| Laure |
Posted
on 23-Jan-04 06:44 PM
There is a well-known saying, which I came across when I was in high school. “Youths are the foundation of a Nation.” This is true, and always has been true. I don’t have to go any further than the boundaries of my own country to verify this notion. Country I am referring to is Nepal. If we look at the history of Nepal, there are some things, at least some events that we can be proud of. It may be the fact that we never fell under prevailing colonialism that swept rest of the world in last two centuries, it may be the fact our braves Gurkhas fought daring wars with pockets of foreign troops in order to protect our sovereignty. There are number of other reasons that make us think that we are proud to be Nepali. But looking at the current situation, it seems that the very notion has been swept away by the “mystified cloud”. Should we try to steer away this cloud or should we let ourselves swept away one more time towards remorseful future? These are prevailing questions that each and every Nepali youth has to ask.
I am referring the current political situation of Nepal as a mystified cloud. The popular 1990 transition was legitimate in the sense that we walked together following our great so called leaders with the hope of better future, progress of the nation and many more anticipations, the most important being the desire to establish our nation as democratic state. Indeed we were able to achieve that goal, thanks to all the martyrs. But after that everything changed for the worse. What happened to our future and our anticipations, what happened to the nation? We have all seen and experienced in 12 years period. The popular movement was aimed for the good of Nepali people. But here we are again in the midst of the mystified cloud, the cloud of uncertainty. After apprehending for 12 long years, are we ready to do the same mistakes? Are we ready to support same leaders? Are the youths of our country so eager to put “them” back in power to push Nation towards another decade of uncertainty?
Currently, there are three major powers in the political battlefield of Nepal. As we all know, Maoist have opted the path of insurgency to establish Nepal as People’s republic, The king has sacked the then cabinet to seize the power in his hands and all other political parties are marching in the streets to demonstrate their apathy towards the role of the King in the governance. So, we, the general public who only care for progress of our lives and overall development of the nation are left amidst the perplexity. Who should we admire? And whom should we despise? Should we remain silent? Some people may think that violence and war can never be the political solution for the current crisis. Some may think, the King should never supervise the governance of the country. While the others may think that marching in the streets with banners and placards by supporting our leaders will never be fruitful and wont be in the best interest of the country. Before analyzing these given options, which I believe would be easier to accomplish if we walk together, it is extremely important to understand the present crisis and the root causes. In my personal opinion I can better understand the present crisis of the country as a mere power struggle among the three major forces. It has now become a challenge for a single educated Nepali to identify himself in this political arena. It has become more confusing to understand if the prosperity of the Nation and her people, which should be the only agenda behind all these struggle still holds any significance in the view point of the political perpetrators. Nevertheless, the youth of the country are becoming victims of this unprecedented tug of war between these forces. Some were brainwashed, some were forcibly put in the frontline, while others were lured towards better opportunities.
Our “great leaders”, although they claim of following a coherent political ideology of some kind, each of them has his/her own reasons to participate in this power struggle. Should we or should we not validate those reasons unless they were aimed towards the best interests of the Nation? Do we really know our true motives behind supporting or not supporting any of the “three forces”? If we as youths of the country do not have better insight about, why we are supporting “them” or whom should we support or “ what is our responsibility in the present political battlefield, we are better off flying overseas to achieve higher education, or secure a high paying job or seek an asylum in foreign countries. At least our children will thank us for giving them good future despite the fact that we acted selfish by running away from the biggest crisis of the Nation. Acting coward and selfish is better bet than becoming a victim in the political battlefield. But if we still think that there is a hope to steer away the impending consequences of the current crises, from the face of our nation then lets sought for the peace by condemning war and violence, and lets refuse to support our cynical and self-serving leaders, who have never learnt to follow any political ideology other than struggling to fulfill their own interests.
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