Who is this tiny king when big dictators everywhere have gone?” Indian politician Chandra Shekhar said addressing Nepali politicians in Kathmandu in Jan 1990. Outlawed by the palace since 1961, Nepali Congress (NC) and the now defunct United Left Front were then about to launch a pro-democracy movement against King Birendra, and the Janata Party strongman was months away from becoming India’s Prime Minister. The meeting was held in the compound of NC’s supreme leader Ganeshman Singh’s house located close to the Nepal monarch’s Narayanhity Palace.By the spring of 1990, NC and its allies forced King Birendra to reintroduce multiparty monarchical democracy scrapped by his father, King Mahendra, in 1961. Months later, Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief Ashok Singhal, while on a visit to Kathmandu, hailed the Nepal king as a “Hindu Samrat”. Based in Kathmandu, Hindu Sevak Sangh, an organisation believed to be the Nepal version of RSS, worked in close collaboration with Nepali activists who regarded their king as an incarnation of Vishnu.
Re-setting Of ChessboardHad Chandra Shekhar been alive today, he would have definitely revised his opinion about both kingship and democracy in Nepal. Despite its abolition in 2008, the system of monarchy hasn’t lost its influence over Nepali psyche altogether. Owing to constant political instability in republican Nepal, its last King Gyanendra has been consistently gaining importance in the eyes of a sizable section of Nepalis. Since last year, Nepal has seen a number of street demonstrations, sometimes violent, seeking his reinstatement as a king. To keep the deposed monarch out of public life, the now-discredited Oli government threatened to put him behind bars a number of times.Unlike Chandra Shekhar, Singhal would not have felt the need to reset his views much had he been around now. Every year Nepalis wait in long queues for a darshan of the former king on his birthday and Dussehra. Rising joblessness and sectarian politics are pushing more and more people to seek the ex-monarch’s return to the throne and restoration of Nepal as a Hindu nation. A section of NC also favours restoration of multi-party monarchical democracy, a system that the party’s founding fathers always upheld. Ironically, NC’s Girija Prasad Koirala was at the helm when Nepal became a republic, especially under the influence of Maoists.In stark contrast, since the outbreak of the Gen-Z movement on Monday, most pro-democracy leaders, who ruled Nepal for 35 long years since Chandra Shekhar’s landmark speech, are on the run like bandits or lawbreakers. KP Sharma Oli has gone into hiding since he quit office as PM on Tuesday, when anti-govt protesters roamed around attacking ministers, parliamentarians and politicians across the country. Agitators want to punish politicians for corruption as well as the death of about 20 people in police firing on Monday.Nepali Congress stalwart Sher Bahadur Deuba, who served as PM for five terms, and his wife Arzoo Rana, who was foreign minister in the Oli govt, were beaten up and their house was burned down by agitators. Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, the wife of former Communist PM, Jhalnath Khanal, suffered serious burn injuries when protesters set their house on fire. An attempt was made on the residence of Pushpakamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, who was once regarded as the 20th century’s tallest Maoist leader.Most of the leaders targeted by new generation activists have an illustrious political past. Oli spent about 10 years in prison after he joined a Communist faction close to Indian Naxalites in the late 60s. His native Jhapa district is right across Naxalbari in Darjeeling district. Deuba, too, was jailed for about 14 years, both before and after the 1990 movement. Prachanda, who once carried a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh on his head, worked as an underground revolutionary all his life until he joined mainstream politics in 2006.Poison Of powerSpearhead of the 1990 movement, Ganeshman Singh turned down King Birendra’s offer to make him PM after the agitation. Singh had spent about 18 years in prison in his political career spanning several decades. He once escaped from jail after he was sentenced to death by Rana rulers before 1950. Far from following Singh’s example of sacrifice, NC stalwarts engaged in internecine fights for power for years. At the turn of the 21st century, Nepal’s oldest party split up into two factions, separately headed by Koirala and Deuba.Similar tussles were seen within mainstream Communist parties, pro-monarchy Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Terai-based organisations as well. Taking full advantage of politicians’ weakness for power, King Gyanendra once issued a notice asking for names for the PM’s post. Politicians showed no qualm showing up with their nomination papers at the northern gate office of the palace within the stipulated time. Maoist insurgency was at its peak at that time. Taking advantage of the situation, the King took direct control in Feb 2005 that ultimately cost him his throne.Between 1990 (when multi-party democracy was restored after three decades) and 2008 (when kingship was abolished), Nepal witnessed the PM’s baton changing hands 15 times. From 2008 to the present, it saw 12 rulers entering and exiting the PM’s office.Heroes and villainsSuch insatiable hunger for power encouraged frequent party-hopping and formation of multiple parties and alliances of convenience. It made money, not ideology, the life and spirit of parties.In fact, people’s disenchantment began to grow right from the time multi-party democracy was restored in 1990. Almost every party faced allegations of misuse of office for financial gains. The number of financial scandals rose sharply after the country became a republic. Such cases ranged from purchase of aircraft to corporate and real estate investments to human trafficking.Earlier this year, Nepal was rocked by a scandal related to the issuing of documents falsely identifying Nepali citizens as Bhutanese refugees for settlement abroad. In recent years, as part of a UNHCR plan, about one lakh Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees living in refugee camps in Nepal were settled in the US, Canada, Australia and a few other countries. Many link Nepalis’ growing propensity to migrate elsewhere to the lack of job opportunities at home.Politicians’ tendency to appoint their families and friends in key govt positions and help them start business ventures further estranged people from them. The change in the lifestyles of politicians, most of whom hailed from simple family backgrounds, was under close scrutiny. Their palatial houses, expensive cars and business establishments have become the primary targets of mob attacks since Monday.Ties with IndiaTwo of Nepal’s first propellers of political change, NC and Communist Party of Nepal (now divided into several factions) were founded in Kolkata in the late 1940s. Despite its socialist leanings, NC is generally seen as a pro-India party. Nepali Communists factions, too, have close, ideological ties with the Indian Left. When it comes to the question of domestic politics, they tend to support China vis-à-vis India. They ritualistically talk of “Indian hegemony” to sway fellow Nepalis, who are perpetually proud of being an independent nation throughout history.This, despite the fact that the range of Nepal’s ties with India is many times broader than those with China. Displaying pragmatism, Prachanda, unlike Oli and others, makes an effort to maintain a balance between New Delhi and Beijing. On the contrary, Oli, who also draws his ideological inspirations from ‘godless’ China, never misses any opportunity to rub India the wrong way. One such example is his claim that Rama was born in Nepal. He made it public when Indians were celebrating the opening of the Ramjanmabhumi Temple in Ayodhya.With Nepal on the threshold of a radical political change, a guessing game has begun on the nature of Nepal’s ties with its big neighbours in the coming days. More and more new-age Nepalis go beyond India for higher studies. As such, their idea about India will be different from that of the old generation, who mostly went to educational institutions in Kolkata, Varanasi, Patna, Lucknow and Allahabad, New Delhi and other Indian cities and towns. It’s imperative also for India to deal with younger and brighter Nepalis according to the changing time. Will Banaras Hindu University alumnus Sushila Karki be able to bring the two neighbours closer in case she heads the proposed interim govt? Only time will tell. Go to Source
