By Yug Bahadur

The past few weeks have been a tragic disaster for the people and we all are very sad about the fact that many persons have lost their lives due to floods and landslides all over the country, including the ‘safe’ considered Kathmandu Valley.
The media and many others are also questioning about the performance of the prime minister, but what this writer feels is, what will happen if present prime minister KP Oli is replaced? Can Sher Bahadur Deuba, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Nepal or Baburam make any changes or bring in improvements?
Going by their greed only for power and money, the answer is definitely No. In the meantime, comrade Dahal is making public statements of how the present government had not prepared well to minimize the present disaster. I am not a supporter of the present government as well, but doesn’t Dahal remember that the experts in the Meteorology Department had warned of the rains when he himself was the prime minister?
What about the so-called ‘task force’ created by the then deputy prime minister and home minister Ravi Lamichhane? Why couldn’t this task force come into action when the people really wanted their help?
Even if it was just a few days earlier, the present government had instructed that there should be no movement of public transport for at least two days during the night. Tragically many people lost their lives when they travelled in several public vehicles even during this risky period.
Isn’t it the responsibility of the police to stop these vehicles before they start to operate? What about those who wished to travel even in these dangerous conditions? All such tragedies could have been avoided if the government had strictly monitored such movements, the police or other authorities to stop the vehicles from plying and also the awareness of the passengers who were risking their lives while travelling in bad conditions.
Now just blaming the present home minister or the previous minister is too late, but what is certain is that both of them were engaged only in gaining popularity and actually doing nothing in implementing what they had pledged to do.
The security authorities, specially the Nepal Police, should also be held accountable. Just arresting people who may have drunk a small amount of alcohol, arresting couples who spend some private time in hotel rooms, or even imprisoning those who visit casinos is nothing great. It is the real threat which they have to deal with to make law enforcement effective. Harassing the people is actually backfiring on the image of the police themselves.
If the helicopters of the Nepal Army can be used by politicians and also throw flowers in ceremonial functions, why wasn’t it used to rescue persons even in the capital city Kathmandu? Someone definitely should be held accountable.
All political leaders who concentrate only on beating their own drums and focusing only on earning more money for themselves, their relatives or their cadres, are all to blame. They all should be held accountable, and if we really have a brave and honest leader, these wrongdoers should be punished.
Even the so-called ‘mainstream’ media seem totally biased and they either speak for one person or against another according to their political beliefs. Even when so many people have lost their lives, and many lost their properties, all we seem to be getting to hear is only a ‘blame game’, with leaders and also the media focusing on accusing one person or the other and not trying to look at the other side of the coin.
Being an aged man while watching the developments in the country, including in the media, this writer feels that many individuals are very partisan and even if they belong to one party, they are divided in their beliefs. I have personally been a witness to such differences among the journalists, whether in the Nepali Congress, the Communist parties, the Maoists and also the so-called ‘royalist’ parties. The Ravi Lamichhane-led RSP is comparatively at a toddler stage, even here we are already seeing division among the leaders and I would not be surprised if some persons trying to please this clever person now, will not ‘turn the table’ against him in the near future.
We are presently seeing a deluge of heavy storms gathering against Lamichhane, but there still are some media persons who are on his side too. This is not surprising, as individuals are influenced by different people at different times in different ways.
As a professional journalist, all I can say is that we must try to inform the public what is right and what is wrong, without any partisan beliefs or any influence from people who can ‘buy’ their opinion. This same rule applies to all professionals in whichever sector they are working in and not to forget, to the people who have been instilled with certain partisan thoughts and they vote for the wrong people most of the time. Having political affiliations is perfectly alright, but as responsible citizens, we must also know what is wrong or right.
Right now, the only person who seems to have crossed this ‘line’ and stood up as a good administrator, seems to be Balen Shah, who is being praised by all types of people and also the media,  except for some political cadres with narrow vision. This is absurd.
It seems no one likes any individual who tries to do some good work, just because that person does not belong to any party and they don’t have any organized group to support them. This is exactly what has happened to Balen, but we must also realize that such an attitude of the populace exists almost in every sector. This writer himself has experienced such behavior of people who call themselves democrats, but who really are working only for personal gains in the name of political beliefs and going against anyone who does not fit into their short-sighted way of thinking.
That is one of the main reasons why our country is in such dire conditions, with a poor economy, lack of political stability and also a sense of insecurity. At this time when our biggest festival is at the doorsteps, it is dismaying to see people having a difficult time not only make ends meet but to even travel back to their original home places. The traders are also complaining of how business has dwindled and at the same time, customers are complaining about the high inflation rate. This definitely is a sad situation when people should be celebrating and being happy with their family and friends.
We definitely need a strong leader at the helm of affairs, but looking at the current names, we don’t have any faith that any of them, can bring changes to the hardships the people are facing.
Anyway, we wish to see some individual come to the rescue of the nation and the people and even if that person is called a ‘dictator’, he or she will do something beneficial for the nation and the entire people. We welcome such a person.

Source : https://www.peoplesreview.com.np/2024/10/08/people-should-know-what-is-right-or-wrong/