By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
In this hour of great sorrow and need, China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang have expressed deep sorrow over the loss and damage suffered by Nepalese in the major disaster that struck the upper reaches of the Trisuli, and downstream districts.
They have paid tribute to those who lost their lives in the devastating floods.
Unnoticed in the plethora of news, was also the fact that the present King of Bhutan, the former Druk Gyalpo and the entire royal family led prayers and lit a thousand butter lamps according to Buddhist-Bhutanese traditions on behalf of the victims and sympathy for the people of Nepal.
The Nepalese people and the government should take due note of the deep neighbourly concern and compassion.
The necessity of deeper and sustained relations with our northern neighbour has become blatantly apparent.
From the geopolitical perspective, we must now shed the policy of equidistance between the two great civilizations of Asia and pursue that of equal proximity.
We must increase our bilateral trade by leaps and bounds, offer quality and attractive tourism to our Chinese guests and make bilateral disaster prognosis and management a pressing issue.
For this, we also need to augment the number of China experts and Manadarin-speakers a hundred-fold.
At the same time, we have a great duty to the bereaved families and those who have lost everything.
We should not leave everything to the government. It is also our sacred duty to control the government and demand accountability.
The families facing loss and destruction must be adequately compensated and rehabilitated, and long term plans for sustainable reconstruction formulated.
The government must enunciate short-, middle- and long-term plans and discuss them with the people of the affected areas.
In this dire situation, the government must establish task forces for the various urgent endeavours facing the country.
First, it is necessary to identify the major tasks/problems/crises.
Second, then to identify the experts willing and able to take on the job of confronting these problems.
One of the most urgent tasks is to take care of women and children left stranded.
For them and others devastated by the calamity, psychologists must be recruited immediately.
The relevant ministries must be put in full gear.
Until now, the work of the government has been exemplary. It must continue to do so full steam ahead.
The writer can be reached at: shashimalla125@gmail.com
Login to add a comment