Really, What’s There to Celebrate!

Dear Constitution 2015,

I’m sorry, but I cannot begin with ‘Hope you are doing well.’ That would be a bit of hypocrisy on my part, given that you are far from doing well! Even your creators and champions seem to have finally realized that not everything is good with you while there are many who call you a ‘Black Constitution’ and are going to observe your birthday today as a ‘Black Day’. How very festive!

Meanwhile, some of those who whipped you up nine years ago are talking about amending you, again. Yes, you heard it right – they are going to tamper with you again. They haven’t spilled the beans on what changes they will make, but change is certainly in the air. In fact, the present government was formed under the banner of making a constitutional amendment and political stability. But I will come to that later. For now, let me tell you what needs to be said first, in no uncertain terms: You are a failed constitution!

Yes, dear Constitution 2015, you have failed on several fronts. One of your biggest failures is, even in your nine years of existence, you have failed to rekindle hope. You have failed to stop people from leaving this country in droves. Over 800,000 Nepalis left the country for jobs in 2023 alone, excluding the tens of thousands who went to neighboring India for the same purpose. It is said every day, on average, some 3000 Nepalis are still leaving the country in search of greener pastures or to pursue their higher education. Over 70,000 Nepalis left the country in 2023 to permanently settle abroad. This mass exodus of people clearly shows that they don’t see a future under your rule.

Nine years ago, you promised us free and compulsory secondary level education. But available data shows that, while education is far from being free, over two-thirds of the students enrolled in Grade 1 drop out before reaching Grade 10! Similarly, your promise of free basic health care to every citizen is a fiasco; people are jumping off hospital buildings as they are unable to bear the cost of their treatment. Is that your idea of a healthy democracy?

You declare that all Nepalis are equal and are treated equally by the law under your watchful gaze. But let’s be real – it feels like there are two sets of laws – one for the politicians and the other for the rest of us. The general public gets arrested for merely shouting slogans against politicians but nothing happens to the politicians even when they say the country’s police chief’s tongue should be yanked out!

You are already nine, but you have yet to prove your worth, the rationale behind your birth and the relevance of your existence. Mind you, you are the most expensive constitution in our country’s history. You’ve cost us not only billions of rupees but also thousands of lives! So, it’s quite justified to weigh your pros and cons, and compare your lofty promises with the bitter reality. We have to do the accounting, after all, at least once a year! And there cannot be a better occasion than your birthday for that.

At the least, those who created you were convinced that you ushered in the beginning of a golden era and indeed painted a bright and shining future for all to see. And just about everyone bought this fairy tale and tried their darndest to forget the messy, blood-soaked background against which your birth came into view. They created you claiming that you would give us a healthy democracy where accountability, transparency and good governance would be highly valued.

But under your rule, all these ingredients of democracy including principles, ethics, and morality have diminished to the point of invisibility. And that golden dream – nine years in now- perhaps it is playing hide and seek somewhere, because we sure can't find it! As a matter of fact, matters only appear to have gone from bad to worse. Corruption? It is just blooming like some weed left unattended. Scams, scandals? We have them by the bucketful, enough to make a never-ending soap opera on steroids!

And smuggling? Let's just say that it has become a national sport! And political stability? Well, I have stopped counting the changes in the federal and provincial governments as it happens so often, with the PMs and CMs seeking a vote of confidence in the federal and provincial parliaments every other month. That speaks volumes about the kind of political stability you have delivered. Also, you were supposed to unite the Nepali people, but instead, you divided them into Aadibasi, Janajati, Khas Aarya, Dalit, Mushlim, Madheshi, Tharu and so on. Congratulations! You have turned unity into a competitive sport!

I wrote to you last year as well, on this very day. I hope you remember. I told you how the two arms of yours - federalism and secularism – and your soul –republicanism – do not reflect the history, culture, traditions and the ground reality of the country. Now, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that your hardcore champions and supporters – the guerillas – who killed and got killed for you might have been mobilized by foreigners. In that case, why should I accept you as a really home-grown, most important dossier of the country?

The bottom line is: the grand dreams and the great expectations that we all had for you seem to have evaporated like mist in the morning sun. The promises you made after your conspiratorial birth in 2015 have proven to be hollow, only reinforcing the strong belief that merely writing things in a constitution practically means nothing. Like a mute spectator, you’ve watched murderers, crooks, and thieves waltz into power while state institutions crumble around them. And in this circus of chaos, confusion and crisis, some still call you the biggest achievement in the country’s modern history. Bravo!

Sincerely,

A well-wisher