National 8 (Spotlight Weekly)

Confused Minds

At a time when political leaders are taking rational and practical stand, intellectuals are giving confusing ideas

By KESHAB POUDEL

Just as George Orwell, a British scholar, once said that the intellectuals are those creatures who are confused themselves; the Nepalese intellectuals, too are confusing others by their ideas.

Orwell’s remarks have come true in Nepal. Everyday Nepalese readers have to read write-ups, opinion pieces and arguments delivered by various intellectuals. What is interesting is that it will not only show the confused mind of intellectuals but also confuse the general readers?

If Nepalese political leaders are allowed to speak their minds, their approach is going to be more practical than the opinion expressed by the intellectuals. From prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa to Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, what they are saying is based on ground reality. As soon as they rely on the intellectuals’ debate, they also begin to utter the confusing remarks.

Although political leaders know the reality, they are surrounded by a bunch of intellectuals, who claim to be close to the ideology of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML.

At a time when the King and all the five agitating parties are stressing the need to activate the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, some Nepalese intellectuals have already begun debate about following the political system of Sweden, Denmark and Norway arguing that the political parties and monarchy function perfectly there. Such debates based on classroom theories have polluted the minds of political leaders as well as general people.

When the political forces are trying to find out political solution based on ground realities, the intellectuals on both the ends have been successful in creating the confusion. As most of the present set of political leaders do not have sound academic background, they are easily misled.

Thanks to the fertile mind of our intellectuals, university professors and academic institutions, hundreds of political workers, leaders and students have poured their blood to experiment the ideas propounded by them.

By contributing articles and giving interviews to mushrooming newspapers, FM radios and television channels, their opinions have created a sort of chaos. As long as the political crisis looms, there is a good opportunity to experiment and rehearsal their ideas. “The whole exercise done by intellectuals is creating trouble for us but we cannot defy them,” said a senior leader of a political party.

“I know politicians are not laureate and do not have strong intellectual background but their hunch and instinct are so powerful that they can understand the political reality. Problems with them is the confusion created by the intellectuals,” said a leading political analyst.

Jumping from one end to another and exercising one constitution to another, the intellectuals see the current political crisis as some kind of an academic exercise.

Although Nepal is currently facing political crisis and it needs a political solution, the way intellectuals of various sects are expressing their views shows how confused they themselves are.

As long as political leaders do not perform on their own, it will be difficult to settle the political crisis. Otherwise, the intellectuals in any name will continue creating confusion in the mind of society.