Self-fulfilling prophesy

Published On: July 13, 2016 12:15 AM NPT By: Hitesh Karki


It is stupid to ask for a regular supply of water. Our concern should rather be protecting ‘nationality’
After three years, the widened road is finally black-topped and it looks better. The place I am talking about is Old Baneshwar. There are yellow and white markings that have helped ‘beautify’ the road. We have new footpaths too. Both the residents and passersby are pleasantly surprised.

However, there is a small stretch of the road, maybe some hundred-meter long, where the pavement lies about half a meter below the normal road level. I will come to this in a while.

In their book Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson presents diagnosis of a failed state. Zimbabwe in 2000 held a national lottery for anyone who had more than 5,000 Zimbabwean dollars. Robert Mugabe won the lottery. When the results of lottery were announced, the nation was not surprised. Rather, he was projected as the ‘luckiest man’ in the land.

The above example shows how a nation slips into the quagmire of failure. Incidents like these become so common that nothing fazes anyone, anymore. The acceptance by the general public of such gross misappropriation of public funds is certainly not an overnight phenomenon. Rather, with weeks and months of similar acts, suddenly nothing amazes anyone anymore. Mugabe had done things far more outrageous that winning a lottery did not seem dubious.

The stretch of road that extends from Old Baneshwor junction to the east is a one little example. The moment I try to initiate a discussion on why we cannot build a perfect road after investing more than three years of effort, I invariably get asked: “Why bang your head over a small stretch of footpath?” I do not reply. Rather it forces me to think how we will build a much-touted expressway from Kathmandu to Hetauda.

Where is the problem? I feel it’s the fear factor (or lack thereof). It’s become common to make a statement that nobody fears anybody, anymore.

We are immediately asked to remind ourselves of how there was rule of law and each one of us was a law abiding citizen during the years of active monarchy.

But is it really a case of lack of fear? I don’t think so. In past one year we have seen cases of Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) comparable to Frankenstein monsters. We remained a mute spectator when CIAA, without any hesitation, branded Dr Govinda KC “mentally sick”. We have gotten used to the fact that CIAA “can do whatever it wants and actually does what it wants”.

In one of the recently held medical entrance examinations, Kathmandu University was accused of leaking the question paper. The CIAA almost took KU by hostage and conducted the examination all by itself. Not many details have emerged on the episode except that the son of one powerful person scored the highest points. Mugabe?

This has set a dangerous precedent. And we are unfazed. So tomorrow if the same agency were to take charge of any other exams we will take it as perfectly normal.

The recent installations of traffic gazebos at various crossings have pleasantly surprised us. The disappearance of the ugly-looking corroded tin posts riddled with advertisements of all sorts has come as a welcome relief. Traffic men and women, who live their daily lives in the midst of exhaust and sun and rain, now have a shelter. I am told that the government now wants to increase the number of traffic police force. But soon so many new vehicles will be added to our roads, vehicle-traffic police ratio will look ludicrous. Or that is now we see things.

Managing traffic is hard without right technology. And we are not talking about any high-end ultra-modern technology here. The installations of functioning traffic lights would go a long way. It’s beyond all of us as to why we spend billions on everything else but have to remain completely helpless when it comes to traffic lights. It’s not the installations but maintenance of those already installed. We will feel good that we have new gazebos, and maybe little later, a few more traffic personnel, but we will for some reason never try to fix the traffic lights. We are asked to think about building new six-lane, eight-lane expressways. So talking about traffic lights is pretty stupid.

A fresh controversy to hit the nation is over our parliamentarians caught trying to smuggle people to Europe. Are you and I concerned about what would happen to these eight MPs? Perhaps not. Rather we are all set to look at it from the viewpoint of an average Nepali, who is almost assured that the expose will result in nothing substantial. The fact that there was a candid admission by our MPs that they had no clue they were smuggling people gives us even more confidence to not to expect anything. Why? It’s because we have been witness to such blunders. We move on.

The tragedy today primarily emanates from two factors. One, our orientation towards a life of ‘normalcy’. We have been forced to forget almost all misdeeds in the name of some larger issues—democracy, equality, caste, you name it. Our normality is shrouded not in market prices of gas and vegetables but in sovereignty and rights. The situation is such that it is stupid to ask for a regular supply of water. Our concern should rather be protecting our ‘nationality’. Two, why the need for a giant leap? You never had a footpath and when you finally have one, why not be content?

On a parting note, last year will always be remembered as unique. We were doubly hit. As a result we are told that we have been pushed so many years back. Do you buy that? Obviously at the face of it, no one can dispute it. However, it’s not a quake or a blockade that is to be blamed.

hiteshkarki@gmail.com


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