Being made a fool on a April Fools day is fun because it happens once a year. But when our rulers fool us every single day of our lives, April Fools has no value (is no longer fun).
Once fooled = you are a victim.
Twice fooled = maybe a victim.
Every day fooled = certainly a fool.
Here are some ways we are fooled by our rulers each day
- We know we have been fooled when….. home minister of our rulers, Bijaya Gacchadar) who is supposed to protect us, instead protects and is protected by a head of a criminal gang ”most wanted in Nepal”.
- We know we have been fooled when….. 601 over-paid
lawmakers we elected don’t make the constitution in
24 months or 36 months or 43 months or??? months. They instead have handed over their decision making power to 3 or 4 individual Nepalis who we did NOT choose or pay for this work. - We know we have been fooled when….. demand for electricity has risen for the last 10 years, yet our rulers method of solving this is “load-shedding” i.e that we stay in darkness for sometimes 16 hours a day for at least 5 more years.
- We know we have been fooled when…..we import highest amount of cooking gas cylinders supply ever, yet we still can’t buy cooking gas in our neighborhood shops.
- We know we have been fooled when….. we haven’t had local government (elected local leadership) (some call it real democracy) in villages, towns, cities for 14 years. Yet the same people or groups who were responsible in scrapping them are running around either grabbing power or sharing the spoils.
- We know we have been fooled when…..our rulers raises fuel prices and their own rent-a-cadres lodge pre-emptive protest against it to gather emotional support from us, ordinary citizens.
- We know we have been fooled when…..the same group of people who extort money from Nepali citizens and institutions, then go on to govern and raise funds to extort their own cadres and the state in the name of army rehabilitation or reintegration or……
- We know we have been fooled when…..the ruling ministers from their seat of power, themselves threaten to secede (break) from Nepal if they are not given what they want.
- We know we have been fooled when….. the media and many of us ‘elite’ citizens highlight and go after those who beg (for aid or power) and not after ones who work hard quietly (like entrepreneurs here or workers in Arab and beyond).
- We know we have fooled ourselves when…. we citizens refuse to give an inch of our land for making wider streets, or to clean our neighborhood, stop using black plastic bags or wear seat belts, while calling for governments to clean the streets in front of them, offer clean water and provide us safety or smooth-en traffic.
- We know we are becoming fools when….. we (citizens) gather in towns and cities to protest, but our very own neighbors start criticizing our efforts. They label us in terms of age, caste, ethnic groups, status, profession, complexion, and refuse to join because they want to live in denial - “ke huncha ra” के हुन्छ र or “yestai ho” यस्तै हो…..
- And we know we are fools when….. after realizing all this and more, we citizens of this land, still refuse to unite and act. We instead prefer to grumble quietly or complain incessantly on ‘Chiya Pasals’, beauty parlors, at work, on media or Facebook or among our families about how our rulers are un-accountable, irresponsible, corrupt and despotic etc…
Once fooled, a victim. Every day fooled, certainly a fool.
So a Happy April Fools day to those of you from the rest of the world. You have cause to celebrate something we are bloody tired of, which is “Being made a fool every single day!”
(Add your own examples of “we know we have been fooled when…………………………. ” in your comments below)
