Course Correction

As the year 2003 drew to a close, there was no sign of progress in negotiations between the Palace and the parties, nor the Army and the Maoists. We wrote that if the king and parties carried on as sworn enemies, it would push the parties to join the Maoists in a republican cause, and the conflict could take on an ethnic edge with greater human rights violations. It was almost as if we had foreseen the future.

Nepal has come a long way since to achieve federalism and secularism but poor governance has given rise to populist leaders. We are at risk of losing past gains.

Excerpts from an editorial published 20 years ago this week in issue #176 26 December 2003 - 1 January 2004 urges a much-needed course correction which is even more relevant today:

There is a reckless disregard for public will and national sentiment. When you see power as a zero sum game, there is a 50-50 chance you will lose. To win at all cost, it is tempting then, to use militarisation, religious fundamentalism, or revert to authoritarianism. But it is no victory if you haven't addressed the grievances that set all this off in the first place: we don't want this to escalate from a class war to an ethnic or separatist conflagration.

It is already too late to set some things right. But future Nepalis will never forgive us if we don't try, even at this late hour, to work towards a Nepal where power is devolved to the periphery -- the only guarantee of lasting peace.

Time is unrelenting, it moves on. Time heals, time manages itself, it takes care of things. We in Nepal have always let time take its course. It is the fatalistic excuse of the feckless to let things drift. Let us, in this new year, take time by its horns. Let us lift ourselves from this quicksand, from a gathering miasma of apathy and hopelessness, to restore faith in our own ability to set things right.

For archived material of Nepali Times of the past 20 years, site search: nepalitimes.com