On the other hand, Hawking’s constant worry has been the safety of the human race on earth. He says human beings must find an alternative to earth, otherwise there is going to be a danger soon. How soon? He says: Very soon. And his ‘very soon’ may mean thousands of years. Whether the universe is finite or not, or can there be infinity within the finite are some other questions that concern him. And compare this universal concern with his simple unfulfilled wish.
Why I started this article with an example of Hawking is to discuss that even someone who is concerned about the size of the universe and the danger for human beings in thousands of years could not remain indifferent when he saw politics heading in the wrong direction. He could have easily afforded to ignore what was going on around him politically. How could a common citizen, whose life is directly affected by what is done or not done by the politicians on a daily basis, afford to remain indifferent? In today’s Nepal, there isn’t one politician who can be singled out for the frustrations permeating our lives. The blame has to be directed towards the whole breed. Here is how it is.
Nepal’s politics defies the Darwinian theory of ´survival of the fittest´. This place is a platform for the ´survival of the weakest´.
If I were a politician in today’s Nepal, I would have quit politics with immediate effect. I would have questioned myself – am I not ruining myself by committing to politics? Why would one like to belong to the breed that has failed miserably and long lost the cause?
Nepal’s politics defies the Darwinian theory of ´survival of the fittest´. This place is a platform for the ´survival of the weakest´, the exact opposite of the Darwinian theory. If you are weak enough, you survive. As an example of this, look at the list of people who have survived to remain around Girija Prasad Koirala in Nepali Congress (NC). Everyone knows how nearly Gagan Thapa vanished from the NC proportionate list for the Constituent Assembly because he had tried for years not be as weak as the others around him in NC. Yogesh Bhattarai and Rabindra Adhikary from the UML would happily tell us stories about how often they have tried to be less weak but had to shed their strength to survive in the party. There is no point talking about the Maoist party, which still believes that reality as seen through the lens of one man in China once upon a time is still good to transform society.
While I argue on this line, I am aware of a few young and senior politicians across parties who will disagree and contest this notion. And this is the purpose of this piece too: Please let us know how politics in Nepal is not a game where the weakest survive. It is time, once again, to question the very intention of the people who have joined and continued in the career of politics. There was a time in Nepal, 1940s onward, when people with a more sublime heart and boldness to sacrifice for a higher political cause dived into politics despite personal dangers. Many educated people through the 1970s and 1980s sacrificed their comfortable career paths and dedicated themselves to politics, for democracy as well as communism. But this is history now. All the corrupt politicians of the past few years were also people who had duly sacrificed everything for the cause of politics during the prime of their youth. But, can that be a license for all they have been doing to discredit democracy itself through their sheer corrupt behavior and incompetent managerial skills?
This scribe, who has highly valued many politicians across all parties for most of his life, is beginning to pity this lot now. Many former NC supporters confess these days they are merely democrats, not the Grand Old Party of yore. Many former UML supporters say have the same stories to share. Many of those who voted for the Maoists just a year back are beginning to say they just supported a force of change and not the Maoists necessarily. Soon there may be time when the Madhesis will begin to say the Madhes parties no longer represent their cause. That more and more people are not able to find a party that represents their political ideals is a dangerous symptom.
The irony is: In a democracy, the alternative to a political party can only be another political party. They say we need patience. But when patience loses patience, what else will keep us going? It is good to be optimistic but unrealistic optimism is worse than realistic pessimism. The belief in this has made this scribe utterly pessimistic about Nepal’s future. I can be only optimistic to hope that I am wrong.
bishnu.sapkota@gmail.com
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