THIS year's democracy day is of much importance to the country and the people because we are celebrating the 50th year of freedom from the 104-year-old Rana rule. It was celebrated with great fanfare and enthusiasm all over the country for three consecutive days as we have been doing since the last five decades. This years democracy day is of more important as we are celebrating a decade of restoration of the multi-party democracy. It is an opportunity to all of us to pay homage and remember those martyrs and people who fought and sacrificied even their lives for the sake of democracy. Every year the rulers and the leaders commit themselves to further strengthen democracy. It gives us a chance to seriously ponder about the sacrifices and struggles of hundreds of thousands of people who relentlessly fought for the sake of democracy. It is natural for the people to have high aspirations and ambitions for better life after the restoration of democracy. But it is a matter of great dissatisfaction that both intra- and inter-party squabbles between the parties, which spearheaded the revolution, hampered the process of delivering the desired result to the people. Even one decade after the restoration of multiparty democracy, it has not yet been that effective in giving a strong impresssion to the people that democracy can really deliver goods. But who are to be blamed for such a situation? There are many reasons for this. Firstly, one cannot and should not forget that there were or are always some forces with vested interests which are always active in reviving the past system. Secondly, some political parties too are responsible for raising the aspirations of the people which cannot be fulfilled as promised by them. It is sheer irresponsibility on the part of these political parties to have raised the aspirations of the people with false promises to lure them to vote for these parties. It is a sad aspect to note that most of the poliltical parties which mushroomed after the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990 do not seem to realise the role and responsibility in institutionalising and strengthening the democratic system. Almost all the political parties seem to have been occupied in grabbing power at any cost, thereby projecting an image among the general populace that their only aim is to get to power. This has created a sort of apathetic attitude towards them which cannot be regarded as a good sign for the democratic system. In a democratic polity like ours everybody gets free and fair justice. However, some antisocial elements seem to have taken this as the weakness of the government. Now the time has come for the majority government of Nepali Congress to deal severely with such elements so that the people start having faith that the government means business in the true sense and give the message that democratic dispensation cannot be taken for granted. The recent comments made by Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai while giving interview to a foreign news agency rightly evaluated the problems the country was facing at the moment. Letís hope that this democracy day would inspire all of us to commit ourselves for the consolidation, instutionalisation of democracy for the betterment, peace and prosperity of all the people. |
