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By Rabi Raj Thapa

This week has been full of news about a notorious underworld character, Chakre Milan, running an underworld turf rule around Maharajgunj since the early 1990s. But his arrest on August 5, along with 47 of his followers, has become an unusual sensational headline all over the country’s media. Today, there are many self-made, self-elevated underworld goons like Chakre Milan, Deepak Manage, and Ganesh Lama who are hesitantly proud of what they are and what they have become.

Here, the question is who contributed to them to be what they are today, and why? The second more important question is how much our politicians and police are responsible for that?

Today, politically linked underworld goons like Chakre Milan, Deepak Manage, Dinesh Adhikari, Kumar Ghaite, Ganesh Lam, Min Krishna Maharjan thought themselves as icons of masculinity, hooliganism, money and muscle power and influence. The problem is the risk that they are becoming more of a role model for many Nepali jobless, disoriented urban youths. If they copy and adopt the goons’ character and personalities as their role model, then we can think of Nepal like Mexico and Colombia, where guns speak louder than words.

Today’s changed urban environment has made Nepali life and environment more conducive to material perks and power, leaning more to exhibitionism, exacerbating social deviations of sex, violence and crime. For many disgruntled youths living in big towns and cities of Nepal, Chakre Milan and others like him have become providers of good food, good time and social recognition out of fear and intimidation or for whatever reason. Today, underworld dons have outsmarted all civil servants, business people and even mediocre political leaders. Today, many top goons have direct access to top political leaders who take them close-buddy like Al-Capone and Italian Mafioso used to have in the bootlegging era of America. For example, Nepal’s UML Chairman K.P. Oli had a good relationship with Chari (Dinesh). Nepali Congress MP Gagan (Thapa) and Badri (Narshing K.C.) had good contact with Ghaite (Kumar Shrestha). Ganesh Lama used to be the right-hand man of the former Deputy PM Bijaya Ghachhadar.    

Hence, the contemporary political scenario depicts political leaders, power brokers and dons complementing each other to elevate themselves politically and economically side by side. With their collaborative and combined efforts, they have been accumulating unprecedented perks and power to win elections. They have been able to squeeze government coffers through contracts, cover and protect their licit and illicit endeavors and have amazingly elevated themselves from pauper to billionaire within a span of three decades.

Interestingly, Chakre Milan’s birthday celebration reminds one of the power and arrogance that is seen in notorious underworld drug lords like Pablo Escobar of Colombia and many Mexican cartels.    

Now, if the Nepal government wants to fully stop the power and rise of these goons, it can do it in many ways and means. The only thing it needs is honesty, sincere purpose and a strong commitment to succeed by all means. First, Nepal needs a strong law. For example, the Karnataka State Government of India promulgated the Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders, Gamblers, Goons, (Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum-Grabbers and Video or Audio Pirates) Act 1985 just to stop goons along with other social maladies.

(See: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/8182/1/12_of_1985_%28e%29.pdf#page1).

Nepal may draft a law like that.

If Nepal wants to get rid of any goonda-raj in Nepal, it needs to weaken and drain out the goon’s tools and tentacles, money and muscle. They can also think of rehabilitating goons like those of drug and sex offenders rather than incarcerating them in prison.  

To sum up, a police raid and operation on the Goons alone may not suffice. Numerous police raids and actions have elevated their stature more than diminished their social standing, their money and muscle power.

Just to sum up, we can say “SINGAM-type police operation is good. But for them, such selected occasional transitory operation will prove only “Too much smoke with little fire” to finish the job permanently.