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| Stones Thrown at Nepali King |
| People frustrated by slow progress of democracy |
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Santosh Salik Shah (salikshah)  |
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Published 2007-02-17 19:20 (KST) |
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On Friday, some unknown group of people pelted stones at the motorcade of Nepal King Gyanendra at Pashupatinath shrine. There were people shouting anti-royal slogans, and people shouting pro-royal slogans as well. The festive mood of Mahashivaratri -- the night of Great Shiva -- was overtaken by the political outrage.
King Gyanendra was forced to break the 238-year long royal tradition and come alone to pay his worship for the first time. After the April Uprising, the king is losing gradually all state-oriented privileges and power.
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FROM THE SECTION |
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| He was declared the Hindu Emperor by the World Hindu Federation, but he is no longer the patron of one of the holiest site of Hindus, Pashupatinath. The Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) lowered him to the rank of ordinary citizen.
The landmark decision to allow other devotees to worship irrespective of the king's presence has been applauded. Even so, the king has security forces to back him. They emptied the courtyard upon the king's arrival, and the crowd grew angry.
The enraged crowd chanted slogans against the wounded king. While people are busy chanting anti-king slogans and pelting stones at his motorcade -- even vandalizing statues of the king in public and burning him in effigy -- they are failing to see real political change.
The stones pelted at the king aren't enough. The people should also pelt stones at every corrupt and treacherous political leader to teach them lessons. Look how the eight-party government in Nepal is just like the same one-person autocratic government of King Gyanendra. They never listen to the people's demands until they resort to violence and vandalism.
The third generation of Nepali youth, educated and grown up exposed to the failure of the post-1990 democracy and achievement of Indian and Chinese politics, are pretty sure that these old and tainted leaders can't build a New Nepal now. These semi-literate and uneducated political leaders only know how to give lip-service to change. The young, educated and capable leaders have to wait till these old leaders death.
Who can Nepalese trust then? Really, I have only one answer -- the new generation of bold and charismatic youth. The autocratic rule of the eight-party government shows whether anything has changed in this country or not.
Voltaire once said, "I would rather be ruled by a lion than a thousand rats." I wonder what would have he said about our Nepali politics?
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©2007 OhmyNews
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