Parmeshwar Devkota

Some people in Nepal still believe that moral principles do not count much in politics. What they think is that politics is a mere game of tactics. So they seem to be putting morality and wickedness in the same basket.
If we look back to the past, there happened a dispute over the Mahakali Treaty. The leftist parties claimed that the Mahakali treaty was done in secret while the Nepali Congress said that it was mere a compromise. The communist forces took to streets. Later on, there was a revelation that it was a treaty. So , the opposition parties sought the resignation of the then prime minister.
But, the prime minister publicly said, “I won’t resign on the ground of morality”. He added that morality was only one aspect in politics. Had he resigned on ethical ground, he might have gained a good political height.
Politics is the superstructure of the society. If it gets contaminated or derailed, substructures like economic and social will be tainted automatically. People of this lovely planet often remember the renowned statesmen like Mahatma Gandhi, Abram Lincoln, Ho Chi Minh, Josip Broz Tito, and Karpuri Thakur because of their high level of morality but not the power they had exercised.
Nepal has also given birth to persons who were politically active as well as morally upright. BP Koirala, Manmohan Adhikari, Padmaratna Tuladhur and Shahana Pradhan were some names, but a few of this category. Nirmal Lama should also be included in this list. Had Lama wished, he would have led an affluent life, but he sacrificed his position and comfort for the sake of revolution in the early days of his life. Even in the latter part of his life, he served the nation faithfully.
He was selected one of the members of the constitution drafting committee after the reinstatement multiparty democracy in 1990. As he knew that a parallel constitution was being drafted in the Narayanhity Royal Palace, he, venturing his life and post, disclosed it for the sake of change and democracy.
Today, we must stand for safeguarding documents -- the Federal Republic Constitution of Nepal, and the statute of CPN-UML. It is because the first is an outcome of the sacrifice made by thousands of martyrs, sufferings of millions of Nepali citizens and fulfilment of the expectations of over two-third majority of Nepali people.
Implementing the statute of the UML is equally important because it incorporates and assimilates scattered leftist forces into it theoretically and politically. This document can be a Pandora’s Box if it is torn down. Countless destructive forces may emerge aggressively and start breaking the railings of streets in Kathmandu in case the young lefts are not accommodated.
So, the action taken against some UML leaders should be withdrawn recalling a similar event happened recently in the United States of America. As former US president Donald Trump stood against the American values of friendship, and co-existence and democracy, 10 members of Congress from his own Republican Party backed the Democrats’ bid to impeach him.
On personal morality, famous British literary critic Dr. Samuel Johnson, commenting on James Boswell’s writings on July 14, 1763, said: “If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses, let us count our spoons”.