Vive Le Republic!

Two years ago, this blog covered the crisis then occurring in Nepal, wherein the pro-democracy activists were pitted against the incumbent monarch, King Gyanendra. Then, one had mused that if the ‘good’ King weren’t careful, his people would gladly throw him overboard for his Machiavellian ways.

And now, one cannot help the temptation of saying, “I told you so”. To be fair, any person with a basic knowledge of history and politics would have been able to predict that this would be the way things would turn out. So, no credit to me alone for having ‘predicted’ this event.

Nepal now stands on the threshold of a new age. One hopes that the future is more calm and peaceful for the Himalayan state, considering that it’s people have suffered so much over the past decades, nay centuries, owing to the intransigence of a few autocratic tyrants. That the Maoists, people who most other people would say are most amenable to overthrowing governments and ruling like dictators themselves, are now part of the democratic process is encouraging.

The challenge before Nepal now is to let go of the past, of its bigoted traditions and rituals, of a civil code that was meant to repress the significant majority of the people, and to forge ahead into a future more agreeable to everyone. The discontent that fuelled the Maoists’ power needs to be addressed, and alleviated.

It would not do anyone any credit if the new regime fails the people just as miserably as the old one. Let us not forget that even after the French Revolution, the nouveau regime got barely 15 years when the people began clamouring for a renewal of the monarchy, leading to the First French Empire. Nepal cannot afford to slip into this state of affairs, because unlike in the 17th century, when times were slow and somewhat relaxed, now the world is more fast-paced, and any internal turmoil would result in unforgivable delays in the modernization of the Nepalese nation.

So one prays and hopes that the Nepalese people would not let this opportunity for change go unutilized. They cannot afford to.

Aprés moi, le deluge.....(or is it...?)

The Ides of March...

The day would seem as ordinary as any other. And perhaps not without reason. For no great event has taken place so far today. And yet, history has been witness to two of the most important events in the annals of mankind, events which occurred on this very day, the Ides of March.

44 BC. The Roman Republic is hobbling back to normalcy. Julius Caesar, the greatest general to have lived so far, had emerged victorious in a civil war that had threatened to bleed the Republic. The land was finally enjoying peace after troublesome years of strife and bloodshed. Caesar was being seen as just the leader that the Republic had needed, although he would associate with himself the title of Dictator for life, certainly not a republican nomenclature.
And then would be struck the blow of betrayal. When men whom Caesar had trusted stabbed him, purportedly to save the Republic from his machinations, from his designs to re-establish a monarchy with him at the helm. They feared him, because he was popular, because he was a powerful general, beloved by the military, a member of the aristocracy, but most of all, because he was ambitious.
And ironically, the blow to save the Republic would wound not just Caesar, but also the Republic the most. Caesar's death and the consequent civil wars, first between the forces of the assassins and those of Octavian and Mark Anthony, and then between Octavian and Anthony, would render the Republic redundant. Never again would the Senate emerge as powerful as it was during Caesar's lifetime. Octavian would become the first Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar. The Republic was dead, long live the Empire!

Nearer to our times, in 1917, another man abdicated from his throne, a king forced to renounce his kingship, because his majesty was no longer acknowledged by his people. He bore the name of Caesar; only in his tongue it was called Tsar. His abdication would cause civil war in Russia, war that would parallel the First World War, and eventually result in his and his family's assassination at the hands of Bolsheviks.

This abdication effectively sealed the fate of the Russian Empire, as the world had known it then, but heralded the dawn of a new force: Communism and the Soviet Republic. A force that would define the way we see our world for the remnant of the 20th century and beyond.

One man was killed to prevent a republic from becoming a monarchy, but in vain, for the process had already begun. Another abdicated to prevent a monarchy from becoming a republic, which again was something predestined. Two men, Gaius Julius Caesar and Tsar Nicholas II, separated by ages and yet the twain joined by a date in time. A date that would change their worlds. A date that would cause great violence and bloodshed. Not for nothing did the seer say, "Beware the Ides of March".