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By L.D. Pulami

Even the political leaders know that the nation is in deep trouble in every aspect. There is political instability, the economy is getting weaker by the day and the less privileged citizens are suffering from many hardships, including in making daily ends meet.

The people in power all know this, but they are doing nothing to improve the situation and they are engaged only in making appointments for the sake of winning support or just making more money through their decisions.

The media has been highly vigilant against such wrong moves of those who are in power, but no indication has been shown by these irresponsible persons, who could have made just a slight improvement to the situation by appointing if not all, at least some individual, who deserves to serve the nation because of his or her merits and nothing else.

I still remember a time when the then UML had become the biggest party after the general election in 1994, but it was forced to form a minority government led by the late Man Mohan Adhikari, which as expected did not last for a long time.

But I liked the style in which this person, a simple type of fellow, worked. His decision to appoint a politically opposition fellow in a top position proved to be a landmark decision, about which, the party and its ministers could boast about for a long time. However, the present government seems to have thrown out any such ideals that could have gained it at least some sort of respect among the presently aware community. This would be a loss not only to the nation but to themselves as well, not even if they have to run away from the country.

I say this because an American ambassador had made similar remarks of the former king, which the then so-called ‘professional’ journalists had completely supported and even published these ‘anti-national’ views, just for their lack of any sense of nationalism or simply to get into the good books of foreign powers. Now it seems like complete foolishness to not have moved with the tide and gained in terms of money or some position, but such thoughts never crossed my mind.

Now, it is good to know that these people who have worked against the interest of the nation, all have been exposed, but as the reality in Nepali society still exists much to the anger of the common citizens, shame does not worry any individual as long as he or she earns more money and yet dares to face the people without any worry, with the backing of foreigners. When even the people to whom we look up, have no shame, what can we expect from the political leaders and others who are ready to sell themselves for power and money?

The people had at least expected these leaders who had given many years of their lives to bring in what the foreigners had taught them of being a ‘free society’, but much later we have realized that they worked only within the narrow beliefs they had and for their own petty benefits at the cost of the nation.

When these leaders seem so greedy only in corrupt deals, they seem equally eager to please their relatives and close ones while appointing them to important positions, like appointing ambassadors for instance.

For these decision-makers, without any knowledge of what an ambassador who represents the entire nation in foreign lands and the huge responsibility he or she has, seems to be nothing important. As long as they can please some family members or some person with enough money to pay them, no matter what their qualifications, they are not bothered at all about the interest of the nation in the international community. But whether we like it or not, Nepal’s relations with foreign powers are very important, as this country depends a lot on the help in cash or kind given to it by outside powers.

Meanwhile, it would also be a virtual criminal act if some person pitches one community against the other, especially, in a small country like Nepal, where people lived in harmony and peaceful co-existence in the past. But it still is true that a minority community rules over the other people, who actually are the real citizens of this nation, but just because of their simplicity and on the other hand the cunning ways of the minority who are in a dominant position in politics as well as in governance, these simple and honest people have had to suffer in almost all fields.

This is no communal accusations of these dominant people who presently rule roost in the nation, but if these equally hardworking individuals used their minds for the broader interest of the nation instead of only making personal gains, then there would be no animosity against them. But by seeing the way things are going ahead in this country, to expect any grace from those in power is simply wishful thinking. Yet at the same time, the disturbing manner in which some so-called leaders of the indigenous community rant against one community or the other, will not be to the benefit of the nation and also the community they claim to care so much about.

Radicalism does not prove to be beneficial anywhere, be it in the very developed countries or the poor ones where people are incited to take to violence in the name of freeing them from injustice. So a tiny country like Nepal, with such a diverse community and a weak economy snapping at its heels, can ill afford to bring any sort of communal or religious violence which will divide the country further. This must be understood first by the Nepali people themselves before others provoke them to initiate such ‘anti-national’ acts, whether they are in the media, politics or other government institutions in their own country.

This is not a false alarm call, it is only a plea for all the Nepali people to not fall into the same trap in which we have seen other nations unwittingly fall and pay huge prices as well. We cannot expect anything from our greedy and visionless leaders and also from foreign powers which seem so concerned about abstract ideologies, but as true Nepalis, we must be prepared to defend our nation from such thugs by showing tolerance and not following evil intentions.

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