of government, national anthems and cows

The word "Royal" has been erased off countless hoardings, our naitional carrier is now called just Nepal Airlines, the dead have been proclaimed as martyrs, the national anthem has been scrapped. Yet, nothing has changed.

There is a lot of talk about the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance working closely together to resolve the impasse that is impeding any political development in the government, but that's exactly what it is - talk. And nothing more. Both sides seem to be moving back and forth from their earlier stated positions on certain issues; both sides accuse the other of delaying the peace process, both sides have begun doing what they have done so well over the last ten years - fight for control.

In the meanwhile, the government has set up a National Anthem Selection Taskforce to select a new national anthem for the country. (I'm used to this kind of crap, but even I don't believe this). Nepalnews reports Satya Mohan Joshi, the coordinator of the National Anthem Selection Task Force, as having said, “We are working on a war-footing. We have already received over 700 songs, but are extending our working period so as to include more songs in the historic competition.” (emphasis added)

I wait impatiently for the day when the government begins "working on a war-footing" to confront challenges such as rising prices, falling tourism arrivals, the shutdown (or withdrawal) of businesses and the separation of the word "interim" from the likes of other words such as "constitution" and "government".

But I fear we might be encouraged to participate in another competition where our task is to nominate other animals to replace the cow as Nepal's national animal. We aren't a Hindu state any longer, after all. I won't be surprised.