Off The Record (Spotlight Weekly)

Irrational Mind

Men differ from animals because they have the power to rationalize things. But if a man loses this power, he can act in a deranged manner and can justify anything and everything. If the events of last one week are any indications, they show that Nepalese society is heading towards a hitherto unchartererd territory. From student unions to politicians and now film actors, everybody seems to have lost the power of judgment. In many cases, agitating forces even forget what their own interests were and who would benefit from their actions. With the pressure from worried parents, student unions opened the locks at the schools, but there is no one to convince film activists who are not permitting the screening of Nepalese films at local theaters. Maybe they will need worried audiences. At a time when Nepalese film industries were on their way to recover from a long recessions, the agitation by Nepalese film producers has thrown cold waters over that prospect. Though the agitation ishenever there appear political disputes in the party, there is a tradition to give tags like reactionary, agent of capitalists, enemy of proletariat and so on to the dissenting faction.

Shrestha's Battle

Shrestha : Political mileage

Known as a trouble maker of the ruling Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), former minister and the RPP leader Jog Mehar Shrestha always creates troubles in the party. In his quest to secure an influential post, Shrestha shifts his loyalty faster than lightening. After long struggles and disputes, Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and RPP president Pashupati Sumsher Rana agreed to set up a high level coordination committee to work as a bridge between the government and the party. Although there are dozens of aspirants at both the camps eying to secure such position, Jog Mehar Shrestha, however, has been picked up as its member. Nobody knows how effective the committee's role be in acting as coordinator but in the meanwhile, Shrestha is sure to reap political benefits out of it.

Old is Gold

In politics, the age is no bar. When all young leaders are taking†back seats, older folks are guiding the parties. Although he is eighty years old now, Congress leader and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has been taking part in dozens of meeting a day. Interestingly, his young colleagues, however, seem to have lost their stamina. Whether it is Arjun Narsingh K.C. Govinda Raj Joshi, Sushil Koirala or Chakra Prasad Bastola, the young guns have taken a back seat leaving it all to the grand old man. It seems that political agitation will have no steam minus the active leadership of former prime minister Koirala. This might be the reason why Koirala is in high demand not only in the Congress party but also in the communist camps.

Deuba : Great revelations

Deuba Reveals

Although Congress leader and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba led the country for more than 3 years in his two tenures, his simplicity has no match. Deuba, a leader from the far western region, does not feel shy of speaking his mind. In his recent meeting with media, former prime minister Deuba revealed how his friends like Taranath Ranabhat and Ram Chandra Poudel betrayed him in the last minute and compelled him to take harsh decision. As speaker Ranabhat and former speaker Poudel have reputation of playing the roles of provocateurs, one cannot rule out the possibility that they might have pushed him to the brink last year when he went with a proposal to endorse the emergency that was later on torpedoed by his own party. Since both Poudel and Ranabhat have not reacted to Deuba's accusation, one has to take Deuba's remarks into account for the time being.