Neighbors: poles apart

On one side of Kashmir lies a nation moving towards peace, stability and democracy. The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal has been declared a federal, democratic republic. It seems to be on the road to development now. But this path was not an easy one. It started with the tragedy that struck the royal family a few years back. This was followed by a civil unrest. The people of Nepal earned their democracy the hard way. So was the way for King Gyanendra.

Proclamation had the elements of a Greek tragedy. It signified the downfall of an overambitious king who was lucky to ascend the throne twice though he was not entitled to, not being the eldest son. After ascending the throne in 2001 following the tragic massacre of his brother Birendra and his entire family, the new king began meddling in the government. After sacking the elected PM and appointing three premiers, Gyanendra finally dispensed with all subterfuge and seized power through an army-backed coup in 2005. - TOI

On the other side of Kashmir is a nation frenzied by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Its been literally death of democracy and with it dies any hopes of a stable government in near future. Pakistan's election commission said it would hold an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the violence raging across the country on the parliamentary election planned for Jan. 8. The violence that followed Bhutto's killing Thursday led to the destruction of nine election offices, including the voter rolls inside, and adversely affected the printing of ballot papers, training of poll workers and other pre-election logistics, the commission said in a statement faxed to reporters. I hope that Pakistan takes a course similar to Nepal and moves towards peace and democracy.