Remembrances

Today is Poush 27 according to Bikram Sambat calendar and it’s the National Unity Day. The government in 2007 decided to cancel the public holiday because it was the birth anniversary of King Prithivi Narayan Shah – the first king of greater Nepal.

His birth anniversary was celebrated as the public holiday for his unification of 52 states that makes the present-day Nepal more than 250 years ago.

Statue of Prithivi Narayan Shah in Kathmandu. Photo by Bikash Karki

Critics say his unification was a personal ambition and that he failed to unite the country culturally, but everything great people do is a personal ambition and nobody in the world is so perfect that they would do everything right.

For a Nepali citizen like me who grew up being proud to be a national of ever-independent nation (because Nepal was never a colony), what Prithivi Narayan Shah did was a great contribution. If we evaluate him in present day’s context or from what his grandsons or great grandsons did to the country, it would be a wrong approach.

For that, I believe, Prithivi Narayan Shah should remain a hero of the nation and that National Unity Day should be celebrated (public holiday is not only one thing to celebrate).

If a word best describes him, then its UNITY. And, unity is a pressing need in present Nepal. And, also unity is what made magical transformation here with the armed conflict coming to an end and republic democracy being established throwing out the autocratic monarchy.

But unity is still needed. Unity is needed (most importantly among leaders and political parties) for:

• Writing constitution in time
• Concluding peace process
• Holding election in accordance with new constitution

Off course, the need of unity does not end there. It’s always required for the betterment and development of the nation, but then after the transition period of political transformation ends, we – our leaders and political parties will have spare time to remain in conflict (though not desirable).

United Nepal: The statue of Prithivi Narayan Shah in front of Nepal's main administrative building Singha Durbar. Photo by Bikash Karki

Let’s celebrate the Unity Day. Let’s demand unity among our representatives!

On January 8, a High Level Political Mechanism was constituted by the chairs of three main political parties – the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML).

Since it was a meeting that involved Girija Prasad Koirala, 86, it took place at his residence [because he is fragile and does not like travelling much]. And, the octogenarian leader showed he is still the most important man in Nepali politics by becoming the co-ordinator of the mechanism that, for the sake of all of us, aims to conclude the peace process, write constitution and remove political deadlocks.

Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal are the members, at least for now and, don’t be surprised, they look at Koirala as the savior for their ‘intra-party political supremacy’.

Koirala is undisputed in his party (that is unless he decides to promote his daughter); the towering figure in Nepali politics who seems to run only by his own will.

Prachanda’s supremacy in Maoists is threatened: Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who seems to garnish more political ‘is-good’ impression, is favored by many for his calmness (over Prachanda’s aggression / comical image).

Prachanda’s fear for losing his supremacy was seen in his leaked audio where he accused India of trying to promote Bhattarai as the next Prime Minister and the Maoist Central Committee’s decision that Prachanda would led the government if they join in.

Khanal defeated KP Sharma Oli in the election of chairman but the two are involved in an intra-party conflict so fiercely that the UML looks like in the verge of breakdown. Apart from that, if Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal succeeds, he would be credited for everything – and that will not do much good for Khanal as Nepal, a soft man without lofty ambitions, could
prefer Oli.

In such scenario, both Prachanda and Khanal need to do something grand on which they can firmly stand – at least within the party. High Level Political Mechanism is a part of that [This also explains why both Bhattarai and Oli questioned on the mechanism].

A little bit of bait for Koirala too: the government has decided to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize and his chances at becoming the first Nepali to be honored with a Nobel Prize will increase greatly if he could get credit of the peace process.

Political games apart, the High Level Political Mechanism could prove vital and good for Nepal. I am not as worried as Oli or Bhattarai, for I do not actually care on the questions they arose if the mechanism could complete its objectives – which is the pressing need of the time.

As rarity almost on political front that I am optimistic [unlike a lot other friends] that despite whatsoever is going on, a couple of months here and there, we are going to conclude the peace process and promulgate the new constitution. And, of course, if the top three leaders could sit together under a mechanism, it’s obviously a very good sign.