By the time
this print comes out, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba would be ensconced in New Delhi
enjoying the fabulous Indian hospitality. Why should Deuba have refused to read the
writings on the wall and stuck to the inopportune visit is no enigma to all the pundits of
Nepal-India relations. Nepali politicians and statesmen have always let down their country
whenever they have gone on official visits to New Delhi. And Deuba himself must be fully
aware of his achievements in his former visits in similar capacity. As such, if the
knowledgeable Nepalis are harboring some grave misgivings and apprehensions, they must not
be blamed. But, there is enough ground to feel reassured. Deuba and his senselessly dumb
entourage must not be ignorant of the fact that they don't have any mandate to sign any
treaty or agreement as it cannot be ratified by the Parliament and cannot be operative as
long it does not get constitutional sanctions. So, let us hope he will not do anything
that might become embarrassing for him and for the King also since he is his appointee.
Why should our good friends, the Indians have agreed to this particular time to receive
the Nepali Prime minister? Looking at the gravity of the situation when the country was
embroiled in the most bizarre and violent turmoils, the visit could have been easily
postponed or even cancelled. Perhaps, our most malleable politicians do not like to miss
any opportunity of taking the pilgrimage to their Mecca to receive some blessings even if
they have to make some significant sacrifices. That's what all the leading Nepali
politicians do and feel very proud about. Since they have no broad or stable political
base in their own country, they find it to be a very convenient conduit to the chair of
authority. No wonder Sher Bahadur Deuba, too, is one of the flock and does what others do.
This visit to New Delhi by Prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, many here think, is the last
nail in his coffin. Time will only show whether this thinking bears fruit. But, the utter
necessity of a strong and meaningful government has increased tremendously and King
Gyanendra must start giving serious consideration to the problem.
The
unprecedented violent repercussions that gripped Kathmandu in the aftermath of the brutal
killings of twelve Nepalis in Iraq are clear indications that, unless Nepali politicians
rise up to the occasion and nip it in the bud, Nepali politics might have to face a very
dangerous trend in future that will surely destroy forever the peaceful image of the
country. The vandalism that destroyed properties worth a couple of billion rupees although
looked spontaneous was, in reality, well planned and well organized. The mob that ruled
the streets of Kathmandu in the wee hours of September 1 seems to have been clearly
motivated to destroy Nepali labor market in the Gulf countries and to sow the seeds of
communal hatred, so far unknown to the Nepali people. That the government was lethargic to
take prompt action to stop the destructive riots has, once again, exposed Deuba
government's incompetency to deal with any emergency situation. The most deplorable part
of the whole movement was the sacrilegious attack on the mosques - the sacrosanct place in
the Islamic religion. But the extreme tolerance of the Nepali Muslims defeated the unholy
machinations of the mischief mongers. Because, the Nepali Muslims, by the virtue of their
centuries old association with Nepali Hindus, know well that Nepalis can never resort to
communal frenzy. As was proved later, some external forces were behind these attacks on
mosques and were inciting the Nepalese. Now it is the job of the government to find out
these alien agents and bring them to book. One alarming outcome of the grievous
development that has gripped the Nepali psyche is to stop sending Nepali labor to Iraq and
other Gulf countries. This would be most erroneous and self-defeating development. We must
not stop our labor from going to the Gulf countries. By doing that we would be playing
into the hands of the miscreants. The government must make appropriate arrangements
through their diplomatic missions in the Gulf countries so that no Nepali labor would be
harassed. And we must exert to send even larger number of labor to these countries. We
have to take necessary lessons from the sad episode so that they do not happen again. At
the same time, it has become the foremost duty of the government to punish all those who
are actively involved in soiling Nepal's image of a peaceful country. |
