By L.D. Pulami
This author may sound like a broken record while repeating these lines, but there is no doubt that the country is in deep, deep trouble. Sadly, this trouble is not only political or social but also communal as well. But the worst part, where the majority of the people are feeling the pinch, is the fast-deteriorating situation of the nation’s economy.
The economy has become so bad that even the otherwise common middle-class workers are having a tough time making ends meet, forgetting the woes of the daily wage earners in the lower brackets of society. This has happened not only due to the short-sightedness of the political leaders but also the greed they have and the individual aspirations to earn more by bureaucrats and personnel in the security forces as well.
While talking about the country’s economy we can imagine where our nation is heading by just looking at its weak currency. That is a real indication of the tattering economy of the country.
There was also a time when one US Dollar cost around ten Nepali rupees for many years. But now, one dollar costs more than one hundred and thirty rupees. That was the time when one hundred Nepali rupees fetched more than two hundred Bhats of Thailand, but of course that has also changed and now the Bhat costs triple times more than the Nepali rupee.
In Nepal, there was a time when five, ten or twenty-five paisas (Cents or Pennies) were also in circulation, but now even the one and two rupee notes have started to disappear now, while our politicians and bureaucrats are talking in terms of billions of rupees in most deals they make. While mostly the political leaders are to be blamed along with the greedy bureaucrats, we cannot also leave aside the so-called ‘learned’ planners who have pushed the country to this distressing situation. This author does not belong to any political parties or thoughts, so he has no problem in saying that the late King Birendra was also to blame for relying too much on individuals who held only degrees but were totally incompetent practically. Whether anyone likes it or not, it was only the late King Mahendra who had the vision to develop Nepal and keep its sovereignty and integrity. This is a trait which has been totally ignored by our present lot of political leaders and their so-called supporters. That is why the nation is suffering so much now.
While talking of the present woes of Nepal one cannot help but mention India as well. Way back in the early Seventies, a far-sighted author named Leo E. Rose had written that India would one day throw out the monarchy system from this country and also snatch away Nepal. In fact, the late Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, had formed the infamous intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), just for the purpose of smashing all its smaller neighbours. Nepal was first on the ‘hit list’, but it was Sikkim and East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh which suffered from the conspiracies of RAW. Rose had forecasted that through revolutions and also armed rebellions exactly like the Maoists in Nepal followed, Nepal would lose the monarchy and also its independence.
Our leaders, including our present prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, along with virtually all other leaders are cooperating with RAW and making a success of its plans, even if these leaders have to sell the nation’s independence and integrity enjoyed once by Nepal. After all, from the leaders of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the country to the leaders of the Maoists, all were given shelter by the Indian government and even they got a stipend to survive in different Indian cities. It is said that even the ‘Saint’ leader of the Nepali Congress, while he lived in India, enjoyed his ‘Paan’, which probably cost only some paisas, but the Indian intelligence kept a record of how much he was given to take his daily consumption of this small habit of his. Imagine this man was considered one of the cleanest prime ministers of Nepal, but one can only visualize the grip that the Indians had on him.
Now we have some of the most corrupt leaders, bureaucrats and high-level security personnel who are not only greedy but equally influenced by India or some other foreign powers. Though this writer is also some sort of a media person, he simply cannot ignore the other media individuals, who because of their political affiliations, aspirations and their desire to earn more money and visit foreign lands, have also contributed to helping spread wrong information. But that is exactly what the Western powers who always hide behind the shield of ‘Free Speech and Freedom of Expression’ want. This is a real tragedy for a small and otherwise harmonious country like Nepal, but sadly this is the truth which other least developed countries with some natural resources are also facing, just because of the ‘Goodwill’ of the Western powers or a neighbor like India.
But to come back to where we started about the short-sightedness of our political leaders and the greed of bureaucrats and so-called civil society leaders and media persons, a time has come when the nation has not only been divided politically but dangerously in a communal manner and religiously as well. Now even small-time wage earners talk of how they have to take much more money than they earn just to buy vegetables, a staple diet in the daily meal of any average Nepali. While the few rich people are getting richer, the majority of the people are getting poorer and thus the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider. Some people are also talking about how individuals are committing suicide because of the economic problems they are facing. Middle-level industries which mostly provided employment, are closing down and thousands of youths are leaving the country day by day as they see no future here. This makes it easier for outsiders, including India, to have more influence in otherwise independent Nepal. But the political leaders who mostly came from villages in slippers, but who have become millionaires now, don’t care what happens to the country and the people as long as they have their personal dreams fulfilled by either corrupt businessmen or foreign powers.
I hate to end this write-up on a distressing note, but it indeed seems like individuals who are proud of Nepal’s independence and also have some integrity, are going to see even a bleaker future as long as we have corrupt leaders and the interference of bigger powers who always say they want to see a better Nepal.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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