My Opinion

Nepal’s Gen Z campaigners, on Thursday afternoon, went to meet the Army Chief Gen. Ashok Sigdel for talks on an interim government with consensus eluding the agitators over who should be made the interim prime minister.
Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki appears to be the frontrunner after an online voting conducted on a digital platform showed her leading. She was followed by Kul Man Ghising. Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah has decided to step aside from the leadership race despite his popularity among Gen Z agitators. Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepal is also in the race.
Army has relaxed curfew for some hours. Tribhuvan International Airport has resumed operations. The death toll has risen to 34 and more than a thousand injured people treated in hospitals.
India’s Sashastra Seema Bal has arrested 60 prisoners who had fled from jails in Nepal. They have been handed over to local police near different border check posts.
In my primetime show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on India TV, we showed how agitators set fire to important buildings like Singh Durbar, Hilton Hotel, Bhat-Bhateni Super Market, Parliament, President House and several top restaurants.
Tourism industry, the biggest revenue earner for Nepal, will take a long time to return to normalcy after agitators ran amok on Monday and Tuesday. There was complete anarchy in Kathmandu for two days.
None of the agitators or their leaders are willing to take responsibility for the arson and widespread looting that took place during those two days of anarchy. Gen Z leaders are claiming that none of their supporters were involved in arson.
Those who were setting fire to properties do not appear to be linked to any political party. The mobs ran completely out of control. Not a single Gen Z leader was seen trying to stop the arsonists, who had the least respect for Nepal’s heritage, its rich and ancient culture and its economy. It will take years to restore the damages that have been caused.
The agitation began because of the mistakes committed by K. P. Sharma Oli. There are unconfirmed reports that he has fled to Dubai. The army is in a bind as to who will run the government.
Gen Z agitators had suggested retired justice Sushila Karki’s name, but another group of agitators vetoed it. For the army, it has become a challenge to bring consensus.
One big worry is about the criminals who escaped from jails during the two-day anarchy. Most of them are hardened criminals and only a few are political detenus. For India, it is a time to keep a close watch on the inmates who have escaped.

Nepal Fallout : Is Opposition Daydreaming?

In India, there are a few opposition leaders who have begun saying, what happened in Nepal could happen here too. Leaders like Sanjay Raut, Sanjay Singh and Tejashwi Yadav have directly or obliquely made such remarks.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, the fire that engulfed Nepal is also smouldering in India. Nobody knows when a similar situation can occur in India, he said. Raut said, people in India still believe in the principles of Gandhiji, and there is peace, otherwise the situation could have deteriorated already.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh said, when the rights of common people are snatched away, such a situation happens, as it did in Nepal. Leaders in India should take a lesson, he added.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, when asked for his reaction, said, “there is not much distance between Nepal and Bihar”.
Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Sanjay Nirupam said, “leaders of INDIA alliance, who had been moving around carrying the red book of Indian Constitution, are now dreaming of a change of power through anarchy. It is clear that they have no faith in the Constitution”.
Let me make a point here: Those who could not defeat Narendra Modi is general elections thrice are now sensing flames of hope from the fire that burned in Nepal.
When there was violence and arson in Bangladesh, people like Sanjay Raut saw a ray of hope. I have heard people saying, what happened in Bangladesh can also happen here.
When young agitators came out on the streets of Colombo and ransacked Parliament and the President’s residence, anti-Modi leaders started salivating.
One cannot forget what Rahul Gandhi said five years ago. Let me give you the exact quote.
He said, “Yeh Jo Narendra Modi Abhi Bhashan De Raha Hai, 7-8 Mahine Baad Yeh Ghar Se Nahin Nikal Payega. Hindustan Ke Yuva Unko Dandon Se Marengey” (This Narendra Modi who is giving speeches here and there, won’t be able to come out of his home after 7-8 months. The youths of India will beat him with sticks)
Such a mindset is anti-democracy, anti-Constitution. Our country has a strong and established system. It is inherently stable.
For the last 11 years, there is an elected, stable government at the Centre. Nepal witnessed 14 governments in a span of 17 years. Sri Lanka saw four prime ministers in the last five years. People of India elected Narendra Modi thrice with a resounding majority.
Nobody can say that the people are unhappy with Modi. Internal dissent does not mean one should weaken the nation’s system. Indian democracy is strong, the Constitution is capable. Hence India cannot be compared with other countries.
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With the Nepalese Army taking charge of security, a semblance of normalcy returned to capital Kathmandu on Wednesday following two days of violent protests resulting in the death of 22 people.
Army personnel have been deployed to guard all government buildings which were stormed by protesters on Monday and Tuesday. Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu has been closed indefinitely. Army has imposed nationwide curfew till Thursday morning.
A statement from the army said: “In the name of movement, various lawless individuals and groups are still infiltrating and committing acts such as vandalism and arson, violent attacks on individuals, and attempts to intimidate” and keeping this in mind, curfew has been imposed.
Nearly 2,500 Indian tourists are presently stranded inside Nepal. They have been asked to stay indoors till the situation returns to normal.
The question now is: what next? Who will run Nepal now? Who will emerge as the new leader? There could be two options.
One, either the army takes over or a new leader is allowed to form a government. Kathmandu Mayor and famous Nepali rapper Balendra Shah seems to be the frontrunner. Youths in Nepal are diehard fans of this rapper.
Balendra Shah fought the Kathmandu mayoral election as an independent in 2022 and won hands down. He has the image of a good administrator who worked hard to cleanse the city administration of corruption.
Question also arises about how thousands of youths came out on the streets without having a leader or an organisation? Who are the masterminds behind this anti-corruption protest?
There are several speculations being floated. Did the US Deep State worked because the ousted PM K.P.Sharma Oli was known to be pro-China? Did the pro-monarchy leaders, who wanted the King back, incite the protesters? Or, did China have a hand because of rising American investments in Nepal?
I think most of these questions are speculative. The anger that was simmering in Nepal among the people was over popular disenchantment with the system.
The people, through ballots, gave opportunity to all the mainstream parties to govern. From Leftists to Maoists to Rightists, most of the leaders proved to be corrupt. Their acts of corruption are the staple of comments floating on social media.
For example, there was corruption in purchase of Airbus planes and no action was taken despite much hue and cry. Secondly, children of many top leaders in Nepal were flaunting their extravagance and studying in foreign lands, and on the other hand, there are no good schools or colleges in Nepal and lakhs of youths are jobless.
All these grievances accumulated in the minds of people over the years and the result was the fire that was lit when the government banned all social media platforms. The fire continued to spread and police appeared helpless in tackling the agitators. The army played a balancing role.
All hopes now rest with the army. It is essential that peace is restored across Nepal. The army can perform this task either by making an appeal, or by applying the rod.

V-P poll result : A shocker for opposition

The election of Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan as India’s 15th Vice-President was a foregone conclusion. He defeated the INDIA bloc candidate B. Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes.
CPR, as he is popularly known, got 452 votes, while Reddy got 300 votes. This result is a clear setback for the opposition and a booster for NDA. At least 14 opposition MPs cross-voted.
When the election process began, NDA was ahead by a margin of 103 votes compared to the INDIA bloc, but Modi’s candidate CPR won by a margin of 152 votes. Congress and other opposition leaders were claiming that many from the NDA would cross-vote in favour of Reddy.
Some busybodies even wrote that Rahul Gandhi had arranged a secret meeting during his Malaysia visit with Janata Dal-U and TDP leaders by driving them on scooters.
All such speculations proved to be baseless. The claims fell flat and it was the INDIA bloc which faced cross-voting. Rahul Gandhi and his managers will now take months to find out who among the opposition MPs deserted and voted for Modi’s candidate.
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Nepal Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli today resigned along with his ministers, after continued anti-corruption protests in Kathmandu, Pokhra and other cities of the country turned violent. Sources said, the Prime Minister had to resign after the Army Chief Gen. Ashok Raj Sigdel advised him to first quit so that the army could bring the situation under control.
Protesters on Tuesday set fire to the Parliament, offices of major political parties and residences of the PM and other ministers. Several ministers were beaten up mobs on the streets and they ran for their life. Army used helicopters to bring the fleeing ministers to army barracks for safety. Former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was injured when he was beaten up by an angry mob.
India has put its border security personnel on high alert as ministers, bureaucrats and other political leaders are running for their lives from angry protesters. Kathmandu international airport has been closed after reports came of protesters making their away to the airport to stop leaders and bureaucrats from fleeing.
This is indeed a major revolt by Nepali youths, described in media as GenZ. Already the young generation was seething in anger over unemployment and inflation, and Oli’s government imposed a ban on all social media platforms, forcing angry youths to come out on the streets.
At least 21 youths have died in police firing and more than 250 others have been injured. Four journalists were also hit by bullets. Most of the deaths were caused by bullet shots in the chest, according to a Kathmandu hospital superintendent.
In his resignation letter, Oli has written that he was stepping down to facilitate a solution to the problem and to help resolve the crisis through political means. An all-party meeting has been called on Tuesday evening, but there is widespread anger among people towards politicians. Nepal has witnessed a series of coalition governments in recent years.
The death of a large number of Nepalese youths is indeed unfortunate and said. It appears the Nepalese government was not ready to face such an eventuality. The government had no idea that thousands of youths would come out on the streets to protest. Indiscriminate firing by security forces fuelled the protests.
The common people of Nepal are suffering from what they say, “corruption, nepotism and recession”. The fire of disenchantment with politicians was simmering for the last several years mostly among the young generation. When Facebook, YouTube, X and other social media platforms were banned, the simmering anger took the form of a raging fire.
Two days ago, K.P. Sharma Oli had alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to dethrone his government and youths were being provoked to come out on the streets. But Oli did not mention who was hatching this conspiracy and who wants to unseat his government.
But one thing is clear. Oli had been dancing to the tunes set by neighbouring China. People were angry with him on this score. People noted that Oli’s government had banned all other social media platforms except the Chinese app TikTok. Nobody will be surprised if Oli now says that it is India which has provoked these street protests.
As far as India is concerned, the government has no other options but to keep a close watch on the situation. India has a long border with this landlocked nation. People of both countries travel to and fro easily through this border. In some of the border areas, there are families who have relatives on the other side. For India, it is a time to wait and watch.
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