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Showing posts from 2016

A Rightist Revival Attempt

Yuba Nath Lamsal     The provocative remarks that deposed king Gyanendra Shah made through a statement on December 21 have, as expected, stirred up a hornets' nest in the Nepalese political circle.  His remarks have drawn both flak as well as commendation.  As a citizen, Gyanendra Shah, too, has every right to enjoy his freedom of expression. In that sense, his remarks should not be construed in a negative sense as he has spoken his mind on the state of affairs in the country. But given the circumstances and moves he has made over the last couple of months, one can easily presume that something fishy is afoot in the dark rooms of the rightist camp in Nepal. Political polarisation The Nepali society is politically charged and politics is highly polarised. Every sector, including our intelligentsia, is politically divided and polarised. Our intellectual circle, which is supposed to be independent and to make its analysis and judgment based on the facts and reasons, often tends

Promote Culture Of Unity

Yuba Nath Lamsal It seems as though Nepal’s troubled politics has taken a new turn especially after the government registered a bill in the Legislature-Parliament seeking amendment to the constitution of Nepal. The amendment to the constitution became necessary to accommodate some of the demands of the Madhesis and janajatis thereby settling the ongoing political imbroglio in the country, facilitating the meaningful implementation of the constitution and finally completing the political course and the peace process initiated almost a decade ago. Protests Immediately after the government registered the bill in parliament, protests led by the CPN-UML, the main opposition party, and supported by other fringe parties began both in the streets and the parliament.  The CPN-UML-led opposition parties have continued to block the meetings and other procedures in the parliament and at the same time they have launched street protests of various kinds mainly in districts of Province

Nepal's war with British India and its impact on foreign policy

Yuba Nath Lamsal The Anglo-Nepal war of 1814 and the Sugauli Treaty marked a turning point in Nepal’s foreign policy and diplomacy. The war broke out after all peaceful and diplomatic means applied to settle the issues between Nepal and the British East India Company failed. The war lasted for almost two years in which Nepal suffered a heavy loss to the British imperial power, but still managed to safeguard its independent status. Serious threat Nepal had been vigorously consolidating its power and expanding territories by unifying small principalities on the southern side of the Himalayas. British imperial power in India took Nepal’s continued territorial expansion as a serious threat. Thus war became imminent as Nepal’s territorial advancement reached close to the border with areas under the control of East India Company. British had earlier attempted thrice to gain commercial rights and foothold in Nepal through other means. But these efforts had failed due to Nepal’s ca

Together We Stand

Yuba Nath Lamsal A rainbow is something that can be seen but not caught. It is beautiful only to behold and observe but not to feel. Nepal’s contemporary politics and leaders also appear like a rainbow - only to be seen but never to be found in result and action.   Academic undertone Politics revolves around the leaders everywhere in the world. People are said to be at the centre of politics, especially in a democratic polity. But this is merely a theoretical and academic undertone. It hardly materialises in practical politics. Leaders have the final and decisive say, whereas people have the least say, except at the time of a referendum or election. But that, too, is often manipulated and engineered. People’s desire is not always reflected in the polls.  Let us take this year’s US presidential election results. In the election, the Democratic Party’s candidate, Hillary Clinton, secured more popular votes than her Republican rival Donald Trump. But Trump won the election and

Unity Among Parties A Must Again

Yuba Nath Lamsal   Politics and politicians often wear too many jewels of adjective in their crown of power. Great thinkers like Aristotle, Plato and Socrates defined politics as an art of governance for the common good of citizens. However, Machiavelli defined politics as a craft to deceive people and maintain authority over them. With the march of time and dawn of modern civilisation, the idealist definition of politics started slowly losing its charm and Machiavellian politics came to rule the roost. Everywhere in the world, politics is now being branded as a nasty vocation scrambling for power, position and perks, while leaders are called as the bosses rather than servants of the people. It is perhaps this reason why politics seems to have lost attraction for ordinary citizenry all over the world. It is perhaps this reason why some tend to call politics a ‘dirty game or a last resort of scoundrels’. However, these are nasty comments on politics made by cynics. Any ration

Trump's victory and global anxiety

Yuba Nath Lamsal Against all odds and pre-poll predictions, Republican Donald Trump has won in the presidential election defeating his rival Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party. Although Hilary Clinton secured more popular votes than Donald Trump did, Trump was declared victorious due to the US electoral system. His election victory has definitely surprised many both in the United States itself and in the world. His victory has proved all pre-election opinion polls wrong as most the exit polls had portrayed Hillary as the most possible winner. American voters chose Trump better than Hilary Clinton to run the country for at least another four years because they were fed up with the eight years of Democrats' administration. Now Trump will take over the presidency of the United States on January 20, which will mark the end of eight year rule of the Democratic Party and beginning of the Republican era in the world's most powerful country. Now the White House under Trump i

Come Out Of Machiavellian Politics

Yuba Nath Lamsal There is no dearth of political analysts both in the western and oriental societies, who advocate liberal democracy. They often tend to equate democracy with capitalism. The importunity with which these pundits pursue their treatise on democracy and capitalism sometimes creates confusion in the understanding of democracy. Capitalism and democracy are two different sets of ideas, which represent two different fields. Capitalism is an economic system in which market is the ruler and profit counts more than anything else. Democracy is a political system that is supposed to be more welfare-oriented, which is in stark contrast to the basic tenets of capitalism. Proponents are of the view that capitalism is not merely economics but also a political and social system, which defends individual rights and freedom of citizens in all fronts and sectors. However, capitalism has to do more with the economics based on market authoritarianism and a little to do with the social fac

Ideological Deviation In Politics

Yuba Nath Lamsal Political parties are founded on particular ideology for which they advance their activities. Ideology and values are the soul of political parties based on which they train their cadres, workers and supporters to achieve their policy goal as well as shape their life style. It is the ideology and values that make a political party distinct and different from others. Power Politics Originally, our political parties, too, were founded on certain ideological ground and the leaders, at least in the initial days, followed these ideals and accordingly shaped their thinking and life styles.  However, as the days and years passed and Nepal entered into a new political phase, especially after the 1990 political change, ideals slowly started fading in the politics of Nepal. Ideology, political ideals and morality were replaced by opportunism guided by the motive of power politics. In the name of pragmatism, the political parties and leaders started adjusting their thinking

Unification Era Diplomacy

Yuba Nath Lamsal Foreign policy and diplomatic conduct in the pre-unification era of Nepal was basically categorised into two broad types—relationship with principalities within what once used to be a unified Nepal and relationship with Tibet, China and principalities of India. While the relationship and diplomacy with states within Nepal were characterised by suspicion, treachery, deceit and rivalry, the relationship with Tibet, China, and the Indian states was based on the strategy for survival, which mainly sought to defend the territorial control and protect trade especially with Tibet. The trade with Tibet was the main source of income and each state always scrambled to control the trade with Tibet. The state that controlled the trade route to Tibet also controlled the revenue. Several wars were, thus, fought with Tibet in different interval of time basically for trade interest. Strong Malla Kingdoms Nepal was divided into over 50 tiny principalities prior to the unification

Nepal’s Diplomatic Renaissance

Yuba Nath Lamsal In the anal of history, the period under the Malla dynasty is a national renaissance particularly in the areas of art, architecture, trade and diplomacy. Nepal takes pride in the superiority of art and architecture of the Malla period. Most national heritages and brilliant art works of Kathmandu Valley are the creation and contribution of the Malla period. Similarly, Nepal, during the Malla period, was economically prosperous due primarily to its trade with Tibet. The economic prosperity had also enlarged Nepal’s political and diplomatic clout in all its vicinity. But this clout faded after Yaksha Malla divided his kingdom into different states among his sons and daughters. All the economic activities and trade with Tibet were then limited to the three kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley. The relationship with Tibet was based on trade while relationship with China was more of a political nature. Exchange of missions There is one particular incident of historic signifi

Non-Aligned Movement Roles And Relevance

Yuba Nath Lamsal As the 17th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was underway in Margarita Island of Venezuela on September 13-18, a real debate started outside on the role and relevance of the NAM in the changed global scenario. The NAM was created 55 years ago at the height of the Cold War marked by a stiff superpower rivalry and division of the world into two rival camps each led by a super power. The NAM was necessary at that time as many countries of the ‘Third World’ could not afford to side with any of the two rival blocs but chose to remain neutral. The NAM, therefore, became an appropriate forum for the countries wishing to have equal partnership and friendship with all countries irrespective of their ideological orientation and strategic alignment. But the international situation and scenario are markedly different at present. Now a question has arisen in the international forums and debates:  Is the NAM necessary in the present situation or is it just a waste of resou