Nation builders or breakers?

When the Constitution is passed, the government should do everything necessary to defend and protect the dignity of our Constitution and our nation. And the state should take action against those who violate the Constitution

I still remember from my very early childhood my grandfather talking about the big earthquake of 1990 and the damage and chaos it caused, as well as the way in which the houses and monuments in the valley were rebuilt in the following years. So much so as my father was born that year he went through life recalling his year of birth as being the year of the quake. That is the impact that the big quake had on our psyche individually and nationally, it was one of the defining moments of life for everyone who experienced it. So when the big quake returned a few months back in 2072 causing unprecedented damage and devastation, I for one was sure that this is an event that has marked all our lives and will be something that most of us will be telling our grand children in the years ahead, and none of us will ever forget. Well I was wrong!

Because it seems our 601 Honorable Members of the Constituent Assembly were so busy in the craft of nation building that they completely forgot about the earthquake and hence did not register the needed Bill on time resulting in the nullification of the National Reconstruction Authority. The body created to oversee the task of rebuilding not only the buildings that collapsed but the confidence of a people that lay shattered. The body which received in excess of US$ 4 billion in commitments from our friends and well wishers across the world to help us build back better. The body was to get the nation’s children back into schools and families back into homes before the winter sets it. When such a body as critical as National Reconstructions Authority fails to garner enough interest and action amongst our Honorable CA Members, the level of confidence starts to fall and the level of concern rises!

The Honorable 601 Members of the Constituent Assembly are sons and daughters of Nepal, just like us, who have been chosen from amongst the millions of Nepalis to perform a truly momentous task in our nation’s history, the task of formulating and promulgating the Constitution of our nation. Hence they stand amongst an august gathering wherein their actions will determine whether not only them, but their children and the children of their children will be seen as heroes of this nation, those who gave us a Constitution on which we built a peaceful and prosperous home. Or, they and generations to come in their families will have to carry the black mark of being the ones who were responsible for bringing misery and strife into the homes of all Nepalis. How not only history, but their own families, will remember each and every one of our Honorable Members of the Constituent Assembly rest firmly in the pen with which they will write our Constitution in the days ahead.

While each of us was born from the womb of our respective mothers, each of us is also the son and daughter of Nepal. And while as a people and a nation I believe we are amongst the most tolerant, when it comes to our mother and our motherland our tolerance should never be tested. This iswhy as a nation we have never been conquered, and our forefathers gave their lives to ensure that no nation was ever able to cast a shadow on the pride and dignity of our Nepal. As the generation alive today when we stand at the juncture in which we are about to embark on a new chapter in our nation’s history, I am confident that the one thing the Nepali people will never compromise on is the dignity of our nation.

But once, by consensus or majority, our Honorable 601 Constituent Assembly Members promulgate the Constitution of Nepal, then it becomes not just some words on pieces of paper, but the pride and dignity of our nation, our mother Nepal.  And then what happens to it becomes the concern of each and every son and daughter of this nation. While I and anyone else from amongst us can give our views on how many provinces, how they should be demarcated, what should be the economic model and taxation structure, how should central and state government powers be divided and any other issue that should be in the Constitution, as well as when and how it should be promulgated. It is the sole responsibility of the 601 Honorable Members to make the final decision and take full accountability for the same.  If they feel that they are in a position to not simply sign their names on a piece of paper but protect and defend that document as they would the dignity of their respective mothers, then by all means let’s have the Constitution. But that’s not for me or you to say, that’s for the 601 Honorable Members to decide.

All Nepalis unequivocally expect that our Constituent Assembly will only promulgate a Constitution that they feel is the best for our nation and people, and when once so passed they will do everything necessary to defend and protect the dignity of our Constitution, our nation. And the Honorable Members of the Constituent Assembly will be ready to take whatever action is necessary against those who violate the Constitution they have promulgated, regardless of their political, ethnic, economic, geographical or social background and standing.

I wish for your names to be written as heroes of our nation, the ‘Builders’ of the new Nepal, and dread to think of a future where your own children and their children would have to hide the fact that they are related to those who were the ‘Breakers’ of a nation that used to be known as Nepal. The request is mine, the decision is yours!