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, caused infrastructural losses amounting to billions of rupees and pushed the country decades back, the three organs of the state had stood intact, by and large. This fact aside, think about the beyond-border ecosystem that must have been put in place to launch and sustain a brutal campaign against a country and her peoples!

The fact that the two-day protest caused infrastructural losses on an unprecedented scale and (almost) brought about a regime change of sorts—remember, an unconstitutional move on the part of a ceremonial head of the state keeps the regime in a vegetative state to this day—shows how fragile Nepal has become. It is indeed worrisome that those who should have learnt hard lessons from the insurgency—if not from the uprisings and subsequent epochal changes of 1950 and 1990—have proved to be very poor learners. If those who matter the most still do not learn hard lessons and fail to mend their ways, time is sure to wound those heels the most.

Imagine also the serious preparations that must have gone on to torch not only the three principle organs of the state but also to literally obliterate sub-national bodies across the length and breadth of the country. In this day and age of fast-changing technological landscape, one needs no expert to note that it is impossible to set large infrastructure like Singhadurbar, the Supreme Court and the Parliament on fire just like that. You need human resources with the technological knowhow, explosives and other ingredients for executing such a sinister design, right?

Let’s hope that our competent law enforcement agencies manage to conduct a free, fair and conclusive probe and, based on their findings, put no-nonsense measures in place to drastically reduce chances of recurrence of such events.

Five months into the deaths and devastation, Nepal is recovering fast, leaving behind dreaded days of anarchy and gearing up for elections. 

Even the contemporary history of this old country shows that we have risen like phoenix from the ashes of death and destruction resulting from natural and unnatural disasters. Given our never-say die spirit and global goodwill, there’s every reason to believe that we will rise again from the ashes, sooner than later.  

If that spirit of ours has dampened a bit, how about doing something to revive it? How about organizing an international concert in the ruins by inviting the maestros from around the world, to give the message that Nepal—the embodiment of the fertile plains, verdant hills and the majestic Himalayas, the common home of Buddha, numerous other enlightened beings, gods and goddesses—is at peace with herself and the rest of the world, and ready as ever to soar high like the Himalayas, once again? How about inviting friends and well-wishers from around the world to become a part of this wonderful journey?