By Narayan Prasad Mishra
Every nation faces visible dangers—corruption, poverty, instability, and external pressure—but the most destructive threat is often invisible: intellectual dishonesty. It quietly erodes integrity, distorts truth, and poisons judgment. In Nepal, this danger has become deeply embedded in politics, education, the media, and social life, making genuine progress difficult even when resources and goodwill are available.
What is intellectual dishonesty?
Intellectual dishonesty is not simply lying. It is the deliberate distortion or concealment of truth to serve personal interest or ideology. It appears in the selective use of facts, moral compromise, and the manipulation of knowledge to justify the unjustifiable. While material corruption steals money, intellectual dishonesty steals meaning, truth, and trust. When leaders, scholars, journalists, and citizens engage in it, the foundation of a just society collapses.
In our country, Nepal—rich in beauty, faith, and cultural heritage but poor in governance—this form of dishonesty has become pervasive. It is visible in speeches, policies, classrooms, and even everyday conversations. It helps explain why good ideas often fail and why wrongdoers frequently prosper.
A Legacy of Self-Deception
Nepal’s modern political history is full of transitions that promised renewal but delivered disappointment. Each era—from monarchy to multi-party democracy to a federal republic—claimed moral legitimacy while quietly reproducing the same habits of self-deception.
When Nepal’s first elected democratic government was formed in 1959 under B.P. Koirala, people believed that a new dawn had arrived. But political tensions soon grew, and in 1960, King Mahendra dissolved Parliament, accusing the government of corruption and inefficiency. He justified his action as necessary to save the nation, and many intellectuals supported him.
Thus began the Panchayat system, which lasted thirty years—not merely through force but also through the cooperation of bureaucrats, scholars, and the media. I remember those days clearly. In public, many praised the system; in private, they criticized it. Yet after the 1990 democratic movement, many of the same individuals quickly reinvented themselves as champions of multiparty democracy without reflection or accountability.
This pattern continued after the restoration of democracy in 1990 and again after the abolition of the monarchy in 2008. Political labels changed—democratic, federal, republican—but the mindset often remained the same. Governments promised transparency while expanding networks of favoritism, and parties spoke of national unity while deepening divisions for electoral gain.
What enabled this pattern was intellectual dishonesty—the unwillingness of educated people to speak truth to power, or even to themselves.
Dishonesty in Politics and Institutions
Nowhere is intellectual dishonesty more visible than in politics. Leaders speak of sacrifice while practicing self-service. They invoke the people’s name but use power for personal or party benefit.
Recent scandals—including the fake Bhutanese refugee scheme, cooperative financial fraud, and the misuse of development funds—demonstrate how corruption operates through networks of politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, and business interests. The problem is not only the wrongdoing itself but also attempts to justify or minimize it.
When intellectuals defend corruption as “practical politics,” they make dishonesty respectable. When journalists distort facts for patronage, the free press becomes propaganda. When professors remain silent about injustice, they educate students in cowardice rather than courage.
Dishonesty in Education
Education should be the temple of truth. In Nepal, however, it has too often become a place where conformity is rewarded and independent thought discouraged.
My beloved wife, Shanti Mishra—the founding Chief Librarian of the Tribhuvan University Central Library—and I, who served as Chief of the Tribhuvan University Service Commission Office and held several other positions, experienced this reality personally. Because of our independent thinking, honesty, and integrity, we were given premature retirement in 1992 during the vice-chancellorship of Kedar Bhakta Mathema. We were sidelined not for failing in our duties, but for doing them too well. During my professional life in education and library services, I saw honest people discouraged from questioning established practices. At the same time, others advanced quickly by mastering the art of flattery.
Universities that should serve as centers of knowledge have increasingly become arenas of political competition. Leadership positions are often influenced by party affiliation rather than academic excellence. When knowledge itself becomes a tool of manipulation, society loses one of its most important guardians of truth.
Dishonesty in Society
Intellectual dishonesty is not limited to elites. It has seeped into everyday life. Nepalis often speak of truth and dharma, yet in practice, dishonesty is frequently tolerated as a survival strategy. A businessman avoids taxes and calls it cleverness. A public official delays work until informal “gratitude” is offered.
Even religion sometimes becomes entangled with hypocrisy. Rituals flourish, temples are crowded, and religious language is abundant, yet moral conduct in public life often remains weak. When virtue is mocked and deception rewarded, society gradually loses its moral direction.
The Moral Consequences
The greatest danger of intellectual dishonesty is moral decay. Once truth loses its value, everything becomes negotiable—justice, rights, and even patriotism. Society becomes cynical, seeing little difference between right and wrong.
In this situation, many of our leaders—whether democrats, communists, socialists, or royalists—have behaved like Ravana and Kansa, the legendary tyrants of our religious epics. Their self-centered followers and party workers have supported them in the same spirit. Many believed they would never lose power and that the people would continue to trust them regardless of their actions.
For several decades, I have spoken and written against these wrongdoings. At times, I, too, felt discouraged about the possibility of meaningful change. Keeping this concern in mind, I wrote in my article “Nepal: Beauty, Suffering, and an Unanswered Mystery,” published in People’s Review on February 26, 2026.
“Despite corruption, injustice, and repeated betrayals, the people may once again place their trust in the very forces that have failed them.”
To my conscience, Nepal has suffered not from a shortage of policies but from a shortage of honesty. Laws can be written and institutions established, but conscience cannot be legislated.
Yet I am encouraged by the honesty, wisdom, and moral courage shown by the people in the recent general election. I sincerely believe that an intellectual revolution has occurred in Nepal. I congratulate those citizens who voted with conscience and integrity, rejecting dishonesty and wrongdoing. At the same time, I sincerely hope that the leaders and parties entrusted with power will honor that trust by serving the people and the nation with honesty and dedication, without betraying the nation and its people, as earlier politicians did.
A Path Forward
National transformation begins with personal integrity. The future of Nepal will depend not only on elections and economic policies but also on whether its citizens—especially the educated and influential—choose integrity over convenience.
History shows that nations decline not merely because of corrupt leaders but because too many honest people remain silent. Nepal’s renewal will begin when truth is spoken without fear and when integrity becomes stronger than loyalty to parties or power.
If honesty once again becomes the guiding principle of our public life, Nepal’s immense beauty, wisdom, and spiritual heritage will no longer stand in painful contrast to its politics. They will instead become the foundation of a just, dignified, and hopeful nation.
For in the end, the future of Nepal will not be shaped by slogans or promises, but by the courage of its people to choose truth over deception and conscience over convenience
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