By Yug Bahadur

This would be like parroting the same thing again and again, but the situation in the country seems to be on a speedy downward trend. And of course, there is also the fact that the major political parties and their leaders are to be blamed mostly. Not that the civil servants or security personnel have done anything better. This is for sure.

So how can we expect to see a better and prosperous Nepal?

 No matter what politicians tell us, most other people, specially the elderly ones, feel that the country was in a more secure condition when the kings ruled the nation. This author also thinks that is true, as at present nobody feels secure or neither they are confident in the political leaders. There is no doubt that the former kings were more nationalist than any of our present lot of so-called leaders.

I definitely always have profound gratitude to the late King Prithvi Narayan Shaha for uniting and building present-day Nepal, but I have equal respect also for the late King Mahendra.

If it was not for the wide vision of the late King Mahendra, Nepal would still be in some old era where people would be suffering and not see any signs of development which they are seeing now.

But the present lot of political leaders only talk about building a new Nepal and some other clichés of idealistic dreams which have been drilled into their minds by foreigners, not knowing the hardships faced by the Nepali citizens on a day-to-day basis.

They boasted of selling the industries that were making Nepal economically stronger.

It would not be inappropriate to mention here that even reaching from one township to another within Nepal itself, was possible only by travelling to some Indian towns. For example, travelling from Bhairahawa to Nepalgunj one had to travel to Gorakhpur in India and to travel from some towns in Eastern Nepal to Birgunj, one had to come through the Indian town of Raxaul.

It was the vision of the late King Mahendra that the East-West Highway was constructed and Nepalis could travel within their country without going to some other nation. So no matter what politicians say about the late King Mahendra, it was he who had the vision to modernize, industrialize and bring different types of reforms for the welfare of the people. Was it a crime to be such a patriot?

Who built industries like Janakpur Cigarette Factory, Bansbari Leather and Shoes Factory, Birgunj Sugar Factory and Harisiddhi Brick and Tile Factory among dozens of factories which contributed a lot to the development of the nation? It was the late King Mahendra, and we must recognize him as a true nationalist.

He also contributed to bringing talented people of Nepalese origin from different parts of the world to contribute in different fields like even music for instance. That is how a lot of individuals who had poor opportunities in their adopted land now are doing well in Nepal itself. There are dozens of such examples and these individuals must not forget what the late king did for them or their parents.

 But what did our so-called political leaders do? Except for making grand statements, they have actually sold the nation. This author knows it is not considered proper to say anything negative about people who have already passed away, but as an avid follower of Nepali politics and also the issue of corruption, one cannot help but mention certain names of two late prime ministers of the nation.

One is the late Surya Bahadur Thapa, who was handed over the responsibility of protecting the panchayat system from a multiparty system and the other is the late Girija Prasad Koirala. While the late Thapa started to introduce corruption in a large-scale manner, it was the late Koirala who played a big role in institutionalizing corruption in the governing system.    

The country's forests were considered the biggest wealth of the land but due to greed for power and of course money, late Thapa virtually destroyed many forest areas, specially in the Tarai region and one place which was well known as 'Char Kose Jhadi', the most densely forested area of the country. Not only late Thapa, but some other close ministers and their relatives also made a lot of money during that time by deforesting the country. Maybe we are seeing a steady growth of negative climate change because of such manners and visionless decisions.

In the name of privatization, the late Koirala sold a lot of industries so difficult to set up by past rulers. We have nothing against privatization, but it must be implemented methodically not only for some family members or close political supporters to make money, but also at the nation's cost. This author has heard many times how great a leader the late Girija was, but he cannot escape from the fact that he played an instrumental role in institutionalizing corruption in the country. He also played a role in corrupting the bureaucracy and the security forces blatantly and introducing nepotism and political favoritism in the system.

Now a time has come when no questions are asked about the corrupt activities of politicians, bureaucrats, security personnel or others as long as they please their political masters. This trend is what is actually ruining Nepal and also encouraging foreign powers to be more open in the country's internal matters.

Forget the uneducated leaders, even our learned decision-makers seem least concerned about such matters which are showing negative results in the country's sovereignty and the society as well.

Corruption is rampant, there is no monitoring of market prices, cheating takes place even in such basic service sectors like education and health, the common folks are being fooled by manpower companies and there is a rising exodus of young manpower from the country. Nobody discusses these issues, all seem to only talk politics, make money or get to power and this is the scenario in all sectors.

So it is no wonder that many real patriots are worried about this scenario. Meanwhile, the majority of helpless people are facing a situation where even just existing on a one-day-at-a-time basis has become difficult.

So at this crucial moment, it would be better if our political leaders and other decision-makers think more broadly about national interests, exactly like the late King Mahendra did, and focus on saving the nation from foreign interference and corrupt practices flourishing in almost all sectors and make efforts to make the country a better place to live in rather than fleeing away from.