A modicum of order has been established in Nepal with the effective intervention of its army and installation of a reputed former chief justice as Prime Minister. There are lessons to be learnt from the sudden eruption of anti-government protests in the landlocked Himalayan nation The ruling Communist party took a major hit as its Prime Minister Sharma Oli was bundled out of power after the incidents of violence, arson and firing, killing over 20 people since September 8. The zeroing in on the 73-year-old Sushila Karki as the prime minister to lead an interim government appeared to be a master stroke – it calmed down the protesters who were obviously angered over joblessness as also massive acts of nepotism and corruption in governance. Karki’s reputation as an incorruptible judicial head acted as a balm on the wounded minds of the anti-corruption Gen-Z youths. How the scenario builds up in Nepal remains to be closely watched as conflicting interests, including external forces, are lurking in the shadows.
In the neighbourhood, India is closely watching the evolving situations in Nepal. Curiously, with a “white-as-Lily” prime minister ruling India from its apex for the past 11 years, the corruption in governmental layers multiplied. Modi won the 2014 parliament polls by promising to end the corruption that bedevilled the previous UPA II government. His promise of ferrying back the billions India’s corrupt creed had stashed away and put in foreign tax havens, and of putting them in the accounts of every poor Indian, proved hollow. In reality, Modi could not lay his hands on the large array of corrupt entities even within the country or those who ‘escaped’ with their bounty to foreign soil. He, instead, is accused of fanning corruption, making the central investigation agencies like CBI and ED ineffective, using them only to bargain with his political rivals. The huge sums the BJP uses to win elections, however, speak volumes about the unholy cuts and commission raj that exist in today’s governance system at its very apex.
Hugely corrupt leaders are part of the NDA pack. Modi’s very survival as PM depends on their support. The bureaucratic apparatus as a whole is today deeply corrupt. Corrupt, wayward bureaucrats remained untouched all through Modi’s three terms. No courageous step to stem the rot has been taken. Modi dithered. Evidence is also in the currency burning incident at a Supreme Court judge’s house in Delhi, on which Modi did not speak a word as yet. Instead, Jagdeep Dhankar who spoke up was slighted. The scenes of corruption and widespread unemployment are equally worse here as in Nepal. Claims about low unemployment rate here are a sham – they are built on the merger of the numbers of the employed people with the numbers of the MGNREGS workforce, comprising the poor that get no more than a pittance as wages. A spark can ignite a fire. To Modi’s advantage there’s no JP around to effect a course-correction.
