-Pushpa Raj Pradhan
Chief Editor
The People’s Review Weekly
Kathmandu, Nepal

“Correction or collapse”, people are questioning the leadership of the big political parties. They are asking them for a correction on their behavior and party performance, otherwise, they are saying that the parties may collapse.

Those senior citizens in the top leadership of the major political parties indulged in malpractices, nepotism, favoritism, sycophancy, corruption and commission cannot be corrected as the old habits die hard. Therefore, they are on the path of collapse.

Meanwhile, due to their destructive attitude, the nation is going to collapse along with them.

Serious to note, when the nation collapses, those corrupt leaders flee away from the country and enjoy luxurious lives in exile in foreign countries but those innocent poor people are unable to quit their motherland.

We condemn our leaders and warn them of a correction but we elect them again and again. In every election, the same ugly and corrupt leaders are elected and again and again become the prime minister and minister. If we know the behavior of those corrupt leaders who have failed to correct their behavior, yet, why are we again electing them, surely, we have also committed a blunder by electing them again and again.

Look at the present fake Bhutanese refugee scam. An organized human trafficking plan was developed with the involvement of top-ranking political leaders, including the deputy prime minister, home minister, security advisor to the home minister and also the top-ranking government officials including the sitting secretary in the government. The home ministry is the government organ for maintaining law and order, peace and security in the country. Such an organ is involved in human trafficking disguised in the Bhutanese refugees. This is a national shame.

It is unfortunate to know that the government was under strong pressure from the USA for initiating an investigation into this scam, otherwise, this scam, like other serious scams, could have been dismissed. The American pressure is natural as the majority of the Bhutanese refugees, above one hundred thousand, are sheltered in the USA and some of them are fake Bhutanese refugees.

Since the American interest appeared in this scam of human trafficking, its interests may intensify further in the days to come, which is a serious threat to us. Meanwhile, it is good that a section of corrupt people’s faces have been unmasked due to American pressure.

Otherwise, we have witnessed many scandals including the Maoist cantonment scam, Baluatar Lalitadevi land scam, wide-body scam, Yeti scam, Balmandir scam, Omni scam, 33 kgs gold scam, Mahara scam, Sudan scam, Nirmala Pant rape and murder scam, Ncell scam, etc. We are unable to know about the real culprit and the culprits didn’t get punishment unfortunately.

Today, a section of people are lauding the courage of Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha, in reality, they are facing excessive pressure from the American government. Otherwise, they also could be involved in this scam. Maybe, the present investigation will lead the nation for investigating other big scandals, in which, surely, all top-ranking leaders are involved.

The country is forced to go bankrupt.

The political system and the bad governance are equally responsible for destroying this beautiful nation. When economically we become weak, there is the threat of foreign interference at a massive level.

More seriously, the negligence of our leadership and the psychology of pleasing foreign power for enjoying power at home, have made the nation an empty vessel. It seems, the nation is going to turn into a battlefield of different foreign powers, from which, this peaceful nation can be pushed into a civil war.

We cannot rely on the present leadership as we have already experienced their capabilities again and again.

If we remain aloof from the crisis the nation is facing, it is sure, it is going to collapse and we too are going to collapse. Therefore, we must remain vigilant and we must correct our behavior instead of asking the leaders for a correction. Otherwise, let’s be ready to experience the worst scenario.

# Text courtesy: The People Review weekly dated May 17, 2023: Ed.

Upadhyaya.