Sayonara 2077 !

Innumerable events occur in an apparently irreversible succession as time keeps passing its way. We have just to undergo them without knowing what exactly happens as time passes endlessly. All we can do is we follow it by clocks and calendars. The 2077 is now a history having left behind many more memories—mostly all painful.

The 2077 memories:

The entire year encountered the deadliest punch of the Covid-19— China’s Wuhan-originated pandemic that terrorized the human race having infected nearly 138 million people and claimed almost 3 million lives. No country around the globe was left unaffected; albeit, the entire Europe, the United States of America and India had to bear the brunt most. There are already great deals of assessment that the Covid-19 could affect the world economy as seriously as did the 1930’s Great Depression.

As the year was to complete, a second wave of the Covid-19—more transmissible than its earlier versions— suspected to be transmitted also through air—riskier to the children aged below 14— unfurled rapidly in England raising the alarm all around. This new variant has a large number of mutations and many of which are suspected to be really troublesome. The new variant is rapidly spreading worldwide with a surge in the number of infections around the world including neighboring India.

Richer people who never ever feared doing immoral, amassing wealth by bankrupting the nation and the people, and hurting others for self benefit by being unkind and impolite feared the Corona awfully whereas the poorer ones feared the shrinking of economic activities and the lockdown that deprived them of their livelihood.

Nepal accounts for more than 280 thousand Covid-19 positive cases with a loss of almost 3100 lives. The death toll appears small. Yet the panic, paranoia and anxiety instilled into people from most depressing and distressing news from around the world prompted more mental health issues. Most people slept sleepless nights during the entire year— something more serious than the Covid-19 itself.

There have been a sudden surge of the Coronavirus cases also in Nepal like elsewhere and the public health experts have warned that available health facilities will get exhausted soon, if containment measures to control the virus spread are not taken immediately.

All the three sectors of the economy—agriculture, industry including manufacturing, and the services have faced the deepest downturn. Getting back to a normal functioning is yet a far cry. This simply means the size of the cake— I mean the national income— could decrease substantially causing the social pie smaller in the years ahead too. Immediately after we resorted to the lockdown— I have voiced my concern that Nepal may have a negative growth rate.

As ever, politicians used politics as a vehicle to corruption, and a wealth producing factory. People in the government faced serious allegations of corruption while procuring the health equipment’s and in their intent behind the deal for purchasing the equipment’s to containing the pandemic. Corruption—sucking the nation at a time when the entire Nepalis were uncertain of their very survival with increased exposure to distressing news, and the panic and anxiety caused of increasingly growing number of infected people and the deaths around the world—was something that made everyone hot with shame. Which is more pandemic— Corruption or the Covid-19— remained a cause celebrate among the people.

As always, corruption reached sky-high and vilified the entire governance system. The Wide-and the Narrow-body Aircraft scams ended up with Rabindra Adhikari’s death. The Gold Smuggling, the Lalita Niwas Land scams, and the NOC-land deal appeared nowhere near the search and investigation. The Gokul Baskota’s Audio Tape issue surprised everyone except Khadka prasad Oli who dared to defend that the voice in the Tape was not his own. The stories of such misappropriations can be cited infinitely.

A situation of people hanging their heads in shame and shifting their gaze from politicians with contempt and rage prevailed throughout the year. Nirmala’s rape and murder became a once upon a time story. Many more village virgins had to be raped and killed. Yet, authorities including Ram Bahadur Thapa— the so-called Ganatantra’s symbolic gift to the nation and ever expert to escaping from his accountabilities with any laughable excuses—a minister with the Home Portfolio—dared to teach the victims’ near and dear ones not to politicize the rape cases with his belief that such cases are usual phenomena and keep happening anywhere and everywhere.

In a nutshell, the entire hoi-polloi remained high and dry during the entire year with no light to the end of a long tunnel they were in.

Some people managed to demonstrate some scattered and scanty rallies demanding the restoration of monarchy knowing it better that the track record of both the father and son—Gyanendra and Paras— is not good. They got their morale raised simply because most of today’s leaders— that have monopolized the nation with the dawn of democracy in 1990—are not only bad but worse— worse than even Gyanendra. As most leaders lost their credibility having polluted the system itself, they seem to have tried to fish into the troubled water. I personally see no sense in it for monarchy is already a spent force. Hence, if I were to choose between today’s leaders and the former King Gyanendra, I would have shown simply an indifferent shrug.

The good, the bad and the ugly:

The good part we could see globally in the year gone is the discovery of the Covid-19 Vaccines. But the much skewed distributions of the same with rich countries cornering most of them raised one question: do the rights to life apply only to the people of the richer countries?

The act of unveiling Nepal’s new political map including Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani inside Nepal border got much acclaimed. But what appeared irritating is that the move withered away as nothing got proceeded further.

The bad part that hurt the entire humanity around the globe as the year was to complete is the annihilation in Burma the Myanmar Military rulers—General Soe Win and Min Aung Hlaing— resorted to. People of the 21st century believe that repression anywhere is a curse and hence a threat to human freedom everywhere.

The uglier part was that we failed to have a strong opposition— a sine qua non component of a democratic polity—that acts with a sense of purpose. The opposition tacitly supported the government actions having enjoyed the spillover benefits of the government decisions.

The ugliest thing is that the super powers including European Union, United States of America, China and India have been vying to impose their interests on us so as to develop Nepal a region of their strategic importance.

Bidya Bhandari and Khadkha Prasad Oli preferred to working in collusion right from the the period they occupied their respective Chairs. Both are on their Chairs though both had made their positions a joke and have lost legitimacy to continue their Chairs. It is surprising that the President—believed to act as the custodian of the nation’s interests— acted always as if she were Oli’s best and the most trusted lieutenant. Nobody knows what has been guiding her doing so having thrown the legitimacy of the Office of the President to waste yard. History makers know no mercy to any evil doers. I therefore believe that the truth will be brought to the people as soon as possible.

Most Nepali rulers keep worshiping their Delhi lords for their stay put in power. But they never endeavors to learn something good from their Indian lords. The late PV Narasimha Rao—Father of Indian Economic Reforms—a believer that the nation is bigger than the political system—completed his five year PM tenure with a minority government. Our strong government with support of almost a two-third majority in the House of the Parliament resorted to dissolving the House of Representatives pushing the country to yet another quagmire of instability and uncertainty. The President’s hurry to endorse Oli’s House dissolution proposal was disheartening.

The Apex Court surprised all having given a verdict that the NCP –a jet plane as coined by Oli and Prachanda—has to go back from a whole to its erstwhile parts—the NCP-UML and the Maoist Centre. The so-called jet plane has turned into a cart with no wheels and the plane’s two pilots have already started acting as ‘suicide bombers’ with the intention of finishing oneself having finished the other.

China that has been watching Nepal from a distance has sprung into action over and over again. Its Ambassador Hou Yanqi has been running like a sprinter in micromanaging the Communist Politics in Nepal. The Guo Yenzhou led team’s rush to Kathmandu and its Commando Squad-like door to door knock to explore unity formula for the NCP after Oli dropped the bombshell— the dissolution of the House of Representatives—was something Nepalis could not digest.

I never believe that China favors the Nepali communists because of an ideological proximity. Its most trustworthy partner was monarchy in Nepal. What is true is that China has been looking for a reliable and trustworthy partner ever since the fall of the monarchy. China thought its brainchild— NCP that emerged after Beijing invested hugely to bring then CPN-UML, and Maoist Centre together in May 2018— and came to power with Oli as the PM—could be its trustworthy partner through which it could expand its influence having poured in more investments as part of Beijing’s tested policy. China’s headache is the growing partnership between the United States and India and their signing of an agreement aiming at strengthening strategic ties to contain the growing Chinese influence in the region. Beijing believes that the MCC grant of $ 500 million—a US program under the Indo-Pacific Region— is the American strategy to counter the Chinese investment plan in Nepal. China does not want America to enter Nepal in the name of MCC.

Yokoso 2078 !

Today marks the beginning of 2078. Viewed the way things are progressing , the days ahead are not to become good either. But hope for the best everyone must. I wish my readers live happily having got deep down to the meaning enshrined in the following ‘Shlokas’ that call their attention in hearing only the words that make them calm and quiet; seeing only the things that do not disturb their peace of mind; living a strong and a healthy life with oblivious of everything, and remaining always graceful to those that have given them a life:

ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः ।
भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।
स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवागँसस्तनूभिः ।
व्यशेम देवहितं यदायूः ।

I beg to conclude my New Year’s greetings having quoted an American talk show host— Oprah G. Winfrey’s optimistic note— ‘Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but just a going on with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Cheers to a new year as it could be yet another chance for us to get things right (FYI: Oprah is best known for her ‘The Oprah Winfrey Television Talk Show ‘ broadcast from Chicago and also popularly known as the greatest Black American Philanthropist)’.

I wish all my readers a very happy, a prosperous, a peaceful, and a blissful 2078 !