An act of cutting short ‘system’s longevity’

Deliberate or otherwise, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is pushing the country to the brink. His arrogance and haughtiness is by and large the root cause of his government’s failure in practically all the sectors since he for the fourth time took over the charge of the nation’s Prime Ministership. History is witness that as and when he has been entrusted the national leadership, the nation has paid heavy in terms of law and order, economy and more so the Nepali flag carrier-the RNAC. The previous being, to recall, the notorious Dhamija affair and the latest as we all know as the most (in) famous Lauda air misconduct. The latter incident almost challenged the very basic concepts of democratic order to say the least.

The speed with which the Maoists were penetrating in the remote areas and controlling the sectors out from the grips of the Girija government could be well described as the Himalayan failure of Koirala government in maintaining the integrity of the nation intact. Slowly but very steadily the Maoists were declaring the areas under their control as to have been their territories and declaring their "own" "district level people’s government". In the process, if some national media reporting were taken in to account printed in the recent days, by this time the insurgents have already taken controls of so many districts and villages in their command and proudly state that some more were in the pipeline. As per the media reports, the Maoists insurgents last Wednesday openly concluded their mass meetings in places as Gorkha, Salyan, Dhading, Nuwakot, Muagdi, Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan, Dang, and Jajarkot thus challenging the government’s very existence in Kathmandu. The interesting part of the whole affair is that people, read the common people, thronged the mass meetings of the insurgents in the places mentioned above whose presence at the meeting could also be taken as to have been made willingly. If the people’s participation in the Maoists’ conducted meetings were deliberate then its corollary would be that the people in those areas have almost shifted their allegiance to the insurgents. The hard fact is, as per the media reports, that the meetings took place in orderly fashion as is usual with the meetings of the revolutionaries. Some even say that government’s law and order machinery did know the events in advance, however, they could do little to prevent the events of the Maoists.

Most surprising of it all that the insurgents could dare to declare the very formation of their own "people’s government" and have appointed key men to operate their government in the name of the people. This is not all, the newly elected caretakers of the people’s government in Rukum, for example, could summon a press conference and talk to the attending media men about their future plans and strategies. The government’s total indifference towards the new episodes being unveiled by the insurgents’ quarters from far flung areas (the nearest being Dhading on way to Mugling from Kathmandu) is a testimony to the fact that the government in Kathmandu has become helpless and that if this establishment continues for long might see most of the territories going in the hands of the insurgents which is what they wish in essence perhaps.

To cap, the situation in the country is definitely not good. The Butwal killings and the Biratnagar events of the recent past tell amply the sorry tale of the Koirala establishment and its managerial capabilities. A government that is always struggling for its existence and more so when the threats emanate from its own party quarters could undoubtedly be describes as most unfortunate government. In other democratic countries, the ruling party faces threats to its longevity from contending opposition parties, it is, on the contrary, only in Nepal that the danger to the government crop from its own party. Yet, however, what ever happens in the congress party is their problem to resolve in a manner that suits the overall interest of the party. But the Maoists issue have got to be solved and this is an issue that is taking different dimension by every passing days. It is time that Prime Minister Koirala change as his mind and listens to the voice of the common men and initiates talks and meaningful talks with the insurgents so that peace dawns in the nation. It is the people and only the people who will have to bear the brunt of the Maoists-government confrontation if things deteriorate. So in the name of the people, the Koirala regime must make sincere efforts in this direction and make the people feel that the establishment under him means really business and possess some sense of duty towards the already frightened denizens.

The gist of the whole write up is that if the Koirala administration continues to acquire the same hardened posture against the rebellions and prefers not to talk with the insurgents and if the latter go on declaring some more "people’s government" in the far flung districts to what they have already done, in that eventuality what we see is a direct threat to the very existence of the system now in place. To put it bluntly, Koirala’s adamancy is one way or the other is cutting short the life of the system. Resumption of the dialogue and only dialogue with the Maoists could be the best solution to save the country from the approaching collapse.

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