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Re-Building a Run-down Hindu Feudal Nation

Prakash Bom - 3/29/2008

Nepal as a diverse ethnic society had long been ram-shackled with the feudal Hindu socio-religious values that are dishonorably convoluted and foolishly perverted from its original source – Vedic religion of philosophies. This fact to the feudal authorities such as the institution of the monarchy and the higher caste erudite Hindus still is not even intellectually acceptable in regard to their practice of caste system and religious rite of animal sacrifice. It is true that the more feudal the south Asian society the more superstitious and fanatic the Hindus way of life has thus far become – contrary to thoughts of Vedic religion of philosophy. Basically, the politics of south Asian nations is dominated by the burlesque life style of feudal lords therefore they are responsible for centuries' shabbiness in the society.



The reason the political leaderships of northern states of India (such as LK Adwani of BJP) and royalists of Nepal insist on Hindu kingdom and Hindu king because they still believe that the conscience of average Nepalese is governed by the idols of Hindu gods and goddesses, which have since long had been sentimentally sanctified in the portrait-images of the literary works of epic and genres (Ramayana, Mahabharata & Puranas). What the epic and genres have tried to convey in a most vernacular style is the essence of Vedic religion of philosophies – Dharma of Sankhya, Yoga, Vaisheshika, Nyaya and Mimansa, but not the worship of characters in idols and their incarnations among Hindu political feudal lords.



However, this does not mean Nepal needs another religion to set new socio-religious values, but the existing socio-religious values must be transformed with more rational and scientific perspectives so that it can establish some relation with its original culture of religion based on schools of philosophy. Nepal can no longer be regressed by the institution of the feudal monarchy for people to carry on with the religion of superstitions at this point in current socio-political evolution. Moreover, it can in couple of decades transform itself to more rational and scientific way of life that Vedic and Buddhist religions of philosophy have build-in intellectual establishments. It is only the feudal lords who have had for centuries and still have been trying to keep people religiously ignorant for the sake of their stake in the politics of power.



What has had actually kept a nation like Nepal backward in every level to this century is the political system and government structure that is fundamentally dominated by the feudal Hindu socio-religious values, traditions and collective superstitions. There are many social misconducts even the CEO of the government corporations have not refrained from their practice, for instance, sacrificing animals in a public places. The institutions of military and police are literally run with the feudal Hindu rites and rituals. The practice of the marginalization based on the feudal Hindu caste system, gender and ethnicity therefore still prevails in these institutions.



The current political crisis, as a matter of fact, is the socio-political and economic developmental stage that is desperately attempting to depart from nation's appalling backwardness. It will not occur until the political system and the government is run completely on secular democratic norms and principles. CA elections, therefore, have become crucial to establish institutions of the secular democracy under the federal democratic republic setup. The verdict on the fate of the monarchy has become secondary, rather a formality to legitimate its abolition. If the SPA leaderships are sensible to this phenomenon of the socio-political developmental stage then they will find unity in themselves with greater responsibility to the nation and people than to their party politics and their trivial tug of war for staying on top of all power.



CA elections thus are the socio-political catalysts for legitimating a secular democratic culture with the prospect for the federal democratic republic establishments. In order to succeed SPA leaderships must take responsibility. Therefore, they must be able to guarantee the change with the unity of majority in the diversity. They can only do this if they carry on their twenty-tree-point agreements for peace and democracy to accomplish CA elections with solidifying agreement among them for the federal democratic republic establishments.

There are still feudal regressive elements not only in the nation but also all over south Asia, particularly in the northern states of India, which are actively engaged to thwart this change from occurring in the socio-political and economic lives of people of Nepal. There are not only the dissident political forces that are dislodged from the main political parties such as NC and UML, but also fanatic Hindu forces within the nation and the northern boarder states of India mobilized with full resources – finance and arms.



One of the most dangerous of all regressive elements is the Maoists' call for the royalist nationalists' unity, which is antithesis to the people's mandate for the republic setup and the chance is that such unity can play negative impact in CA elections. Consequently, the royalists might take the advantage of the situation to give the institution of the monarchy chance to stay in power. Fundamentally, it is against the will of the people who have sacrificed their lives for the establishment of the federal democratic republic. It is most likely that the sensitive Maoist and YCL cadres will either oppose the deal or the deal will lead the royalist nationalists down to the drain. The consequences could be devastating for the republic setup because the Maoist move is ambitiously dubious.



Those who oppose the declarations of secular state and the federal democratic republic establishment whether be NC dissident royalists or royalist nationalists or communist nationalists desire basically the exclusion of Non-Hindu ethnic groups and marginalized people from the nation building process as second class citizens of Nepal. It is the centuries' unitary system of government under the Hindu state of Hindu legal system is responsible for the nation's backwardness and human miseries. It is shame on these feudal lords who are so reluctant enough to be brain-dead in confessing these facts. Their fear about the national disintegration under the federal government system is nothing but a ploy to carry on with the status quo of unitary government system under the feudal rule of democracy.



There are still many leaders and cadres in the major political parties who have never thought about 'how to' build the nation with the new governance methods and structures. Instead they have irresponsibly spoken against the methods and structure that people have brought in the perspective with their struggle – public agitations and protests. What these political party leaders and cadres are trying to grab from the situation is the political power in which their addiction for dopamine depends. What nation needs desperately the leaderships of SPA committed to the change – 'how to rebuild the run-down nation' with the most balanced and sensible federal structure of the government that is most suitable for the nation in addressing the issues of diverse ethnicity and marginalized group of people.



Run-down nation like ours can most likely be re-built under a system of government, which can lay structures for people to play effective electoral role to form the bodies of the governments from local to the central. The unitary government rule under the hands of feudal elites with the mask of democracy will as before sideline the people from their participations in the nation building process. Failure to achieve this mandate after CA elections, which people have given responsibility to SPA leaderships, will drag the nation into the chaos of political instability. The nation will reach as a result to the status of failed nation for international communities to look after it.


Therefore SPA leaderships must reinforce their solidarity in alliance and must not boggy down to the CA elections for achieving one party's majority, which is not the reality. The reality lies in the unity of majority in diversity as the nation can only be built together with the proportional participations of all people in diversity. It is foolish to think to re-build Nepal under the democracy as Hindu state with the unitary system of the government that is dominated by the current legal system based on Hindu legal concepts (Muluki-ain) and outdated English common law without eradicating the tradition of legislative arbitrations and culture of impunity. The bill of legislature without the compliance of the electoral consensus cannot become law and such arbitrary tradition of rule of law cannot re-build the run-down nation like ours. SPA leaderships must understand the consequence and take the responsibility with solidarity.