Give Nepal's King a Chance
By Ranjit Rauniyar
753 words
3 February 2005
The Asian Wall Street Journal
A9
English
Like most Nepalese this is a period of immense confusion for me, following King Gyanendra's decision to dismiss the government and assume sweeping powers Tuesday. With the country now largely cut off from the outside world, I am unable to call home or read Nepalese newspapers on the Internet, and am left wondering how my parents -- who are currently in India -- will be able to return home.
It is easy to decry the overthrow of an elected government, and express concern about the suspension of civil liberties. I, like all Nepalese, will be watching closely to see how King Gyanendra wields the sweeping powers he has assumed. But I hope the rest of the world, before rushing to instant judgments, will pause to consider how far Nepal had gone down the path toward becoming a failed state, before the king resorted to such desperate measures.
At least 11,000 Nepalese have been killed since Maoist rebels launched their reign of terror in 1996, with more than 2,000 dying since last October alone. Hundreds more have been kidnapped by the rebels, for indoctrination as part of their ideological war. Others have been caught in the crossfire between the Maoists and the Royal Nepalese Army. The economy has ground to a halt. Highways, needed to transport essential goods and medicines, have become combat zones. Tourism, formerly a vital source of revenue, has all but dried up. Not surprisingly, businesses are reluctant to make any fresh investments.
Like its predecessors (there have been 14 governments in as many years), the government that King Gyanendra dismissed Tuesday has only added to the country's woes. Schools continue to be closed with alarming regularity, political hooliganism continues to be dressed up under the banner of democratic protests in which the safety and security of ordinary citizens and businesses is seriously compromised. Rarely does a day go by without reading about a strike being called by either the Maoists or the political parties. Businesses are placed under duress to make donations to both the Maoists and political parties. The promised general elections were never held, and any hope of negotiating a truce with the rebels evaporated after they insisted on dealing directly with the king, and refused to talk to former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
All this has left the ordinary Nepalese yearning for a return to law and order, and a functioning economy. What we want, above all, is to be able to send our children to school again, and readily purchase sugar, rice and oil in local shops. Whether we're ruled by a democracy or a monarchy is a secondary consideration. That's why, at least for now, I'm prepared to give King Gyanendra the benefit of the doubt.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and those who criticize the king's actions should remember how close Nepal had come to the edge of the precipice. I really wish to believe he has acted in this way not out of any desire to accumulate power, but in order to rescue his country. In doing so, he has taken a grave risk, both with his own reputation and that of the monarchy. The latter is a reputation that has already been weakened by the massacre of most of the royal family by one of their number in 2001, which led to King Gyanendra's accession to the throne.
Whether he has correctly calculated the risks and rewards in taking such drastic action may take time some time to become clear. What we have in Nepal today can be likened to a circus run amok, where all the clowns are putting on their own acts without any concern for the show as a whole. Now the king has chosen to take over as circus master, the responsibility will rest on his shoulders to bring the performance together in what may be the last chance to save Nepal from complete ruin.
Ultimately King Gyanendra knows the situation facing his country and the monarchy better than anyone else and, in this dangerous game of political brinkmanship between Nepal's monarch, politicians and Maoist rebels, I have only one piece of advice. The king has taken on sweeping powers and, in exercising them, he must always remember that every action he takes should put the interests of his people first.
