In the 21st century, politics has come to be seen as the only legitimate discipline for those aspiring to practice statecraft. Yet, like any other crafts, we cannot forget that politics too is just a tool – a means, and not an end in itself. Barring when an artist uses his/her craft just for self-indulgence, the success of a craft is measured only by its audience attaching ‘value’ to it. Fighting for social equity certainly is one value that people associate with politics. Yet, this value alone can never keep a politician afloat for long. Politics must have strong economic ‘value’ for its supposed beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the lack of economic value of the Nepali brand of politics makes it a mere self-indulgence tool of those practicing it. It is like a child begging to get a preferred gift from his parents. Parents do oblige the begging child just for emotional reasons for sometime but the moment they see their act as unjust to others, they share that gift with other children too. We Nepalis have been like that set of credulous parents being emotionally blackmailed by one child (read politician) after another though only for a short while in each case. And, this is not helping us by any means.
Politics defines the relationship between the state and its subjects. Coming to power is an important signpost of success for politicians, and this should never be denied or ridiculed. But getting to ‘Power’ is just a milestone and not the destination itself. If we even cursorily look at the recent history of Nepal, most rulers, and usurpers of power whether through legitimate or illegitimate means, interpreted reaching the throne as an end, forgetting conveniently ‘what for’ they have come/been sent to that pedestal for. Had they used them-being-in-power for economic good of people at any substantial scale, they would not have been thrown out of power so routinely by us. As they say, those who do not learn from history get condemned to repeat it, and so we, both the rulers and the ruled in Nepal, have been repeating history in cycles, never to learn from it.
Even today, on the eve of yet another ‘historic’ election, we are obediently enacting the same repetitive history, as if we are destined to do these. People with high-decibel rhetoric are making us believe that in their hands is our bright future and that of our children. Continuing to behave like our forefathers since medieval Nepal, we are either believing in them or are feeling plain lazy not to question them. Just like the rulers of the olden era, these 21st-century ambitious manipulators are taking turns to enthrall us with pomp and pageantry, singing and dancing their way to the throne, forgetting, devoid of ‘content’ and ‘economic value,’ they would get dethroned by us as routinely. So many politicians have come with much fanfare in recent times only to get lost in oblivion in no time.
The question is, Who loses in this repetitive bargain? Do the power-grabbers lose? No, they do not lose a thing, as by the time they are thrown out of power by us, they have earned a huge economic and historic value for themselves – much more than they ever deserved. They laugh their way to a peaceful and graceful retirement in the warm security of their kinship and cronies. On the contrary, we the Nepali citizens, lose big time in enacting this repetitive cycle of honoring and dishonoring the incompetence. In every cycle, several generations lose their career prospects – never to reach where they deserved to be. The economy, and therefore the society, too, gets relegated to even more demoralizing lows, making us a laughingstock for the wider world.
I saw many of my talented friends losing their way in the ’80s, thanks to the dreams sold by the then smooth talking politicians. They all came to the party, one after another: Lokendra B Chanda, Surya B Thapa, Nagendra P Rijal, Marich M Singh. So did the so-called reformed Panchayat system come to power at the behest of King Birendra. They all had a ball of a time while at the helm. They all got terminated unceremoniously. But analyzing their exploits in hindsight, they all got more than they bargained for. Some of these leaders happily retired, most of them designed new political outfits to suit the new dress code made obligatory by the multi-party democracy in ’90s.
Nepal continued to become poorer by the day. Since the ’80s, for reference, South Korea, from being an economic laggard in South East Asia, has come to become a developed country with more than US$30,000 per capita income accomplished in 2010.
Came the ’90s, and came democracy with crutches. Came KP Bhattarai, GP Koirala, Sher B Deuba, Manmohan Adhikari, and so on – most with mere words with no economic vision. And if they did have an economic vision (it largely remained invisible, though), they never could roll them out to us for the benefit of us, the citizens. Most lost their relevance fairly quickly. Some found them back partially by repackaging themselves in republican colors. Yet they continued to remain devoid of economic vision and thereby irrelevant in longer term for us, the people. Nepal continued to be relatively poorer by the day during the ’90s while our neighbors China and India gained new economic superpower status.
Came the new millennium, came King Gyanendra. His handpicked gang took over Nepal amidst heartbreaking tragic incidents of gigantic proportions. One more time, the benefit of doubt of the Nepali people found a benefactor. One more time, our dreams were squandered. One more time, we, the Nepali people, threw the powerbroker in the garbage bins. Following the same old trend of smooth-Talking-poor-delivering came old-drink-in-new-bottle: GP Koirala, Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal. And then the bottles-with-untried-drink ones: Prachanda and Babu Ram Bhattarai. Once tried, each one of them was thrown out unceremoniously – many of them disgracefully, by us. While we, the citizens, kept taking sighs of relief with every single ouster, the departed ones continued to plan bouncing back in new attires, hoping the people would soon forget their disastrous performance the last time they were at the throne.
Outrageous as it may sound, going even a step further, reflecting the bankruptcy of economic vision of an even higher order, the leaders-in-the-waiting have begun to visit India and China, asking them to do things that are their own prime job description. When will they understand that Nepal is not poor because of some colonial power sucking its life-blood, as was the case of India before Gandhi and Nehru. It is not poor because the imperial powers have split it into their pockets of influence, as was the case of China before Mao Zedong. Nepal is poor because of the intellectual bankruptcy, lack of economic vision and inferiority syndrome of its political leaders.
Yes, Nepal needs politics – lots of it. But it needs politics of development. Nepali Politics must find a purpose that is more than just make-me-the-prime-minister plea. Issues like federalism needs to be examined from the spectacle of economic realities and opportunities, failing which those of us advocating it will be the first ones to discard it. Only economics will sustain the provinces, and allow the provinces’ leaders to deliver on their promises. The premise of social equity and ethic pride may bring a politician to power for a while, but it’s only the longer-term economic results that will earn him/her longevity.
prashaantsingh@gmail.com
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