Embracing Prithvipath

It stands to reason why the US attacked Venezuela and abducted President Maduro. Even a layman understands that it was for political dominance and resource control. Be that as it may, we are not in a position to romanticise the situation and say, “Oh, poor Maduro has been abducted and the entire political system in Venezuela has been hijacked.” 

This is because Maduro himself may have been fooling his people by capitalising on narratives of “foreign intervention” and “safeguarding national interests,” if the political history of the country is anything to go by.

So, where does the true solution lie? It lies with the Venezuelan people themselves, who need to turn to the lessons taught by their own history and choose their government accordingly. Does this sound too vague? National reconciliation, however obscure or impossible it may seem at first, is just the ticket for our country because we have tried everything else without success. 

Humans, after all, can learn from history—just as Japan did when it rose from the ashes of the Second World War. It is national reconciliation and a broader sense of fraternity that helped Japan come this far in terms of development.

Our country, too, stands at a similar crossroads, where we are at our wits’ end as to which course of action to follow next. We see a prosperous Nepal at the end of the tunnel, yet no bankable leader is here to usher us to it. Those who claim to possess the mantle of leadership are the very ones with dismal track records. This inherent dearth of charismatic leadership has been paralysing the country ever since the dawn of democracy some seventy-five years ago.

The new political forces that have emerged are wreathed in dubious attributes. We cannot risk falling for the "trap" laid by these forces outright, yet people are equally unwilling to return to the devils they have known for decades, either. This leaves our country stagnating in a state of political limbo. What a catch-22 situation this is for us!

Elections, at this point in history, are not merely about exercising our right to vote but about preventing our votes from perpetuating the same cycle of hardship and poverty. The government, at best, has not made provisions for a “none of the above” option while casting votes. Such an option could have allowed us to officially gauge the political climate through a legitimate method, even though it might potentially further divide the nation.

Therefore, the surefire remedy lies in all Nepali people taking to the streets, carrying Nepali flags from their own homes, having eaten their own dal-bhat, and bringing the entire nation to a grinding halt infused with euphoria—without leaders, but with a single founding father of the nation, Prithvi Narayan Shah, in their hearts. 

In this scenario, there will be no one left to protest or shout at. The whole nation is echoing the same epic voice carrying the words of patriotism in unison. Happy National Unity Day !