E-Paper
To sacrifice, or not to sacrifice
Nepal's seven-month old political impasse ended this Thursday with communist leader Jhalanath Khanal getting elected as prime minister with Maoist support. Utpal Parashar reports.
Nepal's seven-month old political impasse ended this Thursday with communist leader Jhalanath Khanal getting elected as prime minister with Maoist support. Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' who opted out of the race and backed Khanal says he decided to make the sacrifice the previous night to save his country further embarrassment. Here's an account of what he might have been thinking as he took the decision of Hamletian proportions.
Place: Prachanda Residence
Date: Midnight, Feb 2, 2011
To sacrifice, or not to sacrifice: that is the question
Whether it's practical to suffer more defeats
And get targeted by colleagues and the Regmis,
Or to hand over the reins of government to Khanal,
And rule by proxy? To rule: to dream;
No more can I wait and suffer
The heart-ache and humiliating experience
Of warming opposition benches for 20 months
Despite being chief of the largest party. To rule: to dream;
To dream: absolutely to dream: yes, that's the catch
For if I dream only then it may come true
I handed over PLA to the Special Committee
Now mustn't I get the chance to enter Baluwatar?
That'll make me forget the calamity of May 2009;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of fate
The President's 'wrong', and my proud folly,
The insolence of committing mistakes in office
The overlooking of merit
of worthy enemies and 'friends'
When I myself decided to make a foolish exit
With a 'clear conscience'? Who could have foretold
That it would lead to unending months without power,
But now I've the prospect
of gaining it again, with sacrifice
The undiscovered pleasures of ruling by proxy
No grunt or sweat, dampens the will
And makes me give away the PM's post to my adversary
Than join the fight, the result of which I know not of?
Thus power does make brave-hearts of us all;
And the prospect of resolution of this deadlock
Is making me more resolute to forego the seat
And save my country from more embarrassment.
With these things in mind, my calculation turns awry
And makes me lose the prospect of being PM again
The unfair Bhattarai! Hope he understands my tears
Be with me and make my dream get realized.
(With apologies to the Bard)
