It’s abundantly clear now that Nepal’s main political parties believe they’ve hogged the country like a toddler hogs their favorite toy. They treat this country named Nepal like their personal playground, complete with swings and slides marked ‘party property.’ Sure, they occasionally glance around guiltily, muttering about how wrong it is to hoard all the toys, but they quickly cancel that with, ‘Well, we did fight for it, after all!’ Now, they’re on a mission to slap a big, permanent ‘No Entry’ sign for everyone else, making sure their little fiefdom remains untouched and theirs forever.
Convinced that ‘there's nothing left for us in this land seized by the parties, and only the leaders can guard their precious loot,’ many Nepalis have decided to pack their bags and head abroad or are gearing up to do so. “After all, if it’s their treasure trove, let the politicians and parties be the ones to stand guard over it!” A good majority of Nepalis are already thinking that whoever owns the property should be the one to protect it. Why should anyone else stick around to protect the parties’ glorified piggy bank?
In fact, this is a very comforting situation. If you wish, you can call it patriotism, nationalism, or even politics! No matter the size or shape of the parties, regardless of their differing ideologies and philosophies, the varied opinions and public sentiments, there's one refrain all leaders seem to chant in unison: ‘The country is in danger.’ Every prime minister and minister, no matter who, appears to have this as their daily mantra. Yet, they never quite clarify the source of this danger. Is it from within or from outside? Why is the country in danger? Once, Girija Prasad Koirala spoke of a ‘grand design,’ but whatever that meant seems to have died with him, leaving us all to wonder. Is this just a trap for begging for foreign aid under the guise of a grant? Or is it merely a way to keep people scared and distract them from the real issues? Sometimes it feels like, just as there are different seeds for rice, wheat, and corn, there are also different kinds of seeds among leaders. Some are hybrid, some are local; some are genuine, some are jokers! But how do we distinguish between them? And how can we tell whose words are true and whose are false?
We common folks see the country facing threats from floods, landslides, and hunger. We worry about dangers from illiteracy, poverty, and inadequate healthcare. If there's any real danger to the nation, it seems to come from the politicians themselves rather than from other sources. Yet, all the politicians do is keep warning, ‘Beware! The country is in danger,’ without addressing the real issues. They say ‘patriotism doesn’t die, even if the country does.’ But today, the country isn’t exactly crumbling. There’s plenty of revenue and resources. Taxes are flowing in. Horses, cars, even flying chariots are at the leaders’ beck and call. Leaders have managed to take control of all national resources and use them as they please. And with the nation’s wealth now filling their own pockets, it’s no surprise that their patriotism seems to have skyrocketed.
The leaders’ brand of patriotism with caution is quite divided. One party insists that only by following the path of socialism can the country be saved from danger. Another argues that socialism is dead and only capitalism can protect the nation. Yet another claims that the country will only be safe once a direct executive presidential system is in place. In essence, each party’s claim boils down to the idea that the country will only be safe when their party is in power; otherwise, the nation remains at risk!
In the battle of divided patriotism led by bull-headed parties, the more disenfranchised among us, like mere cattle, are trampled and crushed under their rule, weighed down by poverty and scarcity to the point where they can barely lift themselves. Yet, they seem to have little interest in this plight. Their real concerns are fixated on things like the BRI and the MCC, university VC appointments, and evening liquor bottles! One party believes that only by advancing the BRI can the country be freed from danger and maintain its patriotism. Another party holds that aligning with the Indo-Pacific Strategy is the true path to patriotism. Some see the northern direction as the way to paradise, while others consider the southern path as the route to liberation. You might say that this quest for patriotism or nationalism seems like a jumbled mess of conflicting ideals!
So, don’t bother asking what it takes to be a patriot. Being patriotic is actually quite simple. All you need to do is show up and give a speech; no need to actually know how to govern. Just talk about breaking a few noses or bashing heads, and you’re set! Of course, having a good repertoire of insults and witty sayings is a must. With that, you’ll be hailed as a great patriot. Focus on impossible tasks and stir up public discontent, and you'll be deemed a true patriot. There's no need to actually accomplish anything, even lift a straw. Nowhere in our constitution is it written that we should work, after all!
For example, despite relentless rainfall, farmers have long faced the harsh reality of having to do back-breaking work just to make ends meet. From politics to food, from pickles to political ideologies, and from songs to music, dependence on others has become our national identity. Yet, despite draping themselves in the cloak of economic dependency, these leaders still manage to present themselves as the epitome of nationalism! After leaders, entrenched in their seasonal rhetoric, spend the entire year slinging mud at each other, calling one another foreign agents and traitors, you might say ‘how to differentiate which face is truly patriotic and which is fake?’
In today’s era of artificial intelligence, where distinguishing between genuine and phony is nearly impossible, why bother trying to sort out the authentic from the fake? Let’s look at another example. Right now, people across the country are suffering from floods and landslides. There are floods of people losing their homes and lives, and the economy, already battered by the pandemic, hasn’t recovered from the negative impacts. But the leaders remain unaffected by the people’s suffering. The country’s pain, the struggles of the people facing scarcity, crisis, unemployment, and disorder, don’t trouble them. They don’t see the devastation of communities washed away by floods or the lives lost and debris scattered by landslides. They’re indifferent to the huts in flood-prone plains or the farmers writhing in agony without fertilizers and seeds. Because, to them, not a single one falls under the category of ‘patriotism.’
So what really hurts the most, then? The loss of power, that’s what hurts. Losing a position is painful. There’s distress over the possibility of losing the privileges of office. The leaders enjoy the benefits and worry about whether they might lose out on them. After all, enjoying oneself is considered patriotism, especially when it’s done under the guise of caring for the poor, natural disasters, unemployment, medicine, treatment, and gold. This is what real nationalism looks like: the most effortless national enterprise, making profits without any investment.
So now I’ve got a sudden urge to be patriotic myself. I’m eager to follow the path of nationalism. Could someone please tell me what I need to do to be considered a patriot? How can I call myself patriotic without actually being patriotic?
