The arrogance of a dictator

The royal address was but an attempt to douse the revolution. The king decided that he would give back the rights to Nepalese people. He also asked the political parties to recommend a prime minister. The king then would empower him with executive power (perhaps only if he likes the candidate). That was too arrogant a remark.

Now this is our country, and we will decide who is going to head the government. We don’t want a king, especially if it is someone like Gyanendra. The revolution should continue till the king is brought to his knees. We don’t need a medieval ruler, we need a democratic nation.

Meanwhile, the police continue its brutality and barbarism. Many people were shot at from choppers yesterday. The horrendous scenes of protesters who were beaten up was shocking- ruptured heads, blood bathed body, broken legs. These policemen should be prosecuted in the court after the revolution demolishes the kingship.

The Job Blues: blown away

I always wondered if I would get a good job, and good pay, if I went to the US; especially at this point, when most of the software jobs are being outsourced to India and China. When ever I planned to go to the US for my graduate studies, I would fumble for the ways to pay fees to the university. Having an undergraduate degree in computer would not allow my self-esteem (whatever you call it?) to work in a restaurant or a supermarket. And I knew no one would pay me 40$ per hour for writing software when they get it done from an Indian at 6-10$ per hour. Besides, I wouldn’t find a job in the US even after doing my masters in computer science or so for the same pay reasons. (No job, everything went to India and China). But a latest article from IBM throws away this myth. It says for every job outsourced from the US, nine new jobs are created in the US.
Check this.

Why am I still in my office?

When thousands of peoples, including professionals, are rallying in the streets, I wonder why I am still inside my office. I am not a politically active person, but I am still a pretty patriotic guy. I am aware of the hell that the big boys in power have made of this country and I utterly resent this. I know a big wave of change is what we desperately need to get out of this quagmire. The most simple solution- blow away the monarchy and the whole autocratic ecosystem will collapse.

Back to my query. Why I am still inside office. I contemplated for a while and figured the following reasons.

• Since most of our clients are from the US we can’t drop or delay the projects we work on. Failure to meet the deadline will not only destroy our business, but also tarnish the image of our country.
• The revolution against the king is not moving towards the specific direction. Yes, we want to see the democracy restored, but what specific event will signify the restoration? Restoration of parliament or the king publicly announcing that he has given back the democracy. Will it happen when the king changes the government or asks the leaders of 7-party alliance to pick new government? The king has already called in the leaders for negotiation, while the 7-party alliance has turned a blind eye to it. The alliance needs to clearly articulate before the general public about the ultimate objective of the revolution. The clarity in the objective will persuade a significant number of people into joining the revolution. Surely current revolution lacks strong leadership and vision.

I will join the revolution actively if only they address the second reason. At this time in the country, the first reason should not be as big a, well, reason.

Post Revolution: The road ahead

As more people, for every realm of society, including doctors, engineers, lawyers, journalists, professors, artists, businessmen, and housewives, make it to the street in protest against the authoritarian government, it is increasingly likely that the government’s days can be counted on fingers. The king is irritatingly silent while the entire nation is under fire. The government is bound to fall to pieces sooner or later, but what remains to be seen is the fate of monarchy. Is it eliminated entirely or remains as a ceremonial institution. Youths clearly would want to go for the former. After the government is uprooted, the new power should take care of the following things.

• Restore the parliament, or form an interim government. Plan and initiate talks to bring Maoists to the mainstream politics.
• Announce the elections
• Set up a commission for investigating atrocities perpetrated during the current revolution. Prosecute the Home Minister, administrative and security officials, army officers on charges of war crimes. No leniency.
• Eliminate the monarchy, or shrink it to the minimum.
• Invent a road map for economic, social, and cultural development. This road map would be handed over to the new elected government as an important mandate.
• Bring the Royal Army under the parliament.

Meanwhile, the brutality of security forces continues. we got to see some utterly horrendous pictures of people beaten up by police.