Bhupa P. Dhamala

We often hear stories about how our unequal society can be turned into an equitable one. We also listen to countless speeches of leaders who promise to end the world of discrepancy and discrimination and establish an egalitarian society. Stories have been told since time immemorial and speeches have been delivered for generations. But to this date, people have not experienced the things they aspired for. Promises made by philosophers, politicians and socio-cultural leaders have been frustrated. Their beautiful plans in blueprints have turned into mere utopia. It is thus essential to explore why it happens as it does.

An Earthly Paradise
There were several ancient thinkers who promised to make the earth a paradise. Plato advocated for the ideal Republic in the ancient Greek city-state. St. Augustine imagined the "City of God", and Hindu religious leaders dreamed of Ramarajya. In the fifteenth-sixteenth century, European renaissance celebrated humanism to emancipate from superstition, orthodoxy, and conservatism. In the eighteenth century, rationalism brought forth human mind at the center of all. From an alternative perspective, Marxism came into wide discussion both as theory and practice. All these propositions aimed at the establishment of paradise on earth, a paradise based on complete freedom, equality and justice.
All the utopian dreams of paradise, however, seem to have turned into utter dystopia. The utopian vision in the noble mind remained in mind alone. Even as plans were carried out, they turned the way round, their actions digressed. In many cases the actors gratified themselves in sordid gains of power and wealth. What has gone wrong with the dream of making the earth a paradise? Is it due to the flaw in the plan itself or is it because of the malpractice of the actors?

Plan-Practice Dichotomy
Despite beautiful promises made by many leaders since long ago, people have not seen them ever been put into practice. The persons who promised to do this and that have utterly failed to keep their promises. Reasons for this failure can be many and various. One of the several reasons is that the dreamers and actors are different people. Maybe actors do not understand what dreamers meant so things go awry. Second, even if the dreamers and actors are the same people, they are not as honest as they are expected to be once they ascend to the seat of power. This has become a sort of political pastime of many political leaders in many parts of the world. Considering the way things are in the present context, we tend to doubt about the future of a beautiful world where all would be happy and no one would be unhappy. This is the situation which seems to exist all over the globe, not simply in a particular region or a geographical location.

Nepalese Context
There are sufficient reasons to argue that Nepal is a rich country both in natural diversity and cultural heritage. If the leaders are serious and sincere, they can certainly bring about significant changes. But this has never happened. Many leaders in Nepalese history have promised to do this and that but their promises have soon been frustrated. We can trace the modern history from at least anti-Rana regime movement that began towards the middle of twentieth century which ended the regime in 1949. After 10 years of democratic establishment King Mahendra blamed the system and established partyless Panchayat system promising that he would bring true democracy. But very soon his promises were also frustrated. Democratic and communist leaders continuously fought against the partyless system ending it in 1990 promising absolute democracy and socialism. Then again in 2006 republicanism was established with the promises of freedom, equality, and social justice.
However, the leaders’ promises have not been kept. Democracy seems to be hanging overhead. Republicanism has not yet demonstrated its efficiency. The quality of life of people has not improved.
There might be several reasons for this not to happen. One fundamental reason is that there is always gap between dream and reality, between expectations and achievements. To some extent, this gap is natural but when that gap widens more than natural, promises are very likely to turn into mere utopia which in turn put promises into bitter frustration.
Another reason is the lack of sincerity among the party leaders. Instead of focusing on the public interest, they seem to be engaged in trivial matters often disturb political stability and good governance.

Paradise Lost?
Looking at all the way from anti-Rana movement to anti-Panchayat movement to the establishment of republicanism in Nepal, democratic and communist leaders have promised democracy, human rights, freedom, equality, social justice, good governance, development, and prosperity in all sectors and the changes in the quality of life of the people. But the nation still seems to losing its clear direction and people are still suffering from poverty, hunger, disease, malnutrition and the evils of other kinds. People are beginning to show their dissatisfaction sometimes resulting in street protests and demonstration. In this context people may lose of the earthly paradise that the leaders have promised.

Regaining the Paradise
The situation is not that terrible, however. There are plenty of possibilities to rectify the situation. First and foremost, all political leaders, especially the leaders of the ruling party, should demonstrate that they are sincerely working for the people.
Their promises should not simply be in words but in deeds, in their actions which result in people’s happiness. Second, there must be common agenda for nation building between the ruling and opposition party binding them together to act for well being of the people no matter which party would win in the next election.
If the leaders are really serious and sincere, the lost hope of paradise can easily be regained.

(Dhamala is professor of English, TU)