Have we noticed a dangerous process of devaluation around us? Not of the rupee but of our institutions and ourselves.

The government, for instance, forces public figures holding top jobs to speak out in support of its out-of-context actions. Take the case of the vice-chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy and its members who urged the people to vote in the municipal polls. It was neither a subject of their jurisdiction nor were they enthusiastic in getting the elections held the same way as the government was crazy for. Obviously they were made to speak to garner public support for the controversial elections. Whether they made any impact on the people can be debated, but there is no doubt that they lost face before the people.

Look at our scholars and thinkers engaged in public debates. None of them is spared criticism for taking sides in the conflict. Even the security personnel have lowered their traditional admirable image because of constant charges of human rights violations. Are they an embodiment of security or insecurity? It has become difficult to distinguish.

The government issued a new ordinance on NGOs with an open agenda of regularising them but with the hidden agenda of controlling them. It went further to defame them with disclosure of the sources and volume of funding. In a country where civil society is struggling to earn credibility and capability to deliver public services, is it not an action of dissuasion designed to malign it across the board with the charges of misappropriation and dollar mania? Those found guilty can be brought to book. But why should the whole civil society suffer from the onslaught of devaluation? Nevertheless they do. Look at the fate of the media. Despite infrastructural development, it is also a victim of professional devaluation. The government media is perceived to be a propaganda machine solely devoted to vilifying the parties and their leaders. On the other hand, the private media faces a similar lack of credibility for exaggerating news in an obvious attempt to counter the official lies. If you want to arrive at a sane conclusion on any event, you have to filter the news to obtain grains of truth. There is hardly any publication or broadcasting agency that might command unequivocal respect of the people.

Even the Supreme Court held in high esteem is not immune from getting devalued. The Nepal Bar Association made a strong objection to the appointment of a controversial judge and consequently kept the chief justice out of its annual ceremony to snub him. How could a judge continue in the apex court whose opinion on a vital constitutional issue has been rejected by a bigger bench of the same court?

Could there be a personal opinion held by a judge differently from the formal verdict of the court? That might be permissible legally but not morally.

Our leaders have lost their height in the eyes of the people, which is evident from the cold response to the parties’ call for movement. But, by far the most devalued institution is the government itself which is widely thought to be unconstitutional, arbitrary, oppressive, insensitive and what not. In the process of depreciation, it is the post of the chief executive - the prime minister - which has suffered most when it was advertised and applications were called in. It must be the reason why the King does not like to be called a prime minister despite playing the role. It looks so downgraded that even Dr Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista feel more elated in being vice-chairmen of a cabinet than heading it as the prime minister as they did in the past.

Of all the cabinet members, Durga Pokhrel looks the most devalued in her political stature by accepting the post of a state minister. With a long and enviable background of political activism, unstinted radicalism and gender advantage, she deserved more than she got. It is difficult to understand her relatively less-than-desirable position except in the broader context of devaluation phenomenon sweeping over our country. No less noticeable is the way Roshan Karki, a spokesperson of a leading political party, accepted even the lesser berth of an assistant minister. Of course, when a towering political leader like Radha Krishna Mainali can agree to submerge his proud past in the profitable present, there is no further argument for the loss-and-gain equations of public office. As far as the monarchy is concerned, the less said the better. It is in this overwhelming process of national devaluation. The institution once held in high esteem and awe has turned out to be a butt of multifaceted and multilateral criticisms. Is it in the same process of devaluation that our Crown Prince got less than graceful treatment in Vienna and Paris?

We know the rupee, when devalued, loses its purchasing power. But when public offices and officials get devalued, this means a devaluation of our honour and finally our identity. Shrestha is co-ordinator, Volunteers Mediators Group for Peace