In the fable of the Emperor's New Clothes, it is enough for a mere boy to cry out that the emperor was indeed naked. The ensuing public laughter brought the emperor to his senses. In Nepal, the nudity of our politicians is not exposed even when the commander-in-chief tells them they have no clothes on. ("Who brought the nation to its present condition?," #87). Instead of coming to their senses, our politicians pull all the stops in muzzling this criticism.

And they go about strutting in all their corrupt glory, declaring anti-democratic all those who point fingers at their corruption. The only political force serious enough about the corruption have been the so-called "terrorists". In these difficult times, it is natural for the army leadership to worry about the political leadership. After all, it is they who are on the frontlines, putting their lives on the line. And if all this killing turns out to support a corrupt and inefficient political leadership, the army indeed has reasons to worry. There is no credible evidence that the politicians in power are taking the sort of hard steps in punishing the corrupt and improving governance-steps that are necessary even if the army kills the last of the Maoists. Asking the army to remain apolitical makes sense only when the political leadership is sufficiently efficient and free from corruption.

Kabindra Pradhan
Butwal

I think Prajwalla S Rana is absolutely right, and most Nepalis agree with him. It is the political parties that are responsible for the present state of the country. The Maoists are just taking advantage of this. Now the Maoists are preventing our brothers and sisters from taking their exams and destroying the country's healthy growth. Are these Maoists going to rule a Nepal that is completely destroyed? Many Nepalis sympathised with the Maoists at first, but they have turned out to be even more dirty and corrupt than the political parties. The Maoist leadership and their children are safe now. But wait. One day the relatives of the victims of Maoist murders are going to chase them and take their revenge. So comrades, remember, your payback time will come soon.

Sanjay Giri
UK