By Lok Deep Thapa It has become very disturbing to hear or read the constant negative news about our country, while the political leaders seem oblivious to all such things and they are only busy with matters which mean nothing for the people. Now we are also hearing about how prime minister KP Oli is very angry at two individuals, who have tried to do something for the nation and the people. They are Kulman Ghising, the Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Balen Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolis City. If we are to believe certain online channels, most people are angry that these two fellows have been targeted by the political leaders and also the government. They feel these two have at least tried their best to fulfill certain expectations of the people. Although this writer has been in the media sector for almost five decades, he still does not know both of the fellows at a personal level. Now they may be in very powerful positions, but in terms of age, they are much junior, yet I still have high regards for them for the work they have done in their respective fields. Just to make something clear about myself, I have not been a member of any party or their unions at any time. But this does not go down well with certain people, who claim to be the biggest democrats of the country, just because they have bought a two rupee membership of one party or the other. For such people, being a nationalist is almost as big a crime as being a murderer, a rapist or even a betrayer of the nation when actually it is exactly the opposite and these so-called 'democrats' are mostly involved in such acts. We have to look no further than the decisions of the political leaders and others to see the way they are destroying the nation and dividing the society through their narrow vision and only blaming others for the immense problems for the country, they have created themselves. We are seeing such a scenario continuing for many years now and as the political leaders have set this disturbing trend, it is being followed by others as well, including bureaucrats and security personnel. This is not a healthy indicator for the whole nation or for bringing prosperity to the people. We all have to live with the belief that politics definitely governs our lives. But sadly, we have had only bad individuals heading different parties, be they old ones or the smart-speaking persons in newer parties. Only the 'backbenchers' seem to have entered politics as they had no other options except to earn money by joining politics. It is a reality that educated and skilled people have either joined professions of their choice or like at present have left the country seeking greener pastures. That is why we have been left only by thugs or individuals with no thought of the country to rule the rest of us. I, myself, do not consider that I am an outstanding person, though, I still like to say that I was considered as the best student at an international conference in which top-level writers from more than seventeen countries were participating. I was even offered lucrative job opportunities by certain persons who were impressed by my skills, but I politely refused them by saying that my own country needed my presence more than their more developed nations did. I have no regrets about this attitude of mine, though I am living in difficult conditions like many other fellow citizens. However, what hurts me is seeing thousands of Nepali citizens, even the skilled and educated ones, leaving their motherland and making us compelled to be ruled by incompetent, uneducated and selfish persons who are in power now. It is really an utter humiliation for people like me to call them our country's leaders. They are so shallow in their vision and so selfish in the quest to earn money, it is really a disgusting thing to imagine for any independent Nepali who really cares about the country to expect anything better from these people. The worst part is that we do not seem to have any leaders on the horizon who could replace these old faces who are totally involved in corruption and nepotism. The so-called young leaders have also not given any assurance that they will be better than the old-timers. The only hope most people have is in Kathmandu's mayor Balen Shah. But sadly he also does not have any political organization to back him, exactly like the former king had no local-level workers like the different parties have. For example, even now he has been facing serious opposition from the ward-level leaders who belong to one party or the other. This is not good for any system or for the people and the nation. This author feels that the people are also to be blamed much for inviting this situation. The only encouraging part is, now at least some people have been talking about totally boycotting the so-called elections, which the leaders proudly claim as being the strongest pillar of democracy when actually they have been used by the political parties just to get power. What have these parties done for the people? Only feeding them meat and rice a week or so before the election and giving them free drinks, are not enough. The innocent voters must also realize this and not fall into the same trap again and again. Going totally out of the major context of our writing till now, this author still feels it would be a major injustice if the tragic case of a Nepali nurse being allegedly killed by her husband in America is not mentioned this time. When the attention of almost all people in the world, including the media and rights organizations, had been drawn by this case, why were our own so-called 'mainstream' media so silent? Normally they made much sound even when small incidents took place, specially if it was connected to the Royal Family, which they considered as their major enemy. Also, it was amazing to not hear even one word from the government's side on this issue and neither any formal response from the Nepalese Embassy in Washington DC, near which a Nepali national was allegedly brutally murdered. Is the work of such high-profile diplomats stationed there to only earn dollars and stay idle in their office near Du Pont Circle to waste their time on a daily basis? Just a few days back, we saw how quickly neighbor India acted when simple Indian tourists died in a bus accident near Kathmandu. They even promptly sent an Indian Air Force aircraft to take the bodies of the unfortunate victims back to India and hand them over to their families. But here we see our politicians engaged only on petty issues and our high-profile diplomats not actually doing anything for our fellow countrymen living abroad. The government appoint such persons to represent the country and these individuals must feel really ashamed of their inability to make the presence of this sovereign country be felt. But like said by this writer umpteen times, 'who cares', as long as their relatives and people who can pay money are appointed as diplomats. It is high time our politicians, bureaucrats who always flash their regulations to harass the people and also the 'vigilant' media seriously think about these problems and not only preach to us simple people of very idealistic things, which they themselves have been taught to parrot by foreigners or their NGOs.