 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||
 |
President's Letter |
 Torn between a traditional monarchy and a Maoist insurgency, Nepal faces challenges similar to those in Afghanistan, but with much less attention from Americans.    Photos from professor Thapa's scrapbook show him at various sites in Khatmandu including at Boudhanath Stupa (the world's largest such Buddhist shrine, although Nepal is primarily Hindu) with his father-in-law Netra Nasnyat, and sons Sam and Beraht. Americans probably don't give much thought to Nepal. When they do, they probably think of Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, sherpas and Into Thin Air, the bestselling book by Jon Krakauer. Or maybe they remember Bob Seeger's rock'n'roll classic song "Kathmandu." Nepal's Himalaya range does contain some of the world's highest and most challenging climbs, and its capital is Kathmandu a name synonymous for Westerners with isolation and mystery. Along with these mistily romantic images, Nepal also has a Maoist insurgency threatening to turn the landlocked country bordering India and China-controlled Tibet into a failed state. Ferris Surveying Engineering professor Khagendra Thapa has written several articles regarding the political situation in Nepal. His views of his native country's trouble have evolved as the political situation there has become ever more complicated since 2001 when most of the royal family was murdered in a bloody scene that could have been pulled straight out of Shakespeare. Surveying the Damage "I taught in Kathmandu for two years when there were troubles in both Lebanon and Sri Lanka. I said that Nepal was going to go through more serious trouble than either of them. I wish the prediction didn't come true, but it did," says Thapa. Born in a mountainous region in the more prosperous eastern part of Nepal, Thapa earned his bachelor's degree in physics, mathematics and statistics at Tribhuvan University in the Nepalese capital. He then traveled to London, England, to earn a bachelor's degree in land surveying sciences, to the University of New Brunswick, Canada, for a master's in surveying engineering and to Ohio State University for both a master's and Ph.D. in geodetic science and surveying. Not bad for someone who didn't learn to read and write until he was 14. Thapa sees his own accomplishments in the light of roadblocks to a stable government in his native country. "Democracy does not work if the people are poor and illiterate," says Thapa. "People in Nepal have to mark a particular symbol when they vote because about two-thirds of them don't know how to write. So that's why I have this idea of a literacy campaign. If people don't know how to read and write, how can they be responsible citizens? In African and Latin American countries, the lives of the people have not improved under democracy. In some cases, it's gotten worse." High Drama Although the Maoist insurgency in the mountain kingdom began in the mid-1990s, the political situation in the country took a dramatic and still-unfolding turn with the murder of almost the entire royal family on June 1, 2001. At that time, Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev wanted to marry Devyani Rana, a member of a clan with whom the royal dynasty had some historical animosity. The prince's mother blocked the marriage. That family tension was reportedly the reason why the prince shot and killed nine family members including his father, King Birdendra, and mother, Queen Aishwarya before turning the gun on himself or else being shot by a palace guard. After the murders, while in a coma, he was proclaimed king. He died four days later and his uncle, Prince Gyandendra, succeeded him on the throne. Just as in the United States, conspiracy theories abound. "Whatever happened, it is quite mysterious. Nobody really knows what happened," says Thapa. "There are all sorts of allegations." Many of the articles that professor Thapa has written and published widely on the Internet have been in support of King Gyandendra. As the situation has evolved, so have Thapa's views on the best way forward for the country. However, he still sees a strong role for the monarchy. "Right now, if you take the current king out, there will be terrible turmoil in Nepal," says Thapa. "I think the best solution is for the King and the Maoists to declare a ceasefire and hold elections then the insurgents could talk to the elected government. With a constitutional monarchy the king would be the head of state, but not the head of government." In the short term, Thapa thinks that neither monarchism nor democracy can solve Nepal's political impasse. He imagines a transition period where the government would be a meritocracy, consisting of people essentially hired to run the country. "Why not hire responsible, educated people who will do good for the people? Why not run the country the way you run a corporation with a CEO and a board of trustees?" says Thapa. "Even that goes wrong sometimes look at Enron. But on the whole it works. Many third world countries have smaller budgets than these big corporations. I don't think anybody's going to implement my ideas, but that doesn't mean I can't propose them." Slouching Toward Kathmandu Thapa was last in Nepal in 2002 to care for his ailing father. He saw first-hand the effects of the country's political unrest. "Things were falling apart. The government was behaving in an irresponsible way looking at their personal interest more than the national interest," says Thapa. High-level corruption was one of the main reasons cited for King Gyandendra's dismissal of his cabinet and prime minister in October 2002. A coalition government was reinstated in 2004, but dissolved again by the king in February 2005. "When the king came to power in February, I thought he did the right thing," Thapa says. "First of all, he said the situation would be temporary. He also said he would establish peace, hold elections and devolve power to the people. So, under those circumstances, I felt he did the right thing. But I'm not too happy with what the king has done lately." Even though Thapa notes that he was the first instructor at Ferris to deliver course material online, he was still surprised at the wide currency his articles received through the Internet. He also discovered another aspect of Web publication the sense that everything on the Internet is current, when in fact it isn't. "Many of the things I wrote are time-dependent, but now things have changed my opinions have changed," Thapa says. But once you put it on the Internet, you have no control." What hasn't changed is Nepal's rugged beauty. Thapa notes that the country's topography ranges from just 300 feet above sea level to the world's highest peak. With that range of climates, Nepal grows everything from apples and cherries to oranges, bananas and mangos. The country also has extensive wildlife, including elephants, tigers and rhinos. Although Thapa worries that the country's insurgency could rival Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime in ruthlessness if successful, he hopes that can be avoided. If so, he'd like to be a part of Nepal's future. "I would like to return and live there when I retire from Ferris," he says. "I'd like to go there at least part of the year and volunteer my time. It's a very interesting country, very beautiful. The people are very nice and honest, but they really messed up in terms of political issues." In his poem "Displacement," the Nepali poet Govinda Bartaman writes, "Over and over the questions come/Over and over the answers run away." Expatriate Nepali and those still living in the mountain kingdom hope one day to capture those answers, which have proven so elusive. |
||||||