The disarming process could be a long drawn affair

How long the state of the emergency in the country will last no body knows. However, one could guess that it could continue for quite some time to come. If one were to believe what the nation's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said last week, it becomes pretty clear that the emergency will continue till the military men currently out from their barracks "disarm" the Maoists insurgents. Understandably, the disarming process could consume much time and hence it is very much likely that even if the people or for that matter the opposition parties, represented in the parliament or not, do not wish the prolongation of the scheme of things will have to bear with it and that too in the name of the nation and in the name of the restoration peace in this beleaguered Himalayan Kingdom. However, the manner the ministry of defense and the military head quarters are sending signals of their success stories pouring in from the battlefields hints that the mission in which the nation's armed forces were on would yield positive results.

This notwithstanding, there is a set of intellectuals who wish to get certain clarifications from the military headquarters on matters related to whether the armed forces would return to their barracks upon completion of their assigned jobs or would prefer to remain in the affected Maoists affected areas for some more time to come? This is a question that is boggling the minds of the nation's intellectuals which warrants answers from the concerned authorities. The people wish to listen from the high placed authorities in the military headquarters the answers to the above mentioned questions in positive. Indeed when this writer of this piece some two weeks back asked the same question to the Chief of the Military Staff, Monsieur Prazzwal Rana, the answer from him was more than assuring in the sense that he said that "our men will immediately return to the barracks upon completion of the special job for which they have left the barracks and for us in the military service, the preservation of the national security remains top most priority".

More recently, the chief of the military staff spoke his mind and the reasons as to why the military force did not come out of the barracks to tame the Maoists insurgents prior to the imposition of the state of emergency. These and many other things Monsieur Rana made amply clear Monday evening talking to Nepal Television.

We remain amply convinced from what the military chief of the staff told us and remain confident that the nation's most obedient, honest and dedicated force will return to the barracks thus giving all and sundry, both within and without, a clear example that Nepal's army does what it says and commits.

Menace of corruption

His Majesty King Gyanendra has been assuring the people of this country that he would not tolerate the menace of corruption any more and that His Majesty has already instructed the establishment under Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to act accordingly. The Nepali media men who in the recent days have been granted Royal Audience opine that the constitutional monarch remains well abreast with the pains and the difficulties being faced by the common men of the country and hence wishes that the government of the day devises mechanisms that at least minimizes the pains and sorrows of the people. However, the fact is that the government under Deuba is already under attacks from his own party men and hence to expect that the regime under Deuba will find some time to look after the people's pressing issues, as per the desire of the monarch, will simply a futile affair. Understandably, if the Deuba regime goes on "wasting time" in favor of the people, his detractors well within his own party will in all likelihood would utilize those precious moments to destabilize his regime if not bring about a total collapse. Thus even if Deuba wishes to side with the people's problems, he can't do so for it would encourage his detractors to play foul games against him and his regime. This has already been a phenomenon in the country wherein one set remains ever prepared to bring about a collapse of the other set in order to bounce back to power. It is altogether a different matter that the set comprises of the men who either were left in the cold by the incumbent set or even could be the men from the incumbent cabinet who wish to betray the current ruling set for enjoying lucrative posts "assured" by the other equally competent set.

However, the news that a law to curb the menace of corruption is already in the offing gives one the hope that some thing is being done to bring to book the culprits, (who mostly belong to the highest political and bureaucratic echelons) who have since the advent of this order been squeezing the state's exchequer for meeting their personal ends.

Let us hope that Deuba succeeds in his pious mission and the blood-suckers of the nation are sent behind the iron bars.

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