माओवादी  मित्रहरुले मात्र हैन, हिजो माओवादी लाई सब्बै भन्दा अग्रगामी तत्व देख्ने मन्जुश्री पनि नेपे जस्तै कित्ता फेरेर क्रमभङ गर्ने तर्खर मा  देखिन्छिन। हिजो सम्म माओबादीको लक्छ्यको बारेमा प्रस्नगर्ने जोकोइलाईपनी राजाबादी देख्ने एस्ता नेपाली विद्वानलाई केही भन्ने बेला भयो कि भएन?

पढ्नुस् मन्जुश्री बैनी को नयाँ रूप। र वहाँ को यो रुप पेश गर्ने कान्तिपुर लाई पनि बधाई। नौतन्कीबाज को नाङो नाच पेश गरेकोमा। 

An end to idiocy (aafu idiot dekhira bela ma arulai idiot bhanya kasto na suhayeko )

http://www.kantipuronline.com/columns.php?&nid=172820

Who’s the Idiot Now?

(Courtesy: Mr. Satyajeet Nepali)

Kantipuronline - Independent Media or a Policy Instrument for the Highest Bidder?

The commentary below is in response to the following article: An End to Idiocy (http://www.kantipuronline.com/columns.php?&nid=172820),
by Manjsushree Thapa. In her writing, Ms. Thapa bemoans how Nepal’s
“narrowly self-serving” leaders are squandering the opportunity Nepal
received via the 2006 movement to build a new and improved, state and
society. Exposing the true nature of our leaders, she demands an end to
their current self-serving drama and idiocy and warns of worse to come
if these leaders fail to “get with the program.”

The ideas expressed below, in response to Ms. Thapa’s writing, were sent to Kantipuronline
daily, for 5 days in a row, with no result. Clearly, editorial
discretion is one thing but in this case, editorial censorship is what
appears to be at play. Such partiality is in a sense, perpetuation of
the belief that all Nepalis are equal in the “New Nepal” but some are
more equal than others.

The manner in which Kantipur has chosen
to coddle Ms. Thapa from exactly the type of liberal democratic
practices that Ms. Thapa and Kantipur claim to stand for – debate,
constructive criticism, etc. – is a poor reflection on the
publication’s judgment and an even poorer reflection on the selectivity
that Kantipuronline exercises to push forward opinions that align with
its minority worldview of what the “New Nepal” is.

This is part
of the idiocy that has brought Nepal where it is. Only certain views
are published and circulated while others are deliberately stifled, all
in the name of “free press!” It’s clear that the mainstream media of
Nepal only provides space to those who hold certain views.

As a
portal that has been unafraid to go against the mainstream, unbothered
by the need to be politically correct (and as a site that regularly
publishes hard-hitting and truthful articles), NepaliPerspectives
appears to be the best (only?) recourse available with which to respond
to the nonsense and conveniently shifting positions that people like
Manjushree Thapa exude in the name of democratic freedoms, human
rights, and civil society. The opinions expressed herein may not be to
Kanitpuronline’s “superior” editorial standards but let’s be clear – if
the yardstick that Kantipuronline applies were ubiquitous, independent
and impartial, the overwhelming majority of discourse produced by
Nepalis, on Nepal, would never receive space on any of Kantipur’s
publications.

Response to Manjushree Thapa’s An End to Idiocy

Yes,
Manjushree Thapa is right; the "idiocy" needs to stop. But the idiotic
in Nepal are not just the political leaders. The bigger idiots are the
so-called "intelligentsia", "civil society" and so forth whose holier
than thou attitudes and complete refusal to engage in introspection
give sustenance to even more idiocy. At least the majority of Nepal’s
politicians lack the elite, Western education and exposure that comes
with it; this is a bad but digestible excuse for Nepali politicians’
idiocy. But for people who have enjoyed the luxury of traveling the
world and attending the best liberal education institutions the West
has to offer, there is no excuse. People like Manjushree Thapa are even
more idiotic than the politicians she conveniently blames – the same
politicians that Thapa helped exonerate for over a decade of crimes
against the Nepali people. Is it such a wonder that the "idiotic"
culture of impunity persists in Nepal?

The real question is, how
much intelligence does it take privileged elites like Ms. Thapa, to
evaluate the 15 years after 1990 and the "narrowly self-serving"
practices that were institutionalized during that time? Wasn't 15 years
of malgovernance enough to show that these “democratic” leaders were
committed only to “democratically” stuffing their pockets? Just take a
look at where the children of such leaders have gone for their higher
educations and compare the fee structures at these institutions’ with
the leaders’ annual incomes. Idiotic, isn't it?

As for the
Maoists, upon what basis did Ms. Thapa and her band of "idiots"
misinterpret volume after volume of Maoist writ explaining exactly what
the Maoists’ stand for, their brand of radical politics, and their
plans for Nepal? So who are the bigger idiots? The politicians who gave
birth to the Maoists’ and then subsequently brought the Maoists’ into
the “mainstream” or the idiots who were so blinded by the short-term
glory of “Storming the Bastille,” that they neglected to evaluate the
fully burdened, long term cost of their actions? It is convenient for
people like Ms. Thapa to shift positions as it suits her agenda of
distancing herself from her feudal roots; but it is not as convenient
for a nation of 27 million who have to bear the consequences of the
follies of people like Ms. Thapa.

The fact is that Nepal’s
intelligentsia did the utmost possible to bring these political parties
and Maoists to power, convincing Nepalis that the SPA-M alliance would
really make a difference. They were the ones to used their elite,
stylish and influential pens to convince the international community
that if the 240-year old history and the monarchy were to be
jettisoned, Nepal would stand a chance of building a better and
brighter future ("New Nepal" as they called it)!

Well, now Nepal
is a Republic and according to many, on a fast-track to an illiberal
leftist autocracy. And if Ms. Thapa’s escape from this reality is that
“this is a process,” there is only one thing to be said in response:
“Go tell the 24 million Nepali people who are without running water,
electricity and access to basic health care that the “smart” thing to
do was to launch a campaign against the Monarchy in return for Maoist
domination of the political sphere.” The majority of Nepalis may not be
as educated as Ms. Thapa, but even marginally educated know an idiot
when they seen one. Who’s the idiot now?

Further, to be
completely transparent, Ms. Thapa should also tell the Nepali people
that the people her advocacy helped propel to power are “the same
Maoists’ who during the years 2000/2001, destroyed nearly $500 million
(yes, US Dollars) worth of infrastructure; bridges, roads, repeater
stations that were built over the course of the past 30 years.” Tell
the Nepali people that they “need to be patient” while people like Ms.
Thapa use their entrenched, feudalism-based influence to peddle
experiments with one process after another while Nepalis continue to
suffer. How idiotic does the truth sound?

The Monarchy, like
every other institution in Nepal, needed to be restructured, and
reformed, not eliminated. In this regard, many of the politicians who
Ms. Thapa regards as “idiots” were the ones trying their level best to
rise above the populist idiocy that Ms. Thapa played a role in
propagating. Politicians like Shailajha Acharya, K.P. Oli, Prakash
Chandra Lohani, Surya Bahadur Thapa, and even Baburam Bhattaria were
forced into idiocy by the rhetoric spun by people such as Ms. Thapa –
rhetoric which was magnified and spun again by Ms. Thapa’s contacts at
the International Crisis Group and various media outlets. How
convenient for Ms. Thapa that in hindsight, she finds no issue with her
own brand of advocacy but Nepal’s politicians are “idiots!”

After
all the damage that has been done, the likes of Ms. Thapa have the gall
to go around and tell Nepalis how "narrowly self-serving" our leaders
are and how everything is so "idiotic!" Does Ms. Thapa think that the
same people who “raped” Nepal for 15 years are likely to recognize the
sacrifice that Nepalese have made to re-install them in power? What
school of idiocy did Ms. Thapa attend to fool herself into believing
that the current generation of Nepali politicians are going to change
their ways because of Thapa’s “oh-I'm-fed-up-with-you” article????
Who's the real idiot here?

It's sad, but true. The so-called
"intelligentsia" of Nepal have been nothing but "useful idiots" (to use
Lenin's term) for the Maoists. And to use the Maoist supremo's own
language, they have been "the backs that the Maoists’ climbed upon to
smash the head.” In simple terms, the Maoists’ used and abused the
human rights agenda, the peace agenda, the democratic agenda and a host
of liberal, Western ideals to forward their march to political
domination. “Intelligent” people like Ms. Manjushree Thapa, played the
role of stepping stones for the Maoists’. When compared to people like
Prachanda, Baburam, Ram Bahadur Thapa, and C. P. Gajurel, it is clearly
Manjushree Thapa appears to be the bigger idiot.

The Nepali
state is in the tragic form she is today, in no small measure, due to
the activism of the likes of Ms. Thapa. Wrinkling up her nose and
blaming the political leaders is no excuse. People like Thapa should
set a moral precedent by owning up to their own mistakes of the past;
by pointing her finger at Nepali politicians, Ms. Thapa is playing the
part of the pot, calling the kettle black.

One would have
thought that when intelligent people like Manjushree Thapa supported
the SPA-M alliance, they had done their due diligence. But apparently
not so. Now they are coming around and telling us how pathetic our
leaders are and how they’ve pretty much always known it. Then why the
idiocy of leading the nation down a path that guaranteed even more
idiocy? Neither the politicians that Manjushree despises nor the
policemen (one of whom struck Manjushree on her head during a
“peaceful” demonstration) are any different today, than they were
before 2006. This is a hard fact that no one should idiotically
dismiss. Especially Ms. Thapa.

Former King Gyanendra may have
been an idiot for acting without a concrete plan but he was
nonetheless, an idiot who could be controlled through various policy
instruments. Good luck to Manjushree and others, as they try and
control the Maoists’ and other politicians by alleging “idiocy” through
publications like Kantipur. If Manjushree is “frankly scared” by the
Maoists’ today, she is more than likely to be “terrified” by what is
yet to come.

Why always blame the "political leaders" for the
nation's woes? Shouldn't our "intellectual leaders" have been more
realistic and discerning in their judgments about who and what to
support and fight for? Instead of going off in their fanciful dreams of
revolutionaries building a "New Nepal," shouldn't they have been more
responsible? Did they not pause to weigh the likelihood of a better
society being built by the same group of leaders who have failed time
and again? Before going all-out and calling on the Nepalese people (and
the international community) to back the SPA-M alliance, shouldn’t our
“intellectual” leaders have given more thought to the costs and
benefits of enthroning the same discredited leaders and and a bunch of
cold blooded killers (the Maoists')?

Nepali intellectuals, like
Ms. Thapa, can't hide behind the facade of incompetent "political
leaders" anymore. Their holier-than-thou attitude vis-a-vis Nepal’s
political leaders is stale and repulsive. Ordinary Nepalese and the
international community backed the SPA-M alliance because our
"intellectual leaders" supported them. Articles by Manjushree's ilk
crying foul at insincere political leaders doesn't absolve the likes of
Thapa from their incompetence, insincerity, and downright “dishonesty.”

Yes,
the idiocy and irresponsibility that has brought Nepal where it is
today must end but equally, the process must begin with people like
Manjushree Thapa reflecting on their own actions more and on the
actions of others, less. As the saying goes, Manjushree needs to learn
to "walk the walk" as well as she has demonstrated her capacity to
"talk the talk."

Just write a brief letter to editor, don't write so long comment...:)

Anyway, is it true that she is  girlfriend of Hari Roka, a Maoist lawmaker? I once saw her writing something like "I was living with my partner in New Delhi" and someone explained that it was Roka.