Girija Prasad Koirala, former Prime Minister and president of Nepali Congress passed away Saturday at 12:10 p.m. GPK has been a towering figure in Nepali politics for over 4 decades. The death of GPK generates a big void within both the Nepali Congress and as an over-arching figure in Nepali politics. While much of Nepali media and politician seem to have suddenly found their long lost love for Koirala, people seem to have mixed feelings about his legacy.
There seems a difference in opinions regarding GPK between the mainstream media and the blogs. This difference in opinion steam out from what face of GPK people remember. Those who knew the pre 1990 Girija vs those who knew Girija post 1990. The post 1990 generation, who dominate the blogosphere, tend to have a more skeptical image of GPK. It’s the image of an old man holding on to power even if it means compromising on the principles so many say he holds dear. It an image of a man who was prime minister the country five times; a country bounded by the shackles of poverty, smeared with corruption and blooded by violence. Girija became the face of the dirty politics in Nepal (see my criticism of him in 5 worst people of Nepal). And although many of us did respect the man during the April revolution and its immediate aftermath, we were quickly disenchanted by the blatant nepotism he seemed to encourage. Unlike the pre 1990 generation, we never saw the Girija who was arrested and imprisoned by King Mahendra following a failed armed revolt against the 1960 royal coup. We never saw a Girija who was sent to exile and masterminded a plane hijack. We never saw Girija as champion of secular democracy in the nation.
Sketch by Dewen via the Kathmandu Post
If you glance through the Grijababu gone, the obituary written by Kanak Mani Dixit (probably the most read article on GPK’s death) you will find an array of comments that range from a proclaiming GPK as the father of the nation to accusing him of “raping the country”. The comments on mysansar.com are even more interesting. As a youth oriented blog the comments on mysansar are seem more critical of Girijababu. Try blog.com.np, there you will find people calling him a “monster”, and another calling the person who called him a monster an “idiot”.
While the media has tried to sell the death of GPK as a loss of a “national guardian”, many nepalis, especially the youth are not buying that. And while it would be unfair to say the GPK wasn’t a great spokesperson for democracy in Nepal it is also unfathomable to think of him as a “universally loved leader whose death has shocked the nation”.
However, given the fact that he did dedicate his life to help the country (I must admit that I do not doubt the man’s convictions) I hope his soul finds peace.
3 comments:
if u look at the current politicians of nepal then u would probably want GPK to survive another 100 years. But if u look at the countries situation then it is gud that he died.
its seems that if you die, all your wrongs are legitimized. given, girija babu was possibly the closest we had to a national leader, but only because he was the best among the worst.
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