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Nepali Nationalists’ Conceit Deprives Nation

Prakash Bom - 10/31/2011

Nepal has been deprived with the politics of nationalistic arrogance since the dawn of Shah Regime, which was dreadfully reinforced later by the Rana Autocracy. As a result, the nation was closed from the entire world for centuries.Nepal became backward not because it lacked resources but because its nationalistic politics have had always prevented human development by restricting international relation. Still such a xenophobic politics preoccupies the mind of most of political leaders.

Nepal has never ever had an opportunity for a large and transforming national investment to build its infrastructures. No leader has ever been born to accomplish that obligation. Consequently, the nation remained one of the poorest nations of the world in 21st century.

Yet the nationalist political leaders are not ashamed of their arrogant nationalism, particularly in relation with India. They have again spoken their mind by opposing the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreement (BIPPA) that the Prime Minister and UCPN Maoist Vice Chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai signed it with India. Their reactions again appeared to be impulsive that averts the fact.

Prior to the BIPPA agreement with India, Nepal had signed similar ‘Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement’ with France in 1984 and later accordingly with Germany, England, and Finland.

Despite the past bitter treaty relations with India that set off both countries to recognize the necessity to review the 1950 treaty, the nationalists cannot just oppose the BIPPA with India because the UCPN Maoist
Vice Chairman and Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai signed it.

Simply, not to get unfairly exploited in accord with other one needs to be smart whether the individual or nation. Those who are not smart suffer with inferiority complex, which inevitably forces one to react. It is again not smart to keep reacting while the time and the state of affairs have changed.

Those nationalists, especially the hardliners of the UCPN Maoist, who oppose the BIPPA with India, suffer and thereby resent India because the leaders particularly resist the fact that the BIPPA compensate non-commercial losses due to the war, armed conflict, and state of emergency, revolt, resurrection, and riot. Obviously, this could be one of the ways to regulate the stability of a nation which suffered with last two decade rampant violence and social crimes.


In the course of development, the BIPPA with the international communities will help the nation to execute the rule of law to keep peace and security under the democratic legislation. The purpose of the leaders of the UCPN Maoist hardliner’s opposition to BIPPA with India (should be clear to all parties) is to keep their revolt, resurrection and riot against the rule of law.

But the rest of nationalists’ opposition to it is repulsive and xenophobic, which is counterproductive to peace and stability because it supports the Maoist hardliner leaderships. Unless the main opposition parties, mainly Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, realize the fact that not to oppose the BIPPA with India at least, will eventually help peace process.

In my opinion, this is the chance for NC and UML, if the party leaderships are serious for peace process and constitution drafting, that their support to the UCPN Maoist “Bhattarai-Dahal” led government will deactivate the Maoist hardliners with their ultimate endeavor for the communist rule.

I think if NC and UML consider sincerely that there is a possibility to form a consensus government under the leadership of the Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, the peace and constitution drafting processes can soon be finalized. This will ultimately trigger the hardliner Maoists within the UCPN either for or against. The chance of their retreating UCPN is slim.

But the success of peace and constitution drafting processes will inevitably oblige the communist hardliners under the rule of law provided the nation will deliver the equality and social justice. This simply means under the democratic rule the majority rule to protect the rights of the minorities.

However, the recent political remarks of the former prime minister MK Nepal and CPN-UML Vice Chairperson Bidhya Devi Bhandari against the Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai led government might be counterproductive, but the consensus is what the nation needs at this point. On their remark they seemed to over reacting by labeling the Maoist Vice Chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai’s government as the weakest in the country’s history.This indicates that contemporary Nepali politics is gyrating as regressive with the personal resentments for the fame and political power of an individual leadership in the name of a political party. The culture of politics ought to be transformed. Therefore, I think Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has that competence to transform such a political culture if he gets the chance with the support of all democratic force of the nation.Nonetheless, he is yet to be tested. But I believe he is the right candidate to transform such a political culture to build the nation.

Basically, he needs support particularly of the UCPN Maoist Chairman Mr. Dahal, NC and UML leaderships. In this global economy a nation can only earn respect for its nationalism if it participates smartly to allow its human resources develop. It is challenging particularly with the geography of South Asian politics that how smart Nepal ought to be to promote its nationalism. If the politics remains as knucklehead as it is now then perhaps Nepali nationalism will remain ever conceited.