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Nepal needs a strategy for survival

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  Is the period of Long Peace, marked by the absence of major wars between great powers since the end of World War II (1945), coming to an end?   What do the latest developments in Venezuela, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Palestine, Iran, Greenland and our very own backyard—you see, having subcontinent-size countries as neighbours has its unique advantages—indicate?     What factors/developments are giving rise to yet another crisis in a world where humans across generations have spent most of their times fighting or fleeing to save their dear lives along with that of their near and dear ones, with data suggesting that only eight percent of our recorded history—around 268 out of 3,400 years) has been truly peaceful?  Now, let’s have a look at factors contributing to the Long Peace. They are: nuclear deterrence, economic interdependence through trade, the spread of democracy, the United Nations’ role, increased human rights/education, stable borders and s...

Let the phoenix rise

  Devendra Gautam During the September 8-9 protest that brought a very fragile Nepal to her knees in roughly 48 hours, a gullible Nepali laity (Praja in our parlance, literally) witnessed the toppling of an elected government, in an unprecedented turn of events in world history. The three organs of the state fell like a house of cards and flames of fury did not even spare the fourth organ—notwithstanding the globally-accepted rule of the game that one should not shoot the messenger even if they don’t like the message—along with the offices of other private businesses a day after the killing of and injuries to several protesters, who were demanding an immediate lifting of the social media ban, an end to corruption, nepotism, bad governance and the beginning of an era of good governance and accountability, a long-cherished dream of Nepalis across generations.    It is important to note that even during the decade-long insurgency, which claimed thousands of lives, ca...

भूराजनीतिक झेली खेलहरूतर्फ नेपाली लोकको ध्यान जाओस्

भदौ ४ गतेको साँझ , चांगलिमिथांग रंगशाला , थिम्पु , भुटान। भुटान भन्नेबित्तिकै पीडाका शीतलहरहरूले मनमुटु बिथोलिहाल्छन्। नेपालीभाषी , नेपालीमूलका एकलाख भन्दा बढी नेपालीहरू जन्मथलोबाट लखेटिएर शरणार्थी भइ बस्नुपरेको कालो अध्याय सम्झिन्छु। के नै अपराध गरेका थिए र तिनले ? प्रजातन्त्र र मानवाधिकार त मागेका थिए।   विज्ञानप्रविधि , नवचेतना , विश्वव्यापी इन्टरनेट संजालको यस युगमा पनि मातृभाषामा बोल्न , लेख्न , आफूले मन पराएको पोशाक लगाउन पाउनुपर्छ भन्नु ठुलो अपराध हुँदोरहेछ अझ त्यो पनि त्यस भूखण्डको नजिक जो आफूलाई संसारकै सबैभन्दा ठुलो लोकतन्त्र अनि लोकतन्त्रको जननी भन्नुमा गर्व गर्छ।   शासकलाई अस्तित्वको सङ्कटको आभाष भएपछि केको प्रजातन्त्र , केको मानवाधिकार ?  राज्य बर्बर दमनमा उत्रियो दक्षिण भुटानमा , त्यहाँस्थित नेपालीभाषीहरूका घरहरूमा आगो लगाइयो , बलात्कारलाई युद्धको अस्त्रको रूपमा प्रयोग गरियो अनि एक लाखभन्दा बढी निहत्था नेपालीजनलाई इण्डियन भूमितर्फ लखेटियो , त्यहाँबाट पनि बल प्रयोग गरी ती विस्थापित जनलाई लखेटियो अनि ती विवश जन नेपालमा शरण माग्न आइपुगे मेची तरेर।   सुशासन...

From Doval, a great gift for Nepal

Devendra Gautam The open wounds of Nepal, the result of a forged Sugauli treaty that supposedly marked the end of the Anglo-Nepal war (1814-16) with the dismemberment of Nepal (with the loss of two-thirds of her territories) through severing of supply lines to women, children and elderly fighting for their ancestral land against an empire bent on conquering the world through gunpower, have begun festering, once again.     This, after China and India agreed to reopen border trade, among other points, through Lipulekh, following discussions between India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where they pledged to boost economic activity, people-to-people contact and cooperation on trans-border rivers. From Doval, who happens to be from Gadhwal, it’s another ‘gift’ for Nepal, isn’t it?  Albeit feebly, Nepal has objected to the deal, through a social media post in Nepali from Nepal’s Foreign Minister whereas India, through a state...

A pipedream in a rigged polity

Devendra Gautam After doing a cursory study of the goings-on in this wonderland of ours, apart from going through chapters of lived experiences in the course of his 25-year career, yours truly has come to a conclusion that ours is a country of formers, the Bhootpoorvas, with not much space for the newbies, from newspaper columns to vital bodies of the state, unless and until you happen to be the kith and/or kin of powers that be.  While writing these lines, the Bhootpoorva (Bhoopoo) hotels and lodges of western hill districts of Gulmi and Palpa come to mind. These lodging and boarding facilities borrow their names from service personnel, who served in India and other parts of the world in their prime, fighting others’ wars on others’ orders in other-lands, mainly because successive regimes of different hues and shades that ‘ruled’ our country after the Anglo-Nepal war of 1814-16 did not bother to mobilize those bravehearts for the protection of the country and her peoples....

जीवन अर्थात् अर्थशास्त्र

 केही वर्ष पहिले मैले छद्यमनाम प्रयोग गरी लेखेको र कुनै ऐरेगैरे अनलाइनमा सित्तैमा प्रकाशित कविता, महँगी र वर्तमान अर्थमन्त्रीमा समर्पित गरेको छु: डिल्लीराज गुरू अर्थात् पूर्वव्यावसायिक शिक्षा पाककला, माछीकाँडे र अन्य सुन्दरसुन्दर बुट्टा केले बन्या होला सरको कहिल्यै नफाट्ने बुट्टे टोपी? रातो कमीज, नीलो पाइन्ट, बलियो जुता लगाएपछि जुग जाने, आरामदायी पनि घामपानी लम्तरी डाँडा–सरस्वती निमावि देवालीपोखरा देउराली, उकालीओराली अनि बेँसी खै केले बन्या होलान् गुरूका ती लुगारु आत्माजस्तै बलिया अनि टिकाउ पनि सोध्न मन लाग्या हो विद्यार्थीवयमै खै कहिल्यै आँटले साथ दिएन महङ्गीले डस्या यो बेला हजुरको मूर्ख विद्यार्थीलाई फेरि सोध्न मन लाग्या छ त्यही प्रश्न आखिर केले बन्छन् गुरू त्यति बलिया लुगा? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ तेजुराज गुरू अर्थात् एकजोर चलाख आँखा ज्यामिति, अङ्कगणित अनि अल्जिब्रामा छुरा अनुशासनमा कडा, तैपनि भइएन बेञ्चमा खडा खाइएन सरको लठ्ठी, खाइएन सिस्नोपानी भइएन फेल, भइएन त्यति गयल, खाइएन गालीपनि उभिइएन बेञ्चमा अनि बनिएन कुखुरा --------------------------------------------------- तर जीव...

Mahadev, marooned!

  Mahadev, marooned? Yup. Just a few days ago, there came a piece of interesting news. Interesting piece? That is hard to come by, right? Well…. The piece was about the Kusheshwar Mahadev temple on the confluence of the Sunkoshi and an angry Roshi, in Sindhuli. According to the report, the temple wears a deserted look with the Roshi sweeping away a hume pipe that was acting as a bridge between Mahadev (the lord of the deities) and the devotees, who would come for puja from far and wide.   Such audacity against the superlord? How dare you, Roshi?  Such is the wrath of the Roshi (rosh, by the way is a Sanskrit word that means anger) that it swept away part of the BP Highway last September, leaving behind a trail of death and devastation. What old score did the Roshi want to settle with an artery named after BP Koirala? And what beef does she have against the good ole Shiv, almost always meditating (when not romancing with goddess Parvati) and ever ready to grant wishes...