Monarchy*
It seems people lack the knowledge of history as they keep referring to monarchy as good old days, but between 1960 to 1990, Nepal’s GDP grew at an average of merely 1.5 percent per annum from 0.6 billion dollar to 3.6 billion. During the same time, Singapore GDP grew at whopping 0.6 to 36 billion dollar. Why didn’t monarchy achieved higher GDP growth?
While According to the World Bank, the average GDP growth in Nepal from 2007 to 2018 was 4.8%.
In 2018, Nepal’s private sector was valued at around $21 billion, a two and half fold jump from $8 billion in 2008.
Business environment even at that time was unfavorable. Take the example of Hetauda Cotton Textile Mills, which grew without any competition as it was protected by monarchy. Those businesses who were close to monarchy didn’t have to worry about efficiency and quality, they were massively favored, but people who lived far from valley had to suffer. Rich brahmins, chettris, and newars were given unfavorable advantages as they could speak Nepali more clearly and knew how to address to the king.
While King Mahendra contribution to Travel and Tourism industry is commendable, he failed to boost the economy of the country. While he did establish schools, they lacked teachers and quality education. His ‘one king, one country, and one language’ policy also hindered the development of English language which could have helped Nepal to leverage from globalization. New Educational plan that was launched in 1972 nationalized community-owned school and heavily focus solely on Nepali language which deter the development of other ethnic languages like Newari, Tamang, and so forth.
While People claimed that Nepal comprises of 80% Hindus, they fail to realize how Buddhist monks were banished during Rana Regime, and how Buddhism and Buddhist practice were banned. Nepal was a country where other religion flourished alongside Hinduism. Islamic people used to come from Jammu and Kashmir and settle in Kathmandu valley during Malla era, and during Rana regime many Buddhists were forced to convert to Hinduism or flee the valley. There was a time where most of the Newar used to practice Buddhism in Kathmandu valley but due to their apparent lower status, they were forced to convert to Hinduism.
Take another example: Salt Trading Corporation tried a lot to manufacture Vanaspati ghee but wasn’t granted permission, but only when it paid Mahendra’s son-in-law in shares, the permission was granted.
Soltee hotel, Annapurna hotel and like this many enterprises prospered because they had good connection with monarchy. For info: soltee hotel was founded by Mahendra’s brothers.
What we need is good leaders from common people who deserve to rule. While the path to democracy might be problematic at times, it is the right path.
View on r/Nepal by Tone-Illustrious
Well I don’t think that moms should wield absolute power in the family, no one should have absolute power anywhere.
Objectively speaking democracy is better system than autocratic monarchy. Pointing at king Mahendra, we can’t say their descendents would be similar. What everyone should understand is we need leaders like king Mahendra as far as I know about him. No one is perfect so accountability to people under democracy should be key.
Major thing is people asking for monarchy aren’t asking for Panchayat, they want monarchy similar after 2047 BS. That would be similar to what we have. Constitutional King instead of president. I don’t understand how just having monarchy would change anything going on right now at least in theory.
while i want democracy to survive i want to clear some of the points OP mentioned.
>Singapore GDP grew at whopping 0.6 to 36 billion dollar.
comparing nepals and singapores gdp is a huge mistake. yes what singapore achieved was exceptional but it is still one of the rare success stories in this world. there are only a few countries that achieved similar growth and boost. they had a vision which was constant during their growth. and the with constant instable polictics and policies of nepal, that was neither possible in the past nor in the forseeable future.
>he failed to boost the economy of the country.
when Mahendra took over, Nepal was just freed from 104 year old Rana Rule and had a very fragile nonexistent economy. sure, tribhuwan ruled for a few years but the indian interference was at its peak during his rule. it was under Mahendra’s rule that Nepal Rastra Bank was established. indian currency was rampant all over nepal, he brought nepali rupees into circulation and promoted it. wasnt that helping the nation to boost economy?
>While People claimed that Nepal comprises of 80% Hindus, they fail to realize how Buddhist monks were banished during Rana Regime
i thought you were talking about monarchy but monarchy and rana regimen were two different shits. no one talks about the rana rule positively so i dont know what you’re trying to convey here.
ive just replied to points that imo are incorrect.
dude, love this. if you use discord, i implore you to join Rajniti Pratisthan.
The funny thing is that nowadays people who want monarchy are mainly young people who have not even lived in that period or were kids at that time. They don’t even know the struggle of Nepalese at the time of the monarchy. Ahile ta tehi propaganda machines and netas like Gyanendra shahi, Durga prasai ko kura sunera nepal ta sworga nai thiyo teti bela jasto soch chan. Ahile samaj nai nirash ra arajak bhayera pain hola, we think the past failure system was better than today’s system, which I have to say they are just living in delusion.
“There was a time where most of the Newar used to practice Buddhism in Kathmandu valley but due to their apparent lower status, they were forced to convert to Hinduism. ”
Can you explain a bit more on this. How exactly they were forced to change due to their lower status? A lot of Newars, till now, follow Buddhism and it was never enforced for them to follow anything else. Site sources when you say these kind of things.
“His ‘one king, one country, and one language’ policy also hindered the development of English language which could have helped Nepal to leverage from globalization. ”
What? lol. Stop getting your sources from party pamphlets 🙂
i think what makes monarchy an appealing prospect to so many people is that the monarchs were more qualified to rule a country than the general public. monarchs were raised to be leaders, and usually were more educated than the average person, but many people confuse that to be a ‘pro’ of monarchy. an uneducated public does not bode well for the ruling system lol.
im not very informed on this topic but i still think its unreasonable to let one have power over so many lives all because their parents did so before.
The case against monarchy can summed up with Kaiser Wilhelm. Just incompetent and weird
For every Marcus Aurelius there is, there is a commodus
Every while and then you topic ko euta post auncha auncha yo server ma. Yo sab kura haru debate hunu nai yo republic system ko failure ko euta example ho.
wow… comparing nepal to singapor???
first singapoor geogarphilcal location gives it a major advantage.
[Singapore Singapore Take a tour of Singapore, a city with a multicultural heritage Take a tour of Singapore, a city with a multicultural heritage Overview of Singapore. See all videos for this article A sculpture of the Merlion, Singapore. A sculpture of the Merlion, Singapore. Singapore is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest in the world. It owes its growth and prosperity to its focal position at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, where it dominates the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea.](https://www.britannica.com/place/Singapore)
also regarding your context regarding the reign of king mahendra. well you can be right but if you look over it. if you don’t have any infrastructure and knoweldge as to how to operate it than you are not gonna be have a economic growth overnight are you now???
as you have mention he build many schools but they lack teacher. so by your argument how constructing anything and handing down to people who are uncapable of running it makes a logical point???
yes i agree they were handed to the close ones. but they were somewhat capable to run the buisness in somewhat werent they??
[https://english.onlinekhabar.com/plan-revive-government-factories.html](https://english.onlinekhabar.com/plan-revive-government-factories.html)
>In 2018, Nepal’s private sector was valued at around $21 billion, a two and half fold jump from $8 billion in 2008.
Nepal had just come out from a 10 year long war where businesses were extorted for money every other day, trade routes blocked, banks robbed, people held hostages for money, do you seriously expect the economy to grow during war? you said Nepal’s private sector is valued at around $21 billion, I may be generalizing but how many of them are into manufacturing because almost all the major businesses i know are mostly into trade, if anything they are bleeding money out of the country, the money foreign workers in the middle east help bring in, again i dont know the exact details but youre more than welcome to correct me if im wrong. the only major positive economical change i have seen after the abolishment of monarchy is that people can now work their youth away in the middle east and keep the foreign reserves alive while you and i can watch UHD movies in surround sound in theaters for only 500 and tell ourselves that we have come a long way while people relatively less fortunate work all day to make 1000rs or wait tables for no more than 25k a month while the boss flaunts his new i-phone 14 all while the rent is due for 3 months and the workers are not paid full for the same amount of time.
>Those businesses who were close to monarchy didn’t have to worry about efficiency and quality, they were massively favored, but people who lived far from valley had to suffer
still the same my man, look around. Who do you think brought MDMS? He said that he proposed MDMS to stop stolen mobile phones from entering through TIA as if people smuggle stolen phones by air and not through open borders.
>Rich brahmins, chettris, and newars were given unfavorable advantages as they could speak Nepali more clearly and knew how to address to the king.
old folks in newari towns still cant speak proper Nepali and some cant speak at all.
>While King Mahendra contribution to Travel and Tourism industry is commendable, he failed to boost the economy of the country
he only lived for so long, yet still major efforts were made to develop tourism and other sectors. Nepal was at no place where the economy could skyrocket in such little amount of time. so why not put other metrics to compare, he started construction of multiple nation wide highways, established NRB, put huge focus in education and so on. The living standard of people during that time drastically changed although not throughout the country.
>While he did establish schools, they lacked teachers and quality education.
omg who is feeding you all this, or are you making stuff up as youre typing. but even assumed what youre saying is true, is the condition any better now? there are news of public schools embezzling huge funds, not enough teachers being in public schools, and just look at the pass rates in government schools.
also if the quality of schools was so bad back in the day, how come we there are so many scholars, doctors, engineers, lawyers who grew up during that time? The government back then also hugely invested in education, they used to send many students out to Soviet Russia for stem education, the focus was so much and also the number of students appearing so less, that the grants would mostly go undersubscribed, as i have heard from a trustworthy source. Most old doctors are Soviet made doctors and so are the engineers. Even Baburam bhattarai studed in Lucknow on government aid.
>His ‘one king, one country, and one language’ policy also hindered the development of English language which could have helped Nepal to leverage from globalization.
You know schools used to have English subject long before 2008. do you really think teaching kids every subject in English language would have single handedly helped us globalize? Indian public schools also dont teach all subjects in English, and i believe so does Spain or Germany or China.
>focus solely on Nepali language which deter the development of other ethnic languages like Newari, Tamang, and so forth.
You are right on this one, they should have also focused in ethnic languages, but doesnt that contradict your own opinion, you did say teaching in any other language than English would stop us from globalizing. but if you meant a separate optional subject should be made for all major ethnic languages, i do agree it should be done. But in Kathamndu during Panchyat, there used to be an optional Newari subject during Panchayat and it only stopped after that.
>how Buddhist monks were banished during Rana Regime, and how Buddhism and Buddhist practice were banned.
that was during Rana regime, nobody appreciates Rana Regime.
>There was a time where most of the Newar used to practice Buddhism in Kathmandu valley but due to their apparent lower status, they were forced to convert to Hinduism.
do you have any source? because some Newars still practice Buddhsim and i have never heard anyone mention it before.
How dare you to bring logic to my raja?
People wants some form of monarchy instead of president…. right now presidential position is just a retirement post for politicians… you are trying to brainwash as if people are asking for AUTOCRATIC Monarchy system….. and you have not factored all the reason for low GDP growth back in the day… some factors being Maoist revolution, indian blockade(though not for a very longtime), etc has had negative impact on Nepal’s growth…. From primitive Rana stage to panchayat period nepal had seen a substantial growth in terms of industry, education,… one may argue it is not the best but it was a initial stage….. & today after decades of no-monarchy system, we have not yet seen the level of growth we went during rana to monarchy in terms of industry, education revolution…. the economy today also rests on Remittance which is very fragile in long term…. and the limited major industries are also run by indian-rooted “Nepalese” marwadies….
AND AGAIN, NOBODY IS ASKING FOR AUTOCRATIC MONARCHY SYSTEM!
Democracy is necessary in my opinion, however in the context of Nepal, we need a democratic system that encompasses all her cultural values that give her a unique identity. I find a Constitutional Monarchy with the Head of The State being the King necessary to Nepal’s cultural dignity and historic reign. King Prithivi Narayan Shah is the reason today you and me are connected as Nepalis, and not annexed to India already and colonized by the British. It is the Kings who have formed this country, they carry it’s cultural values and encompass an emotional bond with many citizens. They serve as the historic prestige of this land and having them as a role in the state outside the governmental affairs for unity and cultural representation is something I’m highly supportive of.
(I checked other comments as well, as I found what I was going to say to be pretty much in them as well, so I won’t dive into statistical data and rebuttle the unmixed points about King Mahendra’s tenure)
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Yes. We should totally bring momoarchy back.
Teti bela ghar ghar ma kaha bidesh janthe ra
30 yr old! Won’t go back in 60s but Nepal had never been this corrupt through out my life. There was always hope and optimism though underdeveloped but now it’s miserable! Politicians and policy makers fucked the country as a whole! As far as the monarchy is concerned, the way it was removed, it was not fair for those who believed in the monarchy, there should be election and the discussion should be closed forever! And the development, well, god bless Nepal! King or no king nepal ko kalapani jana lai india ko bato bhayera jana parne rahecha because nepal bata tya jane bato nai chaina!
Comparing Singapore’s economy to Nepal in the same span is like comparing a flower bed to a puddle. Ridiculous comparison.
The country has barely changed since the 1960s. Rather than have one autocrat to make all the decisions we now have a junta of uneducated, incompetent rulers to govern us. One isn’t better than the other and nothing either have done has had much impact on the economy.
The rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer whilst a middle class has grown up around debt, land sales and the promised land.
Our country simply won’t develop like this. Look at the roads between the tourist triangle and then look at the promises to build the economy. It’s a joke. Better to compare ourselves to N Korea. It will make us feel better. At least we let our people empty out from the country to go abroad.
Don’t debate and judge too much on monarchy. Just imagine how difficult it must have been to create country Nepal. Euta bani sakeko desh lai proper manage garna sakdainan, thulo kuro garchhan. There are countries which are developed even though there is monarchy and also developed countries where there is democracy. So stop this shit of debating what’s the best system for development.
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When it comes to that then, I think it’s all about choosing “Lesser of the two evils”.
No side is too perfect.
I briefly read your post and I have a comment. Yes, according to what we as a normal person, we see that at that the monarch favored a few people. From the person who actually have met a few of the business people, most of them were asked to give shares to the monarch. This is cuz if the family who is handling yhebusiness goes under, the monarch will step in and take care of it (nebico is a good example). Before the monarch actually encouraged business to produce in nepal. The situation right now is very similar, except the new money business people (politician ko jholey haru) they basically do non productive business. The main thing is, monarch has vision and these political party don’t. We need democracy but nepal and Nepalese aren’t ready.
If Nepal could be compared to a country, it would be Bhutan. Look at how Bhutan is growing sustainably.
Shah Dynasty was shit. But now we have Dahal dynasty. Sabbai lai badhai. Aba Prachande le kasari aafno crown chori lai pass garcha herera basam.
You reap what you sow. But to reap you need to use good seed, good soil, water, take care of it, etc but we expect मानो to मुरी without even knowing what we sow, throwing it on a barren land and doing nothing else.
Aii the biggest issue is that we dont take into consideration with monarchy is how soft Birendra was. When you look at history, nepalese kings never had power. I rate Mahendra even-though a lot of people see him as a negative person because in his head he was all about you know what I am a fucking King and I will do whatever i think is good for my people in my own mind.
Lets be honest, Nepal in reality has no power at all and esp now we are dependent in India, but I rated how Mahendra knew that was whatagwan but at the same time he flexed his muscle as a king. I like Gyanendra as a king more than Birendra. Ofc i was a kid whe Birendra died and he was the “bishnu” of our land but the way that Gaynendra just dropped it all after 19 days is commendable. He could have just dragged it out and let tens of thousands die. The amount of people died and fought in that period, is that acceptable? Fuck no. But at the same time he let it go easy. We know bare motherfuckers in world history that did not give a fuck about how many people died. Hell even Girija knew the importance of King and wanted baby king installed.
Monarchy is needed, lets not focus about all the bads that people in power did. Since I came back to Nepal 3 months ago, all i hear is “100 ota raja hunu bhanda euta raja thik” and that is true. Its so sad that there are so many developmental shit that is happening in Nepal but everyone knows corruption is given. I rented a car for the first time in 8 years and I saw that there was a tunnel that was being built but even the driver was saying “sir, j bhayeni Nepal ma Budget ko 30-40% ko matra kam huncha” and it is a common knowledge that is shared by everyone. There is progress to be had. Alot of money coming in but we are getting 100 kings as opposed to one.
It is high time that we all realize that we have been screwed by our own people. I dont even blame the politicians because Nepali people; all of us have a fucked mentality all of us bhedas will elect some jackas that will be elected time and again because we all care about ourself. I am 30, was born in 49 but the people that my dad hated as a PM is still a PM; so who I am supposed to blame. At this point, esp with a country like ours someone needs to be in charge for a lengthy period of time. Not no 13 in 17 years kinds bullshit. Someone needs to be in charge but people clearly do not believe in one person so lets go back to the roots
Regarding progress in last few years, cannot really compete with Singapore. There is a whole ass reason why some people want Gaza to be a Signapore of Middle East. There are potential; we are landlocked and that is the biggest disadvantage. Maybe I am baised because I am a millienial; but the world has really changed in last 10-15 and I believe the political instability and where we are located has played a big game. Hell, Bangladesh one of the countries Nepal looks down upon (shocking i know) is a faster growing economy than India which is a big fish but again they got ports that we dont have. I am drunk lowkey but is sad. I love my country; i left 17 years ago but the love is still there. I love our History more than anything even to an extent i despise our education system that taught us to hate Jange who was a legend (his family was fucked) and love Bhimsen who in my mind was a wasteman. I have been saying for the last 10 years that Nepal needs a dictator but we dont need to go that far we have a King and he is in my mind someone that cares; his pocket is full enough and he will care about where we go.
Yes, take me back to mom-archy 😭 where mom’s made momos everyday….
Funny thing is Singapore, itself relied on a strong leadership of Lee Kwan Yew who served as pm of Singapore from 1951 to 1997. Some might even call him authoritarian.
While I don’t think bringing back monarchy is in anyway viable or good option rn, especially with Paras or Gyanendra as candidates, King Mahendra did what could be done at the time. He was a nation builder.
His bent towards communism was erroneous but it was an error many countries made at the time, including India, Russia, and China.
Without him and King Birendra , we might have ended up another Sikkim, but worse.