The concern shown by Nepal’s good friends over the near
civil war situation in the country has started generating ripples of different hues. It
has attained even greater importance when Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United
Nations Organization added his voice also. All these developments go to prove beyond a ray
of doubt that Nepal is in real trouble. And there is no alternative, at this juncture, for
all the patriotic forces except to join hands to crush the insurgency to bring peace and
normalcy back. The political parties that are accusing the King of resorting to
undemocratic behavior are themselves so badly discredited that except themselves and a
handful of their mercenary cadres they have no following in the country. The overwhelming
poor masses do not want to see them back in power lest they start sucking the country dry
to fill their own filthy pockets. In a situation when no government can exercise its
authority throughout the Kingdom, no democratic process can work unless total peace and
normalcy is restored. Pray, what is the justification, then, of the self oriented
political parties to pressurize the King to hand power over to them? King Gyanendra, at
this critical stage in the country, is the only factor that has the ability to take the
country out of the woods. In the interest of the poor people, in the interest of
safeguarding the sovereignty of the nation and also in the interest of preserving the new
found democracy, King Gyanendra cannot disregard the wishes of his 24 million poor people
to cater to the whims of unscrupulous politicians who should have been tried and put
behind the bars for their crimes and misdeeds long back. We have emphasized, time and
again, any weakness on the part of King Gyanendra to give in to the unjustified pressures
of these anti-national politicians would be tantamount to betrayal of the poor people.
Even Nepal’s good friends must get the message loud and clear and stop backing the
rejected leaders. They must not overlook and disregard the rising public opinion against
these politicians that are flooding the print and electronic media almost ever day. While
admiring and appreciating their anxiety for preserving democracy in Nepal, we exhort them
to realize and, realize without any prejudice, that it was these very leaders who have
brought Nepal to this unfortunate situation. We, too, are very much in favor of democracy.
But we want the people of Nepal to choose new leaders in a free and fair elections, which
these corrupt leaders should not be able to influence in any manner. And that is the only
reason why we have been advocating for a non-partisan government to conduct the next
general elections so that no one would be able to criticize the elections to have been
rigged or unfair as would be the case if they are ever held with any of these political
parties in authority. Consequently, King Gyanendra has no option but to listen to the
earnest request of his poor masses. When the security and sovereignty of the country is
involved, there can be no compromise at all. The insensitive acts of killings, lootings,
extortion or arson by the Maoists can never yield any positive result. They will only
exacerbate the miseries of the poor countrymen. Why don’t they understand that they
could easily supplant these badly discredited political parties if they laid down their
arms and joined the mainstream of Nepali politics and contested the general elections?
People are looking for a viable alternative political party of patriotic Nepalis. They
would not get a better opportunity to fill in the gap. If they continue with their
destructive activities, they would only be spreading more deaths and destructions. They
must read the writings on the walls. Even the sitting U.N. General Assembly has expressed
its determination to deal with terrorism tooth and nail. The only superpower in the world,
the United States of America, is equally bent on eradicating the terrorism from the face
of the world. And, in this regard, is determined to help Nepal fight terrorism and defeat
it in accordance with their Anti-terrorism Assistance Program, as professed by the U.S.
ambassador Michael Malinowski. Even though we may not agree with the U.S. ambassador in
toto when he says, “In every instance, Indian and American objectives, far from being
antithetical, are in fact, complementary. India seeks a regional environment free from
unrest, subversion and terrorism; the United States shares that objective. India seeks
environment where economic growth, trade and peaceful cross national ties can
prosper,” it is good to know that the United States believes and shares that
objective. Indeed, that is what all the smaller nations of South Asia want to share and
Nepal, in particular. But the manner the Pakistan’s foreign minister was recently
snubbed by India is but one instance to doubt India’s intentions. Of course, we can
understand Malinowski’s feelings as dictated by his country’s interests. But, it
is very difficult for us to fully reciprocate what he feels, since the wearer only knows
where the shoe pinches. His statement may endear him to the Indians. Whether it will
equally endear him to Nepalis is questionable. Still, we would like to exhort India to
come to Nepal’s help and practice what they profess. We also know that we do need
India’s unstinted cooperation in solving this vexing problem. Since it is an open
secret that most of the Maoist leaders have taken refuge in India, India’s rhetorics
are at crucial tests. We do hope their new found good friend, the United States, does not
get disillusioned by their double standard. |
