Nepal at the Crossroads

Nepali people are in a historical juncture to decide on what they want: constitutional monarchy or a republican Nepal

By Srijan Nepal

When does a person become the most dangerous? It’s when he loses touch with reality. If the person in question is a common man, say you or me, then it’s not much of a problem. But when that person happens to be the king of a country, who decides the fate of millions around him, well seriously, it can’t get any worse than that.

Take our king for example. The first evidence he gave of not being in sync with the people’s want, was when he addressed the nation on the first anniversary of his royal move. It was shocking to say the least, to hear him say that the Maoists movement had dwindled down to a few criminal activities and the municipal polls had been a great success. It was that businessman hidden inside him that spoke that day I guess; it couldn’t have been a king’s speech. You see, people may not mind being lied to by their friends, or by their girlfriends and wives but certainly no one wants the head of their country to lie to them, and especially if that person happens to be the king of their nation. Frankly, the movement that had been going on against the king got real impetus only after that address. I don’t know what was it, just plain ignorance or shrewd and calculated words, yet whatever it was, it was enough to snap up the public’s patience, at least that was the case with me. And by the way, if those were well calculated words, I’m afraid the king’s calculators aren’t functioning that well. (I guess you people know who the calculators are).

I don’t know why much was not made about those apparent lies, apart from a few cartoons here and there. But they definitely deserved a lot more hullabaloo. And it’s not only him who’s been lying, it’s his whole government. Given that he leads the council of ministers and they all answer to him and only him, he must be held responsible for each and every decision the government has taken so far, including all those lies we Nepalese have had to digest (though I agree few of them were not digestible at all). There is this case of Enron going on in the United States. I believe the accused stand in to get a hefty jail sentences, and all they did was report false income and profit statements. Isn’t the case here in Nepal similar to that of Enron, albeit of a gigantic scale? Gigantic in the sense that lies are not limited to only our economic condition, they span every area of the nation. And it’s not only about lies is it? Just recall all those things that have happened during the course of 2062. Would anyone from a civilized society in this day and age, believe what has been happening here in Nepal?

Nepal is turning into a despotic state, a state comparable to the likes of North Korea, Zimbabwe and so on with utter disregard for human rights, development, and the people’s plight. The rule of law has vanished, the courts have been turned into puppets, and government owned media turned into jokers. The king said one of the chief reasons for his action was uncontrollable corruption, did he not? Now tell me, has he been able to rein in that problem? Just look at RNAC, if anything is a symbol of the failure of democracy here in Nepal, it has to be the RNAC. Plagued by a number of huge scandals, RNAC barely survived and now look at what the king has done to the national flag carrier. In a country where it is possible to switch off the electricity for hours no end, so that a diesel plant can be bought (commission of course), is there anything that can’t happen?

Certainly all those corrupt politicians of the yesteryears now look like petty thieves.
You may wonder what I’m trying to arrive at. Well you see a lot of people didn’t buy my idea that Nepal was ready to be a republic. Republicanism is still an alien concept for many of us. But, tell me guys, do we have any other option? You would agree, I guess with the fact that no one wants to see the current crown prince become the next king. And so let’s look at the current king as the last of the capable monarch we have. And lets say we would want him to continue as the king, but the thing is can he be trusted? Let’s assume that he accepts to be a ceremonial king once again and strangely enough also accepts a huge cut in his annual budget, can anyone guarantee he will remain true to his words? He will always enjoy the support of the few of the top men in the RNA, and given that it’s him who controls the top, the very loyal Nepalese army will always be with him. But it is inevitable that the king has to bow down to the will of the people sooner or later, and it’s up to us, the people of Nepal, to decide what we want the new Nepal to look like. If in a few years from now, we are destined to be a republic, why not make the move now? I believe this is the right time to go for a republic.

But because we’re fighting for a free and democratic Nepal, I cannot in any circumstance force you to follow what I believe. You’re free to choose your own path. I personally want Nepal to be a republic and you might want Nepal to remain a constitutional monarchy. And that’s the sort of Nepal I dream of, where I’m entitled to my beliefs and you are to yours and both of our beliefs have the right to be expressed. That’s the beauty of democracy isn’t it? Each and every person has the right to exercise his rights and have his rights respected. And that’s what I’m going to do. I may support a republic, but if majority of Nepalese still support a constitutional monarchy, so be it. And that’s what we must all do.

UWB Note: Srijan Nepal writes his blog Blogger’s Nepal’