Balendra is not a Superman or Superhero
His Latest Statement a Major Faux Pas
By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
As mayor of Kathmandu, Balendra Shah was known as a man of action. He didn’t speak much.
On the national stage, the people gave the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) an overwhelming mandate because they were sick and tired of the machinations of the three main political parties – The Nepali Congress, the Unified Marxists-Leninists, and the Maoists.
They believed and hoped that the new party would sweep clean.
The nearly two-thirds majority in parliament of the RSP was not only of Balendra Shah’s making. He is, therefore, neither a superman or a superhero.
The people expect him to do his job well and not give grand speeches. However, his behaviour and attitude should not hamper his main work.
In a functioning parliamentary democracy, silence at every twist and turn is not an option. It cannot be defended as strategic.
No one expects him to be like Donald Trump, who has an opinion on every subject, but no solid policy goals.
Balendra Shah’s obdurate silence is obfuscating the government’s agenda.
It is well and good to have the motto:
Speech is silver, but silence is golden
But this is not valid on every occasion and at all times.
A taciturn but edified listener is praiseworthy, but a leader’s behavior could very well be interpreted as hubris and against the nation’s larger national interests — ‘a conspiracy of silence’ as the French philosopher August Comte noted in another context.
A wag could even say: ‘his silence speaks volumes’, but in a negative context.
As the Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson wrote: “The cruelest lies are often told in silence.”
While campaigning, Balen did well to speak out clearly: ‘I am a son of Madhes’. People respected him for this.
Without knowing it, such clarity goes back to Roman times.
The statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero acclaimed: “I am a Roman citizen”; as did U.S. President John F. Kennedy: ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ [to show his solidarity with the people of West Berlin during the infamous Soviet blockade].
And as the German novelist Thomas Mann wrote: “Speech is civilization itself. The word, even the most contradictory word preserves contact – it is silence which isolates.
Balendra Shah’s Latest Statement: A Himalayan Blunder
After a long silence, the prime minister spoke in parliament, but made a major gaffe.
In answering a question from an opposition lawmaker, Shah made the unnecessary statement: “It’s not just India; Nepal too has encroached upon Indian territory in many places.”
In one fell swoop, Shah has undermined Nepal’s position in Limpiadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh.
And this after consulting Nepalese experts.
As PM, Shah has compromised Nepal’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Now, he has only two options: either to apologize to parliament and the Nepalese people, or to resign.
Let us now see whether the combined opposition in parliament has the mettle and guts to follow up.
The writer can be reached at: shashimalla125@gmail.com
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