Nepali Times
Publisher\'s Note
The wages of sin


The feudal Rana regime, the absolute monarchy under the Shahs, the Panchayat autocracy, the party leadership after 1990, king Gyanendra, the elected revolutionaries and the coalition that replaced them last year all have one thing in common. None of them understood that, in the words of Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility.

Past neglect by Nepal's rulers have come back to haunt us. The capital valley is being punished for turning its back on the rest of the country. We now see the impact of the revenge of rural Nepal on Kathmandu all around us: the city's malignant growth, the horrendous traffic and unbreathable air, squalid squatter settlements and fetid rivers, shortages of water and power, crime and grime.

King Gyanendra believed he had divine legitimacy to rule this country. The political leadership after 1990 felt elections alone conferred them with all the legitimacy they ever really needed. Pushpa Kamal Dahal thought his monopoly on truth gave him charismatic legitimacy. All three forgot that to remain legitimate, rulers have to fulfill their end of the bargain in the covenant with the people. The real mandate lies in performance.

With the balance of social justice as skewed as it is in Nepal, given the uneven distribution of opportunities, joblessness and underdevelopment, only rulers that seek to redress these multiple crises will be rewarded with legitimacy. Having a majority in parliament is not enough.

Madhav Kumar Nepal's argument that he intends to resign only after the Maoists deliver on their past commitments to the peace process may be legally tenable, but what has his government done for the people lately? Corruption is now so bad ministers don't even try to hide it anymore. The lame duck syndrome has made it worse: Nepal's hangers on are out to loot while the looting is good.

For their part, the Maoists have not been able to convince the people that their goal is anything but to get to power by hook or by crook. In fact Chairman Dahal's single-minded obsession with prime ministership has undermined his own authority within the party.

It is not enough for the prime minister and his cohorts to say they have a majority in parliament, and are defending the country from totalitarianism by not resigning. They have to finally prove that the democracy they are protecting is capable of delivering the goods.

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Editor's note: Effective this week, CK Lal's Fourth Estate column will appear fortnightly.


1. Nirmal

The vanity is not pride. A misunderstood pride is truly a disease claims our own popular philosophy. Pride is always comparative and sick pride always feels superior to those with which it is compared. Because of proudness we refuse to talk to our peers and because of it we take refuge in a false golden cage, valuable but cage at the end. The vanity, however, is another thing. Vanity is based on the belief that everything we have done deserves the admiration of other people. Vanity, in its early stages, is not a disease but a stimulus. Is not vanity which is at the basis of political confrontations? "You get out of here because I want to be there," normally says a vain. And when you get your aim, it says: " I allow this because I deserve it." Vanity will not just be understood by the critics, because the vanity well founded is hard to be understood so easily. And critics are often "naturally indolent and lazy buds". Between a critic and a vain, the conceited's the ultimate reason for their effort and their wellbeing. Often the critics end up waiting for the vain to die in order to recognize its merits. Because it is then that the critic becomes a scavenger and feeds on the reputation and work of those whose lives have been vilified. What strange pride prevents the nepali political parties from recognizing that society is not a party and that truth is not an ideology? We should never stop asking unless we are responded positively. The publisher's note is in that line so I apreciate it.



2. jange
They have to finally prove that the democracy they are protecting is capable of delivering the goods.

Surely democracy is something worth defending regardless whether or not it delivers the so called goods.

"At least they made the trains run on time", was what they said about the fascists.

"At least there is law and order", they said about the Taliban.

Two sides of the same coin. This is the same argument presented from the other side of the coin.

Looks like democratic values don't run very deep in NT.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. This is the paper that says that the Maoists were the only party representing change.


3. jange
The capital valley is being punished for turning its back on the rest of the country.

The exodus of people into urban areas including Kathmandu is largely a result of the Maoists making it impossible for a large part of the population to remain in rural areas.

For the last 15 years it has not been carry out normal economic activities in most of rural Nepal because of Maoists' violence.

And you have the unmitigated gall to blame an amorphous entity call Kathmandu. If you are going to blame someone you should be precise in your blame. Standard practice of good journalism I would have thought.

This is just bad journalism. But perhaps it is not meant to be journalism but a propaganda piece for you know which political party. If so, then it is wholly understandable and I beg your forgiveness for the statements above.


4. Arthur
"Corruption is now so bad ministers don't even try to hide it anymore. The lame duck syndrome has made it worse: Nepal's hangers on are out to loot while the looting is good."...

"They have to finally prove that the democracy they are protecting is capable of delivering the goods".

What a strange conclusion. How could corrupt looters prove that they are protecting anything but the delivery of goods to themselves?

A more natural conclusion would be that others must take power away from the corrupt looters.

Unfortunately the "others" could only be the Maoists, and Kunda Dixit cannot admit that it is necessary for the Maoists to take power for any of the "multiple crises" to be resolved.

So we are left with the usual wailing that Maoists aim to take power "by hook or by crook", while admitting that things will get worse until they do.


5. DG

Nt#506 Walled In -Benjamin Brown,s .-- # NT 507 PLA program -Luba Svrcina,should be read in conjunction with the news by AP fromUNITED NATIONS  18 June, in Nagarik June 19 2010.-Rastra sanghama purba bal chhapamarko bayan( Former Child Guerrilla,s Statement in the United Nations.)..

Luba has reallyhit the bull,s eye.it is a shame to our socalled civil society frontliners,leftist intellectuals  and analysts. A Nepali verson of the two English articles with the news should come togeyher . It is our request.Child combatant Manju Gurung,s statement should be published in englisg language papers as well.Murder is murder, it cannot be condoned, in the name of ideology. Employing children inthe front is international crime. 

 



6. nepalkochoro
it'ss good to see that NepaliTimes has the balls to publish comments made by people who wish to differ with the column writers. That itself is a big thing, considering that leading dailies like Kantipur are completely autocratic and never had the stomach to face up to the critics, most of their online responses come from nepali workers abroad who only badly wish to connect to their homeland in whatever way they can and do nothing more but please the writers ego. I have been following this fortnightly for over two years now and I must say that you guys are privileged with a  very distinctly educated readership that has a mind of it's own (very desirable, of course!) and has very string convictions and this fact is obvious when you have so many people posting different opinions, all constructive and analytical in thier own ways, given that most of what remains "journalism" now is either to instigate others to suit a personal or political vendetta. But I now feel that Nepali Times does care a tad bit more that the rest of the lot....


7. Daniel Gajaraj

Noblesse oblige. (Rank imposes obligations.) ,say the French.The wages of sin ; is not   un-answered silence. The Bible says it is Death Is it  " Ipse Dixit" (.L. his mere words.).?. It is easy to hold power,but it is difficult to handle it properly.All functionaries are but  the instrument of the Constitution.The state is meant to give strength to the people.If you cannot digest power ,you get inebriated ,just like with wine. All rulars should be rajarsi;a raja  + a rishi. Raja does not mean a crowned head.A spark of spirituality  is a must., to maintain peace and harmony. But physical science or marxism or communism is all materialism . Conflicts will thus remaine un- resolved. Taming of power is the name of the game"To impart greatness to the people,to the most common man ,you need the type of personality involved in the union of the  raja and the rishi..Before Gandhji all felt elevated; before a Mussolini or a Hitlar or Stalin , all felt smaller and smallest. They gained  greatness by destroying other people,s greatness.

You have to be their champion to be their leader;cynicism,self-centredness and utter un -concern for service or goods delivery to the electorate  is not the criteria of leadership.People in Karnali are not getting oral rehydration and citamol and our war-lords  political masters have to go to New York or Bang kok for stomac pain. or headache. They  ( also their family members ) have to ride a limosine, Mercides, Pzero, Prado.  They can look at the Indian Prime Minister riding  an Ambassador ..Ethical awareness leads to national integration, inclusiveness. ,only by delivering services and goods to the common people at remote areas.Populist slogans before election , promising moon and is possible if nothing has to be delivered.



8. kamal kisohr

Mr. Arthur, you think that only the Maoists can replace the Maoists. What a great idea?? The big looters to replace the looters?? You can't be more funny than this. The Maoists are corrupt from head to foot.

Go around the country and you will see that the Maoists cadres are the ones who look like Sahariyas in villages. They have everything that Kathmanduites have and rural people don't have.

The truth is that you can call the leaders of the political parties corrupt but the Maoists party is corrupt at all levels. For the past 15 yrs you have been looting natural resources and people indiscrimanantly and there is no accountancy. Your district leaders have million rupees to play with and they don't have to disclose their source nor expenditure.

After 15 yrs, those who had gone to the jungle and had nothing are richer than other party cadres? This explains who the real looters are.  



9. Arthur
kamal kisohr #8, everyone can see that the current regime, like all previous regimes of old Nepal are corrupt looters. As the article says "Corruption is now so bad ministers don't even try to hide it anymore."

Everyone also knows that Maoists are the only alternative.

Naturally people who who want to save the old Nepal will claim that the Maoists are just as, or even more corrupt. The problem you have is that it is difficult for anyone to believe anything you say.



10. who cares

hey brain dead Arthur ( just like any other maosit blind supproters.),

do you have any idea what is going on in nepal or you are just supporting maoist just for the shake of supporting?

what kamal kisohr is saying is true.



others are looting just like maosit.

the major differences are:

* they are looting everywhere, not just in the govt.

* if you point finger at maoist, they will bury your finger with your body.


are you a nepali or some white trash?





LATEST ISSUE
638
(11 JAN 2013 - 17 JAN 2013)


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