| Honeymoon, sweet and sour |
|
|
|
| |||
|
When PM Dahal took his oath of office on August 18, the honeymoon period of the Maoist-led government began. By November 28, the 100 days will have ended. This honeymoon has been sweet and sour, with some positives but mostly negatives.
The Home Minister Bamdev Gautam deserves our appreciation. By removing the street vendors that occupied both the footpath and some of the road, the streets in the capital have become navigable. For example, the road from the Chabahil junction to Chucchepati suddenly is broad. Now vehicles can park close to the footpath to load and off-load passengers. As a cyclist, I have less chance of being hit by the unruly micro-buses because we have more room. The traffic jam at Kalanki now has shrunk to five minutes from the normal half an hour. By not allowing Nepalis to gamble in Casino Anna, Gautam has saved many future ‘riches to rag’ events, when princes become paupers within seconds. Dasain and Tihar bring gamblers to the forefront anyway, from dawn till dusk. Will Gautam please outlaw this as well? Limiting the working hours of dance restaurants to 11 PM has caused much uproar, but it has reduced crime. Non-smokers will gladly welcome Gautam’s coming ban on puffing cigarettes and bidis in public places. The Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav has surprised everyone with his successful plea to the United Nations, which will now accept more Nepal Army peace-keepers. Hardly has anyone graduated so quickly from a rowdy street manipulator to a respected minister. The government also started work on alternative energy, and the Supplies Minister Rajendra Mahato has made petrol and diesel available. He has to improve his record on cooking gas, and ensure that turpentine no longer ruins our engines. Fuel prices have gone down two times, and the Nepal Oil Corporation vows to review them every month. Wow, new Nepal! Then, comes the sour part. About a hundred years ago, George Bernard Shaw said that revolutions merely shift the burden of oppression from one set of shoulders to another. After people found out that PM Dahal sleeps on a bed costing 150,000 rupees, the myth that Maoists live sacrificially exploded beyond repair. Their leaders still enjoy stolen vehicles. Some have named the present PM as King Prachanda. Normal traffic within the city comes to a halt when he travels overseas. Ambassadors have to line up to see him off. The military plays the salute in his honour. Long ago, DR Regmi (in his book) criticized BP Koirala for wanting army salutes wherever he travelled. Now, PM Dahal has caught the bug. National and international flights delay themselves so that the PM can leave first. What has changed? Immediately after the Kosi deluge, one could forgive Dahal for just attending the last day of the Olympics in Beijing. However, his frolic on the Great Wall of China jarred with his self-proclaimed love of the suffering people. Taking his son as his "secretary” to the USA reminded us of PM Koirala having his daughter Sujata accompany him on official visits. Is PM Dahal behaving differently? The People’s Republic (PR) played the wrong tune at the wrong time with the wrong consequences. In the USA, both Dahal and Baburam had advocated a democratic republic. This infuriated the hardliners Mohan Baidya, CP Gajurel, and Ram Bahadur Thapa who quickly forwarded the PR as their ultimate goal. The NC and even the government-joined UML objected. The PR made other parties also nervous. Kamal Thapa now advertises democracy with the king. Surya Bahadur Thapa wants all the democrats to come together. Girijababu speaks of another revolution, and started the awareness programme from Biratnagar. The Maoists spent three weeks trying to contain the damage the PR had caused, but in vain. The November 1-15 issue of the Himal Khabarpatrika has the cover-picture of Dahal sharpening his sickle on a human skull named the PR! The skull reminds of the millions of Cambodians killed under Pol Pot’s “radical social and agricultural reforms" and the 14000 dead in Nepal after the Maoist insurgency. In future, Maoists will display wisdom to let the PR lie where it now rests, in the grave yard. Critics enjoyed commenting that the "fusion" the Maoists want is creating "confusion". Maoist opposition to the beauty-queen contest hinted that the party is trying to impose Taliban’s standards in our country. When the killer Kali Bahadur Kham meets the Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa freely with the police protecting them both, the Maoists have no moral base to impose their skewed ethics. Thus, the Law Minister Dev Prasad Gurung’s claim to punish corrupt judges passes as hot air. People will believe him when Kham and murderers of the journalist Birendra Sah stand behind bars. The same goes for the Gautam, powerless to punish the Maoist hot-head Matrika Yadav for his antics in Siraha or the YCL crooks. Neither can he persuade the Maoists to return looted properties, though the UML leader Amrit Bohara may receive his back. What about the myriad others? Thus, George Orwell’s oracle rings true. All are equal; but for Gautam and Dahal, the commies are more equal than others. Above all, the CA hasn’t written a line of our new constitution. Unless some miracles happen within the next 20 days, the Maoist-led government’s honeymoon period will end under the verdict of sweet and sour, with the taste of the latter more on our tongues. publishe on TKP on 6th Nov Newer...
Older...
Set as favorite Bookmark
Email This
Trackback(0)
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
|||
First, the sweet. The Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai introduced his "moon-reaching" budget, which introduced hope by aiming high. Bhattarai may not reach the lunar ball; but if he arrives as far as the Phulchoki summit, he will have done a lot. 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
