Dismal State of the Nation
* Former King Gyanendra Sends Powerful Message
* RPP’s Lingden Makes Urgent & Concerned Call for People’s Action
By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
The country is going through a very difficult situation, but the dons of the various political parties/Mafia families seem helpless to give hope to the dejected people of the so-called Himalayan Democratic Republic.
For all practical purposes, the country is in a deep crisis and leaderless.
In this dire situation, the former king, HM Gyanendra has fearlessly hit the nail on the head and criticized the main political parties.
They had failed utterly to bring peace, stability and progress in the country underlined by the fact that unrest is increasing among the general public (The Annapurna Express, Jan. 29).
The King was addressing a program in Birgunj last Saturday. As is their wont, this major event was ignored by the mainstream print and electronic media, which in a cowardly manner and against the principles of a free and vibrant press chose self-censorship.
He noted that 15 years after his abdication, today “discontent, frustration, worry, and anger are prevalent everywhere.”
Even after such a damning judgement, the emasculated dons, who put self and party first, and the country last, have been made mostly speechless.
Former King Gyanendra hinted indirectly that he was willing and able to work again to avoid further destruction to the country and maintain the credibility of democracy.
In the grand tradition of his illustrious forbear Prithvi Narayan Shah, he projected himself as a unifier and emphasized the urgent need for unity among all Nepalese and groups for the greater good of the country.
He, therefore, appealed to all countrymen to not engage in divisive, sectarian and confrontational politics.
Brain & ‘Brawn’ Drain
HM Gyanendra pointed to a most acute problem facing the country – the fact that our villages and the countryside are being denuded of able-bodied youth going abroad for work and study.
As he aptly put it: “Our country is facing the extreme misfortune of becoming deserted and impoverished everywhere. The time has come to think about putting an end to this situation.”
Unfortunately, the greedy dons of the Himalayan Democratic Republic neither have the capacity nor the inclination to tackle this existential threat of our own making.
[In the present writer’s own ancestral village of Pang, also the seat/residence of the erstwhile Raja of Parbat & Shekham, the total number of pupils in the school has been reduced from 450 to 250. In the district headquarters of Kusma, two flourishing and independent campuses have had to amalgamate because of diminishing students].
Lingden Calls for a New People’s Movement
Thus, Nepal finds itself between the devil and the deep blue. To do nothing, would be to make a bad situation even worse.
The Chairman of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Rajendra Lingden is possibly the only genuine political party leader capable of forging an alliance between the future constitutional monarch and the sovereign people to create a new and dynamic social contract.
Lingden has recognized that: “Public frustration is boiling up as the country’s economy is in the doldrums. Capital flight is increasing, there are no jobs and corruption is entrenched. To resolve all these issues we need to forge a new political agreement” (The Annapurna Express, Jan. 25).
From this realization is the urgent call for action.
In Lingden’s view, the country cannot wait until the next general elections of 2084 BS ( 2027 AD) to bring about urgent and necessary changes.
“Economic crisis, corruption and bad governance are bringing the country to its knees, but the major parties and their leaders have not realized this,” he added.
Lingden with the support of all Nepalese of goodwill is, therefore, planning mass but peaceful street protests to bring about regime change. It’s a question of ‘now or never’.
The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
Login to add a comment