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Turmoil in Bangladesh.

By L.D. Pulami
What will happen in the nation now is a question which is being raised by top leaders, intellectuals as well as media persons through different outlets which suit them. Yes, we are talking about our own country and not some other nations which are seeing unexpected turns due to the fury of their citizens.
It seems the political leaders and others who worked more for outsiders, rather than for the well-being of the nation have become extremely alarmed by the political developments in regional neighbor Bangladesh, which saw dramatic changes in its way of thinking as far as its notion of democracy was concerned. Even the most powerful nations in the West and also some of its neighbours were caught unaware of what was happening in that country, where a leader for such a long time, had to flee in a military helicopter and seek refuge in another country.
India has played a major role in the formation of Bangladesh as an independent nation and also in ‘selecting’ individuals who would lead this newly formed country. But at present, India has decided to remain distant from the overthrowing of an elected government and maintain a stance of ‘wait and see’ policy.
Within Nepal, the overthrowing of a prime minister who is the daughter of the man who played very important role in creating the new nation of Bangladesh has also been taken very seriously, specially by those who are aware of how they are destroying the nation in the name of democracy or such other slogans taught to them by their foreign masters. But even the most naïve individual can say that what has happened in Bangladesh, can happen here in Nepal too. And this could happen sooner than what our experts or leaders are predicting now.
The people are really frustrated by the way the political leaders have been functioning and how they are involved in corruption, besides ‘nepotism’, which highly angers the simple citizens who cannot find any income opportunities within their own country. This is definitely a sad situation and also an easy sort of way paved for outsiders to influence the developments in this country. Is this what the political leaders really want in the name of ‘loktantra’ or progress?
For the entire citizens, this is not a difficult question to be answered, as we all know that these leaders have either been groomed by foreign powers or more disgustingly are on the payroll of these outsiders who actually have no interest in the democratic process or development of Nepal. They are more concerned only about how Nepal can be used by them for their own interests.
To go a little away from our major theme of how Nepal is being used by outsiders, let me first confess that I was also in a school run by Jesuit priests, and later in another school which was situated in India. Definitely, I was in some way influenced by what the Jesuits told me and also by the teachings of Indian teachers. But I again say that they did nothing to force us to join Christianity or to believe in the ‘greatness’ of India.
But I certainly have some reservations about some teachers who were very biased in their way of thinking. Once I was given the word ‘beat’ which I had to use in a sentence. I stood up and said, ‘I think Nepal can easily beat India’. As far as I know, even now, there was no grammatical mistake in what I had said, but I was punished by this teacher of Indian origin, who made me write one thousand times I would not say such things again. Now I really feel angered by such a narrow-minded view of a teacher. But at the same time, let me also give an example of another Indian teacher who taught me and took almost six months to just explain a poetry called ‘The Rhymes Of An Ancient Mariner’ written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This teacher was so hardworking and thorough, I still remember him with much respect and teaching me what each sentence of the poetry meant.
But do we have good teachers like I mentioned right now, or do we have only biased persons who like to impose their own thoughts on children and ‘children like’ people of Nepal? Probably, those so-called intellectuals and also cunning journalists know more about such incidents than this simple writer, who only wants to see an independent Nepal without any foreign agents or their stooges preaching to us what democracy and other different rights, which normally have no meaning in the lives of many such people. They all are only phrases which the seminar attending ‘experts’ keep on repeating and which are liked to be heard and put in the reports of foreign-funded NGOs, which does not change anything except keeping full the pockets of some individuals and some local puppets, so the people are tired of hearing these lies told by politicians and their bag carrying supporters who claim to be the biggest democrats in our country.
Who are the real democrats? Are these people who sell the nation or others who want to protect it? This author himself was approached many times by leaders of some unions to be a member of one party or the other. They were even ready to wave off the paltry sum needed to become a ‘member’ of their union, but I always refused them. So is one a ‘Democrat’ just because he or she is a member of certain organization? About myself, I can still say I was a good student, a good athlete and also a good fighter, which these people probably considered as assets which a person required to boost the image of their respective union. But like said before, I politely refused, not knowing that Nepal would one day become what it is now, where political affiliation, being close relatives or having money would be the main qualifications for any person to succeed in any sector. Others are simply brushed aside or ignored, even if not getting their services would be of great loss to the nation.
Once again, if this attitude of leaders, powerful decision-makers and also the society continues, it will not take too long for Nepal to be another Bangladesh and maybe with more serious consequences. Be aware in time.