Why US Support For The King Of Nepal Is Important?

Nepal has been fighting the violent communist insurgents for the last nine years. After two failed attempts to have a negotiated settlement of the dispute between the government and the insurgents, the violence inflicted by the insurgents against the innocent citizens of Nepal has escalated. More than 11,500 lives have been lost as a direct result of the conflict and another 23,000 have committed suicide because they could not bear the pain of loss of relatives and the property owing to the conflict.

The supposedly democratically elected government was highly ineffective to fight the insurgents because the elected politicians including the prime ministers were extremely corrupt. According to Jana Dharana, a weekly newspaper published in Nepali language, in the course of last fifteen years, the elected criminal politicians, stole Rs.92,000,000,000 that is equivalent to US $1.5 billion. It is believed that the money donated by friendly countries to fight the terrorists was also siphoned away by the elected government. The country side is just about completely controlled by the insurgents.

The elected criminals were only interested to swell their bank accounts. They had absolutely no interest in the welfare of the poor people. The per capita income of Nepalese people has actually gone down after 1990 (was $265 and now it is $213) when democracy was introduced in Nepal. The elected government not only failed to control the violence from terrorists but they also refused to hold general elections. The government was ineffective, corrupt, and failed to maintain the law and order. There was anarchy in Nepal instead of the rule of law. The newspapers and other news media had become the mouth piece of the terrorists. The terrorists were also able to use the cell phones, internet, telephones, and FM radios as a means of communications. They were using the media to issue threats against the people. Insurgents were about to take control of the whole country including the capital.

Under these circumstances, the King Gyanendra of Nepal had two alternatives: one to give up the power to the insurgents and let Nepal be another Cambodia or dismiss the corrupt government and make a last minute attempt to save the thousands of year old monarchy and also protect the fundamental rights of the people to live freely without the atrocities of terrorists. Had he chosen the first track and given up the power to the insurgents and leave the country and the people at the mercy of terrorists, then definitely the insurgents would have killed millions of innocent Nepalese people including the corrupt politicians.

Fortunately, King Gyanendra decided to stay in the country and fight back both the insurgents and the corrupt elected criminals who were indirectly supporting the terrorists. Please note that the one of the coalition partners of the dismissed government was communist party (Marxist, Leninist). I believe that King of Nepal is making a last minute attempt to save the country and people of Nepal from the violent take over by the insurgents. It is a very risky attempt. If the King fails, Nepal will turn into another Cambodia and at least a third of the people of Nepal (that is, 8,000,000) will be killed.

Therefore, it is very critical that the US and the Western countries must support the King. The Nepalese King has put both his life and his throne at stake. He has no choice but to succeed. The takeover of the power by the King was widely supported by all sections of the Nepalese society. There were huge celebrations through out the nation in support of the King?s take over. Therefore, it is unwise and unhelpful to withdraw the support and military assistance to Nepal. If the military assistance is stopped for Nepal, it is extremely likely that the ruthless terrorists will take control of Nepal and turn it into an international terrorist?s hub. I understand that a group of Nepali Diaspora living in the USA and Western Europe are against the King of Nepal. They are indirectly lobbying for the insurgents. Nevertheless, it is wrong for the US government to listen to a select few individuals who are looking for the best interests of their power hungry corrupt friends and relatives instead of the destitute people of Nepal.

It has been observed that huge peace rallies supporting the actions of His Majesty the King of Nepal have taken place in Washington DC, New York, Sidney, Australia, and even in New Delhi, India. It is estimated that over 73% of the people of Nepal support the Feb.1, 2005 actions of the King.

According to the information received from Nepal, the security situation in Nepal has improved significantly after Feb. 1, 2005. The insurgents have lost badly in the battle fields. In western Nepal, over 200 insurgents were killed in a major battle. Various newspapers in Nepal have reported that the insurgents have started fighting among themselves. It indicates that the time for peaceful Nepal is not very far.

His Majesty the King has already proclaimed that he will ensure that the local government elections are held within a year in all municipalities. This is another proof that the King means what he says and he will restore democracy within the next three years as promised if not before. If the security situation improves, it is in the best interest of both the king and the country to hold the general elections and form an elected government. One can bet with certainty that the political leaders will oppose any kind of election in Nepal. It is because they will loose the election big time. Having looted the people for the last fifteen years they do not have the guts to go to the people. Therefore, they want to revive the dead parliament so that they could be members of parliament for life. It seems these leaders are taking lessons on democracy from Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

ENDS

© Scoop Media