[The ex-prince Paras blames many NGOs (believed to be around 165,000 in nearly 4,000 villages in the country ) with their own agenda, “certainly not aimed to promote our interest”. The European Union’s pressure on the government to constitutionally recognise the right to conversion and the openly documented “anti-Hindu” agenda of some NGOs has created the idea that Western forces are disrupting social harmony in Nepal. This hostility against the outside world has been aided by the failure of the political parties in the past four years. No one knows whether monarchy will return, but the republican dream, like Madhav Nepal’s failed project, has come under severe strain today.]
By Yubaraj Ghimire
Prime minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal had a dream — initiating a memorial project or in other words constructing a Republic Tower - a Nepali version of the Eiffel Tower at the heart of city of Kathmandu. Amidst a special function he laid the foundation-stone of the tower at Ratna Park in Kathmandu, although the project was yet to be technically approved. It was more an expression of intent than actual construction work. Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal now continues to be only a caretaker prime minister. His vague dream — that of a 25-storey glass tower with swifter lifts and a spiral staircase up to the top — has now been rejected by architects who consider the project neither feasible nor appropriate in a thickly populated city centre, also it is in a seismic zone. Should the project ever materialize — its cost , time-frame and design are yet to be finalised — it not be at Ratna Park (named after the former queen mother), but somewhere at the UN Park area in the outskirts of the capital.
Almost coinciding with the collapse of that dream project, the former crown prince, Paras declared that the end of monarchy is not what Nepalis wanted, that it was the outcome of a design from outside ( hinting at India), and the institution would be restored if Nepal wanted. Nobody has shown any concern over ex- prince's critical remark towards the southern neighbour. Meanwhile, the constituent assembly, which was expected to promulgate the new Constitution institutionalising Nepal’s shift to republicanism, secularism and federalism, failed to catch the May 28 deadline, and its moral and constitutional status has been questioned since then. Political parties, especially the big three — the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M), Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), which have led the government by rotation in the last four years of change — are perhaps the most hated ones.
Ragini Upadhyay, an artist who fearlessly exhibited her paintings during the Royal takeover (showing King Gyanendra trying to cage “time”), now likens pro-democracy leaders to ferocious lions. The face of the lion chasing a fleeing cow resembles Girija Prasad Koirala, who took over as prime minister and acting head of the state as well as Congress Party president when Gyanendra handed over power to the political parties. Mr. Koirala was then hailed by Manmohan Singh as the “legendary leader of South Asia” while former US president Jimmy Carter called him “my hero”.
No one knows if Dr Singh and President Carter have changed their mind, but the current uncertainty in Nepal stems largely from Koirala’s mishandling of the peace process. He died a failed man last March. And Ragini is not alone to exhibit anger — Madan Krishna and Haribansh Acharya, Nepal’s well-known comedians who were active during the pro-republic campaign, recently said, “ Where will we perform now? The constituent assembly has turned into a theatre of jokers where our leaders fight like dogs and cats.”
What is more, at least some leaders have noticed this disillusionment and the sense that the monarchy was far more patriotic. The UCPN-M chief Prachanda met Kamal Thapa, chief of the pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) to solicit support for his prime-ministerial dream. In private, Prachanda admitted that the overthrow of monarchy was a “mistake”, but the RPP-N, with five members in the house, is yet to vote for him in the prime ministerial contest because it wants a public commitment from the Maoists to reinstall the monarchy. The UML chief Jhala Nath Khanal is believed to have told an aide of Gyanendra the same recently. Kamal Thapa goes a step further and demands that Nepal’s Hindu status be restored, as the change four years ago was not for democracy alone, and many anti-Hindu forces from abroad had been involved. “More than a million people have been lured to Christianity since then,” he says.
The ex-prince Paras blames many NGOs (believed to be around 165,000 in 4,000 villages in the country ) with their own agenda, “certainly not aimed to promote our interest”. The European Union’s pressure on the government to constitutionally recognise the right to conversion and the openly documented “anti-Hindu” agenda of some NGOs has created the idea that Western forces are disrupting social harmony in Nepal. This hostility against the outside world has been aided by the failure of the political parties in the past four years. No one knows whether monarchy will return, but the republican dream, like Madhav Nepal’s failed project, has come under severe strain today.
CHINESE VICE-PREMIER BEGINS NEPAL VISIT AMIDST BRIBE SCANDAL
[Following the audio tape scandal, a youth organisation held protests in front of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, demanding that China stop interfering in Nepal’s internal matters. However, unlike Indian diplomacy in Nepal, the Chinese lobbying has been so successful that even more than a week after the bribe scandal became public, neither the caretaker government nor parliament has initiated an inquiry though the chairman of parliament, Subas Nembang, was petitioned by parties as well as civil society members to investigate the tape incident.]
By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, Sep 11 – Nine years after the then Chinese prime minister Zhu Rongji visited Nepal, Beijing sent its second senior-most delegation to the country Saturday amid allegations of Chinese involvement in an MP-buying scam and the Maoists’ continuous failure to win the prime ministerial election.
He Yong, Chinese vice premier and secretary at the secretariat of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, arrived in Kathmandu Saturday afternoon on a chartered flight from Beijing, Nepal’s aviation officials confirmed.
The Chinese leader is said to be heading a massive 21-member delegation that will meet caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and other key politicians.
Nepal’s foreign ministry said the delegation had come at the invitation of the Maoists as well as the two largest ruling parties, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist.
The delegation is also scheduled to visit Pokhara city and Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in southern Nepal, before returning Sep 16.
The Chinese visit comes at a very sensitive time with Beijing being suspected of supporting the Maoists in their bid to buy the votes of MPs and win the ongoing election for a new prime minister.
The scandal erupted earlier this month after the emergence of an audio tape in which a man, believed to be Maoist former minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, sought to strike a deal with a Chinese ‘friend’ to obtain NRS 500 million and buy the votes of 50 MPs for Maoist chief Prachanda.
Though both the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu and the Maoists have dismissed the tape as a fake and baseless, the uneasy former guerrillas however have blocked parliament from discussing the issue.
The ruling parties wanted to raise the allegations Thursday but failed after the Maoists opposed the proposal, saying they had not been given sufficient time to discuss the issue.
Now the ruling parties are reported to be seeking to take the matter up once more in parliament Monday, when the Chinese delegation will be in Nepal. However, there is speculation that the Maoists will block the move once again.
Following the audio tape scandal, a youth organisation held protests in front of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, demanding that China stop interfering in Nepal’s internal matters.
However, unlike Indian diplomacy in Nepal, the Chinese lobbying has been so successful that even more than a week after the bribe scandal became public, neither the caretaker government nor parliament has initiated an inquiry though the chairman of parliament, Subas Nembang, was petitioned by parties as well as civil society members to investigate the tape incident.
Meanwhile, the Maoists, who failed to ensure Prachanda’s victory even after seven rounds of election, are gearing up for the eighth round of vote Sep 26.
While Prachanda is determined to contest in the eighth round, his two deputies, Baburam Bhattarai and Mohan Vaidya, have been advocating a pullout.
Unlike visits by Indian politicians and officials, which invariably trigger a row in Nepal, there has been no adverse reaction to the Chinese team despite the bribery allegation.
(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)
