King Gyanendra must be the most
worried man in the country. Because he is committed to stay the constitutional monarch, he
has not deviated from his prescribed role despite imperative provocations in recent days.
If he was forced by the circumstances to appoint prime ministers under clause 127, he has
spared no efforts to abide by the constitution to every possible extent. If he has been
criticized for being regressive, the critics are the same unscrupulous politicians who are
mainly responsible for pushing the country to this perilous situation and are, at the
moment, deprived from filling their filthy pockets with easy money. Why King Gyanendra
vacillated to take stronger action to mete out the requisite punishments to these
criminals is becoming an enigma. Even ignoring all the maligning unparliamentary remarks
against him, King Gyanendra has made relentless efforts to find a consensus candidate or a
man with clean image to lead the nation. It is a pity that neither the politicians nor the
country could produce a suitable candidate. As such he was left with no option but to
appoint the most controversial person, Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister, again under
clause 127 of the constitution. If Deuba's handful of supporters and his potential
partners in the government are dancing with joy at the prospect of having a share in the
pie, those who have been chagrined have already started their heinous machination to pull
Deuba down. They have even embarked on their pilgrimage to propitiate their gods and
goddesses to grant them the boon. We, on our part, are appalled at the grim future of the
country when the same bunch of men who have been guilty of sucking the country dry, will
again be at the helms of affairs. Unless Deuba has learnt from his bitter experiences,
which seems a remote possibility, where are we going to land in a few months is difficult
to visualize even. Although the situation is quite somber, we still can see some light in
the tunnel. The insurgent leaders, Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai have to realize, even
though belatedly, that their modus operandi to attain their objective is not only faulty
but has produced countrary results. It has perpetrated havoc and destruction on those very
overwhelming poorer section whom they are trying to benefit while sparing the real
criminals and miscreants. They must not fail to take few leaves out of the history of
Nepali Congress. And they should not ignore the Nepali adage that "the tiger which
can kill me can kill you too." And even more important fact is that they must neither
deal with nor sympathize with all those politicians who have already denuded themselves by
looting the country and mortgaging its sovereignty even.. But there is still a very large
section of patriotic people who are ready to treat them as the prodigal sons and will kill
the failed calf on their return. It is high time King Gyanendra, too, girded up his loins,
kept the anti-nationalistic politicians at the places they deserve to be and opened his
discerning eye like Lord Pashupati does his third. He certainly cannot overlook the fact
that constitutions can come and go but the country cannot. And since constitutions only
help to run the country smoothly, strongly and in a disciplined way, they can be amended,
suspended and even annulled. He has already lost enough precious time. We have always
strongly emphasized the utter necessity for him to rise above the loaded advice of
sycophantic advisers and cast off all prejudices, if any, and work only in the interest of
the nation and the poor people. In Nepal the King belongs to all —"Raja Sabka
Sajah," even the lowliest must have access to him. He must see that this national
dictum does not die, but also embraces the Maoists too. |
