P.R. Pradhan
Chief Editor
People’s Review Weekly, Kathmandu, Nepal
Until the 1990 political change, Nepal was maintaining a very effective and matured foreign policy. The ambassadors were appointed based on their caliber and capability. Nepal’s performance in the international arena was thus very excellent. During the king’s direct rule, Nepal became a member of the UN Security Council twice, the very position has become impossible for Nepal since the 1990 political change.
Today, ambassadors are being appointed based on the candidate’s relations with the leaders of the political parties. The second option for the ambassadorial appointment is paying commission in advance to the political leaders by those who wish to become the ambassador.
Nepal’s diplomatic missions have become the venues for spending luxury retired life in foreign countries for those relatives of the political leaders, otherwise, they have become the venue for exploiting Nepali nationals facing problems in foreign countries by those ambassadors who have been rewarded after paying commission to the leaders. What difference can be made from the absence of a strong institution, the institution of monarchy that we can experience now!
Not to forget, the institution of monarchy, the institution of the Royal Nepal Army, civil service, and Nepal Police, all were organized and performed very strongly. The Supreme Court was more autonomous than in the present democratic era. The judges dared to alter the King’s decisions.
Today, we are talking about setting or match-fixing in the court. The court is not independent, the civil service has been totally destroyed and the Nepal Police has become the pocket organization of the ruling party.
How the nation has become weak in absence of the active monarchy in the country and how the nation has been destroyed during the absence of the institution of monarchy, we are the eyewitnesses.
Today, the Nepal Army, a reputed old and disciplined organization, has been dragged into controversy, and severe negligence has been seen in the country’s foreign policy handling.
A democratic nation can become vibrant and strong if all the government organs function properly. Unfortunately, along with the introduction of the multiparty democracy and now loktantra, one after another organizations have been destroyed. Finally, in 2008, the institution of monarchy was removed declaring Nepal a republic.
What did we achieve from the removal of the institution of monarchy that is open and clear to us!
Our great King Prithivi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal, had explained Nepal as a yam between two big boulders. Meanwhile, our “revolutionary” leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai had said Nepal as a granite (explosive) between the two huge boulders.
Viewing the present act of the political leaders, it seems, Nepal has turned into an explosive which can explode the huge boulders! In which context Bhattarai had defined, that we don’t know, but the Americans are planting explosives in Nepal. The explosive is for the destruction of the Nepali culture, religion, tradition and Nepali values.
Moreover, the explosive is being planted to destroy or explode the two big boulders.
Due to the short-slightness of our political leaders, we have already fallen into a death trap. How a beautiful and peaceful country Afghanistan was destroyed by the foreign elements, we have seen it.
How Iran was destroyed, we witnessed it. How a war on Iraq was launched and Saddam Hussien was assassinated, we saw it. We also saw the international community unable to recover the arms of mass destruction, against which, the Americans had launched a war on Iraq. How the West provoked Russia into a war on Ukraine, we have been seeing it.
We are also facing the shortcomings of the war.
If we go through the recent history, understandably, we have become the victim of a series of conspiracies. How the first people’s movement in 1989 became successful, how the 1990 constitution was introduced, how the Maoist “people’s war” was launched, how the Royal Palace bloodbath had taken place, how the 12-point agreement was introduced, how the institution of monarchy was removed and how the nation adopted a “loktantrik” constitution introducing federalism, secularism and republicanism, we all are aware about these.
Whether Nepal became a vibrant nation or became a weak nation from all sides, the real picture is in front of us.
To conclude, how the country has been destroyed and how it became an easy task for the foreigners to destroy this beautiful prosperous nation in absence of an institution of monarchy, we have seen it very closely. The present designs under the MCC or SPP are the next phase of destruction.
# The views expressed here are those of the author.
# Text courtesy: People’s Review weekly dated June 22, 2022.
# P. R. Pradhan is the chief editor of the People’s Review weekly,. Kathmandu, Nepal: Ed. Upadhyaya.