The entire nation was shocked when Sher Bahadur Deuba went off to Belgium instead of attending the Johannesburg conference. Army personnel were even more shocked when they heard that they were getting more arms than the 2,000 FN rifles they had expected. At present, the ill-equipped security forces are fighting with Maoists in Nepal's remote hills in order to establish peace. They don't even get nourishing meals. They don't have adequate barbed wire to protect their security posts. The home minister and the prime minister are giving them rifles instead.

The prime minister has agreed to the purchase of 5,500 rifles at a cost of $4000 each. If the nation has to spend Rs 1.73 billion to buy these arms, a 15 percent commission on that amount comes to Rs 267 million. Once the agreement is signed and the initial deposit is paid, that would mean a commission of almost Rs 130 million.

It's understandable that the prime minister, who has become used to commissions, would prefer to go to Belgium than listen to dry speeches at Johannesburg. It's also evident that the Belgium trip was personally more profitable.