Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Letter to NepaliPerspectives: A Choice-less Election

(Courtesy: Satyajeet Nepali)

Dear NepaliPerspectives:

I am a regular visitor of your blog, and would like to congratulate you for the valuable contribution you're making to represent diverse perspectives of the Nepalese people in these difficult times. After going through the over-worn rhetoric one usually finds in most mainstream papers, it is refreshing to read the invariably honest, pertinent, and well-written views on your blog.

I have one grievance against your site that while it carries articles of the usual length, it doesn't seem to provide space for shorter reactions from its readers such as a "Letter to the Editor" section. Many Nepalese are unable to express their views either because writing a full-length article is a bit of an indimidating task or because they do not have the time for it.

However, it is easier and quicker to write a paragraph or two, which are also hard-hitting. I would like to request you to provide space for such short snippets from your readers too, and am sending one to begin with. I hope you will find some space for it.

Thank you.

----------

Letter to NepaliPerspectives: A Choice-less Election

Dear NepaliPerspectives,

With the NC’s embracing of a “federal democratic republic” as their objective, a Rubicon has been passed in Nepalese politics. While this clears up the confusion and paves the way for CA elections, it also sounds the death-knell for a truly free and fair election, and thence a just peace in this country.

If the three major parties are all for republic, it is unlikely any other smaller parties will root for any form of monarchy, or that they will be effective even if they do. This means that the CA election is going to be a choice-less election. The Nepalese people will have to vote for a republic out of compulsion. What is this if not a farce? What’s the point of having an election if there is no real choice?

The Nepalese people, the large and silent majority, supported CA election believing that the political candidates would represent our views in the assembly. Now the politicians’ views and agenda are being forced down on us, and we’re being asked to rubber-stamp it.

There is no option now but to have a referendum on the monarchy concurrently with the CA election. If we allow this farcical election to take place as it is, then the politicians will forever rule “new Nepal” in a farcical manner. If one illegitimate and unjust act is allowed to pass, more are bound to follow.

In order to teach the parties, once and for all, that they are here to represent our views, not to force theirs on us; to teach them that we did not fight the king’s authoritarianism to be replaced by theirs; and to teach them that sovereignty in this land belongs truly and only to the people, not to the parties, we have to root for a referendum now to decide the fate of the monarchy. Only then can the people of this proud land claim to be the true sovereigns of this nation.

Otherwise sovereignty will simply pass from the Shahs to a confederation of Bahuns and that’s it.

Satyajeet Nepali
Kathmandu.

15 comments:

Avinash Aditya said...

Do you really believe that any of the three major political parties want to abolish monarchy? They have started to change their tunes. Someday you will hear from Madhav Nepal about the neccessity of retaining monarchy.
They will just sing what India wants them to sing. Sujata has started singing loudly and so has Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. Even people like Surya Bahadur Thapa and Sher B. Deuba who were treated ignonimously will start singing about the neccessity of retaining monarchy.
India is keeping monarchy because if the parties fail to do its bidding (accept a Bhutan like status)it will use the King to stage a coup against the parties like it used the parties to stage a coup against the King for not signin in the documents that will curtail Nepal's sovereignty and make it a real vassal state.

Anonymous said...

Avinash, let me put it this way.. that weasel Girija has said that CA elections will be held at all costs and that the NC will adopt a republican agenda.

Like all other promises this idiot has made, it only means that neither will ever happen.

Anonymous said...

We speak against this and that, make accusations which we know will not stick, and are really sorry about state of affairs but the crux is we all know it is not within our hands to determine our own destiny - so much for loktrantra.

It is beyond me to comprehend how people analyze and cross analyze all in vain as nation which we call home slip through our hands. The point is if Monrachy is gone, the same awaits us who feel safe punching keyboards from a distance with feeling of being imprevious to intent of maoist and delusional tendencies of SPA.

The attempt to see whole incidents as against or for is meaningless as inside all that soul of a nation is wantonly being shredded to create which has no precedent or a basic frame work which can see the light of day. The loser in a sense will be not Monarchy or just 8 party nor maoist but a NATION. Its time to think in collective terms rarther than on idealogicial or on pure party line.
DOA

Anonymous said...

please read it- shine a light


http://www.nepalnews.com.np/archive/2007/others/guestcolumn/sep/guest_columns_05.php

Anonymous said...

What is this lendhup thing? Some kind of warning for Nepalis?

Nepal is already de-facto India people. So all can stop with this pretending that we are still sovereign.

Anonymous said...

Nepal is not a part of India. It never was and it never will be.

Anonymous said...

I don't mind if Nepal is under India's control as long as it is not under Maoist's and Bahunist's control.

Anonymous said...

There won't be any election. The brainless people only imagine about the election at present moment. Until and unless maoist is secured to win the election, there won't be any election. They killed 14,000 people and made Janaandolan-2 success with all hook and crook just to reside the spa leaders in power? Not at all.....

Anonymous said...

For those who think Nepal is already under India- take a hike and forever be Banarishi for your allegiance is defined by opportunity and have no qualms even selling their wife if it comes down to that.

Inborn traits are hard to shed and is quiet evident by the comments here seen. An affront to all Nepali but not to Bhaunist who are willing to go highest bidder if even if it means losing of identity and nationhood. Scumbags.

Anonymous said...

Aba Globalization ko age ma pani k Nepal-Nepali-Jaat-Bhaat ko kura gari ra hola?
Don't you know that the whole world is a village?
Human Beings bhaye pugena? Why give each other labels?
Congress-Communist, Bahun-Chettri, Pahadi-Madhesi, and so on...
Why can't we say, it doesn't matter if we are Black or White and try to look deeper than the colour of the skin.
We get just once chance to live. Why not live happily without any hatered? Why don't we enjoy life? Appreciate the beauty around us?
Kina jahele pani katne ra marne matra kura garney?

Anonymous said...

When it's time to give the Bahunists a beating, then they talk of "living peacefully." When it's time to suck the blood of innocent nepalis, it's the Bahunists talking of "democracy."

Everyone should google this "Bahunist and Bahunim" and read this article 50 times. It is exactly what these low life creatures do.

Anonymous said...

Bahuns are holding 12% population in Nepal. But look at the appointment of ambassadors more than 65% are bahuns. Similarly the appointments of secretaries are also 65% bahuns. They claim they are only capable but it is totally wrong. Ambassadors posts were also being run by armies and other profession where bahuns hold were limited. It is like family rule of Ranas...until and unles this country will run out of bahunism, no democracy and equal rights will continue....time to open ethnic parties to remove feudal bahunism ....

Unknown said...

I googled "Bahunist and Bahunim" and nothing came up. Could you provide an exact website?

It might do well to reflect a little more deeply on the notion of nation state and terms such as Bahun, etc. Although Nepal has been formally 'independent' since its violent creation by an army led by Rajput landlords and their godmen facilitators and rationalizers, I wonder what independence means when the communities of the country -- on top of being conquered by landlords -- have been subjected to the slow erosion of international mercantile wealth through the British-Indian Empire since the nineteenth century, carried out from urban and hill bazaars by pious, national merchants and dissident landlords calling themselves "democrats."

Now, in addition to commercial infatuation (which the urban classes love because they can shop to their heart's desire), the communities are under the debt regime of international development and commercial banks, the administrative regime of international governance institutions from the UN on down, and the charity regime of NGOs, while suffering the do-gooder advice of international advisers as thick as flies on sugar.

Trapping communities and nations with endebtedness, by the way is the main way of creating new markets and to bring disparate peoples and cultures into the sphere of commercial control. To think that the country exists as an autonomous entity when the whole country is dripping with debt, from the national treasury down to the most humble villager, is a the delusion of a mad man.

Most of the people who call themselves 'leaders' are more interested in mopping up a few of the drippings than liberating or, using the current vogue term, "empowering," their consituencies.

Anonymous said...

Stepehn, sorry, i did not spell it correctly. Google this "bahunist and bahunism".

The link is here - http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/08/bahunists-and-bahunism-no-room-for.html

Anonymous said...

stephen,

Even India had faced the problem with brahmanbad. That is one of the reason for loosing the election in many states.

Looking Past the Moment of Truth

Dear Nepali Perspectives, I had written what is below in response to an article that came out on Republica.  I may have written someth...