Make use of the indigenous tools for conflict management

The Nepalese population is being given to understand that every thing in the country was going well. However, the fact is that not every thing was going well. Critics are abundant who say that the country has taken a slide after the Constitutional monarch almost took over the affairs of the nation in his own shoulder some fifteen months back. The rest definitely give credit to the King for his October moves but concurrently say that he should have delivered through the two separate governments presumably of his choice which he installed in Singh Durbar. The fact is that what ever the Chand government did in bringing the rebels to the tables, Thapa’s immature and overconfident mediators-at-large spoiled the whole environment of peace. If we were to console ourselves that the other camp too exhibited its adamancy, then what comes to the fore is that neither the government nor the rebels were in effect in need of peace and the net result is the prevalence of a continued chaos attached with stepped up violence from both the camps. This is what is killing the lay men from within. If the lay men in the remote villages hanker after two meals a day then the fear of being killed mercilessly by any one of the two writs large on their fate. Which day and how the death comes their way is what is worrying them constantly. The men seated in Singh Durbar, however, feel safe every one because they have been getting proper and adequate security which allows them to conclude that if they are safe, others must be safe. The fact is just the otherwise. They too were not safe being right here in Kathmandu—the capital of the Kingdom. That the rebels have already sneaked into the capital district has amply been reflected from the sporadic incidents of killings or attempts of killings on some high profile personalities in the not too distant past. If they have become the targets of the rebels, the nation’s security forces have equally terrified them. It is in this chaotic conflict prone situation, the population demands the role of the indigenous tools that can handle the whole affair with quite finesse and restore peace.

The tools, as suggested by a known political analyst, Mr. Shrish Rana, could be those who command respect and honor in the Nepali society. According to Mr. Rana, such tools still could be found in the country who if provided opportunities could bring about miracle results.

It is not that conflicts like situation in the country were completely a new phenomenon. It’s not that. If there is a society, there is the existence of conflict. If there is conflict, there must be the existence of some tools, which could handle the conflict to the satisfaction of both the warring or say competing rivals. The King could be taken, for example, as an indigenous tool. This tool at least commands respect and honor in the eyes of the affected population. If Mr. Rana’s hint is towards the King then what is the harm in suggesting the monarch to take up the matter seriously and do the needful in order to restore peace which has already become a rare commodity in this beleaguered Himalayan Kingdom. However, equally true is the fact that the other camp also must take the King as what has been apparently suggested by Mr. Rana. But then when the other camp has some thing to seek from the sitting monarch then it would be natural that they talk to the monarch through the established channels.

In our opinion if the two agree then the issue is settled once and for all. But the million dollar question is whether the two mentioned in the above paragraphs would wish to talk to each other?

How large is the Ambassador at large?

How large he is? What about his farsighted vision? Is he really that large that prompted our government to project him as Ambassador at large? Was he fit for this "large" post? These were some of the questions being asked by the Nepali academia about Nepal’s Ambassador at large, Dr. Bekh Bahadur Thapa, these days.

That he is not at all large got reflected from his arrogant utterances when he threatened some powerful donors of this country to hands-off their remarks on the ongoing Nepal-Bhutan parleys on the repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees. We had then instantly wrote in these columns that this Ambassador at large and his unrestrained utterances bode ill for the health of the nation. And look that it is the government of the Netherlands, which has indicated that she might halt the aid to Nepal citing some unknown reasons. In effect, analysts in Kathmandu guess that it is Mr. Large who annoyed the entire donor community by his undiplomatic and unacceptable utterances and the government in The Hague was the first to react in a manner that was only obvious.

Mr. Large, if he were a real diplomat, could have not responded to the powerful country’s suggestions but instead would have read the hint lying in between the lines. However, Mr. Large, in effect diplomatically a miniscule indeed, spoke what he should have not. Thanks that it is only the government in The Hague, which has hinted that she would halt her aid to this country. What if others follow? Can Mr. Large manage the country’s problems, which in effect depend on foreign country’s donations? Can he manage the financial supports from the country, which recently declared him as one of the best Ambassadors wherein he was posted till the other day? What about Mr. Large if the personality who elevated him to this large post is forced to resign? Will he be equally interested in the refugee issue even if he is stripped off this Large post? Perhaps not.

What about the German company unilaterally canceling its contract pertaining to the Hydro power deals with this Kingdom? Media reports have it that the absence of a representative government in the country and the dominance of unrepresentative "made diplomats" and their irrelevant utterances have alerted the donor community.

Diplomacy requires skill. Skill is developed when one studies the subject concerned. The gained studies when brought to practice for years and years only makes a man a real diplomat. Alas! He is an economist of the bygone era whose relevancy itself has vanished with the changes seen in the world. He is thus not a diplomat. What one could expect from a "made diplomat"?

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