Waiting for a worthy political hero

Parash……Parash….. Parash…….!!!

While ex-prince Parash Shah continues to be in media highlights for his different controversies, the captain of Nepal’s national Cricket team Parash Khadka is in positive limelight for leading his team successfully in T20 World Cup Cricket in Bangladesh last year. Though the team couldn't qualify for semifinal, they received a heroic welcome upon their arrival from Bangladesh and till today their outstanding performance against Afghanistan is still fresh in our minds. What everybody admires the most is the positive and productive leadership of the captain Parash Khadka who is always focused to bring improvement in the team, learn from his mistakes and work for the better result. It’s probably because of his calm and candid personality; people believe in him and youth consider him a real hero.

In cricket Parash brings the magic, in Nepali cinemas actor Rajesh Hamal is entitled the ‘Mahanayak’ and our Gurkhas are considered to be the bravest soldiers in the world but when it comes to Nepali politics why don’t we have real heroes, not even a praiseworthy hero?

The revolution of 1951, also known as ‘Saat Salko kranti’ sidelined the undemocratic Rana dynasty abolishing the institutionalized autocrat hereditary Prime Minister system in Nepal. In essence the country got rid of Ranas but Panchayat system couldn't address the aspiration of the then society and unified movement of different political parties in 1990 called People's Movement /Jana Andolan introduced a constitutional multiparty democracy system in Nepal bringing an end to absolute monarchy and eliminating the Panchayat system which certainly offered some democratic freedom to people but again 10 years long Maoist insurgency changed the entire political spectrum of Nepal. The war between Maoist and the state killed thousands of people resulting the immeasurable damage of social infrastructures. In 2006, King’s Gyanendra’s undemocratic move was declared as a political coop by major political parties of Nepal and People’s movement/ Jana Andolan II stripped the king of many of his powers. After Maoists came into the peace process the country had its first Constituent Assembly Election on 10 April 2008 and Maoist party emerged as the biggest political party.  The 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly comprised of 601 members officially declared a republic system at its first meeting on May 28, 2008, abolishing the monarchy system in Nepal and Ram Baran Yadav became the first president of Nepal. The misunderstanding among 3 major political parties, Nepali Congress, Maoist and CPN UML and power sharing issues and disagreement on many political agendas extended the political uncertainty and 2nd Constituent Assembly Election was held in 2013 after the failure the first Constituent Assembly to pass a new constitution. Till today, the ongoing political crisis hasn't found its solution and the political stalemate still continues.

This way, in the last 64 years of democracy in Nepal, we have witnessed revolutions, political changes and dozens of government led by different political parties but ordinary people are not able to experience better governance as massive unemployment, poverty, inequality, discrimination and many social, economic and cultural problems have worsen their situation.  The country has been lurching from crisis to crisis for years. Especially when the Maoists party came into the power with the slogan of ‘New Nepal’ people expected more developments and positive changes from them but Prachanda and much anticipated Dr Baburam Bhattarai both failed to bring their promised drastic change. Big faces like Jhalanath Khanal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Sushil Koirala, Sher bahadur Deuba, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, late Girija Prasad Koirala, Surya Bahadur Thapa and many more have already been in the prime ministerial hot seat but none could free the country from dirty political quagmire. Late Bisheshwor Prasad Koirala, Man Mohan Adhikari, Madan Bhandari, Krishna Prashad Bhattrai and Ganesh Man Singh were comparatively respectable figures in Nepali political leadership but people didn't get much from them either.

The blame culture is the most common characteristics found in Nepali politicians and nobody seems to have an ability to admit that they are wrong when they make mistakes, rather than to carry on and lead to disaster. When they are questioned about the current political crisis, mismanagement and the lack of developments in the country, almost everyone keeps blaming each other but majority of the people believe that the country has just found corrupted leaders and some good ones couldn't prove their potential.While searching for the recipe of world’s few successful political leaders, it looks like those who help the whole country rather than sections of it are mostly admired by the people. When South Africa was breaking up in racial strife, Mandela prevented it by drawing a visionary line under the sins of the past. Similarly Mahatma Gandhi not just led the non-violent struggle to achieve India’s freedom but also worked smartly in motivating and mobilizing the masses of India across the states, regardless of their differences in language, caste, religion, creed and sex, to unite together and fight for the cause of freedom where as our current politicians represent just a certain class or a particular faction of the society.

When we send them into power, they are supposed to represent our views and look after our interests but it’s not happening. A good leader doesn't lead by telling people what to do but by figuring out, from our collective wisdom, what is the most effective course of action and then trying to convince all people that this is the best course.  Instead of finding the views of the inarticulate and powerless, our leaders just know how to lie and force people to participate in protests and strikes in the country to fulfil their ends.  

Our politicians please their voters during the election campaigns and once they reach Singh Durbar, none seems to bother about the sufferings of ordinary Nepali living in and outside the country. Our big labour forces that have changed the face of Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and many other Gulf countries are enslaved there and many of them are treated like animals but none of our governments have made any adequate attempts to exercise top level diplomacy in order to ensure their safety, security and wellbeing. Every week, poor families are compelled to receive dozens of dead bodies of their beloved ones but still the grief cannot touch the soul of our stone hearted politicians.

Real leaders sacrifice their self-interest in the interest of nation & its people but majority our politicians are not driven with this principle. People have witnessed the lavish lifestyles of many communist politicians of Nepal who are supposed to serve and uplift the situation of the poorest of the poor, the downtrodden and the enslaved, the weak and the discriminated.  None is expecting a super hero who can change the country’s situation overnight. Nepali people are desperately waiting for someone who is brave enough to take some risks but save the country from the ongoing political crisis and external interference. Social workers Anuradha Koirala and Pushpa Basnet were recognised as CNN hero in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Nepali born Gautam Buddha became the light of the world for peace and spiritual awareness but still our country waits for a worthy political leader, a hero who can win the hearts of Nepalese and provide them what they really deserve.