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| dhatterika!!! |
Posted
on 04-Jun-04 10:23 PM
Hello All:
The following plea purported to be written by one Madhu Ghimire of Maitidevi, Kathmandu was emailed to me by a friend. What Mr. Ghimire expresses in his plea to the King reflects in my opinion, very much of what a conscious Nepali Citizen (wherever s/he may be, in Nepal or outside) must be pondering and wondering under the current political situation in Nepal. Please read and express your opinions, (agreements, disagreements, hope, anguish, despair, anger, whatever you feel like expressing). Although, it is a lengthy plea by normal standards, it is worth your perusal. The text of the plea follows: It is posted in more than one parts.
Plea to His Majesty the King
- 2 June 2004
Maitidevi,
Kathmandu
Your Majesty,
This is an impassioned plea about bringing the country back to a sane
path that would lead her towards the goals of peace and progress.
Some may seek apologies for writing openly to the King but I firmly
believe that any communication between the people and the King should be
completely open and transparent at this most difficult juncture. Private
talks between various political figures and the King add to the problem
by diminishing the credibility of both parties and mostly work against
the resolution of the problem. They are often seen as conspiring against
the people. Very often, these behind-the-curtain interactions, including
the appointment of the Prime Minister in this manner, only serve to meet
individual interests at the cost of the interest of the nation and of
the people. Lots of times we have heard the so-called people's
representative come out of the Palace and tell the Press that the
interaction between the King and the 'People's Leaders' is not for
revealing to the Press or to the common people. What a revelation indeed
of their commitment to democracy and to the people's rights of
information ensured by our constitution!
This appellant is an ordinary citizen of this country but perhaps more
fortunate than the vast majority of his compatriots in that he has had
the fortune of acquiring university education in this country and
abroad. He has also had the fortune to serve this country and his fellow
citizens constantly for the past 19 years as a skilled professional. In
return, he has been loved and cared for by his fellow citizens, brothers
and sisters of the realm.
Most of our compatriots have no other course than to silently suffer
the consequences of the national imbroglio caused by the rich and
powerful serving their self-interests at the cost of the very existence
of the nation and the survival of its common folks. This arouses certain
sense of duty to speak on their behalf and in doing so, if this citizen
has to abandon the sense of fear, self protection and preservation, so
be it. I say this not with any trace of impertinence but with deep
humility. When a real duty stares at any one of us, our values afford us
very little in the way of fear or self-protection or preservation. In
the situation that we are in, calling spade a spade is not the only
natural thing to do but also the right one. In the Emperor's New
Clothes not only were the sycophants around the Emperor at fault but the
Emperor himself was too! He must take responsibility for his
overindulgence.
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| dhatterika!!! |
Posted
on 04-Jun-04 10:25 PM
2nd part follows:
What am I talking about? I think I am talking about justice and freedom
for the Nepali people. Yes, the real justice and the real freedom! Not
the justice and freedom scribed on the legal papers, nor those stamped
on the ballot papers that tend to get rigged or bought by the dishonest,
rich and powerful. Some go on to say that the Nepali people need justice
more than freedom right now. But they don't seem to realize that a
slave can never receive justice; he may receive somebody's favour or
kindness, out of pity perhaps, but justice, never! In order to receive
justice human beings need to be free first.
Abject poverty, daily humiliations, and constant physical suffering and
mental anguish are the realities of an average Nepali life. Depression
is the norm with which to describe an average adult mind; lack of it
would be either a rare exception or an abnormal state, given our
situation.
Having to scrape a bare subsistence for the day out of nothing in sight
on waking up in the morning, having to realize that there is really no
value attached to a common human life, learning each new day that human
rights are meaningless words suspended in the thin air of legal cobwebs,
having to listen to false promises all the time and to experience each
new day that nothing ever gets better but only worse, and having to live
every moment with one's own impotence in improving one's situation
in life lead every sane individual to despair.
Many of our compatriots, Your Majesty, are also heading that way. Those
who seek not to lose what they possess strive hard to maintain the
status quo against the backdrop of all these conditions. This brings
chaos and conflict which we have witnessed all through our lives. A man
in total despair seeks an outlet and the potential for widespread
destruction by his desperate actions, of life and property, is not for
him a relevant concern. He, in fact, begins to perceive his emancipation
only in total destruction. That is the only way I can explain to myself
the minds of the so-called suicide bombers in today's Islamic world.
Our own compatriots are not far removed from these conditions. Maoist
movement, despite the abhorrent violence, gathered some credence in our
country precisely because of these reasons. This should be a matter of
concern to all of us. An extremely infectious behaviour among the
vulnerable population, this can bring about
unimagined consequences and horror to this nation.
Unfortunately the consequences fall not upon those that are responsible
for the condition we are in but on those who are innocent and helpless
in this situation. This nation is home to all of us. This nation belongs
to all of us and again all of us belong to this nation. These are the
basic sentiments behind the concept of nationhood although completely
neglected by the politicians as well as the institution of monarchy in
our country. People and the nation do not belong to a leader or to any
party or an institution. They are the foundations on which the aspiring
institution has to base itself and derive its moral and political
strengths from. Weak people and the weak nation augur well neither for
the political leaders nor for the monarch. In such a situation both
become the stooge of outside forces. Should we not seek to emerge as a
cohesive national unit that can ward off the evil intentions cast on us
by outsiders? Forgive me for displaying this paranoia but it is not
completely out-of-place here.
Notwithstanding the negatives of the post-1990 elected governments, the
system that our constitution mandated brought about tangible benefits to
this nation. The developmental parameters over the period contrast
sharply against those stagnating figures during the three decades of
Panchayat rule. Without corruption and the many flaws in governance the
outcomes would have been even better. None would doubt that the leaders
of the political parties were primarily responsible for driving the
country towards this unfortunate direction. However, I feel that they
are not the only ones responsible. The Palatial intrigues, through many
bureaucrats groomed during the heydays of Panchayat, were equally
responsible for the way the elected governments performed. The agenda of
the Palace was to bring about as much discredit to the elected
governments as possible. In doing so the experience and the skill gained
during the Panchayat days must have helped the Palace and its supporters
immensely. All this, because the Palace never willed to reconcile with
the idea of the democratic rule for the country. They wished the country
to remain for them the prize won by their ancestors and the people their
obedient and docile subjects! The think tank at the Palace thought that
by discrediting certain individuals they would be able to discredit the
democratic polity itself.
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| dhatterika!!! |
Posted
on 04-Jun-04 10:27 PM
Here is the third and hopefully the last part:
Nepali people are not willing to give up democracy for anything else,
howsoever enticingly the alternative presented to them. They know well
that only by embracing full democracy can they carve their own destiny.
In fact, they have now learnt that only in democratic system it is
possible to expose fully the corrupt political and bureaucratic
behaviour. People, therefore, wish to bring the crown fully under the
constitution and to make the constitutional functions of the Palace
completely transparent. If the Palace begins to read positive notes in
all this, there is an urgent need to act now. No individual or
institution should be asserting to remain above the general will of the
people. People's general will does not emerge from the barrels of the
gun. It emerges in an environment that allows free _expression of the
will. Caught between the two armies with divergent political interests
it is
impossible at present to extract a freely
expressed general will from the Nepali populace.
Most of us in our moments of level-headed thinking still prefer to
retain the institution of monarchy but not the kind perceived as an
imposed one. As an institution, it needs to be self-disciplined and not
overindulgent, transparent and forward looking and not shrouded in myths
and traditions, a facilitator in people's efforts rather than a
conspirator against people's aspirations, a mature advisor to the
political leadership rather than their competitor. Monarchy along these
lines would take fresh and healthy roots in our nation and allow the
people the necessary pride in the institution. Such a state would be the
most desirable one for our nation. Given the right kind of environment,
large majority of the country's population would freely express this.
Before anything else, we have a duty to create that kind of environment.
With lost credibility on all the political fronts, it will take hard
decisions and some forsaking of the personal ego by all the involved
parties.
Under the circumstances, would it not be only rational to consider
handing the law and order responsibility for a time to an international
authority without any bias interest in our political make-up? This body
would disable both armies, maintain law and order by using neutral force
and seek people's general will through a referendum or through the
election of a constituent assembly. This is one way to allow the people
to express their will freely. There may be other ways and even better
ones but let's not waste too much time looking for them. It may then
be too late!
Making this honest plea to Your Majesty with utmost loyalty and
unshakeable faith in the constitutional monarchy and justice and freedom
for the Nepali people,
I remain,
Madhu Ghimire,
A common citizen of the country
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