Nepal Has Immense Potential To Become A Strong Nation – OpEd
Corruption, indebtedness, mismanagement of public funds, ban on social media, display of wealth by government officials and their families and environmental degradation due to unsustainable infrastructure projects etc triggered public protest in the streets of Nepal.
In fact, the public discontent was brewing for a long time due to poverty, backwardness, unemployment and lack of inclusive growth. Natural calamities like floods and earthquakes had displaced people and destroyed the livelihood of thousands of Nepalis. Nepal was plunged into a crisis despite immense potential to become strong and prosperous. Mr Sudan Gurung, a philanthropist and the president of Hami Nepal, a youth-driven NGO, mobilised people across Nepal and forced Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal to resign.
Oli wanted to suppress the peaceful protest with force which killed 19 youth and injured more than 300 people. The violent action of Oli had triggered far more violent reaction from the public across Nepal and turned it into the most devastating mob fury in the history of the otherwise peaceful Nepal.
The mob dragged foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba, the wife of former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba, and thrashed her on the street. Protesters chased and kicked Deputy PM and finance minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel. They torched the house of former PM Jhalanath Khanal’s wife, Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar who died.
The protesters shattered windows and set fire in the multiple chambers of the federal parliament building inside the Singha Durbar complex; they torched the country’s Supreme Court building and municipal complex.
The mob fury in Nepal is reminiscent of the violent mob fury in Sri Lanka in the recent past. The reasons for mob fury are similar both in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Mob fury always goes out of control and causes immense damage to human lives and assets. Miscreants and vested interest political activists always take advantage of the situation. Nearly 15000 jail inmates have escaped from different jails in Nepal.
The cost of lives and loss to the physical assets due to mob fury is too big to estimate. But repairing the economy, social, cultural, natural and spiritual environment of Nepal is a bigger challenge before the Nepali intellectuals, youth, media, good politicians, patriotic organizations and the self respecting common Nepalis.
If corruption is the root cause of the devastating mob fury, it is the responsibility of each conscious Nepali to justify it; there is a need for dedicated investigation to pinpoint the corrupt groups. The next step is to give them the punishment they always deserve. The third step is to recover their assets and use it for rebuilding the property destroyed in the mob violence. The fourth most potent action is to nationalize their deposits in any foreign banks and in Swiss Banks.
These actions should be initiated very swiftly before the corrupt people find an escape route and shift their ill gotten money to safe destinations. The Nepalis deserve justice and without swift and transparent justice the corruption will torment the Nepalis for many generations.
Nepal needs to rediscover its immense economic potential and plan to tap it for sustainable and inclusive growth. Tourism, pilgrim tourism, agriculture, handicraft making, weaving, fishery, horticulture, forest products, crop diversity, medicinal plants, wildlife and spiritual tourism, leisure tourism, adventure tourism and sustainable indigenous village economy etc can make Nepal a strong and rich nation. The Nepalis have contributed a lot in helping hundreds of moutnaineers to scale Mount Everest and other peaks.
A nation with economic and military power cannot be called a rich nation without spiritual wealth, wisdom and humanity. Nepal has spiritual wealth to stop the world from the pursuit of war, aggression, pain and frustration. Research and innovation will come automatically when Nepal starts living with self belief again. There is no need of foreign interference in the development of Nepal. The country has everything. Nepal has contributed to the military prowess of the world with its dedicated and most feared Gurkha regiment. They can make Nepal militarily strong.
The Himalayan nation should pursue country specific development and should examine the impact of mega projects on its eco sensitive environment, rich culture, social life, domestic economy and on the livelihood of the common Nepalis. Foreign countries can give aid to Nepal but without any condition. Let Nepal grow into a strong nation to strike a balance in the geo-political landscape which is losing its rainbow of colors.
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