Nepal’s impotent civil society merely an onlooker of sad events

May 28, 2003
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Kathmandu: Nepal’s “impotent” civil society has remained a mere onlooker of the dangerous political events that have been unfolding in the recent days and weeks.

A politically biased civil society appears reluctant to act in a manner it is demanded of it for varied understandable reasons.

The members of the so-called Civil Society in the process appear to have forgotten the fact that if the nation takes a further political slide, it is this society which too will be badly affected.

The fact is that the civil society is silent over the political situation as it is obtaining today.

God bless Nepal’s so-called deaf and dumb namesake civil society.

Be that as it may, the country, for good or bad, is heading towards a situation wherein a sort of fierce political confrontation seems to be imminent in the days ahead.

Obviously, the clash or say the confrontation is in beiween the King and the major parliamentary parties who have entered into their what they call the “third phase” of movement against the Monarch’s October 4 moves which they claim to have exceeded the constitutional limits provided to the Nepali monarch in the 1990 constitution.

The King appears resolute in not listening to the agitators’ demands, which clearly hints that the King will not yield under small a pressure of the sort now being adopted by the agitationists.

The five major parliamentary parties say that they will ultimately compel the King to correct his past constitutional blunders and that to achieve their political goals they would continue to shake the streets ad infinitum. In the process, the big-5 have through their affiliated students’ organizations been creating troubles to the government and the process of harassing the incumbent government appears to continue with more ferocity.

The lay men have several things to listen, in the meantime, apart from the news of the agitation waged by the major political parties. They are listening to the actions now being initiated by the CIAA against the alleged corrupt leaders; they are equally interested in listening to the convening of the third round of talks of the Maoists with the government; they also have been listening to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the ascent on the Mount Everest currently being observed in the country in the presence of Sir Edmund Hillary; the lay men also appear interested in Deuba-Koirala secret talks which talk about the possibility of a unification of the Koirala Congress with the congress chaired by Sher Bahadur Deuba; the people also get a political message in the news which hints that Khum Bahadur Khadka, one of the stalwarts of the Deuba congress is shortly joining Koirala congress; the lay men also find it interesting to note that a good number of UML senior activists have quit the party for good which in itself is a devastating news for the mainstream UML under Madhav Nepal and the likes.

All put together, what becomes clear is that the lay men have not only been concentrating their attention to the big-5 activities but have also to take stock of other equally important events. This means that the agitation is albeit there but which is yet to attract the attention and the sympathies of the majority of the population—the real catalyst for any political change in any country.

In the meanwhile, President Koirala’s anger against the King has seemingly acquired an inimical dimension. Analysts opine that during a month of his sponsored agitation against the monarch, he might have used all the possible undiplomatic and erratic languages against the King giving an impression to the majority of the population that it is he who only can cow-down the image of the constitutional monarch and that he would continue to malign the prestige of the monarch come what may.

The King presumably listening to his virulent remarks and making no comments to neutralize Koirala’s outbursts being made against his personality.

Not all is bad from the UML quarters for the monarch.

Madhav Nepal the other day expressed his and his colleagues possibility of meeting the monarch should the initiation came from the other camp.

This does hint that Madhav and his colleagues would not mind in having collective parley with the King if the offer came to them. Its corollary would be that Madhav and his colleagues too appear tired of waging the ongoing movement for “unknown” reasons and would not mind to settle their differences with the monarch in the larger interest of the nation and the people.

But would Koirala agree to Madhav’s proposal given that the former has been hitting hard the monarch and if such a meeting were forthcoming, wouldn’t it presumably create a sort of uneasiness at time Koirala faced the King inside the Palace?

Politics is a discipline wherein one has to adapt and accommodate at every such awkward possible occurrences.

Much will depend on how the Wednesday’s event takes place. The idea is to convene the now dissolved parliament today. How the government and the King react to this funny event will have to be watched.