Understand gravity of the situation

We are saddened to listen to the maiden comments offered by the leader of the main opposition Madhav Nepal regarding the sad events that rocked Achham in particular and the nation in general wherein the latter demanded the outright resignation of the incumbent Prime Minister for the said sad event. This does not mean that we are here to support the sitting Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for his dismal performance over these months, which is there for all to see. However, we wish to react sharply to Madhav Nepal's harsh comments wherein he should have firstly as a responsible leader of the nation condoled the deaths of the soldiers and the policemen who lost their precious lives in the said carnage that hit Achham district last Saturday late night and then could have demanded Deuba's resignation. Going deep into Madhav Nepal's statement one could conclude that the Achham incident must have come as a boon in disguise for those crook politicians who at the moment were hell bent on forcing the sitting Prime Minister to resign voluntarily so that the men involved behind the game against Deuba could bounce back to power. Should the ghastly incident in Achham be taken in that manner? Should the sad event in Achham be made a ladder for stepping up into the corridors of power in order to win the elections or for that matter the enjoy the benefits from the national resources? Or else at a time when the entire national security forces who suffered an unprecedented casualty should have been consoled, why the entire Opposition including a powerful section of the ruling party's are hell bent on forwarding certain conditions prior to the approval of the state of emergency? Is it not the case of twisting the arms of the Deuba government so that the latter yielded to their demands?

Had these opposition parties remained loyal to the nation, national interests and the likes could have told the government that they would support the establishment but then the latter too would have to listen to their demands. It would have been the best and the easiest way in getting their things done. However, the opposition opted to bargain which is not in the overall interest of the nation at least considering the state of the nation at this critical juncture. The UML and the opposition in the ruling party must understand that if the nation survived they would get plenty of opportunities to rule the nation. But if some disasters grip the nation, and for that chances have become brighter now, its impact would not only be felt by Deuba set but would also hit the entire real and the pseudo opposition very hard.

Question could be asked here as to why the UML and its cohorts were pressing the government hard in effecting certain changes in the 1990 constitution? Is it not the same constitution which Madhav Nepal and his nearest and dearest colleagues drafted some twelve years back? Were it "we the people" who were taken into confidence while drafting the constitution? Were it "we the people" asked as to what should be incorporated into the draft-constitution in order to alleviate their long standing pressing problems? Certainly not. "We the people" neither consulted nor were taken into confidence. It was a draft in essence penned by a few selected party-workers who simply were elevated to those ranks because they posed to possess party affiliations.

We fully understand that the constitution has got to be changed for the betterment of the laymen ultimately. However, we also understand that the timing for bringing about suitable amendments in the existing constitution has not yet approached. We also understand that even a superb constitution in Nepal's context will go to the dogs if the men manning the system resemble our politicians. Defect lay not in the constitution but in the men who have been told to implement it. The fact is that Nepali politicians over these twelve years have more often than not raped the constitution as and when they wished to do so. They have done so at their whims.

We wish to warn the politicians of the country to come to terms with the present dangerous state of the nation. We wish to warn them all and urge them to understand the gravity of the political situation in the country in the changed context especially after the Achham massacre. If they do not understand the message underneath our warning, it is they who would perhaps be penalized first for their (mis) adventures. The message is loud and clear.

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