War is won by those who are less confused. Sun Tzu, in Art of War says, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” The present crisis borne by the earthquake disaster in Nepal is no less than a war for every Nepali at the moment. War creates terror as crisis does. Nature’s attack by earthquake waves is no less than a war. Allies supports us in all possible ways, but they cannot give up their national interest. We must understand their limitations and be wise to use them for own benefit. The consequences of war have to be faced by the nation where it is targeted. Nature has become wild as we have challenged it against its system. We have no option other than adopting defensive postures against nature. But we never realize that we cannot win it - rather we became offensive using nature for our benefit.

The crisis does not alarm everybody, but indications come if we are wise to listen to it. The leadership who understand values of human life can save people through appropriate guidance and mobilization of resources. The present crisis of earthquake is inevitable, but we could minimize the damage by awakening the society to overcome its shock through well rehearsed drills and practices. Besides not adhering to best practices, we allowed the construction of houses against the building codes despite the fact that Nepal is in the seismic zone.

It is universal that the confused pay more than the wise. If someone becomes confused once, he learns from the mistake and recovers quickly, but if he is confused throughout his life, he may damage not only himself but torments the entire society. And, if he is a leader he may damage the whole nation. So, we should be while electing them to the government. How and why such leaders in Nepal reach such level is a matter of grave concern for political science researchers. Perhaps, our system is corrupt from grassroots, that is why such leaders manipulate the vote banks. Unless such system is cleaned, the people will remain imprisoned by such leadership and interpretation of democracy will be as per their definition.

Why do we need laws/bylaws, rules/regulations and constitution? We should not be confused over the issues, especially at the time of crisis. At the moment, we have lost our confidence due to the terror created by repeated earthquakes. We should know what we are supposed to do. The situation is similar to that of war. If we are united to cope with this crisis, we can repulse it at minimum cost, otherwise we have to bear a huge loss.

Crisis is an event that measures human endurance to tackle it. The endurance differs from person to person, society to society and nation to nation based on its survivability and past experiences. The history of any nation depicts its ability to cope with such crisis and in measuring the ‘nationalism’ among its people. The feeling of ‘nationalism’ can be felt and gauged at the time of national crisis. People generally tend to unite when they feel insecure. In normal situations, the feeling of ‘nationalism’ remains dormant.

We are relatively passive, shy, humble and poor but we are self-esteemed, independent and hard-working. The crisis of the recent mega-earthquake of April 25, and Nepal’s inability to handle rescue at the remote village of ‘‘Barpak” has ignited the internal feeling of ‘nationalism’ and voice for developing our nation by mobilizing domestic resources. We need outside support but not at the cost of our sovereignty, freedom and integrity. We are deprived of ‘geo-politics’ where the world powers are trying to gain a foothold to strengthen their interest in this nation.

To turn this challenge into opportunity, we need a dynamic leadership that understands the sorrow of our people. The second mega-earthquake attack has further terrorized us further. At the moment, we need a leadership capable of working for the people. To become a national leader, he/she should by tested by time and situation. There is always a relationship between a good leader and crisis. Crisis gives us a leader if we can recognize him. It is a good opportunity for anybody who wishes to be like Mahathir Mohammad, Lee Kuan Yew or Narendra Modi. All three were tested during crisis in their respective countries and were successful in handling them. But it will be failure on the part of the leadership if they just keep on weakening each other for cheap popularity among their cadres.

The news in the media of the Ministry of Home Affairs expressing its dissatisfaction over the Nepal Army’s refusal to take its order for rescue, relief and reconstruction is ridiculous. Moreover, the media is unhappy over allowing foreign armies with resources for disaster relief and reconstruction. Nepal Army is a body empowered by the Interim Constitution for safeguarding the national security and its integrity which cannot be given up at any cost.

At this juncture, Ministry of Home Affairs seems confused in visualizing the disaster properly. If we appraise carefully, it is an indication of system failure. When a responsible body of the government blames others to hide its own inefficiency that means the confusion persists within it and in such a state of confusion, the government cannot deliver services as well.

Dr. Bhattarai is ex-Brig Gen of Nepal Army and Visiting Faculty at

Tribhuvan University as well as Lumbini Buddhist

University of Nepal