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Courtesy: Online Khabar

By L.D. Pulami

There is no doubt that former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal did all he could, to stay in power for a longer period after it was clear that he had lost the support of the majority of MPs in the parliament.

There is also no doubt about the poor images of the prominent ministers appointed by new prime minister KP Oli of the CPN (UML) and who have been given charge of important ministries. Apart from the allegations these leaders with the right connections have to be burdened with, it is more of a setback for the new ministers that the common people also seem to have little confidence in them.

But one thing which many people are sure about is the poor performance of the political parties, whether old or new, and the lack of any faith the majority of the citizens have in these leaders. This is not an indicator of any good tidings for Nepal to experience in the days to come.

Besides grabbing power or continuing to stick to their posts, the political parties and the leaders seem to have done nothing except sometimes, raise the question of how the country could be developed and how the present hardships of the people in general could be dealt with, which the people as always believe in and positively take such utter propaganda and think the leaders are really concerned about the country and the people.

Only one popular youtube channel analyst made just a passing remark about the huge threat looming over the entire citizens of this country and warned everyone to be more aware of such a danger. He deserves the thanks of many others like him, who belong to no political party, but are simple people who love Nepal and also appreciate the role of certain individuals, including the former kings, in uniting and making Nepal what it is now.

Can the present lot of leaders claim about similar contributions they made for the country? Most probably No! And it would be total foolishness on our part if we still keep on believing them.

Anyway, whether we like it or not, there are some disturbing developments simmering away in the country and both the political leaders and also the so-called leaders of the civil society, are just ignoring such threats against peace and harmony in the country and dismayingly instead, they are only busy in lesser important matters or blowing their own trumpets in trying to prove to their foreign masters and the naïve local people, how knowledgeable they are in almost every subject. Specially those, who constantly keep on harping about how they are working for the political rights of the people and also for their welfare are the biggest culprits. But they never tell us what the rights will mean to the people if there is no peace.

If this sort of attitude continues among the powerful decision-makers and also the people who earlier were living in peaceful co-existence with each other, then the pot will boil over one day and then it may be too late to amend the situation. We have seen such unfortunate events taking place in many other countries, specially, those nations which are economically weak and in which foreign powers have a tight grip over the political leaders and also the intellectuals who work for personal benefits only, while the real citizens are mostly powerless and voiceless.

While our own leaders and intellectuals may not be aware of the impending dangers this diverse and economically weak nation is going to face due to their leaders’ lack of vision and greed for money, the foreigners surely know that they are aggravating matters further by prompting, highlighting and even funding many campaigns which could drive this country to division both socially and religiously.

Yet, this dangerous trend is showing its ugly face in many sectors, be it in the rights demanded by indigenous communities in Eastern Nepal, where the division was made worse after a church was built just near a temple in Dharan and similar standoffs which took place in other parts of the country on religious grounds.

Such events were something which we used to hear happening only in India, like in the political issues, we are seeing similar developments here in Nepal as well, where no division between whatever religion the people preferred to choose had come to surface before. Now every such tactic is being used by foreign powers with vested interests and intellectuals as well as media persons, to weaken Nepal and the harmony the people enjoyed here in all aspects in the past.

Such division in society has also come about because of the rampant corruption taking place in most government offices and other institutions which have been established to provide service to the common citizens. It is no surprise that Nepal has become infamous for being one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Therefore it would be very unfair if we do not bring up the issue of corruption while talking about the dangerous conflicts that could be started anytime in the future and the direct connection of this social malice to the hardships of the people too, who are leaving the country in huge numbers, no matter in what conditions they have to work in and not caring which country will accept them.

Thus, the divide between the haves and nots has become so wide that it has brought up a dangerous rift between the people which is making the ordinary folks so angry and frustrated with the way things are developing, while they have to watch on helplessly as a few thugs led by politicians loot the country and make it further vulnerable to all sorts of problems.

It must also be acknowledged that the political parties, their visionless leaders and their opportunistic supporters are largely to blame for the institutionalizing of corruption and making it an acceptable crime in the eyes of society. This trend started in a big way after the re-ushering of multiparty democracy way back in 1990, and the main culprit who started this negative practice in running the country is none other than the late Girija Prasad Koirala, who encouraged his family members and close people to indulge in corruption, not caring how harmful this would be in the future for the nation and the people. The same situation exists now also, that is why there is more fear about what could happen in the not-so-far future for this country. If the leaders, almost all of whom seem to be involved in one case of corruption or the other, do not act fast to correct things, they and not the former king, will have to hang on to the tail part of an escaping helicopter to run away from the country whose citizens are by now sick and tired of their lack of vision and greed for more and more money, while leaving the nation in tatters for foreigners to take more advantage of it. Just a few days back, a parliamentarian raised this issue in the ongoing session, while heeding such warnings, other leaders should also realize that the time has come to act at once now, any delay with whatever excuse, will cost the nation dearly and be fatal to the majority of people.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.