A senior Nepali Marxist, disenchanted with the personality cults that have destroyed the application of true communism in Nepal and elsewhere, once confided to us that he had hit upon the reason why people join the left movement: envy.

This was a startling confession for someone for whom communism is an evangelical crusade for equity and social justice. And it was probably because they speak their mind that Marxists like him now shun organised communism and have turned into freelance leftists. To his Theory of Envy, we must add Greed. How can you even begin to control greed and envy? A local political leader's relative fails to make the entrance exam to a private school, and it is forced to close because of threats. Someone has a successful export business, but he has to pay out so much extortion money to our revolutionary friends that he is closing a business that employs 300 people. A politician drives around in a fancy four-wheel drive that he bought with ill-gotten wealth, and his comrades want him out so they get a chance to amass ill-gotten wealth too.

Nepalis can't seem to be able to improve on anything without first wrecking what exists. We want to fix things even if it ain't broke, or break everything while trying to fix things. To reform our school system, we first want to shut them all. We want to bring down a ruling party through street protests, and nearly end up bringing down the country. Few countries, it seems, can match our talent for self-destruction. Newly-reunited leftist factions under the main opposition UML now will stop at nothing to bring this country to its knees while trying to bring Girija Koirala to his knees. Not satisfied with a one-day strike, they have now decided to close down the half of next week. It is Bangladesh that has become our role model. Dhaka airport used to have a sign that said: "Visit Bangladesh Before the Tourists Get There". Ours should now be: "The last one out, turn off the lights."

Fact: Of the 40 forced bandhs in the past seven years, in not even one has the main demand of those calling it been fulfilled.

Fact: A one-day nationwide involuntary strike costs the country upwards of Rs 80 million, a three day shutdown will cost Rs 240 million. (Can we send the bill to the UML?)

Fact: This time, even hospitals (except emergency wards) will be forced to shut.

Fact: The rich are not affected by bandhs. (They get some much-needed exercise.) Those who suffer the most are daily-wage earners, petty shopkeepers, taxi drivers.

Given the universal negative public opinion about these forced strikes, one wonders what the organisers have in mind. There is only one thing we can think of: the soft left wants to take the wind out of the sails of the hard left by punishing the centre right party in power. But will punishing ordinary people get them to that goal? The parties that call bandhs do not benefit from them.

So who benefits? It is not difficult to figure that one out: those who want to sow anarchy and discredit parliamentary democracy. And who in Nepal wants to sow anarchy and discredit parliamentary democracy? No prizes for guessing.

Having said that, the Nepali Congress has become a part of the problem by not being a part of the solution. It is destroying democracy by being its feckless self. Two years after being elected, the one political party that has a majority in parliament has lost its moral legitimacy. It is paralysed by infighting, it cannot take decisions even to save itself, and its prime minister has now become the focus of anger for everyone from the Maoists to members of his own cabinet.

We will say this again: for his party's sake and for the sake of the country Girija Koirala must remove the log jam by removing himself.