A lost decade
Much has changed since the 2060s but as we enter the 2080s, so much is the same.
Twenty years ago this week we were marking the beginning of a new Nepali decade, as we are this week. That was the 2060s. Much has changed since, but as we enter the 2080s, so much is the same. If not worse.
The country has gone through a decade-long war, abolished monarchy and ushered in federalism. And yet, the old leaders have not changed, they are just older. They were and are as short-sighted, power-hungry and feckless as ever before. Former rebels are now the government, but a just and fair Nepal is a mirage that keeps receding.
Excerpts from the editorial published in issue #140 11-17 April 2003:
This is also the last week of the 2050s. Politically, this has been a lost decade. A decade of unkept promises where selfishness, short-sightedness and a complete disregard for the national interest took its toll. Even so, progress was made in education and health. Local self-governance was beginning to work—hinting at how much more we could have achieved in the past ten years if only our national-level political leaders were more accountable.
Alas, disillusionment and apathy with democracy set the stage for the flames of the peoples’ war to spread. It is clear now that the Maoists were not particularly clever or strong, it was just that successive elected governments were so feckless, faction-ridden and preoccupied with power. They are back to their antics this week, trying to be more radical than the Maoists by raising the republican slogan.
In the coming weeks, the novelty of hearing their speeches will wear off, and hopefully the mainstream media will not devote so many column inches to the comrades unless they have something particularly important or jargon-free to say.
From archive material of Nepali Times of the past 20 years, site search: www.nepalitimes.com