(Re-produced, Courtesy: Yubraj Acharya)
For those who closely follow Nepal’s politics, especially the dynamics within the Nepali Congress party (NC), Sujata Koirala’s appointment as a minister without portfolio—or a de facto deputy Prime Ministry, as some have called it—should not have come as a surprise. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s nephew Mahesh Acharya and his close aide Shekhar Koirala have both climbed these ladders before. Prime Minister Koirala’s action revealed not only that he is still a monarchist at heart, but also, and more interestingly, that, despite what the Nepali people have been told and what the international community has been forced to believe, he cares more about retaining the power within the family’s grip than about keeping coalition partners happy so that the peace process can move ahead as planned. This is nothing new.
What seems surprising and disturbing, however, is that even when GPK takes actions as radical as this, the opposition within the party is amazingly silent. The silence raises the suspicion that even outspoken opposition leaders within the party, including Narahari Acharya and Gagan Thapa, may be getting some kickbacks from the party being the leading party in the coalition government—why the silence otherwise? Moreover, the silence proves that the party lacks a leader who can rise up to the occasion when the party and the country need him/her the most. It also proves that, minus the support from GPK, the occasional rhetoric that we hear from some quarters within the NC about reforming the party is a mere political weapon. This observation implies that even if the monarchists and the Maoists are sidelined from Nepali politics after the constituent assembly elections, the lack of proper leadership and vision of NC will continue to be a threat to Nepal’s stability, more so when the GPK and his cronies are around.
While a weakening NC might look appealing to other political parties, including the Maoists and the monarchists, the Nepali people will have to pay the biggest price for NC’s misadventures, as they have been doing in the last seventeen years. A few examples from the history are illustrative. First of all, it was the NC’s insistence that retained the monarchy in 1990, which continues to haunt the nation almost two decades later. It was an internal conflict within the NC that brought down its own majority government after the first elections. Occasional flirtation of NC’s fractions with other smaller parties so that the former can be in power is likely the strongest factor that can explain the countless number of governments we have had in the country since 1990. What’s more, NC likely boasts the largest number of corruption cases files by the CIAA in courts against its politicians. Finally, it was a NC-led government that turned its deaf ears to the Maoists’ 40-point demand that eventually encouraged the latter to launch the war, which has claimed close to 14 thousand lives. When we compare this implicit suppression that the NC has caused to the Nepali people, Musharraf’s suppression of his people in Pakistan, Mugawe’s suppression in Zimbabwe and Castro’s suppression in Cuba all look like a walk in the park!
Fortunately, the evidence from the last decade shows that those who opt for the extreme policy or ideology choices get sidelined eventually, in one way or the other. In the last five years alone, we have seen Gyanendra Shah humbled by the people when he tried to impose a Musharraf-style “democracy” in the country and we have seen the Maoists’ political base weaken significantly by the arrogance of its youth wings, mainly the Young Communist League (YCL), and by the desire of the leadership to not listen to the voice from Tarai. This political ‘cleansing’ process is a good thing—we had been raring false ideologies for too long and it was time they got eliminated! In a similar manner, GPK’s recent foolhardy steps, of which Ms. Koirala’s appointment is just one of the extreme examples, may be suggestive of the fact that, after the Gyanendra Shah and the Maoists, it may be NC’s turn to learn the lessons from the people. Hopefully, people will not have to come down to the streets and face the bullets to teach that lesson this time around.
(This peice was original printed on Nepalnews and is re-produced here with the Author's explicit permission. The author may be reached at: yubraj@gmail.com)
Related Posts:
Nepali Congress under Koirala: The Great Betrayal
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/10/nepali-congress-under-koirala-great.html
The Fallacies of Two Men - Girija & Gyanendra
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/10/fallacies-of-two-men-girija-gyanendra.html
Debunking the Democratic Dogma
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/09/debunking-democratic-dogma.html
15 comments:
A very poignant critique of character that the international press will never catch on. The best the media can do is allude to some loft phrase like "questionable" or "controversial" leadership where Koirala is concerned. But the evidence and facts I believe, are outlined well in this writing for all to read and debate.
The bottom line is that Gyanendra's intentions were out of synch with reality as are Prachanda's. But how stupid are the Nepali people to go out on the streets and shed blood and sweat to bring an idiot like Koirala back to power?
Gyanendra completely legitimzed Girija in the public eye. The same way Girija has completely legitimized Prachanda. And in turn, both are working very hard to re-legitimize Gyanendra.
The fool here I'm afraid isn't GPK or Gyanendra or Prachanda as this writer concludes. Rather, it is ordinary people like you and I who are always dumb enough to fall for the same song and dance over and over.
Also, I don't agree with this writer than either the Maoists or the Monarchists have been marginalized at the Nepali peoples' behest. How can that be when the people had to be paid to come out on the streets? Gyanendra was marginalized at India's command and if one is to really speak the truth, the common Nepali man and woman could care less about who is in power as long as they are able to take care of their families and lead a peaceful life.
So all this populist nonsese about the people doing this and the people doing that is a load of wishful thinking. It's a minority, educated elite that is doing all the thinking in the name of the people.
And unfortunately, this same minority educated elite is easily swayed by the billions that Koirala and his family have siphoned from the Nepali people.
There will be no change of guard like this wrtier suggests until that money runs out. To think otherwise is just naieve.
The bahunist faction of the Nepali Congress is exactly what this writer is talking about... to refresh our memories, I would urge all readers to refer to the following links:
Bahunists and Bahunism - A mini-Dissertation on the Caretakers of Nepal's Feudal Tradition
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/03/bahunists-and-bahunism-mini.html
Bahunists and Bahunism - No Room for feudal elements in the "new Nepal"
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/08/bahunists-and-bahunism-no-room-for.html
Moderators, please add these links as related posts to this article. Thank you.
Remember people, this is the man who former American President Jimmy Carter called his "hero."
Could Carter and the West be any farther from the reality in Nepal?
Kartik is right. As long as Sujata, Shekhar, and the rest of these leaches are in power, they will keep making money. And the more money they make, the longer Nepal will remain in their grip.
Personally, I would take a person like King Birendra over any of these so-called democrats. At least Birendra was a King and acted like a King. Scumbags like Girija pretend to be democrats and at the same time, act like Kings.
The Koirala clan is no Gandhi dynasty. They should be reminded of where they came from and who their owe their rise to - the same people they have cheated again and again since 1990.
"Fortunately, the evidence from the last decade shows that those who opt for the extreme policy or ideology choices get sidelined eventually, in one way or the other...."
REALLY???
I don't think so Yubaraj. I have yet to see the evidence for myself. Gyanendra may be living a closed life but he is still living like a king. Prachanda and Baburam came to power on 14 thousand dead people and I don't see them being marginalzed. Is the 9 crores of tax payers money the goverment has paid the Maoists a sign that they are being marginalized?
And the same thing goes for the Girija Koirala. I still remember the time when a few die hard bahunists from American were lobbying to get Girija the Nobel Peace prize.
This is how things are in Nepal.
Don't forget that Koirala is the reason the Maoists became violent and the monarchy was the slogan they used. Today, the monarchy (idiot gyane in particular) is the reason the Maoists are negotiating and the head of the negotiating party is Koirala.
So Yubaraj, please explain if your idea of margnizaltion is similar to the "vicious cycle." If it is, then you are right.
Koirala was completely marginalized (I even remember the mob after Birendra's death that was ready to lynch him outside the chhauni hospital) and now he is the new king. After elections fail in April, Prachanda will be the next king and whoever can be more corrupt and radical and extreme than these two, will be the next king.
Syracuse and Nepal are different planets my friend. Don't forget that.
Nepal is totally out of sync in each and every aspect;therefore, to expect otherwise is foolish. Gripe to your heart content but unless you are ready to roll up your sleeves, be content in throwing your two pence worth of comments that sticks nowhere.
Just be prepared to look away when your children looks deep in your eyes.
Diehard
I agree with anonymous 4:50 above.
While there are many well-meaning, blue-eyed idealists like Acharya, the way business gets done, on the ground in Nepal is very different.
The Nepali people (specially the educated elite) have made Koirala what he is today. To think that these same people will de-throne Koirala tomorrow is absurd.
Excellent article.
I agree with the writer wholeheartedly. The "loktantra" under Koirala is not what the Nepali people had asked for.
As some of the comments on this string point out, the writer may be out of touch with reality, but if we don't have commentry that defies the status quo, we will never move ahead.
Thank you for your timely writing Acharya ji.
This is actually quite a mediocre piece, certainly not one to be counted among the better articles published on this site -- hardly anything new or substantial in it. So I'm surprised why everyone is going gung-ho over it?! "Excellent" and "poignant"? Have Nepalese truly lost it?
As far as critiques go, this is way below par. And the writing's just plain ordinary...for example, it bewails the lack of opposition within the NC to Sujata's appointment. Now what does it take for anyone to realize that the NC has been squeezed like a lemon by the Maoists, and having performed miserably at the negotiations game against the Maoists, the NC now desperately needs new bargaining chips? Wala! For people with no imagination or originality (forget vision) of their own, what can you expect but that they'd start grabbing at any crumb or deadwood they can find?! So there you have it. The NC's picked up the monarchy card. What's there to roll eyes over about this? It's the most obvious thing to pick up! It's actually the NC's fortune that Nepal's monarchy, despite all its losses in recent times, is still a formidable institution -- not just "crumb" or "deadwood". Under skillful hands, it could be used like a samurai sword, but under the NC's I doubt it'll even serve the purpose of "deadwood"! Gyane might as well just abdicate rather than be a tool in the NC's hand (else he'll only end up as stool!)
Then Acharya goes pining for another Acharya (Kaka or mamam?) and, guess who, Gagan Thapa! Gagan Thapa? Now that's gotta be a memory-teaser! The dude's been quiet as a mouse ever since April 2006. Is anyone sure he hasn't been "disappeared" by the YCL?? ...and Narahari uncle? what's that fellow got, what did he ever have, besides his "republican rant"? Now that a republic has been written into the Constitution, the guy's lost any relevance he ever had!
After a lengthy analysis--nothing but a spatterring of the most cliched NC criticism--the writer then comes up with his remarkable(?) conclusion: that the NC's "lack of vision and leadership" has and will cost the nation dearly...dude, has it really taken 17 long years for you to realize this?! What a revelation, huh? Must be quite a liberating feeling to get this far after so long! Guess we need to congratualte you for finally actually "getting it"!
Worse still is the comparison of NC with the likes of Mugabe and others...the NC's "implicit suppression" (what on earth is that supposed to mean?) makes other despotic rules look like a "cake walk" re. This is truly the last straw. This writer is a quack parrotting away cliched Nepali political rhetoric of tabloid-class! Mugabe and Castro "supress" their people. The NC is but a bunch of incompetent and opportunistic idiots who have "misruled" the country far worse than Castro, if not Mugabe. Misrule and suppression -- these things are poles apart! What's someone who can't even differentiate between these two doing posing around as an "analyst"?
I'm just stupefied to see this caliber of writing on Nepaliperspectives (which otherwise carries standard pieces), and even more so at the fan-following! Seriously, Nepal must be a gone case if even this site has started publishing crap like this to, what appears to be, wide acclaim!
I'm outa here! Adios! ...maybe I'm just havin a bad day...but this is nuts!
On the Gagan Thapa topic, what can one say when he admits that his agenda is the Maoists agenda and that the only difference is, his party is going to win elections on the Maoists agenda? He said this on BBC.
The guy is so much in Koirala's spin zone, he doesn't know what he's speaking.
Radical, populist fools like Gagan Thapa is what the Nepali people have to look forward to. Idiots who are used to forcing schools to close and causing shut downs.
It's not just Koirala and his daughter that is the problem. It is the non-reconciliatory, non-forward looking attitude that embodies the entire polity in Nepal.
La Verdad, I share you opinion that this is just a mediocre writing. I went to the place where it was originally posted and there is not a single comment.
Maybe this is exactly why Nepali Perspectives decided to re-post this piece because mainstream media does not critizie or challenge Girija Koirala at all.
This writing is nothing to marvel at. But it is valid criticism that no one else appears ready to put forth in plain terms.
Perhaps the moderators of Nepali Perspectives would like to comment here?
Just to put everything into focus, this is the quality of our dear girija baje and what the history of the Nepali Congress party is; we are just as bad if not worse off than under dear old gyanendra. Read below.
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2097
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Koirala admits to have manufacture fake currencies in India
Away from all guilt Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala made confessions during an interview on Kantipur TV in which he revealed that he manufactured fake currency in 1970’s during his political exile to India.
He admitted doing so with the help of a Bengali to support his party which rashort of money during that period.
Adding more fizz to his confession he divulged that he was involved in gold smuggling and even hijacked a Nepal Airline’s Plane.
Disclosing that he manufactured fake currency with the consent of his elder brother B P Koirala, the renowned Socialist evoked several questions on the mind of viewers.
He testifies, “Once I was told by my brother to test as to whether the people recognize the fake currency or not. Thus we drove in a car. My brother stopped the car at a Gasoline station. He gave me 200 Rupees. The Petrol pump owner received the money and filled the tank”.
Besides this he admitted to have hired experts to make counterfeit notes and that the currency were so indistinguishable that even B P Koirala could not examined the differences.
“One day I was told by an Indian friend that if I could unload the Gold loaded in a car? The car was in Bombay. Looking at the Gold box, I was gripped by greed and thought that what if I could carry the bullion to Benaras and claim single right on it,” he added.
Koirala in his interview claimed that the hijack of Nepal Airline’s plane, R N Rao Chief of RAW helped him in hijacking the plane. He with other congressman hijacked the plane and took possessions of 3.2 million Nepali currencies meant for Rashtra Bank in Kathmandu.
It is reported that a court case is still pending in Bihar against the alleged hijacking.
Reacting to the alleged confession, Sekhar Koirala, nephew of Prime Minister has shielded his uncle saying that every incident should be seen in the context of that period when Congress was in exile.
Now its Indian Government chance to react in this matter or file a writ petition in Supreme Court of India against Koirala for printing and using fake currencies in India.
Imagine if Girija had got the noble peace prize, what would be the future of noble peace prize in the world ? Girija's followers fooling Nepali innocent people and international communities tying his name with democracy. Girija is neither democratic person nor is a peace lover. He is just a power greedy vulture and hyena. Our so called elite and educated people like Dixit family, Pandey, Pahadi etc. are now openly seen as greedy foxes. When their masters like Girija and Nepal were on the street by joining hands with the killer maoist, they gave all support for nothing just to put their masters in power. Now in the similar case, when madhesi demand for guinuine rights, they are silent. They don't talk about human rights although 42 madhesi are being killed and 5000 are being injured by their masters. They don't need human rights, civil society and true sense of democracy in madhes because their master will have to share some pie.
Without maoist this country was heaven. King's rule is far far far better than this criminals like Prachanda, Girija and Makune's rule. These criminals used India to step down the king. Now the whole Nepali is understanding their power greedy and their nationality. They went to bow down their head to RAW to rule in Nepal.
Hold on one quick second anonymous - Gyanendra's rule was no better or worse than Girija's rule today. Gyanendra suppressed the intellectuals openly. Girija is suppressing the Madhesis openly and coddling the intellectuals.
What's the big difference? At the end of the day, we, the Nepali people are still the biggest idiots in the world, aren't we?
The neo-intellectuals gossip gotta end- we are past whose got bigger talking head or finer point is illustrating the things that are obvious to everyone. So hold you horses in commenting and counter commenting, I say.
Unless you learn to activate your survival instinct- be prepared to wallow in what could have been done, what should have done and why it was the right thing to do. Enough of sermons. I just have had enough of these banters that really will not make any difference.
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