As much as this latest public spat exposes the widening rift between the Bhattarai and Dahal camps, it also shows how low each of them is willing to stoop to slander the other. It´s unfortunate for any party to have its senior leaders slandering each other and accusing one another of being foreign puppets. It´s even more serious and far more damaging for a party that considers itself the only vanguard of nationalism. Such accusations only show how hollow their commitment to nationalism is. We don´t think either Dahal or Bhattarai is less nationalistic than the other, and for that matter we would like to believe each politician is committed to the Nepali nation and nationalism. We, therefore, deplore the tendency of Nepali politicians, especially the left-leaning ones, to slander rivals in the party and describe them as foreign puppets just to undermine their position. The saying that nationalism is the last resort of scoundrels is so true when it comes to Nepal’s politicians.
If Nepali nationalism is so weak, it´s precisely because of the never-ending bickering among and within parties. When parties and their leaders put their personal interests before the collective interest and can´t agree on anything, it´s only natural that external powers start to see a role for themselves and begin to play their part. Let´s not forget that we are geo-politically situated in such a sensitive zone that big and rising powers have their legitimate and sometimes conflicting interests here. How to respond to their legitimate interests, how to maintain a balanced view when those interests clash, and how to ward off their excesses is, and will remain, the enduring challenge of Nepali nationalism.
We can meet this challenge only collectively; only if we stop doubting each other´s commitment to Nepal´s national interests, only if politicians stop using nationalism for their vested interests and for slandering their rivals for personal gain. We are all witness to how our nationalism and national capabilities have weakened ever since the parties deviated from the course of consensual politics and went at each other´s throats. Politicians should stop that.
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