Dr. Bhattarai

Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has potential credit for history in the making to his name right now. It shall be written in the social study text books (or some advanced form of the pdf file) twenty years from now that Dr. Bhattarai was the leader who under his prime-ministerial ship completed the peace process and concluded the constitution, written, published, bound and ready to roll. If he is able to do that of course. But he is closer than any neta has been having stepped into that office since the revolution in 2006 took the King out of Narayanhiti.

Dr. Bhattarai has been something ever since he took top responsibilities of the nation. His publicity has been well placed: detractors say the ride on a homemade four wheeler as well as the cheap plane tickets, all followed and well covered in the media are publicity stunts.

I think even if they are such, that is good Public Relations strategy. I don’t know how many of our ministers in the past have been so meticulous with their public image. The more important question perhaps, is the good publicity just a pretty face he is showing to keep the people happy and deviated away from “high expectations” until the job is done? (Since the earliest in 1950, during every post revolution scenario, “the people” have been termed to have had “high expectations”. Were they met with Dr. Bhattarai’s frugal spending or his drive against sweet shops? If that is the case, what are these “high expectations” that we have had since fifty years earlier?) Personally, I am okay with the diversion as long as the goals we set for ourselves when we had chosen the six hundred and one representatives are being looked sincerely after.

Me and R. had a slight debate about Dr. Bhattarai recently. To be frank I am little biased: having read on his educational background, I praise the sincerity with which he took after it. I generally like academics, more so those who are academically curious: there is a whiff of earnestness about genuine students. Bhattarai also comes from revolution, and it must not have been without knowledge or reason that he walked into it whilst still a doctorate student.

I personally believe he is an economist at heart with rationality behind his judgment. And you cannot get a more philosophically balanced of the kind than a communist who signs deals to create better investment climates. (If the middle path is really the way then we have a suitable person guiding us). Anyways, R. was of the opinion that what he studied or how makes no difference, he might have good cover-up but his compromise on the Lila Mani Poudel transfer case smells of repeated past leaderships. I tell him that it was a concession made to hold on to national consensus. But what do we know? What happens behind closed doors and in the minds and coincidences of our leaders and their situations is always difficult analysis.

My point is, Mustang or not, there is more reason to hope than any time before. Why? Because it is probably the last of our chances. And I believe we do have it in the hands of a master politician who genuinely wants to take his country to see better days.  

Chiya-Pasaley loves tea and writes about conversations that originate along the hours spent on drinking many cups of it. Besides that he is curious about many things and especially the rural-urban divide, and the coming of modernization to Nepal. He writes on the mundane and the very fantastic, and everything in between.    

http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2011/12/03/dr-bhattarai