News, Views From Nepal

 Yuba Nath Lamsal It is said that a momentous day rarely comes but comes once in a century. There are a few momentous days in the political history of Nepal. One of such momentous days in Nepal is the declaration of the Republic Day. The day was May 28, 2008, or Jestha 15, 2064 BS. This was the day when the elected Constituent Assembly formally abolished the 240-year-old monarchy and declared Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic. This indeed heralded a new era in the history of Nepal. With the advent of the 21st century, liberal democracy has emerged as a global political lingua franca. Democracy is the people’s polity. In a democratic polity, the government is formed by the elected representatives of the people and works for the broader interests and causes of the people. This is perhaps the reason why former American President Abraham Lincoln called democracy 'the polity of the people, for the people, and by the people.'  In a true democracy, people fee...

 Yuba Nath Lamsal Foreign policy agenda remained in periphery in the priorities of most governments in the modern history of Nepal. However,  this appears to be high on agenda of the government since Puspa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ took the mantle of premiership third time in December last year. Prithvi Narayan Shah’s dictum ‘yam between the two boulders’ guided our foreign policy for a long time. Given the geopolitical reality, non-alignment has been Nepal’s stated policy stance and the present government, too, pursues. The geopolitical compulsion requires the nation to strictly adhere to the balanced foreign policy especially with our two immediate neighbours.  Non-alignment is, therefore, not our choice but a compulsion about which the present government seems to be cautiously aware.  Nepal is between two big powers competing for dominant position in the region. This position cannot allow the country to choose one at the expense of other. We, ...

 Yuba Nath Lamsal Here goes an African story: Once an aging king asked his son — the crown prince, to go to the jungle and listen the rhythm of forest. Next day, when the crown prince returned, the king asked what he heard in the forest. The Prince said he heard roar of lions and howling of jackals. The king asked him to listen more. Son again goes and carefully listens the hissing and rustle of snake, buzzing insects, singing birds and the beat of butter-fly wings, which he reports to the father king. Still unsatisfied, the king asked the son to listen until he can sense the danger of silence and stillness. To be fit to rule, one must hear that which does not make sound.   Like the African story, a ruler must sense and understand the message and meaning of silence and stillness in the society. If rulers, politicians and political parties fail to feel the pulse and mood of the people, they are doomed to suffer. In the society, a large majority of th...

  Yuba Nath Lamsal The journey of 28 years in the Gorkhapatra Corporation is mixed with excitement, turbulence, and challenges. There were days when Gorkhapatra used to be a synonym for a newspaper in Nepal. Many people used to call The Rising Nepal as the Gorkhapatra in English (Angreji ko Gorkhapatra).  When I joined The Rising Nepal, it was perhaps the only broadsheet English daily in Nepal. So was Gorkhapatra in Nepali. Several tabloids, mostly weeklies, were definitely in abundance in the private sector. Gorkhpatra has a proud history as well as a university of Nepali journalism. Only a few newspapers in our region and around the world have such a long history as the Gorkhapatra is endowed with. I joined Rising Nepal in the heydays of the panchayat system. Being the mouthpiece of the government, the Gorkhapatra Corporation’s publications definitely carried the government’s views on political matters, which they have been doing till now. But it wid...