By D.M. Thapa How much the politicians are involved in corruption, that, almost everyone can say, unless they are hard-to-time loyalists of one party or the other. The political parties have succeeded in at least meeting this target of theirs, influencing the mind of a half educated people about politics, which does not bring any relief to the common people. Go to any village gathering, tea shops and other public places, and you can hear individuals there talking about politics. But no one is serious why the nation is being pushed to a precipice of disaster and the ordinary folks have a hard time just to make ends meet, while the rich and well off people can just move out of the scenario for a certain time and enjoy a life of luxury. One just has to look at the politicians and others with peep sight vision to realize on whom we have entrusted with for running the nation. First there are the half educated political leaders, then the greedy bureaucrats and then the megalomaniac like media ‘mafia’. This combination of people has really been very unfruitful for the nation and the people. But sadly, this is the truth with which the Nepalese have been burdened with. But as long as we hear the passionate speeches of the leaders, most Nepalese seem to accept the fact that we have ushered in real democracy and we have the best constitution of the world. If so, why have we been burdened with crooked politicians at all levels and other greedy people too? But to come to the performance of the present government itself, it can hardly be distinguished from other governments we have seen since the establishment of democracy in the country, which has favoured a few, but left the majority of populace in deep trouble. This may be like beating the same drum all the time, but the truth remains that the political parties have lost their “favourite punching bag’ now and thus are engaged only on blaming one or the other in putting the country in the mess it is in now. One journalist friend of mine told me of how he had suggested to the then king Gyanendra, to leave politics to the parties and just remain aloof as a constitutional monarch. But the hardliners close to the then king, didn’t want to hear of such pragmatic suggestions, he had said. With the Americans, India and some European countries who wanted to grind their own axes here in Nepal, the then king was simply unable to counter such an onslaught. Moreover, the military, which started its history with the reign of the Shah kings, also betrayed the then king Gyanendra. This was a shameful act to say the least. In the present scenario, shame is something which is least in the minds of political leaders, bureaucrats, security officials and more importantly the society as a whole. As long as you earn money, through whatever means, there are no questions asked. That is the saddest part in Nepal’s modern history. There are just too many examples of people with an average income before, turning into millionaires and even billionaires, not through hard work, but through bribes and corruption in their workplace. From bureaucrats to security personnel, there are people who first came to Kathmandu in chappals and only one set of clothes. But as soon as they went to the right places, they built virtual palaces for themselves and had many bank accounts with lots of money beyond their income and they bought gold, other ornaments and luxury goods for their family members which they could never have dreamt about having before. Of course, this group of corrupt people also has political leaders in its sphere. That is why this author is puzzled why the government is satisfied with just the ‘declared’ wealth of those who are corrupt. These people are never questioned about their source of income. One American of high profile told me how he had been nominated for a senior post in the US government and he had to go through the grilling of a committee which would decide on his appointment. ‘They asked me how I had bought a motorcycle thirty years ago, how the heck could I remember that? he had said. Practically what this man said was the truth, as a motorcycle in the US hardly costs much and only a few people ride on a motorcycle for good purposes. \But the point is, when a person has to make it clear about how he bought a motorcycle thirty years ago, shouldn’t our own leaders, bureaucrats and security personnel also have to declare how they have so much wealth? Some person in high office may say he has this many grams of gold, this many kg of silver. Two houses in expensive Kathmandu and several acres of land in his home district and also bank accounts where he has millions of rupees! This makes him or her a clean person and the commissions which have been established with the intention of nabbing corrupt people are satisfied with this when that person quits that position. But is this enough? Why can’t they ask that person how he or she got that much wealth, like the American official was asked about how he bought a motorcycle thirty years back? There are just too many loopholes in our regulation through which clever and cunning people easily slip through, but the real honest people are restricted to do anything about it. Perhaps this is the reason why mobs turn violent and take the law into their own hands to punish the people who they think are guilty of making them poor. God forbid that such a situation will come to Nepal also, but looking at how certain people belonging to certain castes are using the bureaucratic loopholes once too many times, it will not be if they are not attacked one day. This is no radical rhetoric as some may think, it is only a word of caution for those who have been misusing their power while the majority of ordinary hardworking Nepalese are suffering.