[Show all top banners]

Poonte
Replies to this thread:

More by Poonte
What people are reading
Subscribers
Subscribers
:: Subscribe
Back to: Kurakani General Refresh page to view new replies
 Nepal On NYT Op-Ed
[VIEWED 5797 TIMES]
SAVE! for ease of future access.
Posted on 02-12-05 10:52 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Let the voices of the oppposition be heard! manjuhree Thapa on NYT Op-Ed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/opinion/12thapa.html
 
Posted on 02-12-05 11:08 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

What a poorly written article. Thapa mentions everything thats wrong with King G's move but barely looks at the situation that led to the coup. What were the alternatives ? THE COST OF NOT DOING ANYTHING HAD FAR MORE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES. Were Nepali people happy then ? No not at all, they were tired of political infightings.
Barely mentioning all the wrongs in one page don't make his justification right. Think outside the box and give your opinion about what should have been done instead of just saying what went wrong.

 
Posted on 02-12-05 12:40 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

kg4mvp has a point.

If King G were to keep his hands off, or say give up his throne and get out of the country now, then what? Based on the past record of Maoists and parties, do we believe Nepal will then have peace and a functioning political system? Ever?

Given the dismal record of parties and their politicians in the past, if the King hadn't sacked Deuba the first time or the second time, I am not convinced that we would be in a better shape today regarding the cancer that's growing in Nepal--the maoist menace.

I am not claiming that we are in a better shape because of King's past actions, but sadly I can not also honestly say that we would definitely be in a better shape today.

I am no fan of King G, or of the crown, especially when the monarchy wants to be less ceremonial and more political.

However, this is how I see the situation:
Nepal has been slowly bleeding towards death under the watch of many doctors (read: GPK, Deuba, MKN etc). They rose, fell and then felled others, but all they did while they were by the patient's side was constantly quarrel and get fatter while the patient worsened and begged for mercy. Now King G claiming to cure the patient does look like a dhami/jhankri not a real doctor (read: unelected, operating outside the constituion)...but you know what, since I believe the doctors were going to let the patient die anyway, I will take my chances and let this dhami/jhankri try his magic for a limited time.

If King G is indeed able to revive the patient (find a resolution to maoist issue), I know he will demand a hefty payback (he will want to remain the dominant political force one way or another, although he will have to reinstate the rule of the constituion), but we can deal with that issue later. I would much rather deal later with the issue of how to contain the king , than face the possibility of the red flag flying over Nepal, or, worse, Nepal turning into a ruin because it can not govern itself and falls prey to the interests of other powers (especially India).

Democray/rule of the people by representatives they elect is:
an elegant, fashionable and convenient concept,
a viable political doctrine that has proven its merit around the world
and arguably the best we have seen so far, although imperfect.

I would surely hope that Nepal will ultimately become one of the places where this ideology flourishes.

However, right now, left to the mercy of current parties and their self-enriching and dysfunctional politics, I am not sure that we can hope to gain some degree of normalcy in Nepal...not only because of the ruinous and wrong-headed ideology of the maoists (right cause, wrong path), but because of nasty intentions of our dear neighbor, India. King G is perhaps the only political operative in Nepal who is not in India's pocket.

If I were to see king G today, I would tell him that I don't like what he just did, but just out of desperation, I willl give him a pass for a short period, as long as he can deliver on his main promise. Not too long. And that for monarchy to survive in Nepal, they will have to prove their worth for the country. Each generation, each king. Else they will be history.

I surely hope the dhami/jhankri canl do some good soon. Else we will have to drag the doctors back and hope that they have learned a lesson. Before the patient dies.
 
Posted on 02-12-05 2:27 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Full Text of the Article..

Low Voices at High Altitude
By MANJUSHREE THAPA

Published: February 12, 2005


New Delhi ? UPON assuming absolute power over Nepal on Feb. 1, King Gyanendra banned all expressions against the spirit of his coup, including those voiced in interviews, writings, publications and even private discussion. It is hard for me, as a writer, to accept this. And ensuing events in my country have shown that I'm hardly alone.

Nepal won its democracy in 1990, after centuries of despotic monarchy. Perhaps the most dramatic effect of this liberty over the past 15 years is that Nepalis got in the habit of talking. We talk in our houses and in the tea shops, we talk in offices and on the streets, we talk through the news media and at public forums, we assemble in demonstrations to voice our opinions. No topic is off limits. We criticize, we praise, we summarize and analyze anything, everything. It became, it seemed to us, impossible to silence us.

Yet King Gyanendra has been trying to do just this. After his coup, he immediately suspended the right to assemble peacefully, cracked down on the free press, overturned the right against preventive detention and banned rights to property and privacy. He took from the people the right to most constitutional remedies, leaving us completely at the mercy of his government's whims. We are no longer citizens, but subjects.

The military has stationed itself in state-owned and private news media organizations, vetting every report published or broadcast. Soldiers captured the nation's telecommunications system, first shutting down all phone lines for days, then turning them off and on at will. Many politicians, social advocates, human-rights defenders, journalists and writers fled their houses, fearing arrest. (I was lucky enough to get out of the country on Feb. 6 under the protection of a foreign diplomat who walked me through the airport and onto my plane.)

People were right to be scared: the round-ups of those who posed a threat to the king's new regime began even as the coup was announced, and have continued. The news of the government's actions was spread by word of mouth, as all news reports, even those on satellite TV, had been blocked.

In the first few days of the coup, everyone hunkered down, afraid. But soon people began to meet and talk, to talk against the coup. Protests popped up all over the country. The nation's businesspeople joined the chorus: bankers complained of the lack of phone lines; officials at airlines, hotels and other businesses dependent on tourism warned of economic collapse. Soon there was talk that the king was planning to seize the bank accounts of democratic politicians on trumped-up charges of corruption.

As they talked, people grew emboldened. They found out who had satellite phones, who had Internet connections that somehow still worked. Journalists smuggled their reports across the Indian border or from the compounds of diplomatic missions. Contraband writings - The New York Times, The Guardian of London and the Indian newspapers' coverage of the coup - passed from hand to hand.

Eventually, censorship itself became an object of ridicule. The country's biggest English-language daily, The Kathmandu Post, ran nonsense editorials like "Socks in Society" - a thoughtful treatise on how socks without holes are a prestige symbol in a poor country like Nepal. The weekly Nepali Times ran an editorial criticizing a recent spate of deforestation - trees being the symbol of the Nepali Congress Party, whose leaders had been arrested. One daily, Deshantar, simply left a blank space where its editorials usually appear.

As the public mood has shifted from fearful to defiant, the coup seems more of a farce than a tragedy. The king's main justification for taking power was that the country's Maoist insurgents, who have fought the state since 1996, had grown powerful enough to paralyze all governance. The king promised to deploy the military more effectively now. Yet people quickly realized that if the military was going to spend so much effort arresting dissidents, censoring the news, nationalizing property, scattering demonstrations, disbanding organizations and generally evading the rule of law, who would ward off the Maoists?

Now several demonstrations have taken place in Katmandu, the capital, and other forms of defiance are planned. The Nepali people have grown fond of freedom. We won't give it up without a fight.

But we are concerned about the international response to the coup. More than 60 percent of Nepal's national budget comes from foreign grants and loans. If liberal democratic nations - the United States, Britain and the other European countries - would halt their aid (even just the money going to the military), it might make it impossible for the king to sustain absolute power. It is a supreme act of bad faith on the part of the king to ask taxpayers around the world to foot the bill for his autocratic reign.

Of course, even if we are able to reverse the coup and restore democracy it won't solve all of Nepal's problems. Not only is the country one of the poorest in the world, but the Maoist insurgency has claimed more than 11,000 lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. A Maoist takeover is simply not an appealing option to most Nepalis.

Most analysts in Nepal agree, however, that there is no military solution to the Maoists either. Not only is the army ineffective, but many claim that it has used the insurgency as an excuse for extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions and rape. In the end, the democratic political parties and the Maoists must negotiate a settlement, perhaps with international mediation.

With his ill-advised coup, King Gyanendra has only distracted the Nepali people and the world from what truly matters: making democracy work, making it possible for Nepalis to enjoy our rights - like talking about anything and everything - without any fear of the gun.
 
Posted on 02-13-05 1:34 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

so manju shree also fled the country!!
 


Please Log in! to be able to reply! If you don't have a login, please register here.

YOU CAN ALSO



IN ORDER TO POST!




Within last 30 days
Recommended Popular Threads Controvertial Threads
I hope all the fake Nepali refugee get deported
Those who are in TPS, what’s your backup plan?
interesting fact about sajha.
Travel Document for TPS (approved)
If you got nothing to lose, fight tooth and nail explore every avenue
Now, more than ever, is it a good idea to apply for advance parole?
MAGA #FAFO
TPS Travel Permit Processing time
POE for TPS travel
MAGA and all how do you feel about Trumps cabinet pick?
MAGA मार्का कुरा पढेर दिमाग नखपाउनुस !
Does anyone know if the passport renewal process at the DC embassy is active again?
DACA and TPS in Danger but what abt Healthcare workers?
Occupied
NOTE: The opinions here represent the opinions of the individual posters, and not of Sajha.com. It is not possible for sajha.com to monitor all the postings, since sajha.com merely seeks to provide a cyber location for discussing ideas and concerns related to Nepal and the Nepalis. Please send an email to admin@sajha.com using a valid email address if you want any posting to be considered for deletion. Your request will be handled on a one to one basis. Sajha.com is a service please don't abuse it. - Thanks.

Sajha.com Privacy Policy

Like us in Facebook!

↑ Back to Top
free counters