The new Constitution, without a doubt, is a remarkable achievement for Nepal. Many had hoped that the document would address most of the problems being faced by the country. But the current situation suggests otherwise. It seems that the very act of endorsing the statute without taking the nation’s ground realities into consideration has virtually extinguished the fire in many Nepali kitchens today.

Ever since India imposed an unofficial blockade of Nepal, life has gone back two decades for the people, with most households returning to firewood and dung cakes for their kitchen fuel. Prices of fuel and essential commodities have soared. People in Kathmandu are paying up to Rs8,000 for a gas cylinder (more than five times the normal price) and Rs300-400 for a litre of petrol (three to four times the usual price).

Prices of fruits and vegetables as well as other goods of everyday consumption have also gone up alarmingly. The electricity supply is another problem. In the Capital, for example, the power supply is mostly absent as there is load-shedding 86 hours a week. And if there is power, the voltage is so low that it is only good for charging your cell phone or laptop.

Root of the problem

Needless to say, the root of the crisis gripping Nepal today lies in the sheer recklessness on the part of our political stalwarts. They have played a role similar to that of Kazi Lhendup Dorjee of Sikkim—a tool to third-party hegemony. In the early 1960s, Lhendup Dorjee, a one-time confidante to Sikkim’s monarch, had formed the Sikkim National Congress to promote democracy in the country. Inspired as he was by an “exotic” interest rather than the interest of Sikkim as a country, he ultimately became instrumental in its ‘merger’ with India; and his party, too, merged with the Indian National Congress in 1975. In return for his role in Sikkim’s accession to the Indian Union, he was made the state’s first chief minister. Allegorically, the Lhendup Dorjee analogy is relevant in the context of our political stalwarts, who have played, or have appeared to play, similar roles in various situations. Over the years, various leaders of left-wing political parties have compromised their party principles to grab power and, in the distant and recent past, even pro-monarchy forces have changed

colour overnight. In the case of the Nepali Congress (NC), the country’s oldest and largest democratic party, the foremost one among those who played this role was none other than the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. He not only compromised the party’s strict ideological stances but also, towards the final days of his political career, put himself among contradictory political forces. Demonstrating almost suicidal courage, Koirala did what even his mentors—BP Koirala, Ganesh Man Singh and KP Bhattarai—were cautiously refraining from doing, and ultimately brought his party to a virtual state of ideological limbo.

This is because the NC today is neither in a position to receive credit for the republican polity (as it had been a long-time agenda of the Maoists and other left-wing political forces), nor able to display a visionary road map towards a viable ‘federal democratic’ system—evidenced by its poor homework and mixed stance on the criteria and format of the state restructuring plan besides lack of clarity regarding its consent for other features of state polity such as secularism. The party endorsed secularism and other new-fangled agendas, including federalism and republicanism, more as an outcome of a hastily perceived threat of being swept away by the tide of time than as a careful plan to take the party to new political heights.

Next, the way the leaders of the major political parties have held the whole

political process to ransom has further contributed to deepening the crisis.

Policies and agendas are passed by a closed circle consisting of a few leaders and the larger section of the party is forced to endorse them without question. A number of constitutional provisions were endorsed despite wide differences with keenly collected public opinion. And the way the Madhes-based political outfits rushed to stage the border protests in the aftermath of the promulgation of the constitution, which were instrumental in crippling public life, is a glaring example of how our leaders take politics and the public for granted. Viewed neutrally, both these actions seem to have been inspired by ‘foreign’ factors rather than by any fair assessment of home realities. It is unfortunate that the parties show a dependency syndrome when charting out their internal agendas but talk loudly about increased autonomy and self-rule.

The way ahead

Every constitution introduced since the Rana days has brought some relief and happiness to the people. Sadly, the constitution drafted by the Constituent Assembly has been an exception. We cannot always live by passing the blame to a third party. There have been lapses and we should own them. And we must work immediately to correct the lapses with a fresh earnestness to resolve the crisis. Only a broad-based, positively oriented dialogue aimed at wider national reconciliation and unity can safeguard our future.

Kafle teaches English at RR Campus, Tribhuvan University