| Biswo |
Posted
on 11-May-02 05:07 PM
It has been long since streets of Kathmandu have seen any victory parades. People of our generation react with disbelief if someone narrates about the
glorious(?) past of Nepal as a colonial power. But regional power we were, glorious
and feared one, from south to north, from west to east.
Bhimsen Thapa was the prime minister with probably the most stained hands. He
was a brutal prime minister from all accounts. He mutilated and killed his enemies in
the way Maoists pale in comparison. Damodar Pande was beheaded, and the king
of Palpa Harihar Sen was beheaded too. A lot of members of Pandey clans were
killed, trampled by elephants and their wives were given to the so called 'pode's.
He ruled for thirty years with the extravaganza unmatched by any other PMs who
ruled Nepal before him. King Rana Bdr, The regent queen mother Lalit Tripura,
everyone was in awe with him. He didn't have any son, but he made his brother's
son, Mathbar Singh, an extravagant and profligate Thapa, head of army. He made
Dharahara inside his palace. For detail of history concering Bhimsen Thapa, please
read books of Itihaas Shiromani Baburam Acharya.
The purpose of this article is not to sully his image. It is to draw attention to one
specific aspect of his life: he was not a military person, yet his power stemmed
from military of Nepal. Whenever Nepalese army (they were not regimented army
living in barrack until then) won any principality in west, there used to be a victory
parade in the street of Kathmandu, and Bhimsen Thapa's populatiry used to surge.
Our democracy of that time was based on such extravaganza, and such public
support gimmicks only. War makes rulers popular, Saddam and George BushII are
the examples of that, and we were no exception. Bhimsen Thapa forced our
unprepared army to go to war with British colonialists despite the objections from
army generals like Amar Singh Thapa, because Bhimsen Thapa had no clue about
war,yet he craftily managed to cling to the power even after (loss of ) the war of
Sugauli and vicinity.
We are in war again. Our PM's popularity is also dependant on the success of this
war. His performance in this war. His way of playing this war game, cobbling
together allies and planning effective assault. After 235 years, there is someone ,
Prachanda, in Nepal's history who is seriously planning a massive invasion of
Kathmandu. If he really manages an attack, it will definitely be a hisotric moment
for Nepal though the likelihood is the 'slimmest'. Profligate lifestyle of
Kathmandu's rulers helped King Prithvi secure victory then, and today's rulers
need to learn lessons from that history. Good thing for civilians about the war of
19th century was King Prithvi didn't destroy houses , lobbed rockets to civilian
targets, and so Kathmandu's architecture was pretty much spared. Will
we see deserted, destroyed, demolished town of Kathmandu(much like Kabul)
after this war, or whatever the outcome of the war(which I don't doubt by the way), the glorious city will be spared?
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