By L.D. Pulami
So what will happen to the nation?
The answer to this question is that it is virtually sure no matter who leads the government or who is in it or not, the country will continue to head towards the path of more confrontation and conflict.
Only the corrupt and greedy leaders and some of their henchmen or some individuals who take advantage of the weak presence of the government, in many aspects, will reap benefits at the cost of the nation and the people, while the rest will suffer.
But before we say anything about the political outcome of the constant tussle for power between the major political parties and their leaders, it would not be fair if one did not also dwell on some diverse issues which are troubling the nation at present and at the same time bringing more hardships and a feeling of insecurity in the people in general as well.
For now, the stand-off between the parties in the government and those sitting in the opposition has finally ended and it is expected that the proceedings in the parliament will go ahead smoothly. At the same time, it is still uncertain what will happen to this government and whether another alliance will be formed to replace it. This a political scenario with which we have to learn to live, though it has come at a heavy cost for the country and the general public.
Not only are the parties in the opposition benches trying to forge an alliance to topple the present government, but there seems to be some indication that the parties within the present alliance itself are also fighting an internal battle. The first attack came from the largest party in the government, the CPN (UML), when its chairman and former prime minister KP Oli said that it would have been better if the finance minister, belonging to the Maoists Center, had held consultations with the other parties in the government before the budget was announced. He pointedly said that the budget seems to have ’tilted’ more to Maoist programmes. This statement of Oli has drawn the attention of many political pundits who opine that this outburst of the president of the largest party in the present government, has brought to the surface, the suspicion and tussle which exists within the ruling alliance. This can be verified by the way some MPs in the parliament have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the budget.
Besides the budget, there are other things which have attracted the attention of the people in general as well, the number one being the adamant manner in which deputy prime minister Ravi Lamichhane, who heads the powerful home ministry, has refused to step down though a parliamentary committee has already been formed to look into the misappropriation of the savings of depositors in different cooperatives and the minister has also been accused of being one of the beneficiaries in this scam. The people, specially leaders of the opposition Nepali Congress are alleging that a fair investigation would not be possible as long as Lamichhane holds the home ministry portfolio, which has under it all the police institutions, including the investigating Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) that looks into such cases. Charismatic youth leader of the Nepali Congress had accused the DPM had manipulated the IGP of Nepal Police, Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the attorney general, to speak in defense for him in this case, which they all did.
The second issue is the manner in which PM Dahal, CPN (UML) leader Oli, Madhav Nepal of CPN (Unified Socialist) and even Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba are indulging in a shameless political tussle to be the next prime minister, while they are totally ignoring all other activities concerning the development of the country and the wellbeing of the common citizens.
Another issue which has rattled the curiosity of many Nepalese, is the arrest of the chairman of the Kantipur media on the charge of having two different citizenship cards. Many internal agencies including Amnesty International and recently also the European Union (EU) have poked their noses in this matter, which actually is totally within the jurisdiction of the Nepali government and an internal matter of this country. Most, including some editors who have worked for Kantipur, are also alleging that this arrest of this man, Kailash Sirohiya, is a direct attack on the media and freedom of the press in Nepal. But the fact remains that he has been charged with a different offense which has nothing to do with the media.
A controversial entrepreneur who has built an expensive cancer hospital in Eastern Nepal had made a comment which was widely shared on social media. He said that ‘he also was a doctor because he owned the hospital’, exactly like Sirohiya was a journalist just because he owns a media group.
Indeed, this person is just a mere businessman who cannily invested in this media house at the right time by ousting the real owner, Shyam Goenka, who had started this business. Now Sirohiya is boasting that he had fought with his blood, risking his life for the establishment of democracy in the country and also in making Nepal a republic. Such a statement, many old-timer journalists have said, ‘can only be taken with a pinch of salt’. Few others have even called Sirohiya a ‘blackmailer’ who threatens others by saying his media outlets would go against a person or party if they do not do as he says. One ordinary woman was even shown tearing up a copy of Kantipur daily in an online channel. Similarly, former TV journalist Rama Singh pointed out that one media house owning different media outlets, would not be allowed even by the most liberal governments and it was not pragmatic or professionally ethical to do this.
The popularity of the Kantipur daily and Kantipur TV have gone down significantly with many people saying that what Kantipur was doing is not right. Deputy PM Lamichhane also said in a meeting with the press that the paper was threatening many individuals and institutions and writing news which was totally ‘biased’. It may be recalled that this daily had continuously written negative news about the DPM and his involvement in the cooperative scam.
The most simple and honest people said that they would believe there has been an attack on the free press, as suggested by foreigners and some clever editors who were once on the payroll of Sirohiya’s company, only if they were convinced that Sirohiya is a real journalist and he has risked his life for all the political uprisings since 1990 and also ‘struggled’ for introducing ‘loktantra’ and a republican system in the country.
The same rule also applies to the claims of DPM Lamichhane that he is innocent, and also his almost helpless party colleagues, who defend him.
Actually, these are just trivial matters which must not be allowed to put in the shadows the real needs of the nation for its independent existence and also for the wellbeing of the common masses. These would be mere diversion of attention that should have been given to the major issues, which have been troubling the nation and the people, in recent times.
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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