One hundred days later, it is clear the good old bad days are here again. But we see a certain complacency setting in. There are signs of smugness and hints of laxity in the crackdowns. It's almost as if the hardliners have become half-hearted in their resolve. After coming this far and burning all our bridges, we can't let this happen. There are worrying signs that we are not being draconian enough in protecting our hard-won curbs on freedom. High-level government officials themselves admitted recently that they have a long way to go before they can be compared to the Burmese junta. So, what are they waiting for? This is no time for shirking, they should roll up their sleeves and get to work since time and tidal wave waits for no man. More vigilance, that is what we need. And more vigilantes.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that our crackdowns have to be beefed up since that would ruffle religious sensibilities in this country, but there is no doubt that they need to be buffed up. So, in the national interest and for public service, we carried out a spot check of security operations to see for ourselves where things need to be tightened and where repression needs to be fine-tuned. We can't afford to leave even one stone turned upside down in our effort to weed out freedom. And we detected the following lacunae that should be urgently set right:
1. There are still some trees along the Kantipath-Lajimpat road that have not yet been chopped down. What are they waiting for? And why the delay in axing the majestic line of eucalyptus along Pulchok Road? We gave strict orders that the tree felling strategic counteroffensive be successfully completed by the end of the emergency, and here we are in mid-May with the work only half done. And there is a whole boulevard of jacarandas along the Ring Road that are in full bloom in open defiance of prohibitory orders. It's time for individual citizens to take the law into their own hands and work towards making the capital treeless by World Environment Day on 6 June.
2. Cable operators have successfully blocked nearly all 24-hour news channels for three months now. This is unprecedented in modern media history and must be applauded. However, we notice that Myanmar Television and Singapore's Channel News Asia are still being carried on SpaceTime Network. These should be taken out forthwith before they spread notions of democracy among the gullible Nepali public.
3. Speaking of news, despite repeated orders from the high command to jam the BBC's anti-nationalistic World Service on FM, Radio Nepal is only blocking the first 15 minutes of English news. What wrong with those lazy fellows, can't they follow a simple order?
4. Allowing mobiles was a huge mistake, since people are now making pro-democracy phone calls. But what's done can't be undone, and I'm glad to note that the authoritarians are now on damage control mode to ensure chronic network congestion.
5. It has come to my notice that many people are still not being turned back from the airport. Yesterday, for instance, we have reliable intelligence reports that 1,950 Nepali citizens left Nepal on various international flights to possibly spread negative information abroad about the royal overtake. Will the concerned higher-up authorities please look into this? Hello. Is anyone listening?
