So far we have been lucky with the weather. It is warm almost every day, even though now the nights are getting chillier. It’s still been a long time since I’ve worn a jacket. It’s nice to have a climate that is predictable sometimes.
For the political climate, you would have to wear a fur coat one day and go bare-chested the next. It’s as predictable as a spider on acid. There have always been differences in this new democratic experience, and I am sure that one day this will serve them well when they are to lead their country after so many years of turmoil. The fact remains, though, that this is still the infancy of a nation in the modern age, and there are a lot of angry tears coming from the baby. This is still a country acclimatizing to talks and negotiations within a democratic forum. For the time being, it is still a nation where sudden death for governments are the rule. Don’t believe me? Ask the king when the monarchy came to an end a couple of years ago. He lives about a hundred yards from the Embassy in a house most CEO’s would kill for. Will they recycle him when the time is ripe? You wonder.
The Maoists, Parliament’s ruling party, though not the absolute majority, have found it hard to rule when there is such a thing as a coalition partner, let alone an opposition. Why should they have cared? They relied heavily on themselves in the guerrilla days in the country side. They didn’t need help then. And why is everybody else ganging up on them, the ungrateful lot? The Prime Minister (their guy) resigned following a struggle with the President (supposedly a neutral occupation) after the former had decided to sack the military chief. That general was reinstated and, I am assuming, is still in charge of the aces in the deck, the armed forces in this case.
Their protests against this minority abuse of power has been calm by all (Maoists’) measures. There have been torch light protest marches at night, followed by mass gatherings in the heart of the city during the day, up to 40,000 strong. There have been clashes with the police. Now the papers report the Maoists have begun seizing land. Supposedly a rougher program is to follow. Calm, eh? As calm as a crash of rhinos. Not good. They sound serious.
I have already written about bhands here, which supposedly now have been bhaned, er, banned. This will be put to the test here again in the coming weeks, seriously so. It’s one thing if the local carpenters for finer wood stage a bhand and block off a road. The tear gas bombs will disperse them more quickly than their saws going through wood. You always had dozens of splinter groups, each one blocking roads for whatever purpose. The government finally put its steel booted toe down and warned about interference should this continue. This appears to be true. Bhands were wiped out largely over the last couple of months. Now what if you’re the ruling party staging the bhand? The Maosits invented bhands. It’s one thing to disperse a flock of protesters. The Maoists numbering 50,000 or so occupying every entry into the valley will be harder to convince. I believe these next two weeks will be very telling where this will lead, although I don’t want to spell out those options. Either way, when all is said and done, you will have a lot of extremely pissed off people.
I hope their God is with them. I hope that God is peaceful and guides them to do whatever is necessary to save the country. I pray these people are spared, because they will be the first to suffer. Then I realize that Maoists may not even have a God, which here should be secondary. Everybody here should know what is at stake. Survival. Of the Maoists. Of the Government. Of the people. And most of all, the beautiful nation of Nepal.
For the political climate, you would have to wear a fur coat one day and go bare-chested the next. It’s as predictable as a spider on acid. There have always been differences in this new democratic experience, and I am sure that one day this will serve them well when they are to lead their country after so many years of turmoil. The fact remains, though, that this is still the infancy of a nation in the modern age, and there are a lot of angry tears coming from the baby. This is still a country acclimatizing to talks and negotiations within a democratic forum. For the time being, it is still a nation where sudden death for governments are the rule. Don’t believe me? Ask the king when the monarchy came to an end a couple of years ago. He lives about a hundred yards from the Embassy in a house most CEO’s would kill for. Will they recycle him when the time is ripe? You wonder.
The Maoists, Parliament’s ruling party, though not the absolute majority, have found it hard to rule when there is such a thing as a coalition partner, let alone an opposition. Why should they have cared? They relied heavily on themselves in the guerrilla days in the country side. They didn’t need help then. And why is everybody else ganging up on them, the ungrateful lot? The Prime Minister (their guy) resigned following a struggle with the President (supposedly a neutral occupation) after the former had decided to sack the military chief. That general was reinstated and, I am assuming, is still in charge of the aces in the deck, the armed forces in this case.
Their protests against this minority abuse of power has been calm by all (Maoists’) measures. There have been torch light protest marches at night, followed by mass gatherings in the heart of the city during the day, up to 40,000 strong. There have been clashes with the police. Now the papers report the Maoists have begun seizing land. Supposedly a rougher program is to follow. Calm, eh? As calm as a crash of rhinos. Not good. They sound serious.
I have already written about bhands here, which supposedly now have been bhaned, er, banned. This will be put to the test here again in the coming weeks, seriously so. It’s one thing if the local carpenters for finer wood stage a bhand and block off a road. The tear gas bombs will disperse them more quickly than their saws going through wood. You always had dozens of splinter groups, each one blocking roads for whatever purpose. The government finally put its steel booted toe down and warned about interference should this continue. This appears to be true. Bhands were wiped out largely over the last couple of months. Now what if you’re the ruling party staging the bhand? The Maosits invented bhands. It’s one thing to disperse a flock of protesters. The Maoists numbering 50,000 or so occupying every entry into the valley will be harder to convince. I believe these next two weeks will be very telling where this will lead, although I don’t want to spell out those options. Either way, when all is said and done, you will have a lot of extremely pissed off people.
I hope their God is with them. I hope that God is peaceful and guides them to do whatever is necessary to save the country. I pray these people are spared, because they will be the first to suffer. Then I realize that Maoists may not even have a God, which here should be secondary. Everybody here should know what is at stake. Survival. Of the Maoists. Of the Government. Of the people. And most of all, the beautiful nation of Nepal.
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