We the people of Nepal have lived in peace and harmony for centuries. After the people’s movement of April 2006 sidelined the monarchy and the political parties along with the former insurgents (Maoists) seized the power, there have been numerous incidents of racial and ethnic group uprising thereby creating tension and conflicts among the various groups. Some groups are demanding outright cessation from Nepal to establish a separate independent country. Almost all political parties have agreed to at least divide the country into Federal Republic. However, not a single party has any clue as to how to go about dividing the country into different units. Various groups within Nepal have demanded for Self Governing Units based on ethnic, linguistic or geographical grounds. This is not going to work due to the heterogeneous nature of the country’s population. Moreover, Nepal has always been a unitary government. No single part of the country has ever been a part of self governing unit for the last 240 years. Therefore, when the political parties promised Federal Structure to ethnic groups and Madhesi people, they did not realized that they are treading into uncharted territories. At the time when many nations are working together and uniting their efforts for a common goal (such as the European Union), it is impractical and stupid to divide an existing nation to appease a handful of selfish politicians, thugs, and armed terrorists. The division of Nepal will bring about untold amount of misery and suffering to the people. It will benefit no one. We should learn from what happened when the British left India and the former colony of Britain was divided into India and Pakistan. We need to have a logical approach to solving problems so that the demands of Madhesi people as well as the demands of the other ethnic groups are met without destroying the basic structure of the society. The foolish and selfish politicians and administrators living in luxury of Kathmandu do not understand the problems faced by the people in the villages of the Terai, hills and the mountains. Are these fools aware of the fact that a pregnant mother has to carry drinking water for the family two miles up the mountain? Men do not fetch drinking water in Nepal. When I was out in Salyan to survey for water supply, I was both saddened and surprised to note how difficult a life a Magar village had because of lack of drinking water in the vicinity. They had to travel two miles down the steep mountain to just fetch a bucket of water. We need Unity not Division It seems that the political leaders do not have the interest of the people or the nation in their minds. They are just busy taking care of themselves, their relatives and their cadres. There is not a single political party that has come up with a plan on how they are going to solve the problems facing the people including that of poverty and illiteracy. They have not come up with programs for economic development, train workforce to develop the country, improve health care, educational institutions, transportation, and above all protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. If these leaders are serious about the country and the people they would not be talking about division of the country and the people. A true leader would try to unite the country and the people and lead the nation towards peace and prosperity. A true leader should have the interest of the whole nation and her people above any thing else. However, the current leaders are all for their personal glory and well being. They are not interested in helping people. They have placed personal interest above party interest; and interest and well being of their party above the national interest. What do Nepalese People Want? Having faced the turbulent times in the last sixteen years due to the insurgency and even more turmoil under the current Ganatantra, Nepalese people want to live in peace and to be left alone so that they can carve out a living for themselves. Like people of any other nation, the Nepalis people want to have good governance which embraces transparency, accountability, fairness, and which is devoid of corruption, communalism, racism, regionalism, and nepotism. The Nepalis people also aspire to have their country developed economically in all sectors including agriculture, transportation, communication, energy generation, horticulture, manufacturing and tourism. For our economy to progress, the people of Nepal are aware that they need to have peace and security in the country. Political thugs and criminals cannot roam around bullying, cheating, and threatening the common people. Nepalese people cannot wait to see political stability no matter how it is brought about. It is also satisfying to note that the Nepalis people want environmental conservation and protection of our resources. Among their other aspirations, the Nepalis people desire to preserve their vibrant culture, establish high standard of education and provide adequate health care services for all the people. The people of this country are sick and tired of the political bickering. It is a shame for the whole nation how childish these political leaders are. They have created the jumbo Constituent Assembly comprising of 601 members while the United States has only 435 members in the House of Representatives and India has 552 members in Loksabha.  Why does a small country like Nepal need such a large assembly of lawmakers? This body has done or achieved absolutely nothing in the last two and half years and yet spent billions of rupees in salaries and benefits. If they are not doing anything, why should they be paid? Incompetent Leaders The fact that the political leaders of Nepal have been out of step with the people and the country is well illustrated by the following quotes published in Nepal’s newspapers particularly in the Kathmandu Post. The actions (or rather the inactions) of these incompetent leaders have caused a lot of misery and suffering among the people. Khagendra N. Sharma in an Oped article published in the Kathmandu Post on Jul 15, 2010 stated “.. big parties have been exposed to their barest animal elements. They can disregard any and every element of moral responsibility to safeguard the national interest when faced with the question of power. I pity myself and the gamut of well meaning people for having to live under such lustful and incompetent leaders. I had never imagined that the country had such a naked poverty of responsible leaders. All the so-called leaders have turned out to be shamelessly irresponsible towards the nation. Nepal is really a cursed country.” Khagendra N. Sharma in another Oped article published in Kathmandu Post on April 22, 2010 wrote “.. immediate aspiration of all the parties was to be part of government by grabbing as many ministries as possible to keep their so-called senior leaders happily established as prime minister, deputy prime ministers, ministers, ministers of state and assistant ministers. Those who were not accommodated started to destabilize their own parties leading them to the brink of a breakdown. This was the result of the political culture developed after the dawn of multiparty democracy in 1990. In particular, the leaders of the major parties have developed no vision beyond getting the ministerial chair.” Aditya Baral in an Oped article wrote (Published in the Kathmandu Post October 20, 2010) “.. our leaders fail in even the most basic service delivery, democracy no longer seems to be ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’. Instead, Nepalis have started to come up with their own formulations to describe the unique state of affairs: some are calling it demo-crazy while some believe it would be more apt to describe the Nepali version of democracy is as ‘far (from) the people, fool the people and bye the people.’ Which, mind you, is not far fetched in light of the continuing farce in the CA.” Siddarth Thapa in an Oped article wrote (Published in Kathmandu Post October 20, 2010) “..according to government officers posted in hilly districts 60 percent of the budget slated for development is used by the Maoist party while the remaining 40 percent is divided amongst other political parties—no one really knows what the parties do with this money. Furthermore, even offices such as the District Health Office and the District Agriculture Development Office have to donate for political causes despite the fact that the parties earmark a certain portion of the development budget for their own use. To make matters worse, when ministers or influential politicians visit the district, local offices have to pay for the former’s luxuries such as their lodging, food, and entertainment during the visit.” The writer can be reached at Khagendra_Thapa@ferris.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Nepalnews.com Nov 1, 2010. Last edited: 07-Nov-10 10:37 AM Last edited: 07-Nov-10 12:40 PM