Salute to the Unifier of Nepal!

Blessed is the nation which possesses staunch nationalists among its diverse population. Conversely, wretched is the nation whose population ignores its own glorious pasts and pride that so courageously was built by some of the nation’s “heroes”.

Each and every country in the globe has some thing to preserve and take care of for all time to come. It is the pride, glorious past and cultural heritages that the national population of a particular country would wish to preserve for its coming generations so that the juniors could learn as to what Himalayan tasks their seniors did in order to leave a mark of respect and pride in the comity of nations. It is the stupendous jobs and the hilarious tasks that the seniors did in the past which made their country proud. Above all, the past Kings or for that matter who kept intact its glorious past too deserve deep commendations by us all. Let the coming generation too revere these high personalities-our pride by all means.

However, if such a pride is deliberately dismantled under one pretext or the other or when a handful under the guidance and the instructions of alien forces try to obliterate the past then the country will lose even its unique identity and turn into the protectorate of some falcons flying in the nearby skies which sooner than later will pounce upon the pigeon-my Nepal and our Nepal.

Had it been not the Herculean efforts of the late King Prithivi Narayan Shah-the Great, Nepal as a nation would not have been in the world map. His process of unifying the various principalities into one garland is what today constitutes my Nepal and our Nepal. The garland is today’s Nepal where we the entire diverse population remain woven.

Had he been not engaged in the process of integrating the various smaller states scattered all over the vast expanse of this area, the Nepal which we have today would not have come at all into existence.  It was his visionary leadership and politico-diplomatic acumen that he was able to manage and bring various tribes and ethnic communities (the kings and local lose Caliphs of the smaller principalities) under one single umbrella and constituted what is today called Nepal. It was indeed a warfare method that the late King brought into practice which must have brought immense causalities but around that time, it were these means to expand the territories. Thus to dub him as expansionist ruler would be completely a misplaced or wrongly interpreted theory.

Kudos to this late King who brought all the tribes and ethnic communities together and marched here and there and occupied various clashing smaller states under his jurisdiction. Some willingly accepted his subjugation and the rest have had to surrender looking at the heroic valor of his obedient, brilliant and brave soldiers. Like it or not but he is the Hero of our History.

His political acumen and wisdom, say historians, was such that he treated all those who supported him in his greater mission with equal esteem and honor so that his supporters may not feel that he or she had been denied his or her respect and honor that was due to him or her. The contributions were appreciated by the victor-late King-the unifier.

He marched from Gorkha and conquered practically all the nearby lands. This was not all. He then expanded his reach towards the East and the West and from North to South. He conquered all the smaller states and assimilated in what is called today’s Nepal. Unfortunately, the size of Nepal that he built remains now squeezed through the kind courtesy of the most infamous Treaty of Sugauli.

His political acumen was such that he provided wealth and lands to all those warriors who lent their valuable support at time of his long march in order to make them feel that they too have been honored and their contributions appreciated. In politics, such smaller things count and the late unifier of this country knew in advance that he can’t proceed and accomplish such a Himalayan task without honoring those who meant substantial for him in his great leap forward.

In the process, some mistakes might have been committed but that should not mean that the great unifier was unfair in his dealings with those who lent their respective support to him.

Having said this, it is a matter of pain and sorrow for all of us to understand that political personalities like the great unifier is dubbed as expansionist. He is taken more so as a cruel ruler. He was an expansionist in the sense that he expanded his role from small Gorkha and left for us all a greater Nepal wherein we live at the moment and play politics. Had he not been allowed to expand the territories, the Nepal where we live in would not have been in existence or at best the then mighty neighboring imperialist powers of that time would have swallowed this Nepal already. In a way, the unifier kept his new country shielded from the onslaught of the two major powers which were just the next door. This too speaks of his sharp brain.

Dismantling his statute either by design or otherwise is not a wise thing. Is it that we forgot our glorious past? Is it that we want to put the statute of the leaders of those countries which in essence wanted to gulp this country? Should we then erect the statues of Nehru or for that matter Gandhi, or Stalin, Lenin, or even Mao  in place of the one who unified Nepal? We must remain ever grateful to the unifier of this nation. If we do so will mean that we still revere this high personality whose match the world has so far failed to produce. He was and is still matchless.

Historians and the academicians of Nepal the other day reminded the current ruling elites of this country not to forget the contributions made by late King Prithivi Narayan Shah whose sincere efforts have now allowed them to play politics in a country founded and unified by him. Had Nepal not been in the world map, where they could have played politics?

It is time that we do not commit further blunders or else the coming generation will not forgive us.

After all, history has already been made by the late Kings. Thus the history can’t be obliterated under the whims of some lunatic politicians. A word to the wise should be enough. That’s all.

Posted on : 2009-01-14 07:20:28

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