Is Nepal a Foolish State?

Infact, it is true that Nepal is considered the most “foolish state”. Many political analysts believe that Nepal cannot live to its status as a sovereign state. Sovereignty of the state have been compromised time and again for the better ruling political factions and creating a state without any political boundaries. The country has further been fallen from its economic grace and the Government of Nepal is well known for its unaccounted records to its creditors. It is believed that Nepal is one of the few nations that do not have a credible national accounting and the treasury is said to be monitored and operated by the least knowledgeable authority. This is one of the many facts that Nepal earns its title as “a foolish state”.

The recent political development in Nepal focuses more on establishment than the reality of its nationhood. The Nepalese identity for centuries was protected under a Crown and it was this Crown that enabled Nepal to be independent when most of the subcontinent was colonized by the imperial powers. In the 21^st century, Nepal as a state is considered a “failed state”. India on other hand uses its muscle power over Nepal for its political motives. Many in India believe that Nepal is an external part of India if not an internal part. This proved to be true in many aspects of how Nepal is ruled and operated at the present context. Under the ruling dynasty, it was virtually impossible for India to have its way indirectly in Nepal. The present Republican setup is a grand design sponsored by no other than India and its concerned parties. The Royal Massacre of 2001, which is widely believed, was a grand design of India and other internal factions to influence then Crown Prince Dipendra to commit what was committed and be protected under immunity was proved to be true as thought by many individuals. It was hard for India and other internal factions to get away with the famous monarchy of Nepal without having it destroyed by its own seed. This paved a way to a new Nepal under a security umbrella of India directly. Nepal under the strong monarchy was always feared by many concerned Indian diplomats in Delhi.

India’s policy towards harboring terrorists in its soil was often condemned by many of its neighbors. India refuted to the remarks of its neighbors and at the same time pointed its fingers on Pakistan for harboring terrorist and using it against India. On the other side, India harbored Nepalese Maoists leaders in its soil and supported them to create an environment where India could use its pretext to interfere in Nepalese affairs directly. It is a proven fact that India used its influence on Maoists and had them equipped with weapons and allowed them to use its base against Nepal. The Nepalese Royal Government at that time was very much aware of it and King Gyanendra had called Indian envoy to discuss the matter. After the coup, the King showed his dissatisfaction against India by completely cutting off the Kingdom from the rest of the world and refused to talk to any Indian dignitaries.

On the other hand, the political parties with the help(financially and politically) of Indian government began its revolt against the Monarch. It was to a great surprise that Nepalese could forget Maoists who had killed thousands and began targeting the Crown. The game that India played was significant to bring political parties to power and have it play their interest through political parties. Since Nepal proved to be a “Soft State” in every matter, it failed to protect its statehood. The State gave away easily without enforcing rule of law to few protestors. The people understood that they could bend the government by agitating and blocking roads and transportation to serve their interest without any rationalization. This was seen and practiced by few disgruntled group time and again through out the Kingdom. The Government often gave away easily and also compromised its statehood for its people.

Now since Nepal under the supervision of India is moving towards a new setup, Nepalese land and blood have been compromised. Removing a Crown not only make Nepal more versatile but also very submissive. The Royals in many instances did protect nation’s interest above everything. It also put its Crown and risked it for the nation’s interest. Republican Nepal would be certainly a challenge when there are other ethnic factions in Teria fighting for its independence and now a different war could be waged for another 20 years. Can Nepal handle it under India’s interest and supervision?

The leaders of Nepal time and again have failed to stand by its political principle. It has been used as a toilet paper by the Maoists to have their demands met. Their continuous change of agreements to serve their needs have once again validated Nepal soft stance, and proved Nepal as a “foolish state”.                  

how day!! a couple of things.

You said people were deprived of basic rights; roads were built because... and so on and so forth, but my question is the democratically elected government doing anything different.

If they are the same then one king is better then 55 ministers.

Lastly, anyone (minister, king, you or me) with that stature (power + money) would do the same (corruption).

Is Nepal a foolish state? Certainly not. Is Nepal a state of foolish? NO.

Nepal is a country that is surrounded by two superpowers, India and China. As per our esteemed analysts, China is our ally and India eyes on our land and sovereignty. When Nepal is enveloped by India on its three sides of the rectangular borders, the jagged Himalayan range in the Chinese side does not do much for the Nepalese integrity, albeit we hear the Chinese commitment to our well being despite Nepal supporting the Tibetan refugees. Bhutan has seen better days. Only that hundreds of thousands of Bhutan born Nepalese were compelled to abscond the tyranny, physical and mental, of the Bhutanese government. I hear thousands of Nepalese being mistreated in the states of Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram, and similar numbers fleeing to avoid any further persecution by their Indian counterparts.  It is a good thing that most of them have been granted refuge in Europe and the US, despite being housed in the dilapidated refugee camp in squalid conditions, in Nepal.

The question is, Is Nepal a Foolish State? All the furors aside, all the politics aside, Nepal is not a foolish state. Mr. Mehta, your analysis is in depth and mind altering if anything, but it is just not right that Nepal is a foolish state. It is just an impoverished state. It is a land of limited or virtually no resources. Would I be foolish if I were poor?

The crown and monarchy has been a pillar to the sovereignty of Nepal, not to Nepalese people. The panchayat system, then criticized for its illogical anti democratic parameters is today widely hailed by people to be more secure and convenient than the new found, twice restored democracy. As someone said, it is in its infant stage and more or less in transition. My point is how long does it take a person to know of its impacts when there are live examples throughout the world. The ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia and many African countries were not patriotic, they were more political. Our Maoist counterparts should have studied the efficacy of Maoism in today's world, before announcing their goal and ways of achieving it.

 Communism is a failed system, and the history has proved it over the time. Russia is not a foolish state, it is a failed state. Bolsheviks did the right thing by deposing and massacring the Tsars, only to push the country to a crevasse where it still writhes in the aftermath of the violent communism. Stalin, if anything, annihilated millions of Jews, and so did Hitler. However, Hitler and Stalin is not the issue here. The issue is collectiveness and individual despondency. The despots in the WWII era were more inclined towards their personal hatred, rather than principal. I bet, Marx and Lenin did not propound communism for the people to suffer.

Fidel Castro is a very capable man, still fighting the death and opposing the US and pretty much the rest of the world. But was it a good thing for Cuba? I meet many Cubans who are only proud of their hand-rolled Cuban cigars rather than their country. I hope we do not want to be proud of only our Khukuri and Mt Everest, if not the country.

Some of the aforementioned narratives are beside the point, but it inherently links to our belief system and lack of passion to collectively partake the challenge of addressing and reforming our belief system.

I would say, Nepal is a failed state on the grounds of political unrest and lack of opportunity for the citizens. Other than that, Nepal is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Without pretense and without a need to.

We can only but learn from Laloo Prasad Yadav. Despite being ousted from his CM chair over $300 million fodder scam, he resurrected the Indian Railways from its ashes and turned it about to be one of the most profitable government institutions. He did so without cutting down on the services and manpower, but addressing the loopholes and inefficient portals with ingenuity and a very limited resources. Turns out that it does not take an Ivy League educated professional to turnaround the sinking ship. Just a common man, with determination and co-operation.  A common man, like us. Like you and me.

Found this article interesting. Posted in under a new thread due to its length.

http://www.sajha.com/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=54841