the country has only compounded the crisis. They have
taken the country to the brink of ruin and destruction and unless a savior comes to the
rescue, the very existence of the country could be endangered. The insurgency started by
the frustrated and disgruntled section of the deprived society has taken a devastating
turn and engulfed the whole country into a disastrous civil war. The physical
vulnerabilities of the country have further exacerbated the agonies. Unless unstinted
cooperation is provided urgently by our friendly neighbor in the south, there is no option
for Nepal but to organize her own defences to stop the free and unrestricted movement of
the insurgents and the supply of illegal hardware. This may entail scrapping of the
tri-partite agreement of 1947 between Nepal, India and the U.K. as Nepal would herself
need the sturdy Gurkhas if the Royal Nepal Army is to be expanded. Nepal must offer her
loyal Gurkhas similar, if not better, facilities that are offered by India. This is sure
to put big pressures on her exchequer. No one should gauge that burden when the very
existence of the country is threatened. Moreover, Nepal's good friend, the United States
has graciously offered financial assistance to suppress terrorism in Nepal. Since Prime
Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to meet the U.S. President in a few days, he must
be able to convince the super power friend of continued assistance to build up an
ultra-modern fighting force for the defence of the country. If our statesmen could become
a little most honest and patriotic and played the terrorist care well, there should
be no dearth of resources to defend our porous open border. Our friend in the north has
always stood by us and there is no reason to doubt they would not come to our help at this
critical juncture. Prime Minister Deuba must not fail to impress upon the U.S. President
to twist the arms of the India's to stop them from following a double standard
—commitment to fight global terrorism and harboring the Nepalese terrorists. Deuba's
visit to the united States will only be justified if he can win over Nepal's friends, he
will come across at the international meet he is going to attend, to come to Nepal's help
to bring the dreadful civil war to a speedy end.
At a time when all patriotic Nepalese are
greatly concerned at the continually deteriorating situation in the country, it will not
be, at all, surprising to know that King Gyanendra is the most worried man today. As a
dedicated follower of his illustrious brother, late King Birendra, he is as much committed
tp preserve democracy as was his brother. But the most irresponsible behavior of the so
called democratic politicians who have brought the country to such a pass, must be
trying his patience. Even though for some time past, all sections of people have started
exhorting the king to act, King Gyanendra would never give in to any precipitous action.
This scribe too, has many a time advocated the king to take measures to arrest the rot by
dismissing the corrupt and inefficient government, suspending the constitution, dissolving
the Parliament, appointing a care taker government of honest and patriotic people and call
election for the constituent assembly. Since democracy is only the means to achieve
certain end, the inherent interests of the country should not be sacrificed to pleasure
the donors. The donors too must understand that what they are doing is not for a handful
of thugs but for the entire poor people of Nepal. And, now they are seeing for themselves
how these unscrupulous politicians have pushed the clock of the country back and the
economy of the miserable nation has been badly man led. If these politicians are still
given a free hand to ruin the country, they will not, at all, hesitate to push her down
the precipice. Even King Gyanendra's patience could not be inexhaustible. We will have to
wait for the day it will brim over the cup. Even though, the exigency of the situation
demands most immediate action, what are the impelling priorities of the monarch we are not
aware. Consequently we have to place implicit faith in his wisdom and wait for the
opportune time. Since the Maoists would not negotiate with the government that have
declared them terrorists and placed price on their heads, and since peace in the country
is the top priority, this government has to go as soon as possible so that a new
government is installed which will start dialogue with the Maoist without undue delay. |
