By Ankit Thapa
We Nepalese have witnessed shortages of many essential items in the market time and again. People are especially badly affected when there is a shortage of fuel products.
It is particularly ironic that such shortages occur when major festivals or occasions are just around the corner. For example, as the biggest festivals, Dashain and Tihar, approach day by day, we are seeing a huge shortage of cooking gas and even sugar. As always, people expect prices to soar during these times, when they are expected to spend a little more extravagantly to celebrate the festivals. From meat and other foodstuffs to clothes and other expenses, everything becomes a financial burden for most people, including those in the middle class.
Right now, although the government has been saying that it is supplying thousands of litres of cooking gas in Kathmandu alone, for instance, many households are facing a severe shortage and are even cooking with electric appliances. As many people live in rented accommodation, they are not even allowed to use alternative means for cooking or for simple things such as heating water.
Besides the two major festivals, the cold winter days are also approaching.
Therefore, people will need more energy to keep themselves warm and comfortable. However, they are at a disadvantage because of the shortage of fuel products and the lack of other alternatives that could replace them.
Governments in the past have promised the public that they would not allow shortages of essential supplies and would control the market through government outlets across the country. But this has never happened in reality. Instead, market prices soar even further during such periods.
We cannot blame only the government for these problems or the greedy businessmen who try to take full advantage of ordinary people, who are socially compelled to make their families and others happy during the festive season. Here, it may not be out of context to particularly blame one of our neighbours, which has repeatedly imposed unnecessary embargoes and other restrictions on Nepal at crucial times. The shortages of fuel and cooking gas can be taken as examples.
Like many others, this author also feels that the late Prime Minister Marich Man Singh Shrestha was the only person who showed the courage to fight back against the intention of one of our neighbours to completely cripple Nepal through sanctions. This caused huge difficulties in Nepal, and Marich Man was eventually removed from power through mass protests allegedly instigated by certain outside powers.
This is not the first time that foreign powers have played a role in bringing about changes in Nepal. Even now, certain experts blame foreigners for the ousting of the kings who had ruled this country for more than two centuries. This, however, was not the beginning of the troubles faced by the citizens of the country. The problems had begun much earlier, during the second phase of multi-party democracy, through which the political parties created political chaos after the restoration of this system following the end of the Rana regime, which had significantly hampered the country’s development.
But the sad fact is that not only did the political parties of that time make the situation more unstable, chaotic and confusing; later, they became even more disastrous and brought the nation to its knees, forcing it to depend on others for almost everything, especially on neighbouring countries and developed nations that could easily spend funds to influence smaller countries for their own vested interests. Nepal, being a small and impoverished country, could not escape from this dangerous scheme of powerful countries.
The way the political parties have played their roles since the re-establishment of democracy has become an even bigger curse for the nation. Forget corruption and nepotism; they have not only become puppets of foreign powers but have also sold the country’s national assets, as well as its land and rivers, which is unacceptable to any nationalist. This is one of the biggest tragedies for Nepal in recent decades, and true nationalists support the role of the former royal dynasty rather than the weak political parties, which are virtually like servants of foreign powers.
It is not for nothing that we say that our political leaders, civil servants and even security forces are virtually like servants of these external powers.
That is perhaps why we are seeing shortages of many essential goods. There appears to be an artificial increase in the prices of everything essential at a time that should be a season of joy and celebration for the general public. We understand that Prime Minister Balen Shah cannot do much in this situation, but it is the responsibility of all government agencies to try to reduce these problems facing the nation.
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