BY D. M. THAPA
It is indeed a wonder how politicians, the so called civil society leaders, the “experts” whom we see constantly speaking in broadcast media and newspapers and some others, all continue to parrot the slogan that the country is on its way to prosperity and peace. They must either be very optimistic in their views, or they must be constantly lying to the people.
Of course, the people with the right connections are living in a blissful world which has been given to them on a silver platter by foreigners, while the common people are suffering even when they hear slogans of how the country was heading in the right direction by the revolutionary decision of leaders to opt for a republican nation, an overloaded parliament with mediocre people with little time for study or research and of course secularism, when the people of all religious faiths were living in harmony and peace for decades.
This author has already written umpteen times of how corruption was slowly bleeding the country dry and to make matters worse, politicians and their planners lack vision, they are greedy and the bureaucracy and the Nepal Police are also highly corrupt. Otherwise how would brutal criminal activities take place without the clandestine but close relations of the political leaders and government agencies?
In fact corruption has taken such strong roots, that you would be considered a fool if you did not vulgarly flaunt the illegally earned wealth to get respect in the society while any person who lives a humble life would not be considered a hero, but a failure by the same society.
For ordinary observers like this author, the scenario is quite depressing and there seems to be no one in sight to really come forth and yank the nation out of its present political, economic and social chaos.
Just recently, reading a news item of how a former minister and MP was allegedly involved in trying to disturb elections and how almost two dozen people lost their lives in a most brutal form, shocked virtually everyone, except the close ones of the accused. Ironically one such person is the brother of the accused and also an elected Mayor of a city in Rautahat district, the same place where the incident took place. He has nonchalantly said there were no bombs and all the story was concocted for political reasons. If there were no bombs, why were so many people killed, as claimed by the family of many victims?
The top police officers stationed in that district for the last twelve years also helped the culprit by unwilling to carry out any investigation, as reported by popular vernacular daily Naya Patrika. The Nepal Police has failed in many occasions and people feel insecure from the police rather than go to them for justice. I know a person who has publicly said, “It is a nightmare to go to any police station, the courts or other government offices”. The innocent people are mostly harassed and those with links at the right places, usually get their work done as per their wish. The hospitals are the same and many get killed rather than cured patients through sheer negligence and high handed attitude of doctors and nurses. We see students studying to be doctors, constantly going for strikes even after they pay an exorbitant amount for their course of studies. Whose fault is this? Is it the college administration or the medical students? Someone must be held accountable.
Talking of accountability, right from the chief executive or the Prime Minister of the nation and his ministers, parliamentarians, judges, party cadres, universities, banks, the security forces, INGOs and development planners and others in powerful positions must be constantly monitored, if by nobody else, then by the mushrooming media outlets. If the media outlets are irresponsible, then they should also be held accountable for their wrong activities. About the so called experts and civil society leaders, the people by now know where their loyalties lie.
Top political leaders who constantly warn us of a threat being brewed against Loktantra of a new Nepal, which has already become a republic and secular, should understand such threats don’t come from anybody else but the political parties themselves, their cadres, some foreigners with vested interests and others who mercilessly use the name of the people for their own cause or just to hide their mistakes, There are many such people pleasing their foreign bosses and not caring about the country at all.
So while the leaders talk of bringing in ships, building railway lines, constructing huge power houses, providing better health care, better education, social security, better roads and bringing drinking water are definitely going to help in making a “prosperous Nepal and happy Nepalese; but first of all, corruption must be curbed with a force like that of a sledge hammer. Then the leaders who think of foreigners as their master and the bureaucrats and police personnel scrape the boots of politicians to get up the slippery ladder in their respective institutions, will not have to worry from any threats, whether from inside the nation or outside, the country will take care of itself.
The big industrialists and businessmen won’t try and evade taxes, land mafias, construction contractors will think many more times before cheating the people and the nation will see an efficient bureaucracy and Police Force and the people will truly get justice not only sweet sounding slogans or only advertisement that try to portray the prosperity of Nepal.
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