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By Rabi Raj Thapa

The Gen-Z movement has now crossed two months. The country has become a mismatch of many things — a paralyzed constitution with Gen-Z marginalized. Concurrently, Nepal is going through confused protests and processes, with anarchists and authoritarian rulers crying foul and questioning each other’s legitimacy.

For the past two months, people have found it difficult to identify the right authority or to know who the real Gen-Z are. On the other hand, ousted and rescued leaders still have “heads” even after losing their legitimate “bodies.”

Today, our revolutionaries resemble Rahu and Ketu from Hindu scriptures. They were once a single demon named Svarbhanu, who was beheaded by Lord Vishnu — but not before consuming some of the Amrita (nectar of immortality). This resulted in two immortal beings: Rahu, the decapitated head, and Ketu, the headless body.

Now, former Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli is talking and behaving like Rahu, who chases and swallows the Sun and Moon, causing eclipses. Ketu now symbolizes spiritual detachment from daily administration — except for the plan to hold elections four months from now.

In a recent article in The New York Times, David Brooks, in his piece “The Season of the Wolves” (The New York Times International, Nov. 10), writes about the world’s authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Benjamin Netanyahu. But what about the authoritarians of countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Nepal?

According to Brooks, “The authoritarian comes from a loveless home; he is a bully driven by secret insecurity; he is a psychopath who doesn’t feel others’ pain. But these studies never actually tell you how the authoritarian sees himself.” That description perfectly fits many of Nepal’s top leaders who have repeatedly reached the pinnacle of power.

Brooks also refers to the renowned Italian-Swiss political essayist Giuliano da Empoli, who wrote a book titled The Hour of the Predator, in which he depicts authoritarian leaders as political wolves — striving to control the government by all moral or immoral, legal or illegal means, and to hold it in an iron grip for as long as possible.

In this regard, our so-called Nepali federalist revolutionary leaders — K. P. Oli, Comrade Prachanda, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Madhav Nepal, Upendra Yadav, and many others — look no different from the world’s authoritarians.

The author of The Hour of the Predator, Giuliano da Empoli, opines that authoritarians are more like artists than politicians — capable of creating alternate realities. They tell stories, invent alternative facts, enact daily dramas, stage show trials, and reinvent religions. They build a world of magical thinking. They can be totally dishonest, sharply offensive, and outrageous. But there is only one rule: they must never be boring.

Like many authoritarians around the world, our great leaders — Oli, Deuba, and Prachanda — see themselves as untouchable revolutionaries, men of steel, while viewing everyone else as pawns. They label all their critics as reactionaries, enemies of the constitution, monarchists, or revisionists. For decades, such political wolves have placed themselves above all others — commanding and domineering everyone beneath them.

The political wolves of Nepal are also masters of recklessness. They defy systems, procedures, and norms. They have become masters of centralized power, capable of generating fear among those around them.

From now on, they must stop reinventing narratives and indulging in magical thinking. Gen-Z has shown its strength, decimating their political standing within 36 hours.

They know they are wolves — yet they believe the nation needs wolves to protect good, decent people from imaginary ruthless enemies. The wolves see themselves as those who have not forgotten how to be human.

Let us pray and hope that they do not end their lives and careers like Don Quixote — lost in illusion at the twilight of their political journey.