Nepal has had the possibility of emerging as the exemplary nation-state of South Asia. But even if we set aside deep history, we see that in the modern era, relentless disasters—political and natural—have blocked the spirit and the efforts of the people of Nepal. There’s nothing to do but to try to convert the Great Nepal Earthquake of 2015 into an opportunity to transform the conduct of politics and in the process lift up Nepal at least from the status of a ‘least developed nation’ to that of a ‘developing nation’. For a beginning to be made in that direction, the polity must be jolted out of its stupor. Only then can the advantages Nepal has—of nature, history and demography—be fully realised.
The quaking of the earth on April 25 has in a literal and figurative sense shaken up politicians. Not only have they been reminded of the impermanence of life itself, they have realised how easy it is for them to find themselves out of the limelight. This is being brought home to them by the street protests...
